07 March, 2006

ABC's Lost "Maternity Leave"...

-=Stop reading now if you haven't watched it yet!=-

Been meaning to publish this for a while now, lots of good questions raised both on "Generally Speaking" and at "The Fuselage" after the last episode (lots of information to process!)...so here I summarise the new issues and my thoughts...(it's going to be funny to come back and see how wrong/right these are later in the shows lifespan ;)

So, to business -

Q.What is Mr Eko doing with all that "good" wood he is chopping down, and why/how is he catagorising it?

A.Well, the jury is still out on this one, there are two prominent camps dominating the discussion that are arguing voiciferously either a) He is building a church or b) He definitely isn't building a church (but not offering an alternative), apart from that a quiet contingent offers two other attractive options c) he is building a dwelling for himself (no place to rest his head has been shown so far on screen) and d) he is building fortifications or a fort...it's d) that is my favorite option, and as for the "good" and "bad" trees, he is simply marking the ones out that are suitable for the task at hand, nothing more mysterious than that...there are two other possibilities that have occured to me though, e) another raft (but we've done that already so probably not) or f) a bridge (but I have no idea to where or why, can't help the way my brain works ;)

Q.Why on earth have the "others" in the medical hatch got "hillbilly" costumes, fake beards and theatrical glue?

A.There's one of the "grand theories" that fits here, and that is that the whole thing is a psychological experiement being run by DHARMA (yes, it's an acronym - official), this is supported by two specific bits of evidence - Deep and rapid insight and clever use of conversation to drive a large wedge between Lock and Jack by "Henry Gale" (just as a good clinical psychologist would), and the last official podcast clearly stating that "everyone is on the island for a reason, because of something they have done"...smacks of intellegent selection to me...

Q.What was Desmond injecting/was injected into Claire/the baby?

A.Everyone is referring to it as "vaccine", was it the same stuff? It looks a slightly different colour to me..More green...but was it vaccine? I believe that Danielle's lot were deliberately infected in an experiment and there isn't just "a disease" (Danielle is the entire source of this suspicion, and she ain't an MD imho), this is bourne out by Aaron's rapid recovery, and Jack's outburst on the subject...

Q.Is Sun pregnant (after the "A mother shouldn't leave her baby!" outburst)

A.Yes, well, at the very least she thinks she is, as it's in the synopsis for the next episode... ;)

Q.Why aren't Lock and Jack trying to get the guns back?

A.I would love them to at least discuss it (on air), this bit of the show really doesn't work for me...I think there would have been uproar...

Q.Is "Henry Gale" an "Other"/Is his name/story anything to do with "The Wizard of Oz"

A.Yes, it is definitely a nod to "The Wizard of Oz", this was confirmed in the official podcast...is he an "Other"? HELL YES (as discussed above) and *also* I remind you of the look he gave to Sayed after their little jolly in the gun cabinet...ouch!

Best episode of season 2 so far... ;)

Oh, one last thing to consider, and this is as to the validity of the Claire medical hatch flashback, Libby is saying to her (when she is coming out of her trance) to take the images with a pinch of salt, they may be "transferrence" from previous experiences...now, check out this shot from season 1 (Claire's dream *before* she was kidnapped) and this shot of the nursery in the medical facility...a tingle of doubt? Might be that she was mixing up details, or it might be back to the experiment idea, the "Others" put the crib out there in the jungle assuming she would think it an hallucination...? ;)

I love Lost... :)

7 comments:

Shablagoo! said...

Well it was one of the better recent eps of the season, but I still think this season has lost a lot of steam since the Eko episode. The Guns thing is a lame contrivance unless Locke has some agenda letting Sawyer monopolise them. And finally...

WTF happened to Walt an Micheal ? ? ?

Unknown said...

Well, when Mr Friendly did his "it's our island" "there is a line you don't cross" speech he also told Jack not to worry because Michael would never find them, and that Walt was fine...so I guess Michael is lost somewhere on the forbidden side of the island and Walt is with the "Others", but I know not why or where...on the official podcast they went to great pains to point out that Mr Friendly referred to one of the "Others" with torches as "Alex", a nod to Rousseau's abducted child...so he might even have been somewhere in that group...probably not though, he's probably doped up somewhere being brainwashed...

Shablagoo! said...

Its so obvious... the 'Him' Mr Friendlt referred to is none other than CHUCK NORRIS!

Alvar Hanso is a red herring.

Unknown said...

That's *gotta* be it! No-one messes with Chuck Norris! ;)

Shablagoo! said...

In hindsight it would have been much more dramatic if Mr Friendly wore a fake mullet instead of that manky ol' hat of his...

Seriously though, I suspect that Alvar Hanso being the BIG BAD HIM is too easy. JJ Abrams likes the power of names, just look @ Alias and the enigmatic Milo Rambaldi.

One thing to bare in mind with Lost is that its like ALIAS in the sense what you think happens in say season 1 or 2 gets a whole new light thrown on the proceedings by the events of later series. The Fake Beard episode mid s2 has partially proved this resetting and clarify a lot assumptions of WTF is going on...

Unknown said...

I haven't watched Alias, but if it is anything like as good as Lost then I know I really should do...

Shablagoo! said...

Just my personal opinion but the first two series of Alias are absolutely brilliant! Lots of well staged action, mystery, cliffhangers, plot twists, brutal violence, shady and interesting characters, oh and Jennifer Garner (who can actually act and do most of her own stunts)... Its like a crazy mixture of 24, X-Files, LOST, The Man from UNCLE, and Buffy with a labyrinthine meta plot. And its very well made in terms of production values (like its stablemate LOST) with a host of interesting and diverse guest stars like Roger Moore, Quentin Tarantino, David Carradine, Ricky Gervais, and Faye Dunaway.

This said, it wobbled a bit in the second half of season 3, steadied itself in s4, and this current season, the last one, which finishes in May is the best since 2.

Check it out sometime. However, unlike most genre shows it doesn't bother with exposition very much (at all) so if you ever got round to watching it, start from the beginning. It won't make much sense otherwise (which is why its ratings dropped off somewhat in the USA)around s3).

Oh and BTW the famous ep with Ricky Gervais playing it straight as a ruthless bomber is excellent. He could be a very fine actor if he wanted!