Sunday, March 28, 2010

Lost: At the Gates of Hell

It only took me about a week to get over my Lost hangover. Last week's episode defined the phrase "mind fuck." I had condensed my notes on Lost down to about eight pages and my theory written down in note form on one page, after last week's episode my notes are now onto page fourteen and growing.

So the island is like hell's gate, keeping all the evil and darkness internal and from escaping. Who saw this coming? I'll admit one of my theories was that everyone was dead and they were in hell, but this is much more complicated. We don't know if they are alive or dead. If they are dead then there has to be some explanation as to why some went home, off the island. I'm not sure that they are dead. I think there is a good possibility that they escaped death and are being given a second chance to fix their fucked up lives. However, it's just not that simple. There are so many different things going on that I'm just left confused. If the island is like a seal, preventing evil from escaping, then what was the Dharma Initiative's purpose of being there and why recruit all those people to come to the island? Were they trying to get to hell? Or were they wanting that suction layer for time travel purposes? Were they all candidates?

Jacob and the man in black (MIB) have this fun little game they play. The MIB says that everyone is corruptible while Jacob disagrees, therefore bringing people to the island to prove the MIB wrong. To play "fair" (we don't know if Jacob is good or evil yet) he does not get involved because he wants the person to figure out right vs. wrong with no help...how sweet. However, he brought the Black Rock over with Richard on board and spent over a hundred years telling Richard what to do...something smells fishy. A crazy, confused Richard tells the losties that everything Jacob has said is a lie. He could be on to something. Or is Jacob good and plays devil's advocate in hopes that someone will make the right decision? Since balance is always a theme on the island and if Jacob is good then his nemesis, MIB, must be bad. Is it the other way around? Or are they both on the same side?

We know that MIB will do anything to get off the island and that means killing and conning. It's funny how we started out fearing the smoke monster and then somehow becoming sympathetic towards him...I mean, he's called a monster. But forgetting who someone is or forgetting who someone was is the key here. Has this happened to anyone else? Ben. Remember when we first met Ben? He was lying, pretending to be someone he wasn't to get a feel for the situation with the losties. He ended up being manipulative and just a horrible person, doing anything he wanted in his favor. Then all of a sudden we find ourselves feeling sorry for him. We've seen the smoke monster examine someone, figuring out if he can use that person to get what he wants. If MIB sees something in that persons history that is worth keeping them around for then he spares his/her life. But with the MIB, he then shape shifts into someone of significance to that person as a con, manipulating thoughts and actions. The smoke monster has killed countless people but yet I joined Team Smokey fairly quick. Now we're being reminded that MIB is not someone to feel sorry for...or is he? We don't know his full story yet. He has told us that he was once a man who had feelings and emotions and lost someone. Now he is (for what we know) immortal, no longer has feeling and is a slave on the island trying to escape and killing anyone who gets in his way. Should we feel sorry for him? Is he working for the devil? Is he just misunderstood or pure evil? Did he make a deal with the devil? We know that Dogen made a deal with Jacob in order for his son to live. The old "make a deal with the devil" storyline could be in effect! So is Jacob the devil? Or is he just some creeper keeper of the gates of hell, deciding who gets in and out?

Sayid is infected and apparently it's too late for him to leave the island. Dogen planed on killing him with a pill. So I guess that's one way we know will kill the smoke monster, poison. Another way to kill old Smokey is with a special dagger. This ancient dagger was given to Sayid from Dogen to kill MIB before he said a word. The MIB had it in his possession before losing it to Jacob (how Dogen got it) and gave it to Richard to kill "the devil" (Jacob) with the same instructions. Does this mean we can assume poison will kill Jacob too? And then Claire, poor Claire. She put her mom in a coma and didn't want her unborn son, but we still love the little hopeless blonde with the cute accent. It's fair to say that Sayid's balance between good and evil within himself was a little heavy on the dark scale, but I'm not so sure that holds truth with Claire. She obviously made a deal somewhere along the way, was it to get her mother out of the coma? Did it have to do with Aaron? Will she be saved because she is Christian's daughter (more on that later)? Is she Jacob's mole? Or is she truly on Team Smokey?

How did Claire become infected? Was it when the Others took her and gave her injections? Was it when Mr. Eko baptized her? Water and evil have a lot in common on the island. Sayid became infected after being submerged in the Temple's spring. He then drowned Dogen in the spring...will he also resurrect with the infection or is he just dead because of some protection from Jacob? Jacob repeatedly pushed Richard's head in and out of the ocean and then gave him a "gift" of living forever. Mr. Eko baptized Claire and Aaron in the ocean after all the speculation behind Aaron being in danger. No matter what, it's safe to assume that if Claire is infected then so is Aaron. So now we have someone who is infected and not on the island. What does this mean? Maybe because he isn't on the island he won't be affected? That might explain why Claire warned Kate in her dream not to bring Aaron back to the island.

The Shepard men all have some connection with the island. This can't be a coincidence. Let's start with the most obvious Shepard, Jack. Ok, so we all know how Jack got on the island (plane crash, dummy) and then he saw his father, Christian, on the island and he wasn't the only one who saw him. We also know that Jack's grandfather (Christian's father) was leaving to go to the island. Aaron (who is actually Christian's grandson) was born on the island...and babies aren't supposed to be born on the island (probably because the devil hates adorable babies or something like that) and he has also escaped death multiple times. So what it is with these Shepard men and the island? Are they all decedents of some sort? Do they inherit a role on the island or were they all just candidates?

Oh and as for those candidates, they're all about to die. MIB told Jacob that he would kill him to get off the island (it being the only way). But Jacob throws in a zing saying that someone will replace him (a candidate) and the MIB simply replies that he will kill them too. So the numbers might not even matter anyone because they're all going to be killed...and I'm guessing sooner than later. It was swell while it lasted!

And here's something that we might have forgotten after the big "OMFG R U SERIOUS??? LOLZ" moment...Whidmore and his men are on the island. Why the fuck does Whidmore want to be on this hellhole(literally)? Charles Whidmore was exiled from the island by Ben and then spent years trying to find the island again. What did the island offer him? What are the rules that Whidmore and Ben have? Are they similar to the rules between Jacob and MIB?

And finally, some random tid bits and questions:

+Ilana made a deal with Jacob and she is protecting the candidates (like Dogen), what did she bargain? Her life? Someone else? Why was she so badly injured?

+How will David (Jack's son) fit into the pattern of the Shepard men and the island? Who is his mother?

+Richard's wife, Isabella, appeared to him on the island. She warned him that the devil was coming and then the smoke monster swallowed her whole. So who was Isabella and who was the smoke monster? Can Jacob turn into a smoke monster too?

+The lighthouse. Remember the lighthouse? Jack had a temper tantrum and smashed the mirrors. We know the mirrors showed a certain location once turned to the right setting (Jack saw his childhood house) and we also know that using a mirror and the sun was a way the Others communicated with one another from long distances on the island. Now that those mirrors are broken at the lighthouse, what does that affect? There are Others off the island, Eloise Hawkings, Daniel's mother, for one...who had some sort of contraption to find/communicate with the island. Will no one be able to find the island anymore?

+Who will win the candidacy? Will anybody be left alive after the MIB has his way? Once a replacement is chosen for Jacob can he change the rules of letting the MIB go? If MIB goes, does he need a replacement?

+Is the flash sideways a reward in MIB and Jacob's game? Losers go to hell or become infected winners get a do-over in life? Sounds...fair (gulp).

+Back to the water...what is making them infected in the water? We know that the island is keeping the evil in, but what about the water? Jacob and Eko used the ocean while Sayid and Dogen used the spring. Does this matter? Is the ocean good water and the spring bubbling it's way to the islands surface straight from hell? Remember that at one point that had to swim under fresh water (the spring) to get inside. Also the underwater station in the ocean that Charlie drowned in. But there is something else we have to remember, MIB gave Richard water to drink while he was still chained to the Black Rock. And rain seems to foreshadow danger, which could just be a clue, but it holds true to this water theory.

+Richard wants to switch sides. I'm excited to see this transformation. NERD ALERT!!

Thursday, March 25, 2010

Help Name My Phobia

I have a new obsession/phobia...eyelashes. I've always been aware of my eyelashes, trying to feel them sprouting out of my eyelids or recognizing when they slide up against the lenses of my glasses, lightly pressing, tugging and even curling them up with my index finger. I've paid close attention to my lashes over the years for a complete unknown reason. And now this eyelash fascination as turned on me. You see this is a picky phobia. I'm only sceeved out by closed eyes, therefore I'm not afraid of my own eyelashes.

I should state that I've never been afraid of eyelashes in anyway before a few weeks ago.

This all started when I was holding a sleeping toddler and my eyes fixed on her eyelashes. I could feel my eyes widen as my heart began to pump harder and harder. Sweat started slowly seeping out of my body in a thin, cool layer. Her long lashes look entangled and visions started flashing in my head. Started as spider legs and then forming into stitches.

Now I'm noticing closed eyes all the time and no matter how hard I try not to look, I find myself fixated on the tiny hairs, sprouting out of the eyelid, coming together and interlocking. Longer eyelashes heighten the fear and the longer the eyes are closed and the closer I am to the face, the longer I stare and create horrific feelings. I did a quick online search and found no name for an eyelash phobia so I thought that maybe I should create a name. The rule behind naming a phobia, as I understand, is that the name must be Greek because the word "phobia" is a Greek word.

So I present to you...(drumroll)...candidates for my closed eyelash phobia:

eyelidfringephobia,
blepharisphobia (greek word for eyelash)
belpharphobia
closedbelpharphobia
clistbelpharpobia (greek word for shut)
cleistobelpharpobia

By the way, this blog took me all night, I struggled at the thought of eyelashes the entire time. Then I wanted to find a picture that shows what fuels the fear. The search for the perfectly scary eyelashes (not too short, not too long) gave me anxiety. And along the way I came across ridiculously scary eyelashes that curled up to the forehead and rested upon the cheeks (eek!). Here's a picture of what is almost exactly what I was describing earlier:

Wednesday, March 17, 2010

Lost: Nobody's Perfect

Cons, lies and coming clean...sounds like my last relationship, but really it was last night's episode of Lost. We were reminded of how effective lying really is when it comes to getting what we want, oh and murder. Is that really so different from real life? We believe what we want to hear and we listen extra hard to the one holding a gun. A constant on and off the island.

"You're the best liar I've ever met" -Smokey

While we were knee deep in James Ford a.k.a. Sawyer last night it was hard not to notice the comparison between him and Smokey. Parallels are nothing new on Lost and for a split second I swear Smokey explained why we are seeing the flash sideways, but more of that later! In a nutshell, Sawyer and Smokey are both extremely good lairs, making them the two best con men on the island. We know Sawyer was a con man before the crash and then joined the Dharma Initiative later (or earlier) when they time traveled, taking the name LaFleur and becoming head of security. In his flash sideways, Sawyer goes by Jim and is a cop...with "LaFleur" being the code for when help is needed. Coincidence? Destiny? Speaking of, Miles is his partner in the flash sideways and sets Jim up on a date (which he later ruins) with Charlotte. Jim lies to Miles in the flash sideways about his past and then comes clean, confessing about the death of his parents and the man, Sawyer, that caused all the misery in his life. Smokey has conned just about everyone to join his side on the island. I want to trust Smokey, but can we? He tells Sawyer that he is the smoke monster, which is true but sometimes the truth can lead into a great lie or con as Sawyer shows us by his twist with Charles Whidmore. Smokey opens up to Kate too but adds in that he is the one responsible for Claire's attack and then dishes out his own parental sob story about his own mother...comparing himself in a way to Aaron. Then Claire gets thrown into this mix! Smokey lied to Claire about Aaron to get her on his side, then tells her the truth causing her to breakdown in Kate's arms only moments after trying to kill her. Con, lie, confess, trust, con, lie....anyone else sensing a pattern?

Breaking up is hard to do!

One theory I've noted before is that when anyone has been romantic with someone on the island something bad happens, just like how trouble seems to follow the rain. Let's take a look at some of the lovers on the island: Shannon and Sayid, Libby and Hurley, Charlotte and Daniel, Sawyer and Juliet...all resulting in the lady dying. Sawyer and Kate slept together though and Kate didn't die, could they be destined to be together? That's cute but please pass the complimentary barf bag. In the flash sideways Jim (Sawyer) and Charlotte slept together on their date. Will Charlotte die? Will Sawyer die? And then that pesky, mind fucking question appears again! What happens if someone dies in their flash sideways?

What up, Smokey!?

Smokey gives us the old "kill or be killed" line, telling us it's the only way off the island. Where will he stop though? He gives a rather contradicting speech about protecting everyone. Can we seriously trust Smokey? I have trusting issues so maybe I'm looking into this a little bit more than the next person...

The Ultimate Con

I'm not sure who is conning who. I want to believe and trust that Sawyer and Smokey are going to team up against Whidmore, but we can't be so sure. Sawyer gets conned himself on the Hydra Island (the island the Others once called home) and is taken upon the sub to chat it up with Charles Whidmore...the man just about everyone hates. Sawyer promises to deliver Smokey to Whidmore (which leaves us to believe that Whidmore knows how to kill Smokey) in return that Whidmore and his people don't harm whoever comes with Sawyer and that they can leave the island. Whidmore has broken a deal before though with Ben (killing Alex was breaking a deal they made), so we know we can't hold Whidmore completely to his word. Sawyer returns to Smokey and tells him the truth, adding in that using Smokey as a pawn will get them off the island. But Smokey gives an intense look when Sawyer tells him Charles Whidmore is on the island. Is Whidmore the one who trapped Smokey? Sawyer and Smokey are practically the same person....so is Charles Whidmore Smokey's Sawyer? Is Smokey looking for that one person to kill in hopes of making his troubles disappear? One thing is for sure, it'll be very interesting to see how this plan works out. There's a plane and a sub on Hydra Island. Frank will be able to fly that plane (hopefully)...but who knows how to drive the sub? Who else is on the sub? Daniel maybe? Desmond???

On a side note, anyone else finding this new Sayid annoying?


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Monday, March 15, 2010

99

Instructions: The post is a list of 99 things you could have done, and you are supposed to bold the ones that you yourself have done.

1. Started your own blog

2. Slept under the stars

3. Played in a band

4. Visited Hawaii

5. Watched a meteor shower

6. Given more than you can afford to charity

7. Been to Disney World

8. Climbed a mountain

9. Held a praying mantis

10. Sang a solo

11. Bungee jumped

12. Visited Paris

13. Watched a lightning storm

14. Taught yourself an art from scratch I've always learned better independently. I taught myself how to write when I was three. Isn't it funny I go to school for writing? I've taught myself different writing styles. Crafty things and I'm currently teaching myself photography.

15. Adopted a child

16. Had food poisoning

17. Walked to the top of the Statue of Liberty

18. Grown your own vegetables

19. Seen the Mona Lisa in France

20. Slept on an overnight train

21. Had a pillow fight

22. Hitch hiked (no, but I've picked them up before)

23. Taken a sick day when you’re not ill

24. Built a snow fort

25. Held a lamb

26. Gone skinny dipping

27. Run a Marathon

28. Ridden in a gondola in Venice

29. Seen a total eclipse

30. Watched a sunrise or sunset

31. Hit a home run

32. Been on a cruise

33. Seen Niagara Falls in person

34. Visited the birthplace of your ancestors

35. Seen an Amish community

36. Taught yourself a new language I'm told that I could understand and would translate my little brother's own language as a kid, I have no memory of this though.

37. Had enough money to be truly satisfied In 8th grade...yes. I bought myself a laptop and still had extra money for a while. (I've never had that much money in my life since then)

38. Seen the Leaning Tower of Pisa in person

39. Gone rock climbing

40. Seen Michelangelo’s David

41. Sung karaoke

42. Seen Old Faithful geyser erupt

43. Bought a stranger a meal at a restaurant

44. Visited Africa

45. Walked on a beach by moonlight

46. Been transported in an ambulance

47. Had your portrait painted

48. Gone deep sea fishing

50. Been to the top of the Eiffel Tower in Paris

51. Gone scuba diving or snorkeling

52. Kissed in the rain

53. Played in the mud

54. Gone to a drive-in theater

55. Been in a movie It's never been released and I really hope it does one day...wait, no I don't.

56. Visited the Great Wall of China

57. Started a business

58. Taken a martial arts class

59. Visited Russia

60. Served at a soup kitchen

61. Sold Girl Scout Cookies

62. Gone whale watching

63. Got flowers for no reason

64. Donated blood, platelets or plasma

65. Gone sky diving

66. Visited a Nazi Concentration Camp

67. Bounced a check

68. Flown in a helicopter

69. Saved a favorite childhood toy

70. Visited the Lincoln Memorial

71. Eaten Caviar

72. Pieced a quilt

73. Stood in Times Square

74. Toured the Everglades

75. Been fired from a job

76. Seen the Changing of the Guards in London

77. Broken a bone

78. Been a passenger on a motorcycle

79. Seen the Grand Canyon in person

80. Published a book (but I have many ideas!)

81. Visited the Vatican

82. Bought a brand new car

83. Walked in Jerusalem

84. Had your picture in the newspaper

85. Kissed a stranger at midnight on New Year’s Eve

86. Visited the White House (not inside though)

87. Killed and prepared an animal for eating

88. Had chickenpox ...TWICE!

89. Saved someone’s life I don't know if I saved anyone's life, but I have definitely been in a few serious situations where I took part in rescuing/helping someone.

90. Sat on a jury

91. Met someone famous Hmm...I'm too tired to think, here are my favorites: Lisa Lampanelli, Mitch Hedberg, Dave Attell, Lewis Black, Dane Cook, Buffalo Sabres players and alumni, also a handful of Buffalo Bills players over the years, William Beckett of The Academy Is..., oh and Brett Butler.

92. Joined a book club

93. Got a tattoo

94. Had a baby

95. Seen the Alamo in person

96. Swam in the Great Salt Lake

97. Been involved in a law suit

98. Owned a cell phone

99. Been stung by a bee

Wednesday, March 10, 2010

Previously on Lost...

Benjamin Linus

Ben seems to understand what happened to him on the island and is using his past experiences to help him make decisions in the flash sideways. Is that right or is he just a better person all of a sudden? In the flash sideways he chooses Alex over his job, unlike on the island. How does Ben remember? Did he know this would happen? Has it happened before? The second chance aspect is a little lame for my liking....but I get it. Fate or destiny still trumps all in the land of Lost though, Ben will always be a killer (sound familiar?...Sayid) and he will always be a follower just short of becoming a leader. Ok...boring! Let's get into some good ol' mind bending fun! Ben's father is alive in the flash sideways, so is Russo and Alex. What about Ben's mother? Is she alive in the flash sideways and what significance does she have? Which brings up the boggling question of death...on and off the island. What happens if someone dies on the island in their flash sideways (Charlie, Boone, Shannon, Libby, Anna Lucia....)? What happens to the person on the island if they die in their flash sideways?

Donald Lawrence Reynolds

Who is this man? Have we met him before? He's principal of the school Linus and Locke work (at in the flash sideways), making him the boss. He also is sleeping with Karen, the flight attendant, an Other and caretaker of the children that survived the tail end of the crash. We've been waiting, almost patiently, for her story and it looks like Reynolds is going to help explain a few things...I hope. If Reynolds is so powerful in the flash sideways then what/who was he before?

Sayid Jarrah

It's clear that the infection is beginning to take over Sayid's body. It would appear that the magic spring is just like Jacob, gives you a gift (life) but really a curse (infection). It's not just the infection though that leaves you cursed, it turns you evil. I like the idea of Sayid being evil. I know the poor guy has been trying to turn his life around, but with his past he can be an ultimate bad guy. I'm excited!

Sawyer

Where the fuck is Sawyer?! Seriously.

Richard Halpert

Was Richard a slave or prisoner on The Black Rock? I'm a little confused on how he got to the island, but I guess that makes sense. If he wasn't recruited to the island like everyone else then why did he devote his life to Jacob? He was touched by Jacob, so maybe he was recruited but even Richard doesn't know what he's doing on the island. Richard opens a lot though. He tells us that after a touch from Jacob you cannot self destruct (did Jacob touch Charlie?), this also means that Locke would not have been able to hang himself as he planned. He also hints that he might be part of the smoke monster...except maybe he becomes one with the smoke monster against his will, he didn't seem to thrilled about what happened at the temple. We know that Richard is afraid of Smocke and now he tells Jack and Hurley not to listen to Jacob. Will a third group be started now? Or are there really only two groups?

Smocke/Jacob

Could Smocke and Jacob be the same being, representing good and evil in their own way? Lost has definitely been laying the balance theme heavily on us lately. So could they be the same? Maybe the death of Jacob was a result of an inner power struggle between the good and bad? I feel like I need to check out some old Spy Vs Spy cartoons to explain this better. They met on the beach and again right before Jacob's death, so they must be able to seperate. Think minibots from Transformers or even Power Rangers...this isn't a new concept. They great thing about the fantastic is that anything is possible.

Speaking of, was Locke ever really Locke on the island? Jacob touched everyone before they got on that plane but Locke was the only one dead when Jacob touched him. Did he transfer Smokey immediately into Locke's body?

Also, since the magic spring in the temple is so similar to Jacob, could it explain Jacob's origin???

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Wednesday, March 3, 2010

Lost: I'll Make Him an Offer He Can't Refuse

I'm jumping right into this one...

I was disappointed that the Smoke Monster showed up as Locke to Sayid in the jungle. I understand that he is stuck in Locke's body, but I was hoping that Shannon was going to come out of the bushes and Sayid would have to kill her. No dice. If the Smoke Monster always shows himself as someone who died recently then I wonder what or who Locke saw? Any ideas? Locke said that whatever he saw was beautiful. Did Claire see her father or was it Charlie? It makes no sense that she would leave Aaron behind willingly, I'm still waiting for an explaination. Anyone remember exactly what that psychic told Claire?

Speaking of explanations...where did all those recruiters come from that were behind Smocke? There were even children thrown in the mix. Where they from the temple? If so, how did he recruit them? And where is Sawyer? Wasn't he following Smocke? Unless he got lost (haha, no pun intended) while Smocke turned into the Smoke Monster. So...is Smocke evil or just trying to save himself and everyone else?

I loved last night's episode! This whole "selling your soul" business always makes a story. :)




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