Thursday, January 31, 2008

Questions (And Answers?) From the First 3 Seasons of LOST in Preparation

Preparation for the 4th Season Premiere!

After 9 long months of waiting, the time has finally arrived, the return of my beloved LOST!!!!

The last 3 weeks, I've rewatched every episode of Seasons 1-3 and took note of the questions that still wait to be answered.  After each of the pertinent questions (in my opinion, there could be more that others feel are pertinent, feel free to let me know if you can think of any) I'll jot down a theory or two if I have one for what answers might lie ahead for us at that mysterious Island.

-The question from the very first episode that has yet to be fully answered is... What exactly is the Smoke Monster? Leading to follow up questions of... How did it come to be? and... Is it alive or a creation?

My thoughts are that it is more than just a security system for the Island, it is how the Island is able to manifest itself.  I also think that every time that we see people or things that aren't supposed to be there, they are created and given substance by the same thing that is the Smoke Monster.  For instance, Dr. Jack's dad in Season 1, Kate's horse in Season 2, Hurley's imaginary friend Dave in Season 2, Walt throughout Season 2 and 3, and possibly even Locke's dad in Season 3.

-Where is Dr. Christian Shepard's body?

The reason that I think that this is pertinent is that in the Season 3 finale "Flash-Forward", Dr. Jack challenges the new Head of Surgery to head upstairs and bring down Dr. Jack's daddy, who is, by that time, supposedly dead.  Now, if you've read my review/theory from right after the Season 3 finale, you  know my answer to that quandary, but the point remains that when Dr. Jack follows his father into the Jungle in Season 1 and discovers his casket at the Caves, there is no body inside.  Where is that body?

-Speaking of the Caves, who are Adam & Eve? (the skeletons found in the caves, named so by Locke)

My theory is that the skeletons are Jack and Kate.  I base this solely on the fact that when Kate decides not to head to the Caves with the people following Dr. Jack she says it is because, "I don't want to be Eve."  I'd just like that to be a mighty fine piece of foreshadowing.  And, since I've theorized since the end of Season 3 that some sort of Time Travel would be involved, this could be a possibility.

-What exactly is going on with Libby?

This is something that I feel has to be answered.  In season 2, Libby never got a flashback of her own, but appeared in quite a few of other peoples.  She gave Desmond the boat that landed him on the Island, and was also for some reason in the same mental institution as Hurley.  I want to know why.

-How did Dharma drop a food pallet at the Island, and why?


We saw in the Flame station a folder entitled "Food Drop Protocol" but Sayid didn't look through it, thanks Sayid, and ultimately Locke blew the damn thing up, so unless Sayid took it with him, I'm not sure how we'll find out, but it's important to me.  After all, I'm sure Dharma has been wanting to relocate the Island since the Purge, so assuming that they couldn't thanks to Benry Gale's control of the Looking Glass station, how could they drop food?  My answer, the Island allowed it to screw with Hurley's head.  That's all I have anyway.

-While Kate and Sawyer were held prisoner by the Others to start Season 3, they were breaking and hauling rocks, Juliet later said it was for a runway.  What is this runway for?

I have no idea at all.  Could be anything.

-What is up with the 4 toed statue?

Again, could be anything, but I expect it to be important, and probably bear on the origin of the Island's firstmost inhabitants, who Dharma referred to as the Hostiles.

-Who is the person that Sarah left Dr. Jack for?

Throughout the episode about Dr. Jack's divorce, we saw him trying to discover this very thing, but he was never able to.  This means that the answer is going to play some role in the series, although at this time I have no theories on what that role is or who he (or she?) might be.

-Widmore Labs, Paik Industries, Hanso Foundation, and Dharma, what do these corporations have in common?

Or, also likely, are they somehow at odds or in competition with each other?

-How did Richard arrange for Juliet's ex-husband to get hit by a bus?

If it was the Island... How far does the Island's ability to interact with things reach?

-What is up with Ms. Hawking, the old lady who told Desmond he had to go to the Island and push the button?

We know that Desmond actually did travel through time after turning the fail safe key in the Season 2 finale thanks to the Creators (which adds to my time travel theory), so my guess is this woman has the ability as well, perhaps due to the previous "Incident" which led to the need for the button in the first place.  Interestingly, of course, is the fact that Ms. Hawking is also seen in Desmond's next flashback episode in a picture on the Monk's desk who fires Desmond ("I didn't know that Monks could be fired")

-How did Locke's dad get to the Island?

Easiest answer, he didn't, it was the same technology that makes up the Smoke Monster.

-What did Locke stop to investigate on the way to see Jacob?

Benry Gale are taking.  Benry Gale tells him they need to keep moving, and Locke reluctantly leaves the stuff behind.  It is a short moment that passed me by the first time I saw the episode, but it stood out this time.

-When Benry Gale kills his father as well as most of the rest of Dharma, how did he and the Hostiles plan the execution of the Purge?

In other words, what happens between young Benry Gale meeting long haired Richard in the Jungle to older Benry Gale executing the Purge.

-What happened to Annie, the young girl who befriends young Benry Gale?

A far out there theory, it's Kate's mother.  Think about it, Diane is close to Annie, and Kate's first known alias was Annie.  Plus, Benry has a strange fascination with Kate, giving her the dress and providing the nice breakfast.  Yeah, it's out there, but I think that it's a possibility.

-Why does Richard not appear to age?

Is this something to do with him being an actual native of the Island?  Maybe he is outside of time somehow.  That could be possible, considering the Island seems to be outside of time somehow.

-Who else is actually from the Island?

Benry claimed to be, but this was just another lie, but surely Richard isn't the only one, so who else?

-Who (or what) is Jacob?

My guess, the personification of the Island.

-What happens to Locke after losing his legs to working at Hurley's box company for Hurley's old boss?

Maybe not that important, but I'm curious.

-How do dead people appear on the Island?

Benry Gale sees and talks to his dead mother, Dr. Jack sees his dead father, Locke's dad claims he was in a car accident before appearing on the Island, I still think that maybe the Smoke Monster has something to do with all of this.

-Where is and what is the Temple?

Benry Gale when heading to cut off the Losties tells Richard to take the rest of the Others on to "the Temple".

-Who are the rescuers really and what are they here for?

Though Naomi claimed they were with Widmore, and looking for Desmond, Penny herself has said this isn't true, leading me to think that they are really Dharma returned.

-How do they know Desmond and how do they have his and Penny's picture?

If Dharma is in competition with Widmore, perhaps they have learned that Penny is searching for the Island as well as why she is searching and through some sort of corporate espionage learned of Desmond.

-The biggie from the Season 3 finale, whose funeral is it that Dr. Jack goes to alone?

Many theories on this point, mine is that it is Sawyer.  I'm sticking with that because it has to be someone that Dr. Jack would answer "neither" to on the question of Friend or Family, which I think would be a short list.  Plus it has to be someone that Dr. Jack would assume that Kate would be going, seeing as he went at least in part (if not solely) to see Kate, but still someone that Kate wouldn't want to see.  Kate and Sawyer are somewhat together when the Losties are rescued, but there is major foreshadowing of a falling out, maybe a falling out that Dr. Jack was unaware of, meaning he'd think Kate would come, whereas she knows she had no intention of going.  We'll have a better idea of who this might be when we find out who exactly gets off the Island (which according to the Star-Telegram will be tonight, my guess is through another "Flash Forward")

-Who is it that Kate has to get back to?

I'll get to that when I go over my overall theory.

-What does Dr. Jack mean by "I'm sick of lying?"

Again I'll get to this in my overall theory.

-And finally, what happened to Michael and Walt?

Don't know, but they're back this year, from what I understand.

OVERALL THEORY

I've stated a lot of this previously, (in my Season 3 finale blog), but I'm feeling pretty good about it, although that could all change after tonight.

I think that the Island is either in an alternate dimension or outside of our space/time somehow.  Time here is different than time there.  In order to get back, Dr. Jack, Kate, and a few select others have to go back to a point in there lives when they made decisions leading to their ending up on the plane.  Similar to Desmond's experience of traveling back and having the possibility of changing things (i.e. actually ending up with Penny), the people who leave the Island will be sent back with the ability to change their own past.  Dr. Jack would decide not to turn in his father, meaning that Christian didn't lose his license, didn't drink himself to death in Sydney, and therefore, Dr. Jack never went to bring his body back, meaning that he wasn't on Oceanic Flight 815.  Kate would refrain from blowing up her step-father/real father, meaning that she was never a fugitive, and wasn't caught in Sydney and put on the plane back to LA (flight 815).  John Locke has always said that they were all there for a reason.  Therefore it stands to reason if they weren't all on the plane, it wouldn't have crashed in the first place.  This would explain to things in the Season Finale, one, why Dr. Jack references his (supposedly) dead father, and two, who Kate has to return to, her step-father/real father, who seemed to me to be the controlling type.  It also would answer what Jack is "tired" of lying about, the experience that they had on the Island that none of the rest of the world is aware of.

Ah, but Josh Man, why then would Oceanic give them this "Gold Pass"?

Good question, because the rescuers, who I believe to be Dharma, and knows the secret to keep the plane crash from happening is also the people in charge of Oceanic.  Part of the price in keeping them quiet is that they get free flights to where ever they want, when ever they want.

And why would Dr. Jack agree to leaving lots of people on the Island when he says repeatedly that he is going to get "everyone" off of the Island?  I can't see him agreeing to that.  If however, his leaving the Island with a few select people means that the crash never happens, then he IS saving everyone, including those who have died on the Island, (Ana Lucia, Libby, Eko, Shannon, Boone, and the great Charlie Pace among them).  That I could see him agreeing to.

But why is he so depressed and adamant about returning to the Island?  I think that he has used the Golden Pass to visit those he knew on the Island, but who have no memory of the crash or of Dr. Jack.  And he has seen how horrible their lives are, and that the Island was actually good for them.  Rose would be dead from cancer, Locke would be crippled physically and emotionally by his father, Charlie would be alive, sure, but would also be a drug addict with no memory of Claire and no hope of being the hero he so longed to be, Boone and Shannon would still have the strained relationship of lust verses family, and on and on.  Dr. Jack would come to realize that he isn't a hero, but instead has damned these people to a hell far worse than the Island ever was.

So, with three seasons and 48 episodes to go, how does this play out?

I think that Season 4 is going to consist of both more "Flash Forwards" as well as the traditional Flash Backs bringing us up to speed on the Island and its (Jacob's) fight to keep the Losties from escaping.

Season 5 will be where we actually see the consequences of that escape, and Dr. Jack uses his Golden Pass to visit those whose lives are far worse then they were on the Island.

Season 6 will be when Dr. Jack hatches his ingenious plan to truly rescue the Losties and return them to the Island that they never should have left.

At least, that's what I think.  We'll continue our journey towards the truth starting tonight, and I for one, can't wait.

Until Next Time, I'm sure after a couple of viewings I'll let you know my thoughts on Season 4's premiere.

Wednesday, January 23, 2008

First Oscar Thoughts and the Heath Ledger News

What a shocking news story from yesterday.  I doubt that I'd call myself a Heath Ledger fan, although I thought he was very good in Brokeback Mountain.  I joked about him getting the role as Joker, but was coming around on it as I heard reports from set and saw the first pictures.  Apparently he had a very dark take on the iconic character, and it might have played a role in his death.  There was a story from a couple of weeks ago where he talked about how he was having a hard time with the character and had only been able to sleep a couple of hours a night since wrapping up the role.  That story leads me to believe that his death was accidental stemming from an overdose on sleeping pills.  It's a shame that he would die at such a young age (ah, I remember 28.  Like it was only two years ago) and obviously could have brought so many more roles to life.  My thoughts and prayers go out to his friends and family, and especially his two year old daughter.

This news on the "Entertainment" front totally overshadowed the release of the Oscar nominations, and rightfully so.  Much later, I'll do my prediction post as well as my 2007 Top Ten and Honorable mentions, but I do have a couple quick thoughts.

This is probably one of the most wide open Best Picture races in years.  Only Juno doesn't really have much chance.  There Will Be Blood and No Country for Old Men both had the most nominations (8), while Atonement and Michael Clayton each had 7.  No clear cut favorite at this point, although of these four, I feel Michael Clayton is the least likely, considering two of the films have more nominations, and Atonement already has some wins under its belt.

The most surprising thing to me is there isn't a single nomination for one of the year's best (if not the best) films, David Fincher's Zodiac.  Even Norbit got a nomination for goodness sake.

The last preliminary thought I had after seeing the nominations is that Original Song has gotten a little pointless.  For the last few years, one movie has provided at least three of the five nominated songs.  I think they should probably limit this to just three nominations, and have a rule only allowing one entry per movie.  That would serve to shorten the Oscar telecast (something they are always looking to do) as well as make the category a little more suspenseful.  (Plus, my regular readers know that this is always my least favorite part of the Oscars, and I'm somewhat of a songwriter myself, I just hate what this category has become.)  At least they went back to the original artists performing the music as opposed to the one year when Beyonce sang them all.  Painful.

Until Next Time, the return of LOST is just over a week away, and I can't wait.