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Thursday, November 17, 2005

Pointless Theory About Lost

I'm still completely enamored with the show Lost. These kinds of shows can be annoying, because they tease you with so little information. As much fun as it is to try and figure out the mystery, it's generally pointless because there is always hidden information. Course, I can't really remember a show that so boldly executed it's premise without meandering too far into cliche subplots of romance and well, usually romance. I remember telling The Girl that people were saying this was the "return of high concept shows" ... but for the life of us we couldn't really remember when high concept shows were terribly around in the first place.

Last night's episode was good ... interesting in that it's one of the few that didn't dip into a lot of backstory. I suppose that's because if anything, it was backstory of the "tail" survivors. It was also fairly revealing.

Spoilers will follow, though I'll try to remain vague.

Our invisible giant thing seems to have taken a backseat to the Others at this point. What we know about the Others is basic. They look human. They act human. They seem to be stronger and faster than normal people. They are extremely good at manipulation. They've been on the island for some time.

Last night we learned that they take people because they're "good" or "innocent".

Also, at least one of them had a serious hankering to use a radio.

So, my thinking is that whatever went "wrong" with the Dharma Project created the Others. Remember, from the Hanso Mission Statement, "For forty years, the foundation has offered grants to worthy experiments designed to further the evolution of the human race and provide technological solutions to the most pressing problems of our time." The Others are faster, smarter and stronger. And they seem to have a very selective method of recruitment.

Why would there be an underground system with "QUARANTINE" clearly marked on the inside? It's not like any of the survivors have been falling ill to some strange airborne virus. Perhaps the Others themselves are the disease. Their interest in the survivors might not be just antagonistic. They might be trying to get them to help them off the island. Or infecting the "right" ones with the "disease".

What if the numbers and the massive electromagnet system are the means that keeps the Others on the island? They have a boat, but they know if they go to far ... it will mysteriously sink. If a plane tries to rescue them, it will get lost and probably crash. What purpose would a tatooed shark have other than keeping a perimeter? The reason why the computer is so vital to the "project" is that without entering the numbers (for whatever reason ... if the island is able to manipulate luck the way it seems to be able, it's hard guess why the strange setup is there) ... the Others would be free to call on the radio, get some rescue and infect the rest of the world.

Bonus Points: Hanttula's Lost Notebook is an excellent resource for keeping up on the show's myriad of facts and characters.



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2 comments:

Brinstar said...

Argh. I missed last week's (Nov 9th) episode due to personal drama. At least it wasn't too difficult to catch on to what was going on last night.

I still have this Noah's Ark theory about the island. Perhaps the project was meant to create a race of super humans to populate the Earth after the Apocalypse. Does that seem farfetched?

Josh said...

Farfetched for a show which features polar bears on tropical island, a prophetic hatch, backward talking children and a toy plane?

I think not :)