“LOST” has spawned a million theories. A show grounded in simple, human drama, but swirling with so many mysterious and supernatural elements that you know anything can happen. And yet, I don’t think anyone could have imagined where tonight’s episode has taken us. We were promised a “game changer,” and a game changer we’ve got. We know we’re only halfway through the grand arc of “LOST,” yet we’re given a glimpse of what we thought was the natural endpoint of a “stranded on a tropical island” story. Suddenly I’m willing to entertain even the most ridiculous, crack-pot theories. Because I have no idea where “LOST” will take us next.
I admit, I’m a spoiler fiend. And even Jen, who valiantly went spoiler free the last few weeks, couldn’t resist. We read about the big twist, “the snake in the mailbox,” last week. Tonight’s season finale, fortunately, was still powerful enough to leave us speechless. But we do somewhat regret depriving ourselves of the chance to have our minds totally blown. Lesson learned. At least for Jen.
Alas, Charlie’s reprieve last week was short-lived, and he dies… having passed on one of the biggest twists yet. His character’s journey was a roller coaster, with some seriously deep dips… but the writers did well by him in the waning weeks of this season. It’s tough enough to lose someone who has been aboard since the beginning, but he met an especially bittersweet end. No, it didn’t look like Charlie had to die. That burst porthole would have taken half an hour to flood The Looking Glass, more than enough time for him to stroll over to Desmond and help him into some SCUBA gear. So he chose to die. On the debate over “free will versus destiny,” I guess he falls in the latter camp.
Hurley’s bus-powered rescue was spectacular. His moment of triumph was extra sweet, after he was cruelly rebuffed by his friends tonight (and last week as well). And when he called Jack with the news? That he saved everybody, including Sayid, Jin and Bernard? Probably one of the best rushes I’ve ever felt with “LOST.”
Speaking of great moments, Alex and Rosseau’s reunion was something we’ve been waiting for since Alex surfaced in Season Two. It was as powerful as we’d hoped, and one that hopefully opens the door to some great character development in the seasons to come. I dare say never in the history of television have a mother and daughter been more perfectly cast than Mira Furlan and Tania Raymonde.
Wonder of wonders, Walt returned, ushered in by the mysterious whispers. He restores Locke’s hope at the very moment he’d lost it all. It was good to see David Malcolm Kelly again… but he’s definitely not a kid anymore. The odd angle and strange voice effect didn’t help. Still, he made sure Locke survived and remains a central character in the “LOST” master plan. His return, in the midst of Ben’s collapsing authority, is a tantalizing tease for Season 4. And his line to Jack, resigned over his making contact with the ship, seemed to strike the deepest of any uttered on this show:
“You aren’t supposed to do this.”
And Penny’s brief conversation with Charlie proved that Naomi isn’t who she said she was (and proved that Ben wasn’t entirely lying). Ben’s desperate last pleas to Jack, that making contact would be the “beginning of the end,” also seem to have been borne out, when we see Jack — OFF THE ISLAND! — broken and desperate and now yearning to return.
I… I don’t know what to say. Jen?
So they’ve been rescued.
My biggest fear is that the series would end MASH style: with tears and hugs and emotional dialogue about fear and destiny. I could see them all getting on the boat and riding off into the sunset, and it scared me.
It’s safe to say that that’s not going to happen now.
We’ve thought we were headed somewhere, but we were wrong. I admit, this season took forever to get started. I was wondering what the whole point of the six-episode “pod” was, and while I think it might have been dragged out a little bit far, I can still see in retrospect where they were going. Ben and company might be the “good guys” after all. The finale made me reexamine everything we’ve learned about all the characters so far, especially The Others.
Season three of Lost, to me, is one of the best seasons of television ever.
Notes & Notions:
- Who died? Whose funeral had no visitors? Who’s neither family nor friend to Jack (and elicits a sneer from Kate)? Benjamin Linus seems a likely guess. Looks like this will become one of the key mysteries of the seasons to come. And I suspect the journey to the answer will be even more delicious than learning how Locke ended up in a wheelchair.
- Jack’s crack about his dad being drunk, and presumably alive, was very, very curious. Was he just so whacked out on drugs that he forgot Christian Shepherd was dead? Or is dad… not dead? (Jack also seemed rattled when the pharmacist said she’d call Christian to verify the prescription.) In fact, Jack’s sorry state seemed to be a continuation of the downward spiral we’d seen in his pre-crash flashbacks. Kate, meanwhile, seemed to have settled down with someone, and didn’t appear to be in prison or on the run. I’m not a “time loop” fan at all… but these are pretty juicy morsels for someone to suggest that some of the things we’ve seen happen now didn’t happen.
- The code to disable the jamming signal was “programmed by a musician.” Was that a big clue, or just another way to cement in Charlie’s mind that it was his destiny to do what he did?
- Some fantastic lines. Rose threatens, “If you say, ‘Live together, die alone’ again, Jack, I’ll punch you in the face.” And Juliet’s quip about building runways for aliens was priceless.
- What is the deal with Mikhail? (Cyclops!) He just won’t die. At this point, I’m fairly sure we’ll see him again in Season 4.
- Links: “Through The Looking Glass” discussions at TheFuselage.com, Lost-Forum.com, and Pop Candy
Has anyone else thought about all the dead?
There is a pit full of skeletons from the Dharma Initiative; is it possible that they are a few of the whispers — whispers forewarning of danger? Is it possible that the garbled whispers more of too many voices talking all at once? Think of a room full of screaming fans when their favourite actor/ actress or rock star walks by. Pandemonium, same concept.
And why out of all the deaths that have occurred (do not include Charlie’s at this time because the only person who knows he is dead is Desmond), all but two have been buried.
Danny Pickett was shot by Juliet to aid Kate & Sawyer to escape with Carl. What happened to his body?
The other was Danny’s wife, Colleen. She was shot by Sun, died and was given a burial at sea. Why?
It also does not seem to matter if the person(s) died on the island or not, if you consider the appearances of Ben’s mother, Jack’s father and Eko’s brother Yemi.
For true fanatics, here’s another blog thingey you might want to check out. Esp. interesting is the main blogger’s summary of the show– very well done, in a different way from Ryan’s and Jen’s. I do like ours better. though! 🙂
http://lost-and-gone-forever.blogspot.com/
To anyone’s knowledge, has anyone in fact “dissected” any of the whispers?
You can go to DarkUFO’s website. At the top of the page there is a button labled “Whispers”. It contains dissections of most of the whispers.
After reading Dan in San Diego’s post about the obituary/death notice I had a thought. By the way, I have seen enhanced screencaps of that article and I am amazed that someone was able to decipher it all! Anyway, the name doesn’t connect with any of the characters in the show (except for the first name of “John”). It also goes on to say that the body was found hanging from the victim’s loft. Maybe it was one of the other Losties…the Red Shirts or Sock Puppets or background characters. Maybe he was the last one (other than Jack, Kate and her mysterious “he”) left from those that had been rescued.
In the beginning of the finale, the survivors are seen walking away from their camp with the ocean to their right. After the commercial, they are walking with the ocean to their left. This could not happen unless they completely crossed the island or if they changed their direction completely>
Tori — her name is Sydney, thanks for asking. Not because of Lost, but it’s a nice tie-in as it’s one of our favorite shows. 🙂
HeyBrah — nice connection btw Widmore and Ben. Maybe the friction btw Des and Mr W is why they left Desmond relatively alone?
One maybe interesting idea regarding the obit:
“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 teenaged son. Memorial services will be held at the Hoffs-Drawlar Funeral Home tomorrow evening.â€
What if Michael’s name is not really Michael? What if his given name is something like John Michael Lantham? Possible, yes? (I realize IMDB lists his name as Michael Dawson, but bear with me…) He’s from NYC. (Yes?) He leaves the island w/ Walt and goes back to LA. He is not allowed to tell anyone about the island, maybe he takes an assumed name. He would (in the future) have a teenaged son, Walt. It also seemed fairly clear that the writers were trying to make a point about the funeral home being in a predominantly African-American neigborhood. Just a wild thought… who else do we know with a teenaged son?
Congrats Dave! Good job not missing LOST as well! By the way…I’ve had that happen here before too with typing a long synopsis and it going bye bye…so I “select all” then “copy” what I write so it doesn’t go to the island or wherever it tries to go….and if it does then I am ready to paste it….anyways – – congrats.
Time Theorists : I agree w/ whoever said the show would lose a lot of viewers if they spend very little time on the island in the coming years. However, I do not think that where / when we see Jack in this episode is the be all end all wrap up of our story. I see it like this :
What happened on the island happened exactly the way it did. We have seen the past, we have seen the island time and now we are seeing bits from what is going on now ( about 3 years after the island ). This is supported by the appearance of the KRAZR phone and all. I figure that the show is moving in real time, but the island story took a long time to explain. Now the writers have to finish the story. I think that by the time the show ends in 2010 we will continue to see events from 2008,09,10 some while they are happening and some in flahsback to cover the missing years we are now pondering ( 2004end,2005,06). This will give the writers a vehicle for moving the story past Jack’s downfall. This will give them time to explain the hunt for answers to the islands mystery. It will also allow a lifeline and the ability to track down those responsible to get answers off the island like Widmore, Paik Industries, mainland DHARMA, etc.
Edit :
…… when we see Jack in this episode is “NOT” the be all end all wrap up of our story. I see it like this :
Since Jack told the funeral director either, family or friend. Would enough time have passed for it to be Claire’s baby grown to fit the casket size and would therefore indicate something cataclysmic happened to the castaways and they were told by someone to lie about what happened. Jack said he was tired of lying.
Wow, everyone has given such awsome feedback on the season ender, with such interesting ideas, and it hasn’t even been a week since it aired! I’m so excited that I have found this site!
I’m really starting to think that maybe the person in the casket is someone that maybe we haven’t met directly yet, possibly someone involved in the “Rescue” I just can’t imagine it being the funeral of a child and 1) have no one show up and 2) Kate have such a reaction. At first I thought that it may be Ben, now I’m not so sure. Looking forward to more discussions, and Season 4.
101 Reasons why the person in the coffin is NOT Locke, Sawyer, or Ben, but instead is….
If the leaked Lost Obituary column is accurate (see my earlier post, above), and if it came from someone on the Lost product crew (it had to, because it was impossible to see all the obit words no matter how much you use freeze-framed).. then there is only one person who could be in the coffin.
…. (drum roll please).. it’s Michael.. who was from New York, and has a teenage son… but here’s more proof! http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Dawson_(Lost)
The Obituary name, “John Latham” (spelled this way once, and the other time “Lantham”), points to Michael. John Latham (who was a famous dead Black artist) could have been the new alias used by Michael (who was an artist and probably knew a lot about other famous artists) because he killed 2 people on the Island and had to go into hiding when he got back (as Ben told him he would).
Also, it was reported that Flight 815 perished with ALL passengers.. so don’t you think that Michael would attract unusual attention if he was found alive? He had to find a new name… so why not use the name of an artist he might have admired, John Latham.
Michael was the ONLY Lostie who could possibly find the Island again, which would certainly help Jack go back. Remember, Michael sailed back to civilization using Ben’s compass directions. So Michael knows exactly where he LANDED.. which means it is possible to reverse course and go back to the Island from where he landed. This would be a good reason for the bad guys to kill Michael and make it look like a suicide.. just to keep anyone else from finding out how to get back the Island.
Also, Michael has a teenage son who could have easily run away from Michael again (using his “powersâ€) and gone back to the Island (or somewhere else in the time-space continuum 😉
Kate would be still angry at Michael for leading them into a trap on the Island after murdering two Losties. And she would be mad because Michael was rewarded for the deception and murder by being given a boat by Ben. So why would Kate want to go to Michael’s funeral?
BTW.. the TV Close-Caption says that Jack said that Michael was “neither” friend or family (not either). Jack was no buddy of Michael’s.
And obviously, the funeral home is in a part of “Black LA,” run by an African-American funeral Minster/owner… an area where Michael could easily have been hiding and living.
It gets even more amazing. The real black artist John Latham created a concept called “flat time.” Basically Latham said that “the present moment in passing time can only be made sense of when related to what has already gone, the past.” Sounds like he’s is talking about reasons for Lost’s flashbacks.
Read more about John Latham’s Flat Time concept here, which could also be used to describe the Time-Loop theory: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Latham_(artist)
More reason’s why it’s Michael..
Walt showing up in the episode could have been a clever sign (by the writers) to devilishly point back to Michael
Jack could have found out Michael’s new name the same way Locke found out information about his dad and Sawyer.. from Richard Alpert, who can get info on anyone.
Soo.. besides Michael not being 5 feet tall (if the “guessed casket size†is correct).. why wouldn’t it be Michael?
Michael is in the coffin.. (continued)
The weblinks didn’t post correctly, above.. so let me try again..
Background info on Michael can be found at weblink
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Dawson_(Lost)
Background info on John Lathum can be found at weblink
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Latham_(artist)
RePost of possible “leaked” Obit column that Jack had, probably from someone in the Lost production crew..
“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 teenaged son. Memorial services will be held at the Hoffs-Drawlar Funeral Home tomorrow evening.â€
really cool episode, can’t wait till next season!! Do you think Kate is pregnant?
Dan in SD — nice detective work. So I guess my “wild guess” actually does have some evidence behind it.
I would not, however, put too much faith in the closed captions. They are notoriously inaccurate for things such as live events. Whether ABD furnishes the actual script, I don’t know, but if they don’t, the “either/neither” distinction is probably left to some not-very-well-paid person’s best guess.
Jack may have also been having a “who gives a —-” moment when he said “either” (or “neither”), much like when he suggested the new sugrical chief contact his father. It’s sometimes difficult to answer a closed-ended question like that (e.g. checking into a hotel for a funeral and being asked, as per custom, “here for business or pleasure?”) and if your disposition or congition is a certain way, you might give the old “Whatever.” Or, if you’re not a teenager, “either.”
I wouldn’t read too, too much into the size of the coffin. I have to assume coffins come in fairly standard sizes; adult and child. That did not look like a child-size coffin.
Michael in the coffin makes sense since his family was Walt, and that’s it. His ex-wife was dead/dying when they left on flight 815.
Dave, I went back a found your prior post. You guessed that Michael was in the coffin before me.. so I have to give you credit for being first. The interesting thing is that we both used similar reasons why.. great minds think alike 😉
I’d like to hear what Connie in Alaska and Jen might think.
Ok, it could be Michael in the box, makes sense. I have no idea how he could affect the story. But it could be a real curveball, folks. I don’t trust the writers and producers all that much. I read that the actor Harold Perrineau (Michael) will be in a new CBS show this Fall. We’ll see.
I thought the coffin looked a little small, too. But it’s Hawaii. Maybe that’s all they had to shoot with at that particular moment and they didn’t think anyone would notice (but LOST fans notice everything). Perhaps it’s too expensive to be buried in Hawaii, so there isn’t an abundance of coffins there.
Jack’s dad was referrenced twice — “let’s get him down here” to the new chief of surgery and at the drug store with the prescription issue. If he’s still alive, why is there a new chief of surgery? Visual – Jack’s brain — two eggs in the skillet rapidly frying.
And Jack being reported as the “hero doctor” on the news. The TV press would have also cross-referrenced Jack as being one of the miraculous survivors of Flight 815. Wait, something ain’t right here…
Did they return to a different world where they can make critical changes based on their experiences of personal redemption? Maybe Kate doesn’t kill her step dad and marries her childhood sweetheart, Dr. Tom (his toy airplane sets on their fireplace mantle or bookcase)? Perhaps Jack doesn’t rat on his dad? Maybe a lot of stuff?
This is my personal request to ABC and Bad Rabbit (more rabbits…); Air 4-episodes in the Fall, then 12-straight starting in March 08. Come-on, you can do that, right? Or air 4, then 8, then 15, then 16, then 23, then…
Congrats to Dave, wife and family!
oooops, what am I thinking, it’s Bad Robot.
Hi All,
I know the article Jack tore out of the paper talks about a mans death and funeral arrangements, but Lost props have been way wrong before!
I believe the person in the casket is Julliet.
Kate would have no reason to see her funeral, so that makes sence.
Her sister and nephew would have come to LA to see the funeral, but of course her sister saw a man on a bridge about to jump in and had a wreck!! Thats why no one else showed for the viewing.
Thoughts?
Jeff
Dan in SD–My guesses about who is in the coffin have been just random speculation–an unknown because of the name, Ben because of the no shows at the funeral, one of the Hostiles. My only strong conviction is that it is not a child. If it were, SOMEONE would have been there as I cannot imagine at least a court appointed guardian being involved.
However, after reading your excellent research into the background of the artist John Lantham, I am pursuaded that it most likely is Michael. If Michael and Walt successfully returned to civilization and then did nothing to help their fellow Losties get rescued, then the attitude toward his death makes sense. I also find it interesting that whatever happened to Michael (if it is Michael) drove him to commit suicide (or was it?) Also, assuming Walt is still alive, why wasn’t he at the funeral?
There is a screencap of the coffin and next to it is a table with a book on it. What could that be? A journal detailing the truth? A sketch book? A guest book? Some think it is the journal Ben kept on the Island.
*sigh* So many questions…..
Also, if Harold Perrineau is truly not coming back to the series at all, what better way to close that door than to make it a coffin lid.
Maybe we’re seeing the BACK of the item torn from the newspaper.
I don’t think the coffin is actually all that small. It’s plain. It’s just a box. It’s not a huge, ornate metal thing. And Michael is really not that big a dude–he’s 5’8″ at the most. I can totally see Michael fitting in there. And really, there have been some very compelling arguments for the deceased being Michael.
Harold Perrineau’s pilot was reportedly not picked up, by the way.
Can’t find any details (not sure how hard I want to look either), but I once heard that bodies are inclined in coffins. A 6′ tall man could fit inside of a 5′ 10” coffin because of the angles…
We might be getting a bit ahead of ourselves by thinking the Losties are about to be leaving the island. No telling how long in the future the Jack-goes-nuts takes place, if indeed that is a foregone conclusion or merely a possibility. We’re just beginning to learn about the island itself, and with 48 episodes remaining (and probably a 2-hour movie to close things out if ratings warrant it), there’s a lot yet to learn about the island’s powers, etc. None of these characters are interesting enough on their own to carry a “back in the world” theme for three years; the interest remains in how they cope with what they face on the island. We are just beginning to learn a bit about the island, Jacob and some of its secrets. As for the Others being the good guys, after gassing the original Dharma group, terrorizing our heroes and being slimy in general, I’d hate to see the bad guys.
BJ, I agree with you. I predict that next season will pick up from the point where they called the ship for help. I don’t necessarily think that they will get rescued right away. I think there will be some additional set-backs when/if the the people from the ship come to the island. They could possibly not be rescued for another 2 seasons! Maybe the final season will be the flash-forward/return to the island season.
How many months have the losties been on the island again? I’ve lost count already… Assuming that Jack’s phone during the flash forward is a motoRazr, then the setting for the flash forward could have been in the year 2005, a year after they crashed on the island. What’s confusing is that the pacing of the episodes per season is not consistent. So its really hard to tell how much longer will the losties be staying on the island before they get rescued…
It has been confirmed that the “Flash Forward” is the present. As in our present. So there’s one more layer of time to think about 😉
“To anyone’s knowledge, has anyone in fact “dissected†any of the whispers?”
Yes, indeed:
http://lostwhispering.blogspot.com/
off of the USA TODAY Life Section… something trivial, but very cool Dave Provost wrote:
“The name of the funeral home (Hoffs/Drawlar) anagrams to “Flash Forward.”
Just wondering what anyone thinks of the possibility of Kate’s comment “He’ll wonder where I went” or whatever it was exactly, was referring to a son at home? If she was pregnant on the island–which we didn’t find out for sure, did we?–then maybe she has a toddler son in the future? Just a thought!
I too believe that the woman who was in the accident on the bridge was Juliette’s sister.
I’m not sure, Bryan. The lady in the accident had a name. The surgeon guy says what her last name is and it’s not Juliet’s. Also, Jack was inn California. I think when we saw Robin with her kid, she was in Miami.
Has anyone compared the crash victim’s son from the hospital lobby with the video feed of Juliette’s sister’s son that Ben showed Juliette? Just wondering if that had been wrapped up yet.
—
Hibernating ’til Feb. 2008,
JerMander
No way its Locke in the casket. He never left the island, he walked back into the jungle as Jack made the call. And, the only Other to leave the island was Ben – who they turn into the police? Juliet is now one of the good guys – so I do not count her as an Other anymore. So, out Others (albiet fewer of them now) are still there.
My reach into the future. The last episode witll have some of our losties (Jack, Sayid, Juliette, Hurley, etc) in a silient and triumphent return to the island. At which point of course – Locke is now in charge….
Also, did anyone find anything weird about Mr Friendly’s (Tom) death? As Sawyer stands above him with the gun he says too calmly “Ok, I give up”. Like he did not expect in any way shape or form that Sawyer would actually kill him.
With everything the Others have put the loties thru, would you not think they would be scared to death of them? After all this time, tauting them, killing them, sacring them, obducting them…. How can they still believe that they are somehow the “Good Guys” as Ben puts it?
I presume the book next to the coffin is a register of the guests who are (were) there. This is fairly common at funerals.
I do like the idea (Tulsa Jeff) that the woman driving on the bridge killed by Jack’s actions is Juliet’s sister. Sort of like how Jack’s attempts to rescue his future wife essentially killed Shannon’s dad. (Juliet’s family could easily have gotten from Miami to LA over several years.) However, I doubt that Juliet is in the coffin. Imagine the irony if she was.
Can’t wait to read the next few posts – Ryan and Jenn, thanks for keeping the fire stoked.
Dave,
The woman wasn’t killed. Toward the end of the episode, the surgeon tells Jack that her surgery went well. This was the surgery Jack wanted to perform himself.
Just a quick fact check.
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