Lost TV Series News and Theories

Possible Spoilers

There is a magazine that got a hold of the LOST producer’s original version of the backlight hatch wall that was revealed in the LOST episode Lockdown. From that clearer version, people have managed to translate nearly all the equations and phrases on the wall map. There is a copy of the mag floating around online, but Sledgeweb has a pretty good version that actually corrects and adds to that. I am going to display his for now (see bottom of this post for unwritten-over larger version):

SWLS Investigations Version of Blast Door Map

There are many translations on this map which can be of interest, including lower right corner “Stated goal: Accelerated De-Territorial of Ursus Maritimus through gene therapy and extreme climate change” (Ursus maritimus = Latin scientific species name of the polar bear; climate change and gene therapy research??). And upper left corner: “Cerberus station believed to have been abandoned due to AH/MDG incident of 1985 or possible catastrophic malfunction of Cerberus System” (Cerberus = 3 headed hound that protected Hades, killed by Hercules and lulled to sleep by Orpheus with music; is Cerberus the name of the island security system = “The Monster”/”Smokie”?? And do the lyrics to La Mer have any significance in defeating it?)

Latin phrases translated:

Sursum corda (X 3): “Lift up your hearts.”

Aegrescit medendo: “The remedy is worse than the disease.”

Malum consilium quod mutari non protest: “It’s a bad plan that can’t be changed.”

Cogito ergo doleo: “I think, therefore I am depressed.”

Ut sit magna, tamen certe lenta ira deorum est: “The wrath of the gods may be great, but it certainly is slow.”

Nil actum reputa si quid superest agendum: “Don’t consider that anything has been done if anything is left to be done.”

Credo nos in fluctu eodem esse: “I think we’re on the same wavelength.”

Mus uni non fidit antro: “A mouse does not rely on just one hole.”

Liberte te ex inferis: “Save yourself from Hell.”

Hic sunt dracones: “There are dragons here.” (writing above CVIII)

EDIT: Newest edition, 3/30/06 1000 EST- Clearest and cleanest map I’ve seen to date (without overwriting) seen HERE. VERY high res and inversed / color curves adjusted for clarity. Unfortunately cuts off some of the sides. Warning: Large file.

Spoiler

When the hatch suddenly takes on a life of its own, Locke is forced to enlist the help of an unlikely ally. Meanwhile, Ana Lucia, Sayid and Charlie go off into the jungle to find out the truth about Henry.

This most interesting LOST episode started off in the hatch, where we had left off last time with Henry’s off color comment about the ambush, though he says now “just kidding!” This doesn’t fly too well with Jack & Locke, and tensions go from bad to worse. Come on guys, where are your senses of humor.

Meanwhile, on the other side of the island… lo and behold! Ana Lucia, Charlie and Sayid make the discovery we’ve all been waiting for… a grave, and above their heads, a hot air balloon!

We cut to something weird going down in the hatch. Jack’s left, and Locke has thrown Henry back in the dungeon, and he plays some sort of music… then the loudspeakers start to crackle. He fiddles with one of them, and it says something about a “lockdown” briefly, and then some sort of verbal countdown, cutting in and out of static. Suddenly, hatch doors come down, and *everything* seals. Locke throws a tool under the door to keep it from closing fully.

Meanwhile, we cut to Jack, who decides this, of all times, is a good one to finally let his hair down and have some fun. Not so much fun, as a pissing contest between alpha males. It’s an opportunity to wipe the grin off Sawyer’s face in front of the others, by winning at poker (where the stakes are first papayas/mangos, and then the right to raid his medication stockpile).

Back at the hatch, Locke finds that he has to ask for Henry’s help in order to pry the doors open. In exchange, Locke makes him a promise that he’ll try and defend him if the others try to kill him. They get it open a crack, with some items for leverage… but they employ the not-so-bright plan of using a collapsable toolbox to hold up the door. Locke tries to slide under, and all I can say is — I’m glad he didn’t go in headfirst. OUCH! So much for his run of non-paralysis on the island…

We have a lot of Locke-centric flashbacks in this episode. And a new connection–Nadia is one of his former clients (he is a home inspector, and checks her house for mold). We see him happily with Helen, but as usual, good things don’t last. Anthony Cooper (his father, who scammed him out of a kidney) has “died”… but that turns out to be his biggest scam to date. He has faked his death, and enlists Locke’s help to pull a retirement scam (for a healthy cut off the pilfered profits). Unfortunately, his dad seems to have some seedy mafia-looking associates, who have an inkling that Mr. Cooper is alive and well. They invade Locke’s home and threaten Helen, who gets a pack of lies from her beloved. When she discovers the mess he’s made, Locke decides this is “good timing” to pop The Question. Worst proposal ever! Denied…OUCH again.

Once again, back to the hatch. In a discovery which may keep LOST nerds like me busy for weeks, a very special screencap: Locke is trapped, blacklights replace ordinary fluorescents, and suddenly we are able to see a design on the wall. It appears to be a map of some sort, with equations and writing all over the sides, several CV-(roman numeral) symbols labeling structures with corridors, and labeled “I AM HERE” over the swan symbol. *NEW* SW’s Modified Map–Colors inversed, and phrases translated, including Latin & equations.

The timer is about to go off, and Locke has to depend on Henry to crawl through the vent to punch in the numbers. Henry, after proving his klutziness by knocking himself out, does as he’s asked. He appears loyal, since he returns to help Locke get out from under the crushing door… but what exactly did he do when the camera wasn’t on him? And how would anyone remember those numbers that fast?

Jack & Kate, off on a flirty stroll (after Jack proved his manliness through poker), discover a parachute and a food drop in the jungle. They also stumble on the other 3, back from their balloon-hunting trip. In the final scenes of the show, a new twist — there was a balloon and a grave, but the guy buried in the grave was a black man named Henry Gale (driver’s license proved this). So, who is this guy in the hatch??

Presenting Part II of an interview with actor Jorge Garcia, who plays Hurley. Also, LOST executive producers Damon Lindelof and Carlton Cuse present a special feature in which listeners can vote on the official LOST podcast theme song. Plus, fan questions are answered and the episode “Lockdown” is discussed.

Listen to the LOST podcast

One of the obvious subcontextual themes of LOST is science vs. faith. The most notable portrayal of this theme is the juxtaposition of Jack, the pragmatic neurosurgeon, and Locke, the idealistic “collection supervisor for a box company”. One of the most notable conflicts arising from this contrast is of course, the button. “Pushing the button”, or more accurately, entering the number sequence and pressing “execute”, is described by Locke in “Orientation” as a leap of faith. Why would Jack, the pragmatist, take a leap of faith? In order to understand why Jack decided to “push the button”, we must take a closer look at rational decision-making when faced with uncertainty.

There is an inherent paradox in acceptance or “pushing the button”. The paradox is thus: We do not know what will happen if the button is pushed. We do not know what will happen if the button is not pushed. Which is better, then? The universe is constantly changing, and we’re inside the universe, which means that we’re constantly changing, too. We can either try to avoid change, or accept it; but change can be for the better, or for the worse. So, the answer to the question, “Which is better?” will always involve a leap of faith, because there is no correct answer. Or, more precisely, the correct answer is, “neither, and both”.

How to decide then? In decision theory, especially when faced with a decision to be made under uncertainty, the rational procedure is to identify all possible outcomes, determine their values (positive or negative) and the probabilities that will result from each course of action, and multiply the two to give an expected value. The action to be chosen should be the one that gives rise to the highest total expected value.

This was invoked by the famous French mathematician and philospher Blaise Pascal, in what has come to be known as Pascal’s wager. Basically, Pascal’s uncertainty was the existence of God. Belief or non-belief in God is the decision to be made. Pascal posited that the reward for belief in God if God actually does exist is infinite. Therefore, however small the probability of God’s existence, the expected value of belief exceeds that of non-belief, so it is better to believe in God.

Obviously, Pascal’s argument is subjective, and only works from the perspective of the wagerer. I think that Kate, and Sayid (both of whom were present at the time of Desmond’s departure), to some extent went along with Locke for this reason. They feel that if “pushing the button” will save the world from some unknown catastrophe, then however small the probability that the catastrophe will happen, it is better to “push the button”. Any other possibility, including the possibility that “pushing the button” is actually sending an “all’s well - no need to send a rescue team” message to some Dharma Initiative supervisory board, will have a lower expected value than that of saving the world.

Hurley, who was also present, is going along with Locke out of fear that if others know of his conviction that the numbers are cursed, they will think he is crazy. He is conforming to the group, succombing to peer pressure.

This brings me to Jack. Why did Jack decide to “push the button”? As a rational, pragmatic man, he probably rationalized his decision similarly to Pascal, but Jack, too, is succombing to a form of peer pressure. He must fulfill his role as leader of the group, by serving the greater good, even if it goes contrary to his own beliefs.

Did you know that you can subscribe to a feed of the comments made on The LOST Blog?

Just like you can subscribe to our posts via RSS to get notified when we update with new theories, ideas and speculations, you can now subscribe to the comments made by our visitors.

All right, to be fair, you have been able to subscribe to the comments on individual posts for some time now, but today you are able to subscribe to a feed containing every single comment posted on this site.

This is a great feature which I personally use and love. By subscribing to the comments feed I get instant notification and never miss any of the insightful and entertaining comments. This is a great way to be part of the LOST discussion.

Give it a try!

Well, LOST is at it again… another episode with great writing (definitely not a show for people who need immediate closure). Everyone’s got their opinion on the new baby’s paternity (if there is a baby, that is?? Widmore Labs, hmm…).

The best way to approach it is by listing the possibilities if Sun truly is pregnant:

1) Sun had an “immaculate conception”
Not in the Virgin Mary sense, but just without any human carnal relations… it’s totally “magic” in this case, with no scientific basis. That part depends on how much you think this series is fantasy-based, and how much is grounded.

2) Sun was impregnated by Jae Lee (”Baldie”)
This would be a preflight affair. The scene that “looked like” it was about to play out on the show… but as we know, few things are as they seem with LOST. Also, this would involve her being 2 months pregnant, and not showing signs and symptoms, hmm.

3) Sun was impregnated by someone else, such as post-island encounter
IMHO, not likely for her character, or her culture, where it is not common for women to have casual flings with near-strangers. Also, she now seems in love with Jin, and has no close ties to any man on the island.

4) Sun was impregnated by once-infertile Jin, who was “cured” by the island
I think I could buy into this, because first off–there is no true “0%” for male infertility without other genetic issues, it’s just a matter of a “low, close-to-0%” probability. This is an island where many things with low probability seem to be occuring; near-miracles, such as Locke’s sudden ability to walk after the crash.

5) Sun was impregnated by Jin, who never had fertility problems to begin with; and she was the infertile one that got “cured” by the mysterious island.
But the doctor said it was him, right? Well… my thoughts are, why should we believe that second scene where Dr. Kim accosts her on the street from his car, when we already think he lied once? That is pretty strange bedside manner, first off. Consider this scenario:

- Dr. Kim told them the truth the first time; Sun had endometriosis, resulting in her being the infertile one. She feels guilty she can’t provide Jin with children (important in Korean culture).
- He gets paid off or threatened afterwards to lie (the car scene), by Mr. Paik, who never liked Jin to begin with, and is setting a trap for his own daughter, Sun. She now falsely thinks she IS fertile, but ironically, still can’t conceive with Jin (who she now falsely thinks is infertile).
- Jae is also in on it (his family and the Paiks are linked already), and seduces her.
- She would not ordinarily cheat on her husband, but she considers it briefly, because she wants to give Jin a child and make their relationship whole again. She comes close (such as a kiss), but does not go through with it, and never sleeps with Jae. The plan has failed.

As for why Mr. Paik would go to such lengths, consider this. He never really approved of the union, or had some sudden change of heart when Jin asked for his daughter’s hand in marriage. What he wanted was a lackey, a mob hand he could control like a puppet. He got that, and now Jin is in the mafia, and won’t easily be able to get out. If Mr. Paik can break them up, by sending in Jae, I’d argue he has even more leverage over Jin, should he ever want to forgive Sun and take her back. Also, if he had tried to say no to the marriage in the early days, Mr. Paik would have risked their elopement, and he would lose control over both.

There’s no more reason to believe the second story the doctor told an than the first; this mirrors the situation with Claire’s psychic, where he said “There’s no other way except to raise this baby yourself”, and conveniently finds an adoptive couple in LA, then changes his mind.

It’s definitely a strange show, with lots of twists and turns. Same with Henry’s story–mark my words, if you are SURE of one scenario, you will likely be surprised. There are subtleties in every scene that raise questions of ambiguity, making “The Whole Truth” a very apt title.

Which scenario do you think is the most likely? (Or do you think she’s even pregnant?)

-Cecilia C., M.D.

One of the many questions that have circulated on the net after last night’s LOST episode “The Whole Truth” is, did Sawyer and Bernard speak Korean when telling Jin about Sun’s pregnancy?

The answer to that question is, no. They where speaking backwards.
This is what they really said:

Sawyer: Keep it down there Susie, I don’t think Jin Senior here knows yet.
Bernard: Well, how do you know?
Sawyer: I got my sources.
Bernard: Aren’t you gonna tell him?
Sawyer: Not my place.
Bernard: Well.. you should tell him.
Sawyer: Hell no! Let Sunshine tell him.

You can listen to my reversed and re-ordered version of the conversation
here. Feel free to share it with others, but in that case please save it to your own server or link to this post and not directly to the file.

I believe their voices where played backwards simply to show us how Jin feels, not understanding what the others say. Nevertheless, in a show as mysterious as LOST, it’s nice to have as much solid facts as possible.

I just updated the “The Whole Truth” post with my thoughts and ideas, check it out.

After weeks of reruns, we finaly start getting new LOST episodes tonight. The episode is called “The Whole Truth” and this is the official description:

Spoiler

Sun wrestles with the thought of telling Jin a newfound secret that threatens to upset the entire balance of the survivors’ community. Meanwhile, Locke enlists Ana Lucia to interrogate the prisoner in order to extract more information than he, Jack or Sayid could.

Update: These are my thoughts on the episode “The Whole Truth”:

This LOST episode has two plot lines. We have the story about Sun and her possible pregnancy and we also get to spend a bit more time with the lovable Henry Gale.

Is Sun pregnant, and if so, was she lying to Jin when she said that she had never been with another man, or is her pregnancy a “miracle”? We know that Dharma are very interested in Claire’s baby, Aaron. Could they be involved in Sun’s mysterious pregnancy?

The text on the Sun’s pregnancy test clearly says “Widmore Labs”. This is very interesting because Damon and Carlton confirmed in an old official LOST podcast that a sign on Battersea Powerstation, which can be seen in the background in the episode “Fire+Water”, was supposed to have the words “Widmore Construction” on it (even if it could not be seen even on HDTV). If I’m not mistaken, they also said that this company would play a role in future episodes.

This leads us to the question of how the pregnancy test got to the island. Was it brought by one of the passengers or could it have been strategically placed on the island by Dharma or Widmore?

Either way, I believe it’s time for The Dharma Initiative and The Hanso Foundation to let Widmore in to the club of mysterious companies and foundations. We will probably learn more about them in future episodes of LOST.

In this episode, Locke has clearly decided that he does not need to ask Jack for permission before he does anything, and shows so by letting Ana-Lucia interrogate everyone’s favorite hate object - Henry Gale.

After a bit of talking, Henry agrees to draw a map to his balloon and Ana-Lucia decides to check if the balloon really exists. Together with Sayid and Charlie, she goes of into the jungle.

In an effort to make people like him, Henry later tells Jack and Locke what could happen to the losties who went looking for his balloon… IF he was an Other.. which he isn’t.. or is he?

The suspense is incredible, but we will have to wait until the next LOST episode to find out if there is any truth to Henry’s stories.

A new official LOST podcast is now online.

Exeutive Producer Bryan Burk recounts casting the pilot, as well as discussing the post-production process on the show and Executive Producers Damon Lindleof and Carlton Cuse discuss the upcoming episode, “The Whole Truth” (Airing Wed., March 22nd from 9:00-10:00pm on ABC).

Listen to the Official LOST Podcast

Well, we’re all gearing up for the new LOST episodes (3 weeks of new shows in a row starting next week, woohoo!).

In the meantime, it’s always a good time to revisit old themes.

In “Outlaws”, Sawyer stalks Duckett, the shrimp shack guy he thinks is the original Sawyer who ruined his life. After he shoots him, he learns he’s made a big mistake–he killed the wrong man. Duckett’s dying words are “It’ll come back around”. Later, these words are echos in the jungle, as Sawyer hunts a boar he possibly thinks is a reincarnation of someone he once knew.

I think this scene really exemplifies much of what the series is about. It ties in ideas of karma & irony.

What is karma? Here’s the Wikipedia’s definition:

Karma is a sum of all that an individual has done, is currently doing and will do. The effects of those deeds and these deeds actively create present and future experiences, thus making one responsible for one’s own life, and the pain in others. In religions that incorporate reincarnation, karma extends through one’s present life and all past and future lives as well.

Another way of saying “You reap what you sow” or “What goes around, comes around.” It is also a major theme in The Brothers Karamazov (the book by Dostoevsky that Locke gives to Henry in “Maternity Leave”): Zosima, a character secure in his faith, believes that it is not one man’s place to judge another, because human lives are interwoven and everything we do affects anothers’ life. And the last line of the above definition, about future lives — do they remind you of “See you in the next life” and “You’ll find me in the next life if not in this one.” Sound familiar? They should, they are quotes from Desmond & Nadia.

1) Sawyer becomes the man he once hated.

2) Jack, the idealist surgeon, who performed “miracles” as a resident, never had closure with his father, the cynic. He is now doomed to be the cynic himself, refusing to believe in things that science can’t explain.

3) Charlie is trying to break from his past and become “a new man”, but the lifestyle he once had, of drugs and loose women, are now catching up with him. Also see the scene with Liam, whose pregnant wife leaves him because he can’t kick his drug habit. Charlie now falls for Claire, who does not want her or her baby to be around him because of his drug habit.

4) Locke, in early scenes, is paralyzed, both physically and emotionally… he works as a desk jockey where he’s a “button pusher” and is the object of ridicule. He has a fantasy where he plays a colonel and is in the heart of an adventure/mystery. He ends up on an island, miraculously able to walk and live out his dream of being the respected man of adventure he always wanted to be. But what does he end up doing? He’s back in a “cubicle” (the hatch), stuck pushing buttons, and the object of ridicule by people who don’t understand.

5) Sayid hates the people who put him in a situation where he had to torture a former colleague. Yet he in turn becomes a torturer by choice when he wants to get the truth from Sawyer and Henry Gale.

6) Jin was once ashamed of his village background, and the fact that his father was a fisherman. On the island, he becomes resourceful and takes on his role as island fisherman.

7) Mr. Eko has a cross around his neck as a boy. This is taken up by his brother after he is kidnapped, who takes on his faith and becomes a priest, as Eko goes down the path as a drug lord. With his brother’s death, he once again discovers that faith is the key for him, and becomes a “priest” in tribute to his brother.

So much for Tabula Rasa. There are other examples. Can you think of a few?

And incidentally. Anyone know the symbol used in Taoism to connote this idea of karma and balance? Yup, you guessed it.

- Cecilia C.