So in this, the last edition of Island Times (sniff sniff), I promised you a look into the smoke monster, often known simply as Smokey, and known in my household as "Gerald." The monster was one of the first mysteries unleashed in Lost, and might be one of the last ones to be answered. But that won't stop me from looking at a few possible origin scenarios for this mysterious entity.

Let's use something I said yesterday as a jumping off point for today's analysis:

"Point of the matter is this: the 'incident,' so near as I can tell, did not create Jacob. But it did create Smokey."

The incident in question is that referred to by Marvin Candle in the Swan Orientation video, an event so cataclysmic that it rendered those inside the Swan to literal button pushers for the rest of their days (or until an unlucky Scot wanders their way). While many of you disagree, I believe that Jacob pre-existed both the incident and the Dharma Initiative itself. Those in opposition to this notion have plenty of evidence on their side, as do I. I'm not trying to look at this from a "right" or "wrong" perspective, but I at least want to acknowledge all sides while making sure you know which one I'm personally on.

Now, what do I mean by the incident creating Smokey? Good question, campers, thanks for asking. First, let me state a few things I consider fact before answering in full:

1. I tend to create overly complicated theories, and have striven these past few months to simplify them without dumbing the show down in the process.
2. I believe Jacob to have at least once been a human being, and not merely an anthropomorphic representation of the Island.
3. Most things on the show can be explained 80% scientifically, 20% fictionally.

Having said all that, I think it's ultimately a fool's errand to try and describe the singular incident in question. There are fifty or so scenarios that could ultimately play out on the show that would meet with my satisfaction. To try and pry into Darlton's head in this case is simply ludicrous. What I'm more interested in than the specifics of the incident is the outcome of the incident.

I've long held in my gut a firm belief that Jacob and Smokey are somehow intertwined. Heck, I wrote an entire post about this, in addition to continually harping upon this point at various stages of the last few months. It's a theory with little in-show evidence backing it up but an air that simply feels right when I try and link the two in my Lost-addled brain. So, let's take those three tenets above, apply it to the origins of a potential connection between the two, and see what happens.

I tend to create overly complicated theories, and have striven these past few months to simplify them without dumbing the show down in the process. No crazy, twenty-thousand word explanations that require more contorting than your average Olypmic gymnast. This has to be something that could be ultimately distilled into one monologue/dialogue/scene at some point in the future.

I believe Jacob to have at least once been a human being, and not merely an anthropomorphic representation of the Island. Given the war between The Dharma Initiative and the Hostiles, it's very likely that at some point or another the Initiative learned about a figure named Jacob and used elements of its own parapsychology wing to locate and/or bind this figure.

Most things on the show can be explained 80% scientifically, 20% fictionally. Let's bust out a little basic science here: Every action has an equal and opposite reaction. If you try and dismantle a powerful psychic force, you might just create an equal, opposite psychic force less benevolent and more malevolent. And since we're on the science tip now, let's take another well-known scientific axiom: matter can neither be created nor destroyed (conservation of energy). Which leads us inexorably towards a scenario in which Jacob and Smokey are two inferior halves to a formerly cohesive whole.

Are there other ways to explain both Jacob and Smokey? Oh heck yes. But this is the one that tickles my fancy the most, puts a spring in my step, and adds extra zing to my Dharma boxed wine. Looking at Dr. Jacob and Smokey Hyde in this way ties together the mysterious energy of the Island, the smoke monster's seemingly psychic abilities, explains the odd circle of ash around Jacob's cabin, and gives a possible insight into the physical limitations of both creatures.

In fact, it's equally as likely that the creation of Smokey was in fact an INTENTIONAL byproduct of the Dharma Initiative's psychic attack on Jacob. Under this scenario, unable to truly "kill" Jacob, the Initiative's only recourse was to diffuse the power into several vessels. I like this less than the unintentional consequences variation, but I at least wanted to throw that out there. After all, what better sums up the Dharma Initiative better than the phrase "unintentional consequences," correct?

As such, one can look at the seeming inconsistencies of Smokey's interactions as a byproduct of the residue of human emotions buried deep within its smokey self. Its various manifestations can be seen as a form of communication, a bridge towards understanding, rather than a simple act of mind trickery. It's either doing what Jacob's always done: identify the proper people for Island inhabitance, or removing those who are deemed unworthy. And just like all humans, it's got one heckuva temper as well. So every once in a while, it goes and kills itself an Eko or two. After all, Eko was once on Jacob's list long before Smokey played "Pin the Eko on the Tree."

And remember the words used by Danielle to describe the smoke monster: "a security system" designed to protect the Island. If Jacob is a sort of Walt 1.0, as I argued yesterday, given the taste to be a mouthpiece for the Island, it makes sense that his Hulk-esque alter ago would take that spokesman status to vigilante levels of execution (pun intended). It's not without morals; rather, these morals are as twisted as those of The Others themselves: recognizable to a degree, but so far removed from our own as to seem almost foreign to our sensibilities.

It's of course possible that the smoke monster is simply The Worst Idea Dharma Ever Had. Sure, a smoke monster sounds awesome on paper, but pretty much is a terrible reality. It's like the New Coke of the Dharma Initiative, in this scenario. In this line of thinking, Dharma is Cyberdyne Systems, Smokey is Skynet, and well, you know the rest. The "incident" in this case would be Smokey going self-aware. Probability scale on this one? Actually, decently high. Just because it doesn't excite me in the same way as the Jacob/Smokey Tag Team Connection doesn't mean it's not imminently plausible.

The question then remains: what happens should these two ever re-fuse? What would a fully whole Jacob look, feel, and act like? Currently Jacob sits, ostensibly trapped, inside his log cabin. Oh sure, he's got his various liquids to keep him company, and every once in a while Christian Shephard comes a callin' (after leaving one shoe on the porch), but other than that, we've got a man who needs help. Big time. And Smokey: Smokey just needs some understanding. (And a way around that sonic fence. Way annoying, that fence.) In any case, whatever psychological profiles you assess to them, I think we've learned that this pair are intimately intertwined, and that the show will gradually link the two as the episodes and the seasons march on.

Do you think there's a connection between Jacob and Smokey? If not, how do you view the smoke monster's origin and purpose on the Island? Is Smokey, like the Island, sentient? Is it alive in any meaningful sense? Or it is in fact merely a Dharma experiment gone horribly wrong? You decide!

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

Comments

I will continue to stand by my belief that Smokey is a result of the 'Incident'. After reading Ryan's theory though I have a new thought. Perhaps Dharma was aware of Jacob and his power/influence over the Island's original inhabitants. Therefore, in trying to bind his powers and keep him confined to his shack, Smokey was born. This was a way for Jacob to continue his stronghold over foreigners on the Island. Maybe this is why Ben is unaware of Smokey, as he has never been confronted by It. However, when it appeared Smokey took a snapshot of Juliet's mind, Jacob found out that Ben had strayed from him. I wouldn't be surprised if Ben gets a visit by Smokey this season.

Shaggysteve | Apr 2, 2008 7:48:27 PM | #

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Interesting theory, Ryan. It could also go the way of Jacob being held captive by the island and Smokey being the security system that the island employs to keep everyone in check, including Jacob. However, I must admit that the words "help me" can have two meanings in Jacob's world! So ya got me thinking. I hate it when that happens!

Brian of the North | Apr 3, 2008 5:45:08 AM | #

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I do not think Smokey and Jacob are related at all. i think they are two separate parts to the LOST story.

I also think the show just uses Smokey when storylines go awry and they just need to kill off a storyline or just bring an abrupt end to it. Then the writers just conveniently call up Smokey and write Smokey into the show.

On one hand, LOST shows Smokey to be all powerful and all knowing in several episodes. However, if it is all powerful, then how was Locke able to escape its grip in one episode, and in another episode, it was so easily able to eliminate Mr. Eko.

And if it is so powerful, and is able to go up in the trees so high, then why can it not go past the sonic fence? Why couldn't it just go over it like the people did, climbing up the tree trunk?

And why does it rarely show its presence, when there are people all over the island now?

Almost the same arguments could be used with Jacob. How does Jacob seem all so powerful one minute, and completely unaware at other times? If Jacob can make his cabin move all around, then why can't he leave the cabin, and why would he need any help at all?

HSDPpres | Apr 3, 2008 5:53:49 AM | #

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Rather than re-post, I'll just link to my comment from your last article re: Smokie. http://blog.zap2it.com/lost/2008/04/lost-island-liv.html#comment-109089988

HSDPpres, Smokey is more than just a device to end story lines. It has a purpose. I'll even argue it has a very significant purpose, even if it's origins were not necessarily significant.

Smokie is powerful, yes, but neither invincible or without limits. There is a specific reason it cannot "jump" the sonic fence. If you look into the term "Cerberus Vents", you'll see that there are physical limitations that bind Smokie to the ground. It's impossible for the monster to jump things because it physically can't. I have a feeling we'll learn more about this, hopefully even this season.

Jeff | Apr 3, 2008 6:31:17 AM | #

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I'm not feeling your "Dias Ex Machina" argument, HSD. I don't think that the writers will show any inconsistancy when it comes to Smokey's explanation. It's too big of storyline. Really. I could see Jack's tattoos being forgotten in the winds of time, but ya can't blow the Smoke away.

Brian of the North | Apr 3, 2008 6:32:03 AM | #

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I said in yesterdays' blog that I thought Jacob was a spiritual or supernatural being and that's how he was able to be bound by the ring of ash. What I don't get is how he can make the cabin appear/disappear/move around at will if he's bound. Perhaps the binding only works if the people who bound him still believe in the reason behind the need to bind Jacob. Who knows if those people are even still alive.

I do believe that Smokey is a Dharma creation gone wrong, a la Skynet but, I'm not sure if it was the "incident" that caused Smokey to become the "security system" he is today. Smokey seems very selective in his judgement of the people on the island. The fact that neither the islanders or the Losties are going around talking about Smokey and what he is and what he's done makes me think that Smokey very rarely shows his smokey face around the island. It still bugs me that he killed Eko. In my opinion, Eko had become one of the good guys even if he grew up into a murdering drug dealer. Post-crash, Eko was a decent guy.

Chris | Apr 3, 2008 7:39:51 AM | #

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Sure, post-crash, Eko was a decent guy. But he still wasn't sorry for his past actions. I think to Smokie, Eko's lack of remorse was his death sentence.

Jeff | Apr 3, 2008 8:09:12 AM | #

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It's hard to say how significant the Incident really was. It certainly was significant enough to change the Swan's purpose from research station to "finger-in-the-dam". Past that, though, I have a feeling there were other smaller events that may have led to Smokie's change.

Maybe the whole idea of creating a conscious cloud of black smoke was fundamentally flawed from the beginning and it was just a matter of time before it became self-aware. Or maybe Smokie's wiring short circuited as a result of long-term exposure to the various unique properties of the Island itself.

Jeff | Apr 3, 2008 8:16:21 AM | #

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Why does everybody assume that the Swan actually changed from being a research station into a "finger-in-the-dam"? Perhaps the research being done at the Swan was to see if people would blindly follow instructions (push a button every 108 minutes) without questioning it.

Bryan | Apr 3, 2008 9:04:59 AM | #

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Bryan, it did kind of implode and turn into a dense metal ball when they didn't enter the numbers. I think the button kinda qualified as a finger in the dam.

Jeff | Apr 3, 2008 9:07:35 AM | #

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I'm not entirely on board with the Incident creating Smokey. I think this because in Ben's flashback, the sonic fence already existed, and if it's sole purpose was to keep Smokey out, then Smokey must have existed at the very very beginning of the Dharma Initiative.

Of course, this brings into question just when the Incident occured. I always assumed, based on the Swan's orientation video, that the Incident occured at some point after Ben arrived on the Island; after he was a kid but before he was a grown man that enacted the Purge.

And since I brought it up, the Purge itself was an incident, but I don't think it's the same one described by Dr. Marvin Candle, especially since the ahnillation of Dharma would have killed Candle and the people working in the Swan, and gas bombs would have nothing to do with pushing a button to control an electromagnetic anomaly.

I've always been confused about the Swan, though. Kelvin joined the Dharma initiative after the Gulf War and sent to the Island, so the Purge would have happened after that, sometime in the 1990's. Yet Alex is 16 years old in the time the show is set (2004), so that means she was taken in 1988. If the Purge didn't happen until the mid-90's, then Ben took her while he was still pretending to be a member of the Dharma Initiative?

Very confusing.

Other Sean | Apr 3, 2008 11:00:54 AM | #

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When I saw Smokey smash into the sonic fence, I thought that Dharma/The Others knew enough about the monster to erect a barrier for safe living. But perhaps it was initially built to repel the Hostiles?

The only trouble I have with this configuration is the incredible coincidence it would be to have a sonic fence that just so happened to deflect a monster that hadn't been created yet.

Oh Lost, you crazy convoluted show, you.

Ryan | Apr 3, 2008 11:25:50 AM | #

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hmmmmmm......

Jeff | Apr 3, 2008 11:55:21 AM | #

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Ryan-

do you get the rabid pit bull before or after you build a fence to keep it from running off to the playground full of 2nd graders? i'm just sayin'...

so if Smokey is a Dharma creation (i sooooo want to shop at Dharma's version of Costco now: value-sized Smoke monsters, boxed wine, and ranch dressing!) i think they'd have an idea of what the monster's capabilities would be and that they might want to be able to contain/control him.

or it could be like Other Sean said and he existed prior to Dharma, in which case maybe Jacob (as a member of the Black Rock crew) accidentally freed Smokey and his punishment is to be jailed in the extremely mobile home we know and love as the cabin and he can't die.

mri | Apr 3, 2008 11:58:19 AM | #

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OMG!! I just got a vision of what a Dharma Costco would look like!!!
**shakes head violently to rid herself of the image**

Chris | Apr 3, 2008 12:53:14 PM | #

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I hope it would look like a decrepit, dystopian vision of Tomorrow Land!

Jeff | Apr 3, 2008 1:00:51 PM | #

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Sorry to post off-topic...

Ryan - I've never gotten the hang of your "Lost" posting schedule (maybe because their isn't one?). Not intended as a criticism, just curious when we'll get the next LPFT (Lost Post For Thought)....

Thanks,

djc | Apr 3, 2008 1:02:35 PM | #

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DJC: You're right, there's no real schedule.

Next post will be Sunday, when I unveil Topic of the Week #2. Then, three in-depth looks at the topic and, if there's interest, another "Letters from the Flame." Then rinse and repeat the following week, and boom, we're at a week with a new ep of Lost.

Sound good?

Ryan | Apr 3, 2008 1:23:35 PM | #

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Woo Hoo! ...oh, sorry, just the thought of "new ep of Lost" and I got distracted.

Beautiful! Will be reading everyone's musings on this post until Sunday. Never thought I'd find myself saying "why are weekends so long...!" but I might have to start... :-)

djc | Apr 3, 2008 1:43:40 PM | #

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Ryan-

I haven't seen this posted on your last two blogs, so if you did, correct me if I'm wrong.

When Hurley discovered Jacob's cabin which obviously wasn't in the same place where Locke found it, he caught a glimpse of Jacob in the cabin and then the top half of Michael's face suddenly blocked the view from inside, scaring the hell out of Hurley.

That kind of leads me to believe that whether it's Jacob, Smokey or some yet unknown other defender of the island, he/she/it has the ability to appear in any form that suits the situation and influences the direction that specific characters take. Locke would be more motivated to get out of that large open grave if that motivation came from an unexpected vision of Walt telling him he'd live and still had something to accomplish. Hurley would be more likely to run away from Jacob's cabin after witnessing a disturbing vision of Michael, even if he didn't consciously realize it was Michael.

Basically, I see where you're coming from, that Smokey and Jacob are two pieces of a broken whole. For me, I'm not totally convinced that there has been a break. I think Smokey and Jacob are still one and the same and appear in the most logical form to get the reaction that they are looking for from the characters that they are interacting with. Jack's father, Locke's father, Boone's reappearances, Eko's brother, obviously this has been going on since the first episode. Jacob could be appearing as anyone or anything, and Smokey could just be the form Jacob takes while on guard duty.

cms | Apr 3, 2008 1:54:11 PM | #

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I'm just terrified of an audio commentary on the Season 6 DVD in which Darlton explains they wanted a 40' monstrosity on par with the Cloverfield monster, but were told they only had the budget for a fast-moving cloud of smoke. Thus, Smokey.

Ryan | Apr 3, 2008 2:43:11 PM | #

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Ryan-

You have the image of Michael's eye from inside Jacob's cabin posted at the top of Part 3 of your blog from April 1st.

I'm just wondering if this has been discussed at length already or if it's just that no one picked up on the fact that Michael appeared to Hurley in the cabin where Jacob was sitting.

cms | Apr 3, 2008 3:03:51 PM | #

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Yeah, Ryan, I can picture it now:

Darleton: We need a monster. Something terrifying, and creepy as hell.

ABC Exec: You can have a two-headed goat or a gelatinous cube.

Damon: A giant gelatinous cube? That breathes fire?

ABC Exec: Plus-size only. No fire.

Damon: Sneaky Bastard Sword? Holy Boots of Butt-Kicking? Cheese Grater of Peace?

Carleton: This isn't Munchkin: The Show, Damon.

Damon: Sorry. I'm not the one who brought up gelatinous cubes...

ABC Exec: So...the goat, then?

Carleton: No goat, two-headed or otherwise.

ABC Exec: They ARE creepy as hell...

Carleton: [firmly] No. Goat.

Damon: How about a giant mutant lizard that breathes fire?

Carleton: You mean a dragon?

Damon: Uh...

ABC Exec: No fire. You can have three zombies and a wolf-man.

Darleton: A spinosaurus and two pteradactyl. That breathe fire.

ABC Exec: [Sigh] No fire. Two small velociraptors and a dyspeptic chimp.

... several minutes later ...

ABC Exec: OK, we're agreed: One giant cloud of fast-moving black smoke, creepy as hell.

Darleton: Done and done.

DanC | Apr 3, 2008 5:50:13 PM | #

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Sorry cms, that's Jacob's eye, not Michael's.

Jeff | Apr 4, 2008 6:13:07 AM | #

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Jeff-

They eye is definitely not Jacob, unless he's appearing as Michael. Even the episode synopsis on ABC states:

"Hurley approaches the cabin and peers through the window. In the darkness he sees a man sitting in a chair. But suddenly another man pops up in the window right in front of Hurley!"

When the episode originally aired, I didn't notice Harold's name in the opening credits. I've got a large screen HDTV and I paused it immediately on that image, my wife and I both said "Holy sh!t it's Michael" simultaneously. I have no doubt whatsoever.

cms | Apr 4, 2008 10:58:53 AM | #

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For BOTN: Sorry that my comment is only a correction, but the phrase is "Deus ex Machina," which is Latin for "god from the machine," which is an ancient theatrical device where some divine entity would come from nowhere and save some mortal/semi-mortal's bacon at some point of high peril during a play. Mrs. Scarborough, my high school Latin teacher, would rise from the grave and beat me to death with her 17-pound dictionary if I didn't mention that. If you already knew that, of course, my apologies for being redundant. Cheers! Oh, and you know what tastes great with ranch dressing from Costco? Little smokies and nacho chips! Dharma Costco, hee-hee-hee.

Dark Disciple | Apr 4, 2008 12:40:56 PM | #

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Sorry man, don't know what to tell you. That's not Michael in the cabin. It's Christian Shepherd in the chair and Jacob in the foreground.

Jeff | Apr 4, 2008 12:42:13 PM | #

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Here's a screencap of the eye.

Looks caucasian to me.

Jeff | Apr 4, 2008 12:46:15 PM | #

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DD-Here I was trying to be all literal and junk. Buenos Deus!

Brian of the North | Apr 4, 2008 12:52:21 PM | #

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Jeff-

That pic is really washed out, it would make anyone look caucasian. But there is something visible there that I hadn't seen before. Whoever posted that image obviously raised the brightness and now at the bottom of the image you can see the top of his mustache. Try editing the image by lowering the brightness to better represent what originally aired, which was significantly darker. I think you'll be less convinced that it's a white guy.

cms | Apr 4, 2008 1:51:42 PM | #

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cms: I never say anything here with 100% certainty, but I'll break the rule and say with 100% certainty that was not Michael and it was Jacob. I'm sorry, but it's just not Michael.

Ryan | Apr 4, 2008 1:51:48 PM | #

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Convinced it's Jacob 100%.

Please don't think me rude, I just don't see your reasoning that it's Michael.

Jeff | Apr 4, 2008 1:57:43 PM | #

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It's all good. No one's been rude. But if I'm right, you both owe me a dollar.

Here's a link to the Lostpedia eye pic page:

http://www.lostpedia.com/wiki/Eyes

You'll see that Jacob's eye from season 3 is not the same as the eye from the first episode this season. They also have not concluded that the eye was Jacob's. So it's still listed as unknown.

cms | Apr 4, 2008 2:17:39 PM | #

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that eye (i'm assuming it's the Unkown eye from Beginning of the End) is clearly not brown: it's either blue, green, or hazel. i'm still giving it an outside chance of it belonging to some future version of Hurley. no clue why...just a gut feeling.

mri | Apr 4, 2008 2:24:14 PM | #

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mri-

The pic of Michael's eye from this season doesn't look brown either. It looks like it has a blue or green tint.

Plus if they distorted the nose, they could make the eye color more ambiguous.

cms | Apr 4, 2008 2:29:02 PM | #

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Only a dollar? Man, when I'm right, I charge at least a buck and a quarter (or whatever vending machine bottles of RC Cola cost nowadays)! :P

Dark Disciple | Apr 4, 2008 2:37:57 PM | #

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sorry, still don't see it. looked at both pcis and the eye shape is all wrong too. and if they distorted the nose, and the eye shape, and the eye color...then dude(tte), i think you have to say it's just not michael.

mri | Apr 4, 2008 3:14:39 PM | #

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Okay - we're talking about the Island's unique properties. One clue to focus on would be Faraday's comment in "Confirmed Dead" when he stated that the sunlight doesn't scatter quite right on the island. In last night's popup episode, the popup bubble stated that this was a clue about the Island's unique properties. I'm baffled, but I think for those smart people out there, it's something worth exploring...

kfay | Apr 4, 2008 3:19:54 PM | #

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kfay-

I think that would give weight to the idea that they have passed through a wormhole. My understanding is, like a black hole, a wormhole is strong enough to draw in light. Also, the area surrounding the opening of the wormhole, like a black hole, is the event horizon. In that area, time moves much slower. If the island sits within or very near the event horizon on the other end of the wormhole, it would play in to the idea of the weird diffusion of light and that people on the island age much slower.

cms | Apr 4, 2008 5:08:54 PM | #

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The black gaseous cloud referred to as Smokey might be borrowed from an old 60s Star Trek episode; i.e. a creature that had wandered the universe and spawns in a particular location. In this case, it suggests it predates Dharma and may possibly have been a destructive force with Dharma. This balck clouds seems to have the ability to discern the good guy from the bad no matter what "group" the confronted individual(s) are part of. Deus Exs only appear at the end of a Drama to "save" a faltering situation on stage. Somewhere in the mix the authors will, no doubt, have some kind of final confrontation with "smokey" and its mystery will be unraveled. These writers are too smart to use this device as a cheap trick to kill someone off. Like the Shark in JAWS, you know it's lurking, anti-present and aware, just how and when it decides to rear its presence for the big unraveling is up to the authors. Whether we all live to 2010 to find out for ourselves will require our own Desu ex Machina.

ghostlight | Apr 5, 2008 11:20:47 AM | #

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I don't follow any regular LOST blog (or even an irregular one, for that fact).

He is my highly uninformed opinion:

Jacob and Smokey are derived from the Incident. Jacob is caught in the vortex of the island's time travel hole (I refer to it as the Fountain of Time Travel -- apologies to the decendants of Ponce de Leon). I am convinced that the time travel hole is what keeps things like the image of Walt, Farraday's "constant", all of Ben's access to incredibly detailed personal information, and the rest of the unexplainable, well, explainable.

Smokey, too, is somehow the soul of someone caught in the vortex (?)...maybe not.

somebody else | Apr 5, 2008 3:48:54 PM | #

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The thing to remember about the wormhole theory is if the plane did pass through a wormhole before crashing on the island, then the island is not on earth. That brings up an interesting question- Who were the true original inhabitants of the island? It could be that the Dharma Initiative were the original inhabitants of the island and throughout earth's history, members of Dharma have been going back and forth between the planets. The others may in fact be people from earth who have unknowingly passed through the wormhole, unable to return to earth (like The Black Rock). Ben may have orchestrated the massacre of the Dharmas on the island while stranding other members of the Initiative on Earth. Now they are trying to get back to their planet and their island, take control of the portal, and seek some kind of revenge on Ben. Ironically, that would make Ben and the others "the good guys." It would also explain all of the un-earthly inhabitants of the island.

cms | Apr 6, 2008 2:58:39 PM | #

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I'm sorry but that just sounds like a really bad episode of Stargate or Farscape.....
But you do get bonus points for trying!

Wizard732 | Apr 6, 2008 5:27:40 PM | #

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I do think smokey is a kind of security system. Something that was created, weather intentionally or not, that makes sure that the people that habit the island are “good”. What makes me think about this is the fact that it seems to have a preference on whom to kill. As we could see in its first encounter with Eko, smokey seems to research the characters past and by that making a judgment before deciding to kill or not. It’s also remarkable, that smokey killed Eko just after he confessed to the vision of his brother that he didn’t feel sorry and that he didn’t see a reason to ask for forgiveness. In the moment Eko admits to feel no redemption, the brother gets angry and smokey appears to get rid of the “bad“ Eko. It seems like smokey inspected ekos past, it came to the conclusion that Eko may have a chance to get saved. After all that man took a vow of silence after killing two persons who seemed to be dangerous, that’s the attitude of someone who laments for what he did, so Smokey just gave him some time, some time to think about his errors, to judge them by himself before the time for judgment came. It’s clear that smokey seems to have a kind of thinking, since he decides whom to attack and whom not.
That, by the way, is similar to the function of Jacobs list. Only those who are good enough are chosen. And as Lock says, "forgiveness is not one of their strong suits". So there seems to be a certain connection.
The question is, on what base does the monster decide who is good and who is bad?

It seems obvious that the sonic fence was specifically build to maintain smokey away of the barracks. Who would want a sentencing black reaper wandering on the front yard?
Anyways, I also like the idea of smokey as a consequence of the incident at the swan station. Weather maid intentionally or unintentionally, Mr. Smokey now works fort he island.

eldona | Apr 9, 2008 3:00:42 PM | #

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