LOST in Thought mini
One more comment on obvious clues toward the tumor/X-ray being Locke’s:
Nearly every walking-flashback in his story shows him with hair, (diminishing as it may be). Baldness indicative of Chemo?
LOST in Thought 10.26.06
Just to get a little organized, I’m going to tag all my LOST theory/recap/episode posts with this new title “LOST in Thought”, so spoilers ho! One of the reasons I like the show is that it engages my puzzle lobe, and I always end up with something new after an episode. For those completely not into LOST, and visiting my blog for some other reason, you can disregard these or just go jump on the bandwagon like everyone else.
So, 3×04 – “Every Man for Himself”: Another good episode for speculation, and old Sawyer’s never hard on the eyes, so enjoyable all around. I like to keep in mind that the series is supposed to only run about 5 seasons, so now in season 3 we should be getting to midpoint, and the question spawning reveals should be tapering off for question answering reveals- possibly disguised as just more questions. That’s what I would do anyway.
I have to say, I think that Sawyer is one of the characters we know the most about, even though everything with him may just be a big long con. The addition of Clementine only really punches up his angst, but it’s not really surprising for me. Neither was the schtick that got him out of jail. Sawyer’s motivation and philosophy are an open book and I think the Others regard him pretty much the same way. Benry effectively manages him with a little theater and effort, and while Sawyer ain’t happy about it, I think he’s resigned for the time being. As a hard case, he’ll bounce back, probably in heroic fashion. What he needs to stop doing is throwing out the literary and pop culture references- every single sentence! It’s out of control. At some point he’s going to jump from Steinbeck to Jane Austen and my head is going to explode!
Kate does a poor job of trying to cover up what she says to Pickett during the beatdown, simply because I don’t know how anyone would have figured her saying ‘yes’ would be the answer that made Pickett back down. Sure she may not have known Colleen was dead, but the scene played like “You took something I loved, so payback, biatch!” Kate, you too are completely transparent.
Speaking of Chinatown, er, Pickett- I feel bad for the guy. Maybe I just have a wicked sense of empahty, but I am totally down with the Others! Out on the Interwebs there is an insane amount of hate going on for Benry and his crew. Which honestly surprises me, because I figure fans of Lost should know better than to take anything at face value. Facts people- on the Island(s) first, have not actually killed any person/bunny despite ample opportunity, and very fond of khaki! How could the possibly be pure evil? I feel confident there’s a big reveal coming that’s going to completely redefine them and everyone else can just go soak their heads.
The continued business with Desmond’s psychic hotline was really a footnote in the episode, but I’m still sold on the ‘missing-time’/time-travel theory. Also that lime golf guy is an ass. I dislike Paulo and Nikki more than anything and I hope the Polar bear eats them.
The big nugget of awesome for the episode, for me personally was the 40-yr old male spinal X-ray tumor, which everyone seems to want to attribute to Benjamin or the others. I guess because they just really want bad things to happen to them. But I’m not buying it. First off, if they don’t have working defibrillators, is it realistic that they have a working X-ray machine and a Tech who could produce a readable X-ray, and possibly the ability to do Myelograms? (Which I’m just throwing in, because I can’t read this X-ray for shit, but it’s possible there’s dye there, you don’t know either, so shut up!) Obviously they may have Book Club and muffins, but I’m not sold on the Benry-X-ray. Let’s look at the scans in question:
Though they never show up really clearly other than what appears to be the ‘right-marker’ which actually looks more like a fricking sticker than anything else. Some X-ray markers come with intials on them to indicate who the tech was, but we aren’t so lucky here. The circles and dots seem to be of the type of marker that indicate the direction of gravity with ball bearings- such as if the patient is reclining, WHICH YOU WOULD DO, IF YOU WERE PARALYZED!
Ahem, so it looks like this one clear image we have shows a right side, lower back X-ray of a prone patient. Up next let’s examine what Jack’s assesment is:
“Who’s x-rays are those? Outside? Those are spinal x-rays and they belong to a man about 40 years old and whoever he is he has a very large tumor on his L-4 vertebrae and I just happen to be a spinal surgeon. So you tell me, Juliet, who am I here to save?”
L-4, by the way, would have function control of the Thigh flexion, Thigh adduction, Extension of leg at the knee (quadriceps femoris), Flexion of leg at the knee (hamstrings), Dorsiflexion of foot (tibialis anterior), and Extension of toes. Suck it!
Now Jacky- you crazy obsessed bastard, you- are we really going to jump on the idea that the Others crashed your plane SPECIFICALLY to operate on someone? Surgeons and their egos, I tell you. If anyone catches that blame, it’s Desmond, who runs around in the jungle like a nekkid Jesus. If the Others can’t get a working defibrillator, I’m thinking they didn’t manufacture the circumstances that gets everyone else on the plane- which ties in nicely with the idea that there’s some greater reason everyone’s on the Island- Others included. Even if it’s a happy accident Jack’s arrived in time to bust out the miracle, I think they’d rather just bite the bullet and go with the Dharma HMO.
What we do know is that the Others have access to the outside world seemingly, and getting a copy of someone’s X-rays is a little more plausible in my twisted logic. Also because Locke is the only person with established spinal problems and he was conspicously absent the entire episode. Right now I’d take 10-1 it’s Locke’s X-ray and 50-1 it’s Benry’s. 2-1 that we’ll get another hint before we learn the truth, so I’m completely willing to revise.
Overall I think what’s going on is a very subtle bit of misdirection- with the Others in the greater scheme- Benry cops to being a bigger Con than Sawyer, but here specifically- John is kinda obvious, but out of the context. Don’t dismiss the idea so quick. But then I’m partial on interpreting everything with regards to Locke being the most interesting, pivotal character, because he is.
EDIT: Rewatching the promo for next week, I see that I missed Jack talking to Benry about the tumor- there’s a little editing going on- but it looks like Jack is directly telling Ben that his tumor is going to kill him.
Still maintain that X-rays aren’t simple procedures, and Locke’s is listed as 48 years old from the birth certificate back in season 1. Part of the reason I like the tumor on Locke is that you’re expecting his paralysis to be related to the DEA-Drug Commune showdown, a gunshot, the Mobsters his father stole money from, or some complication of his kidney surgery, and a tumor is totally left field. As poor John does not have the best luck, it stays with that idea too.
one other thing
To clarify just how insane I am over LOST at the moment: Madness knows no bounds!
This is one of the many Dharma shirts I’ve made. It’s a sickness. But no one seems to ever recognize them, so I keep at it.
Birfdays upon birfdays where scripts meet reality.
Another birthday worth mention this week, of my longtime and erstwhile pal. We don’t always get along, but few relationships are without their share of squabbles. In the end I know I’m stuck with him and we’ll always share a common outlook on the world. I mean of course my pet betta – Max:
I moved Max to my work cubical back in April, so he would get a little more attention during the day. His house is a little bit smaller and the h2o needs changing more often, but this week Max is officially a year old! Yay for whimsical screenplay inspired impulse buys. Max is an angry little fish who is prone to doing acrobatics when I feed him or the occassional pirahna impersonation. It cracks me up.
The main story behind Max is that I was working through some character stuff last year and thinking about what sort of pet my protagonist from Nickel & Dime would have, and since Edison is a crazy, germophobic control freak, the fish seemed appropriate. Even better, she names the fish after her antagonist in the script as some sort of warped gag. And then there is the pun of all times – Betta Max the fish. I’m pretty keen on the little guy, and he makes a fun story, since I occassionally drag him along on my travels if they’re going to be a while- just like Bill Murray in “What About Bob” which probably indicates I have more in common with Edison than is advisable.
I have a lot of fun making my scripts a blendy of reality and fiction, but even moreso taking things that were originally fiction and making them reality. And given some of the stuff I write about, the fish is one of the more sane alternatives.
Also, completely unrelated, and perhaps not as commentable is the fact that today is my brothers’ birthday:
Bart and Brett. I can’t be bothered to remember how old they are or anything. Don’t be fooled by their apparent cuteness either. They’re as evil as me. Oddly enough, they’re in Nickel & Dime as well- as the first honest to god real people I’ve used in any script. Which is kinda weird because the folks who have read the pages seemed to be very entertained, but I honest to god am just transcribing them onto the page. (Aside from the whole bank heist thing). It entertains me that they make such good fictional characters.
Hitting the road this afternoon for weekend trip and more birthdays. Weather looks enjoyable, should be fun.
John Locke: Handle With Care
LOST spoilers ho! So episode 3 of season 3 was a treat for me, since Locke is my favorite character. A bit more back story, another weird twist and more polar bears. What more could you ask? Well, I’m getting really fond of Ben Henry Linus Gale, so seeing Michael Emerson would not have gone amiss, but it seems like they’re packing in more commercials than ever, so I guess I’ll just have to wait until next week.
Zombie Boone’s appearance was nice, although the sweat hut was a little more tantric-y mystical than I’ve been reading Locke. All the same it gets John of his mute-patoot and back in hero gear to save Mr. Eko while Charlie tags along. Most of this journey just saw Charlie coming back around to Locke’s side, which only goes to show that Hobbits are fickle when gone over to the dark side, and why Claire will never ever actually stayed hooked. Charlie is an adolescent.
Self induced hallucinations can’t stop Locke as he tracks cotton-shedding polar bear through the jungle, who conveniently carries us back past the Swan-crater so we can all wonder – how in the frak anyone got out of that alive? Which will be answered in season 89. Locke of course saves Eko, who then momentarily becomes the voice of God and gives Locke his next mission ala Charlie, (of Angels fame, not heroin-chic metro sexual). At this point, much like earlier in the episode, Eko’s Jesus-stick fell out of my ceiling and gave me a bloody nose. Shame on me for forgetting I was on ABC, the stick seemed to say- next time we’ll syndicate some PAX television.
Silly me.
I did like the episode, if nothing else because I can stare at Terry O’Quinn for 33 minutes (which seem to be how long the episodes are actually running this season). Desmond and Hurley had some fun scenes. “Is that you, Bear?” cracked me up. There’s a few story arc elements introduced, (time travel?) but mainly the episode started the bounce back for John Locke. He’s had a crisis, and he’s got a new goal so I expect him to come back and kick ass the rest of the season. But there’s some things going on with Locke that I don’t like. Before I start in on those, let’s enjoy a moment of Locke’s awesome:
So now that that’s out of the way, I just want to say can we please stop making Locke so fragile. I did not think they could possible strip him down and make him any more vulnerable than having his asshole Dad show up, steal his kidney, and then take his love away. They keep showing him sorta happy and mostly well adjusted in all these circumstances and then they jerk the carpet out from under him. Or have him do it to himself, which is the same thing, if not harder to watch. I understand, I can hear you now- John is human. Humans make mistakes. Stop with blinking neon signs already. This seems to be readily apparent in every character’s backstory. They’re all fuck-ups and/or fucked up. Which leads me to believe they’re making ALL the survivors out to be these horrible people, and the Others really are the good ones.
Which doesn’t spell good things for Locke and I don’t know how much more I can handle seeing him get tormented by the fates and whimsical writers. If John really is a ‘good one’ like Benry suggested, then the only thing that can be worth this is having him smacked around again and again, and yet never crossing the line, while all the others would. But a man who never takes a stand, a guy that gets knocked down, he’s hard to like perpetually. After a while, you’re just sort of like “Stay down, man!” and that’s what I’m worried about with Locke. There’s a thin line between being strong enough to turn the other cheek and getting walked on, and I need Locke to stay on the strong side, because he’s an awesome character and wonderfully played. To the writers I would just say, please don’t make me change my mind, cause I love Locke and I totally do have knives and I will hunt you down.