Friends, I'm about to make a bold statement. I think I'm starting to figure out LOST. Or at least, some of it. Let's check back next week - or in May - to see how right or wrong I am. But for now, think I've got myself a nifty theory. Eight pages of notes and, yes, one PowerPoint diagram later, I give you.... my theory and my thoughts.
"It worked."
Okay.... so first off, I was all "what the hell???" about the 815/LAX storyline... because I thought maybe LOST really was going to hit the big old reset button. Then Jack started acting squirrelly and Desmond showed up. We all know Des wasn't on 815. And then that strange CGI underwater view of the Island??? Hmmm. Can't explain that. So, admittedly barring those 2 holes, here's my theory.
The nuke itself may have in fact hit the reset button. But.... for now, our characters are being shown in two alternate storylines, alternate timelines. There's the Island story, and the new LAX story. (For confusion's sake, let's remember that the Island story is taking place in approximately 2007 and the new LAX story is still in September 2004.) UPDATE: I forgot to make this clear at first, but all of our Island folks are now firmly in the same timeline, instead of 30 years apart. Hooray!
I believe we're going to keep seeing these storylines all season - and the LAX scenes are the new flashforwards (even though chronologically they'd be backwards both in linear time and in terms of erasing our characters' experiences). The LAX scenes are showing not just what could have been if the plane never crashed -- they are also showing what will be when the plane doesn't crash.
Huh? See.... I think the rest of the season is going to be moving us towards that moment where our characters do that one special thing that Jacob was referring to as progress in order to end the cycle of Island destruction... and that one special thing is defeating the Man in Black. Once they defeat the MIB, time will reset and they'll end up on the plane, as we're seeing them now. See what I mean?
Will things be exactly the same as they were at the very beginning? No - somehow there have already been a few little blips. Des being there, for one thing (maybe Widmore never sent him on the sailing race so he just happened to be on the flight anyway???). Hurley saying he's the luckiest man alive. Boone (who I hated as Boone but now love as Damon Salvatore on The Vampire Diaries) being on the plane without Shannon. Most of all, Jack's dad's coffin going missing --- how creepy! Side note - how fun was it to see Arzt? And Frogurt! As the season goes on, we'll keep seeing little blips that change what we knew to be the characters' starting points. Maybe it's some cosmic result of them having "learned something" through the Island experience, maybe not.
So, that's it -- my theory is basically that these parallel timelines will in fact become one after the culmination of the final battle of good v. evil on the Island. Thoughts???? (Side note - LOVE that Greg Grunberg did the voice over as the pilot. Tee hee!)
And.... in other news:
"I'm sorry you had to see me like that."
I knew it! I knew it, I knew it! Yes, that is what I yelled out loud to my tv when we got it confirmed, plain as day, that MIBLocke = Smoke Monster. I love it!!!! Now I just can't WAIT to rewatch the whole series just for Smokey sightings. Remember all those moments when it looked like Smokey was judging people, that it was making decisions and had its own autonomous thoughts? It did!!! Cuz the Man in Black IS the Monster! Sorry to resort to name-calling. ;-)
Great work by Terry O'Quinn overall, especially since we got to see sad, still-wheelchair bound Locke in scenes juxtaposed with badass Man In Black Locke.
A Man Down
Juliet, I'm very sorry to see you go. I'm glad you had a good death scene in the arms of the man you loved, the man for whom you sacrificed yourself. And I think you're right, it did work, kinda. (Nice rage-filled stares, Josh Holloway. As much as I love your cute dimples, man I'd never cross Sawyer in a fight.)
Nice use of Miles, twice, and his ability to speak to dead people.
Speaking of... seems like Miles already knew that Sayid was only mostly dead. Phew. I'm so, so, so glad our favorite Iraqi torturer is still alive.... as long as that still really is Sayid.
Thieves in the Temple, or Jacob vs. Man In Black
Yeah, so it's looking like Jacob really is dead -- there goes my hope that he was Immortal. But all hell is breaking loose among his bodyguard cult (mostly gone now) and his apparent entire religion back at the Temple. I admit, I did raise my eyebrow a bit at how crazy the Temple was...bonsai-trimming samurai lord and cheesy giant ankh and all. (Although I appreciate the shout-outs on this show, since I have my own ankh on my ankle.) But I'll give them time to develop that weird little community a bit more... they're clearly on the good guys side, at least in that they think the MIB is the bad guy. And hey look - Cindy and the kids! And skeletal Montand with no arm!
So... back to the overarching question. What or who the hell are Jacob and the MIB? I have no idea. The MIB's main goal is to leave the Island and finally go home? At this point, I wouldn't be surprised to hear his home is Mt. Olympus, or ancient Egypt, or Newark. Really, could be anything.
But -- wow, Richard Alpert sure was terrified. "Hello Richard," the MIB said. "It's good to see you out of those chains." ????? So was Richard a prisoner or a slave at some point? Maybe he goes back further than the Black Rock. I can't wait to learn more about their history!
One final note.... I enjoyed the recap show - even though it noticeably skipped any references to Desmond/Penny or Michael/Walt - and I have decided that I would like the story of my life to be narrated by Michael Emerson.
Okay LOST friends -- what do you think???
13 comments:
One thing Stef...you said the "present day" island people are in 2005. Wouldn't it be more like 2007? Because Jacob told Hurley he was just killed an hour ago, which means Locke just did it, which means they are in "real time" after Locke went off the island and recruited everyone to come back.
I had to think about it, because my first thought was that they had "landed" at the time right after the hatch blew up (late 2004 or early 2005?), but then when Jacob showed up and said he was just killed, that changed my mind.
The good news is this means Sun & Jin are in the same time frame now! Hope they find each other soon.
I was also happy to see Frogurt & Boone. Don't know what to make of the underwater CGI island though. Great premier overall...
maybe richard was a slave to a pharaoh.
seems it was really MIB that actually killed jacob since he was still alive when kicked into the fire.
i'd be interested to see a list of who smokey killed, and who smokey didnt kill. i wonder why he killed as he did, and why ben could summon him.
Guessing that Richard arrived at the island - in chains - on the Black Rock. Remember that it was an ancient slave ship.
Yeah, Tank, I realized in the night (amidst VERY crazy LOST-snowstorm dreams) that I got the timeline wrong by 3 years. The original flight was 2004, not 2001 so I'll fix that. Thanks.
So yes, they are all united in the same time, hooray!
Hobnail - thanks, I had forgotten the Black Rock was a slave ship. That makes sense, though I had always expected Richard to be the captain. Can't wait to hear his story!
Yeah, right after that Locke/Smokey encounter I started thinking back to all the people Smokey killed and wondering if maybe THOSE were the good guys...Eko is the biggest one that comes to mind. Smokey could have killed Locke but didn't, and could have killed Kimi and his men, but didn't. Of course Greg Grunberg was its first victim. But, I was really confused about why Ben could summon it on command.
By the way Stef, you know this is Shawn DeMers? Just wanted to make sure since it only showed my Blogger account name.
Yeah, Shawn, no worries... your dapper b&w pic gave it away. ;-)
And if I remember right, when Smokey "scanned" Locke, Locke said something like he'd "seen the soul of the Island, and it was beautiful." It did kill several of Keamy's guys, just not Keamy himself. And who else? Didn't it kill Eko?
the black rock wasn't an ancient ship. more like mid 1800's or so, no?
maybe smokey had slaves build the temple.
do we KNOW that Richard came on the Black Rock, or just assume?
i'm betting he was a slave that built the temple, and is far older than a black rock slave/sailor.
maybe he helped jacob back in the day, so jacob made him never age.
i also think the Reset Timeline is more of a what could have been
SA, you're right, I don't think it's ever been confirmed that Richard was on the Black Rock, that's just the story I've always liked best. But your ancient slaves who built the Temple idea is very interesting!
what was the thing Juliet wanted Sawyer to know?
That "it worked."
I'm thinking that Sayid is really Jacob now. I would love it if it's truly Sayid but... I don't know, I think he was just dead a bit too long.
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