Lost Thoughts: Teh Monster

Everything beyond this point should be considered a spoiler for those not up to date with the show.

So last night we got our first really good look at the "invisible monster" of the island. Or at least it kinda seemed we did. Charlie goes up in a tree. We hear something rather siren or whistle like. Some mechanical crashing and gnashing of trees. A trail of black smoke pours out and faces Eko. Images of his past flash just slow enough for trigger happy DVR owners to see (I missed them) in the smoke. Smoke trails off. Charlie, amazed that Eko faced it down, tells Eko he's lucky to be alive. Eko says he wasn't scared of it.

So that doesn't really seem like the whole story, does it? I mean, that's not really the kind of thing that rips a guy out of a twenty foot tall tree, rips him apart and throws him unceremoniously downward. Nor does it seem like the loud tromping and smashing which knocks hills aside in it's wake. So let's recap a bit.

Danielle stated that the island has a security system. "There are no monsters".

Locke, Kate and now Eko has looked into the "eye of the island" (Locke's words) and seen something which seemed to more enlighten them rather than frighten.

The smoke/eye can read thoughts and/or memories.

The monster is accompanied with a variety of mechanical noises. It reminds a Bronx home owner of the hood. It sounds like chains at times.

It comes seemingly from nowhere, and quite possibly from underground.

It can grab people, pull them into the ground and also kill them.

So let's make the following assumptions:

The monster's primary function is island security.

The monster is at least partially mechanical.

The monster is released from hidden areas of the island.

In it's capacity, the monster may need to retrieve or kill things as well as spy on them.

Now, let's say that beyond the odd socio-psychological expirements the show has been hinting towards, the island is also a biological one. A polar bear in the tropics certainly offers some potential evidence for this (as do some the letters on the Lostverse Hanso site). So imagine a big zoo or reserve for genetically altered animals with researchers working underground from various stations. One would probably need to be able a) keep track of these animals, b) bring them underground for expirements and c) destroy them if necessary.

So Hanso builds a network of security capable of watching their experiments. This includes sensors to detect the animals. A roving camera system capable of making close monitoring. And a powerful claw-like mechanism. Making the latter two covered in smoke or invisible is extremely handy for sneaking up on creatures (ever had a cat?).

So why is this odd smoke like camera capable of reading people's minds?

Well, if your expirements involved humans, it might become necessary to be able to determine the "good" from the "bad" ... however that's being judged on the island. Possibly the eye can tell the difference between an "other" and a normal person. So Locke and Eko weren't in any real danger because they're normal folk and apparently not in any "restricted" area of the island.

Not sure why the pilot was so unlucky though.



tagged: television, lost