Missing Pieces Episode 6: Room 23

Short but sweet, this week's mobisode "Room 23" comes in at less than 90 seconds, but in that minute and a half gives us a whole lot to chew on. While the mobisode featured Juliet and Ben, the figures of Walt and Jacob loom large, with the two of them more intertwined than we may have previously thought. The title of this week's installment of "Missing Pieces" comes from the titular room featured in Season 3 of Lost in which Karl was subjected to a mind-altering, sonic and visual assault. Turns out that while the room worked its spell on Karl, Walt had a few tricks of his own up his sleeve.

Onto the recap!

Synopsis

Alarms are going off as the camera focuses on the ominous "23". Juliet stands by the door as Others run to and fro around her. Ben runs up to her, asking what's wrong. She states, "He did it again." Oops, Walt did it again, he killed him some birds, broke them with his mind, oh baby baby. "Did what again?" Ben asks. "You know," says Juliet. I'm all for short talk, but c'mon, guys, a little more specificity wouldn't kill you.

While this mini-Pinter play is going on, Ben tells Juliet to go into the room and tell him to stop doing it. Turns out Juliet won't do it, and neither will Bea, Tom, or any of the Others, who are treating Room 23 as if it's a creepy aunt who spends just a little too long kissing you on the mouth during the holiday season. Juliet wants to send Walt back to Michael, but Ben denies her request.

Juliet insists that it was Ben's idea to bring him there, to which Ben quickly points out that it was Jacob's idea, not his. Walt, after all, is special. Juliet insists that he's dangerous, and Ben replies, "Tut, young knavish wench, 'tis but a spirited youth!" Or something like that. Juliet then brings him outside and shows Ben what lies beneath the boarded window to Room 23: a gaggle of extremely dead birds. For the first time in the mobisode, Ben lets his guard down and looks genuinely worried.

Thematic Resonance

There's a lot to tease out from this short piece. Firstly, we finally get a sense of what Ben meant at the Pala Ferry at the end of Season 2 when he said they got "more than [they] bargained for" when Walt joined them. Looks like while Room 23 turns Karl, Sawyer, and others/Others into babbling pools of Jacob-loving mud, it turns Walt into a lean mean avian-killing machine. But here's what's interesting: contrast the Others' reaction to Walt in Room 23 and his own impression of the room: both are equally terrified. This strongly suggests that whatever Walt's doing in that room to scare everyone, he's doing it involuntarily.

Think about the last time Walt went all Hannibal Lecter on our fine, feathered friends. He was in Australia with his mother and stepfather, Brian. Susan starts to feel faint as Walt looks at a picture book filled with birds. Walt continually asks them to look at the book, to no avail. When Walt reaches the height of his anger, a corporeal version of the very same bird he's looking at smashes violently into the window of the room. This doesn't suggest necessarily that Walt needs to be angry to unleash any potential paranormal powers, but those extreme emotions may in fact enable those powers to be unleashed.

After all, in the very same episode, Walt shows himself to be an adept knife thrower after Locke suggests that Walt focus on the task in his mind first. With great concentration, he turns into a skillful thrower almost instantly. This suggests that mental focus, in addition to emotional strife, is equally useful. Room 23, however, bypasses the conscious mind and beats the living hell out of the subconscious, smashing synapses and creating new neural patterns that align with the message of Jacob. For whatever reason, bypassing Walt's conscious mind allows him to tap into the more violent aspects of his special abilities.

But here's a more pressing question: what does Jacob want with Walt? How was Walt identified by Jacob, and to what purpose did Jacob order Ben to put him in the room? It's possible, of course, that Ben acted of his own volition, lied about Jacob's intentions, and merely went ahead with his own plans. However, when Ben defied Jacob in putting Jack Shepard on the list a few weeks later, Pickett knew that Jacob's list did not contain Jack's name. Moreover, since Ben's clean-shaven, cut-free, and bruise-free, we can assume this scene took place after Walt's abduction but before Ben allowed himself to be captured by Rousseau: before he set in motion plans to defy Jacob, by my estimation. As such, I am proceeding as if Jacob in fact ordered Ben to capture Walt and put him into Room 23.

Why? To test him, naturally. But not to test his ability to help the Others; rather, to test his ability to set Jacob free.

Overall Importance to Missing Pieces

This is a subtle shift, and obviously pure supposition, but the idea that Jacob's trapped in the cabin is not a new one. He flat out asked Locke to help him while he and Ben were there, taking great pains to ensure that Ben did not hear what he said. While I've long talked about the idea that Jacob is holding Ben emotional hostage by using his love of Annie against him, that doesn't mean by any stretch that Jacob is omnipotent. Both are engaged in a relationship not unlike The United States and The Soviet Union during the Cold War: a state of mutually assured destruction should one ever outright attack the other.

I bring up the cold war imagery, and the dialogue in the Sri Lanka video specifically, because I want to start thinking about the relationship between Jacob, Walt, and the overall purpose of the Dharma Initiative. Specifically, I want to consider the fact that the answer to the paralyzing Valenzetti Equation may not rest with a team of scientists, or with billions of dollars of research, but actually with one special boy.

Think about Jacob as Walt Version 1.0. This theory is based on an idea I first read in an article by Jeff Jensen, in which he posited that the Island was haunted by/was powered by an incredibly powerful, disembodied psychic. A lot of the specifics of his theory have been blown to smithereens since that article was written, but I do like the basic idea when applied to Jacob. Suppose Jacob was that one in a billion person, the psychic Neo of the post-hippie generation, brought to the Island in order to benefit from the research being done there. But something went really, really wrong. An incident, as it were. Something that changed everything.

Now, what are the research goals of the Dharma Initiative? Well, they have six: one that counters each specific number of the Valenzetti Equation. Let's look at each and think about why Walt might be vital to each of these arms.

Psychology: Just how and why Walt's powers can be activated depends on the use of his mind: whether focused by thought or clouded by emotion. Discovering the triggers for such powers would be key in manipulating other minds in order to replicate similar effects, for good or evil (or, in terms of Lost, for light or dark).

Parapsychology: Clearly the meat and potatoes of the interest around Walt concerns his "special" mental abilities. While the Dharma Initiative tested for such things as telepathy, astral projection, and telekinesis, it's likely this was a theoretical rather than applicable arm of study. To find a subject for these tests would have been intensely valuable.

Meteorology: Ever noticed how often it rains? And how quickly such storms arrive and leave? And how often such storms appear at times of great stress? And how Walt often appeared to Shannon in Season 2 either in the rain or soaking wet?

Zoology: Birds flock to him. Polar bears can't get enough of him. And don't forget his relationship to Vincent, which very well might prove to be one of the most important relationships on the show before all is said and done. Pay close, close attention to that dog. He sure seems to show up in interesting situations.

Electromagnetism: Now, upon first glance, Walt has nothing to do with this particular field. But my extremely clever wife looked up bird migration on Wikipedia. While birds rely primarily on climate response, she also found this interesting passage:

Migratory birds may use two electromagnetic tools to find their destinations: one that is entirely innate and another that relies on experience. A young bird on its first migration flies in the correct direction according to the Earth's magnetic field, but does not know how far the journey will be...With experience they learn various landmarks and this "mapping" is done by magnetites in the trigeminal system, which tell the bird how strong the field is...More recent research has found a neural connection between the eye and "Cluster N", the part of the forebrain that is active during migrational orientation, suggesting that birds may actually be able to see the magnetic field of the earth.

So, Walt can perhaps alter magnetic fields, which would explain why birds suddenly fly 90 degrees due Walt when he gets all uppity.

Utopian social-: The last field of study of the Dharma Initiative has never been fully stated, since it's cut off on the Orientation film in the Swan station. But ostensibly, the idea is utopian social engineering: manipulating human action on a large scale without their conscious knowledge. In other words, Walt could literally save the world.

The lack of conscious knowledge, however, should raise some concerns. Essentially, if this is indeed a goal of the Dharma Initiative, then they've taken the stance that humanity cannot help but destroy itself, and only by rearranging the very mindset of the world (without their knowledge) can the world stave itself from imminent destruction.

What does that all means, and its impact on Season 4? You'll have to come back tomorrow and discuss. Should be some fun, light reading for you all.

What did you think of this week's mobisode? What role will Walt play in the overall story of Lost? Does Jacob need Walt or the other way around?

Ryan also posts every 108 minutes over at Boob Tube Dude.

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