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Thursday, February 26, 2009

Is John Locke Really Alive? - Thoughts About "The Life and Death of Jeremy Bentham"

In LOST Season 5 Episode 7, "The Life and Death of Jeremy Bentham", John Locke appears to be alive on the island. But is he really alive, or is he just a ghost like Christian Shephard? You may recall that Christian Shephard told Locke that he couldn't help him up after Locke broke his leg falling into the cave; I took this to mean that Christian was a ghost and did not have a physical body, which made him incapable of helping John stand up.

There have been a lot of hints about resurrection recently on the show and in The Official LOST Podcast, not the least of which is the executive producers' translation of the hieroglyphics from the frozen donkey wheel cave as referring to resurrection, which they revealed would be a theme on the show this season. There was also the painting in Eloise Hawking's church of the apostle Thomas feeling Jesus' wounds after his resurrection, which story Ben explained in detail to Jack.

Since the LOST writers point to a Biblical example of resurrection, it seems logical to use the same vantage point to look at hints from this week's episode to determine whether Locke is alive—that is, whether he's been resurrected, or brought back to life from the dead in a physical body. In "The Life and Death of Jeremy Bentham", Ilana brings a mango to Locke, which he eats excitedly and says is the best mango he's ever tasted. Can a ghost—or someone who is dead—eat? Or can someone only eat if they have a physical body? Let's take a look at a Biblical passage about Jesus' appearance to his disciples after his resurrection, found in Luke 24:39-43 (King James Version quoted below; see other translations if you prefer):
Behold my hands and my feet, that it is I myself: handle me, and see; for a spirit hath not flesh and bones, as ye see me have.
And when he had thus spoken, he shewed them his hands and his feet.
And while they yet believed not for joy, and wondered, he said unto them, Have ye here any meat?
And they gave him a piece of a broiled fish, and of an honeycomb.
And he took it, and did eat before them.
In this passage, Jesus tells his disciples that a spirit does not have flesh and bones like he does, and he uses this to prove to them that he has risen from the dead. When the disciples were still unsure about it, Jesus asked them for some food and ate it in front of them as further proof that he had a fully functional physical body.

When Locke ate the mango in front of Ilana, I believe this was the LOST writers' way of telling us that Locke has indeed been resurrected, that he's truly alive again—a miracle of the Island much like the miraculous healing of his legs immediately after the Flight 815 crash.

Thanks to @LeBomba for asking me "So is Locke dead or alive?" on Twitter and inspiring this blog post. See my initial response here. Feel free to add me on Twitter (@theJoshMeister) and send me any questions you have about LOST.


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Tuesday, February 24, 2009

"316" Discussion

[Listen to this episode!] [Subscribe to the MP3 feed via iTunes]

the JoshMeister, congested, James721, and fellow LOST fans discuss Season 5 Episode 6, "316", review additional points from "This Place is Death", and take a look at what we might see in episode 7, "The Life and Death of Jeremy Bentham".

Season 5 Episode 5 "This Place is Death" additional notes:
  • Popup: The inscription on Jin's wedding ring read "We Will Never Be Apart" in Korean (how ironic; they had been apart for three years by that time)
Season 5 Episode 6 "316" notes:
  • Flashforward:
    • Jack wakes up in the jungle like right after the Oceanic Flight 815 crash
    • What does Jack's note say?
    • Hurley is in the water holding onto a guitar case, Jack jumps in to save him
      • Hurley: "It really happened"
    • Kate is face-down on a rock in the water, Jack wakes her up, she's fine
    • Jack: "Yeah, we're back."

    • 46 hours earlier:
    • Eloise Hawking opens a door with a DHARMA logo inside the church
    • Eloise: "The DHARMA Initiative called it The Lamppost. This is how they found the Island."
    • 1954 photo U.S. Army (screenshot)
    • Eloise: (mostly quoted, somewhat paraphrased) The Lamppost was "constructed over a unique pocket of electromagnetic energy like there are all over the world, the Island is/has such a place of energy, and they knew it was out there somewhere but they just couldn't find it. A very clever fellow built this pendulum on the notion that they should stop looking for where it was supposed to be but where it was going to be. He knew that the island is always moving. While the movements of the island seem random, this man and his team created a series of equations that tells us with a high degree of probability where the Island will be at any point in time. Unfortunately these windows don't stay open for very long. Yours closes in 36 hours."
    • Desmond delivers Dan's message to Eloise, and says he's done with the Island after Eloise tells him that the Island is not done with him
    • Ajira Airways Flight 316 - commercial airliner going from L.A. to Guam right through our window
    • Hawking: "As many of the same people as you can being with you. If not, the result would be unpredictable."
    • Jack asks "So we just get on that flight?"
      • Eloise: "No, that's not all, Jack. At least not for you."
    • Eloise gives Jack the suicide note John Locke wrote - John hanged himself
    • John is going to be a proxy - a substitute for Jack's dad Christian, who was dead already on Flight 815
      • Some of the other apparent proxies:
        • Hurley for Charlie (with guitar)
        • Sayid for Kate (with a U.S. air marshal)
        • Sun for Rose (worried about husband, holding his ring)
        • Jack for Sawyer (holding a letter)
        • Ilana for Edward Mars (the original U.S. air marshal, and Kate's captor)
        • Ben for Hurley (boarded late)
        • Frank Lapidus for Seth Norris (pilot). More on this theory later.
        • Kate for Claire? More on this theory in a moment.
        • For whom is Caesar acting as a proxy?
        • Who (if anyone) is acting as a proxy for the other characters, such as Jack, Michael, Walt, Jin (true, he's currently on the island, but then again there's a proxy on the flight for Sawyer), Boone, Shannon, Ana Lucia, Libby, etc.?
    • Eloise says that Jack needs to give something of Christian's to Locke in the coffin
    • Eloise: "That's why it's called a leap of faith, Jack."
    • Ben lights a candle and prays for Alex
    • Ben tells Jack the story of Thomas: "Let us also go that we might die with him" - his claim to fame came later when he refused to acknowledge the resurrection"
      • "Of course he was [convinced]. We all are sooner or later, Jack."
    • Ben "goes to see an old friend, tie up a loose end"
      • Penny Widmore? Did he try to kill her? Did he succeed? (I presume not, on the last point.)

    • Jack goes to visit Ray, who is trying to escape from assisted living
    • Ray is Jack's granddad
    • Ray has a pair of Christian's shoes, sent to him by Jack's mom after Christian's death - Jack takes them

    • Kate sneaks into Jack's place
    • Kate: "They still going back to the island? Then I'm going with you. Don't ask questions. You will never ask me about Aaron. Do you understand me, Jack? Thank you."
      • Did Kate give up Aaron, or was Aaron taken from her?
      • natalie_in_seattle: "I think Aaron is with his grandmother"
      • congested: "Maybe Kate left Aaron with Cassidy"
      • Maybe Kate is a proxy for Claire, if Kate is pregnant with Jack's child after last night
        • Maybe Kate's just filling in the role of Aaron's mother, nothing more
    • Kate makes out with Jack
      • How could she possibly do that if "her baby" was just taken from her?
    • Jack explains the white tennis shoes that Christian wore on the island: they were Jack's because he didn't think Christian was worth a nice pair
    • Ben is beat up, tells Jack to retrieve Locke's body
      • Who beat up Ben?
      • congested said that the marina from where Ben was calling is in Long Beach - a sticker in the phone booth said Long Beach Telephone
      • congested's screenshot:

      • Screenshot of a different sticker on the phone itself (look closely at the one on the very bottom)

    • Jill pulls the van around for Jack (...wait, Jack and Jill?)

    • A man in the airport (Caesar) says to Jack "My condolences. I am sorry you lost your friend."
    • Sayid is in the airport with a woman (Ilana) who sort of looks like Jordin Sparks
      • Why is Sayid being brought to Guam?
      • Guam is a U.S. territory, so how could it make sense for him to be brought there?
    • Hurley: "All that matters is that I'm here, right?"
    • Hurley, Jack, Kate, Sun, and Sayid are all on the plane. Where's Aaron?
    • Hurley brings a guitar case
    • Ben boards the plane all beat up
    • The envelope (which Jack previously put in Locke's suit) was waiting for Jack
    • Frank J. Lapidus is the captain!
      Did the universe course correct because he was supposed to be on Flight 815, not Seth Norris (the pilot in the Pilot episode)? Or is Frank just a proxy for Seth?
    • Frank sees Jack, Sayid, Hurley, Kate, and Sun and says to Jack: "Wait a second. We're not going to Guam, are we?"
    • Ben is reading Ulysses on the plane. From Wikipedia:
      • "Ulysses chronicles the passage through Dublin by its main character, Leopold Bloom, during an ordinary day, June 16, 1904. The title alludes to Odysseus (Latinised into Ulysses), the hero of Homer's Odyssey, and there are many parallels, both implicit and explicit, between the two works (e.g., the correspondences between Leopold Bloom and Odysseus, Molly Bloom and Penelope, and Stephen Dedalus and Telemachus). June 16 is now celebrated by Joyce's fans worldwide as Bloomsday." (bold emphasis mine, to illustrate similarities to LOST)
    • Ben encourages Jack to read Locke's suicide note
      • The note says "Jack, I wish you had believed it. -JL"
      • Jack was holding onto the piece that said "I wish" at the beginning of the episode
    • Kate: "Where's the plane?"
    • Jack: "Do either of you remember crashing?"
    • They're back in time, and Jin is wearing a new-looking DHARMA jumpsuit and driving a DHARMA bus that looks brand new
      • They stopped jumping when Locke left the island, but how did Faraday etc. know that the jumping had stopped? They didn't actually see Locke leave. Maybe they figured after a few days with no more flashes that they might as well integrate with DHARMA.

    • baileybear: "If Ben survives then he might meet his younger self."
    • Just a handful of the unanswered questions from this episode:
      • Why wasn't Walt on the plane? Jeremy Bentham visited him, too, after all
      • Why wasn't Aaron on the plane? Was he supposed to be? He wasn't born yet on 815 (although he was far enough along in his prenatal development to have safely survived outside his mother's womb). Doesn't it matter that he was on the Island, though? He was born there, even. Why wouldn't the Island want him back? Or is Aaron secretly on the plane, unbeknownst to Kate (or at least to the viewers)?
      • Wouldn't the island want Desmond back, too?
      • Why is Sayid in cuffs, on his way to Guam with an escort (presumably a U.S. marshal)?
      • After the plane crashed... umm... disappeared, where were Ben and the other people who were on the plane? We only saw Jack, Hurley, and Kate so far.
    • On the podcast we discussed lots of theories about where Aaron went and why Kate chose to go on the plane
    • Among the *differences* between Oceanic Flight 815 and Ajira Airways Flight 316:
      • Different planes; Boeing 777 and Boeing 737
        • http://lostpedia.wikia.com/wiki/Oceanic_Flight_815
        • http://lostpedia.wikia.com/wiki/Ajira_Airways_Flight_316
        • http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boeing_Commercial_Airplanes

  • Screenshots and Easter Eggs:
    • Screen capture of Hurley holiding a comic book on the plane
      • Brian K. Vaughan comic Y: The Last Man, issue 15, "One Small Step: Conclusion"
      • Wikipedia doesn't have a specific episode synopsis for just issue 15, but here's the description of issues 11 through 17:
        • "One Small Step (issues #11-17)
          "In Oldenbrook, Kansas, Yorick, 355 and Dr. Mann help a Russian woman named Natalya Zamyatin race to recover two male and one female astronauts forced to return to Earth after being trapped on the International Space Station the day the plague hit. The four meet twins Heather and Heidi who are geneticists working in isolation. After Alter Tse'elon acquires Yorick for her nation, 355 tells Alter of the two men coming down in exchange for Yorick. Alter tries to use a surface-to-air missile to kill the astronauts but is stopped by Yorick. Both male astronauts die, but Dr. Ciba Weber is pregnant. The three go back on the road, leaving Natalya and the Twins to look after Weber and her unborn baby.
          "Comedy & Tragedy has a travelling group of actresses find a wayward Ampersand, inspiring them to write a play called The Last Man (The main character's name taken from Mary Shelly's novel The Last Man). On the night of the premiere, the play is interrupted both by the local women (who find the play to be offensive) and a disguised Yorick, accompanied by a similarly masked 355 and Dr. Mann, looking for Ampersand. Yorick discovers that the play ends with the eponymous man killing himself to end the fighting over him, contributing to his growing depression."
          • LOST has had its own sets of twins (Scott and Steve, Bad Twin)
      • Issue synopsis from Comic Vine:
        • "Alter tries to destroy the spacecraft but she's stopped by Yorick and Sadie. Nevertheless, the vehicle explodes with only one survivor, Ciba. Later is revealed that she is pregnant leaving a little light of hope."
          • Pregnancy is a theme on LOST, and as mentioned above, Kate might be pregnant
SPOILERS:
  • Preview for next week:
    • Announcer: "From death to life"
    • [John Locke pulls back a black hood, revealing his face.]
    • Locke: "My name is John Locke."
    • Ilana [talking to Locke on a beach]: "What do you remember?"
    • Locke: "I remember dying."
    • Announcer: "Next Wednesday, the mystery of his death..."
    • [A car pulls up in front of an injured Locke, presumably right after Locke turns the donkey wheel and winds up somewhere else]
    • Charles Widmore: "The island needs you."
    • Locke: "What makes you think I'm so special?"
    • Announcer: "...will be..."
    • [Locke gets in a car accident.]
    • Locke to Kate and Jack: "You have to help me! You're supposed to help me!"
    • Jack: "It's over!"
    • Announcer: "...revealed."
    • Ben: "You have no idea how important you are."
    • [Locke hangs a noose around his neck, made with an orange electrical cord, and then someone (Ben?) kneels down in front of Locke as he prepares to hang himself. Locke has a cast on his right leg, presumably from when he fell down the well on the Island.]
  • From SpoilerFix (WARNING: don't click this link unless you want to risk being majorly spoiled!)
    • The next episode's title is "The Life and Death of Jeremy Bentham"
    • 9:00 to 10:06 PM - looks like it might be a slightly long episode

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Tuesday, February 10, 2009

Closer Look at Sun's Package: The Typed Documents

In Season 5 Episode 4 "The Little Prince", Sun gets a package right after Kate leaves. Sun opens the package to find photographs of Ben with Jack, a box of chocolates concealing a gun, and a set of typed documents. The documents are very interesting and worthy of closer inspection. Here is the full text of the visible pages (thanks to Get Lost Podcast and DarkUFO for the screencaps on which I've based my transcription). I've also made the transcript available as a PDF, which is much easier to read and better formatted.

After the transcript below, I'll discuss some interesting tidbits that might offer some clues as to what it all means—and links to the Google Street View or Google Maps for each location mentioned...



[Page 1]
Surveillance Data Investigations, Inc.

DETAIL SURVEILLANCE REPORT

SUBJECT: A,B,C
CONTACT: CASTILLO 555-XXXX, GOMEZ 555-XXXX
CASE NUMBER: SMITH848325

INVESTIGATION FINDINGS
NO BANK ACCOUNTS ***** NO SOCIAL SECURITY *****


ACTIVITY REPORT

**************************

SUBJECT: A

FOLLOWED THE SUBJECT FOR SEVEN DAYS FROM TUESDAY THRU THURSDAY.

TUESDAY MORNING

EXCEPT FOR ONE TRIP TO THE MAILBOX,SUSPECT NEVER LEFT ON 35 SUNDIGUE DRIVE.
A SINGLE-STORY, WOOD FRAME HOME PRINTED GREEN AND YELLOW. THREE TIMES, WHEN
SUBJECT HAD NOT PASSED A VISIBLE WINDOW FOR THIRTY MINUTES, SUBJECT AN-
SWERED THE TELEPHONE AND REPLIED THAT LEE CHIN DID NOT LIVE THERE.

[THE LAST] LIGHT WAS EXTINGUISHED AT 10:05 P.M.

[TUESDAY AFTER]NOON

[EXCEPT FOR ONE TRIP] TO THE MAILBOX, SUSPECT NEVER LEFT 35 SUNDIGUE D[RIVE.]
[ ] HAD NOT PASSED A VISIBLE WINDOW FOR THIRTY MIN[UTES,]
[ TELEPHONE AND] REPLIED THAT LEE CHIN DID NOT AND H[ ]

[THE LAST LIGHT WAS EXTINGUISHED] AT 11:01 P.M.

[ ] AT [9:15?] A.M AND DROVE DI-
[ AVENUE?], I FOLLOWED
[ ] A HAND BASKET.
[ ] 9:37[?] A.M. PHOTO-
[ ] AVAILABLE TO THE

=============================================================================
[Page 2]

FOLLOWED THE SUBJECT FOR SEVEN DAYS FROM TUESDAY

EXCEPT FOR ONE TRIP TO THE MAILBOX, SUSPECT NEVER LEFT [ ]
AGAIN THAT DAY. WHEN SUBJECT HAD NOT PASSED A VISIBLE WINDOW [ MIN-]
UTES, SUBJECT ANSWERED THE TELEPHONE AND REPLIED THAT LEE CHIN [ ]
SHOWER AND WOULD RETURN MY CALL IN FIFTEEN MINUTES. I GAVE SUB[JECT ]
NUMBER I KEEP FOR SUCH OCCASIONS BUT NO MESSAGE WAS LEFT.

THE LAST LIGHT WAS EXTINGUISHED AT 11:35 P.M.


WEDNESDAY MORNING

EXCEPT FOR THREE TRIPS TO THE MAILBOX, SUBJECT NEVER LEFT 103 PINECREST
DRIVE. WHEN SUBJECT HAD NOT PASSED A VISIBLE WINDOW FOR THIRTY MINUTES,
SUBJECT ANSWERED THE TELEPHONE AND REPLIED THAT LEE CHIN WAS DEAD. A
VICTIM OF SUICIDE.

THE LAST LIGHT WAS EXTINGUISHED AT 12:18 AM.


WEDNESDAY AFTERNOON

EXCEPT FOR SEVEN TRIPS TO THE MAILBOX, SUBJECT NEVER LEFT 103 PINECREST
DRIVE. WHEN SUBJECT HAD NOT PASSED A VISIBLE WINDOW FOR THIRTY MINUTES,
SUBJECT ANSWERED THE TELEPHONE, CLAIMED I WAS MELISSA F***ING WITH HER,
AND DEMANDED TO KNOW WHEN I MAILED HER THE PRINTS.

THE LAST LIGHT WAS EXTINGUISHED AT 2:30 AM.


WEDNESDAY EVENING

[SUB]JECT CAME OUT OF THE HOUSE AT 8:15 AM, SET UP A CAMPING CHAIR NEXT [TO]
THE MAILBOX, AND PROCEEDED TO PACE THE FRONT YARD UNTIL THE MAIL TRUCK
ARRIVED AT 12:32 P.M. SUBJECT GRABBED MAIL FROM LETTER CARRIER AND RAN
INTO THE HOUSE. PHOTOGRAPHS ARE PRESENTED IN ATTACHMENT A. ATTACHMENT A IS
NOT AVAILABLE TO THE PUBLIC PENDING LEGAL CLEARANCE.

[SUBJECT] LEFT HOME IN YELLOW VOLKSWAGEN BEETLE AT 1:05 P.M. AND DROVE
[ ] THE HEALTH CLUB. SHE STAYED INSIDE FOR FIFTY MINUTES. SUBJECT
[ ] HOME, ARRIVING AT 2:40 P.M.

[ ] YELLOW VOLKSWAGEN BEETLE AT 3:10 P.M. AND DROVE
[ ACE] HARDWARE. 1400 UNIVERSITY AVENUE. ARRIVING AT 3:18
[ OUT]SIDE FOR THIR[TY MIN]UTES, I ENTERED THE STORE AND

=============================================================================
[Page 3]

FOLLOWED THE SUBJECT FOR SEVEN DAYS FROM TUESDAY THRU THURSDAY.

WAS UNABLE TO LOCATE SUBJECT. AFTER DETERMINING THAT SUBJECT'S CAR WAS
STILL PARKED IN FRONT, ASKED THE CLERK BEHIND THE COUNTER IF MY SISTER HAD
BEEN IN TODAY, DESCRIBING THE SUBJECT. CLERK SAID SHE HAD AND THAT SHE
BOUGHT THREE CANS OF SPRAY PAINT, ONE BOX OF RUBBER GLOVES, AND ONE TACK
HAMMER, PAYING IN CASH, BEFORE LEAVING BY THE REAR DOOR. CLERK DIDN'T
REMEMBER COLORS OF PAINT PURCHASED. I CHECKED THE AISLE AND DISCOVERED
FULLY STOCKED SHELVES WITH EMPTY SPACES IN THE ROWS CONTAINING THE COLORS
BLACK, GREEN, AND RED ALTHOUGH I CANNOT POSITIVELY CONFIRM THAT THE CANS
WERE STOCKED AS INDICATED. I ASKED THE STORE CLERK IF THE REGISTER CAP-
TURED THE PART NUMBER OF ITEMS PURCHASED BUT HE SAID HE HADN'T SCANNED THE
CANS OF SPRAY PAINT SINCE HE KNEW THE PRICE. I LEFT THE STORE BY THE REAR
DOOR AND CHECKED THE AREA BY FOOT, BUT WAS UNABLE TO LOCATE SUBJECT.

I RETURNED TO THE STORE AND AGAIN QUESTIONED THE CLERK. CLERK REPORTED
THAT SUBJECT USED STORE PHONEBOOK TO LOOK UP NUMBER FOR OXFORD CITY CAB,
THEN REMAINED AT COUNTER AND USED HER CELL PHONE TO HAVE CAB PICK HER UP
AT ABNER'S RESTAURANT, 430 S LAMAR, AND TAKE HER TO ANIMAL CLINIC OF
OXFORD, 2008 HARRIS DRIVE.

DROVE VARIOUS ROUTES TO ANIMAL CLINIC BUT DID NOT SIGHT SUBJECT. VISITED
ANIMAL CLINIC. RECEPTIONIST STATED THAT SHE HAD NOT SEEN SUBJECT. RETURNED
TO ACE HARDWARE TO FIND SUBJECT'S CAR GONE.

I CALLED CLIENT FOR INSTRUCTIONS AND WAS TOLD TO ESTABLISH SURVEILLANCE AT
SUBJECT'S HOME. THE CLIENT SAID SHE WOULD CALL ME IF THE SUBJECT WAS
SIGHTED AT THE YOKNAPATAWPHA COUNTY CONFERENCE CENTER.

ESTABLISHED SURVEILLANCE ON SUBJECT'S HOME. SUBJECT RETURNED AT 1:52


[THE L]AST LIGHT WAS EXTINGUISHED AT 2:25 AM.



[WEDNESDAY? MO]RNING

[ ] LEFT 35 SUNDIGUE DRIVE.

[ ] 9:10 AM TO INFORM ME OF THE PREVIOUS NIGHT'S VANDALISM.

[THE LAST LIGHT WAS] EXTINGUISHED AT 11:35 P.M.

[ ]



So, my first question is who is Lee Chin? Apparently she or he is someone whom Sun or her partners are watching closely, along with at least two other people (note that Subjects A, B, and C are mentioned, but there doesn't seem to be conclusive evidence as to whether Lee Chin is Subject A or someone whom Subject A is watching). Will we see Lee Chin on the show? Although it's unlikely that there's any connection, I found it interesting that one of the top Google hits for "Lee Chin" is a woman who's a violinist, and we saw a violin case among the wreckage pulled ashore by Danielle Rousseau's team in the same episode as when we saw Sun's documents.

Where does this private investigation take place? The first clue is the mention of Yoknapatawpha County, a fictional county created by American author William Faulkner and used as a setting in several of his books. This county is supposed to reside in Mississippi. My next clue was Animal Clinic of Oxford. I decided to try a Google Maps search for that business name in Mississippi, and sure enough, the address is 2008 Harris Dr. Naturally I was curious about the other addresses. There's really an Abner's Restaurant at 430 S Lamar (and as luck would have it, there's even a Google Street View so you can see what it looks like if you were to drive by). There's really an Ace Hardware at 1400 University. Attempting to find 103 Pinecrest Drive on Google Street View points you toward 102 Pinecrest, so it's difficult to tell whether 103 is a legitimate address. The only address that doesn't return any results in Google Maps or in a Web search is 35 Sundigue Drive. It's tough to even find the word "Sundigue" in a regular Google search query, other than discussions about Sun's documents. The closest I've been able to guess as to its meaning is a location in Germany, a hotel or guest house called Rising Sun located in La Digue. "La Digue" is actually French for "the dam." I have no idea if any of that means anything, but I suspect that it doesn't. On the other hand, you never know with LOST.

Other things we're left to wonder about include the identity of the investigation agency's client (although Sun would be a fair guess), the details or significance (if any) of the vandalism mentioned at the end of the last page—and whether it has anything to do with the spray paint that the female subject purchased. I found it curious that the word "suspect" was used in place of subject three times, which may have been a mistake due to hasty writing or not carefully proofreading it. Probably the strangest thing in the file is how page two lists events that seem to take place on different days based on the comment that "the last light was extinguished" at a time during the evening, while the section headings say "Wednesday Morning", "Wednesday Afternoon", and "Wednesday Evening", seeming to indicate that the events take place on the same day.

Stay tuned to the blog and podcast for more exclusive LOST insights!


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Monday, February 09, 2009

"The Little Prince" Discussion

[Listen to this episode!] [Subscribe to the MP3 feed via iTunes]

the JoshMeister, Congested, DawnOwar from The LOST Fashion Review, and other fellow LOST fans discuss Season 5 Episode 4, "The Little Prince", review additional points from "Jughead", and take a look at what we might see in episode 5, "This Place Is Death".

Season 5 Episode 3: "Jughead" popups and additional notes:
  • Popup: "The Others' primary objective is to protect the island at all costs"

  • Dan told Ellie "You look so much like someone I used to know." When I first saw the episode I thought he meant Theresa, but he probably meant his mother Eloise Hawking
Season 5 Episode 4: "The Little Prince" notes:
  • Kylene called the meaning of the episode title in advance: it centers around Aaron

  • Flashback:
    • Jack and Kate and baby Aaron on Penny's boat
      • Kate suggests that they say the baby is hers because "I can't lose him, too" (like she lost Sawyer)

  • Flashforward: Three Years Later
    • Kate borrows a dress from Sun, leaves Sun to babysit Aaron
    • At this point in the episode I wondered:
      • Where is Kate going?
      • Will Sun take a blood sample from Aaron?
    • Sun gets a package as soon as Kate leaves
      • What do the documents say? (More on this later; there are screencaps, and I'm going to transcribe it in an upcoming post on the blog)
      • There's a recent photo of Ben with Jack when he still had a beard, and a box of chocolates with a gun hidden underneath

    • Someone attacks Sayid in the hospital, tries to shoot Sayid with tranquilizer darts
      • The man has Kate's address in his pocket
        • Why? Was he planning to tranquilize Kate and/or Aaron? To take Aaron away?
      • Who does he work for? Ben Linus? Charles Widmore? (We discussed this at length on the podcast)
  • Island:
    • Locke sees the beam of light coming up from the hatch the night that Boone died
    • Sawyer watches Claire give birth to Aaron and Kate helping her
  • At the commercial break, there was an ad for a new TV series called "The Unusuals" starring Harold Perrineau, Jr. (who plays Michael on LOST)
  • Island:
    • Miles had a nosebleed
      • Miles: "I've never been here before two weeks ago"
      • Dan: "Are you sure about that?"
        • This seems to be a pretty strong hint that Miles might be Dr. Pierre Chang's baby

    • Ajira Airways water bottle
      • This is the same company as in the most recent LOST ARG

    • Locke and crew find a canoe on the beach, they take it
      • Someone on another canoe was shooting at them, Juliet says it wasn't her people
      • There ws DHARMA beer on the beach so it had to have been during a time during or after DHARMA was on the island
      • Congested believes that this was in the future, suggesting that Ajira Airways is an indication of this; this was a future version of the abandoned beach camp
        • Congested also theorizes that they were shooting at people they know, and we'll find this out later

  • Flashforward:
    • Claire's mother is the ones who sent the lawyers after Kate
      • How did she find out? Did she put the pieces together after meeting Jack and Kate at Christian's funeral? Or did Widmore tell her?

    • Jack convinces Kate to let him talk to Claire's mother, Mrs. Littleton
      • She doesn't know about Aaron and still thinks that Claire died in the crash
      • The lawyer was a setup!

    • The lawyer works for Ben!
      • He told Ben that there was no solid case against Hugo Reyes (Hurley)
  • Island:
    • Juliet's nose starts bleeding
    • They jumped in time to when Danielle Rousseau's team came to the island!
      • Rousseau's team finds Jin in the water!!
        • This must be present-time Jin! His body must have been jumping in time like the rest of Locke's team.
        • How did Jin survive the explosion? Did he jump in the water at the last moment?
        • Is it remotely possible that Jin could still be alive after all that time floating in the water? (Theory on this later)

  • At the commercial break, there was an ad for a new TV series called "Castle" starring Nathan Fillion (who played Kate's husband on LOST)

  • Flashforward:
    • Ben admits to Kate that he's the one who's been trying to take Aaron
    • Sun is in a car watching them while Aaron is sleeping in the back seat
    • Sun grabs her gun and starts to get out of the car (presumably to go after Ben)

  • Island:
    • Jin is alive!!! How?!
      • Here's my theory (which was much-liked by those who listened during the live podcast): The Island saved Jin, just like it wouldn't let Michael commit suicide. In other words, the Island wouldn't let Jin die because Jin still has some special purpose to fulfill for the Island
    • Danielle Rousseau is much younger and pregnant, Montand is there
      • Will we get to find out how Montand loses his arm?
      • Will we get to find out more about the sickness that Danielle claimed her team had?
    • Jin seems to realize that he's talking to the same Danielle Rousseau, only somehow she's much younger
      • Continuity problem: Wouldn't older Danielle have recognized Jin after Flight 815 crashed?
  • Screenshots and Easter Eggs:
    • Screenshots of the contents of Sun's package
      • Soon I'll post a transcript of the typed document in the package
    • What's the deal with the string instrument case seen in this screenshot?
      • They took the time to zoom in on the case; why would they put this odd prop on the show unless it has some significance?
      • My wife Kylene thinks it looks like a case for a violin
SPOILERS:
  • Preview for next week:
    • Ben: "All those people back on the island need our help"
    • Locke says to Sawyer he's trying "to find a way off the island"
    • Kate tells Jack he's crazy
    • Sun is about to shoot Ben, but Ben stops her by telling her "Jin's still alive and I can prove it."
    • Sun said "Move away, Kate," presumably as she prepares to shoot Ben or take him hostage
  • From SpoilerFix (WARNING: don't click this link unless you want to risk being majorly spoiled!)
    • The next episode will be titled "This Place Is Death"
    • Based on the episode title and no other spoilers, I'm guessing that at least one person will die in episode 5 (possibly related to the temporal displacement and nosebleeds, or due to the "sickness" that the older Danielle Rousseau claimed her group had)

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Wednesday, February 04, 2009

Additional Notes from the Season 4 Finale and Season 5 Premiere

The past couple weeks I've forgotten to include these in the show notes for my podcasts, so I'll post these here separately now. These are notes from the "popup" versions of the episodes, plus some additional thoughts I had upon rewatching them, and a few notes from the LOSTCasts podcast.

Be sure to tune in tonight for the live podcast about Season 5 Episode 4, "The Little Prince"!



Season 4 Finale "There's No Place Like Home" popup notes:
  • Ben knew that Jacob wanted him to leave the island.

  • Voice on phone to Kate, when played in reverse: "The island needs you. You have to go back before it's too late."
  • Claire: "Don't bring him back, Kate. Don't you dare bring him back." [Don't bring Aaron back to the island]
    • Both of these happened during Kate's same dream or vision, yet they seem to give conflicting influences -- or do they? Could it be that the Island wants Kate to go back but not Aaron?

  • When Ben woke up in the desert, it was 11 months after he turned the wheel; apparently he time-traveled 11 months into the future
    • Another random note about this: some people have speculated that Ben arrived at the antipode of where the island had been located

Season 5 Premiere "The Lie" popup notes:
  • Ana Lucia's comment "What if I were real?" seems to indicate that she's in Hurley's imagination, or else perhaps a manifestation of the Island. She wouldn't have said she wasn't real if she was a ghost.
    • However, "Libby says hi" seems to contradict that, hinting that they're both ghosts.
  • Theory: Sun sent the lawyers to Kate's house to get her out of the house and in a position where she couldn't refuse to meet with Sun and would be more likely to do whatever Sun is about to ask her to do

  • Jack: [to Ben] "He's dead, isn't he?" referring to John Locke -- Ben doesn't answer

  • Popups hinted that Sayid and Hurley are in danger from Charles Widmore -- "someone who will do anything to get information about the island"

  • Flaming arrows -- how far back in time were they when this happened?
    • Who fired the fiery arrows? Island natives?

  • The popups didn't make a big deal about how old Sun's picture of Ji Yeon is

  • Sun tells Kate "the you need to take care of them" meaning the lawyers, and asks Kate "Wouldn't you do anything" to make sure she and Aaron could stay together? Kate asks "What kind of a person do you think I am?"
    • Sun seems to have been telling Kate to kill the lawyers if necessary!

  • What was the thing that stabbed Sayer's toe? It looked like something hand-carved, possibly
    • LOSTCasts shared someone's crazy theory that maybe Sawyer loses his toe to an infection, gets stuck back in time for a while, and the island natives make a four-toed statue of him

  • Jones the military guy who captured Sawyer and Juliet: "What are you doing on our island?"
    • Whoever they are, they think it's their island

  • Malcolm David Kelley (the actor who plays Walt) was in a commercial for Buffalo style hot chicken wings! Clever advertising spot =)

  • Popup: Uniforms resemble those worn by members of the U.S. Army in the 1950s
    • What about the people Locke killed?! He killed them in the past -- how will that affect the future? Or have they always been dead in the future? LOST keeps going back and forth on whether events changed in the past instantly affect part of the future (as was the case with Desmond at some arbitrary moment in the future suddenly remembering Dan speaking to him outside the hatch) or whether the events have always been that way

  • Popup: The old machines in the room with Ms. Hawking resemble those used by the DHARMA Initiative on the island
    • After seeing Season 5 Episode 3 "Jughead" and thus believing that Ellie is Eloise Hawking, it makes sense that she would use computers like the ones on the island

  • Ms. Hawking's first name is revealed: Eloise Hawking
    • She's definitely Dan's mom! Eloise is the the name of Dan's rat!

Season 5 Premiere - my notes while listening to LOSTCasts:
  • Miles seems to have found the dead boar because of his psychic ability to communicate with the dead

  • Daniel Faraday in the cave at the beginning of Season 5 Episode 1 could have been Dan from the present (or rather very near future, like in an upcoming episode) who went to that area of the island to investigate

  • In a Season 3 DVD extra, Damon Lindelof said Ms. Hawking was like a "temporal policeman" (which in other words means a "time cop"). I looked up the rest of the quote and found it on Lostpedia: Ms. Hawking "is a temporal policeman in place to make sure every person gets to the island that is supposed to."


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