Well, it's good to know the majority of you don't wish a mass killing upon the characters of Lost. That much we learned in my last entry, and it's a jolly good thing to learn, indeed. If you all had volunteered to push the button that would send the lot of them to Kingdom Come, well, I'd worry about your fandom, to be quite honest. (And I'd also add an extra padlock to my front door.) Like you, I don't think the show will go that way, but unlike many of you, I couldn't rule it out, either. But that's all in the past, which brings us to today's scenario: time.

Time, a famous philosopher once said, could have been so much more. (And time is precious, he knew.) I see you all cringing, worried I'm about to wax poetic for 2,000 words about time travel. Don't fret, I won't go crazy with notions that The Orchid runs on 1.21 jigowatts of electricity or anything, but clearly something's at play when it comes to nonlinear passages of time on the show. So, today's scenario posits that the reason the Oceanic 6 cannot go back is that the Island exists on a temporal plane no longer accessible from ours.

Now, all this "temporal plane" jargon is insanely geeky and esoteric, so let's break down what we know about the Island, what happens when you go back and forth from our plane to the Island plane, and what could happen to eradicate that unstable boundary between said planes. We good? Good. Let's do this in sexy list fashion. Here's what we can safely say.

1. It's insanely difficult to locate and leave the Island.
2. It's surrounded by, and perhaps infused with, unique electromagnetic properties.
3. Moving from the "real world" to the "Island world" causes one to experience the passage of time in a way different from the relative perspective of a person on either side of the electromagnetic barrier.

For a while, many, such as myself, came up with elaborate schemes in which days on the Island were months in the real world, but everything in Season 4 suggests that 24 hours on the Island is 24 hours in the real world. The crazy kooky stuff only occurs when moving between the two arenas. So, while you may need all sorts of safety procedures and specific pathways to get between the two, it CAN be done, so long as you're super careful and don't find the concept of Daylight Savings Time to be the most annoying thing this side of NIkki and Paolo.

It's useful, I think, to consider the Island as an ideal location for the Dharma Initiative precisely because of this unique electromagnetic energy. Not only does it provide useful cover from the world's eye, but it also allows one to tap into sources unseen in the rest of the world. In at least some aspects of their research, members of the Dharma Initiative not only accessed but depended upon these unique properties for their experiments. Marvin Candle all but confirms this in the Swan orientation video, but there's no reason to think it was the only station that took advantage of the locale "climate" in order to produce results unachievable in the real world.

All of this leads us to the Orchid once again. Yesterday, I posited that this supposedly three-story structure was used to not only move one's consciousness between two different times, but one's body as well. In Desmond Hume, and others such as Minkowski, we've seen the affects that extreme exposure to the Island's electromagnetism leads one to hop and skip their way through time, albeit only through their minds. Someone in the Initiative must have taken the next logical step and sought a way to send the whole package tripping the time fantastic.

But the Dharma Initiative, much like the writers and fans of Lost, knew this was both exciting and incredibly dangerous. Huge geeks, those DeGroots. So much in the way that precautions were established for moving on and off of the Island, even more stringent precautions were taken while constructing the experiments inside of the Orchid Station. In the comments yesterday, reader Jeff mentioned that he thought the different levels of the Orchid represented different levels of security within the Initiative, with each level more "need to know" than the last. That makes sense to me, in the same way that the Tempest was thought by some to be a power plant while others knew its true purpose.

Not only was this research dangerous for the participants, but indeed, for the Island itself. And here's where we get to the crux of things: the "Incident" mentioned in the Swan orientation video was potentially a barely contained version of what's to come, which is a fundamental shift in the nature of the Island's electromagnetic properties. Fans of "hard" sci-fi can digest this version of time travel, as it's based in a semi-realistic setting (electromagnetism) slightly tweaked beyond the norm (Electromagnetism Gone Wild!!!!!). By using the properties of the Island within its experiments, the Orchid Station stands as one of many potentially destablizing force, one that could forever sever the already tenuous link between Island and the real world. No 305, no 325. No submarine, no helicopter. No way to get back.

That means at some point between now and then, whether caused by the Orchid, natural disaster, or Hurley performing another ill-advised slo-mo cannonball, the Island's unique properties break down, leaving those left behind in isolation. They might live perfectly well, but they can never return, nor can the Oceanic 6 ever return to rescue them.

The biggest hole in this theory? Why would there still be a war after all of that? If the Island's simply lost and gone forever, then all that happens afterwards is one-upmanship on behalf of Team Linus and Team Abaddon. It's no longer about the Island, it's about retribution for the events to come. Now, it's certainly POSSIBLE that this is how it plays out, and the loss of the Island drives both sides towards revenge against the other. But it doesn't account for Abaddon's encounter with Hurley: why would Abaddon care if "they" were alive if they were unreachable? And more importantly, it doesn't account for the Island's pull on the 6, especially Jack and Hurley. Maybe the Island can reach across the temporal planes, but an island that could do that could also reopen those passages thought lost.

So where does that take us? Well, into tomorrow's third and final scenario, naturally. But all that in good time.

It's currently time for you to mull over, pick apart, and generally comment on anything and everything above. Is the Orchid going to be important or merely a red herring? Is the above scenario simply too sci-fi for the show's audience? And what type of event could possibly trigger such an alteration of the Island? Leave your thoughts below!

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

Comments

I don't have any immediately relevant thoughts, but I was hypnotized by your use of the imperative...so I will Leave! My! Thoughts!

While I'm a bit weary of the time travel fixation that so many SF shows have, I am totally down with the temporal DMZ concept and have been for some time. It's certainly more interesting than the run-of-the-mill to-and-fro-in-time stuff we usually get in most shows.

Beyond that...so far I'm not quite buying either option 1 (yesterday) or option 2 (today). But then it doesn't sound like you are, either.

DanC | Apr 15, 2008 6:01:41 PM | #

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if it turns out that "sometimes a station is just a staion" and the Orchid is a red herring i may have to bail on this show.

that's my immediate reaction...

mri | Apr 15, 2008 6:34:02 PM | #

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I haven't seen the Orchid Station video (inspite of your links to it, Ryan). I just don't trust anything until it is seen on the show (no, I won't mention bracelets here either). So I have nothing to speculate regarding its existence, purpose, etc.

My take is that the "event" doesn't totally close the access to/from the Island but changes it, like reprogramming a cyberlock (312.5 perhaps?) so those stranded off-Isle cannot easily return and the Left Alives cannot escape. Thus "the war" does continue, with the race being about who gets back first. Abaddon to annihilate them and mis-use the Island, or the O6-ers, to save the rest.

In my thinking, I'm not so sure that Ben is unable to return. Maybe he holds the opportunity of return over the O6's head. For example, until Sayid finishes Ben's execution list.... Maybe an alive Nadia comes to rescue them and Sayid is sucked off-Island, leaving Nadia and the others (not Others) behind; Sayid is once again left pining for her.

And if Ben does hold the key to accessing the Island, maybe he IS the one in the coffin, deepening Jack's distress. Now they really CAN'T get back and the Island/survivors are truly Lost.

Will be fun to see how it all unfolds (and just how bad I am at speculating).

djc | Apr 15, 2008 11:13:09 PM | #

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djc-
It is safe to watch the orchid. TPTB hace said this video is one of the only things 100% in canon.

Ryan-
Your mentioning of Abaddon and Hurley got my mind running... I keep coming back to the idea that Abaddon visited the island himself and died, and is merely visiting him in the hospital the same way that Charlie visited him. I know a nurse also saw him, but a patient also saw Charlie. Crazy?

Morgan | Apr 16, 2008 3:32:40 AM | #

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Just saw this on USA Today, Darlton are going to respond to theories in a non-spoilery (and probably very roundabout) fashion, if anyone's interested:

http://www.usatoday.com/life/television/news/lost-theory-solicitation.htm

Stan | Apr 16, 2008 5:52:19 AM | #

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DJC,

Those are my son's initials too!
I said the same thing yesterday about Ben being the key to the O6 possibly getting back to the island so, I completely agree with your theory about why Sayid is working for Ben.
If Ben IS the only one who can get them back, It would be very interesting if he were the one in the coffin. Jack's despair would then be justified because, not only can he NOT kill himself but, he sees no way to return to the island to make things right again......He can't fix things.
I think that The Orchid station has a lot but, maybe not everything to do with why they cannot return/escape as they once did. My theory is that Ben purposely does something as they are escaping the island to shut it off from the outside world again, to protect the island and the people left on it until they can return. Ben knows they still have work to do.

Chris | Apr 16, 2008 6:46:34 AM | #

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The Orchid won't be a red herring. It'll be important. They've been mentioning it time and time again when answering fan questions on the podcast, so it'll have significance to the show.

Will it be the vehicle that gets people off the Island? I seriously doubt it.

Jeff | Apr 16, 2008 6:55:23 AM | #

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While I like the idea of a deceased Ben being the crux of the problem of getting back to the Island, I just don't see him as the guy in the coffin. If Ben died, there would be no funeral. For all intents and purposes, he simply doesn't exist in the real world. For him to die and a funeral be held for him, in Compton (at least it looks like Compton) of all places, makes no sense to me whatsoever.

Jeff | Apr 16, 2008 7:06:18 AM | #

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djc-

I like your theory on the 'event' changing the combo to entering the Island, so as to keep everyone else from getting there. It would make sense that Ben would hold that combo, thereby guarding it as he has on the Island.

* SPOILER WARNING *

I just read excerpts from an interview with Darlton form N.A.B. that contains some mild spoilers. For those interested (and I know some of you are) the link is below. I found it interesting because it raised a few new questions, and answered something we have long wondered about.

http://weblogs.variety.com/on_the_air/2008/04/lost-at-nab.html

Shaggysteve | Apr 16, 2008 7:10:52 AM | #

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so a friend sent this...apropos of nothing, just amusing. absolutely no spoilers.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GcatQSyRK6c

mri | Apr 16, 2008 7:11:25 AM | #

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ATTENTION ALL LOST THEORISTS:

I just pulled this up from another favorite blog of mine called pop candy over at USA today... you have to sumbit by 5pm today!

>>>

Wanted: Your 'Lost' theories

Looking for something to do while we're waiting for Lost to return? Here's a challenge:

Lost executive producers Damon Lindelof and Carlton Cuse have agreed to examine some of USA TODAY readers' theories about the show and then comment on them without revealing major spoilers. If you wanna get in on the action, you need to submit your Lost thoughts in less than 200 words by April 16 at 5 p.m. (Yes, that's tomorrow!)

Go here for all the details, including where to send the entries. Good luck -- I expect to see several Pop readers' names in the piece. Of course, I'll let you know when it runs.
Posted at 03:58 PM/ET, 04/15/2008 in 'Lost' | Permalink | Comments12 Recommends

<<

http://blogs.usatoday.com/popcandy/

mel-c | Apr 16, 2008 7:33:08 AM | #

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heres the direct link:

http://www.usatoday.com/life/television/news/lost-theory-solicitation.htm

mel-c | Apr 16, 2008 7:34:00 AM | #

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Being a HUGE sci-fi geek, I would love for time-travel of some kind to be behind some of the events on the island. But, I know that idea turns off a lot of people. Realistically, though, I believe that there almost has to be some level of temporal funny business going on or the show's deeper thinking fans will be totally turned off at the end and will be left feeling empty.

Yes, this show is at it's core a drama with characters that we've come to care about and love. But, surrounding those characters, are things like Smokey, helicopters that crash or almost-crash in order to get to the island, Juliet taking a monster dose of tranquilizer for a sub ride, the sky turning purple, a four-toed statue, the sonic fence that certainly wasn't put there to keep the rats out, etc. Right next to the dramatic core of this show are it's mysterys. And they are HUGE. At least a few of these mysterys need to have some type of pseudo-sci-fi or supernatural explanation. If they all end up being explained in as pedestrian a way as Michael's reappearance in NY was, I, for one, will be not happy at all.

Joe Cool | Apr 16, 2008 7:41:37 AM | #

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Shaggysteve, I read that this morning. Pretty exciting stuff, especially for DHARMA geeks like us :)

Jeff | Apr 16, 2008 7:48:19 AM | #

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Joe Cool, there're more to be told about how Michael and Walt got to NY. It wasn't meant to be a "he got to New York but we won't bother to tell you how" kind of thing.

Jeff | Apr 16, 2008 7:50:00 AM | #

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Jeff: Really? Seems Momma Exposition and Tom covered things pretty nicely in the last ep. Not sure that there's more than needs to be told on that front. Whether or not one likes how mundane it was is another topic, but I'd be shocked to see a series of flashbacks depicting Michael and Walt on the boat.

But I agree with Joe that the Six leaving won't be that "pedestrian".

Ryan | Apr 16, 2008 8:13:38 AM | #

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Yeah, apparently the specifics of just how Michael and Walt made it to the outside world will be explained in the future.

Jeff | Apr 16, 2008 8:19:00 AM | #

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If Claire is dead then Charlie died for NOTHING! And I will be PISSED!

Sam | Apr 16, 2008 9:55:28 AM | #

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I don't think "time travel" is the proper term in the sense of the island. I think the Island exists "out of phase" from the rest of the world, and that's what makes it so hard to find. Like that sock you SWEAR you put in the dryer, but never came out.

And I'm not shooting any holes in your theories, Ryan. I'm just sort of trying to ease the terminology for the 'anti-time travel' faction of our blogging comments section discussers.

I think the Island exists 31 minutes "out of time" with the rest of the world. Meaning, you do travel somewhat in time, but only in the way you travel through a door. The door you go through just happens to take you 31 minutes into the past. So, yes, you really can stop yourself from getting that awful haircut, just as long as you don't physically try and restrain yourself form doing so. Because the same matter cannot occupy the same space.

And to use the door analogy, because I think it might be easier for people to grasp, if you don't leave the island from the way you came onto it, you walk out the wrong door, and this is bad for your brain. Instead of walking out the normal door into your comfy living room with it's softly glowing fireplace, you walk through the closet door into your grandparents' bedroom while they're doing the nasty. Naturally, your brain comes a bit unglued from that experience.

The difference between time travel and being out of phase is that when something it out of phase, it is invisible to the viewer from a "normal" perspective. Thus, the Island is incredibly hard to locate, unless some kind of major occurence - an 'incident' if you will - happens to make it visible for a few moments. Like, say, a massive electromagnetic generator going kablooie and the sky turning purple for a moment. Or, to a smaller scale, a system failure in the same device just large enough to open the door and drag a 747 through it.

However, for all practical intents and purposes, if the Island is out of phase, it literally does not exist in our world. Meaning that, unless you completely accidentally stumble upon its physical location (e.g. Desmond), you are pulled to it by a system failure (Oceanic Flight 815) or you know EXACTLY where to look because you have sophisticated instruments already in place looking for it (Penny and Charles Widmore, for different reasons), then you will never find the island through normal means.

But in any case, there is still some kind of barrier that must be breached for you to find the Island. And my next paragraph will lose some people, I'm sure, because it's been on my mind for awhile, but I can't make the words come out right. At any rate, you have to pass through the barrier to get onto the Island, and back out the barrier the same way you went in to get back out again.

Which bring up a question about Desmond. How did Desmond actually find the Island in the first place? Sure he happened across it, but you don't seem to just "happen across" the Island, do you? Jack sure as hell can't in his future, drunken life and Charles Widmore sure as hell can't, and he's been looking for years. So, how did Desmond get there?

I'll tell you my theory, and then you can all laugh at me. I think the Island (or Jacob, take your pick) WANTED Desmond there because the Island knew it needed him there. Desmond NEEDED to be on the Island. For what purpose is yet undetermined, but I get the feeling he NEEDS to be there for a specific reason.

Which bring up a lot of other questions like: How far-reaching are the Island's effects on peoples' lives? Has the Island itself arranged for all these people to come to it, survive whatever circumstance brought them to it and allowed them to survive to serve a need for the Island itself? How have certain, presumedly unforseen events (Walt shooting Libby and Ana Lucia, or Ana Lucia shooting Shannon, for examples) affected the Island's plan?

It's obvious the Island is still reaching out to the people that left it. That much is evidenced in Hurley's flash-forward, and Jack's, albeit to a lesser, less specific degree.

But I do think there's a consciousness at work behind the island, and I think the Island can reach through time and probability to ensure the needs of the consciousness are served.

I just lost everyone, didn't I?

OK... this one time, at band camp...

AdSlinger | Apr 16, 2008 10:02:54 AM | #

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Oh, I forgot to leave a big, fat WAAAAALT! on my above post.

Flame that, bloggy-boy. :)

AdSlinger | Apr 16, 2008 10:04:15 AM | #

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Agreed about the Island needing Desmond.

"Each one of us was brought here for a reason."

"Oh? And who brought us here, John."

"The Island. The Island brought us here."

Jeff | Apr 16, 2008 11:13:51 AM | #

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Adslinger-I'm going to be quite as verbois, so forgive my simplicity. The 31-minute theory can't stand based on the trip that Desmond, Sayid, and the pilot take back to the freightor. I think it's more likely that island is like a hub and can be exited at different points with different effects on your time perception. That's why headings are so important.

Brian of the North | Apr 16, 2008 11:42:24 AM | #

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@ BotN: Good point. I didn't think of that.

AdSlinger | Apr 16, 2008 12:15:50 PM | #

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Brian, I like your observation. In fact, the producers have said that entering and exiting the Island is akin to entering the Earth's orbit. Perhaps exiting "on a bad angle" enhances the time distortion, whereas exiting via bearing 305 allows you to pass safely through with no time problems.

Jeff | Apr 16, 2008 12:21:22 PM | #

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See, I'd think the island would view Desmond as a huge threat. He's the guy that eventually allows the Freighters access to the Island via turning the key. Bringing Locke et al was a way to counterman that move.

Then again, I'm of the "Widmore sent Desmond there on purpose" camp, so that colors my view somewhat.

Ryan | Apr 16, 2008 12:37:31 PM | #

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I'm in the "Desmond's going to save them all" camp.

Jeff | Apr 16, 2008 1:12:26 PM | #

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Jeff: if that's true, do you assume that he and Penny turn into Adam and Eve? Because while I'd definitely sit around that campfire with ya, but to me that would mean he and Penny essentially sacrifice themselves for everyone else in a way that somehow transforms them into the skeletons from the cave.

Ryan | Apr 16, 2008 1:16:17 PM | #

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Y'know, Adam and Eve are completely up in the air for me. It seems to me that Pen and Des are the most likely candidates, but I honestly couldn't tell you why or how :)

Jeff | Apr 16, 2008 1:21:03 PM | #

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I get the impression most fans believe Adam and Eve are two characters we know and through some trick of lost/looping time, happen to be alive on the Island and corpses in the caves.

I just wonder how in the heck they're gonna explain that if it's the case.

Jeff | Apr 16, 2008 1:25:17 PM | #

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I truly believe Des was put on the Island for a reason. Although, originally I think Widmore had a hand in getting him there for his own bidding. Libby worked for Widmore, and somehow rigged the boat to take Des to the Island. Des gets to the Island, and through not pushing the button causes 815 to crash, bringing Libby and the rest of the Lostaways to the Island. However, in an interesting twist of fate, Des and Penny cause Widmore to loose the Island in the end. Desmond and Penny stay on the Island and live happily ever after.

Shaggysteve | Apr 16, 2008 1:35:42 PM | #

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While I can see Libby as an agent for Widmore being an interesting story line, it's almost toooo coincidental that she'd be on flight 815.

I'd like to think Desmond was drawn to the Island, whether the Island needed him or not, and wasn't "sent" there by Widmore.

Jeff | Apr 16, 2008 1:43:29 PM | #

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i'd like to think that Desmond was drawn to the Island, but that Widmore sent him there, unbeknownst to him under the Island's influence.

mri | Apr 16, 2008 1:59:51 PM | #

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hate it when i hit "post" too soon.

so that no matter what Ben's ideas about what the Island/Jcob wants or what Widmore's intentions for the Island are, they are both unknowingly playing the roles the Island wants them to play.

mri | Apr 16, 2008 2:01:42 PM | #

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Two things:
However this show ends, I hope beyond reason that Desmond and Penny are together..wherever they are..and that they get to live that way for a long time before they end up being the skeletons in the cave or grandparents in Dublin.
The other thing: about time travel/being out-of-phase: Either one would be satisfactory explainations to me of the islands inaccessibility. 31 minutes seems right, and yet, the helo took about a day and a half to make the same trip. My money is still on that the direction you are traveling (305...325..) governs how 'long' it takes you to make the trip. And, obviously, that direction determines how puréed your brain is.

Ryan, your musings are truly amazing and well thought out and well explained....and funny. I agree that this show wouldn't make any sense to me at all if I didn't read your stuff every day.

Keep it up, BoobTubeDude.

Joe Cool | Apr 17, 2008 5:15:25 AM | #

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