Thanks for keeping up with us, we appreciate any and all feed back into this dual descent into re-watching/podcasting.  Last week we tried to rewatch live on the Talkshoe podcast, and it came over a bit disconnected and distracted.  So tonight for We ReWatch Wednesday we’ll be back in the chatroom, but we’re going to kick off the re-watch earlier at 8:30 CST (9:30 EST, 6:30 PST) so grab your DVR remote, or head off to Hulu and we’ll press play promtly at 8:30.

The podcast call proper will start at 9:30 and last about an hour, I’ll open the call up a 30 minutes earlier (yeah, in the middle of the chat rewatch, what can I say, Wednesday needs to be longer).  This time it’ll be more of a moderated roundtable, I won’t mute people, but be more organized in who’s talking next.  I also want to open up the podcast for questions to anyone that might not be able to sync up live to listen to later.  So I opened a formspring.me account to field your questions: http://formspring.me/WeTalkAboutLOST

Post them up there and I’ll use them in the roundtable discussion.  Anyone that wants to call into the TalkShoe call is welcome.  Always fun to talk about LOST.  I’ll update this with post more information about the TalkShoe part when I get back home this afternoon.  You’ll be able to see the information here.

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So many great arcs last night, that I don’t quite know where to start.  Just a very well done episode.  I hope you had a chance to read my loooong prehash on Dr. Linus, because there were so many parallels alluded to in Dr. Linus that just made the whole thing amazing to watch the both times I watched it last night.  It’s also good too be back with the majority on initial reactions, after being in bizzaro land the last couple of episodes, everyone seems to be cheery on the first episode of the second act.  Okay, lets get on with some illuminating thoughts.

justice is truth in action

Seeing Ben flee terrorized in the jungle was fitting, Sayid’s darkness was in part because of Ben’s manipulations, and seeing the monster in his eyes completed Ben’s descent to his lowest point.  Ben happening upon Team Illana in the jungle was a happy coincidence, and joining in and recommending the beach as a sanctuary was just where we wanted them to go.  Ben’s old habits rear up when Illana, knowing that the monster couldn’t kill Jacob, immediately caught Ben in his lie.  Truth cut to the bone when Illana gave Miles Jacob’s ashes and Miles exposed that Ben not only killed Locke (as he admitted when they buried him) but also Jacob himself.

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This post is brought to you by the letter P and the number 15. Since my LOST attention deficit disorder is kicking into high on LOST day, I thought I’d share some possibilities and pointers.  These aren’t theories, per se, because when I theorize I wax entirely too long and snorey, so these will be precise and to the point. Possibly.

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first a word from the great awakening

The devil stands ready to fall upon them, and seize them as his own, at what moment God shall permit him. They belong to him; he has their souls in his possession, and under his dominion. The Scripture represents them as his goods (Luke 11:21). The devils watch them; they are ever by them at their right hand; they stand waiting for them, like greedy hungry lions that see their prey, and expect to have it, but are for the present kept back. If God should withdraw his hand, by which they are restrained, they would in one moment fly upon their poor souls. The old serpent is gaping for them; hell opens its mouth wide to receive them; and if God should permit it, they would be hastily swallowed up and lost. – Jonanthan Edwards – Sinners in the hands of an Angry God

This also harkens back to my LOSTalypse a couple weeks back when we first saw the ‘smokie-cam’ and we got a look at Smokie trying to recruit Sawyer.  While with Sawyer, I got more of a Johnny playing fiddle vibe.  I mean sure, Smokie is a good con man, but Sawyer is like Johnny on the fiddle when it comes to playing the game.

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Back in the pilot, John Locke explained the game of backgammon to the shorter boy Walt (as opposed to the taller ghost Walt) as a game with two players, one light and one dark. While Backgammon as a metaphor of a game between two sides is appropriate, I’m going to attempt to demonstrate that the sport of curing relates to LOST much more than the the casual observer may expect. Before going deep, you’ll need a bit of history of my Curling fetish/obsession.  I first watched curling in the 2002 Winter Olympics, this was a couple of years before LOST started, and I was fascinated by the game, it made completely no sense at first, but I got the idea that the simple rules of the game were consistent allowing for varied game play.  I’ve learned more about the game every four years thanks to late night curling events that are televised.  It’s often described as a game of chess on ice, and bears resemblance to several other games like shuffle board or darts, billiards, but is nothing like them.

So to sum up so far: Curling – fascinating to watch, really difficult to understand. You can forget the rest of this series if you can’t see any resemblance to LOST.  If you sniff a hint of smoke in that first clue, I ask kindly that you continue this quest with me in future posts.

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Welcome To The Jungle

Before we begin, I feel obligated to make a few things absolutely clear.

I do everything I can to be positive and accommodating to all kinds of LOST fans online.  I think haters are completely worthless morons, and I refuse to be one in any way.  That being said, I’m pretty darn frustrated that fans are complaining that they aren’t “getting answers” in Season 6.  I’m even MORE frustrated that complainers quickly jump to the conclusion that the SHOW and its CREATORS are to blame.

[I won’t go into too much detail because I am actively trying not to single ANYONE out, so if you recognize yourself in the following statements, take them for what they are:  random observations.]

For example, I’ve heard fans complain (primarily about Season 6) that:

1. The flash-sideways (LA_X) storylines are “meaningless” and disconnected to what’s happening on the island.
2. The episodes offer few or no answers for the basic mysteries of the show.
3. The answers that are provided are anticlimactic, silly, contrived, confusing or unrelated to anything that’s happened in the show before Season 6 begins.
4. Characters’ storylines are not being resolved in any way.  Off-island events for characters don’t make any sense given the previous timeline/histories.

Remember, I am not a hater.  I have no intention of berating or embarrassing or insulting any LOST fan in any way.  My primary intention here is to offer possible reasons that fans are frustrated and observations from Season 6 episodes that refute every statement I list above.  If my comments sound snarky, please remember: 1) that snarky quality is something I’m afflicted with and 2) it actually makes things funnier as we go along.  Above all, please remember that just because I’m trying to point out things that you might not have seen in the show so far, it doesn’t mean I’m trying to prove that you or your theories are stupid.

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Recap, weirdness alerts and observations by Amy on LOST 6.06 – “Sundown”

Previously on LOST:  LA_X:  Jack spent a significant amount of screen time half naked and/or looking SMOKIN’ hot (and Amy was happy).  Jack makes amends with his piano playin,’ musical genuis son, David.  He lets David know that the “you’re not good enough for me” parenting method will never apply.  Jack’s mom finds Christian’s will.  She asks about Claire. ISLAND: Jin hooks up with Clairuso and realizes that 1) she’s thinks the temple peeps are holding “baby Aaron,’ 2) she’s a a homicidal wacko and 3) Mock Locke is her “friend.”  Jack and Hurley sneak outta the temple and skedaddle through the jungle to the lighthouse on Jacob’s recommendation.  Jack smashes the lighthouse mirror after realizing “He’s been watching.”  Jacob admits to Hurley that 1) Jack had to know how important he is and 2) a VERY BAD man is coming to the temple.

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Begin Episode 6.06

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LA_X

Sayid stares from a cab. Cabbie reminds him the meter’s running. He heads to a house. He rings the bell. Nadia answers (with a BIG OL’ engagement/wedding ring on her finger).  They hug.  Two kids coming running to the door. A man follows.

• Kids:  Uncle Sayid! Uncle Sayid!
• Omar:  Flowers for my wife, huh?
• Sayid: Some of us still have mojo, brother.
• Omar: Still a skank! Come in!

Weirdness alert: Nadia is Sayid’s sis-in-law? ALSO: Nadia is wearing a silver bracelet on her LEFT wrist. A bracelet that some fans have noted reminds them of Naomi’s bracelet (the groovy sat-phone toting, freighter chick Locke knifed back in Season 4).  HOWEVER, this bracelet could ALSO remind us of: Esla’s bracelet (“The Economist”), which she wears on her left wrist AND Dogen’s (right wrist). Also note: Nadia’s necklace charm changes after her husband appears.

Nadia pours tea.

• Kids: Whadja bring us? Whadja bring us?
• Sayid: Check my bag and see.
• Nadia: They missed you.
• Omar: Yeah, so you’d better keep coming up with decent presents on all your fancy–schmancy world traveling.
• Sayid:  I translate contracts for oil companies. It’s almost as boring as dry cleaning.
• Nadia: Omar’s opening up a new store.

Weirdness alert:  Nadia sips tea.  From Sayid’s angle, she uses both hands, but from Omar’s angle her left arm’s on the table.  Her bracelet changes during this scene, and her necklace too, from what I can tell.

Omar’s cell phone rings.

• Nadia:  I thought we talked about no cell phones at the dinner table.
• Omar: (nervously leaving) Dinner’s over. This is business.
• Nadia:  Did you get my letters?
• Sayid:  Yes.
• Nadia:  You never wrote back.
• Sayid – no answer.

The kids return, thrilled with brand new boomerangs (HAHAHAHAHAHAHA!) and a picture of Nadia. Weirdness alert: it’s the picture the feds baited him with back in Australia (to go undercover and spy on his pal).  This makes no sense, right? ASK YOURSELF WHY this picture would so OBVIOUSLY be included.  Highlights the “doesn’t makes sense” nature of Sayid’s LA_X story, right?*  Nadia nervously fingers the picture. Across the room, a menacing looking Omar slowly snaps his cell phone shut.

[HINT:  The PICTURE is a CONSTANT.  ALSO: We've seen some serious cell phone weirdness in every LA_X story so far.]

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Each week I have been getting a more and more Star Wars vibe from LOST as the story is unfolding in season 6 (even the fact that there are six seasons-one for each Star Wars movie). Last week, Hurley made a comment that Jacob comes and goes like Obi Wan Kenobi. I immediately went back to THE INCIDENT where Jacob allowed himself to be killed, much like the real Obi Wan Kenobi. I could imagine him telling MIB, “Strike me down and I shall become more powerful than you can possibly imagine.”

In LIGHTHOUSE we see “Obi Wan” Jacob appearing to “Luke” Hurley Skywalker who is trying to convince Han “Jack” Solo of the existence of both Jacob and the Force. In SUNDOWN, more Star Wars connections for me. As we watched the conversation between Sayid and Flocke, my wife said, “This sounds a lot like Palpatine talking with Anakin.” You know the whole, “I know a way to save Padmay from death” speech? Of course in this case Padmay is Nadia. Then Emporer Flocke gives his new apprenctice “Order 66″. This is the order in “Revenge of the Sith” where all Jedis are commaded to be killed. So what does Sayid do? He goes all Anakin in the Jedi Temple on us and is responsible for the death of many of  the Others/Jedis….even the padawons.

This might be a crazy thought, but it sure is fun. The war has started and it can only end once.

When your navigating a boat celestially, using the stars, there are a few observations of the sun that are helpful in finding your position on earth.  Finding local apparent noon (the point where the sun in the highest in the sky) can easily give you a line of latitude.  The times of sunrise and sunset can help you with orientation and checking your timepiece.  Looking for the green flash at sunset was one of the neat things to do while observing sunset.  That is unless your vision is obscured by a big black cloud.  So, let’s talk about LOST Sundown.

This was Sayid centric, and we have some clues and answers we want about this claiming, and infection that’s been plaguing Sayid.  You know what they say, be careful what you wish for.  I think the entire episode, perhaps even series can be summed up with one line:

We had an unfortunate incident involving a boomerang

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Okay, I put out some homework tweets yesterday, because Doc Jensen is apparently changing his policy, stand by to read his column later today to find out his new diabolical scheme.  Speaking of Doc he and Dan Snierson teamed up for a fantabulous Lighthouse Commentary on ABC.com (which seemed might familiar to WFTB tweetup, so should I take credit for the idea? Yell at me in the comments.)

So last week, I theorized that the next few episodes would follow along the path laid down from Season 1 with a Jin/Sun centric episode, followed by Charlie, then Sayid, then Sawyer.  Well you can tell Raj Koothrappali to hit the buzzer button on his wonderful shirt, because it appears I’m dead wrong.  I don’t watch or listen to spoilers, but from the synopsis posted for the episode we’re going to bunny hop over our favorite Korean couple and the hobbit rock god, and go right for the republican guard torture person, who is seemingly infected.

But before we get to homework and my speculations from past episodes, let’s do a little recap of who’s where on the island

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More “veil lifting” or rabbit chasing thoughts from the much maligned Lighthouse, which brought on near toddler tantrum in some critics, while other are being more patient still waiting for answers.  Leaves me wondering, what show have they been watching?

the best answer to an either or question is neither, or both

LOST is best when it’s answering questions with more questions, so I’m not surprised that the revelations they’ve been feeding us have been with another dose of mystery and intrigue.  If you’re watching LOST to get the answer of Fate v. Free Will or Science v. Faith, I’m gonna tell you know, any answers you get to these questions are going to come from your own mind, while you stare out at the ocean for a while. 

Same, in my opinion, with questions like what do the numbers mean.  They’ll love to toss us around in the internets chasing rabbits of whimsy.  We’re never gonna get any clearer an answer than the numbers are an association between a name and a bearing on the lighthouse Mirror of Erised. They’ll not continue down the path of why those numbers were imprinted on the hatch map, spoken in the transmission heard by Lenny, picked up my Hurley, played to win the Lottery, entered into the computer, etc.  They are at best a wonderful misdirection focusing our attention on something that Must. Mean. Something.

Don’t we all do that, cling to something that we think is very important, and only to find that it’s the height of trivia, and self-indulgence.  Like, for instance, some people get totally immersed in a silly television show, tracking the romantic connections, and the behind the scenes shenanigans and plots of subterfuge. I’m talking about Dallas, of course, LOST is completely different!

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Jack, Jacob & Christian (posted 7/22/2009)

This [edited] post is part of a LOST Rehab Theory I worked on after “The Incident” (LOST Season 5 finale).  I’m reposting part of it here because I think it’s necessary background info for  ”Lighthouse” (Ep. 6.06), the Jack-centered show which is now on of my FAVORITES because it is PERFECT in EVERY WAY!!

Background info on Jack and Christian is useful for my (forthcoming) analysis of “The Lighthouse.”  Enjoy!

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Let’s take a closer look at JACK (of course, since he’s my FAVorite).

Recap:

Jack’s solo surgery hits a snag (that darn dural sack), and he starts to panic. Christian, standing nearby, tells him to calm down, count to 5 and “fix her, before I have to fix her for you.” After surgery, Jack berates his dad for humiliating him because “They think I got this residency because you’re my father,” and “I know you don’t believe in me, but I need them to.” Christian quips, “Maybe I’m not the one who doesn’t believe in you, Jack,” and toodles off with this coffee.

Then Jack encounters Jacob. Jacob is holding out TWO CANDY BARS at first, and then holds out ONE CANDY BAR to Jack, touching his fingers during the hand off. Jack toodles off, looking much happier and amazed (maybe chocolate makes everything better?).

Review:

This event is recounted by Jack to Kate as she sews him up right after the crash. The story becomes his testimony to her about how to deal with fear. His solution, to “let the fear in” but only for five seconds, is his own – no mention of Christian’s participation.

The primary reason put forth to explain the discrepancy is that Jack lied to Kate to calm her down, to impress her (not really necessary after the shirt comes off, I’d argue), to befriend her, or to maybe get a cult going. The problem with this is the lack of evidence that Jack would just randomly lie. In Season 1 especially, Jack is a nuts and bolts guy who never lies and gets really upset when others lie to him (Kate and Locke especially).

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First things first, and I’m just gonna say it.  I think this Jack-centered episode is one of the best LOST episodes ever.  I mean best made, best edited, best written AND best acted (especially by Matthew Fox).  I know many disagree and might even accuse me of selling out to my imaginary lust for MFox, but I protest!  I think, if you let me show you what actually happened in “Lighthouse,” you’ll see it too.

Disclaimer:  I’m known for my “far out” theories, and they play a big part in what I’m about to do with “Lighthouse.”  However, don’t let this dissuade you.  In order for you to get the full effect, I recommend that you forget everything else – all the other shows – and consider “Lighthouse” as a “stand alone” story.

There are only two things we’ll need to cover before I prove how AWESOME “Lighthouse” is (Next post).  These elements of LOST storytelling can be tough to swallow at first, but I promise, you’ll like how it feels in the end. [So soft and comfy—ahhh--]

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Good article by Marc Oromaner, author of The Myth of LOST, has a great article over at Doc Artz’ & Friends Lost blog.

You’ve probably noticed that in every flash-sideways so far on Lost this season, the central character of the episode has been shown looking into a mirror. Kate looks at herself in the auto body restroom after discovering that Claire was pregnant, Locke in his own bathroom just before attempting to call Jack, and Jack looks at himself both in the airplane while noticing the strange mark on his neck, and again in  “Lighthouse” when noticing an appendix scar that he doesn’t seem to remember. The easy metaphor of course, is that we are looking at secondary versions of these characters through the looking glass. But what’s the deeper meaning for us?

Read the rest here. Towards the tail end of last night’s podcast, we kinda explored how we see LOST not just as great entertainment, but it’s inserting clues to us to apply to our lives as well. Or maybe it’s a glitch in the matrix.

An off the cuff review/analysis of last night’s episode Lighthouse in the tradition of Subtitutionary thoughts.  Illumination, because it goes with a lighthouse, and I don’t know how long this will last as it depends on episode titles and it appears that we’re not gonna get teased with more for a little while. 

I quite enjoyed last night’s episode, watching once by myself and my sons, then later with my wife and my younger daughter (who was up because she was sick).  The feedback I got from chat room and twitter was generally positive, but not quite the satisfaction of The Substitute.  It’s odd, as I wasn’t blown away from last week’s, but LOVED this week’s.  Such is the fan-verse.

The rest of this post contains spoilers if you haven’t watched the episode.  These are my thoughts and observations, more will be added in later posts as I consume podcasts and recaps and reviews later when I write my LOSTalypse post.

Some of my observations:

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