LOSTCasts 38: Further Instructions

John and Matt are back for this podcast on season 3, episode 3 of LOST, Further Instructions. In the podcast this week, we talk about general reactions to the episode, including a conversation about fans over-analyzing the show (um... of course). We also discuss Locke's backstory, as well as his vision and search for Mr. Eko. We also explore the implications of that vision, and talk about the implications that vision might have on the larger story of the island, our survivors and the others. Of course, this podcast would not be complete without a little discussion on Desmond's new "psychic" abilities. As always, we've got a ton of LOST links, and some information about the new episode coming up this week.

Download podcast #38 here

Links related to the podcast:
General reactions from The Fuselage
Comparison of Jack vs. Locke in opening scene
Closeup of Mr. Eko's stick
Post on The Fuselage about Mr. Eko's stick
Post on The Fuselage about hatch implosion
Transcript for Further Instructions
Wikipedia entry for Altered States

LOST Links:
Screencaps of Amex LOST content
Maxim's LOST map
Wikipedia rival being launched
Nightline interview with LOST writers
Article on LOST Channel 4/Sky switch
Locke You Stole My Kidney Shirt from Lon Chan

Join us next week!

Stay LOST.

Comments

[Petos]

Fantastic!

Downloading now for my train commute into work on Monday.

In the UK, Sky have bought the rights to the show from Channel 4, so it will only be one week behind the US.

Lost rules!

[delilah]

re: brian in arizona's email.

thank you!! my thought's exactly, articulated much better than i ever could. this last episode was ruined for me because i spent the whole time worrying about what negative things people might have to say about it on the boards. i have no problem with criticism of an episode, as long as its justified and reasonable. if i hear the phrase "jump the shark" one more time im going to loose it.

(i love the podcast though, and would never group john, robert or matt with any of the complainers on any of the forums)

[Jon W]

This great news for us UK fans, but I may still download it online, because the advert breaks will still be really bad.

[Cihan]

lmao@the new crackpot theory of Ben's gang protecting their weed stash. :D

[crapjohnson]

When you guys were talking about the bear you were saying "well why did it drag him back to the cave alive, why didn't it gut him and eat him in the woods like the other animal?" The answer, to me, is simple.

Because the writers wanted to place Eko in danger in this episode but not kill him.

I know Lost is a complex show but sometimes, you gotta think simple.

[Cihan]

I REALLY dont understand people complaining about the introduction of the two new characters, with viewers complaining about a lack of a scene with them introducing themselves. Introducing themselves!? These guys have been on the island for over a month, everyone knows each other now! The audiences introduction to the characters was seamless in my opinion, I mean seriously I dont get the flak. If the first time we see these new characters is with some dramatic entrance or them giving their names, now THAT would have been awkward and illogical.

[Cihan]

I'd never heard of a 'tie-dye' before seeing this episode btw, I just wiki'd it and its interesting and slightly random, I mean where did Hurley get it? Did he make it on the island (what did he use for dye?) or was it luggage from the plane crash or what?

The designs for tie-dyes look trippy. There was a heavy drug theme in this episode, huh? Locke's paste, his drug family, the tie-dye...

[Mike in the Box]

I just listened and wanted to thank you for using my "tunnels under the hatch" thought. after looking at the pic again, i realize that there are in fact 3 tunnels (for lack of a better word). one at 12 oclock, on at 3 oclock and one at 9 oclock.

[SmokeMonster]

@Kathy aka Fangirl
haha, maybe I'm in denial...I just dont know anymore

[kristenS.(not kristen from e-online)]

hi all, ive listened to the podcast since its start, but have never joined in the talk on the comments section before. well ive got a bit of 'gossipy' lost info, i thought i just might as well put it out here [it might be good for one of those matt jones comments ;) ] while digging around on the site posted by Midnight, i came across that the actress who playes kate, and the actor who plays charlie, are going to get married. heres the link to the article: http://www.buddytv.com/articles/lost/losts_lilly_and_monaghan_to_ma.aspx

anyone up for some charlie and kate luuvee?? ; )
(once locke the paste man brings her back, of course)

[Raz Minder]

Re: Nikki and Paulo

I didn't have a problem with how or when they were introduced (though, you can tell that a prior scene was cut), but I did find the clunky dialogue handed to them awkward. I think John, in the podcast, was right when he said that the final scene seemed a bit rushed - given the needed exposition (explaining what happened to Jack and company, etc.) and the likely time constraints (we have no idea how many scenes and bits of expository dialogue hit the cutting-room floor in every episode), the writers had a difficult scene to compose.

It really is nitpicking - but I thought it was odd that Paulo didn't know who "they" were; like he needed to be reminded of the Others. And Nikki jumping all over Hurley won't exactly endear her to the viewers. It just could have been handled in a different way. Arzt was better introduced, for example, as he provided useful information to the raft plot.

All and all, that is minor (a bigger deal is Charlie's quick forgiveness of Locke; sure, Eko was in trouble, but Charlie really didn't care much for him at the end of last season). This type of character continuity bothers me more than anything else, but that's just me.

Re: Eddie/Ben as the infiltrator

BTW, the leader of the hippie commune was Mike, not Eddie (he was the cop). Anyway, I liked how they paralleled the roles of Eddie (pre-island) and Ben (on-island) in Locke’s storyline.

Boone brought up the idea of putting the family back together – starting with Eko, of course. Both Eddie and Ben infiltrated Locke’s “family,” so to speak. As we know, Locke is always far too entrusting – he bought Ben’s idea that the button did nothing, which caused a major clusterf*ck, and he invited Eddie into the commune (though, everyone did; not sure why Locke receives all the blame there).

I take away a completely different outlook from this episode. If anything, Locke is going to rescue Jack, Kate and Sawyer from the Others – thus putting the “family” back together as Boone suggested. I don’t think this episode was supposed to give us the idea that he would join the Others family, though it’s certainly possible. Like Matt Jones said, Locke is looking for familial companionship, so he is susceptible to anyone or anything that rubs his ego the right way. But I see him as a changed man – he’s no longer the farmer.

Great podcast, as usual.

[jg]

Mike “The Duke of Potville” and Tom (aka Zeke) of “Othersville" are not the same guy. http://humpys.net/view_pic.php?id=255&season=3

Thanks for the whining discussion.

Perhaps Locke’s unsavory experience with the dope growers has left him with a disdain for recreational dope users like Charlie. Therefore, the vigorous smack down of Charlie of an earlier Episode.

Whereas I’m sure some of the “others” are ancient, with some being survivors of the “Black Rock” and even to the date of the ‘4 toed’ statue. Though perhaps only the soul of Ben is that old. The intriguing statement of Ben to Juliette “you never made me soup” makes me think he was a captive once. So far I think Ben is an evil genius. Maybe he has used the “get captured to infiltrate” ploy before, as with the DHARMA scientists. He is not all knowing but is brilliant at manipulating people.

I don’t have the patience to find “adam”s or “ilovesayid”s maps. So I don’t know if true north is at the top of the maps or not. But, I would concur that given the time of day in the Opener, and the sun orientation; “Othersville” is south of the crash sites. Time of day of ‘book club’ and crash is afternoon or early evening with the sun on the right we are looking north to the crash sites.

jg

[Raz Minder]

Forgot to add that Jack may join the Others (if that is their goal), though I'm hoping for Jack to lull the Others into a trap. It's getting a bit depressing with the Others always outsmarting our supposed protagonists.

[jg]

The sun is on the left.
sorry.
That would would make us looking north over "Othersville" toward the crash sites.
Apologies.
jg

[Daniel Louden]

This is my first comment and I'll start it by saying I love the podcast and look forward to it every week. That said let me move into my issue:

The ground ball through Buckners legs did not lose the game for Boston in the 1986 world series. Had he fielded the ball cleanly the game would have gone to the top of the 11th. The game was tied in the top of the 10th when Dave Henderson hit a 3 run homer. In the bottom of the tenth Boston got 2 quick outs then the mets began to rally. If you want to blame someone for losing that game blame Calvin Schiraldi who was responsible for the baserunners that scored; or blame Bob Stanley who relieved Schiraldi and threw a wild pitch that let the Mets tie the game. Frankly, had Buckner fielded the ball cleanly Wilson still would have had a chance at being safe at first, since Buckner was playing back, had bad ankles and was notoriously slow, as opposed to Mookie Wilson, who was known for his speed.

As a huge baseball fan and also a huge lost fan I just felt the need to clarify that. Once again, keep up the good work.

[Wisdo]

May sound unbeliveably fanboyish but I look forward to the podcast as much as the show. Its part of the whole Lost thing. The Lost experience if you will. Or wont. And Carter/ Valenzetti equation notwithstanding I do hope that our own particular group of human beings, the puzzlers the riddlers and culture voyagers manage to retain some cohesion after this is allover.

For me it is all over. The Lost experience placed the capstone on an idea I had for sometime based on an old Brian Aldiss novel;. Dont bother, its an allegory and I would never "spoiler" like that anyway. Hey for that matter try Tom Clancy's "Rainbow Six", probably closer to the mark in terms of McGuffin. But the Lost Experience wasnt the end for me.

No sir.

The end was watching a DVD my friend made of a compliation from Season 1 and 2 of battlestar Galactica. Apparently its a remake of an old cheesy 70's series. Well this is the furthest thing from cheese.. its ... electricity. Now tonight I watched the first 4 eps of season3, and I have to day.. man that is writing. Its got me exited about the prose of it again, about the sudden unexpected emotions, nuances, backstory as multiplier on the emotional payload.

Suffice to say - sadly - Lost is is No2. Galactica is now my main fix.

Sadly? no - gladly.

[Wisdo]

Oh BTW? I was the guy asking if baseball was a variant of criket. Sorry! I dont watch any sports at all. So I dont know anything about baseball. But I was proved correct to ask that question because it turned out that Jacks dad HAD commented on this team b4 (thats why the Redsox will NEVER win).

It wasnt some anti american or anti baseball thing.

So... why do you call that ball throwing game "football"? is it a variant of Football?

Lol.

[Wisdo]

last comment... the 16 million viewers? Thats on the night in america. Actual viewrship worldwide (going by uptake of the DVD purchases) 112,750,000.

I never even heard of those other shows you mention.

[Matt Jones]

Daniel Louden,

Thanks for clearing things up. I'm a baseball fan myself, but not a hardcore one. With the Texas Rangers as my team can you really blame me?

Buckner did get a bum rap. Lots of Sox screwed the pooch in that series. Unfortunately Buckner's was the most telegenic screw up. Poor bastard. If I remember corectly his life really went to crap after that. Boston fans never let him live it down. His name even became a verb.

Bucknered - To blow an easy opportunity spectacularly.

Wisdo,

I have heard Galactica is fantastic TV. I have just never caught up with it. DVD time I guess. You should check out a few of the old series just to compare. It was a product of Star War's success. Cheesy, but not as cheesy as Buck Rodgers. I loved it when I was a kid.

To confess, I wouldn't say LOST is my favorite TV show. I don't really like to rank art beyond stuff I love, stuff I like, stuff I'm indifferent to and stuff I hate. (There is also a sub-category for TV called stuff my wife watches that I pretend not to like but actually enjoy far more than I want to admit.) LOST certainly falls under stuff I love, but there are a lot of other great shows in that category.

Crapjohnson,

It could be a simple as a plot device, but I really think the whole save Ecko from the bear scenario was the Island helping Locke get is groove back. There were just too many inconcistancies in it's behavior. I hope the writers are better than that.

[Matt Jones]

Wisdo,

We didn't take it as an insult to Baseball, Mom and Apple Pie.

But all the same...

Watch your ass foreigner! :-)

[Matt Lafferty]

Well... here's what I get for listening to the podcast before bed: I can't sleep! It was a top notch 'cast as usual!

I have to say... one thing that might be keeping me up is the mental image of John's theory of children in the bear cave. I think that Lost has a lot of potential to be scary the way X-Files could be--the first monster attack waaaay back in episode one is good evidence of that, as well as when Jin introduced the tailies as Others in season 2. Imagine that, for whatever reason, they go back into the bear cave or it's night in the jungle or what have you, and out of the darkness come a ragged group of creepy kids--and one is holding The Teddy Bear.

jg,
"The Duke of Potville." Awesome moniker!!!

crapjohnson and Matt Jones,
I've got to go with crapjohnson concerning why Eko wasn't bitten: they, like, need him for the show!

Speaking of Matt Jones... and possible twin/clone theories... has anyone else noticed that there are a ton of Matts who post on here? Mr. Jones, myself, Matt Beale, a Matt H as I recall, etc... freaky.

[Kim]

I haven't even finished listening to the podcast yet (which is my favorite podcast even though Lost isn't my favorite show), but Brian's e-mail really had me rolling my eyes. Some people enjoy picking apart the show and discussing what they didn't like and some people don't, it really is that simple. The fact that I hated The Glass Ballerina and think Sayid's plan was stupid doesn't mean that Brian or anyone else can't think Sayid's an awesome genius and TGB was a classic episode. Part of the enjoyment of television for me is interacting with it and that means I'm going to shout it to the rooftops if I think the writers are on crack. If that's really going to ruin your enjoyment of the show maybe you should avoid the sort of places on the internet where people like to talk about things. Also this isn't new, every show ever that's had any sort of internet following has the people who bitch about the show and the people who bitch about people who bitch about the show.

[Joop]

Kim, you go girl!

Another great podcast. Thanks for the link to the Nightline interview. It was cool to see the writers vent their frustration w/ the abc execs, comparing them to the Pope telling Michaelangelo "your'e not done yet. More paint. More paint." For me it kinda put our quiblings as fans into perspective.

Matt, Thanks for defending baseball, mom & apple pie.

p.s. America still is a place you can buy guns & grow bud
* stands w/ hand on heart. *

[Cihan]

Wisdo: Battlestar Galactica is the best sci-fi show on TV, period. The best sci-fi is not about the future but about today and BSG is so relevent and topical, its essential viewing. Did you see that atmospheric jump manoeuvre in the recent episode 4!? Coolest moment on TV.

But I'm going off topic... I find that Lost is the most addictive show on TV, and I dont think you'll find better praise for a show thats attempting to be a mystery, because all mysteries want you to keep returning, so its doing its job well. Not to beat the dead donkey, but we're not meant to have all the answers at any point in a good mystery, its meant to be continually question after question, with just a few answers now and then to keep us interested and loyal to the story. I am so glad there's a lack of exposition on this show, because clunky exposition, usually in the form of dialogue, usually signals the death of a show or film to me. The Dharma videos have been a great tool to give exposition in a non-clunky way.

Regarding the new characters, I feel like everyone already knows who they are, because I avoid spoilers so I wasnt aware of a cut scene or that they are Brazilian (connection to the Brazilians at the end of last season?) so from that perspective I can still say it wasnt jarring to me the way they were introduced. The only thing off-putting was how godamn handsome the dude was, like he just stepped off a catwalk or something. At least smear sand over his face or something, was everyone on that plane good looking!?

[Cameron]

Great podcast, and great theorising re the Polar Bear. If it was a set up to help Locke regain his sense of purpose I sure would not want to be whomever sent the Polar Bear off on that mission. I mean that thing is probably going to trot back along the subterranean tunnel to the Hydra station and say:

'Look here Ben, I did it exactly like you said, and that bald nutjob burned me with a hairspray flamethrower! Look at what is left of my whiskers! You dumb !@#@#%. Now it's time for me to rip you a new one, you piece of #*!$.'

[Justin & Lon Chan]

Thanks to John & matt and the rest of the crew for giving us a mention on your world famous podcast. Lon especially wants to thank you guys for plugging his John Locke T-Shirt design - emblazoned with "You Stole My Kidney" - these will be on sale again soon on EBAY and will be in a variety of sizes, ready to ship worldwide. So look out for these. Thanks again and stay Lost!

[Mike M.]

LOL, "Team Swan Hatch" was the funniest thing I have ever heard on this podcast.

But I was wondering about the deleted scene with the new characters. Was that really supposed to be there, or was it just some spoiler that never really happened?

[Jon W]

Team Swan Hatch was the best part of the podcast, and you guys are right messageboards would be a great idea. Why not check out http://www.phpbb.com/, they have done some good sites that Im a memeber of...just a suggestion

[Chris in Jackson MS]

Great podcast guys, as usual. Lender, where did you go?

OK random thoughts.

Matt, we're definitely on the same page with Desmond's "experience". I don't think he's now psychic or has any special powers, other than the fact, that he has somehow been transported to the future and back, or something along those lines. I think he's trying to come to grips with what happened to him- did you see the look on his face when he was throwing rocks in the ocean?

I think Locke and Ecko were "thrown" into the jungle by the hatch explosion that preceeded the implosion. Explosion may be a bad term, I'm thinking that a millisecond prior to the implosion, a shockwave or slight explosion happened first, throwing Locke and Ecko free. I think Desmond got the full brunt of whatever happens when you experience an implosion of an electromagnetic anomoly.

I think Desmond's being naked was a shout-out by the writers to the numerous examples in other books, comics, movies, etc., where people lose their clothes when they time travel. Will be interesting to hear the official podcast this week.

I think Locke has had his "come to Jesus meeting" with the island, and is now back, my guess is, even more badass than ever. I think he has now broken the chain of messes he always leaves behind or creates, because he actually went in and saved Ecko, cleaning up his mess, or at least part of it. In his vision quest, I think his leaving his wheelchair behind and crawling up the escalator was symbolic of him leaving his "crutches" behind, crawling through the bear's cave, overcoming his fears and saving Ecko.

The tonka truck- haven't we seen that somewhere before. I haven't looked, but wasn't the little boy that Ana Lucia was helping when the tailies crashed, playing with a toy truck on the beach (before being taken). I know that doesn't make much sense, I mean where would he have gotten a toy truck after barely making it out of a plane crash, but I could have sworn there's a scene on the beach where we see him with a truck. Maybe not, maybe it was just the teddy bear. What about when Locke worked at the toy shop? We saw him playing Mouse Trap with a little boy, were there any tonka trucks around? That truck is important for something. Maybe it was Ben's truck as a little boy? Haha, that's a stretch.

As far as the complaining, I too think a lot of it is nitpicking, and I think a lot of it is coming from "new" fans. There are probably some legit complaints/criticisms, but again, this ain't Dancing with the Stars folks.

[-kule]

Last weeks episode of bo’ in the usa featured an amusing parody of lost. It’s up on youtube, so check it out. ;) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5zgnhAbrVxU

[stephen (sorry i didn't think of a cool made up name)]

It's probably all ready been talked about but...i thought Desmond all ready had psychic abilities...remember in the Jack flash back with Desmond. They talk about Jack fixing his woman and Desmond's all like, "but, what if you did fix her, brother." Maybe its like Walt and his "Off Island," powers. I don't no though.

[Gardiner Moody]

Listen, I was kind of frustrated when listening to you all talking about "time shifting" and the multiple theories on how Desmond heard Lockes speech. When I saw the episode I saw NO problem with the whole survival from the hatch implosion. As you think about the pilot episode you have Jack waking up. I believe that the black smoke spares people. The black smoke is the key. It pulled Locke, Eko, and Desmond out of the hatch before they were killed. While in contact with the smoke, through its telepathic powers, Desmond perceived Lockes thoughts. Its very simple. I think that the Black Smoke also saved people from the plane crash... it'd be impossible for anyone to survive it.
Evidence:
1) We see Locke wake up... almost EXACTLY like Jack did. Desmond said that he ALSO woke up.
2) When Eko encountered the black smoke, we saw things from Ekos past... telepathy!

That's my theory.

[Courtney]

Brain from Arizona:
You hit the nail right on the head! I get so sick of listening to people complain! What happened to the days where we spent our time looking through the details of the episodes to find those little tidbits of info that are going to make all the difference in the near future?

As for you wonderful guys doing this podcast:
Your weekly content is great! Anyone who says that the last few shows have been slow, boring, or pointless should listen to this podcast! There's no way you guys could put out these lenghty, well-researched podcasts without some content from the show!

As for theory: I'm not so sure that Desmond didn't already have some (for lack of a better word) "psychic" powers. Thinking back to his conversation with Jack at the stadium... Maybe the implosion amplified them, or maybe it's unrelated.
And thank goodness that Locke the hunter has returned to replace Locke the whiney!

[Taylor]

Loved the podcast...so many theories and connections we're waiting to see play out and (hopefully) be validated. :)

I, however, have a first season question: What episode was it that featured "Somewhere Over the Rainbow" by IZ? I've searched high and low and can't find it! :P

Now, should we be worried about Tom/Zeke/Friendly because he also played Roscoe P Coltrane in the Dukes of Hazzard movie? ;)

[Justin]

When you guys were talking about the bear you were saying "well why did it drag him back to the cave alive, why didn't it gut him and eat him in the woods like the other animal?" The answer, to me, is simple.

Because the writers wanted to place Eko in danger in this episode but not kill him.

I know Lost is a complex show but sometimes, you gotta think simple.

Posted by: crapjohnson |"

I guess the point is that that's not a valid reason to include something. If the plot line is sufficiently ridiculous, you can't suspend disbelief anymore, it just becomes silly. That's kind of how I felt about the bear taking Eko.

[ebonX]

@Wisdo - Here is the Wikipedia link to the roots of American football ...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_football#History

In regards to the comments about baseball and the World Series ... I (as an American) do find it funny that we call every major sports championship the World Champions (World Series, Super Bowl, & NBA Finals). The NBA Finals and the World Series are the funniest, especially with the recent finishes of USA teams in the FIBA World Championships & the World Baseball Classic. But I just wanted to make a closer comparison, since someone on a previous comments thread compared the World Series to the World Cup and the Boston Red Sox to teams like Holland or England, which is very much wrong ... The World Series is much more comparable to the FA Cup or any major European Football Club Championship. I would compare the Red Sox to a club like Arsenal (in the English Premiership), where the Yankees are Manchester United ... A great club, but always seeming to finish behind their hated rival.

@LOSTcasts - Do you guys not see the irony in you guys bitching & moaning about all the bitching & moaning on the internet/Fuelage/Message Boards?? ... ;-D

Anyway, I do like the podcast & will comment more later (I'm only thru the first 30min. or so).

[Migital]

I think you might have dismissed the John 3:5 reference on Eko's stick a bit too quickly during your podcast.

"except a man be born of water and the spirit, he can not enter into the kingdom of God"

Dharma is looking for a way to alter the numbers and extend the lifespan of the human race... so maybe this passage is in reference to work that they are doing to alter the human gestation process, whereby they would be keeping mankind from "entering into the kingdom of God"

[Sarah]

Fantastic podcast! I absolutely loved it! A few things I wanted to say...

-Proboards is a great, free message board that I reccomend. You can go to www.proboards.com to sign up.
-"Criminal Minds, what is Criminal Minds?"
"It's one of those brainless procedural shows that you can sit down and watch it all in one sitting and have a nice satisfying evening of TV."
"What is wrong with people?"
Just wanted to say that was just about the most hilarious moment of this podcast! lol
-Okay, what do/did I miss from not being a part of the Lost Experience and not watching the Verizon mobisodes or the American Express thing?
-About Naked Desmond: Kelvin said turning the key would "make it all go away". Desmond was wearing Dharma clothes so do you think that's why his clothes went away? It would also explain why the hatch just wasn't there. (I don't get the whole implosion concept.)
-Boone says Sayid has Sun and Jin covered. But once the three get back to the beach Sayid doesn't really mix with Sun and Jin. Do you think thier "long walk" will take up the season or mini-season?
-In the vision, Claire's hair is straight, Charlie's in a suit, and baby Aaron is naked, except for a diaper. We've never seen Claire's hair anything but wavy on the show, we've only seen Charlie in a suit once and then he was very uncomfortable, and usually once babies reach a certain age they wear clothes, especially in public. Do you think that's just one of those, "Huh, that's strange," moments or did it actually tie in somehow?
-In the Season 1 finale they do flashbacks of everyone as they are boarding the plane and I think right before they boarded for most characters, so if the next episode is 2 people-centric, it wouldn't necessarily be the first time.

Great podcast! Can't wait for the next one!
Sarah

[jg]

I would like a few big answers to move things along. My wish list would begin with: As to the poverty of curiosity displayed by the Losties (as they were chided for, by Ben aka Fenry).

I am left to wild speculation.

1) The tropics apparently impart a relaxed state of mind. This torpor has been described to me by my friends that have vacationed on Hawaii. They describe their big decisions as …a Pina Colada or a Blue Hawaiian…

2) Drugs. There is a repeating theme of drugs in the show. Charlie/heroin, Locke/pot, Locke/ (Peyote?) paste. A giant secret pot farm would be a good tie in. (tie-dye in?) And chronic use of pot does make one complacent and stupid. This would be reasonable since they displayed unusual lack of curiosity even before drugged DHARMA food (which were munchies) was dropped.

3) If the writers gave the characters too much curiosity the show would have been short lived. Besides this is a fantasy show and realism shouldn’t be applied too strictly here. Alas, this is probably the real reason for lack of curiosity.

Cheers
jg

[Sarah]

Sorry, I forgot to add this in my other comment. I looked up the verses on Mr. Eko's script in The Message. That's basically the Bible but a whole lot easier to understand since it doesn't have all the thee and thine and thou stuff.

Genesis 13:14 -- After Lot separated from him, God said to Abram, "Open your eyes, look around. Look north, south, east, and west.

John 3:5 -- Jesus said, "You're not listening. Let me say it again. Unless a person submits to this original creation—the 'wind-hovering-over-the-water' creation, the invisible moving the visible, a baptism into a new life—it's not possible to enter God's kingdom.

Acts 4:12 -- Salvation comes no other way; no other name has been or will be given to us by which we can be saved, only this one.

Romans 6:12 -- That means you must not give sin a vote in the way you conduct your lives. Don't give it the time of day. Don't even run little errands that are connected with that old way of life.

So, there you go. Stay Lost!
Sarah

[Mr_Hurley's Food Stash]

Lost Experience.

I'm a big Lost fan and I've listened to all the podcasts you guys have done so far. However, am I one of the few who never got into the Lost Experience? Basically, I was devoting a lot of time to Lost anyway without going into all the other bits and with a job/life etc I never got the time to check it out.

A guy has posted above about the Loxt Experience and Matt?! (I think) has now mentioned twice in recent podcasts that the Lost Experience has given too much information away. So is there any chance of a Podcast special on the Lost Experience or is it too much material to cover? Maybe after we get the break that'll be coming in a few weeks? Sorry if that's a bit cheeky...but you know who to call when you've got a Lost problem ! Ghostbuste....no wait! Wrong ones!

Stay Lost

Mr_Hurley's Food Stash

[Itsbecca]

QUICK QUESTION

I only recently found your podcast during the summer and recently have been going back listening to old episodes. Hearing number11 (What Kate Did) you talk about an Insurance guy for the Hanso Corp. on the Fuselage who talks about the hatch being there to keep the island in existance and if the button is not pressed every 108 minutes the island implodes... thus *POP* sending everyone naked into the ocean.

Which um.

Desmond much?

Surely this was talked about on the boards, I don't have the time to scour and find it. Why no link back?

[Mike in the Box]

@ Sarah, good use of The Message. Sometimes a paraphrase is definitely easier to understand. I am a seminary student and wanted to comment on the fact that the passage on Eko's stick reads "John 3:05"

This is notable because NOBODY notates a passage of scripture like this. It would have read "John 3:5"

There might be a significant meaning behind this and I do think it is in referenece to my previous comment that the passage above could be read to include this one. i.e. "Lift up your eyes and look North, John 3:05. this may be a directional suggestion, a coordinate, a time...i dunno, but the point is that the notation of "3:05" is not the way people write Scripture notation.

[Cihan]

Question: We've been pondering the writing on the Jesus stick from a screenwriter's perspective to gain insight into the plot, but think about it within the story from the character's point of view. Why would Eko scratch those particular verses into his stick?

[Mike in the Box]

@ Cihan. if i understand your thought correctly, you don't think that the writings on the stick have any importance to the plot and they should only be looked at from the perspective of eko writing them? if that is not what you meant, could you please elaborate. in fact, if that is what you meant, could you please elaborate.

[crapjohnson]

Oh yeah, that reminds me. I don't know which one of you guys it was on the podcast that was saying that about The Lost Experience, but I completely disagree. I was completely involved in the whole thing, beginning to end, and the majority of it was it's own story. What we did get in terms of revelations about the show were mostly details of the most minor and obscure variety. Everything "big" such as the meaning of the numbers that we learned from TLE is all summed up in one single video that any Lost fan can easily watch without having played the game:

http://youtube.com/watch?v=_PPCCcXarkc

So no, I don't at all think they gave too much away. And I don't at all mean this as an insult or anything like that, but I think whoever said that only said it because they didn't actually play the game, and if you hear about all the stuff that happened in it after it was over and you didn't play it, it can seem overwhelming.

[Cihan]

Mike in the Box: anything the writers put into an episode relates to plot, but I'm trying to understand the characterization and the logic of Eko writing what he did on the stick. Any ideas on why he would select those verses? Whats going through his mind to write them? Are the writers trying to tell us that he has more insight into the island than we've seen? My earlier post was commenting on the fact that we're trying to understand why the writers would select those verses so we can theorize on where the story is going, but we're not theorizing on whats happened to Eko to make him write them. Make sense?

[Desmundo]

Bunch of Stuff About Desmond:

1. In the second season episode The Hunting Party, Jack treats a patient with a tumor on his spine. I went back and watched this episode yesterday and I coudn't help but think he looked similar to Desmond, maybe a relative. Yes I know that the person in the episode was spanish or something, but still, I see a resemblance.

2. People were joking around saying Desmond was the new Vincent. Let me humor them... Vincent, being a dog, didn't wear any clothes. When we see Desmond, he is in Vincent's position and isn't wearing any clothes.

3. Is it just me or does Desmond look like Jesus in the very last shot of the Further Instructions? Jesus had forsight and so does, or did, Desmond.

4. Desmond kicks ass.

[Cameron]

@Desmundo: As to 3, yes!

But for me it was not so much about foresight - though that is clearly happening. I got a big 'let he who is without sin cast the first stone' message from his throwing the stones into the sea.

[mike]

Where did Locke get a brand new sharpie and pad of paper?

[anthony]

excellent work on this podcast. thank you for playing, and discussing my audio comment. looking foward to next week's episode, as well as your podcast.

stay lost.

[ebonX]

@Sarah - Thanks for posting the Bible passages in "modern English".

In regards to the writing on Eko's Jesus stick ...

- Notice that the "Open Up Your Eyes and Look North" is the only Bible passage that is written out.

- All the other writing (other than the Numbers along the bottom, just above the grip) are just noted Bible passages, but no passages are written out.

I think this really does lend to the idea that it is a direction to Locke or whoever ... Or since, the writing on Eko's stick is more of a easter egg thing, maybe it is a hint to us (the viewers) ... Take a look at the map from "I love Sayid" (see Screenshot "A") - From the perspective of Othersville, the tailies landed at where the big hand points to (3 o'clock), while the fuselage landed where the small hand points to (1 o'clock) - This puts the Swan Hatch near on the Northern tip of the island.

Now, if this is true, one can triangulate and find where Othersville is!!!

To everyone who didn't play the Lost Experience, I agree with crapjohnson that you didn't miss much. All you need to know (in regards to show mythology) you can find out by watching the youtube video. BTW, I did not play TLE, but just trolled the various message boards and stuff during the summer. TLE, imho, was set up in the way LucasArts licenses Star Wars stories ... there are rules to follow, so as not to ruin the mythology or any of the story/plot lines of the TV show, but you can go off on tangents and create original stories that add and fill-out the mythology of the LOST universe.

In regards to the Locke's peyote dream, I think the significance of Desmond being the pilot/being the way off the island is in reference to his connection to Penny Widmore.

That's all ... Stay LOST brothas!

[Nash]

Did you guys see these picts of some scenes cut out of Further Instructions?

http://www.stationzer0.com/lost_news/lost_further_instructions_cut.php

[Mike in the Box]

@ Cihan

Gotcha...i am under the assumption that this is not the original stick. if you compare screenshots of the stick now to the stick in season 2 they are different. therefore i have concluded that it is a possibility that this is not eko's stick, but the islands. I know that sounds crazy, but what if they island is trying to lead john. it is a thought that i am playing with and will hopefully hash out enough to post as a fullblown theory.

[Chris in Jacskon MS]

Forgot to mention, Matt, love the Mike (commune leader) is the real Geronimo Jackson theory. Just heard someone say that Walt had a tonka truck in a flashback. That's interesting if true.

[Raz Minder]

Re: Desmond resembling Jesus

Definitely received the same vibe. Desmond met the criteria of Jesus' common depiction - longhair, beard, long tie-dye shirt (similar to a long robe?), bare legs and feet (symbolize holiness; feet on holy ground?) and even the way the sunlight created a rather obvious nimbus/halo around his head (check link below).

There were religious connotations throughout this recent episode, I thought. It’s not that Desmond is the second coming or anything, just that - I believe - the writers might have been hinting that he will become the survivors’ messiah/savior of sorts, with Penny looking for the island and his foresight possibly leading to rescue.

http://i99.photobucket.com/albums/l311/raz_minder/desmond-halo.jpg

[Mike M.]

Heres what I think. i think that the three hatch monkees are now telepathically connected. This would be why Desmond knew what Locke was gunna say, and also this is why Eko seemingly talked to Locke. Since we see this episode from Lockes POV, we see how he would get a mental message from Eko. Of course they don't know they have or how to control these new abilities yet, and thats why to Locke and Desmond they seemed real.

Take that for what you will, but I just like the idea of Locke, Eko, and Desmond becoming some sort of leading, Triumvorate to the folks back at camp.

I also was getting the creepy evil vibe from Boone during the hallucenation.

One more thing and I'll shut up.
Justin & Lon Chan, you guys should make team Swan hatch t-shirts, like the Locke one, I'd buy it.

[Drynn_03]

@CJ
The Lost Experience did give away to much. This show has run for 2 seasons prior to the Lost Experience. There was more revealed during this summer ththan the previous 2 seasons. While we have recieved incomplete bits of information most of them usually resulted in a bigger yet question. This summer we found out exactly what the numbers are, exactly what DHARMA was started for. What angered me about this was that we were told that the Lost Experience would not give anything away. More importantly was that if you did not participate you would not miss anything important to the story line.

So I guess after a season of pushing or easter egg hunting of 4 8 15 16 23 42 , those were not really important or that wondering what all DHARMA was trying to do. Not to mention that DHARMA was infecting and killing whole communities as they worked on thier serum.

So essentially Lost Experience answered more in 3 months than the show has answered in 2 years.

Now for the show in general. I agree that there has to be some level of belief suspension. But what is getting bad is the character disconnect from the timeline.

I might give Charlie a pass because after he came back from the hatch explosion he seemed overly mellow. But after getting punched repeatedly in the face by someone only weeks earlier and the best you can come up with is "I detest you" all I can say is Charlie is a better person than me, I would have lit the sweat tent on fire while Locke was in it.

I have a bigger problem with things like Sawyer being shot just 24 days before this and almost dieing but he seems be getting on fairly well. But Fenry is still sporting scars that are just now healing from about the same time.

So when you think of the time line of 69 days since the plane has crashed, then the forced drama that the writers put our losties through, but then next week everyone is all hunky dorey it goes from suspend disbelief to unrealistic.

[Drynn_03]

Great Pod Cast as usual. Though I would vote against a message board. What makes this site really nice is reading all the posts. At the sites that do run message boards I rarely read most of the topics. If there is a topic that looks interesting I will browse it but usually just skip most of them. This one forces you to read all the posts and it is really simple in the format your currently using. Additionally its easier this way to adress multiple topics in one post. That said, if you do go to a message board I will obviously go with it. There will just be a lot of post I probably won't read.

[ursinha]

hi, i am curious about the lost experience too...does someone have advice on getting started. is it really a backstory on the show?

[Juggs]

I haven't heard anyone say the easiest way out of Desmond's Furture seeing event. He probally just had one of them Island dreams everyone else has been having. Like Eko's make John show me the question mark, or Locke's knowing where the Plane crashed and Boone thought he was nuts. Sure the theorys about time travel and special powers are fun and out there, but i was just wondering why no one mentionsed the simply island dreams/visions.

Also Eko could have two Jesus sticks. Could have ran out of room on the last stick and had to start a new one to continue his scripture verses.

And you people who this Desmond is the new vincent because they both were naked: Vincent was wearing a collar, so therefore he is not naked, thats the clothes for a dog.

[Joni]

Can I just say I can't wait for Lostcasts to have a forum?!?

I was looking into opening my own forum for other reasons, and found
http://www.websitetoolbox.com/pricing/message_board.html

Onto the podcast! I look forward to it almost as much as the episode themselves.

The only comment I had was someone said that in the dream thing Desmond was the pilot because he was the way off the island. To me it seemed more like, he brought them to the island when he failed to push the button.

[Becca]

RE: QUICK QUESTION

I found what I was looking for:
"Phase 3 Disclosure: The Dharma Initiative is not a secret international research project. You see, the island is part of another "dimension", I guess you'd call it, and is sort of "in between" the universes that are made of light matter and dark matter. We call it "Dharma". It's part of a whole planet that is pretty much available for colonization. It could also be used as a future conduit for inter-dimensional/intergalactic travel. The only problem is that we can't exist there naturally. The island only materializes when there's a solar eclipse. During that time the unique electromagnetic frequency added to the gravitational distortion allows both it and us to exist within the same space. But that "effect only lasts for 108 minutes, and then the island disappears from our world, taking any inanimate matter with it that's left behind.

If you were standing on the island after the primary eclipse period ended and the 108 minutes were up, you'd feel a great big suck of air and then "PLOP!" you'd fall right back into the ocean. Naked.
We are trying to change that. Actually, Majestic 13 developed a machine years ago that allows us to exist there. It's weird, but once us and the island "disappear" into the Dharma dimension, we have days and nights just like the earth one. But we can't travel more than 42 kilometers outside the machine's effective range.

The plan is to develop a way to genetically engineer animals with the right quantum frequency so they can exist in Dharma on their own. That's what the project is all about, and until now it's been classified.

The fictional tv series "Lost" is part of the worldwide disclosure plan."

from the dharmainitiative site back in the day.

So why is Desmond the only one that plopped? Why is the island still there? Is it back in the other demention and Desmond somehow got back on (I imagine against not willingly)? I'm sure the white sky and desmond's knowledge of the future has something to do with it. He also looks like he has a heck of a lot on his mind. So who knows what crazyness he went through.

[Popmerchant]

Desmond waking up naked in jungle reminds of The Terminator! So perhaps he did indeed travel through time! I would have died if he looked at Hurly and said, "Your clothes. Give them to me." heh heh

[Becca]

...Okay last post. That's a FAN site. IE - fanfiction. My face is red :D

But file that under crazily eiree coincidence! Because it was written back in November but fits so flipping well with this last episode! Alright I'm done.

[jg]

Lost Island...a tropical "Brigadoon" (aka Germelshausen) I'll buy it.
jg

[JonathanU]

First time poster.

I loved this episode. I hadn't been too excited about the first two, but they weren't bad. The only thing I worried about was that all the episodes would be slow like that. If we have a few slow episodes that just further the relationships and not a lot of plot is shown, that's fine, as long as episodes like this get thrown out every once in a while, I'm fine with it. As far as people complaining that Desmond being psychic is ridiculous, have you been watching this series? A plane crashes, most survive. There's a black smoke monster. There's a bunch of people already living on the island. A huge science experiment. C'mon, you're telling me that this is supposed to be realistic, get real. I personally am happy about the season, and can't wait for next week. Lost is still on track.

[Nancy the Romancechick]

Hey, being the superhero geek (as well as Lost fanatic) that I am, would it be possible to get a list of the "superheroes" mentioned in the podcast? I'd love to have that.

Love the podcast and drive my family nuts relating your theories. My husband and daughter honestly think I spend WAY too much time thinking about this stuff, although she gets to see the episodes ahead of us as we have a church commitment Wednesday nights and I'm convinced this is why my husband got us a DVR!

Before we got a chance to see this episode, I casually asked my daughter, honestly NOT looking for spoilers, "Do you think Locke's a little creepy?" and she FLIPPED!! "JUST WATCH THE EPISODE," she screamed and covered her ears. I was taken a little aback until I saw it!

Well, thanks for the 'cast. I have tons more crazy theories with which to drive the people I love nuts!

[Johnny Oswego]

First off, great podcast guys. The monday drive to work would be horrible without it.

During the first and second seasons speculation and discussions(not just on the podcast) of past and future episodes seemed to focus more on the overall themes of the the show, while these days discussion is focused primarly on the mythology and characters.

I think that focusing on the large themes the writers are including in the story may give us a good Idea where the show might going in the next 1-3 seasons. I think these issues have been discussed so much in the beginning we may be forgeting about them now.

Early in season one the writers set up a major (and I believe most important) theme in that of dicotomies. We had Locke playing backgammon with walt. 2 sides. Black and White. Good and Bad. The Skeptic vs. The Believer. Spirituality vs. Science. This dicotomy was embodied in the characters of Jack and Locke. Jack, the stubborn skeptic holding fast to the victory of logic over mystery. Locke, the searching mystic, the fool who is ready to take a leap of faith at any sign of fate or a higher power.

Not only the characters reflect this dicotomy, but I believe the structure of the story, I.E.-The Seasons also are planned in accorance with the faith vs science theme.

1st season was the season of faith and wonder. How did the passengers survive the crash, what is the huge thing in the forest, what healed Lockes legs, what is the hatch? Season one provided question after question. One person seemed to, if not have an answer, have a beginning of an understanding of what was going on. John Locke. The audience of the show in the first season was John Locke, we knew that the plane crahsed for a reason, that fate was in control here, that the monster would be a wonderfull or horrifying sight, that the island was a place of spiritual power, and the key to that power rested in the hatch.

Thus, first season was the season of spirituality, of faith.

Then, the second season.
Almost every mysterious, spritiual question posed in season one was debunked by logic, and science(fringe science maybe, but still science). The hatch seemed to be a trap for the faith of John Locke. The mystical jungle man brought to being a monkey pressing a button. The monster presented itself in an odd form, that while still mysterious, was not as wonderful or as horrible as many believed it would be. And worse of all the crash of flight 815 seemed to be only the result of human error. In season 2 Jack, the man of science wins out over Locke. Jack is a leader to his people while Locke pays tribute to faith by pressing a button every 108 minutes.

Season 2 is the season of science and skepicsm.

And all faith is lost, both Locke's and many viewer's untill the last few moments of the season finale. It seems something may be guiding the hand of Locke and Ecko and Desmond. The button did have a purpose, and desmond takes a leap of faith activating the fail safe.

And so the structure of the theme of Science vs. Faith presents how is it interwoven into the plot of the show.

So we have:
Season 1-Faith
Season 2-Science

In season three so far we have seen both sides of the coin displayed. The other's camp showed us something strangely familiar in that of a quiet suburban neighbor hood. We've seen familiar technology, links to the outside world, a baseball game!! An air of wonder has been difused. The others present the embodiment of skepticsm and science.

However, we have seen Locke, rededicated, commune once again with the island, the hand of fate guiding him to Ecko and presumably to save Jack, Kate and sawyer. We've seen the new ability of desmond, who appears may be a christ figure. The three hatch guys on the beach are the embodiment and the revival of faith and sprituality on the island.

So:

Season 3: Faith vs. Science
I suspect we will be seeing a battle(of ideals or otherwise) this season, in a big way. Jack(probably joined up with the others) leading one side and Locke leading the other.

So seasons 1 and 2 set up there thesises(thesi?) being faith and science, respectivly. Season 3 will set these concepts us as each others antithesis.

What then for season 4-5? I believe there will be a synthesis of Ideals. Faith and science will be joined when the true nature of the Island presents itself. What this true nature is, I don't know. Nor do I specultate how the Ideals of faith and science will be joined. But using this line of thought of as a skeleton, I believe we can more successfully begin to speculate on the direction the story will take.

---
Whew. Hope thats not too long. Here's a wikipedia page on thesis, antithesis and synthesis-- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thesis,_antithesis,_synthesis

[bebopscat]

wow becca,
I love this thoery!

[Joop]

Johnny Oswego,
Preach it brotha

[Taylor]

Oswego...I dig it! Hope you're right!

As for a board/forum, has anyone considered or suggested phpBB? I've seen that work very well on other sites.

And I'm still trying to find out which first season ep features the Hawaiian ukelele version of "Somewhere Over the Rainbow". Anyone?!

[Johnny Oswego]

Taylor, I don't know where you can find it, but I'm pretty sure the artist for the version is Tiny Tim, that should probably narrow your search.

[Mike in the Box]

@ Taylor & Johnny Oswego,

that's a negative on "over the rainbow." the version that is being looked for is by Israel Kamakawiwo'ole, and can also be found on the soundtrack to the movie, "50 first dates." Unfortunately, I do not remember if the song was in an episode. Sorry.

[Kim]

I like your thinking, Johnny, except that I thought the first season was strongly Faith vs. Science as well, with the conflict between Jack and Locke. Season 2 did seem to be more heavily Science although Eko and Charlie were very into Faith for most of the season. Kate and Sawyer seem the least easily sorted of any of our Losties. I wonder which side they'd be on?

[Matt Jones]

Johnny Oswego,

All I can say to that is - NICE.

I think you'll find the cast rampant with big picture musings in the very near future. Now that we're three episodes deep we're starting to get a better feel for where they might be going with the season. Your post is certainly a good start.

My other favorite theory floating around in here is that Ecko's stick is actually some kind of coded map. And if I remember my spie flicks the bible verses are a common way to pass codes.

[sam]

yo, i so agree with the guy who sent in that e-mail after Sarah from CLIFORNIA!!! Brian literally said exactly what was on my mind. Dude, you are my hero.
Ohh, and by the way, it's not only the 18-35 age group that love this show. I'm a 16 year old kid who put a servay through my school, and all of my friends did the same thing through about 20 different schools through out norther california, and here are he result. Remember, this is for ages 13-18
LOST: 38%
24:29%
CSI:23%
Criminal Minds: 18%
Other: 10%
Cartoons: 2%
So it's not just the age of people who can vote, but the underaged people too. Just wanted to let you guys know that LOST aint just diein, it just keeps on fightin!!

-Sam

[sam]

I can see it now, a line of U-Hauls heading of Humble County California

[Jon W]

Another Forum suggestion is

http://www.invisionplus.net/

[Taylor]

@ Mike in the Box: I swear it was in an ep...I remember when my wife and I found the song on iTunes, we got all excited because we recognized it from LOST. HMmmm....

[Drynn_03]

The only songs I recall are the couple that hurly listened to before his batteries died. The one hurly and sayid picked up with the reciever. Inside the hatch you had Desmonds, then there were a couple times that hurly and charley were listening to the record player. This season opened with Juliet listening to a cd. Beyond that there has been music on a couple flashbacks, But I too do not ever remember hearing any version of Over the Rainbow.

[Matt Jones]

Over the Rainbow rings a bell with me. I think we used it as an intro to a podcast. Maybe the one where we speculated about the Henry Gale/Oz connection.

[Nash]

Why John Locke = Luke Skywalker
http://www.ew.com/ew/article/commentary/0,6115,1550210_3_0_,00.html

tonight's tease from Carlton Cuse:
Who are the two most important women in Sawyer's life?

great excerpt:
Estimated chance that Desmond used electromagnetic energy to reincarnate himself: 0%. Please. What happened was this: The Hatch never exploded or imploded or whatever on its own. When Desmond turned the key, he was doused with knock-out gas, and approximately 100 Dharma Initiative Oompa-Loompas scurried out from their underground hiding places and dragged Locke, Eko, and Desmond clear of the wreckage. Then they blew up the Hatch, catapulted the hatch door into the sky and triggered some loud and flashy special effects for the benefit of the rest of the island. Then they implanted hypnotic suggestions into Locke's head (''Make a big speech about going to save Jack...''), Eko's head (''When you hear Locke apologize, mumble some stuff about saving his friends...''), and Desmond's head (''You're going to have visions of the future, beginning with John's big speech...''). Then, they put Eko in the polar bear cave, stripped Desmond naked, flung the Jesus Stick into the sky, and woke up them all up as they ran back into hiding.

[Drynn_03]

is it just me or did we not get an Official Lost Podcast this week?

[Cihan]

Interesting about the new Jesus stick, I hope it pays off and isnt just something for the fans, I like a bit of continuity in my TV these days.

I'm preferring the first 3 episodes of season 1 and 2 compared to this season at the moment, feels slower than usual, more padded to stretch the story to the 24 episodes. The more I think about it, the less I liked the last Locke episode too. Really wish ABC would bring the episode count down a bit instead of the usual 24. Would be good for the writers, better more compact story for viewers and would hopefully leave us with no breaks too.

As for Desmond. Do we really think the writers are going to explain his ability with an elaborate explanation? It'll be wrapped up by some throwaway line by Charlie and then there will be another issue bugging us immensely.

I love Lost, really.

[Ailsa]

Hey. Love the podcast. Although I noticed you didn't mention that Desmond's comments in the stadium regarding Jack's wife could be a sign of him seeing into the future pre-hatch explosion...? This would imply that it was a factor before he came to the island, and we know psychic ability is studied by Hanso/Dharma.... perhaps making him a target for experimentation, maybe he was brought deliberately due to this, not because Widmore wanted rid of him....any thoughts?

[Drynn_03]

NM, they just released a 6 min interview with EKO, no DL or CC.

Description from the Official Lost Podcast

"Every Man For Himself" (10/25/06): Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje discusses the challenges of playing his character, Mr. Eko. Executive Producers Damon Lindelof and Carlton Cuse are away this week.

[Sobaika]

Apparently you're not the only ones who saw the Srar Wars connection:

http://www.ew.com/ew/article/commentary/0,6115,1550210_3_0_,00.html

[Cihan]

I was thinking about most viewers believing that Mike from Locke's flashback looked alot like Zeke and were in some way related, and then I remembered my theory from last season:

"I brightened the band photo and I swear the guy in the top right is actually a younger Zeke. Zeke, Gerald and Karen DeGroot were in the band Geronimo Jackson together as a side hobby while studying at the University Of Michigan together. It would make sense that they'd bring one of their own records to the island while working there. The fact that we, the viewers, see an inexplicably random introduction to this fictional band and later in the same episode see Zeke, proves to me that he was in actual fact in that band and a friend to the DeGroots. The writers hit us with the simple foreshadowing/payoff method and most of us just didnt see it."

NOW: people are thinking Mike and Zeke are related and AGAIN we see Geronimo Jackson. I really think I'm onto something here...

[Mike in the Box]

@ Cihan, can you post that lightened pic, i would love to see this. Thanks.

[Kathy aka Fangirl]

Happy Lost Day!

[Tommy]

stfu Kathy.

And Cihan, do you actually believe the crap that you post!?

[Taylor]

@ Drynn and Matt - No character was listening to it...it was playing during one of those slo-mo everyone's-on-the-beach sequences...I am certain of it.

Matt, ask around the LostCasters and see if they recall anything. If I've got to watch a couple eps a day to find it, I will. I know it's out there. :)

[Drynn_03]

Here is yor song list featured on Lost...

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

Don't see your song...

[Matt Jones]

Tommy,

Was your father a fucktard as well? Perhaps your mother? Based on your posts I have to assume that one or both of them had to have been massively fucktarded to create a fucktard of your magnitude. I'm not trying to be insulting. It's just that I find the genetic component of fucktardisim to be fascinating. I'm actually preparing a thesis. I have a feeling you would make an excellent case study.

[Joop]

dudes, forget it.
try over the rainbow by Joe Satriani
it rocks

[Joop]

Ha Ha
tommy can you hear me?
You're a dick!

[Kathy aka Fangirl]

Fucktard is one of my favorite words. *crushes on Matt Jones for using it repeatedly*

Has anyone entertained the theory that the bones and toys in the cave resulted in escapees for the Dharma group (Pearl hatch specifically) living in the caves and that maybe this polar bear moved in afterward? OR that maybe Ekko was dragged their by humans living in the caves and that the polar bear was all in John's head? No one else seems to have seen this particular polar bear and John was on some heavy trippy drugs. It would explain why Ekko wasn't mauled.

[Nash]

Map makers, get out your erasers! I thought Ben told Ethan and Goodwin to "run" and embed themselves with the two groups of Losties in the first episode this season. Since the chance of an underwater tunnel between islands of that size is pretty small, that must mean that Othersville is on Lost Island. So what's the purpose of Alcatraz Island? Do both islands have mysterious properties?

[Matt Lafferty]

What we learned tonight:
--Sawyer likes a girl a lot.
--Ben has plans to kill Sawyer, eventually.
--The zinger which hopefully would propell the next two episodes was that the Hydra is off-island, presumably.
--The Sawyer flashback told us he's always a con. Duh. I enjoy a good lovey-dovey Sun and Jin flashback, but the Sawyer flashback wasn't very useful or dramatically compelling. Although it does tell us he's ready to sell out to the man.
--Desmond is clairvoyant. About Claire.