One Guy's Update: Smokey's list versus Jacob' s list

As we are all acutely aware, our writers love to tinker with numbers and lists. Oceanic flight? 815. Ben and Alpert are all given lists. Now, with the last 2 episodes, we can tell that the writers have decided to imbue their characters with this fascination with lists and numbers. In fact, our most central castaways are given values that coincide with- of course- The Numbers.

Smokey shows Sawyer a cave lair complete with chalk scrawls of names and numbers. Shown? Our favorite numbers correlated with of our core castaways, except lovely Kate. Smokey alludes to it being Jacob's place. he professes that "Jacob has a thing for numbers" That may be true, but I dont know for certain. Based on the location and the style I say the cave is Smokey's.

Jacob leads Hurley and Jack to a heretofore unseen Lighthouse (seriously, how much more sketchy "well isnt this convenient?" stuff is going to just "pop up" on the island...or is the island "different" in the post- nuke explosion future?) which contains a wheel (not a frozen donkey wheel like the Orchid) with lists and names. 360 names to be exact. So, exactly who is listed there and why? Seems pretty likely that it's Jacob's lighthouse, at least in this version of the Island.

Here is the list of names and numbers on the lighthouse wheel.
Here is the list of names and numbers on the cave walls.

Now, to stretch and tease those brains:
1. What do we make of Kate being a non "Numbers" number? Or being absent on the cave versus the Lighthouse?
2. We have seen people walking around the island marked off of both lists- Littleton and Straume to be precise. Why?
3. When Smokey marked off Locke, sure looked like death = marked off. Or maybe death and/or Smokey's team means marked off?

Any theories, amigos?
-Drew

One Guy's Immediate Reaction to the "Lighthouse"

1. Where was Sawyer? What did Smokey do with Sawyer while Smokey was off to visit Claire?

2. How was Claire able to see that Smokey, in his Locke form, was not Locke but her "Friend"? And based on her statement, it certainly sounds like her father is not Smokey.... is Christian simply "on Smokey's team"?

3. Who is sideways Jack's ex-wife? It seems he has at least a functional relationship with her since they share (somewhat)custody and he knows where she hides an extra key...

4. Whose funeral did Jack's mom reference? Its clear that Christian's coffin is still lost, and it seems its not David's mother (whose house we saw Jack visit) who died so..whose death upset Jack's sideways son, David? And did you see the sign at the piano concert "Welcome all candidates"? Nice to see Dogen and Jack there together.

5. Although Jacob (aka Rita's ex- this still makes me giggle and secretly suspect that jacob's going to sneak off and tie off and shoot up every time he disappears from Hurley...) continues to appear to Hurley, it seems as though he's as reliable of a character as any one else. Ironic that he's so much more involved in death than in life. The "Obi Wan" line was classic.

6. When Dogen found Hurley wandering the Temple and Hurley, at Jacob's command, asserted his right as a "candidate" Dogen muttered under his breath in Japanese '"You're lucky that I have to protect you. Otherwise I'd have cut your head off."- Credit, Lospedia.com

7. Did you see all of those names on the Lighthouse wheel? Austen- 51. Not in the cave. Also, Linus was on there too- Ben or Roger?. I think you get crossed off here even if you aren't dead, even though Smokey clearly implied that you get crossed off the cave list if you die... I think this is Jacob's list, and the cave was Smokey's list. We saw Dawson (Michael/Walt?), Littelton (Clare/Aaron?), (Charlotte) Lewis, Faraday, (Juliette) Burke, Rousseau, and... it really looked like there were 360 names there. Not that many in the cave. Not even close. Assuming the "candidates" are indeed intended to replace Jacob, it makes sense that Jacob would have the more comprehensive list.

8. Why was Claire brought to the temple? By whom? Was she dunked in the water? Did she fail her tests too? If nothing else this episode confirms that failing the test = Team Smokey. Also, Claire's story seems to reinforce that passing/failing has to do with memory. We were told when Ben was taken to the temple that he'd lost his memory. Both Sayid and Claire retained their memory. A consequence of Smokey? Methinks so.

9. The Lighthouse reflections showed the temple where Sun & Jin were married and the church where Sawyer's parents' funeral was held in addition to Jack's mother's home.

10. The musical selection chosen by David, Jack's son is the same one played by Faraday in the episode "The Variable."

11. Note the bottle of MacCutcheon's whiskey on the Shephard's liquor cabinet? I wonder what a bottle of that stuff would run me at LIV.

12. Anyone else think it ironic that Claire, who is "Infected" according to Dogen, told Jin that one thing that will kill him on the island is "infection"?

Finally...
Who is coming to the island? It's gotta be Widmore, right?

One Guy's Photo op- Desmond!!!!

Maybe in parallel world, Hurley knows or employs desmond? Or is he a celebrity? Either way, he's got his face on the wall in the recruiting office that Hurley owns.
Wild stuff.
-Drew

One Guy's immediate reaction to "The Substitute"

Hi All-

While I let the episode and its pervasive awesomeness sink in, a few thoughts:

1. I DO NOT trust Smokey's narration.

2. Where was "2-Austin" on the cavern walls? We saw all the others but...where's Kate? She was touched by Jacob in her childhood, but maybe her name is conspicuously missing to protect her from Smokey? Or maybe it's Smokey's list, not Jacob's?

3. Really, really shocking that Smokey can see apparitions on the Island too- I had figured, in something of a deterministic fashion, that Smokey was the source of all apparitions and hallucinations on the island but...apparently Smokey can see stuff too. Interesting

4. Note that "Littelton" and "Straume" were on the walls but crossed off. That's Claire/Aaron and Miles. Are they "dead" ? Or at least Dead-er than Sayid?

5. According to Smokey, the reason the castaways are on the island is that Jacob picked them as possible "candidates" to replace him. In the sideways lost universe, they are not interfered with by Jacob. But what to make of Locke's apparently productive relationship with his father, referenced by his fiancee, Peg Bundy? That means that (a) Locke didn’t get paralyzed by his dad, and (b) maybe his father isn’t a grifter/scumbag who swindled Sawyer's folks, leading to their unfortunate demise? Does this portend a much happier life for Sawyer as well? Either way, I really enjoyed seeing Locke being off island, still handicapped but not pathetic.

6. Nice use of "Search & Destroy" by the Stooges.

7. Paralyzed Locke pre-island, Paralyzed Sideways Locke and the Smoke Monster- Locke all dont like to be told what they can and can't do. I wonder- does the Smoke Monster take part of his host's psyche? If so, maybe Smokey's weaknesses will be Locke's. Or maybe, just maybe, Locke has been a pre-destined host for Smokey?

8. I had always assumed that the smoke monster could take the form of anything dead on the island. Ilana seems to indicate that he's stuck as Locke. Is she wrong? Why?

9. Upon hearing that Jacob "burned up" in the fire, Ilana immediately scooped up protective ashes. Is that fire pit the remnants of Jacobs past? If so, how is that protective from Smokey? If Smokey is or was "just a man," how did he become a powerful column of black smoke that's afraid of Jacob's ashes?

Ah, so many questions...great episode. Thoughts? Theories?
-Drew

One Guy's Moving Chess Pieces: Smokey lines up his troops, including Ben?

As we heard from Dogen yesterday, Sayid has been "claimed" by some sort of creeping "infection."
What is this infection? The pathogen isnt a flu bug- it's Smokey tagging his army.

Here's the theory:
There is a war brewing. I know it has to be true because Widmore said so. So who's fighting? Gotta be Jacob's team (Jacobins?) versus Smokey's team. That's right. Sayid has been claimed by Smokey- just like Ekos' brother, Claire, Locke, Christian Shephard, Alex, (wither Rousseau?) and yes, maybe even Ben....back to that in a second.

Theory: Smokey has the ability to re-animate dead people. Last episode basically proved this pretty conclusively. So, is smokey responsible for all of the odd things on the island- Eko's brother, Locke's father, Alex's appearance. I'd say so...

So back to Ben. He appeared to be on the side of the island. When Sayid shot Ben and Ben was brought to the Others, it was mentioned that Widmore objected to Ben's joining the others for medical treatment, but Alpert mentioned that Jacob wanted Ben to be fixed. So was he on a list? Maybe. But whose team is Ben on?

He professed to serve Jacob, but had never seen him. Alpert handed him lists. As we saw in the conclusion of season 5, Ben had some abandonment issues that he probably was transferring from his father to Jacob and when he was given a chance, you could say, he acted out a bit. But is this just Ben experiencing a delayed response to Roger Workman's malfeasance? Maybe Ben hasn't let on to what his real deal is...

Recall- when Keamy executed Alex Rousseau after Ben wouldn't come out and play, what did Ben do? He disappeared into his Brooks Brothers inspired secret closet and apparently summoned Smokey. How does a follower of Jacob get Smokey just to show up? Did he make a deal to change teams? Maybe he knows the secret Smokey handshake because...he's already on the team. Hm.

Or did Ben simply offer Smokey a trade? Claire in exchange for Smokey taking out Keamy and his boys? Recall from Something Nice Back Home when Ben summoned Smokey:

Some time later (after dark), Sawyer is shouting and beating on the blast door that closed behind Ben as he went into his secret room, when Claire emerges from another room carrying Aaron and asks "What's going on?". Sawyer asks Claire "You all right, sweetheart?" and she tells him "Yeah, a bit wobbly, but, uh, I'll live." to which Miles replies "Well, I wouldn't be too sure about that." I get the feeling we wont truly get our answer until we get a Miles-centric episode....


So... how do the teams line up?

Team Smokey:
Eko, Eko's Brother, Alex Rousseau, Rousseau, Sayid, Nikki, Paulo (ug, sorry, I know....me too, but Smokey did in fact lead to Nikki's demise), Boone, and pretty much anyone else who died on the island is in play...

Team Others:
The Others, and the rest of the castaways.


Is there more? Is this too simplistic? Let me know
-Drew

One Guy's Preview: What Kate Does

Here's a Link to EW's preview of today's episode, What Kate Does. Review the synopsis of Season 2's What Kate Did. Based on the parallel titles we may be in for a "recasting" of that episode (in the sideways, sunken island reality).

Of note is the 2009 Comic-Con video claims that Kate's biological father, Wayne Jannsen, did not die during the season 2 episode and instead someone else did-however, it also portrays the murder as occurring during the day in a entirely different building (an office, not a home) and presents a version of the event that is incredibly at odds with this episode's events. This presumably is what took place in the Sideways universe of season 6. Or... is it just a tease?
-Drew

One Guy's Data Point: The Plane Crash and Plane Crash Redux

DocArzt.com has linked to a video showing a side-by-side comparison of the Pilot opening and the LA X's "remixed" version of the Sydney to LA flight. Click here and enjoy.
-Drew

One Guy's Data Point: The Truce

All-

Behold, the Truce, both Front and Back.

This documents was packed into Season 5 DVD special editon boxes, and is considered "in canon" even though it has never been shown on the screen.
Note the scrawls on the back by Alpert limiting (1) Dharma's duration on the island, (2) Dharma's ability to drill, (3) Dharma's population on the Island.

Dharma blew it. Maybe that's why they had to be Purged......
What do you think?
-Drew

One Guy's Theory on Alpert's Chains

Among the most interesting interactions were those of Alpert and The Man in Black/Smokey/Fake Locke after T/S/F killed the protectors of Jacob and T/S/F sent Ben out to lure Alpert into the base of the statue. Lots of cryptic, sure to be dissected words were spoken, but none better than "It's nice to see you out of those chains, Richard." What the heck does that mean?

Theories:

1. Richard was a slave on the Black Rock
The plain reading types would conclude that Richard Alpert came over on the Black Rock as a slave. This makes sense on a few levels. 1. T/S/F was on the beach with Jacob when a large ship, probably the Black Rock, appeared to approach the Island in the conclusion of Season 5. Thus, both Jacob and T/S/F saw the Black Rock land (although how it wound up in the middle of the island remains unclear) and would have seen Alpert been marched onto the island in chains. Neat and tidy.

1.a. Richard was not a slave, but was the First Mate
A more "Lost" theory would posit that Richard was the first mate on the Black Rock, who either (i) either screwed up and influenced the ship toward the island or (ii) otherwise committed some form of mutiny leading, directly or otherwise, to the Black Rock's arrival to the Island. The "chains" would literally be Alpert's punishment for the screw up/Mutiny. Note that Widmore purchased the log of the first mate of the Black Rock at auction and the name of that first mate was conspicuously absent. Why? Maybe that name is Richard Alpert. That also might explain why he was seen making a model of the Black Rock.

1.b. Richard was a prisoner being transported to Australia/N.Z.
The more P.C. (and historically accurate) version of part 1 above.


2. Richard was a metaphorical slave to Jacob
Perhaps T/S/F was alluding to Alpert being metaphorically freed of the yoke of service to Jacob. That theory most conveniently explains why Alpert does not age- it is due to Jacob's power. Alpert's special power to control the Others, his command of Ben and the Others are/were based on the fact that Jacob had "power" over the Island. Now because of Jacob's "death," Richard has lost it all. No immortality, no power to control the people. T/S/F would be glad to see him out of chains- it means T/S/F runs the show.

or:

Nobody's bothered to ask Richard, but maybe he's "chained" to Jacob against his will. Perhaps (to be shown in a Richard-centric episode to come) Richard made a deal for protection from T/S/F to be Jacob's liaison to the Others and was kept to do Jacob's bidding, maybe at time against his will.

3. Alpert is the ancient arbitrator of the island
As discussed in the Unified Theory of Lost (pending blog- stay tuned) there is overwhelming evidence of the island being an ancient egyptian...something. Hieroglyphics. Ziggurats. G-ds. etc... Part of the Unified Theory of Lost includes Jacob and T/S/F being set in opposition. And who would "enforce" certain rules, like population caps, and ensuring the integrity of the ruins? Ladies and Gentlemen, I give you Ricardus.
So if this is the case, why is Alpert on Jacob's team? Jacob, it would seem is was in the "lead" in the game between Jacob and T/S/F until T/S/F made a decisive move by killing Jacob...one part of how to win the game. But enough of that...

Of Note: Some might try to read the tea leaves and point out the varying appearance of Alpert. Although we've mostly seen him looking fresh out of a Banana Republic catalog, we have seen him once looking island-grungy- late 60's/early 70's when confronting young Ben. Before, in the 50's, he looked clean as a whistle (see Jughead era Alpert) and our castaways have barely seen an askance eyeliner-encrusted eyelash out of him. Does the grungy 70's look tell us anything? I'm not sure. Could be strategic use of disguises (aka Mr. Friendly) or ...something else. Haven't figured out how that plays into the story quite yet...

My Answer: 1a, AND 2.
And to the extent that the Unified Theory proves true, 2 and 3.
As always I reserve the right to be wrong. What do you think?
-Drew

One Guy’s Ruminations on the Fate of Sayid

Among the many mysteries introduced by LA X (1-2) is the fate of our favorite war criminal/torturer/electronics handyman/Shannon-schtupper/Nadia fetishist, Sayid Jarrah. Recall from Season 5’s concluding episode that Sayid, in the course of smuggling Jughead’s core through the Dharma suburbs on the way to the Swan station was shot in the gut by Roger Linus.
As our castaway friends come to around the remains of the Swan station (and what it is exactly that happened there is the subject of another blog to come shortly- stay tuned) and struggle to free Juliet from the remains of – something- at the Swan, Sayid remains in the (not) capable hands of Hurley. Hurley, you’ll remember, who is visited by an imaginary best friend, who has bad luck, and who has bounced in and out of mental institutions. Not exactly the guy I’d trust to administer medical care. However, something distinctively Lost happens- Jacob, recently seen being stabbed and kicked into a fire by the Man In Black/Smokey/Fake Locke appears to Hurley, telling him to take Sayid to the Temple to be saved. Not in so many words- this is Lost, after all- but I’m trying to be brief.

Note the symmetry here:

In 1977, young Ben Linus, helping Sayid escape from Dharma, is shot by Sayid and is brought to the Others to be saved at the advice of former-Other Juliet who said young Ben’s life could be saved by the Others at the Temple.

In 1977, Sayid, helping the castaways escape from the Island (and hopefully reset the island timeline), is shot by Roger Linus (aka Ben’s dad) and is brought to the Temple by the castaways (in 2007) at the advice of head Other Jacob who said Sayid's life could be saved by the Others at the Temple.

Ignoring the absurdly large Ankh, the Japanese speaking leader of the Temple crew, Hurley taking charge when Jack, again, doubts himself, and the apparent assimilation of the passengers/stewardess from the 2004 Oceanic crash into Temple society, Sayid, Hurley, Jack, Kate and Miles are brought to the temple’s “spring.” Was a hot stone massage and facial to follow? Perhaps some mint-cucumber infused martinis? Nope. Instead, the Temple Others after noting the unusually murky character of the spring waters, proceeded to dunk, then apparently drown Sayid. It played out very ritualistically- timing by hourglass, etc. The castaways looked stunned and dejected. Dogen, the Japanese-speaking leader of the Temple Others pronounced Sayid dead, and went off attend to other Other matters, which apparently consists of botany. Then, while the castaway crew sits in shocked dejection at the death of Sayid, Sayid pops to life, gasping “What happened?”

So, is Sayid-
(A) a ghost?
(B) evil?
(C) a follower of the island?
(D) memory wiped?
(E) Jacob?

A. Is Sayid a Ghost?
We can agree that Sayid is not a ghost. Everyone saw him, including people who don’t see dead people….wait a second… Everyone has seen dead people or other living things that don’t belong on the island. Jack has seen his father Christian. Kate saw her horse. Sayid saw Nadia’s cat outside Bakunin’s house. Hurley sees dead people everywhere. Miles has long conversations with dead people. So our crew is not a good yardstick. However, Miles holds the key- he speaks to dead people, but the shots of Miles indicated that something wasn’t right. He appeared to be straining- not for a lack of fiber, but perhaps he was trying to talk to Sayid and…wasn’t able. Because Sayid wasn’t dead. Ghost? I’d think Miles would be all over it. And its not a “freshness” issue. Miles was able to relay Juliet’s message to Sawyer lickity split- as soon as she hit the ground. So ghost is out. (Say, Ben, when you said “Dead is Dead,” did you forget that you were once dead too?)

B. Is Sayid now Evil?
Arguably this would be gilding the lily- he was a torturer and sadistic and really didn’t mind it. Granted, during his time on the island he certainly felt bad and was a loyal team player (including torturing "Henry Gale" nee Ben Linus), but off-island he went right back to it at Ben’s urging- see the golfer in the Seychelles Islands, the assistant to the Economist in “The Economist” or the Russian pharmacist staffing “Oldham’s Pharmacy” (Written in Russian over the door of the building, in the same episode when Oldham, working for Dharma, drugs Sayid to get him to tell the truth- our producers are pretty slick like that). So how much more evil can he get? It may not be in terms of how much more evil, but more on the focus of the evil.

C. Is Sayid now a follower of the island?
Evil it seems is a matter of loyalty. I’m sure Saddam would not have thought Sayid evil when he was torturing in the name of the Iraqi Government. Sayid’s victims, they likely thought different. Likewise, Ben’s actions toward the castaways have been manipulative, sadistic, condescending and pretty damn evil. However, to the island, he’s apparently just taking care of business. Maybe Sayid is “turned.” Of what effect will this have on our crew currently hanging out in the Temple? Probably too early to tell, but it seems that both Alpert, the Ajira crew, Ben and the Temple Others appear to be converging on the same team. Against Smokey.

D. Is Sayid an amnesiac?
The answer is “probably.” But again does it matter? In previous uses of the “Temple” – see Ben Linus- the affect of the amnesia was probably to allow the Temple Others to lay their “imprint” on the recently revived- likely to drill into the recently saved that the island is their master. But in this case, we have our castaways and our Temple Others seemingly converging into the same team. Do the Temple Others reprogram him? Does Jack take him and remind him of his crazy story? Does anyone remind him, oh yea, buddy, you used to pull off toenails for a crazy dictator for a living? I say no. Or there’s no memory loss. Either one is too complicated and thematically, not interesting. Unless it’s the “learn on the run” variety which would get tiresome.

E. Is Sayid actually the reincarnated Jacob?
A resounding maybe. Jacob (aka Rita’s ex from Dexter) appears to leave the island, to live on the island (in the best real estate), and to have been there a long, long time. He also has an enemy in the Man In Black/Smokey/Fake Locke who apparently can’t directly kill him. (to be discussed in the upcoming post- “Drew’s Unified Theory of Lost”). But he got stabbed by an angry, under appreciated servant- we’ll call him “Ben,” kicked into a fire, and “disappeared.”

His return would certainly evoke shades of Obi-Won Kenobi- “If you strike me down, I shall become more powerful than you can possibly imagine.” But, if you are a G-d (sorry, I’m jewish, deal with it) how do you come back? Answer- through a corporeal form. So, did Jacob murk up his spring waters so the next guy to be sent into the spring waters would carry his spirit and basically be him again? And then send Hurley to put someone on the “good team” in there first? Will we pan to the waters and see them cleared, and have Sayid suddenly say, where’s Dogen, we need to fortify the Temple? It’s an attractive idea.

But, if it is a yes, the Temple Others would be just as surprised as anyone. They paid no attention to Sayid being dead. The Temple Others wigged out when they heard Jacob was dead, battening the proverbial hatches, laying black powder rings and generally boarding up their ziggurat as if a hurricane was approaching. If they knew they could just dip a friendly dead guy into the dirty water, no worries, right? So if Sayid does in fact become Jacob, egg on everyone’s face.

My vote: C, then E.
As always I reserve the right to be wrong. What do you think?
-Drew

LA X summary

For a "just the facts ma'am" summary of the first 2 episodes,check out Lostpedia's Summary of LA X. If you want to check out a more critical/analytical summary try Doc Jensen's fine work from EW.com

One Guy's Lost Blog- An Introduction.

All-

If you have browsed to this blog, you are in luck. The rantings of a obsessed Lost fan are at your fingertips. Note the following as a warning:

1. I do not read spoilers; that would be cheating.

2. I do read recaps, and try to cull the best from them and weave them into my own crackpot theories.

3. I do have an active imagination, and reserve the right to be 100% wrong from week to week. Which is part of the fun. After all, week by week, the producers and writers show us what they want us to see, but continually tease us with new questions, often which frustrate or tantalize, often at the same time. That's why we love this show, right?

4. I will hyperlink references to allusions, or sources that work into my theories, and again, I do not put my info out asserting it to be 100% original content- i liberally stand on the shoulders of giants to reach the top.

5. I'll try to post within 24 hours of each episode airing to satisfy my friends who pester me on facebook for my latest interp/theorizing/making sense of stuff.

Please enjoy.