Since the Beginning of Time

WHOA, what an episode!

We have wanted Richard's backstory since he showed up with young Ben in The Man Behind The Curtain. All of us at the same time said, "This guy doesn't age!!!!!!" And now, we have an ANSWER. That's right folks, answers. To all the people saying "They aren't answering questions" or "they are wasting time!". Well, this better stop all that talk. And not just answers about Richard, but about the Island as a whole. We got more information in this episode about the nature of the Island than we got in the entire run of the series. Sure, their have been clues, and theories, and jokes on the Island. But Jacob clearly says the Island is keeping EVIL or Darkness locked away from the rest of the world.

So whoever predicted the Island was a lock on Pandora's box, or a cork on the bottle of Evil Wine, you win a cookie.


I really have no complaints about this episode beyond the things I mentioned on the podcast. With all those things, I can look past them pretty easily. I was however, slightly put off that on another Podcast the idea that the ship seen in The Incident is seen in daylight with perfectly calm seas, and in this episode The Black Rock was in a massive storm was somehow a stupid thing to wonder about. According to this person(not the host of the show), the ship was a ways away and easily could have taken several hours to sail towards the Island and the massive storm is the barrier between the outside and inside. It's a nice theory and I can accept that. But that's what it is, a theory. They have no proof that the ship in The Incident was the Black Rock, and to put down any theories that say the other ship was an older ship from maybe 100 or 200 years before is just rude.

Ok, rant of the week is done.


NOW, on to my theories.

I don't really have new theories, one thing about an episode with so much real info and answers is it's hard to create a new theory. I mean we knew nothing about Richard before this, and most people had come to the conclusion that he arrived on the Black Rock. So most of this was enjoying the story. And hearing the explanations.

One BIG theory I have, and it's really building on a old one, is about Jacob and MIB's body. MIB says to Richard that Jacob took his body. Lets take him at his word since lying about that seems odd. If it's not true why say it? It's not really the kind of info that will make Richard believe him more. If anything, it's a deeper emotional wound that he let slip. Like when he tell Sawyer he was once a regular man, or when he tells Kate his mom was crazy.

I think that many many years ago, Jacob took MIB's human form as a punishment. Punishment for what? I'll get to that in a bit. After this, he is now trapped on the Island, and is a slave to Jacob and whoever is else has power over him. His form is that of the Smoke Monster. He's like a genie. Genie's have incredible power over the universe but are bound to their master.(source: Disney's Aladdin). This means every time we've seen MIB he is simply assuming that form. Sort of like the T1000 in T2. His natural form is not Robert Patrick, it's a liquid metal terminator. But to exist and communicate in our world he needed to assume human form. As I said, Smokey needs to protect the Island. In this regard, he was a security system. Also explains why he was so pissed about Jacob saying the Island needs protecting.

The disagreement between them is also finally answered. Jacob thinks people are generally good, and can live together peacefully. Smokey believes that people are generally bad, and will do nothing but fight and kill each other. Jacob puts Richard in charge of spreading his word, and trying to prove him correct. This doesn't seem to work out well though. We know the Island dwellers killed off the US Army folks who brought Jughead. That doesn't exactly sound like the actions of a group who thinks all humans are good. The hostiles as they would be called, become a force that will attack and kill anyone who arrives on their island. They try and wipe out DHARMA, but can't so they form a truce. Until, young Ben joins them and they commit The Purge. They also kidnap a child and almost kill it as you recall Widmore wanted to kill Alex and Danielle. They then attack, kidnap, and kill the Losties until they finally fight back and win, more or less.

Now, one could say that Richard was just an observer, doing what Jacob said which is don't interfere, let them realize the right path without being shown. But wasn't Richard's job to bring the anti-Smokey message? Richard also according to Ben, brought him list from Jacob. What of these lists? Were they lists of Candidates? Cause Richard had no idea what a Candidate was. Were they lists of good and bad people? The Good would be taken to live with them, and the bad would be left to their own devices? But this also doesn't make sense. Jacob believes that all people are good. Therefore he wouldn't label anyone as good or bad. There has to be a way they decided who would be including in the Hostiles and who would not. Why Ben and Ethan? Cause they were young perhaps? We know the Others have trouble with birth, at least in the time of Ben. Where did Friendly come from? Where did Mikhal come from? These are important questions because some of these people are NOT good people. Pickett was a violent person, and Friendly, while very friendly, kidnapped children and didn't mind trying to kill a bunch of Losties.

I promised I'd get to MIB's punishment, and here it is. I think MANY MANY years ago, Jacob and MIB ruled this place together. The Island is a place of unspeakable power, and I think they were the guards of that power, maybe since the beginning of time. One day, people arrived from off Island. Maybe this is the mythical Lost Island of Atlantis. The built the statue and the temple. But as they often do, the people started fighting. Fighting over which god was better, or who curried favor from the gods more. Jacob and MIB watched as these people fought and died. Maybe they all died. I also think that at this time, MIB and Jacob were pretty much people like us. They simply could harness the power of the Island. So with that in mind I think that MIB fell in love with one of the people who died, and this left him angry and hateful of humankind. The events though left both MIB and Jacob feeling quite horrified. Had they caused this, or was it simply the nature of man to kill. MIB believed that it was the nature of man to behave this way, and didn't want Jacob to bring new people to the Island. Jacob however, did. To stop him, MIB attempted to kill Jacob. He failed, and was punished by a greater force. The Child we see perhaps, think of him as the Personification of the Island's Power.

He was transformed into the Smoke Monster and was tasked with protecting the Island and judging those that arrive. We all know humans are capable of evil, and also good. As Smokey, he had the power to look into people's souls, and see what they really were. Since he was obsessed with killing Jacob and also proving that man is evil, he became more and more angry and bitter. He grew to the point where he would kill anyone that he didn't think could help him complete his task of killing Jacob and getting off the Island. This went on without luck or change until Richard arrived. MIB tries his old trick with him, kill Jacob he's the Devil. Usually, maybe they would chicken out(and be killed by MIB), or they would try to kill Jacob and would be unsuccessful as Richard was, but they wouldn't react like him. Jacob would simply send them back out and have them killed by MIB. This time though, things change. Richard becomes the emissary for Jacob. This doesn't make MIB happy obviously, but he does notice it as a change. He tells Richard, if you ever change your mind, the offer still stands. Over the next 140 years the Hostiles/Others cause much death and destruction. As does everyone else that comes to the Island, until MIB meets a man named John Locke. Locke likes it on the Island, doesn't want to leave, believes it's a magical place, and most important, wants more than anything to be important and have purpose. MIB gives him that purpose, plays on this faith in the Island, tricks him, and taunts him, until eventually Locke in trying to save the Island, gets himself killed, giving MIB the opening he needed. And the rest as they say is history.

Well folks, that's quite a theory. I guess I was wrong of sorts about no new theories, but a lot of this is older theories just brought together clearer.

I really would like to hear some feedback on my wild, and pretty expansive theory.

TRIVIA CONTEST QUESTION

Ok all, this is it!

I haven't exactly decided on the deadline for this to be answered. Most likely it will be Tuesday, but if we don't get many responses I may extend it. But think of Tuesday, 10:00 PM as the deadline.

Remember, the winners will get a promo code to use for Big-O's Lost Answers iPhone App. I love this app, and I know any Lost fan will. And since it's made by Big-O, you know it's like the coolest thing ever.

Ok then. Here is your question!
Sawyer is famous for giving our characters nicknames. Your question is, which nicknames were "Star Trek" references, and to whom did he give them?

There are a few ways to enter:

1)Message me on Facebook. Put "Lost Trivia Contest" as the heading
2)Private Message me on Twitter, I'm JoSpiv there, or Josh Spivack.
3)Send an e-mail with the answer to lostflashbacks@gmail.com again remember to put "Lost Trivia Contest" in the heading.

Two winners will be selected, and then another question will be asked on the in the talkshoe chatroom directly following the episode this Tuesday. One person will win that prize.

GOOD LUCK

Total Recon

Well, I hope you all enjoyed our show this week. I felt a little off my game, and found it very difficult to find things to discuss. Well, difficult to find things that showed that I liked the episode that is.

I don't really have any new theories this week, but I'm sticking to all the ones I've talked about last week. I'm trying to decide if Locke's interactions with Kate help, or hurt my theory concerning her. I keep going back and forth. On the one hand, Locke defends Kate from Claire's attack. He doesn't only tell Claire not to hurt Kate, but he slaps her, and yells at her. I love Claire's face in that scene, and I wonder how she will view Locke now that she knows he lied to her about Aaron, and also that he would seemingly choose Kate over her. This behavior suggests that he knows Kate is a Candidate, and important, thus he needs to gain her trust just as he did with Sayid and Sawyer. What I love about Kate in this episode is that she's not falling for it. Also, what could Locke give her? She's already taken care of her legal issues, and I'm sure Jack would have her again if they ever got off Island. The question then becomes, what does Kate want? I don't know the answer to that, other than reunite Claire and Aaron there really is nothing driving her. Perhaps, she'll mess up Sawyer's plan by saying she is not leaving without Claire. I won't get into the whole "Sawyer/Sub" issue again, cause it'll ruin this pretty positive post about the episode.

The evidence against Locke knowing Kate is a Candidate is shown in that he doesn't seem to care what she knows. It seems like she now knows more about him, his previous life, and his motivations than anyone else! Why her? Why tell her all that about his mother and his childhood. I don't think he was lying in that scene, and it didn't seem to affect Kate that much. Kate though, as I said on the show, is acting different. She no longer seems to care about anything. Which doesn't exactly make for an interesting character, but it could lead to some interesting choices from her. Hopefully, she will turn out to be important, cause if not, I don't see why Claire couldn't have killed her. We know in this season dead is not dead. Infected Kate would be quite interesting imo.

Like I said on the show, I loved the Flashsideways, it was a great story and Detective James Ford is definitely a guy I want to know more about. And therein lies the problem. We won't learn more about him. We won't see him find Cooper, we won't see him hook up with Charlotte again, we won't see what happens when he runs into Kate. To tell the truth, I'm not even sure I want to see those things. I have huge confidence in the writers, and have faith that we will learn why these flashes matter. However, until then I have a pit in my stomach that is filling with dread that the flashsideways will not become as important as we all theorize they are.

I guess that's about all I have to say on that episode.



Here are some links to what we talked about on the show.

The Lost Podcast with Jay and Jack

Big-O's iPhone App: Lost Answers

Hulu's Best in Show

The Trivia Contest question will be posted later tonight.

Special Thursday Episode!!

Hey folks,

Due to the power outage issues I described in the post below this one we didn't do our initial reaction so on Tuesday. It felt strange not to have a show and not talk about the episode.

SO, we will be recording LIVE on talkshoe Thursday Night, March 18th, at 10:00 PM ET.

We used to record there a lot so hope you all can make it. I hope the west coasters can make it, haven't talked to you all live in a while.

We also will continue our discussion of Hulu's Best in Show! Some interesting results and new match-ups.

ALSO, there will be two exciting announcements. One of which will include possible prizes for a few special fans!!

Hope to see you there!

OH, the official blogpost for Recon should be up sometime tomorrow.

Namaste

NO SHOW...Maybe

Hey guys, I hate that I'm forced to put you guys through this again, but there is a possibility of no show again this week.

This time it's mother nature's fault. For those outside of the NJ/NY/CT area, i'll fill you all in. On Saturday we were hit with a massive Nor'easter. Bascially it's a tropical storm force event that occurs in the spring and fall around here. This one was one the biggest I've ever seen. It rained from Friday morning to...well it's still raining here on Monday afternoon. And on Saturday, in my town we had sustained winds of 35-40 mph and gusts up to 60 mph. For those of you in hurricane land, that may seem like nothing, but it's very strong for us.

So how does this affect the show? Well, I'm left with out power in my house. It might be back by Tuesday night, but we just are not sure. There are so many downed trees and power lines it might be a while. So since I may be unable to watch Lost, and since Talkshoe forbids anyone else to start the show, we will not be able to record our initial reactions.

However, I invite all of you guys to show up in the off chance that all will be good, and the show is ago. Even if we don't do the show, the chat will be opened automatically at 10:05, so I welcome all of you to go and discuss the episode. Failing that, definitely pop over to Big-O's show. I don't know the talkcast ID, but just type in Cranky Fanatic and you'll find it.

Here's hoping everything works out, and if anyone spoils Lost for me, I'll be angry lol.

This is Josh, reporting live from the State of Emergency(formerly known as New Jersey)

Dr. Linus, paging Dr. Linus.

I'm so happy I was able to watch this episode with everyone else and join in on the discussion! So much juicy goodness. And mainly focusing on one of my favorite characters on the show! Not only is Ben Linus a favorite among fans, but he's played by the AMAZING Michael Emerson. Why he doesn't have like 3 Emmy Awards is beyond me. But, on to the EPISODE.

So, I've got a couple theories based off of this episode. Like most of my theories I'm assuming right off the bat that they are wrong, but I'm sticking to them!! I'll get into them right away since last week I think I annoyed people with my rant about the tv issue. So here we go. I've given them titles now, so I don't refer to them like "My Kate Theory" or "My Smokey/Vincent/Locke/Christian theory". Those makes sense to me, but my mind is a maze of Simpsons, Seinfeld, Baseball and Star Trek, so there's little room for much else.

Josh's theory: Jacob's Touch and Everlasting Life!

Ok, so we know Richard has been around a long long time, and according to him it was a gift or even a curse. The way he described it, I immediately thought of the situation with Michael. He tried to kill himself over and over, but couldn't. The Island needed something from him. Now, we never saw Jacob touch him, but it's possible MIB touched him and has the same power, but who knows. Whatever caused it, we know the results. We also now know that Jack is the same way. According to him, since Jacob touched him, he cannot die either. HOWEVER, Richard seems to think he can die, but only if someone else kills him. I'm not sure if this is a new development, or if he's been around for over 200 years and no one has killed him. I suppose it's not crazy to think he could have been killed this whole time. I mean whenever a gun was on him he would put his arms up and ask them to put it down. If he could not be killed, why would he care?

So, I'm going with the theory that Richard, and Jack cannot die by their own hand, but they can be killed. So, here's the theory part! I think EVERYONE who is a Candidate goes by this rule. Richard may or may not have been a Candidate, but I think he was given this power anyway so that he could act as a go between for Jacob. Almost like a slave really. Forced to serve Jacob forever. So yeah, none of the Candidates can die by their own hand. I also think this includes actions they take that could or would lead to their death. Like what you ask? Like getting on a plane that tears apart mid-air in a fashion that would have killed all on board. I think everyone that survived was a Candidate. But so many people died after that! I know I know, but hear me out. Once their names are crossed out, they no longer are protected and can die like anyone else.

This explains a lot of stuff. One of the biggest questions of season one was, how did all these people survive that crash, most of them without any real injuries? The answer is they couldn't die! Then one by one Jacob and/or Smokey studied them(through Vincent perhaps!!) and started crossing off names. Crossing off, Boone, Shannon, Random Red Shirt, and on and on. Maybe this is how Charlie survived all those death encounters early on. Once his name was crossed off he could then die. Perhaps Desmond's flash gave him some kind of Island insight that told him Charlie now could die.

The only situation that makes this not work is Locke. Locke did die I think briefly when he fell from the building, but Jacob saved him. He also should have died when Ben shot him, then he tried to hang himself. He was interrupted by Ben and couldn't finish, so all good so far. But then Ben DOES kill him. I have two theories about this, either one works for me. First, if you turn the Frozen Donkey Wheel the gift Jacob gives you is gone. Off Island Locke again lost use of his legs, and then was killed by Ben. The other is simply what Richard says, he can be killed by someone else. I like the first one better cause it's more deep. But both work fine.

So there you go, I love that theory. Explains so much for the entire series!



Josh's Theory: MIB Can't Leave Without a Replacement

Ok, this one will be shorter, and sweeter. Well, maybe not sweeter, but definitely shorter. So, MIB tells Ben that himself and his followers are soon going to be leaving and Ben is welcome to join them on the Hydra Island. He also tells him that when they leave, Ben will get to be in charge on the Island. Maybe I'm slow, but I never realized what Ben craved more than anything was power. So, this is quite tempting to Ben I'm sure. Ben however doesn't take the offer and stays with Ilana and the Light Side. This got me thinking though. Why did MIB do this? Does he really need more people? Would having Ben on his side really change anything? Then it came to me. He needs someone to take over the Island. MIB is still trapped! Much like Kelvin, he needs a sucker to stay and press the button after he leaves. However, this time it's not a button, it's being whatever the frak he and Jacob are on the Island.

Now, we know Jacob had Candidates, and there are now SIX left according to Ilana. Linus was crossed out of the cave wall so he's no longer valid. Perhaps, MIB has Candidates too. I don't think Sawyer, Sayid or Claire are right. They hate the Island and want to leave, he's using them to help him defeat Jacob's forces, and leave the Island. But BEN, he loves the Island. He was once leader of the Others. Therefore, maybe MIB thinks Ben doesn't want to leave, just like when he said Locke didn't want to leave. So that's my theory. MIB needs someone to take over. If Ben will not do it, then I think MIB will be quite angry. Perhaps he'll use his ability to deceive and coerce his followers to force Ben to join them and stay. Whatever happens, I can tell you that I don't think MIB can simply leave the Island now that he has Locke's body. I'll finish with this. If Ben won't stay, and be the new Evil-Jacob, maybe this man will...

On-Going Josh theories will now go by the names
-Kate is Actually Important After All
-Vincent is SMOKEY
-The Cave was a Fake-Out
-Sickness doesn't make you Evil, it show who you really are.

That last one is kinda long, any suggestions for a shorter one?

Any people who agree or disagree with these are welcome to post.

Namaste, and Byyyyyeeeeee

The Oscars save the day!!!

HOORAY, I have ABC! It did go off for about 20 hours, but it came back for the Oscars! I don't know who gave in, but whoever did, thank you!!

Now, I watched some of the Oscars and it was a big night for LOST.

Michael Giacchino won for UP. Even though I love his Star Trek score far better, GOOD JOB!! Lost is now scored by an Academy Award winner!!

Fisher Stevens(Minkowski from the Freighter) was among those that won Best Documentary for The Cove.

JJ Abrams' GEM Star Trek won for Best Make-up. Star Trek even being mentioned at the Oscars is an improvement! Somewhere I hope Gene Roddenberry is smiling.

Evangaline Lilly's performance in The Hurt Locker clearly catapulted it past Avatar to win multiple awards.(Even though Ana Lulu was in Avatar)


So, this means there will definitely be an amazing episode of The Lost Flashbacks immediately following Episode 6x07, Dr. Linus! Be there or be square! Ways to join are located on the panel on the right!