'Lost': Fanning the "Flame"s
Well, it's St. Patrick's Day, and I'm Irish, so you know what I'm doing tonight: writing about Lost, naturally! It's a long-standing tradition in the Irish community to gather around, drinking pints of Guinness and arguing over the meaning of the Numbers, the true allegiance of Juliet Burke, and in which Dharma station we'd most want to be stationed. (I voted for the Pearl, Liam voted for the Swan, and less-than-genial fisticuffs ensued.)
I must confess to be at a bit of a stand-still, in between "Ji Yeon" and "Meet Kevin Johnson." I've already covered the odds-on favorites for the remaining members of the Oceanic 6, recapped the episode itself, and tried to look deeper into assigning true responsibility for the staged wreck of Oceanic 6. Moreover, I published a podcast recapping the fate of Jin, the status of the 6, and the meaning behind Hurley's enigmatic "Good!" at the end of last week's episode. I mean, that's a lot of analysis.
But clearly, I haven't remotely answered everything. So I'm putting out an ABP for the latest and greatest installment of "Letters from The Flame," a concept that started out strong but fizzled out. Kinda like...a flame. But I think we can be stronger than that. I mean, even stronger than Cheap Trick's vision of "The Flame." I'm talking a Susanna Hoffs-esque "Eternal Flame" here, people.
So hit me up with your thoughts! I have a few that have slowly stockpiled like so many lima beans, but I need a big push over the next twenty-four hours. Email me your burning thoughts and questions about Widmore, the freighter, the Oceanic 6, the whereabouts of Walt, the backstory of Michael, or lyrics to "You All Everybody." Or mark them with the word "FLAME" at the beginning of your comment below. I'll publish the best/most compelling tomorrow and attempt to answer as many as I can in anticipation of the final episode of this altogether stellar run of episodes.
Ryan also posts every 108 minutes over at Boob Tube Dude.
Ryan,
This is one for the flame. I was wondering what your thoughts were regarding how Michael came to be on The Kahana. Did he get picked up directly after he left the island with Walt, or did he manage to get back to the real world and some how change his identity? I highly doubt that anyone would have been let on that ship without a thorough background check, even a janitor. I also doubt that they could have found both Michael and Walt at sea and never had any inclination that they came from the island. So, how do you think it all went down?
A burning question with me has been why Jack doesn't want to see Aaron and if, in the flash forward after Kate's hearing when Jack refuses to see Aaron, does he know at that point that Aaron is his nephew (and Claire his half-sister)?! Any thoughts on what may have happened there?
FLAME
Why did Richard/Ben's mother tell young Benjamin that it wasn't time yet and he would need to be very, very patient. Why did it take what seems like 20 years for the Purge to take place and Ben to become the leader of the Others?
Jeff- I gotta believe that the original Others were waiting for the right opportunity (the build up of the toxic gas) for the purge to occur. Plus, time may be affecting Richard differently than Benjamin. What may seem like 20 years for Ben may have been a year for Richard. Just a crazy thought.
FLAME
Now that we know it's Widmore's boat, how does Mr. Paik fit in? Is he behind Abandon then? Or is Abandon with Widmore as well? Where is our beloved Mr. Abandon?
lol, Abandon, nice.
Brian: really? 20 years for gas to build up?
FLAME (on!)
I will repeat the question so misappropriately asked during yesterday's blog: Why are the Others on the Island in the first place? What are they doing there?
FLAME
To follow AdSlinger's Others theme: considering what we know about Ben's extensive resources and off-island corporate front, why were the Others building a runway on the Hydra island?
FLAME
Ryan, the radio serial I sent you mentioned something along the lines of a certain path that must be taken to get to the island. It's eerily similar to LOST in so many ways. Also, can we trust that there are actually 324 bodies in that fake crash, due to the fact that the plane, as well as the bodies, are unattainable? When will the Losties realize that they can't trust anything that Ben says "as is"? I could go on with these...lol
FLAME
The questions I wanna know the most right now are, in no particular order:
- What big event is going to happen that bridges events on the Island to "everyone's miserable" Futureland?
- When is the Orchid going to make an appearance, or its Dharma film have direct relevance to the Season 4 narrative?
- Where is Jacob and Walt?