Lost 10/27/04

[MEG Hal]

But in truth, the castaways may be motivated by something below the surface that's subtly manipulating them -- some force that wants them split into two groups: the light side, and the dark side. Let's see how it pans out.

It's like supernatural survivor, after all!

- JB

Nice theory!
I was wondering about shifts as well, I mean the water people will need fish and the beach people will need water etc.... whatever.

 

[Dagger75]

I see it as moving to the Valley means giving up hope for rescue. Those who want to stay at the beach are still expecting rescue. A rift is forming. Plus hiding information is the worst thing to do in a situation like this.

I'm wondering if this going to turn into Lord of Flies with adults soon.

 

[Capellan]

Personally, I think that Jack 'sold' the plan to move to the cave really badly. I can see why people chose to stay on the beach when he phrased the move in terms of 'digging in': it sounds too much like admitting defeat.

What he should have done is suggested they move their base to the caves for ease of survival, but keep 4-6 of their number at the beach all the time (changing shifts every 8-12 hours or so) to care for the fire and try to attract the attention of ships and planes.

That way, he appeals to both the survivors' desire for comfort and security, and their desire for rescue.

I'm thoroughly enjoying Lost - it's been very good stuff.

 

[Mark]

Let's say for a moment that Locke isn't kidding, when he says that the island wants people to 'pay a price'. If I were to buy into the 'island feeds' concept (and I'm more willing to accept some variation of that than the 'fantasies come true' theory), then I'd hazard that the island wants to take their pain.

Or it feeds on their fear. Notice how it almost took back the ability to walk from Locke when he wouldn't get up right away (after the tusker gored one of his hunting partners)? But, perhaps by facing up to his fear against the large, unnamed (unseen) beast, much like he has been counciling everyone else to do, Locke strode back to camp triumphant. The island seems to like to raise (perhaps) false hopes, while draining people's apprehensions.

 

[WizarDru]

Or it feeds on their fear. Notice how it almost took back the ability to walk from Locke when he wouldn't get up right away (after the tusker gored one of his hunting partners)? But, perhaps by facing up to his fear against the large, unnamed (unseen) beast, much like he has been counciling everyone else to do, Locke strode back to camp triumphant. The island seems to like to raise (perhaps) false hopes, while draining people's apprehensions.

Funny, I didn't get that impression from that sequence at all. I didn't think that Locke lost the use of his legs there, I assumed he was knocked silly and his first reaction was either one of apprehension ("oh no...are they broken again?") or confusion ("where am I? what hit me? How can I....hey, that's right, my legs work now!"). I didn't think he lost control of them, just that he was disoriented and was doubtful.

I think that whatever Locked encountered, one of two things happened: either he and it had an exchange at some level, and an accord was reached...or, he encountered something that challenged him and the results were too difficult or far-fetched to reveal to the others. If he says, "well, I met the creature, and it's an intelligent elephant that just wants us to keep out of it's way every three days when it hunts" or "it was an ancient wind-god that promised us peace from it's pet demon if we give him a memory every week."...well, they're not going to buy that. Until the creature makes itself known more publicly.

The problem for the writers and the viewers, such as it is, is a classic sf/fantasy problem, that I believe Orson Scott Card wrote about in his 'Writing SF" book. If the writer says "the bus moved like a lazy caterpillar", for example, the reader could accidentally assume the phrase was literal, and that maybe the bus really does move like a caterpillar. In both writing and viewing, the creators have to be careful, or we assign meaning to even the most common of events, because of context and genre.

The scene with Locke after the boar knocked him out is prime example. The baby kicking is another. So is Jack's Dad, and even the polar bear. They could be fantasy/supernatural elements...or they might not be. That the writers are using our preconcieved notions against us is certainly part of the fun. How many folks out there were convinced when Locke got a phone call as 'the colonel'? My wife and I called out , "Aha!"...and then laughed when the show completely pulled the rug out from under us and the theory that he was some ex-CIA black-ops specialist. Finding out he's a wargamer, though, only makes him cooler.

 

[John Crichton]

In classic JJ Abrams style I don't think the "lessons" Sun took were English lessons. It was way too easy to foreshadow. He is very good at deception and twists. I believe this is one of them. We shall see...

 

[fba827]

Completely Random Thought .... the more "individual stories" that we get, the more I can't help but feel that the title is not just about being lost (in terms of geographical location) but also in life... these are all people (at least as has been shown so far) who are lost and were searching for a change in their lives. This idea isn't new (that the characters all have some need for change in their lives) but rather, just the connection between that idea and the shows title.

parapeligic (sp?) who wanted a new life
fellon
unhappy wife
regretful husband (with whatever he had to do for his father inlaw that was bloody)
Drug user that was trying to quit (he tried to flush it) plus i'm under theimpression that his band gig was failing or else he was not satisfied with it or something
etc ....

i have missed several episodes so i may be off... but, anyway, it was just a random thought that i wanted to share

 

[WizarDru]

parapeligic (sp?) who wanted a new life
fellon
unhappy wife
regretful husband (with whatever he had to do for his father inlaw that was bloody)
Drug user that was trying to quit (he tried to flush it) plus i'm under theimpression that his band gig was failing or else he was not satisfied with it or something

You're pretty much spot on, with the exception that Charley wasn't flushing his drugs because he was trying to quit, but because he was going to be caught. His erratic behavior had alerted the stewardess that something wasn't right...we're not sure what they were going to do, but most likely keep him under observation until they landed. Such as it was. I'm sure we'll get more details on Charely soon. What we do know, from Locke, is that his band broke up (one can assume badly) and that his solo album (while good) wasn't successful. Charley now finds himself a has-been addict...that's enough right there.

Jack is regretful for his father's death. I'm assuming we'll eventually get details, but my suspicion is that Jack revelaed his father's addiction problems publicly, to prevent him from actively working as a surgeon (due to the dangers involved...our clue being his mother's accusation and what I see as a foreshadowing/clue: the father talking about a boy dying on the table that day, while he drinks a scotch and insults his son). I suspect Jack was torn between duty to his father and helping people.

Who I want to know more about is Hurley. He's fun, but we don't really know much about him, yet, other than that he can't stomach blood, he's helpful and he has a walkman [which is set to run out of power, soon].