Friday, February 26, 2010

An Open Letter to Michela Simmons about Lost...

Dear Michela,

In an effort to both answer your text about looking up a certain website chock full of Lost theories as well as satisfy my own urge for disscussing, in some way, all that we've seen in 5+ seasons.  I've decided that an open letter (since what I have to say is massive) may be the best approach... or at least a good starting point.

What I've decided to do is correlate all my ideas by first addressing certain facts and how they relate to what is currently going on and then we can get to the fun by listing our theories and possible endings.

Here we go...

Confronting the Variables:

I believe in 5+ seasons we have been reminded as viewers to think of the variables. 

Why all the misdirection?   What does one's past have to do with what's going on now (the basic character structure of Season 1)?  Is fate something we can control or is everything preordained no matter what kind of knowledge one has going in?  Can we assume new identities and adopt radically new directions in life?  Lost shows some of these to be true and necessary despite its consequences.

Alternate timelines aside, it's no accident that each character has been presented as interchangeable (I'll get to the "doubling" later) along with the introducing of new characters seemingly important while having "old" characters return in places not expected (the original "Sawyer"/Locke's dad being brought to the island in Season 2 (?), Desmond being the occupier of the hatch in Season 2 as well as playing small roles in the prior lives of many key players, etc.)

Jacob and the Man in Black are two new and very important characters... are they one and the same?  Are they looking for replacements?  Jacob wants to stay on but MIB wants to leave the island and both seem to be using similar approaches in getting what they want (Jacob through misdirection; MIB through manipulation).

The same but different... Alternate universes and the mainpulation or redistribution of fate:

Quick points about the Alternate U and how each character stands:

Jack again dealing with the death of his father and the realization that he may have a half-sister living in Australia, etc.  The new wrinkle in his alternate U life is the presence of a teenage son (I'll admit I was a little turned off seeing Jack have a teenage son pop up on us but this is what makes Lost both equally excruciating and fun at the same time) and since the show is going through great lengths in disguising who the mother is I'm going to guess that it's Juliet.

Kate as fugitive and unable to erase her past.

Claire dealing with her pregnancy along with the fact that the couple agreeing to adopt her baby have dropped out (furthering the role fate is playing in keeping she and the baby together since it was vital that only she would raise her child, according to the palm reader in Season 1).

Charlie succumbing to his drug addiction and ramifications.

John Locke as a paraplegic although he seems more at peace with Katy Segal back in his life.

Hugo dealing with the resposibilities and isolation caused by his wealth (although I do question the role of Hugo as entrepreneur in the Alternate U. and the fact that Rose is one of his trusted employees... this was never mentioned in the prior seasons so I'm guessing someone from the island played a hand in steering Hugo in this direction).

I forgot why Sayid was flying to Los Angeles in Season 1.  I remember his story of losing his girlfriend when she was hit crossing the street (didn't Jacob save him/distract him when he asked for directions?  Wouldn't the island being void negate this from ever happening??? Or did this occur after he returned, I know this was revealed in Season 5... I'm confused, so I'll move on).

It will be interesting to see what they do with Charles Widmore, Mrs. Hawking and their son Daniel Faraday (or do the new rules and lack of any supernatural island void any union they had and thereby making Faraday non-existant?  Possible, but I doubt it.).  Of course, no island to obtain really has to redirect Widmore's motives and drive.

Of course, I find it curious that so far Season 6 has avoided any Alternate U mentioning or showing of some of the Season 2 "back of the plane" survivors (Ana Lucia, Mr. Eko, etc.).  I'm afraid that contract negotiations may be part of it in which case we must then question the creators and their "complete" knowledge of where the show was going. 

Lost and the use of the Double:

Now, as a precursor I must admit that most of these observations were previously discussed in Geoff Klock's very entertaining Smart Pop recaps but since the parallels are quite obvious and can be found by one's own volition (reflecting quietly and merely thinking about what you've seen and whatnot) I think we can all share in these "findings" without having to constantly cite its sources...

Jack doubling as his father when he gets off the island at the end of season 3(?), succumbing to alcohol and watching his life and career fall apart.

James/Sawyer taking on the name "Sawyer" in an effort to both remember and unleash the very behavior that destroyed both he and his parent's lives/Sawyer also doubled as the new Jack in season 5 as the defacto leader of the small group who were secretly acclimating to life as members of the mid-70's Dharma Intiative.

Kate, of course, had her double life as a fugitive who ran off to Australia but she also doubled for Claire when she took on the role as mother of baby Aaron.

Sayid doubled for Kate when they returned to island as he came on board as an arrested fugitive.

Hugo doubled for Charlie by carrying his guitar case on the plane.

John Locke doubles as the new Christian when his body and coffin is boarded on the plane (the parallel is made very obvious when Jack is instructed to put shoes on dead Locke's feet that were also the same shoes worn by his father).  He has also now doubled as the MIB along with brief forays as Ben when he was mentioned as the new leader of the "others" in prior seasons.

Claire, in the current season, is an obvious double for Rosseau since she is now both stalked and stalking the "others" and seems very proficient in weapons and traps/she also has that crazy look in her eye and seems very irrational when discussing her "baby."  Geoff Klock, goes a bit further and makes the connection that Jin can be seen as Sayid's double since his new relationship as captive recalls the Rosseau/Sayid relationship in Season 1.

In regards to character doubling we also have been forced to confront other kinds of opposites: Good vs. Evil (Jacob vs. the Man in Black); Faith vs. Science (Locke vs. Jack); along with surprises both from a technological standpoint vs. those mystical in nature (the hidden hatch and electromagnitism vs. the temple water and the lighthouse mirrors).

All of these things are very important and will obviously serve as points of explanation when the show wraps up. 

Finally, questions and knee-jerk theories:

Who is the blonde boy that troubles Locke/MIB?
My first reaction was to believe it was Aaron but I'm starting to side with the theory that it may be Jacob as a child... who knows maybe Aaron is Jacob and the MIB is Jack's Alternate U son... trying to manipulate events and stop the island from ever existing.

Where has Walt gone and will he play a role in the finale? 
If my theory about Aaron/Jacob and Jack's son/MIB is correct.  Who cares?  Although I've always been a bit confused on how and why they wrote him off the show (was the boy aging really that much of a conflict since timelines are so manipulated (ex. Seasons 1-4 = 10 months or so, not counting all the time-travel, etc.).

You know, Michela, I'm actually in love with my new theory that Aaron is Jacob and MIB is Jack's son that I couldn't give a rat's ass about anything else.  Obviously, the merging of the two timelines will be a major event and, if I'm correct, must happen since it will explain the existence of the MIB and settle all the the time-travel issues as one tries to save the island (Jacob) and one wants to destroy it (MIB) and the whole Sisyphean conflict these two are seemingly engaged in.

Anyway, take it for what it's worth and please tell me what you think.

Until then, I remain your cousin and confidante...

Sincerely,

Vincent J. Caramela

5 comments:

  1. I like your Aaron is Jacob theory (you should add it to that web site), we need to talk more about this at happy hour. I loved the theory on that link I sent you about how we have already seen the ending, which would be the LA X episodes. I didn't not realize that Lost does normally show the ending or part of the ending of each season in the first episode. I am excited to see how it all ends up!

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  2. p.s. have you seen this? very interesting/funny...
    http://runningfromcamera.blogspot.com/

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  3. I'm afraid you are both wrong. The ending will reveal that it was just a bad dream Jack had after having his mai tai laced with GHB. Sorry to dissapoint, but the writers opted for a traditional 1970's ending.

    -Gail

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  4. I agree with your most of your theories the Aaron is Jacob theory. So Jacob travels to the future but is now a 3 year old kid? We may need a face-to-face so you can try and explain this better.

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  5. OK, let me retype this so its coherent. I agree with most of your theories except I can't understand the Jacob is Aaron theory you layed out here and over at DarkUFO.

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