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Twitter'Lost': One way or The Others
We're turning over the entire week of "Lost" entries to a group that's maddeningly stayed in the relative shadows over the years: The Others. Perhaps no aspect of the show has been as omnipresent and yet still shrouded in mystery as this group. While we've seen snippets of the strange energy at the core of the Island and the possible "home" for the monster, we know almost next to nothing concrete about The Others.So, this week will be less about uncovering truths than about defining what it is we still don't know. Trying to make assertive claims about a group this enigmatic seems a fair recipe for making myself look like a fool. And while I'm fine making myself look like a fool, I'd rather deploy that skill in order to stop my nephew from crying versus trying to impress you all. I hope you understand.
I'm going to deal with three topics in three articles later this week. Here they are:
1) Culture
When did the social structure colloquially known as The Others start? What defines membership in this society? And what do their actions toward the members of Oceanic 815 indicate about the decay of that society?
2) Morality
In short: Are The Others actually the "good guys," as stated by Ben Linus at the Pala Ferry?
3) Corruption
This article will focus exclusively on Charles Widmore. I will try to draw as accurate a line as possible between the young man seen in "Jughead" and the man outside the hospital in which Desmond Hume lies badly injured. So, you know, not a difficult job at all there. Cough.
So those are the broad topics, but I want to include as many of your questions as possible in order to inform the writing of these particular essays. If there's anything you'd like to see in any of these essays, by all means, leave them in the comments below! Your questions will help me have a better sense of what you want answered when it comes to The Others.
Ryan invites you to join the hundreds already in Zap2It's Guide to Lost Facebook group. He also encourages you to subscribe to the Zap2It's Guide to Lost Twitter feed and Zap2it's main feed for all the latest TV, movie and celebrity news.
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Although it is probably on the first article, the biggest question is: What's their purpose?
I'm also hugely interested in what the catalyst/sustaining purpose of the Others is. Why did this group form, and why do they continue to live together as a unit? One interesting idea, I think, is that the very first 'pre-Others' didn't band together of their own will, but were rather a group of people captured and perhaps implanted with a history and order that doesn't exist? By Jacob or the Man in Black perhaps? That might explain why the vast majority of the Others seem almost sedated in their lack of presence on the show...the aftereffects of this hypnosis could be at work. One idea, although not a plausible one, I think.
I am curious as to why they capture children. Was that ever answered? Talk about raised by anOTHER
These might be more comments than questions, but...
1. Culture.
According to Juliet they have to speak Latin as it's the language of the enlightenment. The end of the enlightenment, the breakthrough in deciphering heiroglyphs, and the arrival of the Black rock all followed one after the other over a 50 year period. Is this the point at which the others originate?
2. Morality.
Back in season 2 I felt that the others came across as misguided idealists. Jacob's comments at the start of season 5 finale suggest that this 'grand scheme' outlook is a reflection of his own philosophy. Can the kidnappings and killings really be justified in some wider context? Do they follow any order thought to come from Jacob with a blind obedience?
3. Corruption.
Not sure if this article will be about Charles Widmore becoming corrupt, or his corrupting effect on the others. He seems to have little regard for his fellow others... ordering them against their wishes to cut off Juliet's arm and kill Alex. He also completely lies to Richard after his encounter with Locke, Sawyer and Juliet... lying that they were outnumbered when it was 3 against 3, and omitting to mention that he killed the 2nd other.
would love to know more about the Others role in:
1) lists of people (i.e. Cindy and the kids). ok, Jacob (or MIB???) told them, through Ben, to collect certain people. why did they need new people? i mean, the kids are about needing kids, but adults...what's up with that?
2) WHY THE FREAKING DISGUISES???
3) an exploration of the transition from Dharma to the Others. what happened in the years right after Ben gassed everybody? how did the Others evolve?
I just want to know what the temple is and how does it relate to the others, and why does it have a Dharma Logo, and with that said Are the others a distant cousin to the Dharma Initiative? By that I mean are the higher ups all really the same people?
I too would like to know the origin. Did they start when the Black Rock landed there? Or was it even further in the past. So if they started with the Black Rock landing, they have constantly morphed over the years...from wearing ratty cloothes and living in the jungle to looking like they shopped at the Gap and living in bungalows. They also seem to have different philosophies depending on who is in charge...such as Ellie or Charles or Ben.....to me Ben seems like he recruited many new people into the group who didn't seem to fit in like the originals...these would be Pickett and Tom for example. Are they all there to just go about there business and have Jacob observe them to see how they react to island living? Similar to Jack being observed in the cage by the children?
I would like you to talk about what you think is the criteria for the people they kidnap, and the influence of Richard and Jacob on the peolpe featured in those lists.
Are the children a part of Ben's inability to stay focused in a direction Jacob wanted according to Richard?
Are the rules between Widmore and Ben created by Jacob or MiB?
Is their destiny to only serve the Island and live peacfully with one another?
Why the killings of some of the passengers or others that came to the island?
The LISTS, brutha, the LISTS...!!