"It only ends once, anything that happens before that... is just progress." —Jacob
That's my favorite line from Season 5 of Lost (Jacob uttered it in the opening sequence of the finale), and it was a fitting beginning to the "Previously on..." sequence that led in to last night's Season 6 premiere. It's such a key statement to the series, and perhaps the most important piece of dialogue to solving the show's deepest mysteries so far.
We'll get back to that later, but first, we should all just say, "Wow." Lost has taken a leap into another gear, wasting no time answering questions lickety-split. We're led to believe that Juliet's banging on the H-bomb in 1977 did work and didn't work. You see, in one timeline, Oceanic Airlines flight 815 didn't crash and everyone landed in Los Angeles and their paths still cross like destiny meant. In another timeline/reality, our survivors are possibly shot into "the present," back on the island, the Hatch was built then blown up, and Jacob is dead. But not dead. We've discovered one of Lost's biggest mysteries: who/what is the Black Smoke? That would be the Man in Black, the man with the power to assume the bodies of the dead, including John Locke. We think. And so Season 6 begins with what Lost does best: forcing viewers to ask questions. A wise man put it best:
"Watching Lost is what I imagine might be like to be trapped inside Paula Abdul's brain." —Jimmy Kimmel
Welcome to Season 6 of Lost, ladies and gentlemen, and the advent of the flash-sideways (which is awkward, so I'll just call them lat-flashes, for lateral flashes).
We'll probably go back to the formula of real character-centric episodes similar to Season 1 and see how our characters react in a lat-flash to a non-crash existence (which may be a permanent "opposite day"—Hurley lucky? John made his walkabout?). They're clearly destined to hang out together no matter what alterna-reality they're in, and it will be interesting to see how this ties into the on-island timeline.
And now it appears, to me, that our Losties are simply living in a world where Jacob and the Man in Black rule. These two can manipulate things on the island, be it black smoke, apparently dead bodies, or the castaways by way of sagely encouragement (but never demanding, "You have a choice," says Jacob).
A slight tangent to prove a point: Remember when you were a kid and you rested on a hilltop gazing up in the stars, and the skies were filled with those burning balls of gases and you realized that if the universe was infinite, as people in white lab coats theorize, that somewhere up there there was another version of you laying on an identical hilltop realizing the same thing about you? It's one of life's first mind-blowing experiences, and this tale of our castaways could be very similar. We could be seeing an alternate reality, parallel universe, simultaneous mind f**k or whatever you want to call it, in which things are kind of the same, but kind of different (again, Hurley lucky, etc.). Perhaps our survivors have unknowingly gone through this same charade over and over again in infinite combinations.
Comments (40)
Uh, why is this on the news page?
Let's not forget Locke's explanation of good vs evil/light vs dark when he first met Walt. An indication of what was to come? Read up on backgammon on Wikipedia; the numbers on the dice are very similar to the cursed numbers that Hurley is afraid of, though it could be a coincidence. But there's a 'Jacoby Rule'. Is that also a coincidence? We also can't disregard the fact that in this possibly-parallel universe, they won't still come together and find a way to the island, which is what resulted in the castaways still being there even though the bomb did go off. Daniel warned them that it wouldn't change anything. Perhaps he meant that even if you DO change the past, it only splits the timeline and leaves you stranded exactly where you're supposed to be.moreless
Sorry, Jack's father's infidelity was definatly post 1977. Claire is not 28 years old. Claire being Jack's step-sister is not a manipulation on part of the islanders. Neither is her pregnancy, wich get's her on the plane.
Ups, one more thing.
Oceanic 815 was way off course when it crashed on the island. This must have been a manipulation, because it was not off course in the post-blast universe.
/Klaus
Ok, let us assume, for a moment, that setting off the bomb in 1977 created the alternate timeline that we're shown. Then let us also assume, that the bombblast is what sunk the island. This would kill all humans on the island at the time.
First let me establish, that we have not seen all passengers on the plane yet. We saw them land in LAX, but technically, no-shows like Micheal and Walt could still have been on board.
Now let's us look at some of the characters destinies in this new timeline.
Jacob and Smokey: Jacob seems to be able to get off the island at his will, and instantly. He would survive the blast/sinking. Smokey? Don't know. If he is like Jacob, then yes, but perhaps he can't, wich is why he so desperatly want's to go home/get off (assuming home is on planet earth). (a new theory just popped in: Perhaps, Jacob is Smokeys prisonguard?. No, let's not go there). Miles: His father did not survive the blast. Did his mother make it off the island in time for him to get born (or was he already born, I can't remember)? If so, his existance is saved, and pretty much anything that happend to him pre-815crash could still happen. His current history would be unknown.
Ben: He was a boy on the island in 1977. He died in the blast/sinking.
Locke: He is on the plane, he is handicapped, he went to Australia to go on a walkabout... seems to me, that everything that happened to Locke pre-815crash still happened. Previously he was denied the walkabout, wich was why he was on 815 returning to LAX in the first place. He still is. So I think his claim to have been on the walkabout is a lie, because going on a walkabout would have delayed his departure from Australia.
Jack: His father died in Australia. Jack went to get him. He was flying home. So anything happening to Jack pre-815crash still happens. Wich would seem to suggest that his relation to Claire is still step-brother.
Claire: Could still be pregnant. She was going to LAX to give away her baby. Could still happen. But could someone go back and check if she ever mentioned the fosterparents wanting to pick her up at the airport? If so, why is she in a taxi? Anyway her pre-815chrash history is intact, so far.
Kate: Her story sticks all the way, sadly. No questions there.
The original others: They would have died in the blast/sinking.
Desmond: Without Lily to give him a boat, he never made it to the island. His reasons for being on the flight could be anything. He did not 'dissapear' from the plane. He was riding coach, and tricked his way into first class. I think he 'dissapeared' because he was sent back to coach. Jack recognized him, because they ran into each other at the stadium in a Jack-flashback. Desmonds pre-815crash story has completly changed. Could be anything.
Saywer: I think his pre-815crash history is intact. Including his con-man background. (Can someone go back and check why he killed someone? Was he manipulated by anyone we know?)
Jin and Sun: Seems that their stories are also intact in the post-blast universe.
Charlie (so good to see you again): His pre-815crash history seems intact.
So, why this analysis? Well, I have had the theory, that all characters were manipulated onto flight 815 by Ben/Jacob/Faraday/Widmore. Remember that Alpert visited young Locke? And Lily gave Desmond a boat, and was institutionalized with Hurly (why?). Hurley got the numbers from a mad-man who kept repeating them (who was he, can someone check?). There is actually too many incidents to think, that they were not manipulated. All pre-815crash.
Yet, our analysis shows, that somethings where not manipulated:
Jacks' father has a daughter (Claire), and dies in Autstralia
Kate's tragic history is untouched
As is Saywer's
And Locke's
Although! Anything that happened to our characters pre-1977 could still be manipulation. For certain, Alperts visit to Locke-boy was pre-1977, as was Jack's fathers infidelity.
However post-1977, the islander's could no longer manipulate anyone to get onto flight 815 (or had no apparent reason to). This could help explain Hurley's change (although he still won the lottery, we don't know the numbers he won with). And, maybe, Boone failing to get Sharon back home.
And finally: Let us not forget, that the two timelines in existance are:
2004, where Oceanic 815 lands safely in LAX.
and
20xx (2004 + how long they were on the island + how long it took them to get back), where Sun is, and Jacob is dead.
... so technically the storyline of the post-blast universe has yet to catch up!
Could the timelines converge? If so, could Jack et.al. get off the island and meet themselves? How paradoxial.
/Klausmoreless
One moment from 'LA X' I think people are overlooking is when fLocke sees Richard and says, "It's good to see you out of those chains." I giggled like a little schoolboy when I heard that because it pretty much confirms the theory that Richard was on The Black Rock back in 1845 (when we see Jacob and MIB on the beach). I'm SO EXCITED for Richard's backstory, which Lindelcuse have promised will be forthcoming.Right now, I think it's fair to say we can't assume anything about anyone's backstory in the "alterna-flashes" (my preferential name for it) other than what we learned in 'LA X.' Is Sawyer a con man? Did he kill the shrimp truck guy? Are his parents dead? Was Desmond successful in his boat race around the world and won Penny back? And why aren't Shannon, Eko, Ana Lucia, Libby, etc., on flight 815? Evrything is up for grabs until we know more.However, we do know a bit about Kate's "alterna-past" from this Comic-Con video (the quality isn't great since it's shot from the panel audience but it's the only version on the interwebs): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i3i9kBXprigAlso, here's Hurley's Mr. Cluck's commercial about his new "Outback Roasters" platter. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-8pwC5Sea7o It might be a weak explanation for why he was in Australia in this new timeline but you can hear him talking to his people at Mr. Cluck's about using the name "Outback" when Kate is waiting in the cab line.@SasaAlouf As any regular airline flier knows, just because you check your bags doesn't mean they get on the plane. So Oceanic losing Locke's knives is no surprise and only served to put Jack and Locke in the same room (how awesome was Locke's line, "They didn't lose your father, they just lost his body.") As for Christian's coffin, my theory is that it disappeared ovr the island when the turbulence hit. For what purpose, I have no idea but Lindelcuse are crafty folk.moreless
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@ worthy of note.The island can't bring dead people back to life, buddy. Alpert said the rule already - he was proved right of course with Locke etc. So.... Sayid was pronounced dead. Here he is as Jacob.
@worthy of noteDesmond on the plane is part of the Fate/Destiny theme. These guys were all meant to be connected - no matter what reality they're in. Otherwise, that plotline is finished once they disembark.
What gets me is the fact that Desmond was on the plane in the flash/alternate reality. Desmond wasn't on the Oceanic 815, and was on the island before the the Oceanic crew. So how did he end up off of the island and on the plane? I doubt this is just some random plot hole, but something in the grander scheme of things. As for Locke/Smoke Monster/Man in Black, I'd like to know what is really going on here and what the rules are with dead people/assuming the identities of dead people and talking to the dead (Hurley). And if Sayid can be brought back, does that mean others can also be brought back? This is of course, assuming that they bodies are possessed by some other deity/creature of the island, because I would love to see the real Locke come back.moreless
Yeah, Sayid must be Jacob. We've watched this show long enough to know he'll be coy for a while, and later on it's a big reveal.
Actually, in that episode (Deas is Dead) the carvings on the wall showed Smokey existing alongside Tawaret.I guess it means Jacob is Tawaret, as Man in Black is Smokey!Nice.
Did anyone notice that the hole in the Temple underground the guys had to manoeuver around?I think it's where Ben fell into when he met Smokey, back in the episode Dead is Dead.
Okay, I agree with FrostyD7 and Jancevicius - Locke made up the stories of going on a walkabout. He wasn't allowed by the Aussie guides remember?As othe Man in Black alluded, Locke's life ouside the island is sad and pathetic.
I think the parallel universe it's a great device, because it can let us see the characters WITHOUT the influence of the island in their destiny... and I think this will give us a lot of truths because basically everything that's the same in the parallel universe it's like that regardless the existance and the influence of the island... that's why Locke lies to Boone, we are left wondering "Is he ok? so that means it WAS the Island that made him like that! ... oh no, wait, still handicapped...". This is a great device to dismantle the big "everyone and everything that happened to them was destiny, they're all here for a reason, etc." that was the biggest pressure building to give a solid ending explanation... and that's not a Jacob that goes to meet them in times of their lives because he met them in the past and he already knows they WILL crash, in this timeline Jacob is probably being company to the fish at the bottom of the sea... and so Kate is still a fugitive, Locke is still on a weelchair, Hugo it's not plagued by the number's sequence misfortune and was in Australia to shoot commercials for his fast-food company, Desmond never shipwrecked 3 years before on the Island and is coincidentally on the plane... still there are things we don't know (is Claire pregnant? were Michael and Walt on the plane? etc) and things starting to sound strange (Christian's lost coffin, Desmond vanished on the plane...).I think it's possible that this storyline will lead to something more substantial and relevant, a-la-Fringe where two parallel universe in the same space fight to exist.... I don't know, about that I'm just LOST!Last thing I say: how could they kill off Faraday, he would be the only one understanding something about this and he should have know the only way to change their future would be create another timeline... and for what we know he probably was never even born in the other since his mother Eloise was on the Island during the explosion... sic!moreless
I think that the island is just one big alien space ship. As so called black smoke monster Jacob's nemesis in Locke said he wants to go home...
Cuse/Lindeloff said on Jimmy Kimmel that the man in black was not in John Locke. That means the smoke monster is its own entity. The man in black is just another body he took over years ago, like Locke, Alex etc. Perhaps all the dead people we have seen, have been Smokey. They also said there is something inhabiting Sayid. Watch the interview.
I prefer flash-betweens lol
I fear that the show LOST will leave us with a lot of unresolved issues, or worse yet it will leave us hanging just like that 60's show The Prisoner.
Does anyone know where desmond went? He wasn't even shown leaving the airplane or anywhere else for that matter :S
I dig it. The other-others and the whole new direction is fun. It is a great time to not know what all the answers are. The idea that the title of Flannery O'Connor's book Everything That Rises Must Converge is a key point. This is going to be a fun ride watching and waiting for that convergence.
the new timeline and the original will converge beause they created a paradox the island must exsist in all dimensions. Since the island is neutralized in the new timeline this will not exsist for long before collapsing
Here is a Question, how did Hurley win the lottery if there were no numbers?
Does it mean that he was supposed to win anyway but using the numbers brought bad luck to him
Also what is the man in black home? if the island isn't his home then what is it and why can't he get to it while Jacob can get out of the island easily
I think that Jacob had a master plan and those people are his pawns, it is a plan that goes against the Man in Black's plan to kill him, and I think if i think too much about this show I will go insane
One of the biggest mysteries? It's been rather obvious for a while Smokey and fake Locke/Man in Black shirt were the same
Why is this writer making allusions to the game of chess when the show set up in season 1 that the symbolic game is backgammon?
I'm with Kimmel, I'm so lost with LOST but I still love it.
i hated flashforwards but i am ok with flash-sideways!
One cannot assume that all things are the same prior to the take off of Oceanic 815. The bomb exploded in 1977 and that would be where the time line diverges. Taking this into account all matter of things may be different, thus explaining Desmond being on the plane and Shannon not.
Perhaps there are two timelines that will eventually crash into one another wreaking all kinds of havoc. Honestly I have no real idea as to what is going on, but it sure is fun guessing and theorizing.
With so few episodes left don't you think it is time for the show to stop presenting new questions and get on with answering the lingering ones.
I LOVE this show, but really folks, it's only TV
I was left a bit confused by the new episode, so I'm hoping that it will all play out in a fashion that is easy to understand.
I was also under the impression that Locke was just lying to Boone about having gone on the "Walkabout." He thought the walkabout was going to bring him great pleasure and make him feel less helpless, and in turn prove to himself and others that he was not "crippled." He had probably been looking forward to telling great tales of his walkabout adventure, and since nobody but him knows he didn't get to go, he can still tell his "stories."Although, that wouldn't explain why Hurley said he had good luck, unless he was in denial or lying too. Additionally, it doesn't explain why Boone said he had gone to bring his sister home and she had decided not to come. It doesn't appear that he was lying about that because we didn't see Shannon anywhere on the new 815.Yet again, as someone else mentioned, if Hurley, Locke, and Boone were not lying and there is some alternate time-line of opposites, than: Why was Hurley in Australia in the first place if he hadn't been looking for info on the numbers that he felt had brought him the bad luck? Why was John on the plane if he had gone on the walkabout, when not going was the reason for him being on the plane in the first place?So basically I just talked in a complete circle and I am still completely "LOST." Lol. I have been "LOST" for 5 seasons, but I have stuck with it faithfully. I only hope that when the answers begin to unfold I will stop being confused and say, "Aha, now it all makes sense."moreless
and one more (hopefully last) thing...if they lost lockes knives and jacks dad (LOL) how come they were on the plane the first time?
btw how can an island simply sink like the atlantis without any damage to the houses?
Actually hurley was always lucky...bad luck happened to people around him, never to him exactly...so him not being scared of anyone taking his mones is really not a surprise fir me...desmond on the plane is just so weird...I have one other question...if the bomb sent them back to the future somehow, maybe it was also a blast to the past and that's what broke that statue? bah, who cares anyway :)
i'd have to agree that locke did NOT go on the walkabout, simply because it was him not being able to go on the walkabout that force him to go back home early and be on flight 815.
I thought the episode was Interesting as well so many things to think about I will be digesting it for the next few days!
@silvermoon, I'm not saying it's new at all. Just saying that I subscribe to it, that's all.
Sorry to disappoint you but the game theory has already been proposed since the finally of season 5. I don't think anyone has called it game theory but the main characters as chess pieces being controlled by jacob and mib. Its nothing new at all.
I dont think John went on the walkabout, i think he just lied about it rather than explaining a sad story. I think the writers just wanted you to think for a second that he wasnt paralyzed this time. The only major differences i noticed was Hurley said hes lucky and Desmond is on the plane. But what i cant understand is why Hurley would go to Australia if he never had bad luck. Plus, they never really showed a good shot of Claire, maybe shes not pregnant in this timeline.And unless the man in black decided he would throw Jacob an underwater level, the game theory is kind of tough to support in the new time considering the Island's condition.
This has so much biblical conotations Jacob and Esau were twin brothers. The prophecy said that the older would serve the younger; its statement "one people will be stronger than the other" has been taken to mean that the two nations would never gain power simultaneously: when one fell, the other would rise, and vice versa. By your sword you shall live, but your brother you shall serve; yet it shall be that when you are aggrieved, you may cast off his yoke from upon your neck. So know I have to figure out who Esau is? I tried switching letters around and such but got nothing. LOL I love this show.