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'Lost': Analyzing that Comic Con video
Well, by now, I'm sure the majority of you have heard, but there's a brand-spanking new video out there on Al Gore's interwebs that is tearing through the online Lost community not unlike a certain smoke monster. It debuted at Comic Con yesterday, and thanks to Shaggysteve for linking to it over on the Zap2It's Guide to Lost Facebook group. Well, I said goodbye to sleep last night, as I've been watching it over and over and over again, trying to make sense of it all.
Now, obviously everything below is subject to revision at a later date, but I'd be remiss if I didn't give you my initial impressions of the video. Warning: you're gonna experience the verbal equivalent of the scratches and jumpcuts of the video below, as I try for a sort of stream-of-consciousness approach to it all.
But first up, if you haven't seen it: here's the fan-captured video of the launch of the newest Lost ARG, and the launch of a thousand new theories about the show. Thanks to TapDawg, who took the footage and initially posted it over at Doc Arzt's Lost Blog. I'm going to skip over the initial minute or so, which is amusing enough but not the focus of my interest. I'll time code comments as best I can so you know what I'm talking about.
1:00: Marvin Candle! In a...track suit? Did he just go jogging? That's it! The Dharma Initiative created Wii Fit! I knew it!
1:11: "No point in games anymore, right?" Whoa. What about backgammon, or Risk?
1:18: His real name? Pierre Chang. Funny, he doesn't look French. And who brought a baby to Comic Con OH MY GOD it's coming from the video itself. And he's calling offscreen to someone named...Kara? (Someone help with the audio, please.) Pierre, you sly fox you! Guess he's coming to you live from The Love Hatch, which is where the REAL Dharma magic happens. OK, he's coming to you from New Otherton, looks like, but I like my idea better.
1:31: He's only got "one chance at this." Is he about to engage in a rap battle with B-Rabbit?
1:34: He's a professor of Theoretical Astrophysics, based in Ann Arbor, Michigan. Well, there's the Degroots' connection, loud and clear. Looks like they used to go to staff meetings together, but instead of throwing key parties, they decided to go save the world.
1:39: He refers to the Island as "God-forsaken" (Ben would certainly agree) and that he's been there for years. Wait, so where did the baby come from? I thought you couldn't have babies on the Island? Brain hurts. Need Dharma aspirin.
1:43: Frenchy's telling us that he was brought to the Island to conduct experiments on the "curve-metric solution to Einstein's Field Equations." Oh goody, it's not like all that Minkowski space-time stuff from Season 4 didn't make me feel dumb. I can't find anything on "curve-metric solutions" anywhere online, so maybe I'm hearing this wrong. No matter, as what comes next gives me a hint.
1:47: "Keep this pinhole open long enough?" What the...holy moly, this isn't on videotape, it's literally being transmitted from one point in the past to one point in the future, captured somehow by those now trying to reboot the Dharma Initiative. He's sending a message in a bottle, only the bottle traverses across the space-time continuum! That's much, much cooler than trying to one up Eminem.
1:56: "You should be receiving this message roughly 30 years..." OK, so this was filmed in 1978, ostensibly, if we understand that the need to restart the Dharma Initiative is due to receiving this transmission. This is not the type of message one lets sit in committee for a few years. Well, unless you're Microsoft, but that's neither here nor there. We have a date for the video, it's safe to say.
2:15: He knows about the Purge. He knows about the Purge. No amount of Dharma boxed wine is gonna make that knowledge go away.
2:23: "One that we are apparently powerless to escape." OK, two things here, one huge, one merely cool. The idea of powerlessness ties into the notion that the endgame of Lost is not only literally written (i.e., the show knows where it wants to go on a meta level) but is actuality written into the fabric of the universe of the show. It's the narrative that Linus and Widmore know all too well, either because of predestination (unlikely but possible) but because somehow, these events have already happened in some fashion. This is why Linus/Widmore can't kill each other, it's why Pierre can't stop the Purge, and it's why people can't die until the Island says it's time. So that's the big thing. The cool thing? Pierre looks at his hand at 2:29. Dude knows he's gonna lose it. Damn.
(Also, let's take a moment here to put 2 and 2 together and, in Lost fashion, try to make 4. We heard a baby crying earlier. That seemed odd. And now we know that this is pre-Purge. Which begs to me a semi-obvious question: did the Purge (or events related to it) muck up baby-making in some fundamental way? Perhaps so. You could argue that the baby offscreen could be explained by a variety of reasons consistent within the show (wasn't born there, was conceived off the Island, Pierre sent his sperm via Dharma sub to somewhere not in Portland, etc). But the fact that the video makes a point of showing that Pierre's been there long enough to call it "God-forsaken" suggests to me that once upon a time you could make all the Dharma babies you wanted. Pretty cool stuff. Anywho, back to the video!)
2:33: All this info about future events? Provided by someone deemed to be "credible." OK, let's take bets on the source. Actually, let's wait a moment, as the Deep Throat of this world is potentially about to reveal himself.
2:35: "It doesn't matter...none of it matters, just get to it." Oh, hi, Daniel Faraday. WHAT IN THE BLIPPING HELL ARE YOU DOING IN 1978? This calls for an insta-analysis paragraph.
OK, we've been wondering about the fate of Faraday since Season 4 ended. He wasn't on the Island, but he wasn't far enough away from it to escape the effects of that damn donkey wheel. So what happened to him? Looks like he got all Marty McFly'ed, and sent back to this time and place. Now, I don't know if he happens to have his notebook handy with him, but if so, he could provide a lot of insight into the events 30 years in the future and suggest ways to help out the friends (i.e., Charlotte) left behind. Plus, who better to help use a pinhole in the space-time continuum to help the person that in many ways could have been his thesis advisor?
One more thing on this, and I'm hesitant to even bring it up, but this scenario finally explains WTF happened at the end of the much maligned Lost video game Via Domus. The protagonist in that game also happened to be in a motorboat slightly offshore from the Island when Desmond turned the failsafe key, and the effect? He was sent back to shore, IN THE PAST, with events happening slightly differently than they had before.
2:47: Seems like Pierre's not even convinced this transmission will work, in that his work is heavy on the theoretical and light on the practical. Again with the slight Back to the Future vibe here. Let's hope they didn't need a bolt of lightning to open this pinhole.
2:55: And here's the sales pitch for the ARG: the reconstitution of the Dharma Initiative, in order to fulfill the work ended by the Purge.
3:05: "Time isn't just OF the essence...it IS the essence." Time could have been so much more, and time is precious I know. Holy crap, Boy George IS Alvar Hanso! I figured it out!
3:12: "Perhaps you'll be able to find a way to save us, to change the past..." It's incredibly unclear if this is even possible to do within the show's rules. According to "The Constant," you can't change the future. But "the future" is all relativistic. The Oceanic 6 will always and ever get off the Island, but their future actions haven't technically happened yet. So THOSE events can change, as evidenced by Widmore changing the rules with Alex's death. However, nothing Ben can ever do will fix that. Have you noticed I'm avoiding the issue of changing the past? That's because it makes my head hurt terrifically. But there's Faraday, in the past, trying to affect the future. I heart this show so very much.
3:23: "This is useless, they're never gonna see this..." This suggests some sort of depression on behalf of Faraday, since time-traveling back to a time and place in which everyone's destined to die tend to bring one down a notch or two on the Happy-O-Meter. (I know a few of you thought you saw Charlotte's hair at this point, but I think the stakes for Daniel would be infinitely higher were he in the past trying to save the life of the girl he loves.) With that, the video comes back to Comic-Con, with the Jonah Hill lookalike scampering off to show the world what he's found.
So there you have it: the first new Lost content in a few months, and the launch of the newest ARG. Looks like someone saw this video, believed in its validity, and restarted the Dharma Initiative. But who? And to what purpose? And how will/are the Oceanic 6 involved? (Could this be not a Hanso-based project, but a Kwon/Widmore endeavor?)
So many questions to answer, so I'll leave you the space below to offer your initial impressions and post any other questions you have!
Ryan also posts every 108 minutes over at Boob Tube Dude, then peruses Zap2It's Guide to Lost Facebook group.
So in one season, Faraday has become the most important person in the entire series. What I'm thinking is that things don't end well for Faraday. During his flashback he was basically crying when he saw the fake wreckage. Why would he be crying if this attemp to change the future/past worked? Also, if he really is 30 years in the past, how does he get back to the future (ha Back to the Future). Might Desmond's hatch explosion have done more than turn the sky purple?
A-Rob | Jul 27, 2008 11:29:07 AM | #while i agree that it would be a much more intense story if Daniel and Charlotte were separated (and possibly replace the Des/Penny story as the romantic leads), i still think that was the back of her head in the video.
the whole Farady being a time-tripper thing took me back to the memory test games he and Charlotte were playing. what if Dan isn't the only one who's brain got scrambled? what if Charlotte's did too and she can't remember ANY of her trip back?
mri | Jul 27, 2008 12:16:22 PM | #Ok I'm calling it (i.e. purely speculating) right now
Season 5 Premiere opening teaser:
After we watch a brief recap of the events that caused the Island to move, we come to Daniel Faraday in the life raft with the red shirts and they're all trying to figure out what the hell just happened. The freighter's nothing but wreckage, so they have no choice but to turn around and go back to the Island.
On the trip, Faraday will look at his notebook so we know it'll be important in the near future.
Upon arriving on shore, we'll all be very surprised that even though this is where it should be, the beach camp is gone! Like, gone gone, as in it never existed. No one’s around. Faraday doesn’t know where any of the survivors are.
Then, out of the jungle, a lone man will come walking out towards Daniel. But something’s not right. He’s not a native, he’s not one of Ben’s group, he’s not someone from the freighter, he’s not even one of the survivors of Flight 815. He’s wearing an eerily crisp, pressed DHARMA Initiative jumpsuit. And to top it off? Daniel knows who this guy is, but how in the hell can he be ALIVE?!
JeffC | Jul 27, 2008 12:29:35 PM | #Oh yeah...
LOST
JeffC | Jul 27, 2008 12:29:50 PM | #oh, to add a twist, maybe that was the back of a very YOUNG Charlotte's head? ok, a very, very young Charlotte. or how about Charlotte's MOM??!!! i like that one...
mri | Jul 27, 2008 12:40:34 PM | #Ryan, maybe it's Curve-Matrix Solutions.
This whole thing has my mind boggled. This is so amazingly awesome. I can not wait to play this ARG(and it's by the same people that brought us Find815). I knew Faraday was my favorite new character for a reason.
Shaggysteve | Jul 27, 2008 2:22:20 PM | #Could this be the long awaited fanboy season? I love the characters and the drama, but I'm a total sucker for anything DHARMA related.
JeffC | Jul 27, 2008 6:33:53 PM | #mri, after watching a higher quality version, that's definitely just a guy's shirt in the shot and not someone's head.
The only other person you ever see in the broadcast is Faraday, and even then he's just a dark blur in front of the camera.
JeffC | Jul 27, 2008 7:06:49 PM | #ok, well i said this on the Facebook page too, Charlotte could still be featured in the video, but in sound instead of sight: meaning could she have been the baby crying? she's obviously not Pierre's daughter...
mri | Jul 27, 2008 7:37:01 PM | #I'm sorry to rain on your parade mri, but I believe that the baby in the video was a boy. Chang says when the crying starts "Tabitha (??? couldn't make out the name) take him outside, please!"
It would have been fascinating though for Faraday to have to fight for the future of baby Charlotte.
Diana | Jul 28, 2008 4:30:12 AM | #I thought Candle said "Jennifer"
Bluenoser | Jul 28, 2008 5:40:46 AM | #but that would be about the right timeframe. and we know Charlotte was born on the Island, or we at least suspect it right? so techincally, now Daniel could have seen Charlotte as a baby...and that's officially creepy since he's got a major crush on her now. yeach.
mri | Jul 28, 2008 6:37:19 AM | #I don't think it's creepy at all. It's pretty romantic and a little bit tragic, actually.
The other possibility, since Chang seems to say "take him outside", is that the baby is actually Miles.
JeffC | Jul 28, 2008 9:33:50 AM | #"The cool thing? Pierre looks at his hand at 2:29. Dude knows he's gonna lose it"
Makes me wonder just how "far back" in DHARMA timeline he is sending this stream, especially if his arm was "fake" in many of the orientation videos...would suck to know of pending failure..and still have another 4 years or so!
how sure are we that it is Faraday as the unseen voice?
Brandon | Jul 28, 2008 9:37:02 AM | #I'd imagine it's somewhere around the time of the Pearl and Orchid films; before the Swan (and the Incident), Flame and the Barracks films.
It's not officially verified that Faraday is the unseen voice, but I'd personally say it's definitely Faraday.
JeffC | Jul 28, 2008 10:00:28 AM | #So Pierre loses his hand at some point between 1978 and 1980, given the "All Rights Reserved" time stamp at the end of the Swan orientation video.
If it took place in 1979, I think we have to assume the Smashing Pumpkins are involved somehow.
Ryan | Jul 28, 2008 10:26:01 AM | #If the Smashing Pumpkins can be involved with the fantastic Watchmen trailer, I'm sure they can be involved with the DI.
JeffC | Jul 28, 2008 11:19:19 AM | #Wait now, why do we think it is Faraday?
Pocket | Jul 28, 2008 12:23:08 PM | #What's sad is that you'll probably have to explain the Smashing Pumpkins reference to quite a few regular visitors here, even if "1979" is only about 15 years old. Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness was musical snobbery at its finest, but it still rocks. I'm sure I still have the double CD around here somewhere, probably buried under my Alannah Myles and Tal Bachman cassettes.
Dark Disciple | Jul 28, 2008 12:23:20 PM | #True story, an exchange between me and an 19-year old intern in my office last week.
Intern: I'm going to Country Fest tomorrow (big festival in Foxboro, MA).
Me: Cool. I heard Sammy Hagar is gonna play.
Intern: Oh yea?
Me: Isn't that crazy? Since when is Sammy Hagar country?
Intern: Who is Sammy Hagar?
That hurt. A lot.
And Pocket: we think it's Faraday because it sure as heck sounds like him and for all the reasons I list above in the recap. It's not 100% that it's him, but he's the likeliest candidate.
hmm, the baby is Miles. now THAT would be interesting for both Miles and Charlotte to have been born on the Island.
wow...i guess if Bon Jovi can go country so can Sammy. let me get my Zimmer-frame walker out now.
mri | Jul 28, 2008 12:45:47 PM | #Yikes. I swear my musical tastes are stuck somewhere between 1985 and 1999.
JeffC | Jul 28, 2008 12:46:46 PM | #Well, if we're to believe that Season 5 is going to deal with the history of Dharma, Widmore, the Others and everything else, I think we have found our window into the history of the Island; Daniel Faraday, tourist of the past.
And let's say Faraday DOES find a way to change the past, or accidentally changes it while trying not to change it; is this going to cause serious ramifications in the future, perhaps even leading into/causing the "very bad things" that Locke mentions happens in the time since the Oceanic 6 left?
Now I'm all geeked up for Season 5.
Other Sean | Jul 28, 2008 12:52:53 PM | #Believe it or not, I have not watched the video yet! After work, I can't wait.
I can't help but wonder about Adam and Eve after reading all of this today. Candle and his wife, but I'm not sure that's even possible. Wait, let me think some about this.
Ouch, it hurts!
Fray | Jul 28, 2008 12:56:11 PM | #Other Sean, I'm not so sure he CAN change things. If he could, why would the DI be powerless to stop the purge?
JeffC | Jul 28, 2008 12:57:52 PM | #
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