LOST Season 5

[LevesqueIsKing]

Although Sun and Jin must play a role in the next episode, it seems as though another major theme is going to be how they deal with the returners while keeping their reputation with Dharma. We don't know how truthful they've been with Horace and the rest.

And yes, I too would love to see the numbers storyline come together. I've always liked the mystery behind them and they haven't been on the show in quite a while.

 

[Bio]

The numbers have always been on the show.

They have been reduced to showing up on things around them, from license plates to adresses, etc.

 

[Napalmbrain]

The numbers have always been on the show.

They have been reduced to showing up on things around them, from license plates to adresses, etc.

Err... that's how they always worked.

Personally I'm not sure they'll ever explain the significance of the numbers. I think they'll could stay a mystery forever, like how Hurley managed to stay fat for 4 months.

 

[Bio]

^Well, yeah, they've always behaved that way. When I said "reduced", I meant in comparison to how central they were to Season 2, where they once played a larger role. People would explain how they used them and how they might have caused things, how they were intergral to The Swan, how they influenced Hurley, etc. Now they remain everywhere, but haven't since been acknowledged by anyone.

They have explained their significance to an extent. The numbers are supposed to represent human/environmental factors and are the core values of the Valenzetti Equation that predict the end of humanity. DHARMA tried to alter the values (changing the numbers), but every time they tried, it always went back to The Numbers.

 

[Napalmbrain]

^Considering how prominent a role they played in Season 2, then no, they once played a much larger role. People would explain how they used them and how they might have caused things, how they were intergral to The Swan, how they influenced Hurley, etc. Now they remain everywhere, but they have haven't been further acknowledged by anyone.

They have explained their significance. The numbers are supposed to represent human/environmental factors and are the core values of the Valenzetti Equation that predict the end of humanity. DHARMA tried to alter the values (changing the numbers), but every time they tried, it always went back to The Numbers.

If you're talking about that ARG crap, I'd prefer to see it on screen before I consider it canon.

 

[Bio]

^Yeah, it's from there. I personally believe it as canon since several other extensions to the show don't contradict anything, but merely tie things together or expand on them.

Regardless, it's not an exact meaning to The Numbers to begin with (its significance is a mere prediction), so with or without that explanation, the Numbers themselves have yet to be understood. And they probably never will be.

 

[LevesqueIsKing]

I don't think it would be that large of a stretch. Seeing as Dharma were the ones that created and used the Stations, we'll certainly be getting to see them more. There are many stations that we only saw just briefly and still others that we don't even know the purpose for (and a few more that we haven't really seen at all, or might not even exist, like The Bear and The Door). I could see the numbers coming up in a conversation along the way, most likely through Hurley.

 

[GigaRidley]

If you're talking about that ARG crap, I'd prefer to see it on screen before I consider it canon.

:lol:
Back when they made the Lost Experience, they said that they may put clips from the game explaining the numbers in the actual TV show, so perhaps we'll see that soon. Not sure if they even remember any more, though.

 

[Bowserizer]

I was never interested in the LOST experience, I found it made the show more of a fan-fic kinda feeling. Not my thing.

 

[Bio]

The good thing is that stuff like TLE aren't necessary to plunge into. They are just "extra stuff" for die-hard fans of the show's mysterious universe.

There are many stations that we only saw just briefly and still others that we don't even know the purpose for (and a few more that we haven't really seen at all, or might not even exist, like The Bear and The Door).

It's interesting that you bring this up, because it reminds me that artifacts like where we found information on these Stations are probably wholly true.

An example is the Cerberus Vents (underground tunnels used by The Monster (or "Cerberus")). We have actually known about the Cerberus Vents ever since Season 2 from the blast door map (in The Swan) that was on the show (various locations of the letters "CV") and through off-show info (an Official LOST puzzle assembles into more of the blast door map unseen from the show that reveals the CV acronym as "Cerberus Vent"). Judging by the name, they are probably underground tunnels that The Smoke Monster (Cerberus) uses to get around The Island so quickly. There was a possibility of one in a Season 1 episode, and in that Season 5 episode with the Smoke Monster, we may have actually seen one for ourselves.

In situations like these, I tend to regard the show's extensions like thehansofoundation.org, TLE, that "video blog" of a girl spying on Dharma, and such as legitimate (albeit mostly trivial) insight. So I think any unnamed Stations are actually real places on the Island...should the writers choose to reveal them further within the show.

One more thing: I thought we actually did see The Door in one episode, even though there was just a rock wall inside it (unfinished DHARMA station?). I never heard of "The Bear".

I don't think it would be that large of a stretch. Seeing as Dharma were the ones that created and used the Stations, we'll certainly be getting to see them more. I could see the numbers coming up in a conversation along the way, most likely through Hurley.

The question isn't if The Numbers will be revisited (they probably will), but if we will ever know their true meaning. We could get theories and testimonies all series on the values and still have no one fully understand them by the end of the last episode.

To illustrate what I mean, here is a quote in one of Damon Lindelof's responses on The Numbers:
"We call it the midi-chlorian debate, because at a certain point, explaining something mystical demystifies it. To try and have a character come and say, "Here is what the numbers mean," actually makes every usage of the numbers up to that point less interesting."

 

[LevesqueIsKing]

Sorry, double posted.

 

[LevesqueIsKing]

Eh, I understand what you mean. I suppose I don't necessarily want conclusive evidence pertaining to the numbers, I'd just like them to be incorporated more directly into the storyline once again.

Similar to the French Brigade's meeting with the Smoke Monster, Locke was also nearly pulled into one of the Smoke Monster's vents in an earlier season. I think this is what you were referring to.

The Door station was seen twice in earlier episodes. The first time, we see it protected by two guards (

Spoiler

), and the second time, which you alluded to, we see Sayid enter, only to find the entrance blockaded by solid rock. Either the writers scrapped the idea, or it will play a large role in the future.

The Bear, to my knowledge, has never even been implied on the show, but is a tentative station supported by the Blast Door Map. One site had this to say about the station:

The Bear - According to The Bear Orientation Video, The Bear Station was dedicated to testing an assortment of food products which had been developed by the DHARMA Initiative, who believe that the quality of food has deteriorated over the past thirty years. It's location on the Blast Door Map is uncertain at this time. It may possibly be marked as C3? or C4? on the map. This Station has not yet been discovered by the Survivors yet. This Station's symbol contains an image of a bear. I am not certain if this is actually a real DHARMA Initiative Station, or merely the fabrication of enthusiastic LOST fans.

 

[LevesqueIsKing]

I'm sure many of you have already been to Lostpedia, but I wanted to point out this particular page, which I've spent the last few hours on and intend to dedicate much more time to. It outlines virtually every single storyline in the show's existance and labels it as either Solved, Partially Solved, or Unsolved (and at the end of pages that aren't solved, it lists questions that linger pertaining to the subject). Half of these things I can't even remember. I've focused most of my attention on the Dharma Initiative, as many of those storylines are likely to be rebirthed (Annie will be, "The Incident" seems as though it has to be, Chang will be, and a few others are very likely to be). There is also a section on stations, which is why I decided to post this now, as it solves some of the confusion regarding which stations are actually confirmed to be in the show and which stations we don't know everything about yet. It's really an incredibly detailed account of the show.

http://lostpedia.wikia.com/wiki/Portal:Mysterious

[Yes, triple post]

 

[Bio]

Yeah. I've been going to Lostpedia every now and then before I post in here.

I haven't noticed that "Mysterious" page, though. Good find.

 

[LevesqueIsKing]

With us having a week-off from Lost, I figured I might as well create some discussion. I know it's a lot, so you can read at your leasure and respond to individual theories rather than the entire post if you like. Also, due to the nature of this post being on future shows, it contains many tentative spoilers, although it should be noted that I know nothing that you guys don't, so they're just as likely to be false.

So yeah, I pretty much love this episode now too. In my eyes, it spawns five major new storylines:

Who's the baby?: You could make an argument that it's no one important and that that scene was only used to show that whatever caused mothers to die on the island hasn't happened yet, but doesn't it sound very Lostish to have the baby be someone we already know? This one is completely up in the air. Judging by the time difference (1977-2004), the man would be 27 during the Oceanic crash, but time in general is getting pretty ambiguous, so you could make a case that that doesn't matter. Good guesses at this point are Ethan (Looked a bit older than 27, yes, but he's one of the closest to that age, he could have easily been raised by the Others, and his being born on the island (and being a premature birth) could explain his unusual strength, endurance, and intelligence), Jacob (I hate this idea, but it's quite popular so I decided to list it. I personally think this would make the God-like Jacob that we've come to know too...normal. However, Horace was seen 'building a cabin for the missus', so is it just a coincidence that Jacob lives in a cabin?), Desmond, Hurley, or Daniel (They all have special connections to the island. Hurley looks very similar to Horace—moreso than he does to his own parents. If Daniel was born on the island, it would complete the pattern of the freighter scientists being born on the island, assuming that Miles is Chandle's son. Furthermore, Desmond is one of the only major characters that isn't on the island and that has no intention of going there, and this would be a good way of getting his character (whether it's one we recognize or not) back into the heat of things.In the case of people that have been alluded to being born off the island, it's completely possible that they were born on island and that their 'parents' that we've met are adoptive parents, which means literally anyone that we haven't seen being born has a possibility of being this child).

How will Sawyer deal with Jack and company arriving on the island?: We don't know how much Sawyer has told Horace, so all we can assume is that he still thinks they crashed their boat on the island. It seems a little ridiculous to propose that he could say he finally found his crew after three years, and Horace might be suspicious if he's told that the crew that crashed on the island three years ago found another crew that crashed on the island, so you guess is as good as mine on this theory.

How will the 815ers deal with adolescent Ben?: Based on the timeline, young Ben is either on the island in 1977 or will be arriving there very shortly. My guess is that Ben will be on the submarine that comes back in two weeks, which is when Sawyer and company are supposed to leave. This will be a very big problem that they will have to deal with, and it's my personal theory that Ben remembers them. Do you remember the list that he gave Michael? Jack, Kate, Sawyer, Hurley. Aside from Jin, and Juliet (who he had already employed at that time), this is a complete list of all of the 815ers that he would recognize from his childhood. Coincidence? I don't think so.

Could a time-traveller be a Dharma employee that we've already heard stories about or met in a flashback?: I love this theory. With this pattern of time-travellers working for Dharma and taking up aliases, we could know them as two different people. The most obvious person that comes to mind is Radzinsky. For those of you who don't remember him, this is all the information known about him:

Radzinsky was Kelvin Inman's partner inside the Swan, sometime before Desmond crashed on the Island. What little information is known about him was provided solely by Kelvin.
Radzinsky was the originator of the blast door map, which he worked on with the aid of his photographic memory. He discovered how to fake a lockdown incident, which made it possible to work on the map more deliberately. Radzinsky is also responsible for having edited the Swan Orientation film.
Kelvin explained to Desmond that, while he was asleep, Radzinsky committed suicide by putting a shotgun in his mouth and firing it, causing a blood stain on the ceiling. Because of the protocol, Kelvin had to bury him within 108 minutes.

If the shotgun death sounds familiar, it's because it is. Sam Toomey, the original slave to The Numbers, also killed himself this way. After this brief explanation it seems blatantly obvious that Radzinsky must be Hurley, especially since sitting in the Swan for all eternity pressing the numbers that haunt his mind seems like a fittingly ironic end to his character. However, after reviewing Radzinsky's profile again, his masterful knowledge of the island, his wit, and his sheer intelligence make him sound like a more Danielesque character—virtually the exact opposite of Hurley. Hurley doesn't seem like the type of guy that is an expert at anything, to be honest. Additionally, not many fans would be happy with such a gruesome end to the lovable Hurley's life. Regardless of all this, I think it's certain that due to the lack of information we have on Radzinsky that he is someone we know, and I still think it's most likely Hurley (Plus, can't you just see Hurley defending his pseudoname with something like, "Radzinsky...y'know, 'cuz I'm rad"? )

How will they get back to the present with Locke and Ben?: Most people agree that Daniel will be the one to get them back (because of his knowledge and because of the scene from the pilot that showed him working in The Orchid-to-be), probably through a desperate attempt to stop Charlotte from dying in spite of his knowledge that he can't change the past. It's also extremely likely that the time-travellers' departure from this time period causes 'The Incident' and perhaps even ties into the Ben/Widmore feud and Widmore's eventual banishment from the island.

There are certainly other storylines to be discussed, such as when we'll meet Annie, who Adam and Eve are, and whether Sayid and Sun will join with the rest of the group, so feel free to discuss those as well.

As a final request, and solely if you have the time, I would greatly appreciate any critique of my writing habits that you may have. I'd like to improve as a writer and this is a fairly lengthy post, so I figured I would mention it.