Get Ready: Live Together, Die Alone

Oh the horror! Season 2 of LOST is over, with the airing last night of Live Together, Die Alone. But we're not finished yet! We still have a podcast to do this weekend. Send us your reactions to this season 2 finale by leaving us a message on our automated audio comment voicemail (206-666-2278), posting your comments here or sending us an email. We saw several mysteries solved, and have a few new ones to talk about. What do you think they mean for the overall plot of the show? Did the finale make you reconsider your personal theories about the show? Did you like the finale? Was it what you expected?

This weekend we will also be talking about our summer podcasting plans, which include reading and talking about some of the books referenced in the show, so send us your recommendations for that as well. See you this weekend!

Stay LOST.

Comments

[Vic]

Wow, just like any good Season Finale it answers a lot of questions but leaves you whith twice as more ?. Who realy are the Others? Where do they live? Are they in the ? hatch that we obviously haven't seen yet? What was that Violet light? Are Locke and Eko alive? Damn the summer!

[Rinjo Njori]

What was up with the conversation between Tom (Mr. Friendly aka Zeke) and Bea (Ms. Klugh)
- She said take off your beard Tom.
- Thanks for telling them my name Bea.

I think that was a direct jab at everyone making too much out of things on this show. Tom and Bea's names are in no way a clue.

[Kevin]

- What did notHenry mean by telling Michael "we're the good guys"?
- What do Jack, Kate and Sawyer all have in common that the Others only want them, and not Hurley?
_ What do we think that light and noise was when Desmond shut off the main system?

[Scott]

I laughed out loud when they saw that bird, and Hurley says "Did that bird just say my name?"

[kitten]

Wow, what a satisfying season finale. It was so unexpected!

Some of my observations:
- Eko saying "Do not tell me what I can't do!" (Locke's line)
- The closed captioning for the bird says that it was screaming "Hurley!" What the heck?!
- The snowman joke sounds like a password clearance. Is that something Kelvin explained later, or something Desmond thought he was supposed to say?
- Why did Radzinsky make edits to the tape? And why was it purposely kept behind 'Turn of the Screw' on the shelf?
- By far my FAVORITE revelation is finding out the "Door" station is just that -- a freakin' door. I laughed pretty hard when I saw that one.
- That giant explosion had to have been equal to an electromagnetic pulse Bomb (EMP). I've seen some people wondering if Locke, Eko and Desmond are dead, but since there wasn't a firey explosion (the 'quarantine' door wasn't singed, just bent out of shape), I think they're still alive.
- Those guys in the snow at the end...I think Penelope hired them to scan for electromagnetic anomalies because (a) she somehow knows that Desmond is out there or (b) she is skeptical of whatever is going on on that island and she wants to find out where it is. She's a Widmore, she's gotta know something about it all.

Can't wait for your podcast!

[Amy]

HOLY COW! What a show... I thought it was wonderful, and lived up to the high expectations. I admit I also read that "spoiler" you posted last week, then felt bad. I'm so glad it wasn't true! So much for spoilers ruining the show, eh?
My big takeaway was, of course, the last scene. I think that the bigger picture for the Lost show is now these new characters off-island (Penny and her men) and how they are trying to find the island, or perhaps something else. Desmond's turning the key either turned off the electromagnetic "cloak" that hid the island so "not even God could see" them, or gave off another vibe that allowed the location to put off the anamoly and be read. I think these are the new characters that Damon and Carlton referenced for the upcoming season. (I had thought we'd meet new survivors, but am now glad there will be Penny and the Widmores off-island stories).
On another note, I think the Dharma/Widmore/Hanso link is this... Hanso Foundation is an organization, doing the projects and business they say on their website. I belive DHARMA (remember it's an acronym like the other projects?) is an underground penultimate project the Hanso foundation is running. I think Charles Widmore is the very rich man who is funding the underground project... now whether he knows about Desmond and the people being there or not is another story. We'll see!
Can't wait for the podcast, will it be 4 hours or something? LOTS to cover. Thanks so much!

[utahdave]

- What the hell was up with the Bird that said Hurley's name?
- How funny was it that Eko said to Locke, "Don't tell me what I can't do"?
- What did Peneleope Widmore's buddies find at the end of the show? Were they searching for the island?
- Is Eko dead?
- Is Fenry the "him" that is in charge?
- Is Michael going to try to save his buddies? (Nah, probably not)
- Does the statue with four toes have anything to do with The Simpsons?
- How much do the creators love messing with us with those facial expressions before the hoods were placed on the three amigos (jake, kate and sawyer)?
- How painful are the next few months going to be?

[whoisKeel]

Why is Libby around again? It seems like she has something to do with people getting to the island, like some sort of recruiter or something.

I don't think Micheal/Walt are gone for good. I believe the others told them correct directions, but Walt isn't gonna let Micheal just leave them there.

What the heck is up with the foot and stonehenge! Does it imply that this island has been occupied for much longer than we thought?

[Michael]

- What ever happend to Sayyid? I thought he would have gone commando crazy and sniped the others or something...
- I think that Fenry is the big leader of the others
- I hope to god that someone finds this island, becuase once its exposed or found all its mysteries will be solved
- I nearly killed myself last night because I realized I'd have to wait 4 months for the rest of the show... psh good thing I didn't have any cyanide pills.

[Matt Jones]

Quick thoughts...

There are no evil twins.

There is one group of Others.

Locke can't catch a break.

Sawyer talking theories was a nice shout out to the fans.

The Hurley bird was too.

Why didn’t the pulse affect the sailboat?

Sayid will go all Chuck Norris and bring Jack, Kate and Sawyer back Missing in Action style.

Fenry is Guy le Big.

The Others didn't seem to fazed by the pulse.

Or they were pleased because that was their plan all along.

The four-toed statue opens up Atlantis speculation.

The Desmond Libby connection seemed a little rushed to me, but what are you gonna do?

I don't think the Losties connections are coincidences of fate. If there is a larger reason it has nothing to do with Hanso/Dhrama and everything to do with the nature of the Island.

Add Dickens to the summer reading list.

The Kurgan is a sloppy drunk.

And in closing I would like to quote Towelie:

"I have absolutely no idea what is going on."

[ontariokyle]

Alot of peoples theories were tossed out the window with them thinking that the Dharma people atracted people to go on the plance to crash on the island but the electro magnetic force pulling down the plane from the sky.

[LostLover]

I doesn't get any better than this!

Micheal and his son, Desmond and his girlfriend, the guys at the monitoring station... I have a feeling that season three is going to expand our horizons beyond the shores of "the island". Desmond's girlfriend has the financial resources to find him... maybe she has found him! I think Desmond is still alive... I think for a short time, the psychological blackmail tactic that "Henry" has over Michael will erode... he may try to go back and help his "friends" as he called them. And what's with the deafening sound and bright light? What really happened? Was the huge electromagnet neutralized? What happened to Locke and Eko? What a great episode!!!!!!

[Doug Nelson]

Charlie's reaction to it is maddening, because it's either:

a) Indicative of something interesting that happened in the time gap, something that would cause him to act so casual and unconcerned. Maybe he saw them still alive?
b) By far the worst example of Lost's "characters communicate inconsistently" trick. If the three in the Hatch are dead, then Charlie just came back and brushed off the terrible things he's seen and, like every other character on the show, denied important information to other island inhabitants.

Oddly, I finished the show with the impression that the Hatch had compacted itself, killing all three, but it's nice to see that so many didn't interpret it that way.

One thing to note: The last time we saw the Quarantine door, it was lying on the ground next to the ladder entrance. It being blown into the air, then, is a little more interesting than a door being torn off its hinges....were all metal objects pushed outward? Or was it blown off by pressure because Charlie jammed it into the entrance after he left?

Best moment: Jack's confrontation with Michael was fantastic, a best-of-the-season bit.
Funniest moment: The door hatch. AWESOME.
Biggest disappointment: No sign of our friend the security system.

Desmond's little storyline was every bit as compelling as Locke's, I was glad to see that we could still expect genuine emotional stuff like this so late in the game.

To reiterate an above question: Kelvin says "Are you the one? What did one snowman say to the other?" Desmond doesn't know the answer, and Kelvin is disappointed. If you'll remember, this is the exact same question Desmond asked Locke when he met him. This might be setting us up for another Dharma initiative 'replacement' to be sent, if indeed the program is still functioning that was (it would seem no, but then, why the food drops?).

[Matt Jones]

I meant to say that the Losties connections are nothing more than coincidences of fate. Or, the island is responsible for the connections not Hanso/Dharma/Widmore.

[Mark B]

Excellent 2 hours of TV. To paraphrase John Locke "I need to watch that again" Can't wait for the podcast. Is season three really not starting until the fall ?

Questions we really got answered were how the plane crashed and when happens if the button wasn't pressed, which as I suspected were intrinsically linked. The EMF goes off which caused the turbulence that caused the plane to crash. Two of the biggest secrets on the island were revealed.

We were however left with many more questions a not inclusive list follows:
1. Why have the Others let Michael and Walt go ? Even Michael seemed surprised. Can it be true or will they be re-captured ? Michael needs to get redemption for what he did and Walt is too special to be let go.
2. Fenery is the highest up Other we've seen so far. We still don't know his real name. "We are the good guys". Hanso vs. Dharma ? Widmore vs. Hanso ?
3. Was the Swan always for real and the Pearl a fake. Was it always like that or did the incident lead to the Swan being for real ? What was the incident ? The first EMF explosion ? Did Candle loose his arm then -- was it cut off by a flying washing machine ?
4. Who was Kelvins partner Rudezki or Radinski or Whatever ? Did he exist ? Was he related to someone ? Is he really dead ?
5. Desmond killed Kelvin, by accident. Was Kelvin the last true Dharma person or was Desmond the first real part of the experiment ?
6. Desmond-Locke-Eko are they dead ? If the hatch door was blown into the air and down to the beach what is left of the hatch ?
7. As the Swan button pushing is real how will they now stop the EM 'explosion' happening every 108 minutes ? The computer looked totally broken -- will they have to turn the key every 108 mins. I got the impression that the key was some kind of manual reboot/shutdown NOT an alternative to the button pushing.
8. Jack-Kate-Sawyer what is going to happen to them ? Are they going to be in the next season ? Why do the Others want them ?
9. The two men in the blizzard - what the hell was that. I thought it was a commercial to start with. So not pressing the button also seems to make the island visible due to the EMF. Penny Widmore is still looking for Desmond (ahhhh true love). How does she know the EM anomaly is associated to Desmond ? Was Desmond set-up by her father. Has Penny found out.
10. Libby seems to have more to do with the island than appeared before or is her meeting with Desmond and having a boat just a coincidence ? Who is she ? What is her surname ? How did her husband die ? How did she get in the loony bin ? Was Desmond set-up by Libby ? I heard a rumour she was related to the Widmores.
11. What did Desmond do (or refuse to do) to get sent to jail ?
12. The yurts and other hatch were a fake, a total set-up just for that one time with Micheal ?
13. Charlie -- is he OK ? Seemed to be acting odd to me. Does he have another heroin stash somewhere. Has the EM affected him ?
14. The four toed foot statue -- I thought of Planet of the Apes then Lord of the Rings then Ancient Rome/Greece.
15. The Hurely bird ? What's that about then ?

[D-Three]

I think the bird saying Hurley's name was an inside joke of Damon and Carlton. Several episodes back on the official podcast they were joking that everytime the monster arrives there is the sound of a bird. They were joking around that bird sounded like it was saying hurley. This was followed by Carlton saying hurley in the tome of the bird about 10 times. I really don't think it meant anything. I think it was a nod to those that listen to the official podcast and it made me laugh more than anything.

[David]

Wow!! Old questions were ansewered and some new questions were asked. The foot? Even though it has four toes it reminds me of thecolossos of rhodes. Locke and Echo? I think they have to be alive a show without Locke and Echo would be really boring as they are 2 of the best charecters on the show. Violet Light? It seemed to me that it was a white light, but thats just me. The writers did such a great job with this final episode. Every time there was something new added or something old ansewered it would turn to a black screen and I thought " They cant stop it here " Luckily they ended on a goo note and I thought it was ended well. Keep up the good work and see you in Sepember.

[Matt]

Have the others killed anyone? Maybe they are the "good guys".

[D-Three]

These 2 guys at the end and Penny seem to know that the island exists, but that you can just travel straight to it. There seems to be a doorway in and out and that is the only way. Does this doorway lead to another dimension? Another time? Another world? Another Universe? The two guys at the end are searching for this doorway. They believe they can locate it by detecting one of the islands electromagnetic anomalies. Onuce inside this door there is no way out except back through the door. Fenry seems pretty confident that Michael won't be able to ever locate the door once he's out. I suspect that Dharma's original purpose was to do experiments on this remote island. At that time the island could be traveled to and left from the same as any destination. Then the incident occured involved electromagnetism putting the island in it's current predicament. The island was transported to either another dimension, time, or world but a doorway still exists between the 2 and that is the only way in or out.

[Will]

Today's NY Times quotes Cuse as saying that by the end of season 3 all the major questions about the Others will be answered.

What if season 3 starts with Locke and Eko trapped underground, trading recriminaitons? He he!

Has Sayid been caught? I could not make out what he was doing during the blast, but... He said he would "scout", instead he charges into Yurtville on one-man commando. When he burst into the Door, I shouted "It's a trap! They're ahead of you!"
If the Others were trying to trap "the leaders", why wasn't Sayid on the list in the first place? Perhaps they banked on him doing exactly what he did.

The big revelation was the polar setting of the Brazilians' (?) boat. (The Times notes that this torpedoes the "Purgatory" and "future culture" theories, as the outside world is still there.) This suggests that the island is not in the South Pacific, but in the Antarctic, behind some kind of force field. This would explain why Michael "can't ever come back"... but then how did DESMOND land there?
(That Michael was told to sail west by north, besides implying that the Others know where the Brazilians are, argues against the other possibility.. that they are in the ARCTIC, busy "de-territorializing" polar bears.)

Which side of the Line of Death is the Pearl on? Other commenters have noted that it seems pretty close to the Swan. This implies that if the Others have been using it to monitor the Swan (and leave burning cigarettes), they were crossing their own line.

Is the False Inspector Gale "Him"? Or are they still distracting attention from the man behind the curtain? I still lean to the belief that Hanso is Him... the recorded phone messages imply that Hanso is missing... so he is probably on the island.

And, oh, that is not what "penultimate" means.

[Dark Hurley]

Awesome season finale.

Thoughts:

1. If the timeline was still in question, we now have one. The plane crashed September 22, 2004. (Also, if Desmond arrived 3 years earlier, it would have put his arrival somewhere around the time of 9/11. Curious.)

2. Orangatans (sp?) have four toes. Like Joop.

3. The last scene is the first in series that takes place off the island in island-present time. This could now give us some scenes or episodes off the island. And if Michael and Walt truly do make it back to civilization, it could get interesting. Michael meeting Penny? Or Ana Lucia's mother? Hmm.

That's it for now - More thoughts later -

[D-Three]

If Michael and Walt do make it back, I wonder if we'll see Penny track him down to see what he knows.

[Will]

Today's NY Times quotes Cuse as saying that by the end of season 3 all the major questions about the Others will be answered.

What if season 3 starts with Locke and Eko trapped underground, trading recriminaitons? He he!

Has Sayid been caught? I could not make out what he was doing during the blast, but... He said he would "scout", instead he charges into Yurtville on one-man commando. When he burst into the Door, I shouted "It's a trap! They're ahead of you!"
If the Others were trying to trap "the leaders", why wasn't Sayid on the list in the first place? Perhaps they banked on him doing exactly what he did.

The big revelation was the polar setting of the Brazilians' (?) boat. (The Times notes that this torpedoes the "Purgatory" and "future culture" theories, as the outside world is still there.) This suggests that the island is not in the South Pacific, but in the Antarctic, behind some kind of force field. This would explain why Michael "can't ever come back"... but then how did DESMOND land there?
(That Michael was told to sail west by north, besides implying that the Others know where the Brazilians are, argues against the other possibility.. that they are in the ARCTIC, busy "de-territorializing" polar bears.)

Which side of the Line of Death is the Pearl on? Other commenters have noted that it seems pretty close to the Swan. This implies that if the Others have been using it to monitor the Swan (and leave burning cigarettes), they were crossing their own line.

Is the False Inspector Gale "Him"? Or are they still distracting attention from the man behind the curtain? I still lean to the belief that Hanso is Him... the recorded phone messages imply that Hanso is missing... so he is probably on the island.

And, oh, that is not what "penultimate" means.

[hadlex]

what exactly does turning the failsafe button do? is the magnet no longer a problem? In the NYT article Cuse said that if it had continued, "It might have led to, ultimately, sucking everything on earth into itself." An awfully big job to give disgruntled castaways.

side note: the hatch door being thrown all the way to the beach reminded me of the series finale of "Twin Peaks" when the bank is blown up and that man's glasses are thrown down the street.

[Lee, UK]

I think you guys do a great job at surfing the forums to get the best comments, if i see one more 'Kelvin is kate's dad!!!' post i'll have a nervous breakdown.

Charlies actions after the EMP were very strange. Im sure he must have seen Locke and Eko alive before he left the remnants of the hatch. He said he expected them to be back already and wasnt too concerned about them when he heard they hadnt been seen.
The whole Hurley thing is very mysterious, they only put him on the list so he could go back and warn the fuselagers to stay away from that pier? But if they are taking Jack, Kate and Sawyer 'home' with them and Michael is sailing off into the sunset the fuselagers would never know where the PALA A pier was.
Also, was it Kate that killed one of the others tailing them? After Henry's reaction to Analucia killing Goodwin I think there'll be some repercussions for her.
Overall, I thought it was a great finale and the only disappointment was the complete absence of the monster/security system.

[Sobaika]

My two cents on Penny and the Portugese:

Des and Penny are in love, rich daddy is mad and either takes advantage of a situation to get Des thrown in jail or creates one. Daddy dearest convinces daughter to try and move on and prevents Des' letters from reaching her and convinces Des to not contact Penny again. Penny uses her money/contacts to find him and says that with the two are her disposal it is easy to locate someone. Daddy sets up world tour thing to deter Des and uses it to (possibly) send him to the island where he knows Des will most likely be lost forever. Penny doesn't give up hope and uses her money/contacts (and possibly info gained from being a Widmore) and realizes he is lost on some island near Fiji and does her best to find him.

OR

Penny inherits Widmore or herself is involved in the corporation and is keeping track of the island from the outside - remember, the Portugese said "We found IT" not "We found HIM." Des ending up there was a coincidence or another examples of the weird island magic that connects everyone.

[Dark_Thommy]

OMG this was exactly what I needed!!! It had it all! Best episode till now!! I won't mind waiting for a year for 2 hours of entertainment this good! (like a films trilogy or so)

the Hurley Bird was such a LMAO moment... I heard it..and was thinking... no they Didn't OMG sooo funny... also funny was "caught in the net" moment!

Also glad the spoiler didn't read as it actually goes... Thanx for that!!

There is no way to start speculating... but the writers got me hooked for season 3 already!

I am waiting for the cast...we got all summer to speculate!

[Michael Daul]

It was sawyer who bagged himself an other (via the AK), not Kate.

As I recall, the failsafe key was supposed to blow the whole thing (the hatch?) up. Why else would the hatch door come flying down out of the sky?

So what were those darts that the others shot the losties with? Were they creating some kind of muscle spasms, thus more electro-magnetic action?

[Spatz]

Damn, one hell of ending to the show. Did you notice the reference to Hanso on the commerical. I think the statue with the 4 toes has some tie into Joop, the orangutan, from the Hanso site (thehansofoundation.com). If you sign-in to the Hanso sight, follow some of these tips and it opens up a lot of things onthere that relate to lost. (http://jayseae.cxliv.org/2006/05/11/the_hanso_foundation.html)
Is Penny's father in charge of Dhama? Is that why Penny is looking for Electromagnetic Anamolies? Did her father die and she took over the experiments? I doubt shes looking for Desmond by the way of Electomagnetic Anamolies since she doesnt know hes on an island doing all that work with numbers?
What the hell is with the Pearl? Seems like that was a psychologic experiment since the vac tube goes no where, and there was a hell of a lot of tubes out in that field.

[Challabuck]

Holy canoli mother of all pasteries was that intense. Lots of ideas and theories percolating but there's one I can't put to bed. How did Desmond sail due west towards Fiji and end up back at the island? The likeliest reason in my mind is that it has to do with the boat itself. There's been chatter for a while that Libby is part of Dharma or Widmore or Hanso, so the fact that the boat was designed to bring him to the island (over and over as the case may be) seems feasible byLost standards..

[Preston]

I really loved it!

RE Kitten - -- Didn't Eko say to Locke "Dont tell me what I can do!" Whereas Locke says "Don't tell me what I can't do"???

You know what got to me the most, was when we saw Desmond turn the light on to Locke. It was like Locke gave Desmond hope, and Desmond gave Locke hope! That was brilliant.

I wanna know more tho, what has happened to Locke and Eko? Is Desmond dead? What just happened with the big blast thing? What is the point of the others?

I just am left wanting more, as always with lost! It's cool to know that the Island has been found so it is all out there. And I guess Locke was right, the button had to be stopped as this will get them off the Island. Still doesn't explain the dreams etc etc

Deffo gonna watch it again at the weekend! Bit dissapointed with the way Michael and Walt were set free, I'm guessing Season 3 will be all about the Losties trying to free Jack,Kate and Sawyer and Desmonds girlfriend trying to find the Island. This might sound silly, but whose Mr Widmore?

[Jeff L.]

Awesome season finale.

1. Kelvin asked Desmond if he's "him." Was this the "he" Henry spoke of or just the next Dharma guy? The tone was mildly reverential. "He" presumably would know the answer to the carrot riddle.

2. As much as I like Echo and Locke, if any of the three make it out, I hope it's Desmond. Looks like he could be a great regular character. Who knows what happened in the Hatch.

3. With the Widmore family thing coming into play, I may have to actually read The Bad Twin and get into the Lost Experience.

4. Kelvin is to Mr. Friendly as Michael Madsen is to Tom Sizemore.

5. Are the Others the hostiles Kelvin speaks of? Seems likely. But they're performing experiments in the Dharma hatches...tiredhead.

Feeling slightly absurd at being so excited about a TV show...

[ToriToriTori]

Predictions for the first block of season three:

1. Said et al will intercept Micheal and Walt -- after Walt has asked many dificult questions -- eventually they will free Jack, Kate and Sawyer
2. Locke and Eko will live -- just too good a characters to kill
3. The monster will now be out of control and hunting -- the geomag. has changed everything
4. Penny will arrive on the Island -- she will hunt them down (note, implies that Wigmore doesn't know where the Island is)
5. Libby will eventually return when her sitcom goes tits up -- bound to end quickly, scripped comedy is dead -- she will be back in flashbacks
6. We will find more traces of an ancient civilization of the Island (i.e., the four toed foot)

[Jeff L.]

...And what explains Charlie's behavior at the end of the episode. So bizarre.

[Popmerchant]

OK... possible reason that the Other wanted Jack, Kate, and Sawyer:

Jack: He's a doctor
Sawyer: He channeled the spirit of Kate's dead father
Kate: She was able to recognize that Sawyer was channeling the spirit of her dead father.

Just a guess.

[nolan]

Random or silly thought I had:

Could the black smoke/monster be some kind of leftover from the electromagnetic material being contained. Kelvin saying something along the lines of pulling your finger from a damn (or however he said it) made me think of it. When you are trying to plug a hole, sometimes material can still get through. Just a random thought. I can not wait to hear the podcast. Thanks guys for all of your hard work

[bosh]

Wasn't there speculation earlier about the woman in Desmond's photo (who turned out to be Penelope)? I can't remember what people thought at the time.

[kitten]

Here's a great article I found!

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/05/25/arts/television/25lost.html?_r=1&8dpc&oref=slogin

[Jeremy Vaught]

This is not exactly about the final episode, but I keep remembering when the Losties were in the Jungle and running from something, Hurley fell behind, and tripped over a hatch, but because they were running from something, he just got back up and ran. Does anyone else remember this? Could that be the real question mark on the map?

Looking forward to the next podcast. Thanks for a great season!

[Spatz]

Whats with Namaste? Its on Hanso's site and the other lost ones. Does that tie into the theory of the Dharma log/map having to tie into things like that?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Namaste

[Bill]

FYI - At the end, the two guys monitoring the computer have a screen show "7418880 Electromagnetic Anomaly Detected".

4x8x15x16x23x42= 7418880

[phun lee]

So I was right about "Henry". I hate Michael. ONE group of others -- on the island anyways.

This island is old and a little bit mysterious.

Great Podcast, thank you!

[Nileblitz]

I thought the "finale" let us down.
It was well produced, directed, acted, etc but I thought the writers woke up one night and said "Oh S**t! we need to think of a finale!". It was that lame.

And I dont understand why everyone is raving about the questions "answered" in this episode. Let me explain:
1. We still dont know what happens if the button is not pushed. Even worse, we dont know what happens when the "system" is aborted.
2. We dont know what the big deal with Walt was and why they let him and Michael go.
3. We still dont know anything about the so-called "Others" (or are they?)
4. The light inside the hatch when locke was crying, was turned on by Desmond, so why didnt he just open the Frigging hatch and go out to meet him?

Some people might say that the episode was wonderful because it answered some questions and raised others, which makes the season 3 interesting. Thats what I am trying to tell you, they did not answer any questions, they just raised more, because everything is so tied together that if they answer one, they will have to reveal everything.

Moreover, they created some unnecessary and might I say, "lame" questions, like what is that 4 toed leg? which people everywhere will keep discussing. At the end of season 3, some strange character introduced during the winter, will tell you that it was a practical joke on the seafarers or something. Total crap.

I think it was a confusing episode, atleast for me. I didnt know whether to call it great television (because of the good production values) or total waste of time. I am not looking forward to season 3 because they let us down with the finale of season 2.

Peace out!

[sam]

ok, so this was deffinatly the best episode of LOST that has ever been aired. Here is my take on the episode
Favorite Line: The first thing Fenry says after getting off of the boat is "Where's your beard?" Also Sawyer "Yeah I think it did.......right after it craped out a pot of gold."
Weird Thing: How did Fenry know the direction off of the island? And if it is because he has left the island, then how could he have gotten back because he said that "once you leave, you can never come back" Also, I think that the others live in a hatch not all that different (excluding the button) because when we see Fenry again, he is clean shaven and looks not all that bad. Weird how some of the others have dirty feet, while others have clean ones. Disention among the ranks?
Surprises: That Michael actually got Walt back and was able to leave. Also, the poisen. Where did they get it? How? Did they get it from a specific person, or was it on the island to begin with. If so, why?
New Take On Fenry: He is not the "head hancho" because he made it seem as if he was not while he was in the hatch before and now he is trying to make it seem as if he is. Also, I think I spotted Cindy in the background of one of the shots. I miss that girl.
Dead?: My thought is that Eko, Locke, and Desmond are NOT dead. I mean, Ecko survived a fireball by hiding behind a BLOODY WALL!!!! How is this possible??????? So maybe he and Locke and Desmond could survive that....thing.....whatever happened. Also, how did the hatch door all of a sudden fly away, but nothing else? Don't you think that the doors would have flown away? And also, why didn't it just get sucked down into the hatch like all of the other metal things because we can all tell that the magnet is very strong. And if it really did bring the plane down, then where is the other one? What I mean by this is why did one part of the plane go to one side of the island, while the other went to a different part? Another magnet? Another button hatch? Maybe it's not a button, but a whack a mole.
Thing different about this epi than the rest: Comedy. There was so much comedy in this episode.
What we will learn next season: The Others THE Others THE OTHERS!!!!!!!! Why Jack, Kate, and Sawyer.
Names: Tom has been used b4: Claire's boyfriend, Tomas Middlework on the hanso site.
These are just some of the things that I noticed. Hope all of you guys have a great summer and c u again in the fall.

Stay LOST,
SAM

[Lien]

I guess the fake Henry DID push the button after all. But why would he say he didn't? To convince Locke not push it? But then why couldn't he just not push it himself?

Also, imagine if Libby was still alive. She would've been, "wait a minute.... that's my boat!"

[sdalohagirl]

Let's just say that the island was created by Mr. Widmore to keep Penny from seeing Desmond:

Penny has hired the two Portuguese guys to watch for electromagnetic anomalies and at the end of the show, they catch this occurence (the previous one, which they claim they missed, was when the system failure occured, bringing down Oceanic flight #815).

After Penny sees Desmond one last time before he goes off on the race around the world, the race ends, and he doesn't show. This leaves Penny wondering if perhaps, Desmond's disappearance has been arranged by her father.

So she conducts some sleuthing on her Dad and his connections (once again tapping into her financial resources). She figures out that Widmore Construction has a top secret project and it involves this other "world" (the island) which cannot be accessed due to an invisible force. Because she works the right connections, she learns that the other world can only be detected by electromagnetic anomalies, which the two Portuguese guys have been hired to watch for.

Of course, the island wasn't built *just* to keep Desmond hidden away from Penny (that would just be too much work to keep a guy hidden away from your daughter!). Widmore must have connections with the Dharma institude, who must have created the island for their own purposes.

Of course, if this theory is to hold any water, why wouldn't Mr. Widmore just kill Desmond? Then again, why didn't he just kill Desmond as soon as he was discharged from the Her Majesty's Army?!

On a separate note, seeing the events that led up to the crash of Oceanic 815 seem to overrule the idea that the plane was pre-selected to crash on the island. How would anyone have known that Desmond was going to follow Kelvin outside of the hatch, leading to their fight, and the resulting system failure, which was responsible for bringing Oceanic 815 down?!

All season, we have been discussing that several of the people on the plan (Claire, Jin and Sun, etc.) were being guided to this particular flight by invisible forces. If so, how does that tie in with the timing of the system failure. Is history predetermined on the island? Or can history be controlled?

Great final episode for season 2, far more satisfying then how season 1 was ended!!!

[YoBro]

1) They did not show the face of the other that got shot by Kate/Sawyer. From the back, he looked like the man on the Dharma instructional videos...

2) Libby might be more of an insider that helped bring ppl to the island...it looks like she might have set up Desmond and could have set up Hurley.

[Dark Hurley]

A thought -

Man, the other Losties sure are sheep. Wouldn't they see Sayid, Jin and Sun taking the boat and say - "Wait a minute, where are you going with our way off the island, you jerks?" Someone's gotta speak up, man.

[D-Three]

These two guys searching for electromagnetic anamolies should get some kind of siren for thier computer so that they won't keep missing them when they happen.

[Will]

Whatever the statue may mean, it is "a vast and trunkless leg of stone!"
They ARE in a snow globe!
What does "we missed it before" mean?
Is Charles Widmore the Bad Twin?
Rumors are that Harold Perrineau is not comming back... but Walt is. ???? Perhaps Walt will continue to appear in "places where he is not supposed to be", i.e., the island.

[Olis]

Some questions and random thoughts:

Was the Kelvin the CIA operative from the episode with Sayid?

Was the other they shot Candle?

Is Widmore the man in the grainy picture of Hanso on the Hanso site?

The notebooks in the tubes were unopened and ignored and they dumped into an empty field instead of an enclosed hatch. It seems like the psychological experiment was on the observers.

[Karen LH]

Regarding the statue of the foot with the four toes:

I did not discover this. Someone at The Lost Blog (http://www.lostblog.net/) found this.

The statue appears to be another literary reference. There is a 19th century satire by a Thomas Love Peacock called "Headlong Hall". The book can be found online at

http://www.thomaslovepeacock.net/Headlong.html

Amazon also carries the book and there is a pretty long reader review at

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1847021727/sr=8-1/qid=1148576690/ref=pd_bbs_1/103-0954614-0368616?%5Fencoding=UTF8

The book (I think at ch. 4) contains the following reference to a statue fragment which is half a leg and a foot with four toes:

"The place is quite a wilderness," said Squire Headlong: "for, during the latter part of my father's life, while I was finishing my education, he troubled himself about nothing but the cellar, and suffered everything else to go to rack and ruin. A mere wilderness, as you see, even now in December; but in summer a complete nursery of briers, a forest of thistles, a plantation of nettles, without any livestock but goats, that have eaten up all the bark of the trees. Here you see is the pedestal of a statue, with only half a leg and four toes remaining: there were many here once. When I was a boy, I used to sit every day on the shoulders of Hercules: what became of him I have never been able to ascertain. Neptune has been Iying these seven years in the dust-hole; Atlas had his head knocked off to fit him for propping a shed; and only the day before yesterday we fished Bacchus out of the horse-pond."

I don't know for sure if the writers intended this reference, but, given the description on Amazon, it seems to be a real possibility.

[Mrs. Hurley]

Sdalohagirl: going along with your thoughts about the plane crash being an accident... that would mean that Claire's psychic didnt send her to the island. The psychic was either payed by people that were really waiting for Claire on LA or he is a real psychic... which of course would mean that he lied to Eko... so many things we have to reassess now that we know the plane crash was pure accident.

Matt: I dont think the others are good people, though like someone else said these characters are much more complex than simple good and evil... but answering your question, the others have killed at least 2 people that i can remember: the guy Ana Lucia put into that "prison" she built on the ground was killed by Goodwin. and one of the losties in the first season was killed by Ethan to scare the losties into returning Claire.

So they are no saints. Although i have to say that they look to me more machiavellian than evil.

[Sobaika]

Anyone notice Sayid praying?

[Sobaika]

Anyone notice Sayid praying?

[oldhickory]

Did anyone else notice the guy in the artic station looks just like Jack (matthew fox) with a beard and a bad accent? It this a twin brother...a twist on the bad twin?

[Collette]

This was great. I really really enjoyed it. I think it's Widmore vs. Hanso. I can't wait to meet Peneople next season.

[Jeremy Vaught]

Just a reminder: The official lost podcast said that Walt will be back next season with an explanation of why he is older. So that is something to ponder in the summer. What would make Walt appear older when he returns next season?

[Dark Hurley]

It just occurred to me that the last scene is not necessarily taking place in the present.

Sure, they read an anomoly, but it may not be the anomaly we just saw. These scenes could possibly take place in the future.

One of the reasons I bring this up is Walt. The problem with Walt (the actor) is that he's going through puberty and growing like a weed. By next season, he'll probably look very different. If he and Michael escape the island, this enables both actors to appear on the show while not tying them to the current timeline. So, if Penny Widmore is investigating things in the future, she could happen upon Michael and Walt and a taller, older Walt would not appear out of place.

There are probably other ways to address Walt's appearance, but I have a feeling this is why we didn't see him so much this year. Bringing Michael and Walt to OUR time (2006-2007) could open up a lot of neat possibilities, too . . .

[Jeremy Vaught]

How could you not notice Sayid praying? What are you saying?

[Cindy]

Just a comment about the key Des used in the hatch. It's not an alternative to the button. When you use the key, it's freeing an electromagnetic charge or pulse, very powerful wich made all other electric or electronics tools not working anymore. That kind of thing exist for real. So when he used the key, everything stopped...god knows what would have happens without Des...They don't have to push the button anymore.Theres no computer anyway!

[Bill]

"Did anyone else notice the guy in the artic station looks just like Jack (matthew fox) with a beard and a bad accent? It this a twin brother...a twist on the bad twin?"

Who knows....check out a close up...

http://abc.go.com/primetime/lost/gallery/223.html?photo=89

[Kane]

http://www.rhodos-welten.de/koloss/koloss.htm

here's something about the big stone foot.
if someone can read that it'd be great.

[Ralph Hanson]

And the big overarching litererary reference in the episode is to The Odyssey, with Penelope being the long suffering wife of the missing Odysseus.

[Heather Tuscadero]

Has anyone ever read "Lizard Music" by D. Manus Pinkwater? It's a kid's book, but it's one of my favorites to this day. It's about a kid who goes on a mysterious adventure to an invisible, floating island. It's a great and totally bizarre book and the lost finale reminded me of it....just a thought :)
Love the podcast, can't wait to hear it this weekend.

[Jeremy Vaught]

The guy that Desmond accidentally killed was the army commander that Sayid was working with in Iraq.

[Mr Hurley's Food Stash]

Alright, like everyone else I have a hundred thoughts running through my head and this episode has now thrown every theory we have into question!

One comment I’d like to make is about the Electromagnetic energy centered on the hatch. It is possible now that without the hatch and the electromagnetic energy (if it’s all gone? Or maybe it will run at some natural background rate now?) that the healing abilities of the Island are now lost/less? A lot has been made about people healing quickly/Locke walking e.t.c (Prediction – At the start of season 3 we’ll have a Locke episode, he’ll wake up in what is left of the hatch and wont be able to use his legs so we’ll finally get the flash back to how he lost the use of them in the first place!) Will Rose become sick again? Will Jin and Sun lose the baby? After the last incident (1984) a sickness followed, will this happen again now after this one?

I’ll leave it at that for now…I’ve heard Hurley is on his way back so he’ll want something to eat.

4 months until answers! Bugger!

[Jeremy Vaught]

Translation of German site:
http://google.com/translate?u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.rhodos-welten.de%2Fkoloss%2Fkoloss.htm&langpair=de%7Cen&hl=en&ie=UTF8

[Mr Hurley's Food Stash]

Joe Inman was the army officer in the episode with Sayid....in the hatch was Kelvin Inman. Maybe this relates to the bad twin we've heard about? Okay it doesn't fit the time frame but we've been given many hints regarding the distortions of time on the Island. Just a thought!

[Sander Randall]

Did anyone else recognize the Other that was killed by Sawyer in the finale? We only see it for a second, but it looked like the Other had the same haircut as Marvin Candle A.K.A. Mark Wickman who was in both the orientation videos. This might support the theory that the others are former DHARMA workers. Is this just wishful thinking on my part or did you guys see the same thing.

[Matt Jones]

Ralph,

Nice catch on the Penelope/Odyssey connection. Does that make Libby the Siren?

Olls,

Kelvin was the guy that interogated Sayid. He said he was a former spook.

[Matt Jones]

I think Joe was a fake name. As in GI Joe.

[Taylor]

Whatever the statue may mean, it is "a vast and trunkless leg of stone!"

Yes, an Ozymandias reference!! That would be cool as this is my fave poem ever!

[Scott]

D esmond
H ume
A dvanced
R esearch
for
M agnetic
A nomolies

[LostHSV]

Observations I haven't heard:

1)The men in the arctic conditions referred to Penny as Ms. Widmore which might mean
that she never married the other guy.

2)The men in the arctic conditions I think were speaking Portuguese which would most likely make them Brazilian but not necessarily in Antarctica around the South Pole. They could be located in the Andes Mountains in similar conditions which would be closer to Brazil and not mean that they are around one of the poles.

3)Desmond was saying that he had been “out there” in the ocean and it was all gone, nothing else existed. I think the arctic scene dismisses that statement as either hyperbole or drunken madness. Obviously there is something besides the island in real time in a very different setting.

[Taylor]

Okay, some of my students and I found a pic of Jack and matched it up to the one from the end of the ep. Take a look...judge for yourself.

http://img315.imageshack.us/img315/4992/emmys05g2ba.jpg

[Mark B]

Whatever next .... Lost figurenes .....

http://www.allstarfigures.com/lostmainpage.html

[Mr Hurley's Food Stash]

But if Joe was a fake name while in the army?...why not a full fake name?...something doesn't add up to me Matt.

By the way...Hurley is one of my fave characters in the Show, up there with Locke and Eko! My user name isn't meant to malicious in anyway towards Hurley, he's the dude of course and seems a nice down to earth guy off screen from what I've heard.

My girlfriend called herself Mrs Hurley so I needed something else...ohhh!...we even have strange connections on the comments board!...just like Lost!

Oh dear...maybe a four month break is a good idea!

[nickcoenen]

Did anyone else catch that Libby's husband's name was David? I know that "Dave" was supposedly in Hurley's imagination, but what if he wasn't? What if he met Libby in the mad house? Just a thought.

Still waiting to see what the heck the Monster is...

[mike]

Wow amazing episode! Mind blowing. I thought of something when desmond mentioned that when he was sailing that he and all the other survivors were in a snow globe. I was wondering if this was a way to pay homage to St. Elmo's Fire or get fans razzled that maybe everyone is in a "snow globe". what do you think.

[Kathy aka Fangirl]

I think Libby entered the looney bin after she met Desmond. My guess is she was one of those people who check themselves in and can leave whenever kind of people. Probably there for sever depression about her husband.

[kitten]

LostHSV: I agree with you about Penny still being single. She may not have been looking for Desmond, but she still has their picture on her bedside table.

Taylor: The Portuguese dude isn't Matthew Fox. Check out the differences in the earlobes (I don't think flipping the photo would make much of a difference). Uncanny likeness, but not Matthre Fox.

[kitten]

erf. Matthew Fox. Matthre? Where did I get that?

[Mike Campbell]

Does anyone think, well in theory, the EM is gone. well at least i think the EM is gone Des destroyed it. So i was thinking locke might not be able to walk because i think the EM had something to do with it. SO locke might not be able to walk and rose might get sick again.

[Taylor]

Yeah, I just found out on the lost experience that it's a guy named Len Cordova. Even cross-referenced IMDB. :-/

[Shma]

Firstly, great podcasts bla da bi etc etc...

Secondly, forcast of next episode...
Desmond tuns the key, bright light, loud sounds, all chaos... things fades black... and there is a voice saying "Thank you mario, but the princess is in a another castle"
Couse thats all i think will happen, they will be a bond drink for a while, shaken but not sturd. The hatch will be useless, and their next test,adventure will soon begin.

Thirdly, the preview lied last week.. we dont know what happens when counter reach zero. we know about a magnet getting freaked out (or programmed to freak out) thats it.
We know..well have a fairly good idea what happend when u turned the key. You see wierd ligts and hear odd sounds... sorta like a overpowered disco.

The russian fools (offcourse playing risk, like every russian does) said somehting simmular like "hope its not another test". Could those test been when desmond killed calvin and the counter reached zero last time, and when the food drops lockdowns are made ? Anyways, intressting what this will lead to. Better not be a 'my dear desmond' chase ala 24.

Why on earth dont zeke want the losties to know his name, if they plan to pursuade them to join them, they will find out anyways, if they will just keep them captive... who cares what they know. Here is my reason.
Someone on the island know this person.

Fenry Gale is cool, nice to see his wounds healed well on their side of the island aswell.

Claire is a easy girl, probably scandinavian roots, they are easly picked up by dumb rock artists. Last month, she hated him... he gave her som medicine... and some lies about what happend in the hatch... mmm kissing time... Im sure she want to bang charlie so he get killed off aswell... grrr.

Where did fenry come from, a fishing trip ? He left the island, therefor cant come back. He said so, they never lie.

We are the good people, cool im sure you are. However that dont make the losties bad people. They have to be a project aswell, they seem very smart but really stupid at the same time. They could have arrowdarted the losties first week, and 'sorted' out who they wanted and left the rest alone.

Idiotic rambings from a swede i know, but hey i love this show to much. Its full of smart people doing dumb things, and the oposite.

Anyways to summon up.

Eko and Locke survived, desmond passed his psycoligical test. Hurley got a bad ass walk back, and beeing the elite tracker he is, he wont be back untill episode 5 next season.

I cant stop thinking about this island. If im stranded on a wierd island, with polar bears and pirateships. And there is a huge EMP pulse a half hour from my base, i would perhaps... go there, and see what happend.
And seeing that the others was just as ignorant, i bet it wasnt anything huge.

[BG]

I think that henry is a higher dharma ranking then we thought.

and I would have killed locke aftre he smashed the computer.

Why couldent they still type in the numbers after he smashed it was the hard drive behind the monitor?

what will become of siead (iraqi solider).

what exactley happened to the hatch?

[Corey]

The leg of the statue suggests that there was once a civization on the island...and a war or something broke out and destroyed the island's citizens..and they tore the statue down..or does it make refrence to Saddam Hussain (when his people ripped down his statue)..meaning there was once a supreme ruler..and the people over threw him...and the "others" are the survivors of the revolution!!

ALOT to be answered

[Sander Randall]

Did anyone else recognize the Other that was killed by Sawyer in the finale? We only see it for a second, but it looked like the Other had the same haircut as Marvin Candle A.K.A. Mark Wickman who was in both the orientation videos. This might support the theory that the others are former DHARMA workers. Is this just wishful thinking on my part or did you guys see the same thing.

[Shma]

One more thing, doesnt fenry gale seem more 'stressed out' now??

[Dark Hurley]

Thoughts:

Jack, Kate and Sawyer - I think they were brought to others to meet someone they already know (I mean, besides Fenry, Zeke, etc.) Also, might there be a clue in the Jack/Kate/In The Net episode that would tip off that look Jack gave Kate at the end?

If the EM release causes a sickness, Claire's got the vaccine. Charlie's already taken it. Maybe that's why he was acting so loopy. Anyway, I could see things getting ugly if everyone starts to get sick and the vaccine is in short supply.

I think we are seeing the groundwork laid here for the Losties to work WITH The Others against something . . . else. Or someone.

[pisaster]

Besides the obvious revelations and questions leftover (who lived, who died, the world still exists, etc., etc.), there are a few more sublte, but important things that have struck me now that I could sleep on it:

1. Desmond thought they were east of Fiji. He said he sailed west for 2 weeks and he SHOULD have hit Fiji. He got to the island by boat, so he should have had some idea of where he was, and he thought he was east of Fiji. Doesn't mean that they are, but more reason to think that's where they are...

2. Inman (and I'm of the school that Joe and Kelvin are the same guy) said he worked for the military and THEN he joined DHARMA, which would mean that he didn't work for DHARMA when he met Sayid. To me, that means it was just a twist of fate that Kelvin and Sayid met, rather than a DHARMA recruitment plan. The Sayid flashback epi was where I really started to believe that DHARMA had been working for a decade to recruit and train the losties, but now I think that all of them are victims of fate, including Inman himself.

3. Do The Others know about the Pneumatic Tube Graveyard? Whoever worked the Pearl was supposed to take the Pala Ferry, which might leave from that pier they were on in this epi. That person or persons could be an Other or at least interacted with them. Somebody was filling out those books and sending them to nowhere--who was it? Where did they live? When did they stop doing it? Did they know that the tube went nowhere?

4. If he's still alive, Locke probably feels like a loser. But in his defense, he is the first of many hatch monkeys with the guts to stop pressing the damn button. Might have destroyed the only shower on the island, but might have also gotten them rescued! Loser... I think not.

5. Locke and Eko could do a live-action remake of Spy vs. Spy.

Enjoy the long summer!

[matt]

Philosopher alert!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Hume

I believe he could out-consume Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel.

[Antonio]

To everyone who is saying that Des not pushing the button led to the plane coming down, and therefore the plane crashing could not have been by design....

think again. Before he leaves the hatch, Kelvin tells Desmond "goodbye" in a suspicious enough way to get Desmond interested in following him out. Plus, he has a cut in his suit, plus he stops and desuits (for lack of a better term) in full view of the hatch door.

Perhpas his role in bringing the plane down was to draw Desmond out of the hatch so that the button could not be pressed. We will never know how it was to end, as Kelvin was obviously killed, but perhaps Kelvin was to draw (or force) Desmond out of the hatch (he sneakily tells him to "live a little" while Desmond is shaving the day Des follows him) long enough for the button to not be pressed for a brief moment.

I am of the belief that the plane crash was an accident caused by the temporary non pressing of the button, but we must remember the plane was already waaaay off course with technical problems, and the "monster" most of us assume to be a judgement of character has only actually killed the pilot.

I'm just saying it could still all have been orchestrated with a little help from Kelvin...

[Taylor]

See this is what has me going right now...

Let's assume that the island is really some inverted snow globe down near the bottom of the world...how did the plane get *that* far off course for it to crash on the island?!

The island itself would have to be mobile (whether by propulsion or teleportation) for that to be true, right?

[LostHSV]

And another BIG implication if the hatch has been destroyed:

1)no more running water or hot showers
2)no more washing of clothes using modern appliances
3)no more supply of whatever the hatch contained in the way of food, ammunitions, and resources.

Just a thought

[Uncle Fire]

The writers should be beaten to a pulp. I love the series but they open up way too many questions before resolving the many already out there. I need some closure! And now we have to wait until fall. Of course, they'll run a bunch of repeat. A few new teaser episodes, then a bunch of teasers. Why do they torture us like this? Arrgggh!

Why in the world does Desmon's lady have 2 guys in the frozen south (I presume) looking for magnetic anomolies?

What happened to the hatch!
Ahhhhyyyy-- to many unknowns!!!

I did catch something quite amusing in the "rerun" before the finale. There's one scene where Hurley is talking to Sawyer about Libby. Sawyer says something like "You got a crush on Libby Jabba?" Ref to the huge jabba-the-hut in Star Wars. Classic!

Also, it IS pretty ironic, interesting, trippy that many of the losties have met before their fateful flight. What are the chances?!?! Very Six-degrees-of-separationish.

Let's see--
Doctor dude (can't remember his name) - Desmond
Desmond-Libby
Anna Lucia, Doctor dude's Dad, and then Sawyer "I'm walking here" strolls by.
Doctor dude and anna lucia
Sayid and somebody else crossed paths too.

[Dark Hurley]

I would like to see a character next season that represents the rest of the flight 815 survivors. Someone that would say, "Thanks, Locke for blowing up the hatch. Now we can't wash our clothes." or "Thanks, Sayid for taking our only transport off the island and going on your little soldier of fortune adventure." or "Jack, why don't you guys ever talk to us?"

[Phillip Beagley]

Just happened upon this link from MSNBC.com's home page. It's about using electromagnetism to make things invisible:

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/12961080/

[rnr]

@Antonio - I'm not saying that it still somehow couldn't have been planned, but that doesn't make any sense. If Kelvin were really trying to orchestrate a scenario where the button wasn't pushed, then why wouldn't he just let desmond go on the walk (as he was so eager to do) so he could control whether or not the button was pushed. Seems like it would be a much easier way to get the end result, if that was his itent. How could he REALLY be sure that Desmond would follow him, otherwise?

Nevertheless, I'm still a little confused - I was under the impression that the fact that they didn't push the button was why the Portugese men detected the island. But it seems like people (and the NYT article) are saying that it was what Desmond did that enabled that. So, I don't get it - I thought that the charge would build up, and at 108 minutes the button had to be pushed so that everything would decharge. And if they didn't push it, the charge would become huge and cause crap to happen. And that turning the key would cause the whole system to just shut down (insinuating that the magnetic forces would themselves be shut down). Am I wrong? The sentence from the NYT article is "The implication viewers were left with was that the explosion on the island finally made it visible, at least temporarily, to someone desperately looking for it."

Also, the article refers to the key thing as "activat[ing] a backup system"...but I thought it actually shut the whole thing down, that it actually destroyed the magnet or something. What would it be doing if it were, in fact, a backup system?