?

Let's Talk about LOST! ?

(Click the pics!)
Eko is chopping wood with an ax; to build the church. {Cross on black cord} Ana Lucia is standing there with no shoes on and asks him, "What are you building?"
Eko smiles, happy to see her and says, "Hello Ana".
Ana-“Well, hello yourself. So you gonna tell me. What is it?”
He tells her he is "building a church".
Ana crosses her arms and sarcastically wonders, "Now why the hell would you wanna do that?"
Eko- "Because I was told to."
Ana-"Told to by who?"
Eko- "I was just told...I think it was in a dream."
Ana- "A dream like this one?"
Ana now has a gunshot wound and is bleeding from the corner of her mouth and forehead.   She tells Eko that he needs to help John. {Her voice is a bit distorted}
****"FLASHES" of...The Tailies version of the crash, in the water, the monster, body floating in the water, cross on the chain, the feet of the others walking by when he was with Jin, teddy bear, campfire, Jin blind folded, 9 virgin Mary statues from outside the church in his village, Eko and Charlie burn the drug plane, black smoke rising from it, Eko's priest brother, Arrow station with Dharma symbol with fire, Bible he found, Jesus Stick w/ 23 psalm,, revelations:3,"Hateth", Coi_sians, T:4, TITUS :3, Priest skeleton w/gold tooth, Locke, Eko's confrontation w/smoke monster when he sees his life flashes inside it, Cross w/chain on skeleton body, Drug/missionary plane about to take off, soldiers going after the plane, brother yelling, {the very next frame of Yemi is purposely blurred}, the orientation film w/Marvin Candle, Swan Dharma logo from hatch.****

Eko with an ax in the hatch; see the Swan Dharma logo and goes into the computer room. Yemi sits at the computer with his hands folded. There is a glass of water to his left and a red toolbox.
Eko-"Yemi."
Yemi smiles, gets up, nods and says "Hello brother."
Eko hurries to him and says "Forgive me! I should have listened to you. You were right. I didn't mean to do it." {Do what exactly?}
Yemi- "Shhhh. Your work being done in this place is important, Eko. It is more important than anything. And it is in danger. You must help John. He has lost his way. You must make him take you to the question mark.”
Eko looks confused.
The countdown clock beeps, it turns to black and red '?'. {Yemi seems disappointed the timer is up.} The computer keyboard is all question marks. Yemi enters a code, the beeping stops; the timer resets.
Yemi- "John will not want to show you, so you must make him. {The sound of a hum.} There are many distractions brother. But you must move past them. What's done is done. Do you understand?"
Eko says yes. The hatch starts to rumble and shake. You can hear magnet sound; see the computer screen.
Yemi- "Eko, bring the ax!"    We see and hear the ax in the dark.
Eko jolts AWAKE, upset and holding on to the cross around his neck. Charlie asks if he's alright. Eko grabs the ax and tells Charlie, "I need to find John".

In the jungle at night:
Locke is still on crutches, Kate, Jack and Sawyer are complaining about Locke, the guns/Ana. Sawyer is pissed and says to Jack, ”Well, ain't that swell. Gimpy McCrutch over here covers up that the Artist Formally Known as Henry Gale tried to strangle your little Amiga, and suddenly it's on me when she goes vigilante.”
Jack-”How about you go back to the beach.”
Kate makes them stop the bickering.
Michael stumbles out of the hatch doors, "He shot me. He's gone. He ran out."
Michael says he was sleeping and heard gun shots.
Jack- "Come on, We gotta get you up, alright."
Eko shows up. "Let me help."

Sawyer and Kate are inside the hatch and find Ana Lucia dead and Libby on the ground.   The armory is empty. {I love that the lava lamp is on.}  Kate checks on Ana Lucia; she’s dead. {and wearing a wedding ring.}
Libby is still alive, barely.  Michael is troubled about that! {Michael looks like, WTF? I shot her 2x!}
Jack tells Kate, "We gotta get her up. We gotta get her up to the back room."
Eko blesses Ana's face/body that is now laid in the armory.   Eko looks up and prays.
Locke looks on.
{Jack and Libby have on the same color shirts.}
Dr. Jack and Nurse Kate work on Libby; who is in shock. {Here I go over thinking! Jack tells Kate to keep pressure on this one.  But when Jack walks out of the bunk room I don't see Kate keeping pressure on any Libby.  Are those the only set of bunks in the hatch? Please tell me.}
Jack asks Michael “How long ago did this happen? How long ago did he leave?”
Michael-"About 20 min, maybe a half hour ago."
Jack wants to pick up the trail to catch up to him.   Sawyer reminds Jack the guy has a head start and a gun.  Jack says that he shot three of our people; one's dead. {Ana's one of his people? NOT.} Sawyer’s concerned who will take care of Libby while Jack’s off playing Daniel Boone.
Eko volunteers to go.  He asks Locke about his tracking experience, "We will find his trail together."
Jack tells them if they find anything to come back there and they'll figure out what to do next, together.
Eko with his ax and John with his crutches, head out.
{Flash Whoosh}
Eko sits in a dark confessional going through the motions of being a priest. He is hearing confession, "How long has it been since your last confession?" {Eko looks really thrilled. LOL! He even checks his watch.}
In the confessional is the adulterer guy who forged I.D. papers for a guy pretending to be a priest. The guy (Mr. Caldwell) gives Eko a passport. {Sydney Australia is all over it, 's on top M 223652, National status, Australian citizen, a few dates 8/23/68, 16/4/04, 15/4/14} The guy has friends in L.A. He can get Eko with them to do 'stuff'.



Eko is  known  as Father Tunde. Eko introduces the man to the monsignor as the man who's helping him plan his trip to the U.S.. The monsignor has bad news about Tunde’s trip. Eko has to postpone his trip because it appears they have a miracle.
Inside the church a mother is telling Father Tunde about her daughter who has drowned and came back to life.  Charlotte, whose not much of a swimmer, must have slipped and fell into the river, drowns and the next day she woke up! Dead, and the next day she woke up!
Mrs. Malkin tells the unbeliever Eko that "It's a miracle, a confirmation of faith. Everyone needs to know about this...The world needs to know about this."
Mrs. Malkin tells Tunde that Charlotte is at home with her husband the psychic.  Monsignor tells her that the church will conduct an investigation before anyone can be told.     Father Tunde will start this process.
The monsignor chose Eko for this because he doesn't believe what the woman says.

Eko leads John through the dark jungle.
John asks Eko, "Are you seeing something I'm not? Hey! I haven't seen a single track or piece of sign since we left the hatch. What the hell are you following?" {WTF is a piece of sign? Hmmm?}
Eko-"Where is the question mark?”
John doesn't get it.
John tells him "You keep chasing after your own shadow. I'm going back" {YEAH!}
Persistent Eko says to John- "I know you don't want to show me, but you must."
John- "No. I don't have to show you anything."
Then Eko is sorry because now he must head butt him; knocking him out! {People are always getting knocked out!}

John starts to wake up; his head bothers him.
Eko admits he “hit” John because he was being difficult.
John-“Are you insane?”
No, Eko is not.  Eko also shares with John that his friend "Ana Lucia wants me to help you, John...Find the question mark."
John- “You don’t even know what you’re talking about. Do you?”
Eko says no, “But you know what I am talking about, John. And that is all that matters.”
Frustrated John gives Eko his drawing of the blast door map with the question mark in the center.
John-"Here. You wanna find your damn question mark? Here. Here. This is it, right here. Take it! Take it! Because it’s nothing. It’s a memory. It's 10 seconds of nothing."
Eko is trying to figure out what direction to head.
John still insists the hatch isn't his.
Eko- “If the Swan is where we came from, then we go that way.”
John feels they shouldn’t even be out there and that Ana Lucia would still be alive if I’d just told Jack that Henry attacked her.
Eko- “Now she wants us to go here, John. She wants us to go here, John. Together. She said this in my dream.”
John whispers, “Oh. Of course. Your dream.”
Eko wants John to tell him, "Haven’t you ever followed a dream?"
{Flash Whoosh}



Eko interviews/investigates Ian.
Ian- “So, the Vatican is really interested in this one.”
Eko says it depends on what he puts in his report. Ian got the call 1 am.  Ambrose brought this girl in. She'd been dead in the water two hours. Eko wonders if Ian’s had much experience in this type of death.
Of course Ian has, he’s an undertaker, it’s his day job; he’s perfectly qualified to be a coroner as he did go to medical school.
Eko asks when he found out that she was not dead.
Ian doesn’t expect Eko to believe him but shares it was during the autopsy.
He recorded the autopsy and plays it for Eko.
While the tape plays Ian leaves the room. “This is a Caucasian female. She's 161 cm, 51.3 kilos. Body prepped and washed by the very lovely Valerie McDervish...Commencing with the post. This is a clear case of drowning. I'll begin with a thoracic...” You hear the terrible screams. {Listen to the screams very closely!!}
Ian returns tells Eko to "Take it, I don't ever want to listen to that tape again."
He gives it to Eko.

In the jungle, Eko is trying to follow John's map.
John- “You lost already?”
Eko feels John’s map is inexact.
John- “No kidding.”
Eko asks John "These landmarks, is this a river?" questioning a point on the map.
John- "No. It’s a wavy line. I didn't draw it, I just transcribed it, I told you. I don't even know if it is a map."  {WOW!! Maybe it's not a map.}
Eko will assume it is.
John asks what the ax is for. Eko admits he doesn’t know yet. Eko takes a few steps and crunches on a Virgin Mary statue. They walk a little bit further and find the missionary plane.
Eko-“You were the one who found this plane, yes.”
Locke seems sad, “Yeah. It was up there.”
Eko-“And what made it fall?”
John- “Boone. Boone made it fall. Then he died. A sacrifice that the island demanded.”
Eko turns to John, confused and says, “Excuse me.”
John says it’s nothing.
Eko tells John that they will make camp, get some sleep and wait for FURTHER INSTRUCTION. {WOW!! YEAH!!}

In the hatch impatient Jack asks Kate “Where the hell are they?”
Kate wants him to calm down, “Finding his trail in the dark’s not gonna be easy. They'll be back.”
Jack washes blood off his hands.
Michael asks Jack if Libby said anything.
Nope, she’s still unconscious; the bleeding has stopped and that’s not good.    Jack can make Libby comfortable but he doesn’t have what he needs.    Sawyer wonders why their all looking at him; he gave them all the meds two days ago.
Jack needs the heroin.
Sawyer- “Give me 20 minutes.”
Even though it doesn’t take two people to carry it, Jack insists Kate to go with Sawyer.     Jack knows the heroin is in his stash; this way Kate can see where he has the guns, or “let poor Libby suffer" says Sawyer. {He does have a heart!} Sawyer and Freckles head out.
Troubled Mike glances over to see Libby.


It is daylight on Sawyer and Kate's walk back to his stash on the beach.    Kate is curious about how Ana got his gun.   Sawyer lies and says maybe she lifted it off of him.   Kate mocks Ana pick-pocketing his gun but wonders how.
Sawyer-”If I knew how she did it, then she wouldn’t be able to do it now, would she?”
They arrive at his tent. Kate assumed the stash is somewhere else.
Sawyer opens the fabric door for her and says, “Do you have to make everything so damn difficult? Just go in.”
The stash, guns and heroin are all right there!   Sawyer kept them right underneath himself all this time. {He wipes the dirt off the stash cover; It is a piece Oceanic wreckage. It looks like a BULLS EYE or TARGET! There is a bottle in wine/liquor in his tent.}

Sawyer is pleased he fooled Kate; he hands her a Virgin Mary statue.

On their way back to the hatch, red shirt wearing Hurley asks them if they've seen Libby around. Kate breaks the news to him.
{It was daylight when Libby went back for the blankets, dark when Michael fell out of the hatch doors, he tells jack that 'it' happened 20-30 minutes before, now it's daylight again. How much time has passed?}







John is sleeping near Eko and his extinguished campfire.
{White smoke rises}

A whisper "Shhhh. You’ll wake John...Come. Follow me.”
Eko and his ax follow Yemi. They climb up the cliff with the roots from the trees. {Yemi kicks ass on the climb! It reminds me of the Steven King story Pet Sematary. When Judd and Louis climb over the thick piled high brush and sticks, Judd moves quickly and swiftly up and over it and on to the pet sematary. I just wanted to share that with you.}

Once at the top, Yemi is in a wheelchair.
Yemi- "Wake up John!"
{Listen to how that is said}
Eko falls!
John wakes up with a jolt!
Eko with his stick asks John if he had a dream with a man; a priest.   Eko tells John the man he saw was his brother; that is why they have to go together.    This is how they are going to be led and how they will know where to go next.
John doesn’t know where to go, "It wasn't even me, it was you. It didn’t...He wanted me to follow him.” {Important!}
Eko -“Follow him where?”
They look up to the top of the cliff. Eko is happy and tells John to wait there.
John feels it was just a dream, it's not safe,  but Eko goes anyway.
{Flash Whoosh}



Eko goes to the Malkin’s home to speak to their daughter. {It's a day later} {2001-house number} Joyce panics that Eko is there; it’s not a good time.
Richard Malkin orders his wife and daughter back into the house.
Charlotte doesn’t say a word and never takes her eyes off of Eko.
Richard reveals to Eko there was no miracle.
Eko says the doctor who treated his daughter feels differently {Doctor?}
Richard says the Doctor is trying to cover up his own negligence. "He tell you the whole story...how she supposedly drowned? She fell into a mountain river, her body shut down; she went into hypothermia which made her appear dead."
Mrs. Malkin is a zealot!  Everything his wife is doing is to spite him because knows he's a fraud. Richard reveals he makes his living as a psychic, "That's what I do. I gather intelligence on people and I exploit it.   Every day I meet people looking for a miracle Desperate to find one, but there are none to be had. Not in this world anyway.”
{Is that what he's doing to/with Eko right now? If he tells Eko no miracle, then he can go on his trip and be on that "plane".}
Eko will report back that there is no miracle here, “Your daughter is alive. This is all that matters.”
Richard looks relieved. Eko and the girl share a look through a window.
{Flash Whoosh}


Eko works hard to climb up the cliff with is ax. John warns Eko to be careful. Eko slips a bit but holds on. {Check out how Locke is standing holding his crutches.}

Once up top John asks what's up there, “Do you see anything?” {What a beautiful view!} Eko sees the beach craft plane and what he believes is a “?”.  {It looks like a circle to me}


Eko investigates the dirt on the ground and proclaims the earth has been salted so that nothing can grow.   {Like Carthage.}
John wonders why because there’s nothing there. {Hmmm.}
Eko believes a circle, a target, so that this place can be seen from up above.

Locke wonders, "They? What place?"
Eko-“The place that this plane fell upon. Come on John!”
John looks a bit baffled.
Eko pokes around the plane with his ax and hits something metallic. There is another hatch underneath the plane. Together they push the plane and wipe dirt off the top to reveal the hatch. Eko uses his ax to open it. John would like to open it too so they open it together.
This hatch has two doors. The men look down into the very deep hatch.

In the Swan hatch Jack cracks open the Virgin Mary statue. {IMPORTANT:Watch Jack's face when he holds/looks at the heroin.}
Hurley tells Michael that he was going to have his first date with Libby. Hurley is glad Michael is okay. {Michaels' expression.}

John and Eko make their descent into the hatch.
Entering the new hatch first is Eko then John. This hatch has a ladder. We see a Dharma logo. This hatch has power/electricity.
John turns the power on.

Inside a little room there are two chairs; there is heroin on the desk tops.    There is a wall with nine monitors. Monitor number five is on. {Static} Locke turns the other monitors on.
One monitor airs footage from the Swan hatch; Jack is walking around. There are cameras everywhere and a computer.  John turns on the lights.
The computer screen is on and shows 'Print log Y or N'. Locke presses Y execute.
The printer prints out the log showing numbers and the word “accepted” after them.
Eko finds a closet with blank composition notes books.
John sends his blast door map {I thought he gave it to Eko? Is this a different one? Are there 2, 3 or more?} up in the pneumatic tube.
Eko finds an orientation video tape.
Eko loads the tape into the top loading VCR.


The DHARMA INITIATIVE-ORIENTATION-STATION 5 -THE PEARL.
They watch video 5 of 6. The video plays on monitor 5.
The video is hosted by Dr. Mark Wickmund. {No fake arms.}
The Pearl is a monitoring station. The activities of participants of Dharma projects can be observed and recorded. {People are shown exercising} Not only for posterity but for the ongoing refinement of the initiative as a whole.   Karen DeGroot wrote "Careful observation is the only key to true.. and complete awareness." Participant’s tour of duty will last three weeks.   You and partner will observe a psychological experiment in progress.  The other team members aren't aware they're under surveillance or that they are the subjects of an experiment.  Working in eight hours shifts you and your partner will record everything you observe in the notebooks.   What is the nature of the experiment, you might ask?  What do the subjects believe they are accomplishing, as they struggle to fulfill their tasks? You as the observer don't need to know.  All you need to know is that the subjects believe their job is of the utmost importance.  Remember, everything that occurs, no matter how minute or seemingly unimportant MUST be recorded.   Each time the notebook is filled with the fruits of your diligent observation, {Tape glitches-static} place it in the container provided, place it in pneumatic tube and presto, it will be transported directly to us.   At the end of eight hour shift, proceed to the Pala Ferry, which will take you back to the barracks and prepare for your next… On behalf of the DeGroots, Alvar Hanso and all of us at the Dharma Initiative, thank you, Namaste and good luck. {The credit at the end of video is The Hanso Foundation 1980.}

Eko asks John if he'd like to watch that again.
Disappointed John says no, he's seen enough.   Pleased Eko wants to bring the notebooks and papers back as he believes the work John has been doing is more important than ever; pushing the button. John says pushing the button is not work, it's a joke. "Rats in a maze, with no cheese."
Eko insists its work.
Eko-"We're are being tested…The reason to do it, push the button is not because we are told to do so in a film...We do it because we believe we are meant to. Isn't that the reason you pushed it, John?"
John is getting angry- "I was never meant to do anything. Every single second of my pathetic little life is as useless as that button. You think it's important, you think its necessary, its nothing. It's meaningless. And who are you to tell me that it's not?"
{Flash Whoosh}
Eko at the Oceanic check in counter at the airport. {Another agent behind the counter. Not Krissy. And we don’t see any of the fuselage passengers here. Only Libby. Interesting, huh.} Flight 8 1 5 leaving from gate 23. 
Charlotte {The un-dead/alive} waits to speak to Eko. Her father doesn't want her talking to Eko but she had to see Eko. Crazy Charlotte promised to deliver a message, ”He says you were a good priest".
Yemi said this. This upsets Eko, “Speaking about my brother is not a joke. So you should be very careful about what you say next.”
Charlotte- "I saw him when I was between places. He said that you would come and see me. He said that even though you were pretending, you were a good man… He wants you to know that he will see you soon. He says that even though you don’t have faith in yourself, that he has faith in you.”
Eko raises his voice wondering why she is doing this to him. Libby happens by and asks if everything is alright. Charlotte nods her head yes at Libby. {Check out Libby's body language and look she gives!}
Charlotte tells Eko- "He has faith in you. One day you'll believe me". {Flight 815 is now boarding for L.A.}

Eko tells John that the cross he wears was worn by his brother Yemi. {Cross on a brown cord} Yemi was a great man. “A priest. A man of god.   And because I betrayed him, he was shot and died. He was placed on a plane, which took off from an air strip in Nigeria, half a world from here. Then the plane that I was on crashed on this Island.   And somehow, here, I found my brother again. I found him in the same plane that took off from Nigeria in the same plane that lies above us now, that has concealed this place.   And I took this cross from around Yemi's neck and put it back on mine. Just as it was on the day I first took another man's life. So let me ask you, how can you say this is meaningless?  I believe the work being done in the hatch is more important that anything. If you will not continue to push the button John, I will."
Eko packs up notebooks and papers.

In the hatch, Jack shoots Libby up with {Heroin}.
Hurley kneels down beside Libby, who is trying to open her eyes.
Hurley is crying-“Hey. It’s Hurley. Hugo. I’m sorry I forgot the blankets. I’m sorry I forgot the blankets.
Libby struggles but manages to say "Michael".
Jack tells her “He's okay. He made it, Libby. It’s okay. It’s alright."
Libby dies. They all cry. {I'm crying cause they're all crying!!}
Sawyer comforts Kate.
Jack stands in front of the bathroom mirror. {Two Jacks.}
The beeping starts on the countdown clock.
We see Eko and Locke {crutches} heading back.
Hurley is with Libby.
Michael is standing in the armory with one hell of a look on his face.
Ana Lucia’s body is covered except for her head/face; looks more like she’s sleeping.
The beeping continues.
We see the computer, waiting there for someone to enter in the code.


 

? is a great episode! 
Things are NOT what they seem on the surface.   Eko tells Ana he "thinks" he was told about building a church in a dream.    Is his speaking with Ana a dream?   In this place what are "dreams" or "visions" and what could be real, manipulated imagery or even memory?    The ever important orientation video mentions a bit about the subject “believing” their job is of the utmost importance, this is what "Yemi" tells "Eko" as well.  
With the similarities we witnessed with Sawyer here and the "target", how does he connect? How about the "work being done in the hatch"?    Does this have anything to do with the "work" Jack is doing in there with Libby and the heroin? Definitely lines are blurred!

Things to note...Questions to ask...

✈ Eye Color
✈ Dreams; an altered state of consciousness.
✈ Exercise. Study. Experiment. Test. Learn.
✈ Boone
✈ What is Eko's "work" in this place, really? Is he there to build a church or build something else?! By the way, another word for church is temple.  Important? Maybe...
✈ Dark and Light. Eko and John.  Two brothers.   Eko finds his "brother", again. Hmmm??   Eko also bears the cross of his brother.   What is the connection with Eko and Locke?
✈ Two different versions of the cross. One on a chain, one on a black cord.
✈ Could John be the original artist of the blast door map or just the scribe?
✈ Jack handles the Heroin in the Swan hatch and Locke and Eko come in contact with it at the Pearl Station.
✈ Blast door map is the shape is of the Bagua (8 sides).The ba gua literally "eight symbols": are eight diagrams used in Taoist cosmology  to represent the fundamental principles of reality, seen as a range of eight interrelated concepts.  Buddhism.
✈ The '?' is shown in the middle of the blast door map. It marks the center with 7 Hatches around it. 6 hatches are shown, 1 is crossed out.
✈ The blast door map shows the '?' in the center of the hatches. Yet here, this opening to this hatch is basically right at the question mark. So is this an exit not an entrance into this hatch? Another hatch with two ways in and/or out.
✈ Just as the episode Orientation could be about their orientation to the Island itself, couldn't the video in the Pearl be part of the answer about what's happening to them? Clues to people watching! Watching the observers.
✈ Ian also means John!
✈ Drugs. Heroin {fruit/food}.
✈ Tour of duty is a military term.
✈ Oyster and Pearl: A pearl is a hard object produced within the soft tissue (specifically the mantle) of a living shelled mollusk.
✈ We hear about to the DeGroots and Alvar Hanso in addition to the Dharma Initiative.
✈There was a bulls eye/target underneath Sawyer. The Oceanic Logo fits into this idea here.
✈ Hurley feels responsible for Libby's death.
✈ Who does the swan hatch belong to? John or Jack?
✈ Again we are shown that things are not real. Even the participants in the Dharma Initiative were lied to about what they were doing. Secrets/Truth is kept from them.
✈ Is it easy to fake a death and have someone fooled? Here we see people appearing dead, although they are NOT!  {Dead and then come back to life/reborn.}
✈ There is a target or bulls eye to be seen from above. Be seen by whom? {To me it looks like a circle in the salted earth}
Are the answers right underneath them? Very deep below them or above them or within them?
✈ I.D.-Identity.  New Identity/different identity.
✈Wavy Line- What could this represent? Brain waves, perhaps.


Vocabulary and Research...
♦  Map- Computer and video games : Where "map" may refer to a level in computer or video games.
   - MAP (file format)a computer file format.
   - MAP (higher-order function)a higher-order function used to apply a function to a list of values and return another list with the results.
♦  Boon- A blessing or benefit.
♦  Question mark: the punctuation mark (?) placed at the end of a sentence or phrase intended as a direct question. It is also used after a word or phrase whose appropriateness is in doubt, or after a number or date whose accuracy is in doubt.
   - Used in computer programming.
   - It is also used in Math equations.
   -Minkowski's question mark function, a mathematical function
♦  The Question Mark (Polygonia interrogationis) is a North American nymphalid butterfly.
♦ ♦ More importantly I also learned, it is an algebraic chess notation. "?" denotes a BAD MOVE, and "??" a blunder. I find that fitting to our story.


It is VERY important to note that John dreamed that he was Eko following his brother. A dream where John wasn’t himself but actually someone else.  In the dream Yemi was in the wheelchair, as representation of John, but Locke felt he embodied Eko.  Who dreams were these...really?  We can't count out other hints to things pointing to "Yourself".  This is telling us something very important.

Looking for the '?'.
Is it about finding another hatch? I think...no.  Maybe this hatch just distracted them from what they really were supposed to be looking for.   After all finding this new hatch makes Locke lose faith even more.  Eko was supposed to help him find his way, not steer John further off the path, or was it?  Eko feels the work in the hatch is more important than anything.  I feel like their job on the "Island" is of the utmost importance...this is the place that they will make changes in themselves and find what has been lost.
We know that there are many hatches so, which hatch has the more important work? Is it one we have not seen at this point?

?... Is it possible that Eko still missed the mark? Did his quest for the '?' end up being a 'Bad Move or Blunder'? Was there a distraction? Or did he do exactly what "someone" instructed him to do?
Did John wake up?

Love to all who are "LOST"™


















Posted on MySpace Oct 7, 2007

Disclaimer: I never claim to know everything about the show and my thoughts by no means make me right. The things I share here are my views and/or opinions. I don't claim to catch every single detail either. You all know I hate spoilers, and I stand clear of reading certain sites as to not take me off my own course of research. The one thing I don't need to do here is rehash all of the obvious clues from an episode, we all know what they are. Understood? Good. Let the fun begin!I'll only note things that I know come up as clues later, but need to be noted when they first show up and things I find that will be of importance. It will get very exciting as we progress into the story.

This Place is Death.

Let's talk about LOST! This Place is Death.

Sun {wearing wedding ring} sits in her car at the marina, watching Ben chat with Jack, Kate and Sayid. Sun’s phone rings; it’s her mom.
Sun explains she’s still in L.A., “Finishing up what I came to do.”   Sun will be on a plane tomorrow. {I’m sure you will! But to where?}
Ji Yeon talks to Sun on the phone.
Sun shares with her, “I met a new friend for you in America. His name is Aaron.” {He's sleeping.}
Ji Yeon misses mom and wants her to come home.
Sun-“I will be soon.”
She ends the call and turns her attention back to the group. She gets out of the car with her gun in hand.
Upset Kate asks Ben why he doesn’t leave her and her son alone.
Ben-“Because he’s not your son, Kate.”
Sun pulls the gun on Ben and tells Kate to move away.
Sun informs Kate that Aaron’s in the car; Kate runs to retrieve him.
Jack says to Sun, “I know you think you’re helping...”
Sun feels if it wasn't for Ben Jin would still be alive.
Ben-“I didn’t kill your husband, Sun.”
Ben says he didn’t kill him, neither did anyone else.   Ben goes on to say Jin is alive and he can prove it. Sun accuses him of lying.   Ben, who never takes his eyes off her, says he’s not. {This reminds me of when Ben was prisoner in the armory and he was full of lies as Henry Gale.}

Jin, weathered from his journey, looks across the island beach and the water.  The French team zeros in on a voice on the radio. 8 15 16 23 42  {It SOUNDS LIKE HURLEY/HUGO}.
Pregnant Danielle asks Jin if he’s all right.
He asks and she confirms she is Danielle Rousseau.   He asks her where she’s from.  Danielle tells him they sailed from Tahiti on November 15.
Jin-“NO! What year?”
Apparently it's 1988.
Jin tells her group that he needs to find his camp and they wonder, what camp?
Robert-“You were on this island before?”
Jin {in English} asks if they “See helicopter?” {Motioning his finger in a circular copter propeller motion.}
Montand mocks Jin, first the boat, then the helicopter; next he feels Jin will mention a submarine. Montand knows which way to go.  He tells Robert the signal is strong; there must be an antenna on the island. If they go there they can call for help. {Jin looks like he understands them for a second and realizes they’re wasting their time.}
Robert asks Jin if there’s an antenna on the island, a radio tower. {Uses hand gestures and draws in the sand to communicate. His drawn radio tower looks like the Eiffel Tower. Lol}
Jin tells them yes, but he needs to go to his camp “Because maybe the helicopter go there.”
Danielle asks him if he knows where his camp from their location, but Jin looks “lost”.
No he can’t, but he thinks he can find it from the radio tower.
Danielle-“Then go with us to the radio tower. “Then we find your camp.”
OK.
Robert- “That’s settled. Let’s get moving.”
Montand looks annoyed and Danielle’s face shows concern.{Watch Jin.} She asks Jin if he’s ready to go, and he is.
Danielle- “Who are you hoping to find?”
Jin-“My wife.” {Danielle looks worried}


Jin and the French team walk through the jungle.  All the while the radio is broadcasting {Man/Hurley’s voice} repeating, 4 8 15 16 23 42... Apparently Montand gives them direction. Danielle gets a pain. Robert tells her he knew it was a mistake, “You’re 7 months pregnant.”
Danielle says she’s fine, “She just gave her a little kick."
They cutely bicker about the baby being a girl.  {Alexandra}
Robert says it’s a boy {Alexander}.  Jin watches them.
Robert will get her water.
The group realizes Nadine isn’t there. Montand comments that this is what happens when you bring women, “She’s probably off chasing butterflies.”
Jin hears something...growling, clicking; he tells them it’s,“Monster.”
Danielle asks who saw Nadine last; she was right behind them.
Danielle suggests they go back to find her. Jin insists they must go.
Montand tells Jin to “Shut up.”
They call out in search for Nadine. Robert instructs Brennan and LaCombe to spread out and search. The Smoke Monster pops up! They look up and Nadine falls from above.
Jin tells them to “RUN!”
They end up in a group. Smokey drags Montand to a hole in the ground that seems to be going under a wall. The group grabs Montand’s arm in an effort to pull him out. His arm gets torn off and he is pulled in. The group hears Montand call for help from below. He tells them he’s hurt and that thing is gone. Robert wants to go in and get him but Jin stops him.
Robert-“Do not leave anyone behind.”
So the men head in.
Danielle wants to go in too but Jin stops her, “No! No! You don’t go-with baby.”
She picks up a rifle to cover the hole.
There's a high pitch buzz, bright light...Jin looks up {Danielle does not experience this}. Thumping!Jin grabs his head.  Danielle asks him what’s wrong but he keeps on grabbing his head. FLASH!
Jin is alone at the wall.
He looks up and around to see the wall appears to be an ancient ruin. {Glyphs}
He wants to look down the hole but kicks Montand’s torn off decaying arm. {Complete with watch.}
Jin drinks water from one of the giant leaves in the enchanted forest.
He looks around a sees a pillar of black smoke rising in the distance.
He makes his way to the beach to find it is set up with makeshift shelter and a campfire burning. Belongings are strune about. He finds a music box playing. {Dancers}
The flies are bothering him. {The violin case is open.}He discovers two bodies; they appear to have been shot.
Jin hears Danielle yelling at someone. He watches from behind leaves.
Danielle is yelling at Robert, saying he is not Robert, he’s someone else, “That thing has changed you.“
She and Robert are armed.
Robert loves Danielle but wonders why she is acting this way.
Danielle insists the monster made him sick.
Robert tells her it’s not a monster; it’s a security system guarding that temple. He loves her and wants her to put the gun down. He doesn’t want anything to happen to her or their baby.
She concedes.
Robert cocks his rifle, pulls the trigger but nothing happens! Danielle shoots him between the eyes.
Jin jumps out! Surprised Danielle says to Jin, “You! You disappeared.”
Jin- “No!...”
She feels Jin’s sick too. He’s a carrier.
Jin runs and Danielle shoots at him. Jin grabs his head…Flash.
Jin wakes up to Sawyer pointing a rifle at him. They are together again and in the "same time"! Jin asks where Sun is.

Miles asks where that guy came from; he thought he was on the boat. {Jin}
Daniel says the blast must have thrown him in the water, {Convenient. huh?!} “He’s been moving with every flash, just like us.”
Sawyer tries to explain the flashing to Jin. “Every time the sky lights up, we move through time.”
Jin looks like he’s crazy. He wants Charlotte {who is not bleeding} to translate for him.
Sawyer thinks Jin was asking Miles for help. Miles is from Encino. Lol!!
Charlotte says Jin wants to know how he’s sure his wife is off the island.
Locke observes the translations.
Sawyer’s surprised Red speaks Korean.
Locke- “Tell him I’m sure. But none of it will matter if we don’t make it to the Orchid.”
Red translates that he’s sure; they need to go to a Station called the Orchid. She also tells Jin the Orchid is a way off the Island.
Locke is planning to bring back everyone including Sun.  He explains they have to bring her back, because she never should have left.

Sun, holding the gun on Ben says she spent the last three years believing her husband was dead.
Ben tells her there is someone in Los Angeles who can help, who can show her proof. This is the same person who will show them how to get back to the island.
Kate is pissed; that's what this is about. She accuses Jack of pretending to care about Aaron because he knew about this, “To convince me to go back there.”
Jack wasn’t pretending anything.
Kate claims this is insane and they’re crazy.
Jack tries to stop her from leaving.
Sayid walks away as he wants no part of this. If he sees Jack or Ben again, “it will be extremely unpleasant for all of us.”
Ben tells Sun they can be there in 30 minutes and she’ll have proof that he’s alive, “Or you can shoot me and never know.”
Sun- “Let’s go.”

Jin asks Locke how far.
It’s just over the next ridge. {Walk by muddy creek}
Jin wants to know how Locke will leave the island.
Locke’s not sure, but Jin wants to go with him.
Locke tells Jin, “No. No. It doesn’t work like that. It’s a one man job.”
Of course Jin wonders why.
Locke doesn’t know why, it just is. He promises to bring Sun back.
Charlotte looks like shit but walks on. She doesn’t want a break; she just wants to get there.
Dan asks her if she speaks any other languages.
She-“Just Klingon.” {Alien}
She asks Dan is this gonna work. Dan feels it does make empirical sense that if this started at the Orchid that’s where it will stop. “But as far as bringing back the people who left in order to stop these temporal shifts, that’s where we leave science behind.”
They sky lights up, magnet hum. They look up... OH NO! They grab their heads. Flash! Instantly it's night. Magnetic hum and buzz...here it comes again! They all grab their heads… Flash! Instantly it's day.  Charlotte falls over; her eyes are open but nobody‘s home and her nose is bleeding.   Juliet’s nose is bleeding, and so is Sawyer’s.
Dan tries to get her wake her/conscious. She wakes speaking Korean to Jin.
Sawyer wants to know what she said.
In English Charlotte says, “Don’t let them bring her back. No matter what. Don’t let them bring her back. This place is death.”

Ben drives Sun to his destination; Apparently there’s traffic.
Jack apologizes to Sun for leaving Jin behind, “Everything was just happening so fast, I knew he was down below, we should have waited for him.”
Sun wants to know why he’s telling her this now, “Or are you going to ask me not to kill Ben if he’s lying about my husband?“
Ben’s getting pissed.
Jack- “What he just did to Kate, if you don’t do it Sun, I will.”
Ben slams on the breaks and turns to them, claiming to be helping them. “And if you had any idea what I’ve had to do to keep helping keep you safe, to keep your friends safe, you’d never stop thanking me. . .You wanna shoot me then shoot me.  But let’s get on with it. What‘s it gonna be?”
Sun just tells Ben to, ‘Drive.”

Jin hands Dan the flask.
Charlotte-“Why can’t daddy come with us?”
Charlotte is “somewhere else.”
Dan-“Charlotte, can you hear me?”
Charlotte- "You know what my mum would say about me marrying an American. (She looks right at Dan) I know more about ancient Carthage than Hannibal himself.”
Dan doesn't have any idea what she's talking about.
Locke says they need to keep moving.
Dan needs help to carry her. {Carrier} 
Locke feels she’s gonna hold them up.
Dan-“We can’t just leave her.”
Sawyer notes the flashes are getting closer together.  He says to Dan, “Maybe when your nose starts bleeding, you’ll realize we gotta get out of Dodge now. We’ll come back for her just as soon as we can.” {Watch Juliet!} There’s no way Dan will leave her behind. FLASH!!! {No warning}.
Charlotte tells them to go! “Ohhh, Turn it up. I love Geronimo Jackson.”
Juliet tells Dan they’re running out of time.
Dan tells them to go and he’ll stay with Charlotte.
Sawyer asks John, if we don’t even know when the hell we are, what happens if the Orchid aint around anymore?”
John looks as if he never thought of that.
Charlotte tells them to look for the well, “You’ll find it at the well.”
They move on, leaving Dan and Charlotte behind.

On their trek Miles get a nosebleed.
Locke with his big knife leads them to the Orchid; what’s left of it, anyway.
Juliet wonders what the odds that they would end up in the same time, “as this thing.” FLASH!  No Orchid. Locke leaves, as if he instinctively knows where to go. Through the jungle he finds the well. {Ruins} A rope hangs into the well.
Miles wonders how Charlotte knew the well was there.
Charlotte tells Dan she’s been there before. He looks baffled. She goes on to tell him she "grew up on the Island. There was this thing, this Dharma Initiative, and then I moved away, with my mum. Just my mum, and I never saw my dad again.  And then when I got back to England wh- when I asked my mum about this place, yeah, that she would say it wasn’t real and that I’d made it up. That’s why I became an Anthropologist, to find this island again. It what I’ve been searching for my whole life.”
Dan asks why she’s telling him this.
It’s because she remembered something now, “When I was little, living here, there was this man, this crazy man, he really scared me, and he told me that I had to leave the island and never ever come back. He told me that if I came back, I would die.”
Dan, very caring, “Charlotte. I don’t understand.“
Charlotte's crying, “Daniel. I think that man was you.”

Sawyer questions Locke, “You going down there?”
Yep, he is!
Sawyer- “What exactly are you hoping to find?”
Locke says he's looking for a way off the island.
Sawyer-“Expecting a subway?”
Locke-“Goodbye James.”
He’ll see them when he gets back.
Jin stops him to tell him not to bring Sun back.
Locke- “No. I have to bring them all back. That‘s how it works.”
Jin- “How you know?”
Locke- “I just know.”
Jin threatens to cut the rope.
Locke says if he does that, “you’ll kill every one of us.”
Jin-"This Island is bad. You don’t bring Sun back. You promise. You promise you don’t bring my baby.”
John gives his word.
Jin- “Promise, John.”
John promises. He tells Jin that he won’t go to Sun, but she may find him and if she does, what does he tell her.
Jin wants Sun to believe he is dead. {Which he is not}.
Jin- “You say I wash up. You bury me.”
Jin removes his wedding ring and wants John to give it to her as proof. {Proof of a lie.}
John will be back as soon as he can. He grabs the rope, ready to go.
Sawyer-“Are you sure you don’t want us to lower you down?“
Adventurous John feels "Where would be the fun in that?"
Juliet thanks John for whatever he’s attempting to do actually works. John descends into the hatch, uh, I mean, well. A Flash is starting. They all look up. The light is coming from deep in the well. Sawyer tries to help John, “Hold on!”
Locke falls into the well.

Sawyer is left holding the rope and only the rope.  The well is gone.
He is upset Locke is down in there.
Juliet tells “James. We can’t help him.”

Dan tells Charlotte to “Hold on. Stay with me.”  He’s got a plan.
He tells her when “we were back at the hatch I talked to Desmond "I told him to find my mother. She can help us Charlotte, she will help us.”
Charlotte asks how can his mother help them.
Dan feels she just can.
Charlotte is bleeding and coughing. In a moment she looks at Dan, “I’m not allowed to have chocolate before dinner. Umm” gasp.
Dan cries, “Charlotte."


Locke broke his leg; he calls up for James, “Can you hear me? Can anyone hear me?”
John hears footsteps, “Who’s there?”
A man, Christian, with his back to John, lights a lantern.
John asks him what he’s doing down there.
"Christian" is there to help John the rest of the way. {Boone wanted to help Locke find his way. So he can bring the family back together.}
John doesn’t understand.
Christian reminds him that “You came to see me in the cabin, you asked me how to save the island and I told you to move it. I said that you had to move it, John.”
John explains that Ben said he knew how to do it. Ben told him “to stay here and lead his people.”
Christian- “And since when did listening to him get you anywhere worth a damn? The good news is that you‘re here now. Are you ready to go?”
John doesn’t know what to do once he gets there.
Christian tells him there’s a woman living in Los Angeles, once you get all of your friends together, it must be all of them, everyone who left, and once you’ve persuaded them to join you, this woman will tell you exactly how to come back.”
Her name is Eloise Hawking.
John’s concerned what if he can only convince some of them.
Christian-"I believe in you, John. You can do this.”
John shares with him that, "Richard, said I was going to die.”
Christian- “I suppose that’s why they call it sacrifice.”
John is ready.
Christian tells him on the other side of this column here is a wheel, slipped off its axis, all you have to do is give it a little 'push'.”
John asks him to help him up.
Christian-”No sorry I can’t.”
Determined John gets up, sees the “stuck” wheel; there's a magnet hum, bright light blinks in.
Christian watches him, “Good luck, John.“
Through his pain, John grabs on and “pulls” the wheel back. {You can hear the metal sounds/clanks.} The light gets bright.
Christian-“Say hello to my son.”
John- “Who’s your son?"

Sun, Jack and Ben pull up to a church with a lamp post in front.  Ben asks Sun’s permission to get something out of his pocket. He gives her Jin wedding ring.
Ben tells her John gave it to him.
Jack comments to Ben, "You said John never came to see you.”
Ben- “That’s true Jack. I went to see him.”
Jin gave the ring to John before he left the Island.
Why didn’t Locke tell her himself? Ben suggests maybe he never have a chance before he died. Ben goes on to apologize for waiting to get there to give her the ring, but those “people back on the island, Jin included, need our help. There is a woman in this church and she can tell us how to get back to your husband, but we’re running out of time, Sun. So I need you to decide right now, will you come with me?”
She looks at the ring and says, “Yes.”

Desmond walks up to the group in front of the church and asks what they are doing there. Jack is shocked to see him while Ben is surprised.
Ben-“I assume the same thing you are.”
Desmond- “You’re looking for Faraday’s motha too?”
Ben looks...{Des thinks he's looking for Faraday's mom}
They enter the church where Ben says hello to Eloise.
She is lighting white candles, “Hello Benjamin. I thought I said all of them.”
Ben tells her this is all he could get on short notice.
Eloise supposes that will have to do for now, “All right. Let's get started.”





This Place is Death is a GREAT EPISODE!!! Are you ready to leave the science part behind?

Things to note...Questions to ask...
* Eye color changes.
 * Hurley’s voice repeating the numbers. Any other familiar voices?
* Smokey Sounds- Growl, Roar, Clicking, Metal gears, Crank.
* Flash-Bright light-Sounds- Magnet hummm- Buzzing. Head pain-Nose Bleed.
* Charlotte mentions Carthage. In the episode ?, Eko mentions "salting the earth".  This occurred at the end of the Third Punic War between the Roman Republic and Carthage.
* Under. Down. Subway. Submarine.
* What place is death? The one I saw babies born on?
* Marrying Americans. I wonder if Ji Yeon would ever marry Aaron in the future?
* Jin is alive. Nobody killed him. He’s NOT dead! If he’s not dead, how can you bank on anyone else assumed dead is DEAD?!
* How can Jin find the radio tower? He stayed behind to ambush the Others. Danielle led the castaways to it.
* Lamp post outside church. Dharma Station. Christian holds a lantern. {Light}
* Christian wasn’t wearing a parker. I guess it’s not cold.
* Jin has a red star on the back of his shirt.
* Charlotte and Claire don't want certain people brought back to the Island.
* Charlotte’s last words were about eating chocolate before dinner. (Apollo bars)
* Boar/animals didn’t eat Montands' arm or the other bodies.
* Is there a chance Danielle gave birth to a boy?
* Charlotte dies...eyes open.
* Rings. Wedding rings, Drive Shaft "Band" Rings...circle-loop.
* It’s like we’re seeing the same test/experiment/journey run over and over and over.
* This time limit, running out of time, etc...does this have to do with the game part of the story. Maybe they’re on a schedule to catch a train, or submarine.
* Limbs- Montand arm. Ray’s Arm and Candles arm, did they lose their arms in similar "run ins" with Smokey?
* Smoke Monster underground. Christian and John underground. John-sacrifice.
* John always allows Ben to take control of everything.
John seems to fall for Ben’s "jive talking." Is Ben taking control of John’s tasks and such because he’s just a Sith Lord? Or is Ben saving John’s butt because he knows John has an issue listening and following instructions? John seems to not be able to complete tasks properly or do the right thing. Even when heading into the well he does not let Sawyer lower him in.  It would have been easier and John may not have gotten hurt.  Do you ever think the poor man keeps on taking the hard way to accomplish things?   I don't think John is really listening to instructions.














Vocabulary and Research…

* Temporal-for relating to time. -Of limited time; not perpetual. -Of or relating to the material world; not spiritual. - Lasting a short time only.
* Temporal database is a database with built-in time aspects, e.g. a temporal data model and a temporal version of structured query language.
* Temporality is a term often used in philosophy in talking about the way time is.
* Temple- indicates the side of the head behind the eyes. The bone beneath is the temporal bone. This use of temple is a separate etymology than the word "temple" for "place of worship". Both come Latin, but the word for the place of worship comes from templum, whereas the word for the part of the head comes from Vulgar Latin 
*tempula, modified from tempora, plural form ("both temples") of tempus, a word that meant both "time" and the part of the head. Due to the common source with the word for time, the adjective for both is "temporal" (both "pertaining to time" and "pertaining to the temple").
* The Temple- a short story by H.P. Lovecraft. (1920)
* Sleep temples (aka dream temples or Egyptian sleep temples) are regarded by some as an early instance of hypnosis over 4000 years ago, under the influence of Imhotep.
* Sleep temples were hospitals of sorts, healing a variety of ailments, perhaps many of them psychological in nature. The treatment involved chanting, placing the patient into a trance-like or hypnotic state, and analyzing their dreams in order to determine treatment. Meditation, fasting, baths and sacrifices to the patron deity or other spirits were often involved as well.
* Sleep temples also existed in the Middle East and Ancient Greece. In Greece, they were built in honor of Asclepios, the Greek god of medicine. The Greek treatment was referred to as incubation, and focused on prayers to Asclepios for healing. A similar Hebrew treatment was referred to as Kavanah, and involved focusing on letters of the Hebrew alphabet.
* Sir Mortimer Wheeler unearthed a Roman Sleep temple at Lydney Park, Gloucestershire, in 1928, with the assistance of a young J.R.R. Tolkin.
* Incubation is the religious practice of sleeping in a sacred area with the intention of experiencing a divinely inspired dream or cure. Incubation was adopted by certain Christian sects and is still used in a few Greek monasteries.
* A votive offering/deposit is an object left in a sacred place for ritual purposes. Such items are a feature of modern and ancient societies and are generally made in order to gain favor with supernatural forces. Votive offerings have been described in historical Roman era and Greek sources, although similar acts continue into the present day, for example the modern day practice of tossing coins into a wishing well or fountain.
Today votives can be lit candles, or offered flowers, statues, vestments, jewelry, personal items, and of course monetary donations.
* A potential well is the region surrounding a local minimum of potential energy. Energy captured in a potential well is unable to convert to another type of energy (kinetic energy in the case of a gravitational potential well) because it is captured in the local minimum of a potential well. Therefore, a body may not proceed to the global minimum of potential energy, as it would naturally tend to due to entropy.
* The Whole Earth 'Lectronic Link, normally shortened to The WELL, is one of the oldest virtual communities in continuous operation.
* "Essence," in metaphysics, is often synonymous with the soul.
* Axis - In anatomy, he second cervical vertebra (C2) of the spine is named the axis (from Latin axis, "axle") or epistropheus.
* Consciousness basis-
John Locke considered personal identity (the self) to be founded on consciousness (viz. Memory), and not on the substance of either the soul or the body. Chapter XXVII "On Identity and Diversity" in AN Essay Concerning Human Understanding (1689) has been said to be one of the first modern conceptualization of consciousness as the repeated self-identification of oneself. Through this identification, moral responsibility could be attributed to the subject and punishment and guilt could be justified

According to Locke, personal identity (the self) "depends on consciousness, not on substance" nor on the soul. We are the same person to the extent that we are conscious of our past and future thoughts and actions in the same way as we are conscious of our present thoughts and actions. If consciousness is this "thought" which "that goes along with the substance ... which makes the same person", then personal identity is only founded on the repeated act of consciousness: "This may show us wherein personal identity consists: not in the identity of substance, but... in the identity of consciousness". For example, one may claim to be a reincarnation of Plato, therefore having the same soul substance. However, one would be the same person as Plato only if one had the same consciousness of Plato's thoughts and actions that he himself did. Therefore, self-identity is not based on the soul. One soul may have various personalities.

In philosophy , essence is the attribute or set of attributes that make an object or substance what it fundamentally is, and which it has by necessity, and without which it loses its identity.


Photo from the past...
We're no stranger to carriers. But carriers of what? Maybe it's just "baggage".




 




I believe we do see metaphoric examples of death and re-birth. Not that things (always) physically die and come back, but more like a major ending to something and a new beginning has to happen. There are many layers in front of us, testing, experiments, medical, physical, military, family lineage, DNA, games, tricks, lies, manipulation, birth, death and so much more.   But we are reminded on a weekly basis that this show has a huge metaphor layer as well.  I never wavier too far off that principle when detailing the episodes. Locke again is faced with a challenge and is crippled going into it...{Again!}

We see that some are "Stuck" in a lost "place". Some can't move forward. Some even deal with "replaying" the negative experience over and over again when they really need to "let it go." And we all know that even if we feel we can't move forward, sometimes life "pushes" us to make a move forward. And usually it's all for a reason.
Destiny... Everything happens the way it’s supposed to happen. If we are all destined for something can we really change anything?  Of course we need to take control of our own actions, decisions and even career paths. But in the end, no matter how much we want to or how badly we want things to be different, are our paths written out? Are we the cause of our own suffering...our own joy?

“The what it was to be.”- Aristotle

Love to all who are “LOST”™

More Pics....
















Disclaimer: I never claim to know everything about the show and my thoughts by no means make me right! The things I share here are my views and/or opinions. I don't claim to catch every single detail either! You all know I hate spoilers! And I stand clear of reading certain sites as to not take me off my own course of research. The one thing I don't need to do here is rehash all of the obvious clues from an episode, we all know what they are. Understood? Let the fun begin! I'll only note things that I know come up as clues later, but need to be noted when they first show up and things I find that will be of importance.

AD OCULOS.

Let's talk about LOST! Ad Oculos.

WAKE UP!
Sleeping. Dreams. Hallucinations. Visions. Illusions and Memory.
These occurrences, all happening in some form through the conscious and unconscious mind  are all part of the story.
Eyes closed...Eyes open. But are their eyes ever really open?
We see a constant thread of people on the "Island" being told to "wake up."   I've talked about the blurring of what is real and what is not real for a very long time. "Flashes" and  some "Island" events seem out of  order  or they just seems "off".
In the episodes we are shown events that are happening on the "Island" and shown in the "Flashes" actually connect and blur with each other.

Here is one example: In the episode White Rabbit, Jack is looking for Christian on the "Island".    He sees Christian around the island and asks "Where are you?"    In the "Flash" Jack is looking for his father in Australia.    In the "Flash" he wants to know where Christian is.   Jack's quest is happening twice and in two environments; they are blurring together.   Jack is obviously "looking" for something and needs to confront it.   Maybe what he needs to find is himself.

Let's look at the blurring of "Island" and "Flash" events and even items in The Hunting Party. On the beach we see Jin pick up a green towel when he is packing to go after Michael, then in the "Flash" we are shown a green towel hanging in the locker room when Jack and Christian discuss Mr. Busoni dying.  Why is it there?  Is it there to possibly show us they're not really out of the confines of the "Island"?  Are they "props" or an innocent continuity error?  Or maybe it's a clue to time...As in its happening at the same time.
This type of thing happens all the time not just with items but with clothes, sounds, dialogue, situations and "people" as well.

In the episode ?, one of the on "Island" events is Eko having a dream/vision of a "dead" Ana Lucia and "dead" Yemi, telling him to find the "question mark."    In Eko's "Flash" he is sent to question (Investigating) the drowning of an "un-dead" girl.   The girl, Charlotte, appears to have drowned although her father, Richard Malkin, the psychic, explains to Eko while she was underwater her body shut down; she went into hypothermia which made her appear dead.
The "Island" events we have to deal in the same episode are with  "dead" Ana Lucia and Libby. With all that said, are the clues telling us that Ana Lucia and Libby appear dead but they are not?  There are many other clues in other episodes that depict people appearing "dead" but are not "dead" present themselves.
Could there be some game of "Playing Possum" going on here?
But we'll get to more on that in another post, back to the things that go on in the heads/minds/consciousness of the "Islanders". (And my screwed up head. lol!)

We know that Hypnagogic hallucinations can occur as one is falling asleep and
hypnopompic hallucinations occur when one is waking up. Hallucinations
may also be associated with drug use, sleep deprivation, psychosis, neurological disorders and delirium. Hallucinations occur in any sensory modality, visual, auditory, smell, taste, touch, proprioception, equilibrioception and thermoception.

Dreams are the images, thoughts and feelings experienced daily, replayed in various ways while we sleep. But here on the "Island" I feel there are some thoughts and experiences that are manipulated/played out in their heads/minds.  {Other times there may be the use of video imagery and/or holograms being utilized, like when Shannon sees missing Walt and his dialogue runs backwards or when Claire sees her pregnant self in the jungle with Ethan, to contribute to their on "Island" journey}  Can this be where or how the whispers come in? Being in a state of semi-consciousness, in between sleep and awake could have the semi-lucid dreamer in this experience hear things going on outside of the dream/experience. We all have experienced this.
You can go back through any of my past posts to review more insight to illusion, form constant, delusion, dreams, lucid dreams, Folie a deux, imaginary friends, simulated and merged reality, the conscious/subconscious mind etc..

Where could all this be taking place?  Is it on an "Island", an underwater city or underground city?  Maybe "some place" you would have never imagined them to be. Either way I'm sure there are many "rooms".

Over the next couple of compositions I'll post, I would like to have fun exploring some very important visions/dreams/hallucinations/etc..  We will talk about all of them in some form.  Let's see where they lead us. WoooooHoooooo! Good Times!

Let's start at the beginning. This is from the Promo for season 1.

Whispering, echoing.Voices speaking and repeating the following statements… Very dream-like….
Bare feet. Kate dances close with Jack. "All of us have a secret."
Jin dances with Sun."1 of us is a hero."
Sawyer dances, distant from Kate. He is looking back.
Claire walks alone, looking up.
Sun, dressed in black, dances with Jin, breaks away from him. "1 of us is a fraud."
Kate seems to want to leave Sawyer.
Charlie dances alone. "1 of us is a junky."
Michael with a suitcase is stumbling/stepping backward. {Almost getting pulled back.}
Boone dances with Claire.
Kate dances tenderly with Jack. "1 of us is a cop."
Shannon dances with Sayid.
Jack twirls Kate, she lets go of him, steps back. "1 of us is a saint."
Kate dancing with Sawyer. "1 of us a sinner."
Sun and Jin dance. "1 of us is a martyr."
Boone dances with Claire.
Locke conducting. "1 of us is a murderer."
Jack and Sawyer face each other.
Hurley walks alone, pulling a suitcase. "All of us are guilty."
Walt stands in front of Locke, both of them conducting. "All of us."
Kate dances with Jack. "All of us are lost."
Claire sits alone by fiery wreckage.

I've asked this question before… Who is orchestrating this dance?
Hmmm?!
If it means anything, pay attention to color and clothes they are wearing.
Sawyer wears a black vest. Boone wears a white vest.
Also listen to the statements and who is speaking it and who it is showing at the time.
We see Kate in the middle of Jack and Sawyer going back and forth between the two men.
We see Boone with Claire, Sayid and Shannon, Charlie dances alone.
Michael being pulled back. Hints to going back.
I've always felt we get a glimpse into the story with this TV ad.
Please note, as with the Locke/Boone vision in Further Instructions, we are left without any visual or info of original survivor Rose. Who knows…Maybe Rose could be the center of the compass.

Locke dream/vision from Duex Ex Machina. We do not realize it is a dream until we see Locke "Wake up".

Dream:
Daylight. Locke is picking up the pieces of the broken Trebuchet. Boone arrives at the site. Locke tells him, "You're late."
Boone asks, "Late for what?"
Locke- "Late for work."
Boone-"I think I'm done working, John."
Boone goes on to tell John "This is useless. You can't open that thing up. You say you can, But you can't."
John-"Don't tell me what I can't do."
Boone says John doesn't get it, "It's a dead end. You're not getting in."
John tells him that's impossible, 'We didn't find this by accident. We're supposed to…"
Boone cuts him off, walks over and stands on top of the hatch, "Oh, we're supposed to. We're supposed to find this, right? We're supposed to open it, right? Then tell me something John, If we're supposed to open it, the why the hell haven't we opened it yet?!"
John tells him the Island will send them a sign. (Animal sounds in background.)
Boone mocks him "The island will send us a sign."
John tries to explain to Boone that their faith and commitment is being tested. "But we will open it! The island will show us how."
Boone, "What kind of sign will the island send us? Huh, John?"
The sound of a small yellow and white plane puttering its way to the island; Black smoke trails it. John asks Boone if he saw that.  Boone is staring up. We catch a split second of him bloody. John looks troubled. The sound of a "boom" crash can be heard and then the sound of glass breaking. John turns to see "His mother" in her fur coat, pointing up. {Cranking sound like when the monster pulled John.} Bloody Boone repeats over and over, "Theresa falls up the stairs. Theresa falls down the stairs. Theresa falls up the stairs."
{Radio static. Sounds like a woman screams "John!"}
Boone voice is now distorted, "Theresa falls down the stairs. Theresa falls up the stairs. Theresa falls down the stairs.
Locke is in the wheelchair. His mother is still pointing up.
Boone still repeating "Theresa falls up the stairs, Theresa falls down the stairs."
Locke is upset and can't move his legs; he tries to get out of the wheelchair. "No. No. No. Please. Please. Don't take it back. I'm…."
He falls out of the wheelchair. Locke wakes up; It is night.


Vocabulary…And Research….
* Hypnosis is a wakeful state of focused attention and heightened suggestibility, with diminished peripheral awareness.
* Self-hypnosis (auto suggestion) happens when a person hypnotizes himself or herself.
* Post-hypnotic suggestion can be used to change people's behavior outside of the trance state. Post-hypnotic suggestions are administered by a hypnotist and may optionally include a time scope. An altered sense of perception or behavioral pattern may be "programmed" into the person under hypnosis. Certain sequences of events may be set as triggers to enter or exit the post-hypnotic pattern.
* In a July 2001 article for Scientific American, titled "The Truth and the Hype of Hypnosis", Michael Nash wrote that "...using hypnosis, scientists have temporarily created hallucinations, compulsions, certain types of memory loss, and false memories, and delusions in the laboratory so that these phenomena can be studied in a controlled environment."
* Asklepios, Greek god of medicine, healing, and hypnosis, was said to oversee the treatment of sick people in "dream healing temples".
* Hypnotism as a tool for health seems to have originated with the Hindus of ancient India who often took their sick to sleep temples to be cured by hypnotic suggestion as also found to be the case in ancient Egypt and Greece.
* Paracelsus (1493-1541), A Swiss was the first physician to use magnets in his work along with hypnosis.
* Ivan Petrovich Pavlov was a Russian physiologist, psychologist and physician. Pavlov is widely known for first describing the phenomenon of classical conditioning.
*Partial sleep, to the idea that it is "hyper-suggestibility. J.D. Morgan, who put for the idea that hypnosis is a process of enhancing or depressing the activity of the nervous system, possibly involving feedback loops.
* Sleepwalking. The sufferer engages in activities that are normally associated with wakefulness while he or she is asleep or in a sleep-like state. They are simply not conscious of their actions on a level where memory of the sleepwalking episode can be recalled.
* Sleep Paralysis is a common condition characterized by transient partial or total paralysis of skeletal muscles that occurs upon awakening from sleep or less often while falling asleep.
* Covert Hypnosis is the ability to subtly communicate with another person's subconscious mind without them noticing.
* Many animals, including sharks, beetles snakes and opossum, are capable of appearing to be dead to an observer, but are alive. This could either be a reflex action, as in tonic immobility, or a defense mechanism for avoiding predators.


Let's remember this LOST fans…A chicken can be hypnotized or put into a trance too. lol

So until the next few visions....

Love to all who are "LOST"™

Disclaimer:I never claim to know everything about the show and my thoughts by no means make me right! Things I share here are my views and/or opinions. I don't claim to catch every single detail either. I hate spoilers! I stand clear of reading certain sites, as to not take me off my own research. The one thing I don't need to do here is rehash all of the obvious clues from an episode, we all know what they are. Good! I'll only note things that I know come up as clues in bold.