D.O.C.

“On this island, the rules are a bit different.” I guess so, since the character who spoke the line was presumed dead. Fortunately, that was the only detail that annoyed Jen, who otherwise agreed with me in declaring “D.O.C.” another excellent “LOST” episode. We’re totally loving the reversal revealed in Sun’s flashback — that Jin’s tortured career was the result of her meddling — as well as the confirmation that Jin is the unborn baby’s father. Yunjun Kim’s scenes with Elizabeth Mitchell were fantastic, and Jin’s ninja moment was impressive. Finally, of course, the woman who drops from the sky drops the pre-thud bombshell: “They found the plane. There were no survivors. They were all dead.”

No doubt the time loop, alternative universe, and purgatory theorists will have a little spring in their step tomorrow, but I’m putting my money on some kind of con. Either the plane crash wreckage and bodies were faked or falsely reported (for a reason), or Little Miss Parachute is messing with our survivors.

She did speak a language only Mikhail understood, for example. And it was her flare gun, accidentally fired by an uncharacteristically clumsy Hurley, that summoned Mikhail to the scene. And was it just me, or did she seemed more shocked than anyone to see Mikhail (just before the “Pulp Fiction” moment). Perhaps she too was under the impression that our Russian communications officer was permanently retired?

He seemed to want that satellite phone. But at the same time, his taking it and then giving it up seemed awfully contrived. Perhaps he was after something else? I’ve pretty much convinced myself that he expected the flare and the parachutist (and was only surprised to find Desmond, Hurley and Charie with her).

I liked that early in “D.O.C.,” we’re shown that seeds of doubt over Jack’s loyalty are firmly planted among the other survivors. He was with them for a week, he seems different, he’s asking about a pregnancy on a baby-obsessed island. As even outsider Juliet seems to be building trust within the camp, it’s clear there’s going to be a leadership crisis as Season 3 draws to a close.

Frankly, I find it a little implausible that Sun would be suspicious of Jack but would follow Juliet into the forest. But, follow she did, down into the Medical Hatch which seems straight out of a horror movie. Juliet reveals the secret Nursery of Death behind the locker room, and reveals Sun’s “Date Of Conception.”

These scenes were among my favorite this season. Sun and Juliet, alternately cold and hard and guilty and vulnerable, their faces capturing a whole palette of emotions within a few moments. At this point, if Elizabeth Mitchell doesn’t get an Emmy nod, there’s going to be rioting in the streets. And the ultrasound? When Juliet was devastated by the very same news that made Sun weep with relief and joy? How perfect was that moment?

Of course, after feeling some compassion for Juliet, we’re again reminded that she’s in the midst of a reconnaissance mission for Ben. (And a “sample” is required of Austen… since she did mate in captivity with Ford.) But she’s not happy about it.

Season 3 has been great. I don’t know where the next four episodes will take us, but I’m just about ready to put all skepticism aside and just surrender myself to the ride.

Notes and Notions:

  • Sun and Juliet stole the show, but Jin’s father’s conversation with Sun was well done as well. So natural and believable, I didn’t even realize it had subtitled Korean dialogue until I went back to watch it again.
  • I love Desmond’s line: “You know, brother. By my count, you’ve killed more of them than they’ve killed of you.”
  • Kate is turning out to be a remarkably good source of information all of a sudden. She apparently told people about Mikhail and his manner of death, and told Sun about the Medical Hatch. So, whether we see it on screen or not, it’s clear the writers are telling us that these characters do talk. Sometimes.
  • Location Notes: The canal where Sun met with Jin’s mother was along College Walk behind Chinatown in downtown Honolulu. I watched them film this scene, and posted photos here. Of course they returned to The Contemporary Museum space for Mr. Paik’s office. Mr. Kwon’s village is the ponds at Kualoa (mere yards from where the Others’ submarine was moored). I’m not sure where Mr. Kwon’s home was, but I think it’s in the same area the canal scene was shot.
  • “D.O.C.” discussions at TheFuselage.com, Lost-Forum.com, and Pop Candy
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117 Responses to D.O.C.

  1. NorCal Matt says:

    Bill, Incredible find!! I’m 50/50 on what it means on a grand scale. We should probably not nit-pick so much and just assume it’s the same photo. But then again, this is Lost. I’m flabbergasted. These obviously different photos are gonna make the time-warp theorists very happy. Could the photos have been taken at the same time on alternate timelines? In one timeline Desmond was given the photo, and in the other timeline Penny was given the photo? I can’t believe I’m writing this. I HATE all of the time-warp, time loop, alternate timeline theories.

    Anyways, all you time guys go for it! Now you have some evidence…

  2. Dave says:

    Thanks, Bill.

    My 2 cents: Definitely different pictures. Highly unlikely to be anyone but Des and Penny. Taken in what appears to be the same place while wearing the same clothing. Maybe the instant photo guy actually took two shots? Just because it wasn’t explicitly shown to us doesn’t mean it didn’t happen.

    I suppose they could easily be Photoshopped as well… someone who looks like Des (remeber the Other who looks like Des from season 2) in the same place with Penny (or someone who looks like her).

    Depends how paranoid/skeptical you want to be. 😉

  3. Bill says:

    The two photos are not a continuity gaff. Someone is going to a lot of trouble to make something obvious to us. Not only are Des and Penny posed differently, the backgrounds have slight differences, too! Remember, this was a fake, Olan Mills background. Hopefully I’ll have more on this tomorrow. I thought there would be a simple explanation, but (I hate to admit it) this really gives fuel to the time loopers.

    Anyone know how or where I can watch a copy of the episode, “Flashes Before Your Eyes”? ABC used to post a bunch of episodes, but now only offers the last 4 or so. ABC – give me more LOST and less According to Jim.

  4. Different photos of Des = Different Time-Loops

    The writers spent a whole episode explaining Time-Loops, I doubt we can dismiss it and say that these don’t exist.

    And if the TIme-Loop explaination is only in Desmond’s mind, then how come he can see into the future?

  5. paintergirl says:

    I think the difference in the photos is an attempt at continuity between when we first see the photo in season 2 and when the photo is “taken” in season 3. They had take “take” the photo during the episode and that’s the one we’re seeing in this last episode. The first photo was taken before the episode was shot. They tried their best in the episode to make them identical, but they didn’t quite make it. Just my opinion.

  6. Kopytko says:

    San Diego Dan go lost.

  7. EnviroCaper says:

    WoW…great observations….brotha’s 🙂

    Quick idea on the differences…..

    Is it at all possible (well anything is possible really in this show) that the “others” / Widmore / Hanso / Dharma had someone tailing Des/Penny throughout this portion of their life??…knowing what they know about him or don’t know for that matter….is it possible that rather than a time loop idea causing problems with the picture….that a “spy” took the picture from a different angle than the real photographer….????…perhaps with the intent to monitor/trail Penny or Des / find out who she/he was hanging out with…or something along those lines???

    PERHAPS Penny found the “spy” pic. and rebelled against her father/Hanso/whoever and kept it for herself (her copy) and than hired the two Portugese guys (and eventually heligirl wiht photocopy) to find him?? Maybe she is “Jacob” and caused the whole thing on her own b.c. of how disappointed she was with Des. for leaving….knowing about the island from previous research her father was involved in….and hoped he would have the opportunity to “change” things later on in life when he realized how much he loved her…..who knows…not me…but if “they” had planned to have Des “disappear” from the real world, they would need a picture to find out about his “progress” on the island later on in life….and/or what changes happened to him….and/or for Kelvin(?) to find him on the island to distinguish him from the hostiles???

    CAN’T WAIT FOR 2NITE….
    peace

  8. Dave says:

    EnviroCaper — I was thinking many of these thoughts in the moments before I scrolled down here.

    Anybody who bothers to read my posts (hopefully someone does, though I suspect the numbers are dwindling 😉 ) knows I’m not a big fan of the Time Loop theory. I like the above explanation much better. Not to throw out yet another eponym, but there is a principle called Occum’s razor which states (and I paraphrase) that the simplest explanation is usually the correct one. So “maybe someone else took a picture of Penny and Des at that moment” is far more plausible than “maybe it’s all a time loop and all the laws of space and time that we take for granted are suspended for Lost.”

    We know Des and Mr Widmore weren’t the best of friends, and that Widmore is a powerful guy who may at least be tangentially connected to the island.

    Lost is sci-fi. Clearly it’s not all literally plausible, but with few exceptions (the smoke monster, anyone? though maybe we’ll get an answer on the one) has all been very grounded in REALITY.

    That being said… I thought the time loop/wormhole thing in Donnie Darko was KICK ASS.

  9. Dave says:

    And one more plug/smoke monster theory, not that anyone asked…

    I posted once before about the program Planet Earth on Discovery. There are several animals featured there (locusts being most notable, but some birds and fish as well) that travel in packs and can be so dense as to obscure the sun for minutes at a time and can take hours to pass. Could they lift Eko or drag Locke or kill 815’s pilot? Probably not. 🙂 But could they appear as a cloud of black smoke? Sure. There *may* be a hypothetical explanation. Or it may just be nanobots. 😉

  10. Dave says:

    And one more plug/smoke monster theory, not that anyone asked…

    I posted once before about the program Planet Earth on Discovery. There are several animals featured there (locusts being most notable, but some birds and fish as well) that travel in packs and can be so dense as to obscure the sun for minutes at a time and can take hours to pass. Could they lift Eko or drag Locke or kill 815’s pilot? Probably not. 🙂 But could they appear as a cloud of black smoke? Sure. There *may* be a hypothetical explanation. Or it may just be nanobots. 😉

  11. NorCal Matt says:

    Dave, regarding the smoke monster, I’ve thrown around a very oddball theory before that could explain it. Here’s the nutshell. The island is alive? Yes. The island is magnetic? Yes. The island has dirt? Yes. Smoke Monster comes out of the ground? Yes. Smoke Monster is then part of the island? According to this theory, yes. So, with all things being true, then the Smoke Monster is really just a cloud of magnetic island dust/dirt. It is the island in cloud form, so the island controls it, and controls it by magnetic propelling/repelling, just like a magnetic train. This would explain why it Smokey cannot get a certain point above the ground, or else it would lose it magnetic attraction to the island. Anyway, as oddball as it sounds it’s all I’ve ever been able to come up with.

  12. Dave says:

    That’s a very cool idea. I have thought about a similar notion, though it wouldn’t explain how the smoke mosnter has a mind of its own and can grab things. It does explain why it can’t go over the sonic fence but could go up a tree. It also explains why it can’t get into clusters of trees (equal and opposing magnetc forces inside would make it seem like a solid object).

    Also… Rose in the pilot (? — sometime in season 1 definitely) refers to the noise of the “monster” as sounding like something from her childhood. She also says something (I thought) about being from Brooklyn. Maybe it’s supposed to be reminiscent of a subway or a roller coaster on Coney Island, but your theory would be in keeping along those lines.

  13. NorCal.. I might take your theory one step further, and speculate that in addition to the Island being alive, the intense magnetic properies are able to trap and cause time and reality to circle around it? My 3-cents 🙂

  14. Steve says:

    Bill if you wanna rewatch an episode.. just dowload it… every Thursday the new episode is ready… I have all the seasons (1-2-3) on my computer.. try with Bearshare… or anything else..

  15. NorCal Matt says:

    Dave, as far as being able to grab onto things, I would think that the magnetic strength of the smoke monster would be strong enough to tighten the dust particles enough to “grab” onto somebody e.g. Eko. Also, I rewatched the episode where the smoke monster kills Eko, and it grabbed him and pulled up high up into the high, higher it seemed than the sonic fense. But the entire time, the back end of the smoke monster was touching the ground, in essence “grounded” to the island. This theory obviously does not attempt to explain the noises it makes, it’s ability to scan memories and illuminate those memory images onto itself. For real though, I’m so very interested in how the producers will fully explain the smoke monster.

  16. NorCal Matt says:

    Don’t know if this is going to confuse things, but I just rewatched the Season 2 finale. As Desmond is being discharged from the Royal Scots military prison the guard goes through his belongings. As the guard hands him the photograph there’s a nice screenshot… and it’s the second photograph pose that Bill posted, the same posed photo photocopy that Naomi-chute had.

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