LOST Ab Aerterno, first thoughts

Looks like my thoughts from last week gained some traction this week.

We'll start there after this epic, epic episode.

Perhaps Jughead does play a role in the split, but I maintain that the split doesn't happen unless Jacob is dead. Remember, Jughead didn't go off until after Jacob was killed.

Jacob tells Richard that the Island is a cork keeping evil inside. When Jacob gives the bottle to Esau/The Man in Black, Esau doesn't remove the cork to free the wine that represents himself (and interesting that wine is used to represent him, considering that wine in Christianity represents the blood of Christ), but instead breaks the bottle. Making Jacob the bottle in this analogy.

The Island is the cork, but Jacob is the bottle, and Esau frees himself by destroying the bottle, by killing Jacob.

The implications of this is rather huge.

At the end of the episode, Hurley tells Richard that his wife said one more thing. "You have to stop the Man in Black. Stop him from leaving the Island. Cause if you don't... We all go to Hell."

My friend Kristen tweeted a few things during the episode that I found interesting, especially since I was in class and had no idea what she was referencing. Well, I felt pretty good about the last thing she tweeted as the show was ending and as I was on my way home to watch it...

"OMGOMGOMGOMGOMGOMGOMGOMGOMGOMG #LOST"

But what interested me was this tweet...

"I'm gonna be REALLY ticked off if #LOST is going where it seems to be going...."

As soon as the episode ended, I called her to see if what I assumed she meant from that tweet (not knowing exactly where it occurred within the episode) was what she meant from that tweet.

It was.

She sent it after Esau told Richard that they were in Hell and that he was dead, confirming what Richard believed he had been told by his deceased wife.

Of course, the episode continued, presumably moving on from this explanation (which at this point would seem unfair), and Kristen would be able to send her OMGOMG tweet.

Now, here's the thing.

I think that this explanation is actually a true one.

I think that the show with this line actually gave us an answer.

Yep.

Just not for the Island.

I think that the answer provided is for the LA X Timeline, for the Flash Sideways world.

If LA X is of a world without Jacob, a world where the cork is at the bottom of the ocean, then it is a world where the evil has escaped into the real world. It is, as Hurley described it, Hell.

So, while many people have been theorizing that Sideways World, LA X Timeline, is an epilogue post-Island, I now say to them that I believe it is the exact opposite. It is Hell, that which our LOSTies must try to avoid, try to keep from becoming the true reality. That is what the show is now about, keeping the cork in the bottle, keeping the monster trapped on the Island.

OMGOMGOMGOMGOMGOMGOMGOMGOMGOMGOMGOMGOM as my friend Kristen would say.

There is more to get to from this episode.

We got some answers,specifically how and why Richard was brought to the Island, how the Statue was destroyed, and how the Black Rock got to the middle of the Island (which by the way was waaaaaay simpler than I think anyone theorized, and while some people might be disappointed by that, I think it is pretty funny, good job LOST).

There was some interesting Smokey stuff in this episode as well, and even though we know a whole hell of a lot more about Ol' Smokey than we did prior to this season, it seems to me that Darlton are holding to their promise that we will learn something new each and every time Smokey makes an appearance. I now think that it is safe to say that dead people appearing to their loved ones on the Island when they aren't really on the Island are definitively courtesy of Smokey.

When Smokey does his whole Photography Flash thing, he is somehow getting into the mind of the person he's flashing so that he is able to project back to them someone from their past.

I will reference Eko and Smokey presenting him with his brother Yemi after Eko confronted the Smoke Monster earlier without getting killed.

Pretty much the exact same thing happens in this episode to Richard.

There are more similarities as well. Eko felt guilt for Yemi's death, Richard felt guilt for Isabella's. I think that that is important for a few reasons.

One, the show is clearly on some level about redemption. I don't think anyone would argue that redemption is not an important theme in the show.

Jacob and Richard have a talk about redemption. When Richard is offered the job, Jacob asks what he wants, he says he wants his wife back, Jacob says he can't do that, then he asks if he can be forgiven of his sins so that when he dies he doesn't go to hell, Jacob says he can't do that either.

But just before this part of the conversation, Jacob has something else to say about redemption. He says that he brings people here because Esau "believes that everyone is corruptible because it is in their very nature to sin. I bring people here to prove him wrong. And when I bring them here... their past doesn't matter."

Although Richard doesn't hear it, Jacob is saying that regardless of what sin occurs, or has occurred in the past, he believes that people are capable and ready to do what is right, "to help themselves, to know the difference between right and wrong without me having to tell them". Why should Jacob have to step in? In other words, Jacob is saying that he has given humanity the access to free will, in order for them to prove Esau wrong, he believes that they should do it without his interference.

Later, of course, we see Jacob taking a slightly different path. He still is big on free will, but he definitely does some stepping in.

However, he never does so with coercive power.

I'm not sure how many of my readers are familiar with Alfred North Whitehead and Process Theology, and it might just be because we spent a majority of my Kazantzakis class tonight discussing Whitehead and Process Thought, but it seems to me that Jacob is definitely in the mold of the Process view of God. There is also a lot of other stuff going on, including a very Dualistic thing happening, that whole Good and Evil aspect which doesn't really fit with Process Theology or most modern Christian theology at all, but as for the core of who Jacob is and how he acts, I think that Process Theology might have some interesting things to say.

Process thought in a nutshell is responding to and arguing against the idea of God as the Unmoved Mover, the idea put forth famously by Aristotle, the idea that God causes motion and change, but is unmoved and unchanged by anything.

In Process thought, God is very present with us, God changes with us, God is active with us.

However, God is not the omnipotent God of classical theism. Alfred North Whitehead says in his book Process and Reality that God does not have coercive power, but instead has persuasive power.

Whitehead explains the issue of our understanding of God’s power as being related to the power of Caesar. “When the Western world accepted Christianity, Caesar conquered; and the received text of Western theology was edited by his lawyers.” Whitehead argues, “The Church gave unto God the attributes which belonged exclusively to Caesar.” Because Caesar’s unlimited power was of a coercive nature, the belief became that God’s power must also be coercive, and unlimitedly so. However, Whitehead argues that this is incongruent with God. Instead, God's power is persuasive.

So, we've seen Jacob change, like the God of Process thought, and we've seen Jacob persuade those he has chosen as opposed to forcing them to follow through with his plans, and he has repeatedly talked about his belief in the free will of those that he has chosen.

What I guess I'm saying is that I am now fully on board with Jacob being the God-type character of the show. What his having been killed says about that... well, in this post I've already quoted Whitehead, I suppose we'll leave Nietzsche for another time.

What is interesting, however, is how Richard falls into this. Jacob and Richard in their talk discuss how Jacob doesn't want to step in to which Richard replies that Esau therefore will. Jacob asks Richard to do that for him, be his representative to Jacob's chosen people. If Jacob in this scenario is God, does that make Richard the Jesus-type?

I certainly think that that argument can be made.

After all, Jacob literally baptizes Richard just before this discussion, he says that he is unable to redeem people of their sins perhaps intimating that Richard will be able to do that in Jacob's place, and then he gifts Jacob with everlasting life.

Seems like a fit to me.

I don't think that LOST is strictly, however, a Christian show. I think that there are a lot of Christian themes throughout the show, but there are also a lot of Hindu, Buddhist, and classic mythic themes being played out as well (including a lot of the Egyptian myth, such as the statue, the hieroglyphics, and Richard's home, the Canary Islands, named after the original inhabitants who worshiped dogs and mummified them, something that has distinct ties to the Egyptian god with a dog's head, Anubis, the Egyptian god of the afterlife, who was replaced by Osiris, and if power struggles between leaders of a place that is often tied to the afterlife isn't LOSTian, I don't know what is). The point is that there is a lot more than just Christian themes going on here, so I don't think that we can take the Jacob is God and Richard is Jesus comparison too far, but I definitely think that the show wants to make the case that those archetypes work for Jacob and Richard at least to some extent.

Another thing that really struck me about this episode is the fact that it greatly resembles the Darren Aronofsky film The Fountain. You probably know Darren Aronofsky from the films The Wrestler or Requiem for a Dream or maybe even Pi (which also has a lot of themes in common with LOST), but chances are good you haven't seen or even heard of The Fountain which is a shame, because it is one of my favorite movies of all time.

Without giving too much away, The Fountain is about a character named Thomas (played by Hugh Jackman) and his wife Isabel (yes, Isabel, played in the movie by Rachel Weisz who bears a bit of a resemblance to Mirelle Taylor who plays Isabella in this episode). In the movie, the two characters are together in three distinct time periods, the year 1500, the year 2000, and the year 2500. In 1500, the characters are (like Richard and Isabella) in Spain. In the year 2000, Isabel is dying and Thomas is trying with all his might to cure her (like Richard and Isabella). And in 2500, Thomas is attempting to reunite himself with Isabel and has found a way to have everlasting life (like Richard, still searching for Isabella). It is too big a coincidence to ignore, so I will share with you the themes of the film and let you make of that what you will.

The idea of the movie is that death is an important part of life. That ultimately it is death that makes us as humans special. Jackman said of the movie, "The moment Adam and Eve ate of the tree of knowledge, of good and evil, humans started to experience life as we all experience it now, which is life and death, poor and wealthy, pain and pleasure, good and evil. We live in a world of duality. Husband, wife, we relate everything. And much of our lives are spent not wanting to die, be poor, experience pain. It's what the movie's about." The same could be argued about LOST.

Aronofsky says of the film, "If [Adam and Eve] had drank from the tree of life [instead of the tree of knowledge] what would have separated them from their maker? So what makes us human is actually death. It's what makes us special."

Pretty interesting stuff when you compare it LOST. And anyway, it is a fantastic film and very worth seeing if you haven't seen it before.

One last point that I'd like to make, although you probably noticed it yourself, when Esau sent Richard to kill Jacob, he did so with the exact words and actions that Dogen used when he sent Sayid to kill Esau. Interesting.

Until Next Time, thanks for sticking with me through this massive post. I wonder what we're all going to do when LOST ends? Probably better not to think about it.

LOST What Horselover Fat, Kilgore Trout, Stephen King, and the LOSTies Have in Common

Last season, in Eggtown, Locke gave the imprisoned Benry a book from Benry's own bookshelf to read.  It was Valis by author Philip K. Dick.

In the book, the main character named Philip and his alter ego named Horselover Fat (in Greek Philippos means "lover of horses" and the German word for Fat is Dick, so while in the book, the main characters are ultimately the same person, they are also both the Author) talk about the ability to travel through time without leaving your body.  Fat describes this as remembering the past and future.  His claim is that everyone is born with the DNA of those who came before and those who will come after combined inside of them, therefore you just have to access their memories in order to see scenes from the past or future, in essence traveling through time without your body leaving.

This is very similar to what Desmond does in the episodes "Flashes Before Your Eyes" and "The Constant".

The episode "The Constant" actually has Desmond's present day consciousness traveling back and forth in his own timeline.  While this is, in part, a clear nod to the Series Finale of Star Trek: The Next Generation (or TNG as those of us in the know call it) it is also very similar to the novel Slaughterhouse Five by Kurt Vonnegut.

In Slaughterhouse Five, the main character is Billy Pilgrim who is unstuck in time.  His consciousness travels without regard to any linear constraints.  While he doesn't suffer the same lethal side effects that bother Desmond and Minkowski in the episode, the rest is exactly the same.  Desmond is (like Picard in the TNG finale and Pilgrim in Slaughterhouse Five) unstuck from time.

Another character in Slaughterhouse Five (and indeed in many of Vonnegut's books) is Kilgore Trout.  Kilgore Trout is often considered to be Vonnegut's alter-ego in the books that he writes, placing himself in the story that he's creating.

Because of this, last season, I hypothesized that one of the main characters was the "Author of the Situation" that everyone found themselves in.  This is still a very valid argument with strong cases to be made for Benry Gale and Charles Widmore.

But what does that have to do with what is happening this season?  After all, the time traveling going on at the Island now isn't like the time travel discussed by Horselover Fat or witnessed by Kilgore Trout, this is actual time travel.

As the LOSTies are moving about the Island they are traveling to different time periods.

When put like that, it isn't too different from The Dark Tower series written by Stephen King (a series that the creators have claimed, along with the author's The Stand, was a major inspiration for LOST).  In The Dark Tower series, the main characters travel and as they do so they move from one reality to another.  For those familiar with current time travel theory in physics, multiple (or sometimes referred to as parallel or alternate) dimensions plays a huge part in making time travel theoretically possible.  So traveling through multiple realities (or dimensions) in The Dark Tower series is similar to traveling through time in the mind of current scientific thought.  (Actually, it is exactly the same thing.  As, in reality, time is not linear as we picture it and react to it, it is hypothesized that perhaps traveling to a different time would in actuality be traveling to that time in a different dimension, which in turn would solve all of those pesky paradoxes popularized by films such as Back To the Future.)  Now I agree that what is happening on LOST right now is not anything to do with alternate dimensions, they are clearly traveling in their own timeline, but what occurs in The Dark Tower isn't exactly time travel.  The point is that there are similarities to both and the creators have said that The Dark Tower is an inspiration for the show.

So, what does that mean?

Well, in the series, one of the characters, who is instrumental in saving the Dark Tower, is none other then Stephen King.  That's right, the author puts himself into the series.  Even more directly then Philip K. Dick or Kurt Vonnegut did.  Alternatively, there was an unfinished book by C.S. Lewis as well entitled The Dark Tower.  It was the first attempt at the second book in his science fiction trilogy, but was abandoned and Lewis instead wrote Perelanda.  Both Perelanda and the unfinished The Dark Tower have a fictionalized Lewis as the narrator.  In other words, he has like King, Dick, and Vonnegut, placed himself in the story.  What is even more interesting, of course, is the fact that Charlotte on LOST is named Charlotte Staples Lewis, a clear reference to Clive Staples Lewis better known as C.S. Lewis.  Also, by the way, the unfinished book The Dark Tower is about interdimensional travel.

While I believe that the show has a character or characters that has "Authored" the entire situation (Benry and/or Widmore, I'm leaning towards the and) that are heroes are embroiled in, I also believe that our heroes themselves have the opportunity to be the "Author of Their Own Situations" as well.  In fact, a couple of them already have.  While traveling through time, the LOSTies have the chance to write the future (their own past). 

They have the ability to be the cause of events that have already taken place.



Going forward, this is going to be something I watch for in the other LOSTies, to see what effects they have while in the past on the future (and therefore their own pasts).

Until Next Time, are there any other instances of this that you have noticed and will being the Author of their Own Situation be able to save them from the disease that is now affecting Charlotte Staples Lewis, Miles Straum, and Juliet?

LOST Season 4 Finale theories and predictions

I'm so excited right now, I can barely type.  Seriously, if you could read what I was actually writing without going back and fixing it, you would think that perhaps I had invented some strange language that no one but myself can read.

Tonight is the two hour conclusion of the Season 4 Finale for my favorite network television show, LOST!!!!!

So, what will we learn in this upcoming episode?

Well...

1. How the Oceanic 6 get off of the Island

2. Who is in the coffin from last season's finale.

Those for sure.  What we might also learn...

3. Why there is a cover story for the O6.

4. How does the Island move.

First off, the O6 and their imminent escape.  Two of the O6 (I decided to shorten it for the rest of the post, less chance of me screwing it up and having to backtrack to fix it that way, still too excited to type) are currently on the freighter, the rest are headed towards (or are already at, Hugo) the Orchid Station.

Somehow we have to get the two groups together.  This bodes well for the lives of Jin and Desmond in my opinion, since we know that Sun and Aaron, will live, I don't see the freighter exploding.

The man in the coffin...  For some time now, I have been convinced that it is Michael.  I see no reason to go away from that now.  The funeral home where the viewing is to take place is in an African American neighborhood. The newspaper clipping that Dr. Jack reads in last year's season finale gives a partially readable name that we have never heard before, and of all of our characters, only Michael/Kevin and Henry/Ben have had multiple names, Benry seems to be more important to the overall mythology of the story line (with his promise to kill Penny and all) therefore pointing this clue straight at Michael as well.  According to the Fuselage this is what the newspaper clipping says...

"The body of John Lantham of New York was found shortly after 4 am in the 4300 block of Grand Avenue.  Ted Worden, a doorman at the Tower Lofts complex, heard loud noises coming from the victim's loft.  Concerned for tenants' safety, he entered the loft and found the body hanging from a beam in the living room.  According to Jaime Ortiz, a police spokesman, the incident was deemed a suicide after medical tests. Latham (sic) is survived by one teenage son.   Memorial services will be held at the Hoffs-Drawlar Funeral Home tomorrow evening."

One, Michael is from New York, two, he has a teenage son, three, he's been trying to kill himself for some time now, maybe the Island is finally done with him at this point, allowing him to succeed.

I can't guarantee that the quote is what the newspaper clipping said had we been able to read it in full, but it matches up with the parts that we could read from Through the Looking Glass.

So, why is there a cover story?  My theory is that ultimately the freighter folk will be the rescuers, meaning that Widmore will be "responsible" for rescuing the O6.  I think that he owns (or has some control over) Oceanic and therefore in order to keep anyone else from looking for the Island sets up the story that Dr. Jack and his companions pretend is the truth.  Due to the "moving" of the Island, everyone else appears to be unfindable anyway, so the O6 go ahead with this plan, figuring the truth is too hard to have to try and explain anyway.

But how does the Island move?  The popular theory is "in time", but I'm not buying it.  The properties of the Island would still be there for Widmore (or any other shady figures for that matter) to find and exploit, just without the Hostiles/Others and remaining castaways there to kill.  Moving the Island in time doesn't satisfy what the Island would want, and that's protecting the Island.  I don't think it cares as much about anyone who happens to be there.

I believe that the Island is in another dimension and is accessible through various wormhole type openings, one of which is in the ocean where the freighter is positioned.  Moving the Island means closing off the wormhole or moving the Island's access point to that wormhole.  Of course that will still leave the wormholes that connect to the Arctic (explaining the Dharma parka or Dharka that Benry wears in his latest episode as well as his rush of cold breath, ohh, and Polar Bears too) and to the Tunisian desert.

I guess we'll find out tonight.

Until Next Time, I'll see you after the episode with my first thoughts.

LOST Season Finale theories and predictions

"He told me to move the Island" -John Locke So, what exactly does that mean? There's a couple of theories on this. One, it could mean move the Island in time.  This seems to be a popular theory online and amongst some of my friends, and being a sucker for all things time travel, I like it myself, but that can't be all of it. Krazy Keamy has threatened to torch the Island.  Even if John moves all of the Others to another time on the Island, the Island itself will still be there to torch and Krazy Keamy wants more then Benry Gale now, he's pissed at the Island because of our old friend Smokey. I've always thought that the Island isn't really in our reality. I've always believed that it is actually in a separate dimension from ours. As I pointed out last week, the time differential isn't stable or predictable.  Sometimes it's earlier on the Island then it is off of the Island, sometimes its vice versa. I think that is because the Island is in a completely different universe. However, it is accessible through certain wormholes, including one in the ocean that the freighter is currently in supposedly offshore.  If, however, the Island were moved... meaning, in my opinion, that the Island would be closed off from those particular wormholes, then the freighter would just be sitting in the ocean away from any land base whatsoever. Here's what we know. Dr. Jack was thrown a sat phone from the helicopter.  It was from Frank, but he probably thinks it was from Sayid or Desmond.  He knows that the freighter folk are dangerous so he'll be tracking them secretly, hoping to take down anyone dangerous. The helicopter is heading towards wherever it is that Benry Gale will be next, thanks to intel from Widmore given to Krazy Keamy. That means that Benry Gale, Locke, and Hurley will be met by the helicopter and Dr. Jack. Meanwhile back at the beach, Sayid will arrive in the boat to start ferrying survivors back there. Now to the theories. Sawyer will arrive with Miles and Aaron to the beach and will have Kate and Aaron head for the freighter while he goes back to look for Claire (despite the fact that she's dead).  Jin will make sure that Sun is on the transport as well.  It's a small boat, so Sayid's first load will be himself, Kate, Sun, and Aaron. Meanwhile, Locke, Benry, Hurley, and Dr. Jack with the help of Frank (and we can only hope, Smokey) will overpower Krazy Keamy.  Frank will take Dr. Jack and Hurley back with him to the freighter, leaving John able to move the Island. When Frank and Sayid head back to the Island in their two transports, Locke will already have closed the wormhole and they will be unable to locate it, meaning the only people to get off will be Dr. Jack, Sayid, Kate, Sun, Hurley, and Aaron, aka the Oceanic 6. Everyone else will still be alive (except Claire, because I'm fairly certain that she's been dead for a few episodes already), but still on the Island. Now, I want to leave you with some more thoughts on last weeks episode. Benry Gale's mother's name, Emily Linus. John Locke's mother's name, Emily Locke. Both were born 3 months premature. Their mother's first words after their births was "Name him...." Both have a strong connection to the Island and people connected to the Island were at each of their sides shortly after their birth. Benry appears to have been born in the early 60's whereas Locke was born in the late 50's. Let's call it about 5 years difference. So, about the time that Richard Alpert tested Locke and failed him for choosing the "Walkabout John" method of reaching the Island, Benry Gale was born. The Island tried at least one more time to recruit John to the Island through Alpert (using Mittelos Labs), but again John refused, perhaps subconsciously sticking with the "Walkabout John" plan.  About that time, Horace Goodspeed got his friend Roger "Workman" Linus a job with the Dharma Institute on the Island, causing him to bring little Benry. So, what does this all mean? Clearly, the Island wanted John Locke as its Leader and Liaison all along, but settled for its backup plan (Benry Gale, substitute leader of the Others) until Locke arrived. The second that Locke arrived, the Island didn't need Benry Gale anymore.  (Thank you very much for your service, we'll mail you your last check).  Immediately he lost his ability to speak to (or in fact even see) Jacob, he stopped having the dreams ("I used to have the dreams, John", said Benry Gale), and worst of all, the Island made him sick, giving him cancer in a place where, as Rose pointed out, you don't get sick, you get better. Seems like the Island has no need for Benry Gale to me.  Looks more like it was tossing him out like old garbage. I don't know about you, but I doubt that Benry's going to take this lying down.  If Locke is out of the way, Benry, the substitute, is necessary once again. I'd watch my back, Locke, if I were you. Until Next Time, part one of the three hour finale will air tonight.  Unfortunately next week will be a LOSTless Thursday, but then we'll be treated to a two hour finale on the Thursday after that.  See you after the show with my first thoughts.

LOST Theories on Claire

I've been saying since the episode of Eggtown that Claire had to die, one prevalent theory now is that she already has.

Two episodes ago, Claire's bungalow was blown to smithereens by the mercenaries.  Some argue (and the argument is a good one) that she actually died in that explosion, and the "Claire" that Sawyer rescued from the wreckage was actually her ghost (much like the ghost that Dr. Jack has seen of his father, or that Hurley has seen of Charlie in his flash forward).

It would explain the fascination that Miles seemed to have last week regarding Claire, as he is clearly drawn to the dead, but this vision of a substantial ghost able to walk, talk, and hold a live baby, is different then any ghost he's seen or communicated with before causing him to be unsure of exactly what is going on, but knowing that something is, so he keeps a close eye on her trying to figure it out, causing Sawyer to institute his 25 ft rule.

At one point, Miles tries to touch Claire, offering to help her navigate a trail, but is stopped by Sawyer, I think it is because there is something about her that has drawn the interest of his "ghost-sense" and he felt he might be able to understand it more clearly if he touched her.

We now know that the ghosts can hold babies, as we saw Dr. Daddy holding his grandson before he took Claire with him.  If she's dead but doesn't know it, that could be what Dr. Daddy has come to explain to her.
The other possibility is that she isn't dead, and in fact won't die at all.  The reason that she isn't with Aaron as one of the Oceanic 6 is that she is still missing when the "rescue" happens.  This could also explain why
Sawyer isn't off the Island, because he refuses to go without her.

Miles could still be interested in her, because he sees something about her that has drawn Dr. Daddy to take her away, some affiliation she now has with the Island due to her near death experience in the bungalow.

My feeling is that one of these will be true, meaning that either Claire isn't going to die or that she already did.

Until Next Time, hopefully we'll finally find out a little more about Jacob tonight, and I wonder if Locke's flashes will be your typical flashback or if we might get the first ever flash forward not involving the Oceanic 6.

LOST Eggtown reveal discussed some more and other LOST thoughts

I've already stated that I wasn't a big fan of the episode Eggtown (especially considering how great The Economist was the week before and the fact that I believe The Constant the week after was the best LOST episode ever), but I suppose we need to take a look at the ramifications of the supposed shocker ending as was brought up to me by a friend in response to my last LOST post.

Back in season 1, in the episode "Raised By Another", Claire was told by the psychic Richard Malkin that she had to raise the baby herself because her goodness must influence the baby.  She refuses to listen, but finally decides to take his advice when he apparently has changed his mind and tells her there is a couple in Los Angeles who can care for the as yet unnamed Aaron.  She is given a ticket on Oceanic Flight 815 and told that it can be no other flight.  Claire wonders at the end of the episode (as do we) whether the psychic knew that the flight would crash and she would be forced to raise the baby herself.

However, in the season 2 episode, "?", Eko is researching a supposed miracle involving the daughter of Richard Malkin.  During Eko's investigation, Malkin admits to Eko that he is a fraud and not a genuine psychic.

So, which are we to believe?  Is Richard Malkin a psychic as reported in Claire's flashback of him or a fraud as reported in Eko's flashback?

I think that this is an important question, because if he is a psychic, and was therefore correct in asserting that Claire needed to raise Aaron, then we have a serious problem in the future considering that Aaron is being raised by another, Kate.  Especially if it is imperative that Claire's goodness influence Aaron.  While I like Kate, I don't think you could make the argument that she has the same inherent goodness as Claire.  Sure, she's had reasons for doing the things that she's done, and I wouldn't consider her evil, but she has committed evil deeds, and therefore, I doubt she fits the bill for the inherent goodness necessary in raising Aaron.

Things we've learned since then actually support the idea that Malkin was a psychic and did foresee something which made him believe that Claire had to raise the baby herself.  If he had that vision (or flash akin to Desmond's visions of the future) then he would have seen a catastrophe caused by someone other then Claire raising the baby.  But we learned in the season 3 episode "Flashes Before Your Eyes" from Ms. Hawking that the universe has a way of course correcting.  Therefore, if Malkin did foresee Aaron being raised by another, despite his attempt to change that future by putting Claire on a plane destined to crash on the Island, the universe will in the future course correct to make sure that Aaron is raised by someone else (Kate), and most likely that isn't a good thing.

Anyway, these are some of the thoughts I had about the reveal that Kate would be raising Aaron as her own in the future.  Thanks Adriane for bringing the issue up.

One other little thing to think about, I read that we'll know the entire Oceanic 6 by the end of episode 7 of this season.  That's the episode next week.  Assuming (which is always dangerous as the very same Adriane who inspired this post once pointed out in Chemistry 2 back in high school) that we are only aware of 4 of the 6, Dr. Jack, Kate, Hurley, and Sayid, that Aaron doesn't count because he didn't actually have a ticket on the plane, and that Benry Gale isn't one of the 6 by having taken over a dead passengers identity.  Assuming all of that, we would have two members of the Oceanic 6 still left to discover.

Based on the previews for tomorrow's episode, I think that it will be a Juliet episode.  I don't believe that she is one of the Oceanic 6 either (as she wasn't on the plane).  Therefore, I am going out on a bit of a limb to predict that the last two will both be identified in next weeks episode.  This leads me to believe that they are connected, which narrows it down considerably.

Of the people left on the Island, the only twosomes would be Sun and Jin or Rose and Bernard.  I think that we can safely eliminate Rose and Bernard partly because they are technically supporting characters and also because Rose believes if she leaves the Island, her cancer will return.  Sun and Jin make sense, because they are in the Dr. Jack "please rescue us" group, and Sun believes that she will die due to her pregnancy if she doesn't get off the Island adding some incentive for their wanting (and needing) to leave.

So, Sun and Jin would make sense whereas Rose and Bernard wouldn't, but I'm not going to pick either of those twosomes as my guess for the last two members of the Oceanic 6.  No, my prediction for the last two members is actually Michael and Walt.

Forgot about them, didn't you.  A large part of me thinks that it is possible that Michael is also Benry Gale's man on the freighter.  After all, Frank left the Island on the helicopter on a bearing of 305.  Benry Gale sent Michael out on a heading of 315.  It doesn't seem impossible that Michael and Walt ran into the freighter coming in.

The biggest reason I have this belief is that Harold Perrineau

Of course, we could find out tomorrow night that I'm completely off base, but at the moment I'm feeling pretty good about this prediction.

Until Next Time, hit me up with your thoughts on who the last of the Oceanic 6 are.

More Thoughts on LOST The Constant

So, I've been thinking a lot about one of the paragraphs I wrote in the LOST, The Constant post...

"What's interesting about Vonnegut's book [Slaughterhouse Five] is that a main character in the book is Sci Fi writer Kilgore Trout, who is the book version of Kurt Vonnegut.  In Phillip K. Dick's Valis, which Locke gave to Benry Gale to read last week, one of the main characters is Horselover Fat, the book version of Phillip K. Dick.  Not sure if that connection is intended or important, but it certainly was interesting to me."

I can't shake this comparison from my head.  Plus, I've added to it.  The creators talk about Stephen King (who is a huge fan of the show) being a big inspiration for the show.  We've seen Juliet use Stephen King as her choice for the Other's book club, and when Benry Gale was first given a book by Locke back in season two, he commented, "No Stephen King?"  In Stephen King's magnum opus, The Dark Tower Series, (which the creators of LOST have talked to Stephen King about adapting) the last three books include a character who is a writer named Stephen King.  That's right, he puts himself into the story.

So, what does this mean?  I think it means that a character we have been introduced to is actually the "author" (if you will) of the events the LOSTies are embroiled in.

So, who is it?

Well, as I see it, there are a few possibilities.  Let's look at each I think likely in turn.

Benry Gale:
Seems the most obvious, as two of the things that caused me to construct this theory center around him, he was given VALIS and he made the Stephen King comment.  Plus, he placed himself in the hands of the LOSTies for reasons that have never been made completely clear.  What was he doing and why did he get caught by Russeau?  Was it because he wanted to get caught by the LOSTies, to see Locke and Dr. Jack in their habitat to better judge them and how they might react?  It is certainly a possibility.  We've definitely learned over and over again that he isn't trustworthy.  He first introduces himself as Henry Gale, we later find out his name is Ben Linus and that he has numerous other aliases.  He claims that he was born on the Island, which is a lie, and claims that he never leaves it, but if he doesn't leave, why all the foreign currency and the fake passports, and why do the Freighter people have a picture of him that appears to have been taken off of the Island?  Therefore, anything that he says can not be taken at face value, and he could easily be something else that we haven't previously suspected.

Jacob:
Of course, we aren't too clear yet as to who or what exactly Jacob is, but I think it is entirely possible that he is the "author" of everything that has happened so far.

Christian Shepherd:
This is the one that I'm leaning towards.  Partly because of the fact that Hurley saw him in Jacob's chair, partly because of Dr. Jack's insistence that he was upstairs and alive (if drunk) in his flash forward from last season's finale.  Whether it is actually Christian Shepherd or not (maybe the body was taken over by Jacob who doesn't have a body of his own?) is up for debate, but fact that Christian Shepherd is going to play a larger role is something I have no doubts about.

Matthew Abaddon:
Again, we don't know too much about this guy, but seeing as he was introduced just before this connection was placed into by consciousness due to the use of Valis and the homage paid to Slaughterhouse Five, I have to include him as a possibility.  The fact that he asked Hurley "Are they still alive?" makes me think it probably isn't him.  The author of their situation would know about the fate of the other LOSTies.  However, we have to consider the possibility that the situation being authored is the situation of the Oceanic 6, meaning the lies that they are being forced to tell concerning the Island and what happened there.  If that is the case, he is a logical choice.

In my mind, these are the most likely possibilities, a few others that are possible are the heads of each of the big corporations that we have been introduced to throughout the history of the show.

Mr. Paik: Sun's father and head of Paik Heavy Industries

Charles Widmore: Penny's father and head of Widmore Labs

Then there's Alvar Hanso, founder of the Hanso Corporation and Dharma.

I stand by my belief that the connection of these companies (be it as competitors or partners), so the head of any of these corporations could be the "author" of everything that happened.

Until Next Time, these are some of the thoughts I had this weekend as I played over the events of last weeks brilliant episode again and again in my head.

LOST Through the Looking Glass, first thoughts

Wow.  Okay, here's what we know for sure.  It is possible to get off of the island.  At least Jack and Kate do.

What we don't know...

What is the Island, Where is the Island, When is the Island?  (I think this last question is extremely important.)

Let me first say, at the very first "flashback", I believed it was actually a flash-forward.  And stuck with that until the moment Jack told the new chief doctor to get his dad down there, but, after all we'd seen him walking around on the island, right, he could still be alive.  The Island cured Rose, cured Locke, and allowed Jin to have a baby, couldn't it conceivably have brought Jack's dad back to life as well?  So I wasn't too surprised to see Kate meet Jack.

Now, of course, everything has changed.

What does the show become?  Do we go to the future?  Does it become about Jack trying to get back to the Island?  Does it pick up on the island with the rescue and we see how Jack gets to this point?

Either are possible.

Important things to keep in mind: one, they supposedly found the plane and there were no survivors.  Okay, this info came from Naomi, and I'm not sure how much she can be trusted since Penny claimed to have never heard of her.  But somehow she knew about Desmond and Penny, and somehow she knew a little bit about Charlie, at least.  Is it possible that Benry Gale isn't the most evil person our Losties can meet up with?  That perhaps there is a more sinister force (that Benry Gale really feels are the "bad guys") out there with far more information about the island and the plane?  I think that it's likely.  Two, not only is Jack's dad still alive in the Flash Forward, but Kate is not (apparently) a fugitive.  Three, Jack says to Kate, I'm tired of lying or something to that effect (as Locke says, I'm going to have to watch that again), what did he mean by that?  And, finally four, at the viewing, when asked if he is a friend or a relative, Jack says neither.  If, assuming as I am, the viewing was for someone else on that plane, why does Jack not say friend?

Okay, now, it has only been about 25 minutes since the episode ended, and I'm still theorizing as I'm writing, so a lot of this isn't as developed as it will be once I think a little more on it, and talk to a few more people.  But here are my new theories...

1. The show picks back up on the island, but instead of flash backs, we start to get flash forwards to a possible (maybe even certain) future.  For instance, we start on the island right where we left off, but there are still some things to be done in order to get everyone off.  There are still all of the other Others, who might have something to say about it, and we know Locke doesn't want to go.  Was that really Walt or the Island/Jacob manifesting itself/himself as Walt.  If the Island/Jacob doesn't want them to go, isn't there more it can do to at least stall them?  I believe so, and it won't be super simple to get off of the Island, so we'll get episodes on the Island interspersed with flash forwards to what happens after the Island.

2.  I believe that the Island is in another Dimension.  I believe that in the dimension that our Losties are from, Oceanic Flight 815 really did crash and they really did find all of the survivors dead.  I believe that it's possible, in the right circumstances, for you to die in our reality, but simultaneously appear on the Island.  So that brings up the question (if I'm right in Theory 2) of how is the found plane and dead bodies explained away with the reappearance to his former life of one Dr. Jack Shepard?

3.  I believe that in order to get off of the Island some sort of dimensional travel is involved, which only makes sense since I believe that the Island itself is in a separate dimension.  Now, with dimensional travel (according to some theories in physics) there is also time travel.  In order to get everyone off of the Island, Dr. Jack is going to be offered, I think, some sort of deal.  It will involve going back in time before the flight happened.  It will involve going back to their lives as they left them before the circumstances that caused them all to get on the flight.

4. Okay, we have been shown in the flashbacks these last three seasons the fact that everyone on that flight was somehow connected far more then your usual "6 degrees".  In the recap episode "The_Answers" we were told that the connections are part of what caused everyone to be on that flight.  In other words, it wasn't an accident that got those exact people on that exact flight.  The creators used the example of Anthony Cooper, Locke's father.  If not for his actions, Locke would not have become the man that he did, and Sawyer certainly wouldn't have become the man that he did.  By conning Sawyer's parents (and causing their death) and by throwing Locke out of an 8 story window (and paralyzing him) he led directly to the events that put each of them on that plane.  Locke was trying to prove he could still be someone productive despite his paralysis, and Sawyer following a lead that he thought would take him to the man that killed his parents.  It isn't too big a step to think that if the events don't lead to the right people getting on that plane, then that plane won't crash.

5. So, this is explained to, at least, Dr. Jack and Kate, and most likely one other whose funeral it is that Dr. Jack goes to.  They go back to the past and have to make decisions that change whatever the reason is that they would have gotten on that plane.  And in doing that, the plane never crashes.  That means, that they save EVERYONE.  Not just the other Losties that are still alive, but everyone who perished in the crash as well.  And everyone who has died since they survived the crash.  Eko, Ana-Lucia, Libby, Boone, Shannon, and Charlie would be alive.  How could Jack not agree to this.  Of course it would mean that only they (at least Jack and Kate) would remember.  In addition to their lives back, they get passes allowing them to fly free wherever they desire.

I know, that's the big one, theory number five.  Let me give you some of the reasons I came to this conclusion.  Jack says that he's tired of lying.  This would explain that.  What might happen if everyone were returned to before the crash?  Well, Charlie would still be addicted to drugs, and nowhere near the fame he thinks he desires.  Of course we know what he really desires, but we also know without the crash he doesn't really have any hope of achieving it.  And I think he was resigned to his death,  he definitely didn't go into it blindly.  Which do you think he'd prefer, having died a hero and having known and loved Claire and Aaron, or continuing in his drug addled unfulfilled life as a former rock star?  Eko would still be a fake priest living with that guilt as well as the guilt of having killed his brother.  He came to terms with his past actions due to the Island, but I'm not sure he could have gotten there without it.  Rose would still have cancer.  Sun and Jin would still be in a horrible and unhealthy marriage.  Boone would still be helplessly in love with his step-sister, and she would still be using it to torment him.  I could go on and on, the point is that the experience of the crash has actually improved these peoples lives.  If they were placed back in those lives with no memories of the crash and their experiences there, they are right back into those awful situations.

Now we know that Dr. Jack and Kate at least still remember what happened to them, right?  So, one could assume that their lives are better because of what they've learned.  Obviously not, in Dr. Jack's case at least.  He's bottomed out.  A huge low, even for him.  What could have brought this on?  If I'm right, he had to change the decision that led to him getting on that plane.  That means he had to keep from getting his dad fired.  If his dad doesn't get fired from the Hospital, then he doesn't drink himself to death in Sidney, Jack doesn't have to go get his body, and they don't crash.  Plus this would explain how Jack's dad is still alive. 

Okay, Kate.  If she isn't a fugitive, she can't get caught and brought on board the flight.  Therefore, she can't kill her stepfather.  Now, remember, not only was he hurting Kate's mom, but it appeared he had the hots for Kate as well.  If he's not dead, couldn't he have some hold on her.  Enough that when she goes to meet Jack, she has to say to him, I've got to get back before he notices?  I'm betting that she was referring to her Stepfather.

That brings us to the mystery person, the one with the funeral.  I think they know as well.  So, who are they?  Well, Jack goes and answers the man's question of friend or family with neither.  There's really only one person that would elicit that response from Jack.  Sawyer.

Not only that, but he was hoping that Kate would be there.  (No doubt they've had a falling out, however.  It was pretty well foreshadowed in the episode that a Kate/Sawyer falling out was in the cards.)  If Sawyer's back in his previous life, all he has to do is not go kill the person that wasn't the real Sawyer anyway.  Easy enough.  But that doesn't change the fact that he's not in a good position, and there are no shortage of people that want him dead, even with a memory of everything that happened, and the knowledge of who the real Sawyer actually is.

Now, Jack has gotten everyone safely home, but what if while using the pass to fly all over the place, he starts reconnecting with the other people who were supposed to be on that plane.  They would have no idea who he is, of course, but he would know them.  He would begin to see what horrible shape they were all in, especially the people who died on the Island.  He would begin to understand that they would be better off having died there then living the lives that they had left behind.  Perhaps he would come to understand that they had died as better people on the Island, and because of the Island, then they ever could hope for if they hadn't had that experience.

With me so far?  Okay, the obvious question becomes why don't Kate and Jack end up getting together?  They both know what really happened, and they clearly feel for each other.  This, one would think, would especially happen if there was a big falling out in the Kate/Sawyer relationship.  My theory is that the trip back in time also gives Jack the chance to fix the relationship with his ex-wife.  He goes back to before they get divorced.  Benry Gale asks him what he has to go back for, his wife had left him for another man, but what if the trip back took him to before that happened.  We know how much Dr. Jack likes to fix things, don't you think that this would be something he couldn't resist?  Now, we know that it doesn't work, we see that in the Flash-Forwards.  Failing at his marriage again, when he knows that the trouble is coming this time, combined with the state of affairs that all of the other former Losties' lives are in, and finally the death of one of the only other two people who knows what really happened cause his to finally hit rock bottom.

These are my thoughts.  Can't wait to talk to more people, see what they think.  Once again, however, this show has changed everything.  The fact that this theory is so completely different than anything I had previously posted or even thought about, shows you how amazing this show has the capability of being.  Whether my theories prove to be completely, partially, or not at all correct doesn't change the fact that I'm glad I've been along for the ride so far and can't wait to take the rest of the way.  48 more episodes until everything is made clear.

Until Next Time, I'll see you in February LOST.