S5E10 - He's Our You

On Friday, I was planning on trying to write this week's blog, wondering how I would be able to write about this episode. I mean, yeah, there were little things to talk about like Sayid drinking MacCutcheon's (the infamous drink-of-choice of Charles Widmore). And yeah, we found out that Ilana was a bounty hunter or something. But it wasn't until the end of the episode that we got a HUGE shocker. Sayid shooting Ben could be a big game-changer. Have they broken the "You can't change the future" rule? More importantly, if young Ben is dead, then doesn't this create a paradox? Or will old-Ben disappear too? How does this work?

I've got a theory.

For those that can't tell, this week's write-up is going to be a bit different than usual. Because there weren't that many "easter egg" things in this episode, I was a little worried that I wouldn't have much to write about. But then it hit me. I was re-watching some episodes from Season 4 on Friday, and I had a possible revelation during "The Constant". Let me set up the episode for those that don't remember.

The Constant

While trying to leave the island, the helicopter hit some rough turbulence, causing it to momentarily veer off-course. When this happened, Desmond's sub-conscious began skipping between 2004 (current time) and 1996. In order to prevent himself from dying, Faraday instructed him to go meet up with him at Oxford. When he got there, he provided Faraday with the settings that his "time travel" machine needed (in order to prove that he was, in fact, from the future).

I've got you caught up to the right point... Now, this is where I need you to pay attention.

Faraday zaps his rat (Eloise) with a beam of ultraviolet light, and the rat appears to blackout for a minute. Once it "wakes up", Faraday placed the rat inside a maze and it ran the whole thing with no problem. Excited, Faraday shouts, "It worked!" When Desmond asks about his little experiment, Faraday explains what happened--"I just finished the maze this morning. I'm not going to teach her to run it until an hour from now." Then Desmond says that he needs Faraday's help, and he begins to explain his situation before blacking out again.

When we return to Faraday's office a little later, Desmond wakes up in a chair, as Faraday is frantically writing all over a chalkboard. Desmond asks how long he's been out, and Faraday explains that it's been about 75 minutes. Faraday is trying to figure out how to help Desmond, when Desmond notices that Eloise (the rat) is dead. He asked Faraday what caused her death, but he has no answer. Faraday still needs to perform an autopsy.

I know what you're thinking-- GET TO YOUR THEORY ALREADY! Well, here it comes.

The Theory

Let's say that Desmond arrived at Faraday's office at 4:00. Faraday zapped Eloise, sending her to 5:00, when he taught her how to run the maze. She returned back to 4:00 and knew how to do it. Desmond blacked out at 4:05. But here's the problem-- after Desmond blacked out, Faraday was focused on helping him out, and forgot to show Eloise how to run the maze, thus creating a paradox. Mrs. Hawking explained that the universe has a way of course-correcting. And perhaps killing the rat was the solution.

Do you follow me?

Normally, if I come up with a theory like this, I can normally prove myself wrong, so I don't bother sharing it... but this time, I can't. That's why I decided to write about it-- to offer up someone else to prove it wrong. Is there something that I'm not thinking here? Or maybe I'm just crazy?

Speaking of crazy, check this out: While watching The Constant, this theory hit me, and I instantly stopped in my tracks and had to write myself a note so I wouldn't forget. So, in the middle of writing "He never taught her to run the maze", my nose started to bleed. Woah. I didn't realize the symbolism here until I was rushing off to the bathroom with a paper towel on my nose. Then while I'm "cleaning up" my nosebleed in the men's room, I'm laughing at the situation, thinking, "Well, I've certainly got something to blog about now."

Ben's Paradox

That brings us to this week's episode, and the paradox that we may be facing. If young Ben is dead, then what kind of course-correcting can we expect the universe to do? Will old-Ben be dead? Is the island's ability to resurrect the dead (ala John Locke) its way of course-correcting? Will young-Ben be brought back to life? Or will the course-correcting happen in the 2007 timeline? Can we expect Ben to disappear? Just die? Or what if he is replaced by someone else? Imagine that young Ben is officially dead... all of the things that have happened through 2007 still need to happen, so maybe someone else takes on the role of the Bad Guy. Now that the losties are back in 1977, could one of them take on this role?

Needless to say, my head is seriously spinning on this. So, I apologize if none of this made any sense. Never in a million years would I have imagined that I would be publishing content for the world to see, with my thoughts on time travel and paradoxes caused by changing the future. I had no idea what I was signing up for when I started blogging about LOST back in season 2.

So please, leave me a comment or e-mail me. I'd love to hear what you guys think of this theory, or just of LOST in general. I appreciate all the great feedback I've been getting. And don't forget to vote in this week's poll. It's a simple question: Is Ben dead?

Thanks for reading!

-drew.

S5E09 - Namaste

We're officially past the half-way point this season, and season 5 has been so great! But for some unknown reason, we aren't being given our "no rerun" season. As you all know, last week wasn't a new episode... and now, they're saying that the April 22nd episode will be ANOTHER recap show, and not an actual new episode. Regardless, we're looking at a 2-HOUR finale in mid-May. I'm getting ahead of myself here-- let's focus on episode 9.

The Runway

It was great to see Flight 316 going down this week, and even GREATER to learn that the runway that the Others were building back in season 3 had a purpose. I wonder, though, what made them build the runway. How did they know that there would be a need for a runway in the future? Do the Others know the future? Maybe this ties in to my "Richard Alpert is from the future" theory.

The Non-Flashers

When the Ajira plane went down, 4 of the passengers flashed and woke up on the island in 1977-- Jack, Kate, Hurly, and Sayid. What's more interesting is WHY the other people didn't flash. I'm not talking about Caesar, Ilana, or any of the other background characters. I'm talking about Ben, Sun, and Frank. Is it possible that the island won't let you cross paths with yourself in another time? So, because Ben is on the island as a child in 1977, then it won't let his 2008-self come to that same time? If so, what does that mean for Sun? Was she on the island in the past? We know that her father is friends with Widmore, so could that mean that her father lived on the island once?

Radzinski

We finally got to meet Radzinski this week! For those that don't remember, he was one of the Swan station's original button-pushers. He was working there with Kelvin (Desmond's prior hatch-mate). According to Kelvin, pushing the button drove him crazy and he shot himself. Something tells me that Kelvin isn't being completely honest. We learned this week that Radzinski was involved in the design of the swan station. And hints from the producers indicate that we'll be learning a lot more about the Swan station this season. YES!

The Mystery Girl

Ok... I.... When.... Did you.... forget it. Just look at the footage.



There's someone there, right? And does it not look like Smokey rolls into the room when the door bursts open? We heard smokey right before they found the houses too, so we know he's nearby.

So is this Claire? It kinda looks like Charlotte too. It makes more sense that it'd be Claire, as she was last seen with Christian. And what does he mean when he says that they've got a journey ahead of them? Maybe if they leave the island on one bearing and return immediately after through a different bearing, then they'll be able to get to 1977. ???

Bruised Ben

At the end of "The Life and Death of Jeremy Bentham", Locke found a pretty beat-up Ben. In this episode, we learned that Ben survived the crash with only a few scratches... but was knocked out by Sun. My question is-- how did he get all bashed and bruised like we saw before? Can we expect to see Ben attacked by smokey? Or maybe the rest of the flight 316 survivors? Or maybe I'm just crazy.

Baby Ethan

Yes! The baby did turn out to be someone we know! And Juliet was quick to return him back to Amy when she realized the baby was Ethan. So, was Ethan the last known baby to be born on the island (other than Aaron, of course)? And I wonder if Amy is someone we've met before. At the beginning of season 2, when we first met Juliet, she was visited by an older lady named Amelia, who came over as part of her book club. And "Amy" is short for "Amelia", right? Hmmmm.

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Bonus

The president in 1977 was Jimmy Cater. Sorry, I couldn't help myself.

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The Poll

Every time we're in Dharma-ville, I keep expecting to see Rose and Bernard somewhere! They can't just ignore the characters, right? And is it too late now to say, "Yeah, they've been here the whole time"? Let me know where you think they are.

Dharma Lady

The "LOST" band, Geronimo Jackson, has released their first single on iTunes, and you can download it for free! It's just a remake (with a few changed words) to a song called "Excelsior Lady" by The Donkeys. The "new" song is called "DHARMA Lady"... how appropriate, right? Anyway, you listen to BOTH songs here, or you can click here to download Geronimo Jackson's version on iTunes.

You can also check out The Donkeys' MySpace page here.

Enjoy!

S5E08 - La Fleur

Sheesh... it's about time Sawyer (aka "Jim") gets his own episode. He hasn't had one since season 3, so this one was long overdue. And what more could we ask for than a trip back to 1974 to see the Dharma Initiative in full-swing.

The Four-Toed Statue



As I mentioned, Sawyer hadn't had his own episode since season 3... but would you believe that we haven't seen the Four-Toed Statue since the end of season 2! In this past episode, it made a brief appearance. The good news is that we got to see the statue before it was reduced to a single foot. The bad news is that we only got to see the back of it. And even though we didn't see the front, I got the impression that the statue wasn't human... it looked like the Egyptian God, Anubis.



According to Wikipedia, Anubis was the god of the underworld. It was his job to protect the dead and bring them to the afterlife. It seem like the deeper we get into the history of the island, the more influence we see by ancient Egypt. The temple, smokey's door, and the clock in the hatch all had hieroglyphics on them. In fact, the hieroglyphs that appeared when the clock reached zero translated to "underworld". So, I wouldn't be surprised if the statue was of Anubis. Also, take notice of the staff in his hands having the ankh at the end of it... the same symbol that was on Paul's necklace.

The Secret Life of Paul

If all of the stuff mentioned above is true, and the statue IS of Anubis, is it just a coinsidence that Paul (a member of the Dharma Initiative) has this ankh necklace, which ties him to the island's natives? And why did the hostiles break the truce by killing him? And why does Richard want Paul's body?

Enter: Tragic Love Story.

(This, of course, is all theoretical.) Amy worked for the Dharma Initiative. Paul was a native to the island. The Dharma Initiative posed a threat to the natives, so they made a truce-- the traditional "You leave us alone, and we'll leave you alone." But one day, their paths crossed (Amy and Paul, that is). It was love at first sight. Surely you see where this is going. It's classic Romeo & Juliet. Their love was forbidden, and when Richard found out, he was banished from their group, at which point he "joined" the Dharma Initative. After a long romance, Paul decides he wants to show Amy something from his native-days (the smoke monster, perhaps? maybe the 4-toed statue?), but that requires them to bend the rules. They get caught (of course) and he is killed.

Horace is a Polygamist?

Ok... so we don't have any real evidence to suggest that he is a polygamist-- but let me ask you, what the hell happened to his wife, Olivia? When he recruited Ben's dad to the island, he was married to Olivia. But now, he's shacking up with Amy. This requires a little look at the timeline here, and let's face it... when it comes to this timeline, there are MUCH more important things to think about than the whereabouts of Olivia. How about little Ben being on the island?...

Little Ben

Any time I talk to anyone about this episode, we always end up in a long discussion about the timeline... so let's take this one thing at a time.

Benjamin Linus was born in the early 60's (we'll guess around 62). At around age 8 (to make the math easy), he was brought to the island by his father, who was recruited to the Dharma Initiative by Horace (and Olivia too). This puts us at 1970.... jump ahead 4 years to when we see Paul get shot.... jump ahead another 3 years to 1977 when Sawyer, Miles, and Jin all work for Dharma Security. Horace and Amy have a baby together, Juliet and Sawyer are a couple, but more interesting... BEN IS THERE! We didn't see him, but the timeline implies that at this time, Ben is roughly 15 years old. And now that Jack & Co. have made it back to the island, it's only a matter of time before they all realize that Ben is there. That gives them 15 years to prevent the Purge from happening. If we assume that Ben was the only "inside man" that the natives had, then killing him should at least postpone the purge.... shouldn't it? We shal see.

How Much Do They Know?

After spending 108 days on the island, the losties learned A LOT about the island, the Dharma Initiative, etc.... so how much do Sawyer, Jin, Miles and Juliet know now? Sawyer, Jin, and Miles have all been on the island for 3 years, while Juliet has been there for 6 years. They've got to know SOMETHING about the smoke monster by now. I'm sure they've got A LOT of information on the Dharma Initiative. I can't wait for them to give Jack & Co. a quick download on everything. Of course, they won't show that conversation on the show. They'll likely just start a scene where the conversation is ending, like, with Jack saying "Oh, wow... I never would've guessed that." Let's keep our fingers crossed that this doesn't happen.

Where Are They Now?

The last time we saw Rose and Bernard, it was the beginning of the season, and the islanders were just starting to jump through time. So, we know that Rose and Bernard were moving with them. Unfortunately, by the time they made it to the Barracks, Rose and Bernie were nowhere to be found. So, where are they now? Is it possible that they've been out in the jungle by themselves for the past 3 years? Maybe they ended up back in the caves, and we'll find out that they are the "Adam and Eve" skeletons that Jack found in the caves.

30 Years Apart

Well, it's confirmed that Jack, Kate, and Hurley are officially in the 70's. What's very interesting about this is that Locke & Co. are in (I think) 2008. Their plane landed on the smaller "Alcatraz" island, and we saw Caeser going through Ben's maps at an abandoned Hydra station. While I can't confirm that it's exactly 2008, they're definitely in a different time period than the rest of the losties. The same goes for Frank Lapidus and possibly Sun.

It's a Boy!

Horace and Amy's baby boy seemed very important in this episode... and I can't figure out WHY he's important. Was this just brought up so that we'd know that as of 1977, babies can still be born on the island? That way, we know that if Kate's pregnant with Jack's baby, they'll be able to give birth on the island. Or is it possible that the baby himself is important? Maybe he'll grow up to be someone we know. Keep in mind, the baby was born in 1977... and Flight 815 crashed in 2004. So, is there anyone we know that is around 27 years old at the time of the crash? My initial thought was Karl, but I don't know that he could be 27. Maybe Ethan? Desmond? Faraday? No-- They're all too old. But how about... Jacob? What if Jacob is just a child? What if he died at a young age and has been guiding the natives from "the other side"?

I know what you're thinking-- Richard seemed to know who Jacob was back in 1954 when Locke claimed to have been sent from Jacob, but here's my explination:

My Richard Theory

The biggest mystery about Richard is simply, why doesn't he age? My theory begins in the not-so-distant future-- let's say 2015. Richard was on a plane flying over the island when his plane crashed in the jungle. After spending 100 days on the island, something happened, causing the island to begin jumping in time. Does this sound familiar? Richard ended up stuck in the year 1623. Lucky for him, there is a very important rule when it comes to time travel-- He will not begin aging again until his timeline reaches 2015 again. So, it's not that he's immortal-- it's that his body has to wait until he gets back to his original timeline before it gets back on track.

No theory is perfect (especially any of mine), which is why I still can't explain why Richard is immune to the sonic fence. What's with THAT?! I realize that it probably wasn't set to a lethal level, but he wasn't even phased when he walked through it. Maybe he's dead? He may be a manifestation of the island, similar to Christian Shephard or Yemi (Eko's brother). This is what I think of as a Season 6 Mystery-- something that won't be answered until we're at the end of the series.

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The Poll

The obvious question this week-- what happens now with Sawyer and his ladies? Will Kate stay with Jack? Will Sawyer leave Juliet for Kate?