5.23.2007
naomi = hanso
5 minutes after the season finale, and I'm already blogging. I've become one of the "others." Over-zealous,over-opinionated, and over-blogging. Nonetheless. Here's my take:
Initial kudos to the writers for the exceptional back story. I first anticipated the rouse when I noticed he was using a modern cell phone. I brushed it off as a production oops, but I should have known better. Deep down I want this to mean that the writers will break their season 1-3 flashback writing formulas as they approach the 4th. Unfortunately, I had similar wishes at the end of season 2.
If you recall, the end and cliffhanger was a scene that took place outside the island at that arctic base. I hoped it would mean season 3 would actually explore the A-story narrative outside of the island. Or at least give us a few peeks here and there. Unfortunately, however, they not once went outside the island with the A-story, not even in the finale (it was a flash-forward and still very much a B-story).
Where am I going with all this? I highly doubt they'll do more flash-forward narratives, if they couldn't even grow a pair to explore the A-story outside of the island. But, we'll see.
Must keep expectations low...must keep expectations low...mustn't be disappointed again...
Ahh...okay. Back to Naomi.
Admittedly, I was duped into believing she was working for Penny when she first appeared. In fact, I was so sure, I wrote a fan-fic describing the scene. When she explained that flight 815 had been found along with bodies in a later episode, however, I realized she was probably full of ... I then surmised she was working with Mikhail, since he came to the call of the flair so quickly and understood her many languages, particularly when she said "I am not alone" in Portuguese. It was then I made the Hanso connection in particular relationship to some key facts presented in the Online Experience. I think, now, after the finale, those connections ring true, but not quite in the way I imagined.
Here's my take: Naomi works for Hanso. She was very much aboard the large freighter commissioned by the organization to find, again, the island. This was made factual by the online experience. Here's the lowdown on that in a nutshell.
FACTS:
Alvar Hanso and the Degroots (the hippie couple) start the Dharma Initiative in an attempt to use the island and research to change core values in the Valenzetti equation, thus preventing the end of the world. Outside of the island, something very bad happens to the organization. The administration is taken over by a few elite and very shady characters. Alvar Hanso is placed under house arrest, and it's left to Alvar's daughter to investigate his disappearance and find the truth. What she finds is that the new leader of the foundation is on a rather passionate quest to locate the island that, in his own words, they have lost communication with. A large freighter is put together and fitted with some very special customizations that can't be explained. From the blue prints they look like very peculiar storage areas. It's left to the ship to find the island in hopes of reigniting the Dharma Initiative once again, but this time without the direction and perhaps accountability of its founders.
THEORY:
The ship is actually fitted not only with special cargo holds, but also an ice breaking hull. Naomi flew off the ship into the direction they hypothesized the island might be. Essentially she was telling the truth when she said she was doing a grid search. I wager, however, that it was perhaps over ice and not ocean. If you remember the look on Penny's face when Charlie tells her they're on an island. Her surprise suggests that that idea seems a shock, even though she already knows the relative location of the island based on the information presented at the very end of season 2. And yes, I still can't get Walt/Hugo's comic book out of my mind. I'm holding on to the arctic theory till it blows up in my face.
Regardless, however, the "bad guys" are indeed coming. Ben's right. It was this that threw me off. My best guess is that as Dharma was being poisoned by bad leadership, some information about the foul intent came through the pipeline forcing the "hostiles" to take drastic actions to cut off the initiative from the outside world and place the island again into obscurity. Ben is believed to be a messiah-type figure to the "hostiles" because he can communicate with Jacob (no theories on this yet), but in reality, Ben is more a survivor, a selfish one at that (thus the reason why he shot Locke). For whatever reason, however, the foul intent of this rogue group that's taken over Hanso is so intense that it transcends Ben's selfish endeavors.
This group probably endeavors to "fix a mistake" and create a cover-up. That's why Ben fears they'll kill everyone on the island. I also think the strange cargo holders might exist to transport some very unique equipment off the island. This is where I think time travel might enter the equation. A friend shared an interesting blog link to a time-travel theory associated with the show. Check out my blog entry about the subject. I thought it interesting, but not worth taking to seriously, since it was kind of shaky in its evidence. Watching the Lost: Answers clip show last week, however, seriously changed my mind. The producers are dispelling the notions that they would follow a purgatory, heaven, or hell storyline. Damon Lindelof says something of particular interest. "Everyone on the island is very much alive and exists somewhere in our space time continuum." (paraphrased) Why would he bring up the space time continuum? Anyway, I won't dive into the theory. Check out my other entry to get the full scoop.
In a last look, I can say this much. The writers have definitely created a final catalyst to both wrap up the story and develop a very new plot crisis that can permit some very creative narrative efforts. Couple that with the fact they placed a dead end on the show (3 more seasons), and we're left with a recipe for a grand conclusion. (Remember your mantra Matt) I will not get my hopes up, but I will give the premier a shot, come January. If the writers move forward with gutsy and progressive writing. If they break past formulas, and find a proper balance again with plot progression and compelling character development, we might just have a winning show again. Only time will tell, however. Let's make sure we don't press the execute key and begin the cycle again.
Labels: entertainment, Lost, Naomi, tv, writing
5.14.2007
Lost in God Debris
Don't you just love those web surfing rabbit trails that lead to a pleasant surprise?
A friend and struggling fellow Lost fan shot me an interesting link to a new-to-me Lost theory. Typically I only care about my own theories and especially wouldn't give two rips about a blog written by the alias DarkUFO. However, through a quick peruse the two words "quantum physics" emerged a number of times, and well, seeing as how quantum physics is one of my many intellectual cravings, I thought best to satisfy my appetite, even if it was commentary for a fictional narrative.
While I might not recommend the theory entirely, it does lend itself to some interesting possibilities the writers might be venturing down. Surprisingly enough, however, I don't plan on diving into that commentary. Recall there is a rabbit trail somewhere in this netwide venture.
The blogger brought to light the idea that Lost might in fact be a rather lengthy Gedanken Experiment used to dive into the many questions raised, both philosophically and scientifically, in regards to time travel. I had heard of thought experiments in the past, the twin brothers travelling at light speed being the first that came to mind, but I never took the time to buckle down and read through the ones that are out there. I definitely never considered the notion of modern day ones.
To cut to the chase, rather than build my own rabbit trail here, my wiki travels brought me to an entry giving details about a book called God Debris. The author: Scott Adams. That's right, the guy that writes DILBERT. While I think of Adams as a great mind to pick for a chuckle, I never thought of him as a philosopher, let alone a quantum physicist, yet, here he writes this book that covers those very subject matters and with a clever gimmick: mellow dramatic fiction.
As it turns out the publishers had similar stereotypes in mind, rightly expecting the audience to act in suit. Their initial release of the book, in fear of revenue loss, was an eBook, only available online. However, it was a bigger hit than they anticipated, leading to a hardcover run and subsequent free-for-all (literally) as they now provide one version of the text for free.
The book, so far (and I'm nearly finished), is quite good. Adams in no way attests to be a specialist in the subject matter he's covering, yet in a way he raises the question of who really is? It forces the mind to consider the seemingly inconsiderable. While the book is fiction, some contend there's a level of nonfiction within, similar to the commonly known author's burden and blessing of expressing truth through lies. While by no means do I recommend this book for the absolutist completely dead set on perspective nor to the ultra-malleable minds of the young, I will admit, for those wanting a bit of a brain tease, it's a very good read. I'm hopeful at least someone else I know will read it, so I can have some interesting chats. Adams actually recommends that, along with a tasty beverage.
To top it off, it's only a measly 144 pages, big type, and bad spacing. This isn't a heavy read by any means, but the content definitely sticks in mind and forces one to raise healthy questions both internally and externally.
So do me a favor. Check out the book online; you need only pay with your time. Read through, at least the introduction. If you do finish it, and hopefully so, give me a ring and we can have a chat over a tasty beverage.
Cheers!
A friend and struggling fellow Lost fan shot me an interesting link to a new-to-me Lost theory. Typically I only care about my own theories and especially wouldn't give two rips about a blog written by the alias DarkUFO. However, through a quick peruse the two words "quantum physics" emerged a number of times, and well, seeing as how quantum physics is one of my many intellectual cravings, I thought best to satisfy my appetite, even if it was commentary for a fictional narrative.
While I might not recommend the theory entirely, it does lend itself to some interesting possibilities the writers might be venturing down. Surprisingly enough, however, I don't plan on diving into that commentary. Recall there is a rabbit trail somewhere in this netwide venture.
The blogger brought to light the idea that Lost might in fact be a rather lengthy Gedanken Experiment used to dive into the many questions raised, both philosophically and scientifically, in regards to time travel. I had heard of thought experiments in the past, the twin brothers travelling at light speed being the first that came to mind, but I never took the time to buckle down and read through the ones that are out there. I definitely never considered the notion of modern day ones.
To cut to the chase, rather than build my own rabbit trail here, my wiki travels brought me to an entry giving details about a book called God Debris. The author: Scott Adams. That's right, the guy that writes DILBERT. While I think of Adams as a great mind to pick for a chuckle, I never thought of him as a philosopher, let alone a quantum physicist, yet, here he writes this book that covers those very subject matters and with a clever gimmick: mellow dramatic fiction.
As it turns out the publishers had similar stereotypes in mind, rightly expecting the audience to act in suit. Their initial release of the book, in fear of revenue loss, was an eBook, only available online. However, it was a bigger hit than they anticipated, leading to a hardcover run and subsequent free-for-all (literally) as they now provide one version of the text for free.
The book, so far (and I'm nearly finished), is quite good. Adams in no way attests to be a specialist in the subject matter he's covering, yet in a way he raises the question of who really is? It forces the mind to consider the seemingly inconsiderable. While the book is fiction, some contend there's a level of nonfiction within, similar to the commonly known author's burden and blessing of expressing truth through lies. While by no means do I recommend this book for the absolutist completely dead set on perspective nor to the ultra-malleable minds of the young, I will admit, for those wanting a bit of a brain tease, it's a very good read. I'm hopeful at least someone else I know will read it, so I can have some interesting chats. Adams actually recommends that, along with a tasty beverage.
To top it off, it's only a measly 144 pages, big type, and bad spacing. This isn't a heavy read by any means, but the content definitely sticks in mind and forces one to raise healthy questions both internally and externally.
So do me a favor. Check out the book online; you need only pay with your time. Read through, at least the introduction. If you do finish it, and hopefully so, give me a ring and we can have a chat over a tasty beverage.
Cheers!
Labels: books, Lost, philosophy, quantum physics