UConn James

Bingo! The realization of what he was now actually up against (rather than vague threats) prompted Jacob to give Richard the job of intermediary, and to start forming his Playing-20-moves-ahead plan in case MIB succeeded. Well, yeah, that seems to be the case, but it's not explained why. (Big shock, that). Also, as has been written, note that there seem to be two different Christian Shephards. Grunge Christian, whom MIB had evidently taken the form of, and Suit Christian, who appears to either be an undead (yet, not living) version. Suit Christian (complete with white tennis shoes), in a 'Mobisode' episode that showed the moments before Jack's eyes first opened in the pilot, said to Vincent, "I need you to go find my son. ... I need you to go wake him up. He has work to do." . I don't get the vibe of Smokey with this version. And this may have more merit since "The Lighthouse." Perhaps you noticed that the other images for the candidates showed the exact place where Jacob touched them. For 'Ford,' it was the church. For 'Kwon,' the place where they were married. For 'Shephard,' tho, it showed Christian Shephard's house. Not the hospital. Hmm.

Several minutes in, this Cuse & Lindelof podcast is saying that the S5 finale intro scene was the Black Rock and that the weather change seen in "Ab Aeterno" was sudden. They also say that the S6 finale is titled... zero spoiler-age here.... "The End." ----- Just a musing.... What is preventing MIB/Smoke Monster/FLocke from leaving the island via the Frozen Donkey Wheel? Since he has downloaded Locke's memories, stands to reason that he would know about the Orchid escape. It's also funny how I've seen almost no references to the huge tree in the clearing where Richard buried Isabella's cross necklace. We've seen massive trees like this before, e.g. the one under which Tom and Kate buried the lunch box, toy airplane, tape recording. We could get Biblical here. The Island as Eden. MIB as Cain. Adam and Eve. ...

Don't assume mistakes on something that big. Details like that are what they are for a reason. The timeline is something very carefully kept track of by the writers and the continuity person (yes, they have someone whose job it is to, for example, maintain a gun-count, who is where and at what time, etc. He was in the bonus features on the S1 DVD). It could be subterfuge or possibly an effect of Island-time e.g. the body of the doctor floating ashore a few days before it happened. Perhaps that time delay could be years. We don't know. Be assured, there is more to come about the Black Rock.

I'm throwing out anything that's been explained about or by GD and just applying the lyrics --- the words themselves --- to LOST. For ***** and giggles, just imagine it being sung by Willy Nelson. "Time grabs you by the wrist / Directs you where to go" = Jacob's touch "pushing" them all to the Island. "So make the best / of this test" = It's been proffered many a time that the Island is a test, a place to make up for misdeed "It's not a question / but a lesson learned in time" = We've all been spouting since the start about all the questions this show has created and either answered or not. The point of the show isn't about the questions or the whys of everything... in the macrocosm, it's about character development. It's about these people learning lessons... across time itself. "It's something unpredictable / but in the end there's right / I hope you had the time of your life" = Their Island journey has been anything but predictable, but it's all been leading toward the thing that needs to be accomplished to, in Desmond's words (from Kelvin Inman's words (from Stuart Radzinsky's words)) do nothing less than "save the world." That seems an amiable "right" thing, no matter what you think about Congress or Hugo Chavez. "Photographs and stillframes" = The Desmond and Penny picture in the Hatch, Sayid's of Nadia.... "Tattoos of memories and dead skin on trial" = Jack's tattoo from Achera. Charlie's. Juliet's branding after her "trial." "I hope you had the time of your life" = This is just a loaded sentence in terms of this show. So much meaning to the characters and to us, the viewers. Just how I think of it.

Was in a waiting room the other day and heard Green Day's "Time of Your Life" on the office-wide muzak. I know it's used a lot in finale episodes, and such (e.g. the lead-in introduction piece to the last ep of "Seinfeld"). But wow, the lyrics are 5,687 percent more tuned to "LOST" and imagery we've seen throughout: Another turning point A fork stuck in the road Time grabs you by the wrist Directs you where to go So make the best Of this test And don't ask why It's not a question But a lesson learned in time It's something unpredictable But in the end is right I hope you had the time of your life So take the photographs And still frames in your mind Hang it on a shelf in Good health and good time Tattoos of memories And dead skin on trial For what it's worth It was worth all the while It's something unpredictable But in the end is right I hope you had the time of your life You know, I was sitting there, thinking and got a little misty. I am going to miss this show so much it's frickin' unbelievable.

Doc Jensen's "Ab Aeterno" run-down: "Uncorked" Holy schnikes. Better have a padded cushion. It's a 12-pager. Before I get too far into that, tho, I wanted to mention that the ep reminded me a lot of Boone's ordeal in S1's "Hearts and Minds." The nail an equivalent to the knife thrown into the ground nearby by Locke. Boone would only reach it when he "had the proper motivation." Also wanted to note the continued use of "my friend" by MIB. And then note Ceasar's catch-phrase use of "my friend" last season... before he was shot by Ben. So, MIB had supporters in the outside world somehow?

As I wrote in the main thread, they are probably available piecemeal on youtube, if you can live with that for a few eps, and then resume with the ABC.com player, Hulu, etc....

So, we finally get an idea of the mystery man. And to be entirely truthful, there's not much to his story that we didn't already see Flocke conduct through Ben. We've seen it before. Mucho "the island is Hell" declarations... you can throw these on the pile with the rest of them. Richard is old. He doesn't have many answers. The reason why he was so interested in Young Ben seeing his mother's apparition on the island was b/c he saw Isabella's. Turned out that it was simply Smokey taking her form after downloading Richard's mind. Then, he sowed the seeds of hate as he has with a number of characters (e.g. Claire just recently) to try to have Jacob killed. So, this ep really cemented the good/evil sides: Jacob is for free will, blank slates, not directly interfering. All things we associate with a benevolent God. But Jacob is not God, if the concept of God even exists in Jacob's purview. Both requests for heaven (or Richard's version of the next best thing) are rebuffed. Jacob cannot offer Richard absolution or revive Isabella. But, to keep himself out of the scorching flames of Hell, Richard drives the bargain of being alive "forever." Which taps into Jacob's apparent ability to manipulate time. (Perhaps Jacob's touch places an invisible cocoon around a touchee wherein time is regulated. i.e. it being like, say, a stopwatch that went off for the O6 timetravel to '77) .... But most importantly here, we saw Jacob first learning the tactic MIB would eventually use to kill him... by using a proxy. He is persuaded to use Richard as an intermediary of sorts to pass messages to island inhabitants, and perhaps for various constructions. Richard, after all, works well with his hands. But all this comes after Richard's backstory. The doctor refuses what money and the gold necklace Richard has for medicine for Isabella's sickness. (Likely TB, for which there was no cure then). A somewhat accidental killer in a Spanish island, he is sentenced to death and not granted absolution for his confession. The priest then sells Richard... was that man Magnus Hanso speaking of himself in the third person? The weather takes a serious turn for the worse from the last time we saw the Black Rock (sunny weather, calm seas in the S5 finale), and it apparently rode an ~ 80 ft. wave to its spot deep into the jungle. The electromagnetic forces of the island apparently had nothing to do with it. The Black Rock is what smashed the Tawaret statue. ... Note, the knife was evidently MIB's originally, or perhaps it was a conjoined possession. But then, this particular knife wasn't needed for Ben to kill Jacob.... We get the analogy of the island (or, is it Jacob?) as a cork, holding Smokey --- DHARMA called the monster Cerebrus(?) --- captive so he doesn't seep out into the world. Still a big question of how Jacob left the island, and what was it that held MIB there while Jacob was gone. Yes, Jokeman, that line about Jacob having stolen MIB's body was interesting. An 1800s version of "Face/Off"? Or was it a lie? I, too, have to see this again. It was a fairly brave episode, with minimal main character time, but started to set up some of the mythology we all crave.

One last note... "Ab Aeterno" has been rated a 9.6 / 10 on the 'LOST UFO' blog among his sources who have seen the script, dailies, etc. Their ratings have very closely tracked with viewer ratings. So, I believe this is on track to be the best ep of the series among people in the know. (I believe "The Constant" was a near-10 as well).

For those more into the GM side of things, there's Football Mogul. I know I was totally lost on the gaming side of things after Super Nintendo.

H&A, even on the ABC 'LOST' site, there's only the last 10 eps online (it does have 'What Kate Does' listed). LA X seems to be unavailable. It'd be weird to think it's some kind of policy designed to encourage DVD sales, b/c it seems like all the previous seasons are available in streaming media there.... It's probably available in sections on youtube. Sucks for Ajzepp that he might run into this problem as he recently started watching from the start. Sorry, but other than that I'm sh-- out of ideas. I don't know. I'm not into the streaming video stuff myself. As much as I might want to watch previous eps again, I have a dinosaur shitbox of a computer that doesn't handle video well or, often, at all (outside of youtube, and even with that there's an annoying flickering). Need to update the rig and we're waiting for Sam's/BJ's/Costco to clear out their inventory of older models and roll out the newer i5/i7 stuff. Might be waiting a while.

OK, it's officially Tuesday.

Well, there's the micro-spoiler. Probably would've been best to put that in yellow-font for those who want to stay LOST-pure.... Looks like it. I think we all suspected there was some other significance to the knife than it just being Dogen's. What its purpose or power is, however, is still to be determined. Sayid's attempt didn't seem to do diddly. Perhaps only a certain person (the chosen candidate?) can kill(?) Smokey/MIB with it. So, with almost every question about it remaining, that's why I wrote "minuscule spoiler-age." As it is, that small kitty is out of the bag.

Caption the photo. (Miniscule spoiler-age. Appears to be a photo from "Ab Aeterno") Link "You didn't get the McCutcheon!!?!? Are you freakin' kidding me?! Did I not make a list for you? Go back!"

A posting from Doc Jensen... Good read, as usual. And plenty of spaghetti strings thrown on the wall. I do concur with his sentence: Comes a week later (not blaming. Didn't see it myself), but a great catch of "Recon" being analogous to "The Other Woman." Spot on.

FWIW, there's another theory that Desmond is behind the locked door on Widmore's sub. And, "Eloise Hawking" would be a great name for your next female canine. I believe we're going to be getting a standard poodle (note: not the "toy" breed) in the next few months. Alternately, I'm planning on "Ruff Ruffman" (from the PBS Kids show "Fetch!") for a male. I'm preferential for a male (they just have better attitudes / easier to train), but being able to call out to "Eloise Hawking" would be totally kick-ass. Do any of the other character's names really translate to dog names? "Ben Linus" is a 'Mehhh....' in my book. But I can't think of any others offhand.

We assume that he was crying b/c some part of him connected a very sad outcome of which this was beginning. Whether this was for his role only (being the sacrificial lamb for his mother preserving the timeline) or if there's something more to the story... such that Smokey = Faraday's consciouness as Doc Jensen started to theorize last week. Read my last post on page 15 of this thread that expounds on that idea. I mean... why did Widmore keep Theresa going all these years? Paying for her medical bills, 24-hour care, etc.? She's important. As an addendum to the post linked above, some are theorizing that she is behind the locked door on the submarine. Theresa would be an ace up Widmore's sleeve in any negotiation if indeed Faraday's consciousness is the monster. He is Eloise's son, by Charles Widmore. That's never been called into doubt. The production crew did all they could to Jeremy Davies to make him (and Henry Ian Cusik as Desmond) look younger in the '96 flashback. They gave Faraday long hair. He also had a line in the Thai restaurant with Eloise re: 'Haven't I done enough? I'm the youngest PhD graduate in Oxford's history....' and such. So, yes. The implication is that he was ridden hard to learn and get to where he needed to be... by what some might call a "crazy mother."

I'm told that my grandmother, who died when I was very young, used to laugh when she heard the name. "Fess" in the French-Canadian patois means "ass."

So, while she was working on a movie where a family acted in one the most graceful ways possible, Mr. James was acting in one of the least graceful ways possible. And what the eff is it with all of these whores lately, bragging on what married guy they !@#$ed? What the hell?!!? When exactly did this become some badge of honor? This is a pretty screwed up society we've manufactured. Divine Brown wasn't a transvestite, she was just an ugly prostitute. I believe you're thinking of Eddie Murphy wrt the tranny hooker.

Holy crap. You'll probably be watching the finale real-time with all of us.... And, oh yes, the "black smoke" plays a very important part in the series, especially right now in S6. Keep on keepin' on.

Those are all questions and observations that cut straight to the heart of what the last half-season should be, especially the re: the nature of Jacob. Further to the "Black Rock vs. Others bit... Yellow-fonted for possible spoiler: I have read a rumor that 6.15 will feature none of the cast regulars; it will be a run-down of this 1800s Black Rock storyline, which will purportedly be introduced with Ab Aeterno. To me, this question has usually come back to the New Otherton buildings. Namely, Ben's secret chamber within the secret chamber that he used to summon the Monster upon Keamy et al. Before it had taken the FLocke form. Also, that the tunnel section holding the nuclear bomb was built perfectly abutting Ben's house. Richard broke through ~ 6" layer of laid stonework, then a layer of cinder block. Color me dubious that all of this could have gone undiscovered, or DHARMA built right over it. And the building of that was before Ben lost faith in Jacob, it was before Ben's time entirely. New Otherton was already there when he and Roger arrived. In my estimation, it smacks of much more complex connections among DHARMA, the Others, MIB/Monster and Jacob than has been revealed.

And holy crap. When Jensen hinted at the beginning about his last-page theory, I was thinking the same thing.... MIB/Smokey = Daniel Faraday. Or at least Dan's consciousness. As he writes, the fragment that we got really fits in with the Faraday-Hawking story. A crazy mother, "growing pains," from a woman intent on sacrificing her own son. She didn't even try to save him. Where, if she had just told him, "Hey. When you storm into camp, watch out for the blonde with the rifle on your 6. That's me." He could have lived, and perhaps the Incident could have happened all the same. See, we get the story of Abraham about to sacrifice Isaac on Mt. Moriah, but what about Isaac's feelings on the matter. One might assume he'd have a problem being treated like a lamb and having his throat cut and body burned. What if God hadn't interrupted? Might you not be pissed at your mother/father and his God? Where do they get off? If this is it, it's a pretty sweet storyline. Remember how Dan's brain was fried from his time travel self-experimentation? Well, his body was fine. But perhaps, bolstered from his experience with Desmond c. 1996 in creating a constant, he plugged in some numbers and transported his own mental stream to a time far off from where he intended. He seemed to create a partial constant (if such a thing can exist. humor me), such that it didn't kill him, just rendered his memory completely spasmodic... not unlike how the island travels willy-nilly through space and time. One moment, 32 minutes behind the real world as with the payload; another moment, a couple of days ahead, as with the doctor floating ashore with his throat cut. And how, when he got back to the Island, Dan's consciousness returned, but didn't give him full knowledge b/c it might upset his plans, whatever those were. Definitely something to think about. It might also explain a screen-capture I saw the other day. I forget where. But it was when Flocke said, "I'm very disappointed... [and it showed his finger at that moment pointed at Lapidis, followed by a slight pause, then continues] In all of you!" More may come to me to reinforce this theory or knock it over. Anyone have anything else? ON EDIT: I can't recall offhand... Does anyone know if there were any Monster sightings during the time Faraday was on the island? ... Ooo. Wait. Ben summoned it to kill the mercenaries. Hmm. But the monster was strangely inactive during that time period. Or was Dan at the freighter at that moment --- technically off-island? What about Flocke saying that "Of Mice and Men" was after his time? That's a bit of a bullet to the balloon. Hmm.

Well, the Monster is pretty good at clearing trees....

Another difference from the original timeline to sideways world: Charlie's brother, Liam, is not living the clean & sober, married-with-child life in Sydney. Doc Jensen's "Recon" round-up. Uhh... What is Bernard? Chopped liver? ... (Well, if he and Rose are Adam & Eve.... eek. As I wrote before, I think that may be Faraday and Charlotte).