By popular demand, Jen takes the reigns again! Charlie, up until now, has not been one of my favorite characters. There just isn’t much to him. He’s a junkie, who came thiiiiis close to being successful but never quite made it. It took four Charlie-centric episodes in which nothing happened to bring us to the point where we can appreciate him again. Charlie is likeable, if not a little messed up, and Dominic Monaghan was remarkable in this episode. The look on his face when Naomi told him about his memorial service was priceless.
But the rumors loomed large. I think we were all expecting Charlie to buy the farm tonight. So by the end of the episode, I was alternately weepy and buzzing on some kind of pumped-up sugar high. It’s a weird way to watch this show. And when his lone checkered sneaker floated away? I was a mess.
This hiatus is going to be hell.
You know who else I love? Sayid. He’s the only one on the island, it seems, who is willing to go toe-to-toe with Jack. “You said earlier you were a a leader, Jack. Why don’t you act like one.” [Ryan: Then again, remember what happened the last time Sayid “took charge” of an ambush — stolen yacht, anyone?] I know he’s a resourceful dude, but I’m wondering where he got that map of the Looking Glass.
I’ve got “Brandy (You’re a Fine Girl)” stuck in my head. Help!
Still, Jack displayed some cojones tonight. I am so glad he went to Rousseau. I had major doubts about Rousseau this season, but my faith in her is restored. Even if she is only motivated by the chance to reunite with her daughter, she can be trusted. I think. This show continually surprises me with the way I feel about the characters and Rousseau is the best example of that. She comes out of nowhere, stirs up the survivors, disappears, reappears fast as a flash, possibly after being up to no good, and turns around and does something unexpected. She’s my new favorite character. For this week. She’s fearless and quiet and just a general badass. Personally, I wouldn’t have wasted the dynamite on the tree, but whatever works.
I don’t know who Alex has been talking to, but she’s onto Ben. I will not be surprised at all if she gets him killed. If she has learned about her mom, who is her source? There’s a whole lot of time unaccounted for, and I think it’s gonna make a heck of a flashback.
The leadership crisis back at the Others’ camp is intensifying. Alpert is clearly suspicious and Ben refuses to answer any questions. We have not yet begun to see Ben’s bad side, I bet. [Ryan: Even after he gassed his dad and shot the Second Coming?]
And I think we’ve discovered the Other Others. Fans have long speculated about a second group of folks hanging out on the island. Are the two ladies in the Looking Glass affiliated with that group? If not, who are they?
Notes and Notions:
- What is with Jack’s hair? There are a lot of bad wigs and confusing hair on this show, but Jack takes the cake. He’s had a close buzz cut for three months and it’s just now starting to grow out.
- I always tell Ryan that Rousseau and Alex could be mother and daughter in real life. They look eerily alike.
- Yay for Rose and Bernard! I missed them.
- Maybe I’m insane, but to me, the second woman in the Looking Glass looked like Cassidy. I can’t even begin to imagine how Cassidy fits into the Other Others, though.
- Links: “Greatest Hits” discussion at TheFuselage.com, Lost-Forum.com, and Pop Candy
IMDB (a.k.a. the incorrect movie database) lists the women in the Looking Glass as being named Bonnie and Greta. No Annie. For what that’s worth.
I have been living spoiler free but will throw this out… the season finale each season has been a totally unexpected mind-bender, and each new season has started with a totally unknown (or close to it) character and perspective.
Season 1 ended as they opened the hatch and signified a transition from the wild to the hatch/DHARMA.
Season 2 started with Desmond (“hey, isn’t that the guy jack met while running?”) asnd ended with the destruction of the hatch and Penny being notified by some Portugese-speaking guys in the snow that they found something. In the meantime we learned about the Tailies and a lot more about the Others.
Season 3 started with Juliet (“that’s not Penny, is it?”) and now ends with chaos and death (I assume).
So I can only assume season 4 will open up a whole new paradigm and new characters, and season 3 will conclude in a spectacular fashion with just enough of a tease to keep our imaginations running wild for eight months.
Jaimeroberto, I think Jack is getting the women out of there because he’s an old-fashioned guy: chivalrous or chauvenist, take your pick! He’s into protecting people, esp. the “weak.” I doubt he’s setting a trap, but time will tell. One basic truth that seems to keep resurfacing (in my view) is that all of the real Losties become more human over time… whereas that never happens with the Others, except those questioning the regime. Sort of like the dichotomy between the original Star Wars crew and Darth Vadar, or the Star Trek folks and some of the inhuman types they encounter. As I think about this, Ben (versus Locke) is the one who seems like Anakin Skywalker– he started out humanly enough, but went to the Dark Side and stayed there.
I definitely think Annie will resurface, but I too doubt she’s one of the gals in the Looking Glass. I think she’s appear in a more surprising way, even. That said, who are these young gals, who are about Alex’s age? How could they have been born and survived? I almost had the feeling they were rebels in the same way the Losties are, and that they won’t turn out to be Others in the bad sense. But we’ll see!
Connie, interesting catch re Kate’s pseudonym! Hmmm…
Nadia.. its the Pearl sation logo…. not a mirror
Does anyone else find it as frustrating as I do that everyone still accepts a lot of what Ben has told them to have truth in it and not to expect anything bad to come of it. What I’m talking about in specific this time is that Juliette tells Jack et al that Ben had said that the Looking Glass has been flooded in an accident, why in the world wouldn’t they have prepared for a just in case? It just bothered me that no one said anything about not being able to trust any fact given by that evil little creepy man (aka Ben) Just an annoyance I had to air!
Jenn – Sayid told Alex a few episodes ago (while he was chained to a swing set or something and she came to get his backpack as ordered) that she looks “a lot like her mother.” I think she said something about her mother being dead. And he asked, “Is that what they told you?” It was a scene pretty similar to that anyway – sorry if I don’t have it exact. So that’s how Alex is kind of “on” to Ben now that he might not really be her father and such…
And I’m pretty sure I remember someone – most likely Sayid or Kate – telling Danielle that they saw her daughter with the Others and that’s how they got her to go along and help them check out the place where Mikael was. And Danielle made a comment about being afraid to see Alex/her daughter.
Anyone else remember this? I’m not sure why people are thinking there is any doubt left that the two are mother and daughter. The main thing I’m waiting for is their reunion! 🙂
And Connie is right, it was the Hydra station where Jack was being held before – which was set up like it had been where they were keeping that Dharma shark at one point.
Leann – I don’t think Claire, Rose or Bernard are going to be any of the three who die… still wouldn’t count Charlie out, as his flashbacks seem to have run their course and we know what happens to characters once they have no backstory left to tell… Claire still has a lot of mystery and I think she’s probably still breastfeeding Aaron so I’m not sure how he’d survive if she were to go…. and killing Rose and Bernard would serve no purpose as far as I can see. They obviously have a lot of backstory to tell yet also, which may be especially important once the other stories start to run dry.
Melissa & jamieroberto – I also like the idea Annie might be a part of the “second group of Others” and is one of the women in the Looking Glass station.
Here’s a more prosaic reason why Charlie will not flip the switch interrupting the blockage of Rousseau’s signal, facilitating our pals’ rescue: would it really take 32 more episodes for that rescue to happen? The Lost production team is notorious for stretching out a story, but that would be ridiculous. Charlie may or may not die anyway, but we’ll have to see.
My wife was a teary eyed mess when Charlie hugged Hurley; I’d be willing to bet she was not alone!
oh dear…that is sad when i didn’t even recognize the pearl logo….thanks…lots of thoughts jumbled up and combined..thanks 🙂
The more we see Nadia, the more I think she has a larger role to play. Consider that she seems to be quite the Jet-setter. She is everywhere, from the UK, to California, Europe. Where will she turn up next. And is she really dead?
I think Sayid got the map from the Russian’s house while rummaging about?
Great episode again, some of the English accents stink though.
Judi — Everyone trusts Ben because he speaks just enough of the truth (and has just enough crazy in him) that they’re afraid not to.
Skepticism of Ben has gotten nobody anywhere. Locke was shot by him. Ana Lucia was (probably not coincidentally) shot by Michael, who was sent by the Others. Sayid hasn’t suffered much for it. Jack and Juliet, it remains to be seen. He screwed with Sawyer and Kate. He allowed Mikhail to get a beat-down and Juliet to be branded.
People who question Ben don’t usually stick around that long.
Why didn’t the Losties use the dynamite to blow-up the cable that went to the underwater station? If the cable sent electical power (maybe or maybe it didn’t).. then no more radio jamming. It certainly would have been the first thing to try.. right, Sayid?
Continuity error of whether or not Charlie can swim? .. there is an easy explaination for the writers… (I know some of you are going to hate me)… how about different Time-Loops
This is by far the best LOST season yet!
Question — what ever happened to Isabel (played by Diana Scarwid, best known for her role as Christina Crawford in Mommie Dearest….). She was in Episode “Stranger in a STrange Land” and we have seen nothing of her since. She seemed like a leader of sorts…. She might be the right age for a “reborn Annie”. Or maybe someone completely different, but she did seem to have a leadership role.. anyone?? anyone?? Bueller?
Great episode! Love the design of the Looking Glass!
Any thoughts on Michael and Walt? Obvious questions: did they reach safety? Where did they go? Another boat? Land? Will they return with help (or at least send help)?
I was often frustrated with Michael as he was quite the hothead, and almost overly obsessed with finding Walt (to the exclusion of virtually every other issue).
It wouldn’t suprise me if Michael and Walt are part of the “cavalry” that finally come to the island at the end of the last season…or maybe the end of this season…
Andre-
I am also surprised that we have heard nothing about Michael and Walt this season. I’m sure they can’t really expect us to believe that they made it home.
If I remember correctly, I believe Damon and Carlton made a mention in the Official Podcast [a while ago] of us seeing Michael and/or Walt before the end of this season. I guess that means we may see them in the finale!
Yes i’m expecting Walt & Michael to pop up when we least expect it. There’s a lot of stuff about Walt’s powers and his time with the Others that needs explaining.
Credit to the Writers for the Manchester references between Charlie & Naomi. Night & Day cafe is a real music venue in Manchester with about a 300 capacity. website url is http://www.nightnday.org/. The actress that plays Naomi used to be in a brilliant UK show set in Manchester called Burn It, before she went onto Las Vegas of course…
Not sure about the accent of the guy playing Charlie’s Dad in the Butlins flashback, we couldn’t work out if he was supposed to be Irish, Welsh, Scottish or from Northern England!
Is it a 2 hours finale ??
??? – Yes – 2 hours! Too bad it’ll be freakin forever until another…we need a time loop of our own out here.
really quick: as I’m tired of theory at this point and just love to watch.
Dave : I checked the episodes…Charlie had on a different shirt and stuff when Desmond met him outside and recognized him in the flashback scene…he was singing the same song, and it rained ( I”ve never been to Manchester, but I think it rains a lot there. Coincidence? ) but must have been a different day/loop or whatever. At first I thought the same thing. It was definitely Nadia.
To all :
I have not seen this mentioned this way here that I can remember, but I always got the impression that Ben did not necessarily kill ALL the DHARMA folks. He made a comment to Locke about “I was one of the people smart enough not to end up in that ditch”. I thought this meant that perhaps some other (sorry for that word ) DHARMA peeps must have been/could have been along w/ the takeover. This could mean that Mikhal, new chicks in The Looking Glass, and anyone else around Ben besides R. Alpert, Juliette and maybe a few more were there w/ DHARMA originally but they were unhappy or decided to throw there lot in w/ Benry after he approached them and swayed them to his plan. I figure that would account for there perhaps still being 2 sets of others…maybe Ben and Alpert made their own club mixed w/ DHARMA and hostiles who came to Ben along w/ R. Alpert.
Alpert left the hostiles thus making essentially 3 clubs.
1. Club Benry ( our favorite OTHERS to hate ).
2. O.G. DHARMA
A : ( DHARMA investors at home still operates under assumption things are o.k. on the island because Ben and Club Benry check in as if nothing is wrong so that they make food and supply drops.)
B : That, or they maybe have very few, none or limited numbers of people left financed by DHARMA ever since the purge.
3. O.G. Hostiles ( who are the super-human non-aging ghost people natives ).
All comments, suggestions, or thoughts are welcome!
Walt will “reappear”(smoke monster?) I betcha in the Locke section of our finale. I read that he was around the set a month ago, somewhere..I saw an interview with Benry(Micheal Emerson) on GoodDay Live. After being prodded if Locke was dead, he teased that Locke might be saved.. “by something that he gave up along time ago”…hmmm..WALT, maybe?? Ha!
Does anyone think that there is a connection between Kate and Annie? Could Kate have been Annie and then for some reason gone back to the mainland after the scene where she gives Ben the doll? This might help to explain the breakfast meeting on the beach between Ben and Kate back at the start of series three.
Dave… you are stupid…keep your spoiler for you…If you are too ”kid” to wait one week Its YOUR problem not ours … so SHUT THE FUCK UP DUMB GUY !!!
That’s a wild theory Jo…but Kate does end up being very attached to the toy airplane as a child….but I’m only thinking for some reason that the Annie girl and Kate girl when all that were too close in age at the time to be one and other…..then again someone said above she gave the name Annie to the Austrailian farmer on the run….hmmmmmmm…..nice one
Audrey : THANK YOU – – I ALMOST READ WHAT THAT SAID AND AGREE – NO SPOILERS
Jo, intriguing thought about Kate and Annie, though I don’t feel it in my bones. However, there remains the strange mystery of what DID Ben communicate with Kate at breakfast that day? Something important, it seems. However, if it was that she was in fact Annie, it seems he would have done more to keep her in his own fold and treat her well, etc.?
Dave, I’m fine with your sharing on Michael Emerson, in part because it means Our Locke May Indeed Live! And Audrey, any one of us could have seen the same show Dave did, so chill! But could the “something he gave up” be… his kidney? Or even, self-love?
I wouldn’t mind seing them get rescued next season and then have the last season be about how they readjust to society. Seeing old friends and family..going back to work…picking up life where they left off after having learned more about themselves on the island. (Locke stays on the island, of course) Maybe a spinoff??? Just kidding.
I would hate for the show to end as they all file into helocopters or a rescue boat and ride off into the sunset. There’s no redemption in that. What happens next?? Do they all exchange numbers and hang out in Vegas together once a year? Does Kate still run? Does Syid run into Naomi somewhere? I want to know what happens AFTER the island.
My favorite part of that movie Castaway was when Tom Hanks got back to his own bed for the first time. He was so used to sleeping on the groud for so long, he couldn’t even sleep in the comfortable bed. Also, the scene of him flipping on and off the light switch and the pain he felt when he came to the realization that life back home had moved on without him. Yet, the ending still left us with hope as he started to build a new existance. There’s your redemption.
yeh, hard to say what a good ending would be, eh?! i agree that a rosy scenario would be for all or most of them to return home, with a completely new perspective (to say the least!)– maybe each becoming a leader in his/her own right, whether quietly or other. maybe even one final epi to that effect?
i trust the writers will come up with something completely intriguing— just hope we don’t lose too many losties before that happens.
It’s true Nuciknfuts, I know the ages don’t really match up, if Annie was Kate, Kate should really be older than she is, but Richard should also be older and doesn’t look any different. Also, like you said, the attachment to the toy plane is similar to the toy dolls. Probably completely wrong but I think it would be really cool.
Naomi’s helicopter crashing at the specific location of the Looking Glass Hatch was no coincidence.
Looking Glass either brought the helicopter down; OR the helicopter was really never there. (a la Penn and Teller)
The two chicks at Looking Glass reminded me of a James Bond movie. Hope Charlie gets laid before he dies! Charlie’s due. Claire is beautiful but is too busy taking care of the baby and keeping the tent clean to DO Charlie. She also thinks it’s a good idea to keep her distance from a guy who’s “gonna’ die”. She doesn’t want an arrow through her throat or a lighting bolt.
Looking Glass is the portal that connects the Island with Portland (get it — PORTLAND!) The phoney Mittlelos airstrip ( Herarat Aviation — Earhart, as in Amelia) is at the other end. Having to be asleep for the long, top secret flight is total BS. It might only take a few minutes.
Looking Glass is the Area 51 of LOST. Not many of the Others even know about it. Eathan and Goodwin did. Dick Cheney does, too. Even Juliet was given misinformation about it.
Let’s hope that the architects of Looking Glass didn’t design a single exposed switch that will flood the facility. If so, there’s probably a big sign on it. “Hey, Charlie, Look Flood Switch!!!”
My guess for next week? We see Claire and the baby, maybe some other characters, get into a rescue helicopter. Hold on them flying away for a bit and then.. BOOM! Chopper explodes.
Bill–your portal theory makes alot of sense since a portal is said to connect one black whole to another black whole–scientists have theorized about the existence of black holes right here on earth. If the island is near a black whole, it would explain why the island has been swallowing up ships and planes for so long. Remember how prepared the Others were for incidents such as the crash of the Lostie’s plane. I think that the 4 toed people died out into extinction because they were no longer able to reproduce (during a time that there were no planes or ships nearby to bring in new additions to their population).
I wouldn’t be surprised to see a portal… I have (as have others) noted the theme of introducing a new locale in each season’s finale and intro thus far.
And fof those who pay attention to these things… I am not the Dave who posted any spoliers above, that Dave’s name links to a web site. I agree… speculation and theory are always welcome but if you KNOW you’re posting a spoiler please keep it to yourself. That’s different from watching the show on East cost time and posting before it airs on the West coast… if you don’t want to know what just happened then don’t read the posts until after the show.
Just good netiquette. Keep up the good posts!
Tim — that might explain the five deaths this season. Wow, that would make things interesting.
Audrey–there’s no need to be rude. Kids read this site, including mine.
Dave, who posted the spoiler–knock it off. Don’t be a jerk. Many posters here don’t even watch the “next week” teaser at the end of the show. There are plenty of places to go if you’re looking for spoilers and this isn’t one of them.
Except for Karl, Rose, Bernard and especially Looking Glass, this was a dull episode for me; a set-up for the finale. Is Jack annoying to the rest of you?
very sorry Jen… very.. but he make me angry…:(
I’m intrigued with Bill’s idea of the Looking Glass being the portal to Portland. If that were true, then the Lost Island could be contained in a different reality from the rest of us, with it’s own Time and Space (I’m thinking Snow Globe).
I know that the Lost Creators have told us that there is no time travel in Lost, but what if it wasn’t Time “Travel,” but it’s Time “Something else.”
Until the Lost Creators come right out and say that Time is not distorted in any way, shape, or form, I’m going to believe that there is something going on with Time on this show, which could be caused by the unusual magnetic properties of the Island.
Dan from SD — on the program that aired last Thursday night (I think called “The Answers”), Damon Lindelof and Carlton Cuse made a few references to 1) the island not being Purgatory, and 2) “somewhere in the space-time continuum.” Interpret that as you will, either a “different reality” or snow globe.
Keep in mind, though, that Jack was shown the Red Sox winning the 2004 World Series (which happened October 27, 2004, 35 days after 815 crashed). So while time could be distorted, it has not arrested and at least until that point they did not live in a world of endless “time loop”s.
I wouldn’t be surprised if there is some alteration of time on the island — all the commentary about birthdays and the appearance that the Others do not age being the keys.
I’ll stick with Looking Glass being the port from Portland somehow, BUT I can’t even begin to explain how Mr. Eko’s brother and plane got there from Africa. The plane is important since it is the same model flown by Amelia Earhart. Herarat (Aviation – Mittelos) is an anagram of Earhart. She disappeared in the South Pacific (1937) in the same vicinity as Flight 815.
Maybe it’s not time travel, but transporter beam of some type. It’s 2-way – Ethan and Richard interacted with Juliet.
I hope the producers/writers of this series are not counting on people just forgetting about all this stuff they’ve piled-on and never explained very well.
Bill and Dave- I don’t know if I saw it here or on the only other forum I haunt (The Fuselage), but thought it tied into what you were discussing about Portland. Someone else posted this little tidbit and I never checked a screecap to see if it is true.
When Sayid finally gets Naomi’s sattelite phone working, the screen lights up and there appears to be a radiating circle (as in pinpointing a location) just off the Pacific Northwest coast of Oregon or Washington. I immediately thought of the “Not in Portland” reference. It probably wouldn’t be the Island, but it could be “the other side” of the Looking Glass station.
I have always been curious about how Richard Alpert and other actual physical materials seem to get to the Island just when they are needed, and how it doesn’t seem like a big deal for the Others to get what they need from the Outside world. In the real wolrd (the one we live in!) those kinds of operations–getting things to and from one of the most remote points on the planet– would require massive amounts of energy, time and money in planning and implementing. On the other hand, it is TV land where no one looks up a number in a phone book, has to use the bathroom or wakes up looking like a zombie in the morning.
Dave.. I did catch that comment by Damon Lindelof and Carlton Cuse about the island being “somewhere” in the space-time continuum, rather than saying the island “was” in our space-time continuum. I think they carefully answered this question, and because they were that careful I believe something is going on with space-time.
Bill.. about Mr Eko’s brother and plane getting to the Island, I think it’s possible it all was another creation by the island, just like seeing Jack’s Dad, Kate’s horse, and Smokey the monster. Or, if space-time is being bent and twisted, it’s possible for mass to jump around thru time and space in non-linear ways that we are not used to.
An example would be if space and time is like a flat sheet of paper, and you put two dots on the paper and laid the paper flat.. the dots would be a set distance from each other. But if you folded or crumpled the paper in various ways (like Space-Time distortion), suddenly the dots could become much closer to each other in an infinite number of ways.
I can hear some of you saying.. “forget science, just enjoy the show”.. I am, even more so because the writers have given us an endless number of ideas to think about.
Just 2 day left !!! Haaaaaaaaaaaaiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii :D:D:D:D:D
So regarding the things that people have seen on the island:
– Jack sees his dad, but nobody else has.
– Kate sees the horse, which I don;t think anyone else has.
– Mr Eko finds his brother’s body and the plane he was on… but so do Locke and Boone.
– Numerous people have seen the “smoke moster.”
– Numerous people have seen apparations of Walt.
– Hurley has seen his “imaginary friend” Dave… but Dave didn’t exist off-island either.
– Anthony Cooper was not only seen by Locke and Sawyer and the Others but is (was) clearly there.
– Jacob is… we don’t know.
– Ben saw his mother when nobody else did. Shades of the “Scream” movies. (#3?)
There does not appear to be any pattern. Some could be projections from the island. Some could be the smoke monster. I’m fairly certain they don’t all have the same explanation.
Dan from SD, I do like the example of points on a piece of paper. The only problem is that points on a piece of paper are two dimensional. (The physical dots are three dimensional but in the analogy of the flat piece of paper there is no depth.) Distorting the paper adds a third dimension. Observing it over time adds a fourth. To add two dimensions into a 4-D world (like what we live in, which is 3-D and progresses through time, a fourth dimension) already gets into things beyond the realm of most people’s ability to think and reason.
This is one of my major pet peeves with the “Time Loop” theory. If there is a time loop, who is the central character? And that person can effect change on everyone else that they are powerless over? It’s an interesting metaphysical (not sure if that’s the right term) argument, I guess, but virtually impossible to turn into a coherent linear narrative like a television show. For instance, if Des can affect change, why not keep going back in time until he makes things right with Penny (a la Groundhog Day)?
Unless Jacob is the man who controls the time loop… 😉
In which case, he’s a Sox fan. 😉
The Lockheed Electra plane, the heroin-filled statues and Eko’s mummyified brother were not aberrations. They were THERE physically.
How’d they get there? So far, NOTHING explains it. Only thing that comes close is a portal or transporter beam. OR MAYBE it got there with a crane; operated by Dharma/Covert Government/Halliburton people?
I think everything on this show will be explained simply. It’s like the movies, “Planet of the Apes” and “Sixth Sense” or a good episode of Twillight Zone. You make up all this stuff in your mind while you’re watching it, when all-along it was obvious. Then you slap your forehead and say, “doh-h”.
Wispers in the jungle? A good Bose system.
I wonder how many clues have been left by the producers that no one ever caught? We’re all taking a ride. An entertaining ride at that.
Bill.. I hope you’re right, that there is a kind of a “Sixth Sense” type movie explaination that makes us all go “why didn’t I think about that?? ” And then we can replay all the episodes we’ve saved and go.. uh huh.. the answer was right in front of us all the time.
Dave.. I enjoyed reading the points you made. And true, space-time is much more complex than my example of a sheet of flat paper. Still, the writers have written in details about a very powerful magnetic force on the Island that can do mysterious things.. violently pushing and pulling matter and energy.. which could mean that magnetism is an easy explaination for distortions.
I think the Time-Loop idea of things repeating until they are done correctly was almost explained in the Desmond’s “Flashes Before Your Eyes” episode. Here is a recap of what I think was the most important episode of all of Lost
“Oh my God,” Desmond says, “you knew that was going to happen, didn’t you?”
The Pawn Shop lady nods.
“Then why didn’t you stop it? Why didn’t you do anything?”
“Because it wouldn’t matter. Had I warned him about the scaffolding tomorrow he’d be hit by a taxi. If I warned him about the taxi, he’d fall in the shower and break his neck. The universe, unfortunately has a way of course correcting. That man was supposed to die. That was his path. Just as it’s your path to go to the island. You don’t do it because you choose to, Desmond, you do it because you’re supposed to.”
“I’m going to meet Penny in an hour. I’ve got a ring. She’ll say yes. I can choose whatever I want.”
“You may not like your path, Desmond, but pushing that button is the only truly great thing that you will ever do.”
How does the “portal theory” explain planes falling out of the sky?
We have seen some form of damage on the Black Rock, and of course Oceanic Flt. 815. Ethan described “a rough ride” to Juliette in Portland. And of course, there is Naomi’s Helo.
I don’t remember seeing anything that would explain why the Sub would experience turbulence so near the island if everyone was transported via “The Looking Glass”.
The plane that drops supplies may drop them from a higher altitude to avoid the type of destruction that we have seen on air and sea vessels. Does anyone else find it a bit odd that Flt. 815 was flying so low?
I’m not trying to “disprove” anyone’s theory, but I would like to understand how these things might be explained.
Dave,
Great post. I just have one correction. Kate’s horse is seen by Sawyer at the end of the episode.
Thanks! 32.5 hours!!!
Bill, agreed on the simple explanation. Some excellent recent movies (The Sixth Sense, The Prestige, to name two) focus on this. Often there is a clue early on that everyone either loses sight of or fails to focus on. I have heard rumors (they may be nothing more than this) that there is some climactic moment in the pilot that gives a huge clue as to what is going on. The likely candidates seems to be Locke and Walt playing backgammon (they’re the two ‘special’ people), but I think there was a throwaway line by Rose saying the sound (of the ‘smoke monster’) reminded her of her childhood in Brooklyn that makes me wonder… two things in Brooklyn that might make a noise like that are a subway and a roller coaster.
Dan — I do like your theory a lot, I simply find it too difficult and abstract to be the theme of a mass market TV show. Time-space disturbances and 5th and 6th dimensions are heady stuff. Then again, the Matrix was a huge box-office success. I do agree entirely that the Desmond episode has major significance in the grand scheme of things; I’m just not sure how literally we’re meant to interpret what happened to him.
Also, in hindsight, most of us tend to rationalize our behaviors (e.g. because I did X, Y, and Z, I wound up on the island) even if there is no clear cause and effect sometimes. Des in particular seemed to take on the button-pushing as his “mission” when he realized that he brought down 815. He may be, honestly (and to co-opt a handle from this blog) nucking futs, and all this is rationalization as to why he’s here. Deja vu kinda stuff (Charlie, I knew this was going to happen except in my vision you died, etc.).
Keep in mind the familiar Locke mantra: don’t mistake fate with coincidence.
¿¿¿-Knock it off with the countdowns. You’ve already been asked nicely.
I still can’t figure out why Charlie konked Desmond on the head. I forgot to mention that. It actually kind of bugged me. In fact, the whole conversation on the rowboat was confusing. Desmond tries to talk Charlie out of going at the last minute, even though he knows exactly what has to happen. And then, instead of having a discussion about Desmond’s visions, Charlie just smacks him. Why?
I’d forgotten about Walt and Yemi appearing on the island. I always thought that what made Walt appear to Shannon was entirely different from what made Eko’s brother and Jack’s dad appear.
I don’t think Annie is Kate. Or Danielle. I think Annie is still around but we haven’t met her as an adult yet.
Oh yeah – – does anyone think now that Charlie smacked Desmond on the head that perhaps Des will no longer have his ability to see the future? Head trauma turned apparently turned it on and off before – –
Jen, I think Des tries to get Charlie not to go out of heroism. Same reason he goes in to turn the failsafe. The reason he was unable to be with Penny is because he was too cowardly/dishonorable, according to Mr Widmore. Des wants to vindicate himself by being honorable. He also perhaps doesn’t trust that he will ever be reacquainted with Penny, while Charlie has “found” someone in Claire (and Aaron).
Also, Charlie hasn’t died yet as per any of his other visions.
So Des tries to do the honorable thing, but poor old bastard Charlie decides that the way to glory and salvation is in being martyred and clocks Des. It’s realy, in my opinion, not out of Character with the Charlie who abducted Sun or fought with Locke or Des. It’s just that now he’s being selflessly selfish (selfishly selfless?).
Plus, things have a way of course-correcting. Charlie was meant to go to the looking glass. But is it fate? Or coincidence? 😉