CHAPTER 1: The Basics and The Constructed World
First off I must confess. I frickin’ LOVED the LOST series finale [“The End”]. I was so excited as each scene went by, I was actually too happy to absorb the very last scene where Jack and his peeps “leave” at the exact same moment Jack dies on the island. When I went back and watched it again, I bawled like an idiot. That final scene, which gives us SO much information all at once, is just gut wrenching!
I think I loved this episode because I liked hearing the satisfying ‘click’ of the very last piece of the puzzle we’ve been working on for six years. I think the final scene gutted me because I hated to see Jack die alone, flat on his back in the bamboo while everyone else smiles and hugs at the church. The look on Matthew Fox’s face, that look of fate fulfilled, without fear, just KILLED me. Then Vincent shows up and offers the comfort of Dog Love?! Are you kidding me? I totally lost it. I’m even having trouble writing about it now!
In short, I think the final scene of this episode is the perfect conclusion for a show that starts and ends both in a perfect circle AND from one point to another in a straight line.
HOWEVER,
I’m pretty sure the finale was never intended to give us Answers answers. We got resolution, especially character resolution, but not any specific answers to develop that resolution. That tells me, we didn’t get “The End,” we got the last missing piece of the puzzle. NOW the work deciphering the entire puzzle can begin.
This is why I'm totally jazzed about LOSTblog.com's LOST Rewatch! Now that we are armed with ALL the information, it's time to start digging!
My job for rewatch is to provide recaps and analysis of each episode every Sunday (and I am SO excited about it!). Problem is, my recaps and analysis might be off the beaten path for many LOST fans. To prevent confusion (and eternally long posts), I've put together a handy-dandy guide viewing guide (for those interested) that explains how I watch LOST. If you have questions, PLEASE feel free to post them in the comments section!
As we begin, let's review what we know so far:
- LOST is a RIDDLE. Everything we need to solve mysteries or answer questions (the important ones) is ALREADY in the actual show.
- LOST is a PUZZLE. In order for the entire picture to make sense, we have to put each puzzle piece in its place. No two puzzle pieces are alike or interchangeable, and all puzzle pieces are necessary to complete the entire picture. This also means if two or more puzzle pieces aren’t fitting together, then we are trying to put them in the wrong place.
- LOST is VISUALLY VERIFIABLE. Darlton specifically mention in their Times Talks Live pre-finale interview that we can trust what they SHOW us. What we see on the show is what happened. However, if a character talks about something we never see or we see differently on the show, what that character says is suspect to the degree we trust them. They use Widmore as a prime example.
- LOST is WORDPLAY. Many a LOST fan has been stumped by the way Team LOST writes. Sometimes the meaning of what we HEAR is obvious, sometimes it’s ambiguous, and sometimes it’s obviously ambiguous. Best defense here is a good offense. If something we hear or a character says makes NO sense WHATSOEVER in relationship with what we’ve SEEEN happen on the show (which Darlton say “actually happened"), then we need to examine what we HEAR more closely.
- LOST is METICULOUSLY WRITTEN, FILMED, PRODUCED and EDITED. Sure, these guys make mistakes. However, if we blow off an unreasonable number of mistakes, we are missing clues. This show is one of the most amazing shows ever created specifically because of its attention to detail. Never assume they got lazy/they don't care/they're not trying. They make this inconsistencies obvious for a reason.
To roll with Amy's POV (and future recaps and analysis for LOST REWATCH), here's what you need to know.
AMY THINKS:
- Nothing we've seen on LOST takes place in a physical world BUT IT IS ALL REAL. [This one is the most important.]
- The world of LOST is a "system" (I have no idea what kind of system or how it's created). It has rules and guidelines, a history and a purpose. When Jack opens his eyes, the system is "broken."
- This "system" is an INTERSECT. That is, it is a world created by the interconnection of several minds (or memories) of several people. It's not clear (to me anyway) that those minds connected to create and change the island are the minds of our losties.
- Our losties are an intersect in the flash back and flash forward worlds. They are interconnected with each other, and yet still manipulated, mainly by sound. They are an intact and separate (from the island) intersect in the flash sideways.
- Our losties experience the island part of this world as a conscious dream state. Our losties experience the flashes part of this world as a subliminal dream state.
- Our losties experience their flashes subliminally, almost like repressed memories. They don't have consistent or complete access to these repressed memories unless they have a "constant," an item that exists in both worlds [toy plane, ring, letter, etc] or a person [Penny].
- Desmond is the only lostie (on the zipcord) that experiences the flash world in a conscious dream state. Anyone else who experiences the flash world this way eventually gets a nosebleed and drops dead.
- Our losties don't know any of the contents of their flash backs/forwards until they happen (with one or two exceptions, like Desmond). It doesn't matter if it's a flash back or flash forward. Our losties don't have access to the sideways flash world.
- The flashes are manipulated, mainly by Mock Locke and Jacob, to influence our losties on the island. This includes flashbacks and flash forwards. Flash sideways is a world separated from the influence on the island.
- The world of LOST is a constructed world, but what it can be constructed with is LIMITED, like legos. The blocks, in this case, are memories of whoever's "plugged in" to the system, and these memories are used and reused as needed to create this world [the island world AND the flash world].
- On LOST, your memories are WHO YOU ARE. Any alteration in your memories changes your identity.
Okay. Here’s the hard stuff. [Slow deep breaths!]
- There is NO timeline for our losties except what we see them experience on the show and this timeline is created IN SEQUENCE as events are presented on the show.
- Pulling the scenes as presented in the show OUT of sequence to create an external timeline works for the history of the ISLAND but NOT for the experience of our losties. If you extrapolate our losties experiences on the show and re-arrange them "chronologically" into a interpretive timeline, you are actually shuffling them out of order.
- Our losties are all on ONE zipcord of existence. They can only experience events one at a time in a straight line, regardless if those experiences are on the island world or the flash world. [Yes. In sequence as presented in the show.]
- Our losties can NOT go back in time on the ZIPCORD, and they are all on the same zipcord and on the same point on the zipcord. They can only exist in THEIR present, THEIR now, THEIR current spot on the zipcord.
- Think of the island as a ‘green screen’ around our losties’ zipcord. No matter what happens on the green screen, our losties can only experience the present – where they are on the zipcord. They can only look BACK at their experiences on the zipcord (which begins when Jack opens his eyes). They can NOT see their future events on the zipcord.
- The starting point of existence for EVERYONE on the zipcord is simultaneous (when Jack opens his eyes). This means they are all experiencing time in the same way. Tricky part? Not everyone is on the zipcord.
- Every character we see on the show is either on the zipcord of existence in the same exact spot as our losties OR is part of the green screen (OR is outside the system somehow). Some characters, like Juliet, can hop on the zipcord with our losties. Others, like those who die, hop off the zipcord and enter the green screen.
- The only exceptions to #7 are Jacob, MIB, and the peeps in "Across the Sea."
HOW TO CONSTRUCT A "REAL" NON-PHYSICAL WORLD
The island world is created using knowledge as "legos" [Remember, not a PHYSICAL world, but still absolutely real, and our losties have been inserted into this constructed world from outside the system]. If we think of knowledge as that acquired through study, and the legos as memories of that knowledge, then we can play Name That Brain to account for nearly everything we see.
Amy's Name That Brain Game:
- Cultural anthropology and/or archeology brain.
- Physics [very advanced] brain.
- Philosophy studies brain.
- Humanities studies/ENGLISH major brain.
- Fine Arts brain.
- Surgeon/Medicine brain.
- Military/diplomacy studies brain.
- Handy-Man brain.
- Boy Scout brain.
- Psychology brain.
- Religious brain, general.
- Religious brain, eastern.
- Alternate Medicine brain.
- Feng Shui/Chakra studies brain. [This one is really important.]
- KNOWS the history of the ISLAND very well brain.
If we consider the intersect of our losties in the flash backs/forwards world (which sometime bleed over into the island world), we've got a pool of experiences, lines and scenarios, characteristics and talents that are reused over and over again. Here are just a silver of them as examples.
- Hit by a car.
- Pregnant/losing pregnancy.
- Pulling a con.
- Star crossed lovers.
- Abandonment
- Daddy issues
- Momma issues
- Murder for revenge
- Murder of an innocent
- Traps (being trapped, laying a trap)
- "Sonuvabitch"
- Mental institution/problems
- Criminal activities problems
- The numbers
- Airplane travel
- A blue business suit
- A black business suit
Are you starting to see it?
The reason all of this is important is to help us sift through what the legos are, what's important or not important in the green screen and how it relates to our losties. Once we do that, we can get down to the nitty gritty of our story: WHO'S WHO.
UP NEXT in CHAPTER 2: The Island: Green Screens, Zipcords and Time Travel
Highly recommended reading: Origins of the LOST World for a better explanation of how this world is created.
