It had to happen sooner or later with our busy schedules, but we've got some issues getting everyone together this weekend. Robert and I (John) are both out of town, so we're going to move the podcast for season 4, episode 3 of LOST, The Economist, to next weekend. Of course, that means you get a double-header next weekend.
I apologize for those of you anxiously awaiting the podcast, but we'll be back next weekend. Post your comments and thoughts on this last episode here, on the LOSTCasts fan message board, or send us an email!
Stay LOST.
WOO HOO LOOK AT ME IM THE FIRST ONE TO POST!!! YOU GUYZ SUCK IT SEEMS LIKE SOMEONE IS ALWAYS OUT OF TOWN I WANT MY PODCAST BITCHES
Posted by: beezinator | February 15, 2008 at 10:42 AM
Does anyone think the "Economist" that Sayid was supposed to kill will become an essential figure to the series or is merely another person on what I assume is Ben's hit list?
Posted by: cardon | February 15, 2008 at 10:53 AM
Personally I think the economist will not be important later.....
I want to talk about Ben's list. Who are these people? Ben asked Sayid if he wanted to protect his friends which indicates that the survivors of flight 815 remain on the island and it was only the Oceanic 6 who make it off. Furthermore, Ben and the survivors (or at least the Oceanic 6) have some agreement -- they are trying to protect the island from either being discovered or exploited. But I wonder if this is just a relationship between Ben and Sayid or a relationship among everyone. One thing is clear: Ben has not changed, not will. Maybe he manipulated Sayid into doing his bidding. The episode was particularly telling as it addressed some time/island issues like time distortion and showed that Ben has been off the island on multiple occasions. And like all Lost episodes raised more questions than answered: Why would Ben leave the island? Why is Sayid a hit man? What threat awaits the island form the people on the list?
Posted by: JakeG | February 15, 2008 at 11:12 AM
Congratulations, beezinator for setting the bar so incredibly low. The conversation can only go up from there.
Random thoughts:
So Ben really likes his lists. On the island, his lists seemed to be based on who was "good" (remember Goodwin saying that way-back-when). Off the island, the list is apparently those who are bad. We get a view of Ben's secret room, with lots of different outfits, passports, and currencies of every kind. Though, in the flash-forward, Ben is posing as, what, a veterinarian???
Why did Sayid rub his hands in ice/snow after dumping the cell phone?
Gotta say, the episodes just get more and more intriguing now. Remember, Sayid said (of Ben): "Forgive me, John, but the day I start trusting him (Ben) is the day I will have sold my soul."
So I guess it got sold at some point after escaping the island, huh?
It's strange, the rest of the Oceanic Six seem to be revered as celebrities, yet when the golfer finds out about Sayid, he looks like he's about to crap his pants.
"Oh great. The boat sent us another Sawyer." GREAT line by Hurley.
Once again, Kate annoys me. Unless this is some sort of spy game she's playing, she needs to pick a side and stick with it for a whole friggin' season.
So Desmond's on the helicopter (which, until we see otherwise, is the helicopter that Desmond saw airlifting Claire in his premonition -- did he ever say it was Clair AND Aaron? Just curious...). Not being in the Oceanic manifest, I would guess he's not part of the Oceanic Six. Wonder how Des' time-swiss-cheesed brain will handle being in in the normalverse for a while.
So time travels slower on the island? Anyone want to break out a calculator and figure, based on how much time was lost in just Faraday's experiment, how much time has been lost in the duration the Lost series so far from the outside world? The outside world may think they've been missing for months? Years? Does the time-slippage grow exponentially the longer you're on the island? Faraday was very explicit in his "maintain the same bearing" mandate. But why? Wouldn't it mean they'd just circle right back onto the island in the snowglobe theory? Or does he think something much worse would occur?
Anyone think there may be multiple Ben's existing in multiple places at multiple times on Earth? That MIGHT explain why Bea asked Michael long ago if Walt had ever exhibited signs of being in multiple places at once. It might also explain why Ben let them off the island. I, too, think that we'll find Michael/Walt on that boat, and the whole time-paradox on and off island will help explain the obvious aging in Walt since last we saw him.
Hmmm... So far, loving this season. :-)
Posted by: Rok | February 15, 2008 at 11:14 AM
So glad you guys are podcasting again that I don't mind the wait (even though I'm dying to hear it!)
Very interested to hear what everyone thinks of the missing/moved Jacob cabin. So much happened last night that I almost forgot about it.
Does it move? Was it torn down? Is there more than one? Can Locke only see it when he's alone? Was Hurley right last episode when he said that it was in the other direction? The powder ring was still there, so I would think that the cabin must have been there at some point. Bizarre. I love it!
Posted by: HandyAndy | February 15, 2008 at 11:16 AM
Very good episode last night:
@HandyAndy - maybe the cabin is a miniature island - or an island within the island, in that it changes its position, or even exists at a faster/slower time than the rest of the island... interesting.
What about the hidden room in Ben's house? What would it matter to have all of those sets of clothes & passports hidden, it didn't seem like he was being investigated by the rest of his team. Not sure why that was there... but very interesting.
Posted by: Burnt72 | February 15, 2008 at 11:34 AM
Hey guys thought i would add my thoughts o this latest episode,and ive got too say i am very dissapointed. haing just started to use flash forward I was fully convinced that the writers would have had much better ideas than wtf ben is off the island. I have so many grievances with this ep its un freking believable, it seems like each episode just ends on pointless cliffhagers wow the got on the chopper and took off wow they might get too the ship. I cant think off any true lost fan that actually care about any of that stuff. Sayid that that archaeologist wome go too the four toed statue and ask her what period its from, simple!!! Anyways i could write here for hours about why season 4 looks certain to be the worst season yet. Peace nath
Posted by: Nathan | February 15, 2008 at 11:41 AM
@Nathan: Charlotte Lewis is a cultural anthropologist and would not likely be able to answer that question.
Posted by: JakeG | February 15, 2008 at 11:48 AM
On the time issue:
I would like to know why it was so important that Lapidus follow the exact same bearing/heading. It was only after Daniel learned about the time issue that he gave that warning to Lapidus. What's that about?
Posted by: Courtney | February 15, 2008 at 11:50 AM
@jake I would still ask her
Posted by: Nathan | February 15, 2008 at 11:55 AM
Lapidus needs to follow the exact same bearing because the island is still exhibiting its odd magnetic properties that make electronic devices act oddly (remember, we need to recalibrate your gps).
And be sure to fill the tank back up... I'd think the transition into the island's time warp may have something to do with burning most of your fuel.
Too bad they took Naiomi back... I was hoping for proof of the "smokey animates corpses" idea.
I'm really enjoying the freighties. Daniel's rainman-esque mannerisms and Miles' general Sawyer-ness... good stuff.
Posted by: Unofficial Brian | February 15, 2008 at 12:08 PM
Well, Nathan, if it matters at all, speaking on behalf of two "true" Lost fans (myself and my wife), we completely, utterly disagree with your perspective on this season so far, and last night's episode.
Posted by: Rok | February 15, 2008 at 12:33 PM
Did anyone else start humming the Jurasic Park theme as the helicopter was flying away at the end? Just me? Okay, I thought so.
Posted by: Kathy aka Fangirl | February 15, 2008 at 12:39 PM
Lost is not kind to lovers, especially on Valentine's Day. For the second straight year, our beloved crypto-drama has aired an episode on February 14. And for the second straight year, Cupid was kicked in the nuts. Last year, in the trippy time-travel tale ''Flashes Before Your Eyes,'' Desmond toggled back to his breakup with Penelope, just to break up with her all over again. Last night, in ''The Economist,'' Flash-Forward Sayid fell for a woman he shouldn't have, and ultimately broke her heart — with two bullets to the chest. (To be fair, the femme fatale shot him first.) These things happen when you play secret-agent assassin for Germany's most morally ambiguous veterinarian — Benjamin Linus. Yes, you read that right. In his off-Island future as a member of the Oceanic 6, the former Iraqi torturer smokes European fat cats for über-Other Ben, who in his off-Island future has a croaky, low phone voice (All the better to delay the last-scene reveal of my true identity, my dear!), runs a pet hospital in Berlin, and manages a global conspiracy on the side. The Man With 1000 Passports has a whole list of bad people he wants dead, ''people [who] don't deserve our sympathies,'' as he told Sayid. Note to Ben's customers: Pay that doggy-grooming bill on time!
The episode's title, ''The Economist,'' was a reference to the job allegedly held by Sayid's current target, a powerful mystery man whose name went conspicuously unmentioned. It also suggested a key for reading the story. This was an episode about ''bosses'' and ''senior management'' and the minions who toil for them; about trade negotiations and merger proposals; about recession fears and hostile-takeover threats. It was a snapshot look at the information economy that shapes everything on Lost, one where secrets and inside information are valuable currencies, with hostages and guns running close behind. It was also an episode about the internal corruption that occurs when romantic idealists are forced to become cutthroat businessmen. (Literally.) As Daniel Plainview says in his other famous line from There Will Be Blood, ''I feel a competition in me.'' In his own damned way, I bet Sayid can relate.
Who's The Boss? Or where's the boss? That's what Locke was asking as he led his tribe of freighter fraidy cats to where Jacob's cabin should have been, only to discover that his house of sprits had disappeared from its circle of ash/salt/kitty litter. Abandoned by his Island god, Locke looked, yes, lost, and banged-up Ben was quick to jump all over that: ''He's looking for someone to tell him what to do next,'' the devilish Other told Locke's disgruntled flock. With Hurley showing signs of instigating a shareholder rebellion over the Charlotte-hostage issue, CEO Locke squelched the dissidence and shored up his office by playing the fear card, brow-beating Hurley with some tough talk about the cost of compromise. Did Flash-Forward Hurley's regret over choosing Locke over Jack begin here?
The Negotiating Committee Meanwhile, in Happy Helicopter Valley, the Jack Pack negotiated the terms of rescue with freighter fellas Daniel Faraday (twitchy physicist), Frank Lapidus (bushy-faced pilot), and Miles Straum (angry young ghost whisperer), who, of course, may not be there to rescue them at all. The shifty trio made it clear they weren't flying anywhere without C.S. Lewis (Charlotte edition), so Sayid stepped up and said he'd hike to the Dharma barracks and negotiate her release. Jack wanted to come, but given how the good doctor tried to shoot Locke in the face the last time they squared off, Sayid thought he should stay behind, lest the deal-making devolve into one of those protracted bargaining battles marked by phlegmatic rhetoric, heavy-handed tactics, and unreasonable demands over digital downloads.
Control Freak Jack got a proxy at the table, however, by sending Kate with Sayid and Miles. He felt her presence would give Sayid more leverage, as Locke wouldn't dare attempt any underhanded knife-in-back stuff, not with moony Sawyer there to play bodyguard. Yeah, you could say it was a contrived way to set up the possibility of more sex scenes between the old Hydra humpers. Still, it felt like classic Jack emotional dunderheadedness. You could tell Kate wasn't thrilled with Jack treating her like a pawn on a chessboard, and my hunch is that what we really saw in the moment was the beginning of her dawning realization that as much as she may dig Jack's cheese, he's got a lot more getting over himself to do before they can have a flash-forward future together, much less swap valentines and spit.
Acquisitions... Arriving at the Dharma barracks — or, more recently, New Otherton — Sayid, Miles, and Kate found Hurley tied up in the closet, allegedly left behind by Locke. It was a trap, one that exploited Sayid's soft spot for his friends and loved ones, a fatal flaw that makes both him and Hurley the most easily manipulated of the castaways. I thought Sayid should have seen through this ruse, and his failure to do so continued a dubious tradition of super-soldier Sayid not living up to his Republican Guard pedigree. (No wonder we beat those guys in three days.) Maybe I'm selling him short. Sayid was probably content to let Locke play and win his little mousetrap games, just as long as he sealed the deal he had come to make. I think he knew he would: His package was much too appealing. He offered Locke a hostage swap — Miles for Charlotte — plus himself. Sayid had come around to Locke's belief that the freighter people are nothing but bad news. His master plan, he told Locke, was to infiltrate the freighter and gather intel — corporate espionage. Locke was sold.
…and Mergers Meanwhile, as upper management haggled in the billiard room, Kate and Sawyer caucused in Ben's bedroom. The shaggy rogue explained that he has no intention of leaving the Island because there was nothing but a prison sentence waiting for him back in the real world, and since Kate was looking at the same fate, hey, why not stay with him? Kate was dubious: ''How long, Sawyer? How long do you think we can play house?'' Saywer was bold: ''Why don't we find out?'' I was impressed with the former con man's risky emotional frankness. I was also intrigued by the fact that this scene took place in Ben's bedroom, with all those tribal masks all over the place. Hmmmm…honesty and masks — hey, that sounds like a possible allusion to another work by Charlotte's namesake, C.S. Lewis: Till We Have Faces is a retelling of the mythical Cupid and Psyche love story, told from the point of view of Psyche's jealous sister. In the book, Lewis argues that you can't commune with the divine or experience supernatural possibilities until you drop your corrupt false self — your mask — and get your moral character in order. (Yo, Locke: Now you know why you keep losing your mystical connection to the Island. You're just not good enough.) Anyhoo, Sawyer's you-complete-me pitch may have swayed Kate, because she didn't return to Happy Helicopter Valley with Sayid and Charlotte. The ''I blew it'' look that passed across Jack's face when Sayid told him the news was pretty priceless; it reminded me of House of Meetings, Martin Amis' novel about brothers in love with the same woman, who go from being stuck in a Soviet gulag to struggling to return to ordinary life — very Oceanic 6. But I'm probably digressing.
Petty Cash Drawer I'm betting that the scene you'll be talking about the most on the message boards — besides the Ben flash-forward reveal — is the nifty moment when Sayid discovered Ben's secret stash of passports, foreign currency, and suits. Clearly, Ben does a lot of traveling for work. (Remember, the Others do have that off-Island company, Mittelos Biosciences; presumably, Ben is the boss.) Long ago, I wondered if the Others had an airstrip on the Island, so I wouldn't be surprised to discover Ben has a corporate jet, too — plus a hangar full of old Oceanic airplane parts. You know, leftovers from the false evidence that the Others planted in the Sunda Trench. (Just a theory.) Now, if you're going to go all crazy on me and claim that the multiple passports and husky-voiced Flash-Forward Ben are evidence that there multiple Bens in the world thanks to alternate universe/wormhole theory, I'm in! (FYI: The name on the Ben passport Sayid examined looked to be Dean Moriarty — a character from Jack Kerouac's On the Road. Moriarty is also the name of Sherlock Holmes' nemesis. Just so you know.)
Deficit Spending Another scene I bet you'll be going nutty over was the one where Daniel Faraday did his rocket experiment, which concluded with his admittedly ''beyond weird'' discovery of an apparent 31-minute time differential between freighter reality and Island reality, where time seems to pass more slowly. What does this mean? I don't know — but I immediately went to barnesandnoble.com and purchased Stephen Hawking's Brief History of Time so you guys can borrow it, read it, and then summarize it for me while I eat grapes and watch Big Brother. Seriously, I'm crunching theories, but it takes time for me to do quantum physics. It takes me mere seconds, however, to do some cheap biblical analysis! Did you see the numbers on Daniel's clocks? One said 3:16, while the other said 2:45. As it happens, Daniel 2:45 is the culmination of the story in which exiled Daniel earned an exalted place in King Nebuchadnezzar's court by interpreting a dream concerning the future of Babylon and how ''the fourth kingdom will be a divided kingdom.'' Hey — that sounds like the fourth season of Lost! Meanwhile, Daniel 3:16 is part of the famous story of how Daniel's friends Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego were thrown in the fiery furnace but were saved by God. How might that apply to Lost? Well, thematically, the story deals with three men who refused to abandon their spiritual beliefs and bow down before a false idol — a story that stands in stark contrast to Sayid's flash-forward arc.
The Sell-Out In the opening scenes of ''The Economist,'' we were given two quick, quiet moments that re-established two very important things about Sayid. First, we saw him praying. Sayid, if you recall, is a spiritual man, a Muslim. Second, we saw him tenderly shut dead Naomi's eyes and examine her bracelet, inscribed with ''N., I'll be with you always, R.C.'' Sayid, recall, is a romantic (see: Nadia; Shannon), and I bet that his desire that Naomi be sent home for a proper burial appealed to his religious convictions and sentimentality. Yet in his flash-forward future, Sayid ain't exactly living according to those ideals. In fact, like James Bond, his license-to-kill existence makes a mockery of the sanctity of life and love. Sayid remains sufficiently decent in the future that when it was finally time to move against the Economist, he came clean with Elsa, as he had genuinely fallen for her. But then she pulled a Casino Royale on him: It turned out she was an undercover lover, too, seducing him in hopes of smoking out Ben's identity. Elsa was Sayid's mirror twin, and to make sure we got it, Sayid smashed a mirror reflection of his Lady From Shanghai doppelgänger before popping some caps into her.
After Sayid stumbled into Ben's safe house/vet office for some first aid, his boss mocked him for his weakness. Then Ben dropped this intriguing tidbit: ''Need I remind you what happened the last time you thought with your heart instead of your gun.'' Sayid's response was even more mysterious: ''You used that girl to recruit me into killing for you.'' But Ben the master manipulator hit him where it hurts the most: the bottom line. ''Do you want to protect your friends or not?'' Sayid looked like a man over a barrel. What did he say about Ben earlier in the episode? ''The day I start trusting him is the day I sell my soul.''
Welcome to Hell, Sayid. Now get that game face on — there's work to be done.
That's what I got. How about you? Do you have a theory about the identity of the Economist? Who is the ''R.C.'' on Naomi's bracelet? (Regina the freighter chick?) Who are these names on Ben's assassination list? Scribble away!
Posted by: ''Lost'': St. Valentine's Day Massacre | February 15, 2008 at 01:25 PM
I found a somewhat creepy similarity between "The Economist" and a book that I am only about 100 pages into, "Gravity's Rainbow" by Thomas Pynchon. The book involves testing on dogs like what appears to be the case in the episode last night? Has anyone read this book all the way through to help shed some light?
I am a first time poster but wanted to say how much I love the podcast - thanks for all of the time and effort that you all put into it!
Also - Keep Tasha!!!
Posted by: agentdalecooper | February 15, 2008 at 01:34 PM
@rok I respect that many people will be more than happy with the new series but ot me. I watch my seasons 1-3 dvds before the start of this one and its just so blatet that stadard have slipped. If you remeber the flashbacks were always integeral to what was going on, on the island. Maybe this ep went straight over my head or maybe the brilliance of the show is its own downfall I dot kown but is seems like each episode is less of a story in itself but rather they are trying to expand the whole story into areas that yes we have ot been expecting but for me it just misses the poit of why we were watchig in the first place. One thing that made me think this was when locke asked ben about the monster and he said he didnt know what it was, seems like the whole monster thing is being if not forgotten but definatly a shift in the focus of the show. I would have preffered if the losties had discovered more about the island before we start getting other story info. Enjoy reading you replys. Peace nath
Posted by: Nathan | February 15, 2008 at 02:14 PM
Sayid probably wants his love "Shannon" to come back to life since a time portal seems to have emerged as a possibilty. And he will kill for Ben to do it. The two dead people buried in the sand from last year will probably pop back too. With each episode, I am beginning to think that we have all made this more complicated than it really is. Two years ago, I thought Ben could play with long term results of time by manipulating the lives of new born babies over and over again. But, now I am leaning towards something simple like all of this will be a dream in Hurley's head in a mental hospital. When the creators started this series, they probably thought they had two seasons at best. But, with it's popularity, they must have had an "Uh oh moment" when they realized it was popular and the life span had to be greatly lengthened. We wasted so much time with drug lords in Africa, life in Japan with our married couple and Charlie's relationship with his dad. I really think the creators have to speed it up. The base was laid over three years. Let's start the landing and get this plane on the ground. One thing I learned .... thank God for the DVR and the fast forward button!
Posted by: K | February 15, 2008 at 03:13 PM
Oops ... I meant "Jack's" relationship with his dad. I keep remembering his as Charlie from "Party of Five". By the way ... if this show is cancelled before it can end, won't we all feel silly. If Hurley or Jack dies in real life, it's all wasted Thursday nights!
Posted by: K | February 15, 2008 at 03:19 PM
This flashforwarding is bold filmmaking and Lost remains the most innovative and entertaining show on TV.
What I've appreciated most so far is the fact that these characters havent changed since crashing on the island. They're truly stuck in a dharmic cycle of suffering, if you will.
Someone on another board mentioned a very exciting idea: Ben's list is going to end up with Sun's dad on it, and if we're lucky, we'll get a Sayid v Jin conflict. Yeah baby. :D
Anyway, loved this episode, loving this season and am mindf**ked by the 'payload' incident. I'm reading various theories on boards, but I suck with numbers. Still, its all very interesting. Seeing the island as an igloo is the best I can do.
Posted by: Cihan | February 15, 2008 at 03:23 PM
I'm trying desperately to wrap my head around Daniel's Multiple Clocks experiment. First off, I really wish Daniel would have confirmed the time he had on his clock with the time Regina had on the Freighter before ever launching the Payload. If the Island is fundamentally displaced in time, wouldn't a comparison between Daniel's clock and a clock on the Freighter have been sufficient to establish this disconnect? Daniel's clock made a trip from Freighter to Island just like the Payload did, right? Why would the time shift only affect one of the clocks sent to the island?
But than, if the Island is fundamentally displaced in time, than why did Daniel and Regina's sat phone conversation go so smoothly? Shouldn't there have been a delay if the Island itself is off relative to the Freighter? I don't think it's the Island itself that's off (i.e. 90 days on the island is 90 days in the real world), it seems to be something about the journey that's just a little wonky here.
I'm just confusing myself here. Anyone have any ideas?
Posted by: Craig | February 15, 2008 at 03:24 PM
I posted this over on the forum as well. This is my current theory:
There is a type of force field (not sure how else to describe it) around the island that slows time down on the island. This is why women keep dying during pregnancy because the fetus are developing at a different pace because of the time difference and their bodies can't handle the inconsistency.
The hatch regulated the time inconsistency. When it blew, the field was effected thus making the sky turn purple. Because Desmond was so close now he is have time inconsistencies.
Passing thru the barrier is what causes the crashes (Black Rock, Danielle's boat, the hot air balloon, Desmond's boat, Naomi's helicopter). There is a gap in the field that allows people to travel through it which is why Daniel was so specific about staying on the path, why Michael and Walt got specific directions.
The reason the phone conversations don't have the delay is because sound waves can pass freely though the gap.
Walt is now older looking because more time has pasted off island.
"Only fools are enslaved by time and space" is referring to people who are not able to figure out a way to pass through the barrier.
Posted by: Kathy aka Fangirl | February 15, 2008 at 03:27 PM
Don't forget: Submarines get through it too. So, why "Exact Bearrings"?
Posted by: K | February 15, 2008 at 03:33 PM
Hi,
I want to make clear that the actress playing Elsa, is dutch. That means she's from The Netherlands. That means she isn't German.
(Americans mess up on that point way too often)
When I saw her in the last episode I cept thinking where I had scene her before in the series. Then I realised that I know her from the movie "De tweeling" ("the twin"). That's quite a good WWII movie about a twin who get's saperated at an early age. One half of the twins grows up in the Netherlands and falls in love with a jew. The other half grows up in Germany and falls in love with an SS officer.
(i'm dutch, and dyslectic, so my spelling will probably be wrong at some places, sry)
Posted by: vera | February 15, 2008 at 03:48 PM
@KATHY AKA FANGIRL (and anyone interested)
'Force field' might be the best way to describe it. I still don't think that the Island itself is on a different timeline than the real world. It's passing through this external field that's resulting in wonky clocks and other odd happenings. Daniel and the Payload's failure to match up is probably due to the fact that Daniel and the Payload each came to the Island on different bearings. Still can't explain Walt's aging though, which has got to be related to this.
On the other hand though, I disagree that this is something related to the Other's innability to bear children. That, I believe, may be some sort of manifstation of Ben's own Mother issues via the island.
Posted by: Craig | February 15, 2008 at 03:53 PM
Subs can either go under it or they have the bearings to go through the barrier.
Posted by: Kathy aka Fangirl | February 15, 2008 at 03:59 PM
I have a crazy theory - what if the island is basically the equivalent of a "particle" in a "particle accelerator" (e.g., lab or some ship on earth) of sorts and is traveling at or near light speed? According to Einstein, objects moving at light speed experience a slowdown in time - this would explain Faraday's discovery with the payload. There is also a note about twins in this theory (one twin leaves earth and when he returns from his light speed travels he is younger than his twin who stayed on earth) - maybe a Bad Twin tie in? Perhaps Ben has a twin who remained in earth time and is older and is trying to find/kill him? Maybe that is Jacob.
This concept of the light speed accelerator would also create a magnetic field and explain the light distortion. Maybe the button was the mechanism to ensure that energy continues to be given so that the process continues - when they stopped pushing it, the island slowed down enough for someone to notice it, until the fail safe was turned. Why would someone set something like this up? To put people on it and buy time to figure out how to fix the upcoming end of the world, which has already started. If the earth is going to end in 5 years, and you have no clue how to solve it, what better way to buy time than to create an environment where time travels slower so you can figure out what to do.
Perhaps Jacob and his cabin are actually on earth and every so often the cabin appears when the island particle collides with the cabin's location on earth. The powder just marks one of the locations where it is known to appear every so often.
815 probably just collided with the island at the right place/time (remember Ben was surprised).
Might also explain the polar bear skeleton.
I know it is crazy - thoughts?
Posted by: Lost Addict | February 15, 2008 at 04:34 PM
I was convinced that, just for the sheer mind-explodingly ridiculousness of it all, that Sayid's boss was going to be Jack's dad!
Posted by: David | February 15, 2008 at 04:59 PM
I think it's bizarre that Jack asks Frank if the Red Sox really won the World Series, and that Frank's reaction is "Oh, don't get me started on the Yankees!" rather than, "How did you know that they won? You have TV here?" And Jack doesn't notice that Frank didn't question it either, unless his "I can't believe it's been 100 days since I've seen a game" was tongue-in-cheek, almost goading Frank to ask him. This makes me think that Frank knows more than he's letting on (duh), and just wasn't thinking fast enough to respond appropriately. A minor point, I know, but it caught my attention.
Posted by: Amanda | February 15, 2008 at 06:13 PM
so were naomi and elsa both working for the same person? I be that's why they were alluding to them having the same bracelet. were the initials RG or RC?
Posted by: lmnop | February 15, 2008 at 06:54 PM
First! I did it again!
Posted by: Smookey | February 15, 2008 at 09:49 PM
Kathy,
Amusing comment about Jurassic Park! I personally found the music reminding me of when the raft took off at the end of season 1... finally, someone was free of the island! But lest we forget, they were free for a few hours....
Lost Addict,
I agree with you that there certainly is something Einsteinian (Einsteinish?) with the time disconnect. While watching the episode, I had made the comment that "time is a constant," which of course it is not: time is effected by gravity. That being the case, how much gravity does it take to warp or slow time? It clearly isn't like that of another planet--Jack, Kate, et al aren't pushed down to the ground and unable to walk, or that sort of heavy gravity!
I think, though, that from a dramatic point of view they are on thin ice regarding the time issue. Personally, even if they get Stephen Hawkings to explain a storyline where the 100 days on the island equal 3 years outside the island, it will come off as a tad cheap--sort of writers' trick to say "and so the story was magically moved forward."
In closing, I think that the flash fowards thus far have been wonderful--with Sayid's a cut above the rest. The basic premise of Lost was always "who are these people and how did they get here," both in a physical and internal sense. Personally, part of the flaw of last season was that the flashbacks were no longer pertinant--we had sufficiently answered the "who" and "how" questions. The absolutely enthralling thing about the flashfowards are that these questions are once again on the table. Sayid in the past and present (present being the island) I understand: he's a man with blood on his hands from the past, but nonetheless a trustworthy, reliable, and realistic. But future Sayid, a trapped, cold-blooded, broken killer? I can't wait to see how his life unfolds.
And lastly, Naveen Andrews' acting in the scene where he gets shot is some of the finest acting in the series. His transformation from lovey-dovey stud muffin to assassin was superb.
Posted by: Matt Lafferty | February 16, 2008 at 12:03 AM
If there is a 31 minute time difference between the island and off island, as demonstrated by Daniel's experiment. Then why is this time difference is not experienced by the electromagnetic waves between the radios on the island and freighter? Both the conversations and the beaming to and from the freighter of the GPS positions of the helicopter party seem to experience no such time difference... I do hope this is not an oversight by the LOST writers.
Posted by: Pigeonholed-Physicist | February 16, 2008 at 02:25 AM
Only just learned of this today: Dharma logo in the beginning of Cloverfield.
http://images.lostpedia.com/images/6/6d/Cloverfieldlost.jpg
Drew Goddard has stated vaguely there might be a connection between Lost and Cloverfield...
Interrresting...
Posted by: Cihan | February 16, 2008 at 11:16 AM
Amanda's comment about the Red Sox World Series win and all the speculation about time dilation/variation sparked an interesting if rhetorical question for me. When Jack asked Frank about the Red Sox win ... do you think Frank thought he was asking about 2007? or 2004? Frank would know (I assume) that Jack would have been on the island for both (if in fact it is 2007 or later off the island) but does Frank know Jack meant 2004? The '100 days' since a game comment would reveal that, unless he's watching games on the island ... but who knows. Also very curious what Sayid offered Locke for Charlotte. Seems like it had to be more than Miles, since Locke already had both of them ... could it have been something to do with Kate? We didn't get to see Kate "decide to stay."
Posted by: Boomer | February 16, 2008 at 12:00 PM
Boomer,
GREAT theory! If the writers do have some sort of time loop plan, then the 07 Sox certainly would feed into that nicely... just as many of us are presuming that the 2004 tsunami must hit the island (it's writers' gold in my mind).
Come to think of it, should a tsunami hit the island, it might serve as a barometer of sorts for the time loop theory: if the freighties are from post-2004, and they know reliably about the time shift issue (ie they know exactly that it is, say, February 16, 2008 on the boat but December 23rd 2004 on the island), then you can bet all your Dharma beer that the freighties are going to say "happy early Christmas, now we're going to go waaaay up that mountain for a few days!"
Posted by: Matt Lafferty | February 16, 2008 at 01:23 PM
The last two survivors of the oceanic 6 will be claire and aaron.
In the "next week on Lost" scenes, you can spot claire with beautifully done up hair. I only assume that aaron is the other one, because we will obviously learn about them together in the same flash forward, and with the formula the writers are working with now, if it were two unrelated characters (like sun and claire for instance) they would each need their own episode because their flash forwards wouldn't follow parallel.
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2166/2269954404_dfa70ebc83_b.jpg
peace.
-Jonathan
Posted by: Jonathan | February 16, 2008 at 04:37 PM
Jonathan, is that a spoiler or speculation? Because if that was a spoiler, you need to put a warning on that. Not everyone wants to know before the episode. If that's just a guess, you should probably state that before you put that first sentence up.
Posted by: Kathy aka Fangirl | February 17, 2008 at 02:22 AM
GREAT EPISODE!!!
Some thougts:
Time is slower in the island, kind of make's me remind of the Peter Pan's island of the LOST boys! I remember seeing on peter pan's movie were he is mutch older and comes back to the island... just like Ben leave the island! Ben is mutch older than the others that were on the island, maybe because sometimes he leaved the island for some time and each time he did that would came back older to the island!
Jacob house is gonne... every episode i keep thinking that Hurley is not crazy, its not lucky/unlucky, etc etc... I think he is very powerfull, so powerfull that he can make things appear/dissaper, happen/not happen ...dude... he is not crazy!
Sayid is an hitman... not the first time he sold his soul!
Desmond off the island on the helli... he wasn't on the oceanic; and probably will never comeback to the island... but will not necessarly be on the news!
Ben... he looks like a bad person... he acts like one... he is one... but for good reasons? Terrorist or Heroe?
The economist... only works with girls... offers them gifts... kind of made me remind of "charlies angels". I think he is the afro-american big bad wolf!
Spy on the boat... i think that's bullshit but... could it be michael... is walt on the boat? Older? That would explain how did he know they were coming to the island and go there to warned them!
Jacob... i think he is a spirit that was traped on the island and took Jack's father body to walk around there!
Back to Jacob house... maybe it doesn't appear during day time!
The island... my crazy theory: it's a satelite flying around the globe! That would explain why Desmond went on the boat to find land and come back to the island! I think he float around in a circle... and come back to the island! In a pictoric view i see the island as the small planet that we see on walt's BD: a very small planet (satelite) with see all over it and a island!
Huuuummmmm ... i'm LOST!! lol Thougts?
ps: sorry for the bad english (i'm portuguese)
Posted by: kasparovski | February 17, 2008 at 06:00 AM
Heard about this on the Official UK LOST podcast .....
http://www.lostpedia.com/wiki/Vile_Vortices_(theory)
Pretty interesting reading. Potentially answers some nagging questions.
Posted by: Mark B | February 17, 2008 at 05:04 PM
sorry, should have been more clear kathy...just a guess from the screencap I posted from "Next week on Lost." No firm info...well, I'm pretty firm in my opinion ;) but no inside info. Check the screencap I posted though. The more I look at it, she could have her hair up and be standing in one of the Barracks houses. But to me, the give away is that two of the six will be revealed next week, and the formula only allows for one characters flash forward, but I think Claire and Aaron would be the exception.
peace.
Posted by: Jonathan Scruggs | February 17, 2008 at 05:15 PM
That's cool just make sure that's clear because I read that and thought it was a spoiler. No doubt you've seen others freak out at the idea that something might be spoiled.
Posted by: Kathy aka Fangirl | February 17, 2008 at 07:14 PM
>:O
Posted by: kb | February 17, 2008 at 10:01 PM
ABANDON is not smoky. I checked out the playback, super slow motion, ran it on a program i use for law enforcement just to see what would happen, and according to that, it seems to be the shadow of him on the door as its swing shut.
Posted by: Spalz | February 17, 2008 at 10:25 PM
Walt.. I figured it out... its kinda what you ment on the podcast, but better. With the payload rocket that launched to the island took 30 min longer together than it should of and the clock didnt line up as it should have, and 30 + min passed on the island. So once someone is off the island, time moves quicker, or just ...different than on the island, so with Walt off the island, a month to the Losties could be 4 years to Walt.
Posted by: Spalz | February 17, 2008 at 10:36 PM
@ Kathy aka Fangirl: absolutely on the Jurassic Park helicopter scene. I also thought it interesting that as the helo departed at the end of the episode, it suddenly veered right (presumably to get on that "exact" heading). Maybe Daniel told Lapidus to stay on bearing because visually it would look "wrong" or like something else was going on (similar to Ulysses avoiding crashing on the rocks).
@Craig: re: clocks, maybe they are atomic clocks, or some kind that maintain their settings magnetically or whatever, and at one time WERE aligned, but once the clock already on the island had been there, it "reset" itself to island time (which could have explained why Daniel so hastily took them out to compare). Or, Daniel could simply have calibrated the on-island clock upon landing (remember Frank's comment about "he's always doing these types of experiments on the ship").
If the sat phone communications stay realtime, I was reminded of the movie "The Lake House" where the lead characters are in communication in real time (at least somewhat, via letters) while living years apart in the same location.
Also, I felt a weird sensation when seeing the Shack missing in the clearing - possible nod to the clearing in the woods and entrance to the Black Lodge in Twin Peaks. (Just finished watching season 2 and "Fire Walk With Me" on DVD and that scene is freshly imprinted on my mind.)
As for Sayid, apparently his island life-makeover is...over. He was a torturer before the island, became the spiritual man and leader on the island, and then assassin once off-island. I'm still amazed at how many steps ahead of others he still seems to be; the plan to trade for CSL was great, and thank goodness for getting my-favorite-candidate-for-most-annoying-Lost-character-Miles off the scene for a while.
I still haven't decided who Ben's real target was - Elsa, or her boss? Sayid made it seem as though the economist was the target all along (and Sayid's last minute warning to Elsa would seem to prove this) and yet when he returned to Ben, Ben asked "did you kill HER?" as though she might have been the target after all, and Ben only wanted her boss to "hear the approaching footsteps" (witness Ben's "....good.." when Sayid worried that the targets might be warned about their approaching doom). Right before Elsa shot Sayid it seemed that Sayid was going to close in on the economist completely, and yet the conversation really shifted back at the animal doctor's office.
Posted by: johncomposer | February 18, 2008 at 12:24 AM
I posted this on the forum as well. This is just an extension of the vile vortices theory, feel free to debunk... This only makes sense if all of the vile vortices are portals to access the island.
I believe that Ben found a way to control the openings/closings of the vortices. He managed to control this through the computer in the swan hatch. By punching in the numbers every 108 minutes, it keeps the vortices closed. When the numbers aren't punched in, the vortices start to open. It could be, that when they begin to open simultaneously, there is an electromagnetic surge that occurs which could lead to any number of catastrophies to the island/world.
We know that Flight 815 was a victim of the failure the press the button in time. I believe that it is most likely that the Nigerian Plane, and Desmond's boat were probably victims of that as well. (Although, I'm pretty sure that Desmond's arrival was not accidental. But that theory is for a later date.)
By keeping the vortices closed, the island remains invisible. When Desmond turned the fail safe key, I believe that it opened these vortices, making the island visible/accessible if you know where to look.
Also, I think that not only are vortices a gateway to the island, but a gateway to traveling from one to other, making travel around the world extremely fast. But the island is the connecting piece. For example, to travel from one vortex to the other, you have to pass through the island. If the island is not visible/accessible, this travel is not possible.
Hence, the value of the island is incalculable. It would explain why they would want Ben (to either prevent him from manipulating the closing of the vortices, or to get information on how to manipulate the vortices).
I hope this made sense. It's been stewing in my brain for a bit...
Posted by: Lexi | February 18, 2008 at 01:12 AM
Just an idea (that has probably been posted before) but could it be that the Economist is the guy Sayid shot on the golf course at the start of the episode ? This may explain why Mr Avellino (sp ?) poops his pants when he finds out who Sayid is.
Obviously this would mean that we are being shown the flash-forwards in the wrong order in real time.... whatever real time is.
Posted by: Mark B | February 18, 2008 at 08:43 AM
@Mark B: I thought the same thing, that the golf course shooting might be the "end reveal" being shown first. (Or, of course, it could simply be a shock device to get us to see what Sayid has "become" and then the rest of the episode fills in the "why"...)
At any rate, with both Elsa's and the golfer's expressed interest in the crash of 815, it's obvious that Ben's pursuit of targets is at least somewhat connected to the island (and those left behind).
Posted by: johncomposer | February 18, 2008 at 09:00 AM
Spalz,
I agree with you: the idea that Abbadon is smokey is neat, but both the full speed version of him leaving the mental hospital as well as the slow mo look to me to be... a man leaving a room!!
I continue to try and take guidance from Lost being a post-9/11 story--that above all else it is using sci-fi and hidden islands and smoke monsters to reflect and retell OUR story, just as say, Twilight Zone would use shadows and aliens and sci-fi in "Monsters on Maple Street" to reflect and retell the real life story of living under a Communist threat.
So using a post-9/11 model, what could Abbadon be? I don't mean to be overtly political, but he could represent corporate greed or governmental cover-up ("There are no survivors of 815, go do your job" (I'm putting words into his mouth here)). Also, his minimalization of the crash survivors has, for me, echoes of the minimilization of air qualitiy concerns at ground zero.
At any rate, I don't mean to pontificate politically. I'm sure that the show has a 9/11 foundation, but if season four is the fourth story (no pun intended) of a house built on that foundation, then there certainly is room to be far from 9/11.
A quick bit of further reflection for Abbadon. Lostpedia says that his full name is Matthew Abbadon (I don't recall if he introduced himself as such in the Hurley episode, but I'll take Lostpedia at what they say). On the one hand, the name Matthew means "gift from God" (or so my mom tells me!)--so there's a bit of fun contrast there with Mr. Matthew Abbadon being Mr. Gift-from-God Destruction. Additionally, if his first name is a reference to the Biblical Apostle, then there are a few interesting possibilites. First, according to the persnickity Wikipedia, Matthew's exact existence is a bit vague and "virtually nothing besides his apostleship can be determined from these accounts" (perfect for Lost). Further, in the Gospel of Matthew, he's described as a "tax collector"--a negative thing then (if not now) to be sure. For some reason, Abbadon in the context of a money collector makes me think of Charon, the boatman in Greek mythology who would need to be paid to ferry the souls of the dead to the afterlife.
Thus ends my ramblings!
Posted by: Matt Lafferty | February 18, 2008 at 10:33 AM
Does anyone have the length of time that it took the payload to leave the ship and not arrive on the island ?
That is the time from when Regina fires the payload to when she says it should be there ?
From that time, and the 31 minute difference in clock time, it should be very easy to calculate the difference in time on and off island. You would have to assume that;
the clock on the island was set to the same time as the clock on the ship at the time of the experiment starting NOT at the time when Faraday landed on the island.
there is a linear realationship between time on and off island -- that is the time has been moving at the same speed on the island for the last 94 days and that payload measures the difference in time.
Anyhow assuming the clocks read the same at the start of the experiment and it's a linear relationship.....
According to Lostpedia we are on day 94. The crash was on 22nd Sept 2004, currently it's 24th Dec 2004.
So they've been on the island about 135360 mins (94 x 24 x 60)
Faradays clocks were 31 mins different. Guessing it took about 1 min for Regina to countdown from the firing to the landing so island time is about 31 times slower. Obviously if it only took 30 secs then the time difference would be twice as much. I think 30 secs is a more accurate guess.
But continuing with the 1 min travel time vs. 31 mins -- in the real world 31 times the number of mins on island have past since the crash. 31 x 135360 = 4196160
This equates to 2914 days (4196160/60 then /24 or 7 years and 359 days meaning the off island date is 14th Sept 2012.
This may explain how Walt has grown in his brief off island spell. Micheal and he left on Nov 27th (day 67) so have been off island only 27 days but in real world time that equates to 2 years 109 days, probably not long enough. However if the payload should have taken 30 seconds but took 31 mins then time would be 62 times longer off island so 27 days would become 4 years and 218 days since Walt left the island, roughly right given his growth.
If the 30 secs is right then the Losties have actually been on the island 15 years and 353 days in real worls time. Off island it is now 6th Sept 2020.
But do you really think people will still be using 2004 type cell phones like Jack had in the first flash forward in 2020 ? I'm not a car freak so don't know the ages exactly but would Kate and Jack be driving what would be 20 year old cars ?
Enough math for one day ....
Posted by: Mark B | February 18, 2008 at 01:14 PM
@Mark B: It actually took the payload 3 hours 16 minutes 22 seconds to get to the beacon from the boat but it took 2 hour 45 minutes 3 seconds from boat to beacon on the island with a difference of 31 minutes. What accounts for the nearly 3 hour lag?
Posted by: JakeG | February 18, 2008 at 02:12 PM
JakeG - please explain your calculations? Thanks
Posted by: elaine | February 18, 2008 at 02:47 PM
What continues to bother me is I dont think Naome(sp?) is dead. Why is Sayid so interested in her? I kept thinking her eyes opened and closed during the scene at the helicopter. I dont remember Jack checking her out either...anyone else think this way or am I just imagining things?
Stay lost
Posted by: Rodney | February 18, 2008 at 06:55 PM
@Jake G
Are you assuming the clocks were set to zero at the start of the experiment ? This would seem logical.
If this was the case then the payload takes 3hr 16m 22s to get to the beacon but only 2hr 45m 3s has past on the island. The difference is the 31 mins so that remains but ...
I agree what happened to the payload during the extra 3 and a 1/4 hours it took over the time Regina talked through ?
Regina talked in distance (NOT time) and the payload took somewhere around 30 secs to reach what she thought should be the beacons location. Could it be that the island is just 'further away' than people see on a radar ?
Could the 'vile vortex' (or whatever) that allows access to the island take that long to go through ?
Surely the 815 survivors (and the freightees) would have noticed the time taken ? A plane crash lasting over three hours would be a bit of an experience. Kate claimed to be awake during the whole crash. Clearly the freighter four were or at least Frank was. Or is it some speed of light deal where you travel in time and space ?
I'm confused.
The more I think about it the less I think the submarine was really the way to the island. The Others have some way of using/controling the 'vortex' to get to the island. The sub was just used to get from the Looking Glass to the island.
Posted by: Mark B | February 18, 2008 at 08:01 PM
Here's something spooky .....
3h 16m 22s = 11782s
2h 45m 3s = 9903s
difference in seconds = 1879s
% difference (1879/11782)*100 = 15.9%
If the TIME percentage difference is the thing then the number of days that have passed off the island would be;
94 + (94 * .159) = 108.9
Allowing for the facts that the plane didn't crash at midnight on day one and it's not midnight on day 94 it'll be close enough to 108.
Posted by: waitingforlost | February 18, 2008 at 08:50 PM
I think the timer is set at zero at the start of the experiment.....
Posted by: JakeG | February 18, 2008 at 09:27 PM
OK more math ..... sorry .....
I checked the online version of The Economist.
After 19m 25s Regina says "Payload away".
After 19m 33s she says "At 40km"
She then counts down in units of 5km until after 19m 54s she says "At beacon" or something implying Faraday should have the payload.
So in 21s (40km to at beacon) the payload travels 40km which is roughly 2km per second.
So in the 29s from "payload away" to "at beacon" it went 58km (29x2). We are told by Naomi at the end of S3 that her freighter is 60km off the island so this pretty much marries up. Allowing for my bad timing I'll stick to 2km/s.
2km per second is the same as 120km per min or a huge 7200km per hour (4474 mph), about 6 times faster than the speed of sound (which is 344 m/s or 1230 kmh, or 770 mph). Pretty damn fast.
According to this website .....
http://hypertextbook.com/facts/1999/SeanManning.shtml that is roughly as fast as a 'conventional' missile -- so the writers have those facts right.
At 2km/s in the 1879 seconds extra that the payload took to get to the island it (did ?) could have travelled 3758km (2335 miles).
So is the island 3758 km away from where Regina thinks it is ?
Or more worryingly if the payload took 3hr 16m 22s (11,782s) to get there it could have travelled a whopping 23,564km (14,641 miles).
Just for info .... at the equator the earths diameter is about 12,756km (the radius is 6378.1km) whilst at the poles it is about 12,715km (the radius is 6356.8km). The equatorial circumfrence is 40,076km and the polar cirumfrence is 40,007km
HUGE whole in all this is that the payload rocket did not look anywhere big enough to carry enough fuel to travel any really significant distance.
Conclusion ... I have no idea what is going on and this was a fun waste of 20 mins or so .....
Posted by: Mark B | February 18, 2008 at 10:19 PM
@Mark B: Because I have no life, I just watched the episode again. There is no way to determine whether the missile took 30 minutes or 3 hours (i.e. the timer was set to zero). I think we should assume that it took only 31 minutes - the time difference on the timers. I think we may be over-complicating this. I think all the writers wanted to show was that there is a time distortion. What do you think?
Posted by: JakeG | February 18, 2008 at 11:11 PM
@JakeG
I have no life either. I just watched Medium which had Dr Marvin Candle in playing a Dr. who specialised in deafness. I got all over excited.
I agree all the writers were saying was a time distortion exists between the real world and the island. But with this show who knows.
The issue of how big a distortion may be immaterial but is likely just going to be the way to convert short Walt into taller Walt. I hope TPTB didn't stick this in just for that.
Posted by: Mark B | February 18, 2008 at 11:21 PM
Abbadon
I was wikipedia surfing today at work and came across Abaddon, who in the Bible is described as "the angel of the abyss." Couple of ways of interpreting that. Some think that he is a demon, lesser demon, anti-christ, Satan, etc.
Some think that he's a good guy, Jesus in particular, because, to directly quote wikipedia "the angel with the key of the abyss and a large prison in his hand seized the dragon (Satan the Devil) and threw him down into the abyss, and closed it on him (Satan)", meaning that the 'angel of the key' had power and authority superior to that of the Devil himself."
The fact that Abaddon's first name is Matthew, and as mentioned before Matthew is one of the Apostles, it could be this is a good guy. But it could also be a that this guy is complete evil.
Posted by: Lexi | February 19, 2008 at 12:05 PM
Theory:
Libby was part of the Freighties group - perhaps the Widmore Corporation. She lead Desmond to the island, and possibly set in motion a few other people to be on that plane, including herself.
Why? They needed 815 to get to the island, with specific people on it. Hurley was possibly one of them (perhaps she was there to investigate the same numbers). The people knew that this would (somehow) help them find the island or Ben Linus.
Theory 2:
Claire and Jack will find out their related when Jacob, in the form of their father, decides to take over the freight and get off the island, into the real world.
Posted by: Osbo | February 19, 2008 at 03:16 PM
I don't know how much of this has been discussed previously so I'll just start fresh.
I happened to go back and watch the Orchid video (I never watched it before, I just heard about it) and a line really stood out to me. Something along the liens of:
"What did you set the delay to?" "Nine minutes"
Solely tying that to Faraday's experiment, this leads me along the following line of thought:
- DHARMA knew about the time warping
- They could control it to some degree
- Controlling it caused the double bunny appearance, which can be classified as a time travel/teleportation
- Ben is off the island long enough to be photographed while sitting by a computer screen
- Ben has lots of passports
Maybe the "magic box" really is a literal thing. Maybe the island's Casimir effect can stabilize wormholes and they CAN teleport around the world. Malfunctions in this wormholes creation can explain Yemi's plane, Black rock, desert polar bear (although think that may have been intentional), even the 4 Toed Statue.
Posted by: Unofficial Brian | February 19, 2008 at 04:33 PM
New Official Podcast out now in itunes. Back to the usual D&C Q&A type deal.
Posted by: Mark B | February 19, 2008 at 05:39 PM
Did anyone get a screencap of Sayids cock from the last episode? When he was in the hotel?
Posted by: Bec | February 20, 2008 at 06:29 AM
maybe the show itself is a social experiment
Posted by: alan | February 20, 2008 at 01:40 PM
I didn't read all the comments so this might have come up before:
Did you notice how the dogs stopped barking immediately when Ben wanted them to.
Posted by: Kane | February 21, 2008 at 05:39 AM
Hello all! Starting April 24th, Lost will be on at Thursdays at 10, following Grey's Anatomy. For more, check out the Hollywood Reporter article at http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/hr/content_display/news/e3i1afdf3970176b315703f56ef9a729cf1
Posted by: Matt Lafferty | February 21, 2008 at 09:57 AM
@MarkB: I like your maths and ideas ;) It seems highly unlikely that a missile of that size (very small) can go that far or that fast. The only missiles going at mach 6+ are ballistic missiles.
However, lets say it was a ballistic missile (also highly unlikely, considering the angle which the missile struck the island - A ballistic missile travelling 60km, would fall pretty much straight down). Then it would probably be a multistaged missile (like the apollo rocket) where the diffrent stages fall off when their fuel has burnt out. For all we know, that missile could have been several meters high at takeoff, but only few decimeters when arriving.
Anyone else thought it was kinda stupid to have the beacon so close to the Heli? I mean, at that speed, if that thing land few meters wrong, the helicopter would hae been toast... =)
Posted by: JonasJ | February 21, 2008 at 09:58 AM
According to the website I quote a "conventional" missle can travel at the kind of speeds I calculated.
However I don't think the payload travelled more than 60km. I suspect it (and I'm making this up now) got stuck in some time distortion vortex effect thing that affects solid objects (planes, balloons, boats, missiles etc) but not radio waves. I figure the island can not be seen to the naked eye and you have to get to it through the vortex. But all that is probably just, as we say in the UK, a load of bollocks.
Posted by: Mark B | February 21, 2008 at 10:51 AM
The Kinetic energy involved in a missile travelling at mach 6 would most certainly destroy it on impact with the ground though =) It was kinda slow when it arrived, so the drag on that thing (once the rocket has burnt out) must be huge... =P
Check the trajectory, it seems it's quite low, and the fact that it's smoking is also strange (?):
http://i235.photobucket.com/albums/ee29/JJarneborn/Stuff/vlcsnap-491056.jpg
Posted by: JonasJ | February 21, 2008 at 04:01 PM
OK I think it's just a rocket and the writers probably didn't think it through properly though you'd think by now that they would have learnt !
It's smoking either
a. Becasue it's smokey manifested as the rocket 8-)
b. So you can see it easier.
Posted by: Mark B | February 21, 2008 at 05:31 PM
I like a) better =)
Posted by: JonasJ | February 21, 2008 at 05:47 PM
Where's the LostCast for last week?
Posted by: BrianS | February 21, 2008 at 10:19 PM
First one to post for Eggtown! Woohoo! Oh wait....
Posted by: Matt Lafferty | February 21, 2008 at 10:34 PM
I don't like Locke anymore. And if Kate has Clare's baby,does that mean that Clare is dead? I think Clare would need a good reason to give up the baby and being dead would make sense. So many new questions......
Posted by: smells_like_carrots | February 22, 2008 at 08:29 AM
I love what's going on with Locke. Do you remember how we felt towards him at the start of season 1? no one knew if he was evil, good or whatever. Finally now we're starting to see some duality and ruthlessness in the guy. It's awesome. He's still a bit of a sucker, but I bet he'll be learning a lot quicker now.
His scene with Miles and grenade was just so awesome it made me weep with joy. Finally, we have a proper anti-Jack.
Posted by: WeakLemonDrink | February 22, 2008 at 09:28 AM
Locke is new Ben. So cool.
Posted by: Kane | February 23, 2008 at 05:26 AM