Questioning LOST

So here's the things I'd like to know. Some of these will likely be answered in Season 6 but most probably won't unless Damon and Carlton publish some compendium of LOST trivia after the show ends. Nevertheless, as I rewatch the entire series to date over this hiatus, I'm going to collect these questions. After the series ends, we'll see where we stand.

I've decided to color code my questions. Red is for really, really important. Orange is less important, but I'd really like to know. The rest I'll settle for no answer, but still inquiring minds want to know.

1. Are Amelia and Amy the same person?
2. How did Ethan become an Other?
3. Where did Karl come from?
4. Why couldn't Desmond sail out of the influence of the Island?
5. What happened to the Elizabeth?
6. Why the Viking funeral for Colleen?
7. What force (good/bad/Jacob/Smokey/etc) was manipulating Locke's dreams and Smoke Lodge visions and also keeping him from walking and talking?
8. What was the Pearl's original purpose since it seems to predate the Swan and the Incident at the Swan?
9. Was Jacob communicating with Ben as Leader of the Others and if so, how?
10. How many polar bears were there?
11. Was Tom part of the original DI? Of Widmore's Others?
12. What is the deal with the Island pregnancy problem? When did it start?
13. Why did Mittelos go after Juliet? What is Ben's obsession with her including an explanation of the painting?
14. Who created the Room 23 video and to what end exactly? Who has undergone it's application?
15. Flashes Before Your Eyes established the existence of a time loop. When does it start and end and who is aware of reliving it? Does Ellie's statement to Penny at the hospital establish that the loop has ended once 316 returns to the Island?
16. Why mark Juliet in a place no one can see?
17. Cindy and the kids and the other Tailies taken -- what's the deal?
18. When did the Purge occur?
19. Why exactly do the Others have such a superiority complex like Mikhail when talking to Kate and Pickett's attitude to Sawyer?
20. Are things like Kate's horse and the cat named Nadia on the Island because of Jacob? The Man in Black? Are these coincidental occurrences how Jacob and MIB interact with the "players" on the Island?
21. When and how did Carol Littleton's coma end? (I hope it was Jacob.)
22. What the heck makes the Others (like Mikhail) have such faith in their magnificent leader (presumably Jacob) despite never having seen him?
23. How did Tom get off and back on Island post-purpling? And was he the one who brought Cooper to the Island? If not, who did and when?
24. What's the story behind the blond woman with the guinea pig painting in Ben's house.
25. Were Desmond's visions during his flashing period true or lies, especially the flashes when Naomi lied given that he saw both Charlie die and Charlie holding the parachute?
26. Why do Locke's legs stop working at times on the Island?
27. Who told Ben to have the Others build a runway?
28. Who/what was Taller Ghost Walt?
29. Who besides Christian Shephard was in the cabin when Hurley saw it in episode 4.1, and why did the cabin move?
30. What is the deal with the changing photo frames in the house Miles first ghostbusts?
31. What is the deal with The Whispers?
32. What caused the horse to intervene in Kate's escape and why is the same horse on the Island?
33. Was Kate hallucinating or did something inhabit Sawyer to make him seem like Wayne?
34. Did Ben get caught in Rousseau's trap on purpose? If not, where was he going?
35. What is the deal with the injections -- those given to Claire; those in the Swan?
36. Why did the Others want Aaron, but not Claire?
37. How do the food drops at the Swan work?
38. How do the people that Ben had Sayid execute, like Peter Avellino fit into the story? Same with Abaddon. How did he come to work for Widmore?
39. Why did Kelvin and possibly Radzinsky pull the whole quarantine charade in the Hatch?
40. How does Penny's encounter with Desmond at the LA track jive with their encounter in The Constant?

Why The Bomb Going Off Does Not Negate Five Years Of My Viewing Pleasure

Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,
And sorry I could not travel both
And be one traveler, long I stood
And looked down one as far as I could
To where it bent in the undergrowth;

Robert Frost, The Road Not Taken

This is the normal story. At every point in our lives we make choices and based on those choices we end up with one continuous timeline. We're born, to these parents, with these siblings, we go to this school, then this college, then marry this person, and have these children. We live here and then here and eventually we die.

But most of us have wondered what if? What if I'd gone to a different college? Chosen a different major? Gotten that other job? And those are the choices we control. What about the ones we don't like what if I'd been born on a different continent? Had different parents?

But what's the point in playing the what it game? We don't get do-overs. We make the best of what we have and press onward, perhaps with regrets and the capacity to make up for them or move past them, but not the ability to undo time.

But that's the beauty of fiction. I think we're going to get to see what happened had we chosen the road not taken. Well, not us, but Jack, Kate, Sawyer, Hurley, etc. But it's not going to take 5 years to tell that story because most of the choices they've made, and we've watched, aren't the ones they want to do over. Most of the choices will be the same. 

But there's one thing or a few things that might make all the difference in the world and I think those are the things we'll get to see a second time in Season 6. We may even get to see them the exact same way we did in Season 1 with a crash on the Island and flashbacks to show us who these people are. I don't think it'll go quite that way. I think the more likely way is to show us the new choices and then crash to end it all. But either way, it won't result in unrecognizable versions of Jack and the rest of the 815ers, but they will be altered or at least have the opportunity to be altered. The question will be do they always do the same thing or will they take the road less traveled and chose as Jacob encouraged them.

Kate's Timeline Changed Too?



In "The Incident" when Kate is caught by the shopkeeper for shoplifting she is approximately 12. According to Lostpedia Kate was born in 1977, and according to Tom and Kate's recording in their time capsule it was then 1989. In "What Kate Did" we learn that Kate's parents divorced when she was 5. And at some point after that Diane marries Wayne Janssen becoming Diane Janssen.

But in "The Incident" the shopkeeper refers to Kate as Diane Austen's kid. Not Diane Janssen's. Now, I know this doesn't prove that things have changed for Kate because maybe it took old Wayne a while to pop the question. Nevertheless maybe it has changed. Maybe Wayne doesn't marry Diane leading to his death and Kate's perpetual fugitive status. Maybe Kate is able to do what Jacob told her to, that is "to be good."

So What Happened In "The Incident?"



Update: Thanks to Gitsie Girl for this screencap! Boy what a great finale. I really enjoyed watching it. I really enjoyed re-watching it. And I even like the idea that I have no idea what could possibly happen next.

One thing though seemed to be clear. Jack failed to prevent "the Incident." Before the bomb could go off the Incident occurred. The pocket of magnetism was breached and was uncontrollable resulting in a catastrophic injury to Chang's arm and the need to create the button pushing protocol. Fitting that Radzinsky, the one that created the Incident was subjected to years of button pushing monotony to the point of insanity and ultimately suicide. Well, that's how it would have worked if the fall had killed Juliet.

Because the second thing that seems clear is that Juliet blew the dike. I think what Juliet did was the equivalent of what Desmond did at the end of Season 2 when he turned the failsafe key. But I don't think the result will be the same. I don't think we'll see a naked Juliet running around the jungle. Sorry guys, but you can rent Gia if you feel the need to see that.

Instead I think what will happen is what did happen in part in Flashes Before Your Eyes in that those close enough to the dike being blown will have memories of their futures as they live their lives from some point in the past. In Desmond's case his 1995/6 body post fall off a ladder contained memories of the Island. While it's not clear if the cricket bat to the head stopped that for Desmond, I'm not convinced that it did. I think the reason Desmond training for the Race Around the World knew that Jack fixed Sarah because he remembered that on Island Jack told him he'd fixed Sarah. This deja vu is imperfect, but I think it is nevertheless present as this scene demonstrates.

So what does this mean going forward into 2010 and Season 6 where Destiny will be Found? I think Flight 815 will crash on the Island. It won't be because of the Swan, it will be for some other reason, but the universe will course correct and bring 815 down on the Island. I also think that the people we find on the plane will not be the same sad lot we first found on September 22, 2004. I think at least part of the flashbacks we saw in The Incident demonstrate that the 815ers have made different choices. The most obvious is Jin and Sun.

In Season 1, Episode 17 In Translation we saw Sun and Jin on their wedding day.



Sun was changing out of her wedding dress into her reception dress. You'll notice both of these are dresses with straps. You can also see that Jin was in morning dress.



Now here's what we see in "The Incident."



Strapless wedding dress and different suit. And different reception dress.



It also looked like during the ceremony that Jin had relatives there. Is this Mr. Kwon?





Finally all I want to know is if it's 2010 yet? While I have lots of fun things to do between now and then, I can't wait for it to get here. Until then, I'll get out my Flannery O'Conner and try to stay lost.

Season 6 Prediction



So following The Variable and the preview after it I have come up with this idea for how Season 5 ends and what happens in Season 6. I think Season 5 ends with the Losties managing to blow up the Swan in time. The Island is destroyed and they all die in 1977.

Then Season 6 is 17 episodes consisting of character episodes where we see what happened to each original Lostie on Flight 815 plus Desmond plus Ben and possibly Juliet from the time Flight 815 lands on time in Los Angeles until they each die sometime before 2008 because by 2008 they will all be dead due to the explosion in 1977.

Given that most of predictions never ever happen, this probably won't either, but I want to be on record just in case.

Island Timeline



I hope this will help me figure out what's going on when and what side people are on. Please contribute and make corrections. The dates come from Lostpedia which is not canon, but is pretty close.

100 BC? - Days of the 4-Toed statue; Locke puts the Donkey Wheel back on its axis and turns it

1845 - Black Rock disappears. Magnus Hanso was captain of the Black Rock.

1954 - Richard Alpert and a band of Latin speaking Others including young Charles Widmore and Ellie are on Island and view it as THEIR Island
- US Army arrives on Island with 18 men and Jughead. 18 Army people die on orders from Alpert's superior.
- The Left Behinders (LBs) jump to 1954 and Locke, Sawyer, Juliet, Miles, Daniel and Charlotte plus 2 redshirts interact with Alpert's Others.  Both Alpert and Ellie are told about the time skipping.

1970s - The Dharma Initiative (DI) funded by Alvar Hanso begins building stations on the Island. They create a station, The Arrow to deal with the hostile indigenous population presumably Alpert's Others.

1970 - Charlotte Staples Lewis born

1973 - Young Ben Linus joins the DI and arrives on Island with his dad.
- The Hostiles, presumably led by Alpert, attack DI facilities
- Young Ben sees his mom and in an effort to find her encounters Richard Alpert

1974 - Sawyer, Juliet, Jin, Miles, Daniel and presumably Rose, Bernard, Vincent and any other remaining 815ers end up here after Locke turns the wheel
Hostiles kill DI member Paul
Sawyer and Juliet kill 2 Hostiles and rescue DI Amy
Sawyer tells DI his name is LaFleur and he and his crew integrate into the Dharma Initiative after also informing Alpert what, that is who, they're waiting for
The Dharma submarine travels approximately every 2 weeks to and from the Island

- Daniel (not sure if it's 2005 or other aged Daniel) travels to the time they are building the Orchid. I'm thinking now this is definitely 2005 Daniel, but the exact date of this scene is unknown.

Somewhere in the 1970s, probably between '74 and '77 - a young Charlotte Lewis lives on Island; a crazy Daniel visits her and tells her to leave and never come back; Charlotte leaves with her mother, her father stays behind

1977 - Sawyer, Miles and Jin work for Dharma security
Juliet works as a Dharma mechanic and only reveals herself to be a doctor in order to deliver Amy's baby
A baby is born to Amy and Horace; no word on where it was conceived.
Kate, Hurley and Jack are flashed into this time from Flight 316 and are found by Jin
Motor Pool Kate, Chef Hurley and Workman Jack are part of the DI
Sayid in DI custody as a presumed Hostile; visited by young Ben
Young Ben springs Sayid; Sayid shoots him in the jungle and flees

1980s - Alpert's Hostiles and Ben purge the DI with poison gas. Possibly 1984/5 if you take Miles statement that Widmore has been looking for the Island for 20 years as accurate. This date does not agree with Horace's dream statement to Locke though. At this point Island is left with just Alpert's Others plus Ben plus possibly other DI that become Others or are left to die at the hands of polar bears. We do not know of any DI escaping the Island post-purge, but somehow Daniel knew about the purge as evidenced by Daniel and Charlotte's trip to the Tempest. I suspect Widmore knew about it too, but I don't know chicken and egg style if he told Daniel or Daniel told him.

November 18, 1988 - Rousseau's team crashes on Island 

- Locke, Sawyer, Juliet, Miles, Charlotte and Daniel find wreckage of French ship

- Rousseau's team finds Jin

- Smokey kills Nadine and rips off Montand's arm; Frenchies minus Danielle go after Montand and Smokey

Between Nov. 18 and Alex's birth

-French team discovers Black Rock on Island

Late 1988/Early 1989 - Rousseau shoots LaCombe, Brennan and Robert
- Rousseau goes to radio tower and changes message

- Rousseau gives birth to Alex
- Ben takes Alex.  Alex becomes an Other.

Post-Gulf War maybe 1991/2 - Kelvin Inman arrives at the Swan
- Mikhail arrives on Island about then too.

1995 - Desmond meets Penny

1995/6 - Desmond meets with Charles Widmore to ask about marrying Penny
Desmond sees Charlie Pace performing on a street in London

1996 - Desmond meets Daniel in Oxford
Charles Widmore buys Black Rock ledger from the Hanso family

1997/8 - Daniel sends Teresa time-tripping, leaves for America, Widmore pays for Teresa's care

Late 1990s? - Nigerian drug plane crashes on the Island
- Ethan checks out plane crash and shoots a 2005 Locke
- 2005 Locke sees crash and is shot by Ethan

2001 - Desmond meets Jack at stadium in LA

2001-2004 - Desmond lives in Swan Hatch

- Juliet becomes an Other 

Sept. 22, 2004 - 815 crashes and Kelvin dies

Sept/Oct 2004 - The Others take members of the Tail Section to become Others including Cindy, Zack and Emma

Nov. 1, 2004 - Aaron born, delivered by Kate
- Time skipping LBs jump here from 1954 and see Swan lit up as Locke pounds on it and Aaron's birth

Nov. 2004 - Desmond meets Locke, Jack and Kate

Mid-Nov. 2004 - Desmond meets other 815ers

Dec. 31, 2004 - O6, Ben, Desmond and Frank leave the Island
LBs start skipping through time

2007 - Ajira 316 crashes on Hydra Island
Sun and Lapidus take outrigger to abandoned Dharmaville and meet Christian Shephard


2007 Crash date + 2/3 days - resurrected Locke found on Hydra Island; Ben in Ajira infirmary

2007 Crash date + at least 3 days - 2 Outriggers appear on beach; beach camp emptied; Zodiac gone

- People in Outrigger chase and shoot at LBs

And now for the Time Skips

Episodes 1 and 2
2005 LBers go to date of Nigerian plane crash  
Then to post-Swan implosion time
Then to somewhere between 2001-2004 when Desmond is in Swan Hatch

Episode 3
Then to 1954

Episode 4
Then to Nov. 1, 2004 where they come across a lit up Swan Hatch and Aaron's birth
Then to some future date where the beach camp exists, but has been raided by people in two outrigger canoes and the Zodiac is missing
Then to the day Rousseau's people crash on the Island

Episode 5

Opens on November 18, 1988

Jumps ahead about 2 months

Multiple unknown jumps

Locke puts Donkey Wheel back on its axis and turns it again

Episodes 5, 7, 8

The flash when Locke falls down the well takes them to 4-toed statue days
Locke turning the wheel takes the remaining LBs to 1974

Episode 9
Sayid is in 1977; Sun, Ben, Locke, Lapidus in 2007

Episode 10 - 1977

Circular Locke



I have to credit You All Everybody from The Transmission episode about Jughead for starting me off down this path. Here goes.

In 1954 Widmore meets John Locke and witnesses him having a big tete-a-tete with Alpert, consigliere of the Others. Clearly this level of access makes Locke important. In fact young Widmore may have discussed the meeting with Alpert and learned exactly what John claimed namely that he is the leader of the Others in 2005.

In 2003/4 Abaddon intercepts wheelchair-bound Locke in rehab and encourages him to go on a walkabout, said walkabout that will result in John being on Flight 815 on September 22, 2004.

The encounter between Locke and Abaddon and Abaddon's relationship to Widmore has always puzzled me. But now that I know Widmore has known about time traveling Locke since the 50s, it's starting to make a bit more sense. Widmore sends Abaddon to Locke to make sure he's in place for that plane trip because Locke must crash on the Island. What's more, he must crash on the Island in order to replace Widmore's nemesis, Benjamin Linus.

It makes me wonder, will we see some time cop, an Other, Mrs. Hawking, Abaddon, etc. making sure that Kate's Australian farmer knows about her fugitive status and the much-needed reward about a week or so before 9/22/04? I've always suspected that someone got to Claire's psychic after all he gives her the ticket for Flight 815. Does that mean someone killed Christian Shephard? Did Paik set the timing for the watch delivery trip at Widmore's behest?

And were there wildcards? We've seen almost step by step how Hurley went to Australia after his father tried the fake psychic bit and how he almost missed the plane. And what about Sayid? Same sort of thing. But for Islamic burial traditions he would have left a day earlier. And what about Michael and Walt? Did someone send Walt's stepfather at just the right time? In fact did someone insure Walt's mom's death at just the right time?

But back to Locke. We've already seen him send Richard to his birth? Does he also have Widmore send Abaddon? And is Locke in fact Jacob? And old theory, but a goodie, sending not only others to help him along the way, but telling Locke himself to "Help Me." I can certainly picture Locke screwing things up in such a way that would allow Ben to manipulate him for those years he ruled the Island, getting trapped by an ash ring or what have you. Still doesn't explain the Others reverence for Jacob as we saw in various Juliet flashbacks or the Room 23 film. But hey, we've got most of two seasons left after all.

Anyways (ding) I just wanted to get this down early in case it pans out.

Widmore Knows Where Faraday's Mom Is?



Unlike many Jughead was not favorite episode. It was because so many people had speculated correctly about the identity of Jones and the preview pictures of Penny giving birth.

But here's the big thing I want to know. How does Widmore know where in LA Faraday's mom is? Does he know Ben's there? Is Mrs. Hawking on Ben's side? Widmore's? Are they actually on the same side?

What I Want To Know NOW!



LOST is back and Season 5 is causing brain bleed in more than just Charlotte and random drilling DI guy. But I'm tired of trying to understand the time rules. Instead I have so more basic questions.

1. Why is Juilet jumping but none of Alpert's Others are? And I especially want to know about the 815ers taken by the Others, Cindy, Zack, Emma the other 8 or so tailies. What is preventing them from jumping through time with Locke? And why doesn't it apply to Juliet? My pet theory is that Juliet's marking is allowing her to jump undoing whatever Other Kool-aid the rest have been taking. Yep, I'm still looking for something redeeming from Strangers in a Strange Land.

2. What about the O6 returning to the Island will undo or fix the effects of Ben turning the Donkey Wheel? This one really has me stumped. In fact the only way the O6's return makes sense to me is if they return to the Island at a time before the wheel was turned. But that would undo Carlton Cuse's repeated statements that the Beardy Jack future really exists. I also really don't get why the O6 have to return after 3 years. I don't see how the on-Island 815ers can survive 3 years of what we saw last week. They lost at least 3 of their number in that escapade.

3. Why is Daniel focused on Desmond, but Ben is focused on the O6? This could also be entitled who has to go back. As of now Ben is focused on the O6 plus Locke. Alpert also focused on that group of people. But time expert Daniel is focusing his efforts on Desmond though he hasn't said, yet, that Desmond needs to come back. Can Desmond do something off Island? Do the O6 need to be on Island before he does it?

4. What about Waaaalllllttttt? And Ji Yeon? And Frank? And do other people like Charlotte, Miles and Daniel actually need to be off the Island?

Well that's enough for now. I hope Episode 5.3 answers at least one of these. Otherwise I better make sure my Constant is on hand.