S2Ep7: The Other 48 Days - 11/16/05

Hello my dear friends -

Oh, Mommy!
The Tailaways' story was filled with many clues for us to contemplate. I have limited time and the Thanksgiving drive home is a-callin', so I will get going, but I will forewarn you that this will not be well-written!

THE TAILAWAYS
Many people made comments on the opening scene of the beach with the airplane parts crashing into the ocean, my favorite being: "When last night's episode began I thought I was watching a dumb Corona Extra Beer commercial, but then the tail flew out of the air so silently. Man, I almost fell off the couch."

It is now obvious that different parts of the island are encountering different freaky things... the original Lostaways had the polar bear and the monster... and while they also had Ethan, they have never encountered an entire GROUP of The Others. Nor did The Others cold bust into their camp and just take people. And we're still not even sure what Ethan's deal was anyway. The Tailaways didn't seem to have any strange animals or the monster at all, but were obviously targeted by The Others from the very beginning.

MORE ON THE OTHERS
First and most importantly, what's up with the cut-off khakis and bare feet? Shout-out to CWM who commented to me that they looked like evil Hobbits. My first thought was that they were rejects from old Gap commercials gone awry. But then they couldn't have been from the Gap, because Ana Lucia later mentioned that none of their clothing had any labels. Why did The Others have so much interaction with this side of the island? As Anna Lucia pointed out to The Others' mole, Goodwin: he emerged from the island shortly after the crash - so either 1) he was very close by already, 2) he KNEW the crash was going to happen, or 3) he can run or teleport around really quickly. Since he was not in the typical "Others outfit" as discussed above, and was obviously trying to look like he was blending in, it leads me to believe he knew the crash was going to happen... Apparently The Others made a list of the people to kidnap, and Goodwin
alluded to the fact that the list contained the names of the "good people," and that the kids taken were safe and were "better off now." The question here is - did they have the list BEFORE the plane crash, or did they make the list based on Goodwin's observations, or were they given the list by someone else who they take orders from?

And if The Others DID know that the crash was going to happen and had the
list beforehand, were the people seated on the plane according to some
"plan" ... to put the majority of the "good people" in the back of the
plane? Is that why The Others have concentrated on the Tailaways rather
than the original group? Or did they just focus on that group randomly
because they were logistically/physically closer to them and from there
tried to kidnap the "good people."

And if people WERE somehow seated on the plane according to some "plan," then does that mean that everyone in the original group was "bad"? We know they ALL have issues! Technically Bernard should have been in the original group but got up to go to the bathroom. Charlie wasn't where he was supposed to be, either. Was Walt the only "good person" and that's why he was taken? Did Ethan/The Others originally want Claire's baby because they assumed a child would be "good," but then let her go because they did some sort of tests on it and found out it was going to be the Antichrist and therefore didn't fit their profile?

And if people WERE seated on the plane in a certain way, then was the crash itself somehow orchestrated? Or do crashes always happen (planes, boats, ships, etc.) over the course of time because of the island's magnetic field, and The Others have developed a plan of how to react and kidnap the people they want as soon as the crash occurs?

On to Goodwin himself - Goodwin had mentioned that he was in the Peace Corps, and was surprised that Ana knew what that was. Was that just a cover-up story, or at some point was he really in the Peace Corps? I doubt he learned his neck-snapping skills from the Peace Corps... And by the way, we know that Goodwin remains dead, as his was the body that Jin and Eko ran into in the jungle in "...And Found." Some people in Season One always wondered if perhaps Ethan wasn't really dead or would reappear. It appears Goodwin won't.

The knife they found on The Other Girl Ana killed with a stone was a very old U.S. Army knife. Was this all a secret government operation gone wrong? And that girl died pretty quickly, considering the seemingly super-human-strength of all of the other Others we've seen so far, it seemed.

And finally, when they thought Nathan was the mole, and he mentioned he was from Canada, I immediately thought of the connection to Ethan (even similarly named) who also claimed to be from Canada. Some people wonder if Goodwin passed on Nathan's information to Ethan so that Ethan would have a back story if he was ever asked. So many questions.

HATCH LITE
So we got a little bit more information about Hatch #2. We now know that this hatch door also said Quarantine on the inside. But unlike Desmond, whoever used to inhabit this hatch was long gone. The Dharma symbol had an arrow pointing up (not a cross like I thought before). There was a random chest left in the hatch, in which they found: a Bible, blankets, a glass eye (WTF???), and a radio. I don't even know what to say about the glass eye, except that it freaks me out. Ideas?

MR. EKO - EX-MUTE DUDE
I do not consider this a spoiler, so I hope no one gets mad at me for saying this, but the writers have stated that the crazy stick thing that Mr. Eko was carving is a "big clue." I have watched and watched and rewatched the clip of him carving it and carving something into it, but I can't figure it out. At first I thought he was carving in a notch for each day on the island, and that we would realize from that that they are in a time warp or something. But it didn't look to me like he was creating notches, so if anyone can think of anything, please let me know.

At first I just assumed that Mr. Eko was on the list of "good people" and that the Others were trying to abduct him, but now I am not really sure. If he was on the list, then he mostly likely killed the two Others who were trying to kidnap him. But perhaps he was not on the list, and saw the Others trying to take different people and killed them for that reason. I didn't think it was totally clear, although Goodwin did casually mention to Anna that Eko was one of the people that they tried to take because they were taking the "strong, athletic, threats." But at the point when he said that, she hadn't blown his cover yet... so I think the "good people" reason is the real one. As in, they're taking "good people," not necessarily who is a physical threat.

So now ponder THIS... If Eko WAS on the "good person" list, but now he has killed two Others, is he still considered a good person? A few write-ups ago I asked everyone if anyone had an idea as to what Mr. Eko could have meant when Jin asked him if he was married, and he replied, "Worse." The prevailing theory on the boards is that he had several wives, a common practice in many countries in Africa. But no one is sure. Finally, Eko chose to stop speaking for 40 days after the Others attacked. Beforehand he made comments about praying, and he seemed interested in the Bible found in the hatch. He is definitely a religious person, and the "40 days" has too many biblical allusions to cover here. Needless to say, I hope he has a flashback some time soon!

NOT REALLY MUTE CHICK (aka Cindy)
We've seen her before - in the pilot episode of the entire series - she was the stewardess who served Jack a drink. That explains why she knew that they were 1,000 miles off course. I'm mad that we didn't see how she was taken in the jungle!

ANA LUCIA - PARTIALLY REDEEMED
I must confess I don't hate her as much now. She stepped up as a leader of the group and had everyone reason to be suspicious. Plus, she saved them from Goodwin and also saved Bernard from the tree. Most people think that she probably does/did have kids based on her weird reaction to Goodwin's question about it.

Most people also suspect that she has a military or police background from her observation skills and other general tactics she uses. Some are wondering if the girl Other that Ana killed was Alex, Danielle's daughter. I highly doubt it. If Alex is still alive, they would build some storyline there.

THE THINGS WE ALL KNEW WOULD HAPPEN YET WERE STILL COOL TO SEE
- The Boone/Bernard brief radio conversation ("We're the survivors of Flight 815!" "No... WE'RE the survivors of Flight 815!)
- The teddy bear's original owner
- Goodwin's death (since we saw him in "...And Found" and all assumed The Others killed him).

TONIGHT'S EPISODE: COLLISION
Reunited, and it feels so gooood! I can't wait. But if AL hurts Sayid, she's back on my sh!t list. Guess whose flashback it is?

IN THE SPIRIT OF THE SEASON
I hope you all have a wonderful Thanksgiving holiday... I am definitely thankful to have you all as an audience for my ramblings! Be safe in your travels and have some mashed potatoes and gravy for me at your respective feasts.

And of course, enjoy the show whenever you watch it tonight or on tape/Tivo later... you know I will still be watching tonight!

- e