S1Ep11 – All the Best Cowboys Have Daddy Issues (Jack’s second flashback)

[This message was initially sent as an email to friends, it was loaded into this blog 2.5 years later]

Hello again -

Here are the latest things to ponder from Lost:

1) Hurley - Theory on the boards, which I also immediately thought after his "warrior" and "I took 17th in a tournament, ... no, 17th is GOOD" comments is that Hurley was either a major "gamer" (someone who professionally plays videogames in tournaments, or into D&D (Dungeons and Dragons for you non-nerds out there), or was a big-time gambler. I literally cannot wait for his flashback.

2) Was Charlie's resurrection a cheesy "Oh... he's dead... Crap! Why, God, Why did you take the Hobbit? Oh woe is me, oh wait... yay, yay, he's alive!" attempt by the writers to fake us out, or was he WILLED back to life unknowingly by Jack, thus making it a supernatural/island mystery-type of event. I think the latter. I was surprised at how many people on the boards were annoyed because they thought the writers used an overly-done soap opera trick on us. I really, really, really think this has to do with the characters' ability to control events on the island through their minds. I think it will become more evident later. But that is just my theory. I think it explains how Charlie's guitar randomly showed up in the tree when he really wanted it, how it stopped raining for Walt when he wanted to go look for the dog, maybe even why Locke can now walk and why when he encountered the monster "what he saw was beautiful." Plus, if Charlie was really brought back to life by Jack's "CPR" attempts, wouldn't his ribs be broken, wouldn't he be barely alive, I mean, he was getting BEAT.

3) Some people think Ethan was the husband of the girl Jack's dad killed. They DID look similar, but you couldn't really see that guy's face, I looked. If it was Ethan then he's 1) trying to get revenge on Jack and 2) trying to get Claire's baby because he lost his own. I don't agree with this theory, but thought I would mention it.

4) Jack heard Claire screaming in the jungle and Kate did not. A lot of people thought that whole sequence did not really happen... that the screams were in Jack's mind, and that after he fell down the hill he did NOT really get the crap kicked out of him by Ethan, but just truly THOUGHT that it happened. I am on the fence here. At first I thought it definitely really happened, but now I'm not sure.

5) Every time Walt rolled the dice, he got what he wanted. Below in the board excerpts is more on this.

6) Interesting point was made that with Locke being such a supposedly great hunter, why did he go the wrong way? Maybe it was because he was SUPPOSED to find that metal thing. Or maybe "his gut" was really leading him toward something else that he needed to discover. People think the metal thing is a "trap door" to the "control station of the others." Ummm... I don't know about that.

7) Sawyer mentioned he was on medication...

8) Lots of people think Sawyer will end up being the hero. I'm not sure about that. But he was nice to Sayid and "kept his signal fire burning"...

9) Lastly, the actor playing Locke was ON Star Trek a few times, so the reference Boone made to Star Trek was an inside nerd joke.


POSTS FROM THE BOARDS

- Not sure what's gonna happen with Charlie. He may still just be in shock, or there might be more. It all depends on who wished for him to not die. Was it Jack's wish coming true? Or Charlie's? And what would/did each of them give up to make it come true? (By the way, this is very similar to the series Carnivale in which one of the main characters can heal things, even bring people back from the dead, but the greater the healing he has to do, the more destruction or life he has to take from something else. Charlie gave up drugs to get his guitar. What would one give up to get his life?) Another thing I noticed tonight was mentioned above and that is the Star Trek reference. It could mean bad things for the character who brings it up as the creators of the show said when they first aired the pilot that they loved the idea of doing a reversal of the Star Trek idea. A scene where an unknown goes out with a main cast member, but it's the main character who gets killed, not the unknown. Interesting ideas abound. My two last thoughts: 1) Why the massive Sawyer defense. I don't care what he does to redeem himself, he's still a dick. And for the women who like him, if Hurley acted that way, you'd not spare one word talking about his goodness. It's just that he's got the bad boy good looks. He's still a jerk, even if it IS a coating. 2) Locke, another bad boy who people love. I have posted this theory on IMDB so I'll reiterate it here. Locke is being set up as the perfect super villain. Think of it...his backstory is one of being made fun of, laughed at, mocked, and being told he can't do things. He has an accident that gives him special powers (The ability to walk). He's good friends with the Hero (Jack, whom he has a long talk with in the first Jack centered episode). He also has the most to lose from this Island that's been so good to him. What lengths will he go to to stay? Perhaps befriend each member of the Island who's too weak of a character to fend for themselves? Who has helped so far? Walt (Who's too young to have any sort of molded persona), Boone (Who's only too happy to possibly share in at least a LITTLE of Locke's glory), and Charlie (Who Locke has now guided through a personal issue so large that Charlie is in his debt). I don't see his acts as those of kindness...his interactions with Walt are not what a kind person does. You don't teach someone else's son to hunt to upstage his father. You help the father if you're truly in it to help people and not forge your own, dare I say, army. Just some thoughts. I do feel the good vs. evil beginning to come into play...very much like The Stand. And Locke VS. Jack is a FUN battle.
- I tend to tackle issues in a random order as my thought shoot from my brain...so here we go.... Charlie not remembering and his hands being free yet he was hung.... Ethan obviously has access to some drugs, he DID try and inject Claire, assumably to render her unconscious to make her abduction silent, but she woke up. Ethan is an accomplished fighter, Claire would have put up little to no struggle, so he disables Charlie, injects him, then handles Claire....he drags them to a meeting point, the others help him hang Charlie and then they take Claire away. We mention Walt and his reading a comic with a polar bear, then the group encounters one. Michael tells Walt when it stops raining they will look for the dog, it immediately stops. Walt gets the EXACT rolls he needs, and Hurley is VERY VERY surprised, he finally says he has a "meeting" to go to. Obviously no meeting but he makes funny excuses to leave situations that are uncomfortable to him, remember the census and him getting away from Locke. And I can not put my finger on it yet, but when Michael is filling water and Walt and he are talking, Walt show much maturity beyond his years when he says to "listen to the man that knows what’s going on (I just paraphrased not quoted)" and Michael stared at him in almost awe, almost like he had to fight off a spell or something that was making him try and listen to Locke's logic. Keeping with Walt and getting what he wants/imagines/wishes for.... What if a child has more power in harnessing the magic of the island? Walt is clueless he is doing this. But the "others" know that when young it is easier to harness the power with less "cost" to you. So if they could "train" a baby to do their bidding, they could have much control over the magic of the island. That would coincide with the psychic saying that it needed her guidance, but it contradicts him getting her on the plane... :( I think Kate getting to Jack wasn't too slow. It was a downpour in a jungle, and a very difficult slope to go up, I'm sure very difficult to go down. Sawyer, I like him more than Jack. Jack went from not wanting to be "the man", to being in total control, and overbearing. Sawyer’s confrontation with Sayid has been one of the best scenes so far. It showed that Sawyer believes that Sayid’s signal fire was important, that Sawyer will contribute to a group. I think the reason he was letting Walt tag-along for a bit was maybe some guilt from what he almost did and what happened to him. Sawyer will shine as a hero at one point. It was nice to see Sayid admit his guilt to Sawyer. Locke... he does have a dark side that he seems to try and hide. When Sayid came back saying they’re not alone he seemed like a secret was let out. Despite having logic, he really did not seem to want Jack there. Almost like he wasn't searching for them. At the same time he seems to be helpful, but maybe only when it benefits him. I love the character, and will whether he is good or evil. My head hurts, that's all for now.

- e