This podcast focuses on season 5, episode 8 of LOST, LaFleur. Join Robert, John and Matt as we discuss speculation around the 4-toed statue's Egyptian roots and other Egyptian references, our Losties' newfound roles in Dharma, conversations about the truce between Dharma and Alpert and much more.
Links related to the podcast:
Wikipedia on Anubis
Wikipedia on Taweret
Wikipedia on the Ankh symbol
Wikipedia on Horus
Egyptian necklace in ABC store
Screencap of white king missing in chess game
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Posted by: Steven | March 08, 2009 at 04:02 PM
Jeff,
My fiancee and I put this together as an over-arching theory. The statue is the fertility statue that has been discussed on the EW boards, and when the statue was destroyed, the fertility problems began on the island. Richard Alpert is the Egyptian god RA, brought back to the island by the blast at the end of Season 2 (his first appearance on the show wasn't until Season 3). He's now doing whatever he can to make everything right on the island again. Perhaps Jacob was the "deity" in charge of the island until his return (we didn't hear about Jacob until around the same time as Alpert's appearance) and now the two are in conflict. Perhaps, to further extend this, Widmore is Jacob's man and Ben is Richard's.
I'm sure more can be extrapolated from this, but it's an interesting idea...
Jason
Posted by: Jason | March 08, 2009 at 05:16 PM
Oops - sorry about the Jeff - I'd sent this to Doc Jensen also but forgot to take that off when I copied and pasted. :)
Posted by: Jason | March 08, 2009 at 05:16 PM
I love this podcast. Love, love, love.
Regarding the whole Egyptian vs. Egyptian-ish statue question, I'd to cast my lot in with the Egyptian-ish side. Have you ever seen an Egyptian deity depicted wearing sandals? Also, those teeny little kitty ears look nothing like what is typically seen on Anubis' big jackal head. Yes, the stance and apparel have an Egyptian flavor, but none of these details match up well enough for a clear ID.
Plus, the statue has, you know, four toes.
Posted by: Mary | March 08, 2009 at 09:05 PM
i would also be disappointed if everything behind this show was simply Egyptian mythology. I've always liked the idea of the shows overall mythology was something the writers created, not something directly taken from a book. I agree that it could be partly inspired by Egypt but to throw out there that it's a blanket solution for everything on the show is underestimating the writers as well as stating that the show isn't as good as it really is.
Posted by: Nik | March 08, 2009 at 11:25 PM
Congrats on the forthcoming wedding - and have a great honeymoon.
My prediction is that the face of the statue is the face of a major character in the series.
Posted by: Hamish Thompson | March 09, 2009 at 08:18 AM
The one thing i found off about the LaFleur episode that i just recently thought of is the lack of Widmore. As we have been told by widmore he lead the others peacefully until Ben tricked him off the island.
I would imagine that if there were a truce the two leaders would be the ones discussing it. So shouldn't widmore have been in the dharma camp rather than Alpert?
Posted by: Chris | March 09, 2009 at 10:42 AM
All I could think about in this episode was La Fours in Mallrats...
Posted by: West Sayid | March 09, 2009 at 08:58 PM
Great cast etc and so on.
I agree with Matt this is not just Egyptian it's got to be more than that. It's some kind of multi-merge religion-belief system. ABC are simply selling anything LOST related to gullible suckers trying to raise a quick buck. They after all have a limited timeframe to bled LOST fans.
One random thing I thought of ....
Why does Sawyer have LeFleur (his assumed surname) on his Dharma jumpsuit yet Juliet has Juliet not Burke ? Also Horace and the other Dharma people had their first not second names. Didn't notice what Jin had on his.
It's not like the the Dharma people will know Juliet from the future .....
Just wondering.
Posted by: Mark B | March 10, 2009 at 08:17 AM
Good catch on the names Mark B.
Jin had "Jin" on his suit.
Also, I tend to agree that there is no "one" religious influence on the island. We have seen Greek, Buddhist, Hindu, Christian, and Egyptian influences. It is definitely multi-religious.
Posted by: Mike in the Box | March 10, 2009 at 10:50 AM
to what you said about the burying.. Ana Lucia was buried but she appeared to Hurley so hm.
Posted by: alpha | March 10, 2009 at 11:01 AM
RE: Burying
I think it should be mentioned that Christian was NOT buried. He was in a coffin, but that coffin remained unburied. Same with Locke's coffin. I think all the talk of burying in the LaFleur episode was more about hiding the bodies than anything else. Also, by my recollection, Claire just disappeared, didn't die. There was no body found.
Posted by: Biolite | March 10, 2009 at 12:59 PM
Something to think about. Assuming Clare is somewhere on the island she might have been hopping around in time just like the other losties. She might be doing something that needs to done in the past as well, just off camera.
Posted by: Chris | March 10, 2009 at 01:21 PM
Regarding the names on the Dharma suits...
It seems like the higher ups have their last names (LaFluer - Head of Security, Goodspeed (I think), Waxman on the parka.) The drones have only their first names (Juliet, Roger, Ben, Jin, etc.).
Posted by: Memnoch | March 10, 2009 at 04:33 PM
This is off the topic of this week's episode, but after watching The Watchmen movie, I think there are some strong tie-ins with Desmond. Since there are some MINOR movie spoilers for those those that want to see the movie fresh, I've posted the outline of my theory here: http://joythrusin.blogspot.com/2009/03/watchmen-influence-on-lost.html
After I wrote the theory, I did some searching on the Fuselage. I saw some statements that went into this territory, but did not see an in-depth discussion on it.
Posted by: Memnoch | March 10, 2009 at 04:42 PM
I LOVE the idea about Desmond being the child born in this episode.
I've been working hard for a while trying to figure his place out - he's really the "oddball" - he doesn't really FIT with any group & he's always been an anomaly in the show's space/time... Phara-day even calls him "special" --- at the very least it's conceivable to believe this baby wasn't "supposed" to be born - juliet interceded & now he's outside the rules of space & time as the losties observe them. Good theory
Posted by: Scott in Philly | March 10, 2009 at 08:58 PM
--POSSIBLE SPOILER?--
I'm sure most of you have rewatched this video if you scope out the forums but I thought I'd post it here out of interest anyway.
http://lostpedia.wikia.com/wiki/Dharma_booth_video
I find it interesting to watch again as it makes much more sense. Also, it's very easy to hear that the person off screen Pierre Chang is talking to is Daniel. However, most people have identified that Pierre Change says 'LaFleur' to the person off screen, however after listening a couple times I don't think he does.
anyway that's all for now.
Nik
Posted by: Nik | March 10, 2009 at 11:36 PM
Kind of off topic .....
In "The Lie" when Juliet suggests they take the zodiac and look for a shipping lane Daniel said they can't just sail off the island as he needs to calculate a new trajectory but before he can he needs to know where they are in time.
Obvious question is why, once the time shifts have stopped and they were settled in Dharma times, didn't he calculate a new path off the island ?
Or did he ?
Posted by: Mark B | March 11, 2009 at 12:12 AM
Personally, I think the eyeliner reference (Sawyer's nick name for Richard) is important, with regards to Egyptian culture. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kohl_(cosmetics). Just a thought people ;)
Posted by: Dan | March 11, 2009 at 09:15 AM
Try this again: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kohl_(cosmetics)
Posted by: Dan | March 11, 2009 at 09:17 AM
Definitely agree with the Atlantis theory!
Posted by: Laura | March 11, 2009 at 04:06 PM
Just thinking - when Ben sends Michael to bring back some of the Losties he asks for Jack, Kate, Sawyer and Hurley. All of these people are now in Dharmaville. Maybe Ben meets them when he's younger? Of course Jin is also there which doesn't completely work.
I like the theory that the baby is Desmond, after all he is 'special', but I'm sure he's supposed to be older than 27.
Posted by: Laura | March 11, 2009 at 04:20 PM
Hey guys, I was just thinking that Richard Alpert has got to be Ra. Apart from never aging he also wears eye liner, remember the famous eye of Ra? Being the egyptian god of the Sun, will it mean that there's gonna be another love triangle with Jin, he he!
Posted by: Luis | March 11, 2009 at 07:00 PM
@ Laura
I like your thinking. I would love it if the writers had a plausible reason for the main characters to be on a list made by a mysterious group of others. Based on the beginning of season 3, they did not (unless you count writhing around in cages and watching each other on monitors a plausible reason).
The idea of Ben remembering Sawyer Kate and Jack from his childhood (1974) and seeing them again basically the same age 30 years later is interesting. It would explain why he amassed so much information on them.
The beginning of season 3 gave no explanation of why Ben wanted these specific people or exploited this knowledge (other than needing Jack for spinal surgery).
There was the mysterious meeting with Kate on the beach, I hope they address that again.
Posted by: frankmorris | March 11, 2009 at 10:55 PM
For me, Juliet>>Kate. Anybody else?
EW, in a link I now cannot find, is reporting a major character death is coming up, and that it's not Kate. I wouldn't mind Kate or Jack, but it's not them.
Posted by: Mike | March 12, 2009 at 12:00 AM