S1Ep13 - Hearts and Minds (Boone's first flashback)

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

Hello everyone -

All I will say about this episode is that it wasn't as good as I had hoped, but there was a ton o' Locke in prime form, so that made me happy. And if you were watching it at my place you would've listed as the "PEE ON MY FOOT, JUST PEE ON IT, MAN!" interchange as the top moment of the night.

General topics to consider:

1) What is up with the compass not being correct?
Is the compass itself broken, or is the island on some weird magnetic field or does the island CAUSE some strange magnetic pull? Did Locke give Sayid the compass hoping to throw him off or did he give it to him to HELP him figure out what is going on with the island? My guess is the latter because Locke has said that he "wants Sayid on his side," but he also thinks people need to figure out things for themselves. What I think "on his side" means, I will cover later.

2) Shannon and Boone get freaky-deeky
No big surprise here, most people were just annoyed that ABC had to go SO out of its way to state that they had NO BLOOD RELATION. They were worried about their "family friendly award" they just won getting yanked back!

Anyway, all I think that whole flashback boils down to is a) they are nas-tay and b) Boone has serious issues with Shannon all around. SOME people on the boards think that Shannon will now be pregnant... feeding the "others'" need for kids...

3) Boone's "hallucination"
I'm not totally clear if the paste Locke put on Boone's head CAUSED him to hallucinate and see the monster or if it just kind of accelerated what would've happened anyway. A big theory is that the "monster" is ALWAYS what people see in their heads, so I don't think Locke caused Boone to see it.

Or

in other words, the monster does what people THINK it will do. The pilot was scared of the monster and thought it would eat him, so it did. OR, was the pilot even ever there? Did the island cause Charlie, Kate and Jack to all "see" the pilot, learn that they were off-course, and then see him get eaten, just because that's what the island wanted them to see? Who knows.

The bottom line for the Boone episode is that he saw the monster kill Shannon and that made him feel relieved. So to Locke, that means that Boone needs to learn to "let go" of Shannon in order to ensure his own survival on the island. Locke's comment of "So THAT's what it made you SEE?" led me to believe that 1) the monster was not a hallucination but the real thing, and Locke KNOWS what it's all about and blew his cover with that line and 2) that what Locke saw when HE saw the monster was his destiny on the island to become a leader of a sub-set of the group. Which leads me to...

4) Locke as a leader of the group
They are clearly setting it up so that eventually the survivors are going to split into at least two groups, and my guess would be that Jack is the leader of one and Locke the other. Locke is slowly but surely "converting" people into almost Locke-disciples or something. There is a reason why they had Charlie say at the end, "if there is one man I would trust my life with on this island, it's Locke" or something along those lines. Now Boone is also going to be a follower because after this episode Locke is going to take him under his wing and they are going to discover what's in that metal chamber (this is my guess). Also, Locke commented to Boone that he wants Sayid "on his side"... which leads me to...

5) Expanded 4-year time loop theory
Too long to write out now, but last message I commented on the "4-year time loop" theory that I think is very likely to be what is going on. Since then, a co-worker of mine has dug up even more VERY convincing evidence that this is what is going on (shout out to CG!). If you accept this theory (that they are repeating 4 years over and over again on the island but some characters know it and some haven't caught on yet), you could put MANY things together about Locke, namely: why he always knows EXACTLY when it will rain, how he knows all the stuff about hunting boar, how he can find people very easily, why he doesn't need the compass anymore (he's memorized the route), why he seems to be lining up people against each other subtly (Sayid vs. Sawyer)... it's because he KNOWS he's in the time loop and has probably gone through the most repetitions (people think that new people can come into the loop and then that slightly changes things... people think, for example, that Charlie and Claire are new to the loop).

6) Sawyer in Boone's flashback at the police station
So I said two weeks ago that one theory would be proven correct in this episode, and this what it: that the characters were all connected one way or the other before the flight. I think we will see more evidence of this soon.

7) What is under the metal window/door?
Possibilities: WW2 bomb shelter, maze of tunnels underneath the island, the thing is another plane sunk into the ground, a place where the "others" are holding Claire, a secret government lab that controls the events on the island. Someone also mentioned that it COULD be a Starbucks. All valid ideas. : )


POSTS FROM THE BOARDS

- So far this *whole* island has manifested, either tangible or intangible, exactly what the castaways think about. The kid reads a comic about polar bears and suddenly Sawyer shot a rampaging polar bear. Charlie thinks the best thing that could help his drug addiction is getting his guitar back, so suddenly he looks up and a guitar is sitting there, just like that. Then there’s how Jack saw his father alive; if that was all just dehydrated delusions, then why was the casket empty? Then there’s the “invisible monster,” which, if just a “dream,” then why is everyone hearing/seeing the same thing?!? Boone DID NOT simply have a dream; he faced the monster. Notice how intrigued Locke was when he said he confronted the monster; suddenly his “you imagined it” talk was all “really…? What did you see?” This is because the monster is, from what I have been told in rumor mills, a mirror of the person’s strongest inner emotions. This makes sense so far. It didn’t kill Locke because he was fascinated by it. It killed the pilot because that’s what he *felt* it would do. The French Lady is apparently immune to it, because she doesn’t believe in what cannot be seen. In Boone it reflected how he truly feels about Shannon, in other words; “Deep down it would relieve me greatly if you ate the bitch.” I know some may feel this is a simple to-MAY-to, to-MAH-to difference, because it still means he merely imagined what he saw. However; this wasn't simply a "it was all a dream" story. I'm just saying...
- The island is magical. As lame as that sounds, it is what it is. The island manifests what you want or need to see. It is a reflection of your inner demons so that you might deal with them once and for all. And once you deal with your demons, the island rewards you with something you desire. As Locke said to Charlie, "If you give something to the island, the island will give you something in return." In this episode, Boone was finally able to let go of Shannon - he gave Shannon to the island - and he will now be granted something in return. My guess: they'll have access to the hatch. The hatch, you see, could never be open until Boone gave something to the island. Locke knows this. Locke has, I feel, given himself completely to the island and thus is why he is granted with the insight to the island. So now that Boone has given something to the island, the island will grant him what he wants: access to the hatch. Also, did you note in next weeks previews that the polar bear is back? Coincidence that it's going to be a Michael/his son centric episode? I think not.
- This show rocks!! I think they’re going the “Stand” route and the camp will get divided into two groups of good vs. evil, which will lead to an epic battle, with the winners finding a way off the island. Or… I also like someone’s suggestion that this is all Locke’s fault because he wanted to prove himself. What if his desire was so great while flying over the “magical” island that he actually brought the plane down. That would be cool. Like the island said “oh so you wanna piece of me? Well coma and get it!” LOL. I’ve been looking for a long time for something to approach the greatness of X-Files, and I think Lost does the trick!
- I really liked this episode as I had no idea which way it was going to unfold and Shannon and Boone being the main focus was a welcome change from the usual Kate/Jack centered stories. Can't wait to see where they go with Locke from here, seeing as he now has two guys, Charley and now Boone who seem to be willing to walk into hell for him. Is Locke recruiting people in opposition to Jack and Sayid's leadership or does he have some still unseen motivation in mind? Should be interesting regardless.
- The reason that they are no longer searching for pregnant- girl Claire is easily explained. One, they have *no* *idea* where to look. It’s one thing to have a child missing in a local neighborhood and have hundreds of people help look, with cars, helicopters, and all required resources at their disposal. This isn’t even getting into how such a search would be handled by “locals,” in an area that’s at least *relatively* familiar ground. It’s something entirely different when under 50 castaways are on a deserted island and have barely found the courage to leave the simple 100-yard (?) beach that they were first stranded on. That isn’t even getting into the food and water they would need for such an expedition, entirely on foot. Did I mention how they haven't the slightest notion of where to look…? More bad news: Mr. Crackpot who kidnapped her was up against Jack –arguably the second strongest castaway there is—and Crackpot easily kicked his ass. Jack continued the search and Crackpot even had enough time to hang Charlie by noose, long before Jack was within range. Had they continued the search for Claire the outcome would clearly be no different than if they gave up, except that maybe --just maybe-- she can escape on her own. It isn’t that they don’t care; they just have a sense of humility. There’s no feasible way they could get to her right now.

- e