Thursday, February 18, 2010

Search And Destroy

I think I am gonna have to start with the obvious "OMG!" aspect first...

So let's just jump right in:

 

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  
The Numbers & The Names

Oceanic
Alive
8 – Reyes
15 – Ford
16 – Jarrah
23 – Shepard
42 – Kwon (Jin or Sun? Both?... or their kid?)
313 – Littleton (Claire? Aaron?)

Dead
195 – Pace
4 – Locke

Others
10 – Mattingley
317 – Cunningham
117 – Linus (Roger? Emily? Ben?)
55 ? – Burke

Dharma
??? – Goodspeed (Horace? Olivia? Ethan?)
134 ? – Chang

French Team
? – Lacombe

Freighter
Lewis
Faraday
171 ? – Straume

US Army
233 – Jones

Undetermined
222 – O’Toole
291 – Domingo
346 – Grant

Partial
33 – XW?
20 – Rouf…
62 – …?
90 – Tr(oup?)
…? – …ersen
285 – Jen…
49 – …chan
30 – …la
195 – …?
?? – Reyno(lds?)
27? – …?
1? – Sullivan
…? – …zki

4-Locke, 8-Reyes, 15-Ford, 16-Jarrah, 23-Shephard, 42-Kwon. With one obvious exception, these are the people whom Jacob touched in the flashbacks of "The Incident".

*Note* some of the names that are up there and already crossed out.... most of them seem to be crossed out because they are dead, but there are also several people up there - Straume (Miles), Linus (if it's Ben), Littleton (Claire or Aaron) - who are not dead. Crossing off their names seems a little premptive... and probably not a good sign for these characters living much longer. Either that, or there is something fundamentally different about them that has already made them ineligible for the job as a candidate (candidate for what exactly we still don't know). I can see that for Ben - maybe Jacob figured he already had his chance, and kind of blew it. If Claire is "sick" that might have ruled her out. Miles is the one that bothers me.... 'cause if (or sadly "when") they kill him... I will no longer be able to watch him on the screen and wish I could nibble on his lips... bummer. ALSO... ok, we all noticed, right?... no Kate; I have a few theories about that. 1) We just didn't see it. 2) Could be that Kate is another name ...like "Jenssen" (#285) as her real father was Wayne, NOT Sam Austin who raised her as a kid. Or maybe her married name from when she married that dude "Cullin" I think was the name (too lazy to look it up right now, I've got a lot of ground to cover right now!), & or 3) Kate isn't up there because she is serving a totally different purpose right now.

ok... now for the wacky theories about the numbers... I know I said I was convinced that each number was associated with a person, and that THE #s were associated with specific Losties. (I kinda love when I'm right btw :) )... the question is "what do those numbers with the names mean?

Lets start with the numbers, 4, 8, 15, 16, 23 and 42, which are explained in the Sri Lanka Video, as the numerical values to the core environmental and human factors of the Valenzetti Equation.
 
Alvar Hanso states in the video that the purpose of the DHARMA Initiative is to change the numerical values of any one of the core factors in the equation in order to give humanity a chance to survive by, effectively, changing doomsday. However, Thomas Mittelwerk reveals that as of 2006, they have failed to change the values through manipulating the environment, as the equation continues to arrive at the same six numbers. It is unknown how or if the most recent calculation of the equation is automatically reflected in the radio transmissions.
What if the variables are PEOPLE... specific people. People who would then be labeled as a number in an equation like 4, 8, 15, 16, 23, 42.  What if messin' with them and trying to change the things they do, and how they do it, is what it's all about?

When talking to my friend Doug after the show on Tuesday I used the hypothetical analogy of a man becoming king because he killed his predecessor to gain the crown. If the man was destined to be king... then in another alternate time line he manages to gain the crown due to it being given to him by the king, as opposed to taken by murder.... he still fulfils his destiny, just in a better way.

Think back to that conversation on the beach between The Man in Black (who I'm gonna call MIB from here on out to save time, ok?) & Jacob:

MIB: They fight. They destroy. They Corrupt. It always ends the same.

Jacob: It only ends once. Everything that happens before that is just progress.

Maybe Jacob & MIB are part of a game/bet in regards to humanity. On the surface it seems like Jacob seems to have faith that humans are inherently good and given the chance, they'll prove it... and it seems like MIB just says "yeah, no.. humans suck."... but again... I'm talkin' "on the surface."

Free will and destiny seem to be key players in LOST.... and yet it seems like MIB is stuck on the island... is he being held there by Jacob, or by other forces? What are these forces?
And just for the sake of saying it... what are the chances that MIB is creepy Richard's Dad... ?... I'm also thinking Ilana is someone's family too..
There is that whole scene in the Russian hopo where Ilana is all bandaged up and half coherent while healing from bad burn wounds (I sure hope we find out how the hell that happened) and Jacob shows up to visit her. He apologizes for not being able to get there sooner and Ilana apparently knew who he was... obviously she had some form of previous relationship with him, claiming she was happy to see him. It should be noted that, while Jacob made a point to make physical contact with the other cast members during their flashbacks, he seemed to go out of his way to specifically not touch Ilana, wearing black leather gloves the whole time. Hmmmmmmmm...  Jacob asked her to help him with something, and she agreed. Still no idea what it was he needed... but we can GUESS!!!
Maybe it had something to do with getting Sayid to the island?

Remember Ilana first met Sayid in a bar drinking MacCutcheon whiskey.
Ilana claimed she was hired by the family of Peter Avellino ( who was the guy Sayid killed on that golf course while working for Ben....& yes, I totally just looked up his name...) to capture Sayid and bring him to Guam. She told him he was "going to answer for what [he] did."

Just for the sake of random facts: MacCutcheon is the name of a fictional brand of expensive Scotch whisky first featured in the episode "Flashes Before Your Eyes", named after Admiral Anderson MacCutcheon. Don't you feel a zillion times smarter knowing that now? What if I told you this fictional whiskey runs approx $120 a glass? (if you are trying to do the math... that means a bottle would run about $2030.) Man, that whiskey better do more than taste good... but I recently got the notion that maybe it's not whiskey at all... it does look remarkably similar to the water in the pool of awesome inside the temple... just sayin'... Even Widmore kept a bottle of it by his bed... and he totally dissed Desmond by not givin' him a glass of it when Des went to go ask for Penny's hand in marriage. Then Charlie found a bottle of it in Sawyers stash of stuff on the island and used it to get Des & himself pickled on the beach.

I think I'm getting off track here.... it's hard to keep all the thoughts/theories straight right now. So much is happening. Every time something starts to make sense... the show changes my mind. For as frustrating as that may be, I freakin' love it!

Let's skip to Locke ok?....
Locke is dead. 2007Locke that is... 2004Locke is alive, but still in a wheelchair. He's also clearly a man of science now, not the man of faith he is/was on the island. 2004Locke also still digs being sprinkled with water... just like 2007Locke.

2004Locke worked (past tense since he just got canned) at a box company owned by Hurley. The pictures in Locke's cubicle were a photo of Locke (with hair) with his father, Anthony Cooper; they looked to be hunting, like we saw them back in the episode ''Deus Ex Macina.'' There was also a photo of Locke with Helen in a tropical setting, maybe Hawaii...looks like Diamond Head in the background. The odd thing about both photos: Locke appears to be standing. Sooooo when and how did Locke become dependent on a wheelchair?

   Another thing...Helen talks about the idea of just going and getting married immediately rather than waiting until October (which should confirm that the flight did take place on September 22, just like the original one, which has been in question since the November date on Claire's sonogram of Aaron made everyone question things.)
AND Helen (geeze, how freakin' happy were you to see Helen? The chemistry between Katy Sagal & Terry O'Quinn is so awesome) actually suggested inviting Locke's Dad... so does this mean that Cooper is a good guy and has always been a good guy in the 2004 world? If so, that could mean that he didn't cause the deaths of Sawyer's parents. Which would help my theory that Sawyer is not a con man in 2004... that he's a good guy, like a cop or something. (and just for the record, especially after watching him and Miles interact as they buried Juliet, I bet Miles isn't a con man in 2004 either and probably his partner, or another cop... or like works in that field somehow)


Anyway... clearly Locke is a ''man of science'' in 2004. I mean, c'mon.. you caught the whole thing where he accepted a job as a substitute teacher....for BIOLOGY. (First lesson: the human reproductive system.) If you remember the season 4 episode ''Cabin Fever,'' where Locke (as a teenager) was encouraged by a teacher to cultivate his natural talent for science by attending a summer camp run by Mittelos Biosciences, the Others' company that recruited Juliet to The Island. But Locke wasn't down with it; he wanted to drive fast cars and play sports. When he was told his dreams were unrealistic, Locke gave his now infamous angry line of  ''Don't tell me what I can't do!'' Which I'd like to point out MIB did on Tuesday to that weird bloody kid... who, BTW, I have NO theory about... YET.  But it can't be coincidence that MIB uses John's catchphrase like that. Anyone else think (read: hope) that deep down in MIBs subconscious, there is a trace of John Locke left. I think this is supported by the fact that MIB has Locke's memories. He isn't just impersonating - in some ways, he is him. This gives me hope regarding Locke, like maybe he will be able to rise up, out of MIB's subconscious, and sidetrack or injure him at a crucial moment. It'd be pretty bad ass to watch MIB & Locke wage an inner war for control of the same body. Terry O'Quinn and his awesomeness would be reason enough to do it.

AND.. how awesome to see Ben!! As a teacher!! (HA!! I was half kidding when I guessed that one a week or so back!!!)

Ok.. I lost track of where I was trying to go with this. I know a few people that didn't like this episode (to which I informed them they were "FUCKING CRAZY!") but I found it awesome, and totally filled with so much fun stuff! Clues galore, and hundreds of little things to make my brain spin. I freakin' love stuff that makes my brain go bananas like this! It's why it's taken me so long to write all this. I am having a hard time wrapping my head around all this. I mean... am I really the only one that had the thought, after listening to Helen bemoan all the troubles of planning a wedding, that Boone' mom, Sabrina, owns a wedding business empire, and Boone was the chief operating officer....and maybe, just maybe they will play a role in solving Helen's catering crisis?! Everyone else is running into each other already...how cool to have Boone be like "hey , didn't I sit next to you on the plane?" :)

And Rose! I ♥ Rose! Still 110% convinced she is gonna die before the season is over though. BUT... I think she & Bernard will form a friendship with Locke & Helen... oh... speaking of Locke & Helen (again!)... you know... the neighborhood where Locke lives looks an awful lot like the neighborhood Sayid's Nadia lived when 2007Locke was a home inspector and inspected her home.... so... what if she IS a neighbor? Man I would LOVE to live next door to Sayid... specifically on the days when he mows the lawn shirtless... not that I know he mows it shirtless, but a girl can dream. :)

Ok... I gotta wrap this up, my fingers hurt and my brain is tired. I've beentyping as fast as I can to try to get as much out as possible, but I am well aware I am leaving out a TON of stuff... so lets just quickly discuss this....

The ash around Jacob's cabin... Ilana seemed to know what to do with Jacob's remains....
 
...interesting.....
 

oh.. and I just had to put up a picture of this moment... 'cause I KNOW I am not the only person that went "ewe! Duuuuuude!!! EWE!!" when I saw this scene.... someone needs some damn Dharma Detergent and water... ASAP!

and... the music playing while the SmokeyCam was fling through the woods and arrivin' at Sawyer's house was The Stooges.
 
that would be Iggy Pop on the cover of The Stooges album "RawPower" I find it interesting that they went to the trouble of blacking out the fairly obvious album title. Normally it looks like this:
 
and the song playing was called "Search & Destroy" (Dear Lost- I fucking LOVE you!!!)


ok folks, that's it, that's all I've got in me. I am well aware I've left out/jumped over a bunch of stuff... so... Please add anything you can in the comments below. I am ACHING to hear your ideas/theories!

(these are the lyrics btw)

I'm a street walking cheetah
with a heart full of napalm
I'm a runaway son of the nuclear A-bomb
I am a world's forgotten boy
The one who searches and destroys
Honey gotta help me please
Somebody gotta save my soul
Baby detonates for me
Look out honey, 'cause I'm using technology !
Ain't got time to make no apology
Soul radiation in the dead of night
Love in the middle of a fire fight
Honey gotta strike me blind
Somebody gotta save my soul
Baby penetrates my mind
And I'm the world's forgotten boy
The one who's searchin', searchin' to destroy
And honey I'm the world's forgotten boy
The one who's searchin', searchin' to destroy
Forgotten boy, forgotten boy
Forgotten boy said
hey forgotten boy

8 comments:

  1. I had also wanted to add that I found it interesting, and more than a little sweet (albeit odd considering where they started) that they (Ilana, Sun, Lapidus, & Ben) headed all the way back to the graveyard near the original beach camp is/was to bury John ......in the shadow of Eko's unfinished church.

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  2. and also... just so it's said...

    what if those numbers are the amount of times the person has come to the island? Like multiple lifetimes... and when they are crossed out maybe it means they aren't coming back again?

    Could be the # of sins committed... but not necessarily by that individual... you know "sins of the father" and all...

    maybe it's a secret code that Jacob uses when he sends them late night txt message booty calls? Yeah.. his phone ran out of memory space, so he has to keep #s scrawled on the walls of a cave.... and MIB is just cranky 'cause he doesn't have an iPhone. (Wonder if iPhones have a SmokeMonster App?... I'd so dowload that noise as a ringtone!

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  3. 90-is Troup. That was a cool easter egg from this week. "Gary Troup".

    I point this out for a few reasons.

    First being, Gary Troup is the guy who gets sucked into the jet engine during the first episode.

    Second being, there would be zero reason to know that except- the fictional character Gary Troup is credited with writing the book "Bad Twin".

    I read the book (Sawyer can be seen reading the transcript for the story during the second season.) - and the book sucks. But, it does contain members from the Widmore family. Penny gets mentioned once, so does Charles, and so does Hanso. Other than that, there is no reason for anyone with a functioning brain to ever read the story "Bad Twin".

    Troup is interesting for something else though, and this ties directly to your initial commentary about the numbers and the Vallenzetti Equation.

    Troup wrote the book - The Vallenzetti Equation. -

    Imagine if he HADN'T been sucked into the jet engine in the first episode? (lol)

    Also, 917 is my number.

    And I think that the kid we saw with the blood on his hands in the jungle was Aaron, who likely has the same ability as Jacob (and to an extent, Desmond) in that he can project himself through time and his consciousness can interact with things in real time to have an impact on past events which can then have an impact on the future.

    I rewatched last night, and will probably be giving this episode another rewatch tonight.

    I just know that Aaron is going to be important in the future, so bringing him in now makes sense.

    I also thought about it a bit.

    Kate has a dream that Claire is standing over Aaron, and then Claire turns to Kate and tells her to never bring Aaron back to the island.

    It seems to me that if Claire is "infected", then this was "smokey" infected Claire trying to keep Aaron from getting back to the island.

    But then on the other side of it- Ben, who did whatever Jacob asked him to- hired a team of lawyers to try and have Aaron taken from Kate so that Ben could then bring Aaron back to the island.

    Seems that Aaron getting back to the island is a good thing for Jacob and a bad thing for Smokey. But guess who screwed that all up? Stupid Friggin Kate, (whom I should start calling SFK from now on.)

    You know why SFK doesn't have a number? Cause she's a fucking idiot, and Jacob knows it. I love that she doesn't have a number. I think the real reason she doesn't have a number is because she's the most irrational person in the group and therefore is one of the most important variables, one that is constantly changing- because she's kinda psychotic to boot, and she's never going to be in a position to "protect" anything because Kate's version of protecting things inevitably winds up causing those same people she's protecting to get all kinds of effed up. SFK sucks, and if the show ends with Jacob standing in front of her and telling her what a stupid beeha she is, and then throwing her through the statue, causing it to fall down and SFK to die- then I'll be at least partially happy about it.

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  4. Wow soooo many great points here... Tzorizt, you just made Walt relevant again because if that kid is Aaron (I assumed it was a young Jacob but your idea is much better) than he will be similar to Walt in that ability to make himself appear in places he shouldn't be (remember when Ms. Klue asked if Walt has ever done that in "3 Seconds" I think) as we've seen him do in the jungle.

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  5. Gilly thanks for the breakdown of the numbers!!! That was awesome! And I agree with the theory that the ending will always be the same no matter how it happens. That's why I asked you if you watched Felicity... another JJ Abrams show and he did two endings that showed that the either way, her life would have turned out the same way.

    I love the point about Jacob not touching Ilana... I didn't notice that but that is so interesting!

    This episode rocked! completely made up for the ridiculousness of last weeks.

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  6. Gary Troup is an anagram for "Purgatory". Not sure what that means.

    Also, in the book "Bad Tiwns", the twins were born 23 minutes apart near midnight. So, one was born on 8/15 and one on 8/16. Does that mean Ford and Jarrah are twins? Don't think so.

    Not sure if the book really gives us any substantial clues to the show.

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  7. I also thought further about this today-

    When Kate goes into Aaron's room after having the Claire dream- Aaron is awoken after having a bad dream himself.

    When the kid first shows up to MiB, he sees him and runs. Could that be Aaron's bad dream? He's being chased through the woods by some scary lookin bald man?

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  8. So does anyone have any theories on the significance of the blood on the boy in the woods? Excellent run down on the episode Gillian.

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