Unseen Frozen Character

Ok. Its Season 5 and Ben and Jack drag frozen Locke out of Flash Forward Funeral Parlor. Ding Dong...a doorbell rings. "Kate we have to go back ! "....And after a long convincing speech, Jack says...oh yeah...dead Locke is the back of my truck. And Hurley's crazy?

Please God, let Episode One begin with that. Put some fun back into this grim tale.

Let me qualify a few things about the Finale's themes. When the writers started this thing they thought they had one less hour and with the strike they literally were patching scenes up till the last minute. As viewers, we must understand the task at hand. Yes, they could have hit it out of the park. But 99 times out of a hundred, if your show is as complicated as Lost, your gonna fail if you dont have enough time. I dont believe they failed though. I thought the first hour was better than any episode this year. However I do believe they fell victim to their own literary devices. The once hailed FlashForward trick came back to bite them and took away the suspense but I'd say that even with this failure in execution, the Finale was great TV.

Now, the Theme.
Unseen Frozen Character.
Unlike last season finale, which had a sneaky theme hidden underneath almost every scene(see my blog). This was more overt.

It begins with unseen Jeremy Bentham being introduced by Kate. We find out he's in the coffin. In the next flashforward we hear his name again used by Walt. We then move to Sayid. Sayid tells Hugo that Benthem died 2 days ago. But then comes the curious flashforward. Sun.

Sun's flashforward also has unseen character but she doesn't mention him, or them, by name. According to the rules of the theme--Sun must be talking about Bentham right? Yes, at this point we are suppose to conclude BENtham is Ben. Widmore's common interest is finding Ben. Bentham has been mentioned in every Flashfoward up until now --and now an unseen character is targeted by Sun and Widmore. So its settled right? No, because in a mystery its common to introduce a Red Herring and this is one. Specifically designed to have us jump as much as Jack did in the funeral parlor at the sound of Bens voice.

Note something else.... it was Ben who killed Keamy. Locke may have visited Sun, as well, on his O6 rounds and explained what Ben did. But don't be so quick to think that Sun has gone rogue. Lost is about deceiving the viewer. So it's more likely that Sun has already joined up with Ben and Sayid in order to trap Widmore. After all, it was Widmore who was, first and foremost, responsible for Jins death.

There is one other possible twist though. Ben may have told Sun that it was Locke who killed Keamy--thus destroying the freighter. Ben might have even killed Locke himself.. but its possible that this scene was showing us that Sun killed Locke.

Now, my point here is the unseen character theme is being expanded to keep people guessing. Another example is when Keamy comes down the Elevator. The audience is suppose to ponder if this is the mysterious Bentham--if just for a split second. All sorts of people are hidden in this episode. We hear noises in the jungle and Kate comes out of nowhere. The Others, Sayid attacking Keamy. Richard shooting Keamy. Ben stabbing Keamy. :) Did you notice they knew the audience wanted Keamy killed more than once !

In the Orchid we continue with this idea when Halliwax says the bunny will disappear which ultimately leads to Lost's biggest character becoming unseen. The Island. Poof.

In the end we find that the unseen character is not real. Jeremy Bentham does not exist and neither does John Locke anymore. He is frozen like all dead bodies. I say frozen because it was a not so subtle Motif. The standing joke at Dharma must have been--who needs a greenhouse on a tropical island? Except this greenhouse is green on the outside and Arctic on the inside. It strikes me that Ben's little cave needs to be cold or else. But something else needed to be frozen in No Place like Home...Michael's battery.

When Micheal cant keep the battery frozen he hears this line---"You can go now". Which is the last theme I'll mention, which is the title of the finale. Very few main characters on Lost actually did not go home. Home is where the heart is and Rose, Charlotte, Miles, Sawyer and Locke wound up where they wanted. So did the Oceanic 6, Desmond and Frank --and this is where I thought the season could have improved.

Lost only left one main character that truly wanted to get off the Island. Juliet. It also so utterly destroyed any of the peaceful sentiment many character's felt as they contemplated if living on the Island was actually preferable to our stressful world. Say that 3 times fast.

I also want you to consider the utter shock you would have felt if you didn't know the Island was going to disappear. The supposed loss of Jin. The confirmed Oceanic 6. That's the price you pay for the narrative they chose. It can be done but you have to be careful about what you reveal ahead of time. What is really puzzling to me is it looks like it will continue. Instead of coloring in the timeline from the rescue to the coffin--they left out much of what led to Jack's insanity. The fact that Bentham was unseen throughout the flashforward scenes requires flashbacks of what he told the O6, how he really died, and all the other mayhem on the Island. Personally, I think it will be a mistake to reveal anymore future events and plan carefully how you setup big events like the Island moving.

Framework of the Finale

If you don't want to know the framework of what we will see on the finale don't read any further. I never look at spoilers. In fact, I make sure I don't see anything that could ruin the show for me. So what Im gonna tell you is based solely on what last year's finale through season 4 has set up and what that should tell us...but you may not even want to know that.

Last years finale ended with Jacks desire to get back to the Island. In part one of this years finale we see the moment he arrives home. So part 2 and 3 are going to sprinkle on the timeline all important information to whatever theme they are going to rest the dialog on. Look for an underlying theme to present itself--it will make the experience much more interesting.

It will show how the Island is playing with their lives in the real world and that no matter what they do they will never escape its pull. A very telling scene was that all the Oceanic 6 expressed some joy at being home in part 1--except Kate. She was all alone, no one to hug, and facing criminal charges. But we know from the rest of the episodes that Kate is really the only one who has her head together. Kate, alone, wants to stay home and is the last holdout.

It seems the flashfowards will begin to approach where Jack started to make his search for the Island, learn who in the coffin, and will eventually end with his plea to Kate that they must return. It is quite possible that the loop from where the season 3 finale ended and where the season 4 finale started will be closed.

I fear they will not go beyond this so there will be maximum impact from the closing of the causal loop.. but I hope that the extra hour they added will allow for this narrative loop to close at the end of part 2.

If it does, we are headed into uncharted territory and it is even possible that we will leave the Island behind for the rest of the finale. The reason I say this is it's exactly what everything has been heading to this season. If they picked up this season from where Jack makes his plea to Kate I wouldnt say this. But they did not..they went back and started approaching the ending of season 3. The only thing to do when they reach that point is stay off Island---because at that point in the story you want create uncertainty as to what is happening to their friends. It must be a mystery until they get back..at least in my mind. Make sense?. OK..so that my guess on the structure and I hope Im totally wrong..haha

Oh yeah..one more idea thats not related to structure. I believe it is right and makes perfect sense so dont read it if you dont want to know.


Ben is in the Coffin. Now you might say that this would mean the end of Ben. No it wouldn't. Ben arrived in the future late in 2005--however there is no telling when he left the island. Remember the Doctor arrived on the island dead before he was actually killed. The "time" that Ben puts on his snowjacket is probably much further in the future of the shows Island time.

Season 4 Themes

I'm gonna ramble here. I'm not gonna elaborate. I'm gonna speak in short discombobulated paragraphs and I'm gonna say gonna a lot :). But I'm gonna do it all for a reason. Although I believe the Finale is gonna be mostly action..I think that refreshing ourselves beforehand is a good thing to do. If I elaborate--this post will take way too long.


There is one thread that has been running since the beginning and has picked up speed here in season 4. Someone or something is keeping the Losties alive. They survived a midair breakup in which no human in history has ever survived.

But we have morph from Season 3 because it was only a few weeks ago in Lost time. In The Man from Tallahassee Ben touched on the idea that Thoughts are the driving force on the Island. It was Thoughts that caused Locke to come traipsing out of the jungle to make Ben's dream come true ( blowing up the sub). A magic box, is how he described this phenomenon.

In The Man Behind the Curtain, it was young Ben, glancing at a photo of his Mother, that caused her to appear at his window in the same blue dress she was wearing in the picture. In the next scene Ben receives a very ordinary brown Box for his birthday. When I saw that very generic brown box I thought the Lost writers are deliberately drawing our attention to not only what was in the box...but the Box itself.

Now, what popped out that Box? People. People pop out of the box

One even had a blue dress on. Watch the episode again and you will see the present was a metaphor of a metaphor. The Magic box. Annie said she gave the wooden version of herself to Ben so they would always be together. So either some force or being on this Island can create wooden versions of the people we love, out of a symbolic box, or the people on the Island produce them with their own thoughts. But its also important to note that "Jacob summons you" was stuck as a virtual one liner, in the script, right in between these 2 scenes.
Where have we seen other people just pop out of? Didn't 815 just pop in out of nowhere? Surgeons falling from the sky?

About being healed, Ben asked Locke, " Was it immediate?". John explains it was the second he arrived, "That's what immediate means Ben". I thought this was important. Some Losties were immediately healed from fatal injuries. Any injuries that were suppose to remain did. Each person owes the Island their life.

When Jack stood upon that bridge in the finale it was not his life to take. When Jack said he was gonna kill Locke..it was not his life to take. By the time we reach Meet Kevin Johnson --bullets wont even fire out of a gun. But we saw in Cabin Fever that something was preventing the death of Locke even when he was in the womb(read the Cabin fever blog).

Along with this theme there is one that runs along side it. Widmore was not suppose to kill Alex. Ben cannot kill Widmore and it seems Widmore cant kill Ben. Ben said he changed the rules. The writers made a point of having Locke say "what rules" and Ben himself repeats this to Widmore.

People are puzzled at this but I think it was continued in Cabin Fever. What is another word for Rules? LAWS. We saw a Book of Laws--a book that Alpert was most anxious for Locke to pick. So, some heavy princliples are governing the island and because the writers had Locke ask about the rules makes me assume they are in that book.

"BEN: I know I promised to tell you everything, John, and I wish it was as simple as me taking out a dusty old book and opening it up. "
Well it just might be. I think it is quite possible that book will be handed to John in the finale or early next season.



The Big Mystery that started last season is the plane in the trench. It is explained in season 4 as having 2 possible answers.

1)Ben says Widmore planted it there to hide the Island


2)Widmore told the Freighter folk Ben put it there.


From the day Naomi claimed 815 was in the trench I thought ...its probably fake... but I presented my theory anyway. The plane in the trench is Flight 815. I wrote the post in the fuselage forum way back then..more than a year ago. Everything I have seen on Lost has only served to confirm that belief.

Over that summer, when I saw the Orchid film, I was sure.

Lets start backwards. The news said they couldn't find the blackbox but Gault said Widmore recovered it and gave it to him. *Think...if Widmore planted the plane why he is giving Gault the black box ? Why does Gault take this box with him? Wrong question..remember our rule--why do the writers bring the box. Perhaps it has the co-ordinates of the island on it.. because the duplicate 815 was on the island? Or perhaps the writers want the information on the box to get into the hands of the Losties? Something doesn't fit.

Next. Why do the writers write the scheduled Pilot for 815 into the show?

The Orchid film shows 2 of the same objects existing in the same Time. This season we have not only seen events happen well after they should--like in the rocket test. But we have also seen Effects happen before their Cause--the Doctors body.



From the parameters set up in the show--it is possible for there to be a duplicate Flight 815. It appears the original pilot is not in the cockpit of the trench plane. However, by the luck of the draw, we just happen to have someone who could not only fly a Jet airliner--but the very pilot who was suppose to be flying 815 in the first place---right here on the Island. Did Frank see himself that day on TV?


What were the Others building on the Hydra island? Kate said, "Something Big". But Juliet said---A RUNWAY.

Now, we don't have enough information to put all the pieces together. There are bunch of ways to write in a duplicate plane. The other 815 may be on the Island right now. Finding that would be some show. What would also be quite dramatic would be for 815 to arrive now. Remember, just because the Effect can be seen(plane in the trench) does not mean the cause has happened yet.
Scenario
The Plane arrives in the real world before the events that cause them happen. Frank says Widmore believes him when he says it couldn't be 815. But when the blackbox is retrieved it reveals the plane is real and that it has been on the Island. Widmore hides this from those he hires for the mission.
The writers are sneaky though. I wouldn't put it past them to put all these clues out there and reveal the plane IS fake. So we'll have to see. But the clues are there.

What are the ramifications of this if it is true? Well first, everyone on Flight 815 is dead. How many times have we heard one of the losties claim that? It has been implied over and over again that they are all dead. The next question is--who is the real Jack? Who is the real Kate? Is the real Jack Shephard at the bottom of the ocean? Does Jack have to return because he doesn't belong in the real world? I'll let you guys think on this a bit more but see the Orchid film Blog below that connects Time with the trench plane and how curves in spacetime cause most of the Islands magical features

What Did everyone Miss in Cabin Fever?


Welcome to the Island Man....
Why do viewers consistently miss the Themes on Lost?

Well, it because they are viewers. Sound simple huh? First, let me say it's not necessary to grasp every element in the story to enjoy it. However, you will enjoy it more if you think like a writer instead of just a viewer. Ask this question if you don't understand something. What was the writer, who is a student of storytelling devices, thinking when he wrote this scene?

I bet you have read on the forums or in reviews what happened in Cabin Fever..but did anyone wrap it up in a nice Big bow for you? Well, I'm gonna do that for you.

Cabin Fever was not about Alpert's travels, Abanddon's advice, or that John was good at science. It was not trying to explain that Horace Goodspeed was caught in a timeloop. Not only did most reviews considering this a timeloop but one popular blogger said it reeked of "Filler". This is the reason I created this blog. Some themes are "Lost" on viewers. The dream scene was a metaphor for one of the episode's Themes. Which was.........

Forces were trying to Kill John Locke. No matter how many times Horace cut the Tree down in Locke's Vision--the tree remained.

The Episode opens with an automobile impact that would kill any 6 month old baby. Then John has his vision. This is not about Horace caught in a timeloop. It is a metaphor for this idea-- What was --will be again and what is -cannot be destroyed. The tree symbolizes John Locke. "He's been wating for you a long time...man". In the very next scene John has survived again from infections and diseases that have killed every other preterm baby in that hospital. The nurse claims, "He's a Fighter".

Who is there to see this fighter?--Richard Alpert. Locke confirms he is a fighter--a Hunter--in the Buddha style confirmation test but Alpert is having none of it.

The episode then moves to the next attempt on Locke's life as Locke leads Ben and Hugo to the Dharma death pit. The "Pitstop" is the writers device in moving the story to Johns next miraculous escape from death. Yes, Locke was the only one to walk out that death pit. "I should have known better", Ben regrets.

Right on cue we move to Locke, right after he has been pushed out of an 8 story building. "That was a miracle" Abandon proclaims. For his whole life people have been putting John in a box and the writers tell this story metaphorically. His first days were in an incubator. Richard paints Locke into a box when he wont accept he is a fighter. He gets put in a locker in High School. He works for a box company.

Everything presented in Cabin Fever is a story meticulously built, brick by brick, until a map is found that leads to the ultimate box. Jacob's Cabin. Will he walk out of this box? Ben wont go in. Hurley wants no part of it, but John's entire life has been leading up to this moment. John is on his walkabout. He left the U.S. thinking he was one thing and has realized he's another---Chosen. Whatever the forces were behind the attempts on Locke's life, including a midair breakup of Flight 815...they failed..and John Locke has arrived at his Destiny.

From the beginning of Lost John has been claiming that they were all brought there for a reason. Cabin Fever confirmed that Locke certainly was. It opens with a Cabin being constructed with the very material Locke is made of---and ends with the fully built Cabin in which he enters. It starts with the Cabin in its infancy and immediately cuts to Locke in his infancy.

This, of course, was not the only theme, but the attempts on Locke's life were left out every review I read. There were many other threads in the story but I'm sure you have read about them. The only one that I would like to mention is that John is being paralleled with Ben. It is inferred that John was the Island's first choice. That there was some sort of prophecy that a child born preterm, in a certain time period, whose mother was named Emily, bore the Chosen one. John intuitively sees the parallels, we clearly see the parallels, and the writers confirm and contrast with the line written for Locke, "I'm not You".
There are a few other symbols being put forth in the Vision scene but its important to remember that when a writer contructs an episode, the answers are first and foremost about that particular episode. Reincarnation, whether symbolic or not was linked between the Buddha Test and the Tree that kept being reborn. Another idea that may be being expressed here was that Jacob's cabin is also indestructable. This "getaway" may be literally that. But what was expressed in Cabin Fever was the idea that the Cabin is a type of island itself. They mention in the episode that the Cabin moves and by the end John's says they must move the Island. It should be noted that this is not a literal moving--its about perception. Jacobs cabin does not actually move or no map could be drawn to locate it.

Explaining Lost Mysteries


SICKNESS, Black Rock, Richard, SLOW Time, The Constant !!!

I posted this on March 1st on the fuselage.com. I know...a while ago..but I have something to add that your gonna love. Its an example of how I explain what I see on Lost.
You should be able to form a very plain idea from these words and the Constant episode. Hundreds of people have posted the sickness is the reason for the flashbacks. I believe they and many others are too interested in the fine details of this episode and are missing something so obvious.

The Black Rock did not arrive on the Island in the 1800's. It traveled through the void, and like the helicopter, it took longer than the crew perceived. How did Rousseau's crew get the sickness? She said after she came in contact with the Black Rock. We all know diseases in the 1800's could maul Us but could not survive on the BRock for 150 years. But we have an important fact given in the Constant. The Black Rock didnt have to get there 150 years ago. In fact, any ship from the past can reach the Island Now depending on it path through the slow time void.

Why do we see Richard in 1800's clothing? Is that clothing really 150 years old? Or did Richard just get there? Richard isnt hundreds of years old. Richard has been through the void. After he met young Ben, all it would take was one single trip through the void to allow for Ben to be old and him be only a year older. People are missing this. The ledger most likey points out Richard as first mate of the Black Rock. People from the Black Rock most likely contaminated the more modern humans with diseases from the 1800's.

There is no telling what Time Rousseau is actually from either. With the void slowing down time while traveling through it--there could be people from thousands of years ago on the Island. I dont think Rousseau thought Aaron had a Time travel Rash when she thought he had the sickness. I have room for more than one sickness --but TT doesnt match with the facts on Rousseau yet.

As for 815..we dont have any real solid facts to say they were in the void for long because almost every episode this season has presented at least one clue that their time matches expectations. But we do have a very compelling scene of flight 815 in the Trench and right after that a Dharma bear in the desert. 2 things that are suppose to be on the Island are also in the real world. Think about that scene--CS Lewis has the newspaper(thinking its a Hoax) and then finds the bear in which her assistant says Must be a Hoax. The writers hid the answer in plain sight. No hoax. Its 815. Same as the bunny in the orchid video was also the same bunny #15 in the room.

Now, what does the picture above tell you. I waited so it would dawn on you...think...

The Food drops seem to come from nowhere..right? Whose to say the food drops were not put into the void years ago--all at different paths in the slowtime void. Some arrive soon and some later--but all sent at the same time. Its either that OR.....Have we seen anything else drop from the air lately?. Yes..in the orchid video, a bunny dropped out of nowhere.

Although my theory was posted on the Fuselage.com on March 1st..I didnt look closely at the Orchird video until now. Look closely...its a minuture food drop.

There's No Place Like Home

Sun is Missing from the Fishermans Photo

Because there is break in Lost I'm going to proceed from the last episode backwards toward the beginning of the season. Makes sense for Lost to be explained backwards anyway. :) . Remember, my blogs are to address things that are sometimes missed by viewers but are there by design.
Many are asking why she is missing, but she isn't. She is hidden--there is a difference. The question is..............Why?

Because the writers try to add mystery and guessing to each episode because they know it increases the fun for viewers.

Have doubts about this?

Watch the scene in the episode where the picture is shown. You will see the photo--with Sun not visible in it--which at that point we are suppose to ask where is Sun in the photo? Then the camera pans down to who? SUN--with the pic in the background. She gives the look that she's hiding something. Then it pans to Jack who looks at Sun in an uneasy glance.

Armed with the information that Sun was on the freighter--separated from the rest of them--we are suppose to contemplate if Sun escaped the island in another way.

Lost does this all the time. These are pseudo mysteries. Even though there is eventually nothing to them they serve the purpose of adding more to the plate of the viewer. You want the audience to ask questions and not be too sure about things. Its art...and in all my years I have seen this a thousand times.

Even in the promo they do not show Sun on the helicopter. Its all by design. Eventually we will find it is insignificant--but that's the very nature of pseudo mysteries in writing. You mix them in with the real mysteries to add this sense of puzzle to the plot.

Watch the scene again and you'll all see it. Everything Im going to write in this Blog is designed to have you watch the scene again. Before too long, you will start seeing things on Lost, or even other shows, that you didnt notice in the past. Yes..your being manipulated by the writers :)
Another device I'd like to point out is a Theme that has not been talked about. The whole episode was built upon moving the oceanic 6 as far apart as they could be on the Island so we couldnt comprehend how they would ever all get together in the end. Thats the device that was used. Its starts with them all together on the plane--then shows them on the Island separating in so many ways that we are suppose to guess their future paths and how they will converge. Aaron is with Sawyer, Sayids on a motorboat, Hurley is with Locke, Then Sun heads to the freighter, Kate goes after the helicopter--but them returns to the beach, Jack is all infected :). They change paths so often you wonder how they can ever all hook up in the end. Its designed that way on purpose.
This all culminates in the last scene with dramatic music, and in slow motion, projecting each members path toward the opening scene we saw in the flashfoward..
UPDATE
In the new Podcast the writers confirmed that what I wrote above was the Theme for TNPLH. They basically said exactly what I described above. If you read the most popular recaps on the web you did not see this Theme pointed out to you. I hope this encourages you to supplement your favorite recaps with this blog.

Identifying Lost Themes


Here is an example of what I will be doing

We have all seen recaps week after week. But who really needs recaps when they saw the show themselves. I will not recap the episodes but I will expound on the mysteries and identify the Theme. Themes are different than the episode plot. In the Looking Glass the plot was Battle with the Others and Island rescue. Below is one of the underlying writing techniques that not one single review I saw caught. The writers of reviews and recaps always seem to miss the Theme so maybe you can use this blog to supplement your viewing. I think you will find it interesting.

The Looking Glass
This episode was about 2 simultaneous phonecalls. One in which Jack is trying to get off the Island. One in which he is trying to get back on it.


The entire episode, in both time periods, is trying connect these phonecalls to their intended target. Kate and the Freighter. But in both calls..no one is answering. In a way both calls are being jammed. One call is being Jammed by Ben--and one by Kate--as she does not answer and will not return Jacks call.

In the Flashfoward, Jack even says to Dr Hammil..."My phone is broken"--which is in direct relation to the satellite phone in the Past. The very second that Charlie stops the jamming and the call goes through to the freighter---Jack makes contact with his call in the future. It was a genius concept in writing.

Next time you watch The Looking Glass it will become so obvious you will wonder how anyone could have missed it. You will see Jack constantly checking with Naomi to see if the phone is connecting. Then, when we Flashfoward , you will see Jack using his phone in almost every scene. It all converges as Jack finally connects with the Freighter and we immediately Flashfoward to see him connect with Kate in the future.

Lost Analysis

Hello !

This blog has been created to supplement our favorite show--LOST

Many things are misunderstood about Lost. I would say the Number One area that needs to be addressed is Lost Themes. Many viewer's miss the genius of Lost writing and thus dont enjoy the show to its fullest. So in the coming weeks I will shed some light on things some people have missed as well as theories of where the show is heading

Thanks all
John Burger

 


John Burger's Lost Analysis - 2008