tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17517257.post938760350838711907..comments2024-03-25T19:18:14.047-04:00Comments on What's Alan Watching?: Lost, "Follow the Leader": Paid the cost to be the bossAlan Sepinwallhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03388147774725646742noreply@blogger.comBlogger188125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17517257.post-64534064425437009162009-05-17T15:10:00.000-04:002009-05-17T15:10:00.000-04:00Scott J. wrote:
>>Damon & Carlton mercif...Scott J. wrote:<br />>>Damon & Carlton mercifully address the questions about the compass in their latest podcast.>><br /><br />Heh. I just heard the podcast you talk about in your post, and immediately felt the need to come and post. Luckily, you got here first :-)<br /><br />There is no second compass theory. The compass is in a mysterious, unsolvable time loop paradox. Yaa :-)bakijahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11357029145748622693noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17517257.post-52378842375857431892009-05-14T13:59:00.000-04:002009-05-14T13:59:00.000-04:00Mike F: "This brings to mind and may answer a ques...Mike F: "This brings to mind and may answer a question that's been on my mind for years. How did Penny just happen to be in the right place at the right time to pick up the Oceanic Six...and before that, how did she happen to be at the right place at the right time to catch Desmond's phone call and to answer the transmission from Charlie. It seems to me that likely Eloise has moved her around like a chess piece as she's done with others for some wide-ranging purpose."<br /><br />Um... Penny's ship was near the island ever since the hatch blew up. When Desmond turned the failsafe key, he basically destroyed the island's "invisibility" cloak. Sure, it was still tough to get to and from the island without losing your mind (like the freighter dude + Desmond experienced), you had to maintain that specific bearing and all, BUT... Penny's team (those two dudes in a radio listening station, remember?) detected the EM pulse or whatever from that "purple sky" moment, and she started hanging out in the vicinity.<br /><br />Then when Ben turned the frozen donkey wheel, the island disappeared, ocean filled its space, and the helicopter and its crew were easily findable by Penny's ship. Well, maybe not EASY, it is a nice big open ocean area, but point being that the island's properties were no longer preventing Penny from getting to Desmond. Boom, fixed!<br /><br />So... hope that makes more sense to you than whatever you'd heard before, Mike F. As for the phone call, Desmond called her at her house. She just happened to be at home in London when Desmond called her, that's all. Transmission from Charlie... was almost a season after the purple sky moment, so she was either in a monitoring station like the one her two employees were back during the purple sky/Swan Station failsafe key moment.... OR, she was already on a ship at that point. Either way, she told Charlie that the ship there AT the island wasn't her ship, and then she presumably made her way closer to the island to try and find Desmond and anyone else she could.<br /><br />Dave Angel: "It has made me think a little bit about the running time of the show and the amount of episodes. As a Brit who is used to shows lasting an hour and particularly loving 'the wire' and 'the sopranos', American shows that did last nearly an hour or longer, I can't help thinking that in a 16 episode season of 42 minutes each that big chunks of interesting story are being edited out.. Kate getting caught after leaving Jack and Sayid for instance.:<br /><br />The Wire and the Sopranos are on commercial-free HBO, that's the only reason the shows last around 50-55 minutes instead of 42 minutes. Every non-HBO or non-Showtime show on American TV, network OR mainstream cable channels... is edited for 42 minutes not by the station but by the producers of the show. Meaning you're not losing out on 10+ minutes of stuff the writers and director wanted you to see. Anything that was cut to get the episode down to 42 minutes were things they wanted to cut. Similar to how an hour long Doctor Who ep COULD have run 70 minutes, but 10 minutes of stuff was cut that didn't fit in somehow, made no sense, ruined the pacing, etc.<br /><br />The 42 vs. 55/60/whatever minute difference is arbitrary. If the Lost writers had longer shows to make, then they'd be making LESS of them per season, so while I agree that a 20 ep season would be nice, you can't really blame the show length. 42 minute shows is what us Americans have had to make do with for decades. Just be glad they don't try to squeeze lost into a 21 minute (30 min for you guys) sitcom-length chunk! heh.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17517257.post-16333503749970292212009-05-13T05:21:00.000-04:002009-05-13T05:21:00.000-04:00Damon & Carlton mercifully address the questio...Damon & Carlton mercifully address the questions about the compass in their latest podcast. Its nature was the subject of "way too many hours" of discussion in the writers' room, and they hit on every point that has been brought up here. They confirm that: <br />it is stuck in a loop, <br />it has no origin, <br />yet it decays over time.<br /><br />They don't actually use the word "paradox". Damon likens it to an unsolvable mathematical problem such as Fermat's Last Theorem (newsflash, Damon: they solved it!), while Carlton comes right out and calls it "magic". So no easy answers, basically, which is OK by me.Scott J.noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17517257.post-36187992633232389012009-05-12T13:55:00.000-04:002009-05-12T13:55:00.000-04:00Interesting point Anon. I think the only baby we k...Interesting point Anon. I think the only baby we know for sure was conceived on the island was Ji Yeon. (And Other pregnancies that killed the mothers). In the 70s and before, the Others and the Dharma people both have ways of traveling on and off the island and we know that Eloise traveled back and forth before leaving permanently, and we know that the Dharma people did send their women to mainland to give birth, so it's possible they were sent away to conceive as well. Still it's only in the aughts that we know pregancies are failing (at the latest, before Juliet is recruited), so we don't know yet when that starts. The Incident is a good guess but we'll see.<br /><br />Eloise killing her own son from the future before he's born (probably actually when he's in utero!) is definitely related thematically if not literally.christynoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17517257.post-13346542917986326682009-05-12T13:06:00.000-04:002009-05-12T13:06:00.000-04:00For me, one of Lost's biggest unsolved mysteries i...For me, one of Lost's biggest unsolved mysteries is why women cannot conceive on the island. With so many daddy issues I've sometimes forgotton about this but Eloise's murder of her future son got me thinking....Could the island have taken offense to this action and will therefore not allow any other women to conceive? I like the idea that the island is punishing all women for Eloise's mistake. Do we know of any women after Eloise who became pregnant on the island? We saw that Rousseau was already pregnant with Alex upon island arrival, for example and I can't think of a single character who we know for a fact was conceived on the island since (possibly the 70s Dharma-babies like Miles and Charlotte but those details are still vague). Sort of a random theory (one that also assumes that the Others in the 50s WERE conceiving on the island) but one that has been bugging me for a couple of weeks now. OK after 5 seasons of watching I threw out a theory but now my brain hurts so I'm going back to entertained viewer mode. LOVE your column Alan!Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17517257.post-58301579075855580002009-05-12T10:32:00.000-04:002009-05-12T10:32:00.000-04:00Late watching this episode but I'd like to give du...Late watching this episode but I'd like to give due recognition to the great Elizabeth Mitchell for her work in this episode.<br />During the interrogation scene when Phil / Jimmy Barrett starts to beat Juliet, she gives a quick smile as Sawyer starts to go ballistic. 'Yes he loves me !'<br />Her ability to tell us so much with looks/expressions this season has been a highlight.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17517257.post-44366508688730671252009-05-12T01:20:00.000-04:002009-05-12T01:20:00.000-04:00Maybe after LOST ends, they'll do a spin-off of th...Maybe after LOST ends, they'll do a spin-off of the show featuring the entire run of the show seen from the perspective of the time-traveling compass.<br /><br />Maybe Ron Moore and Joss Whedon could team up and produce and write that one as their next project.Mike Fnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17517257.post-70273547597407895142009-05-11T02:14:00.000-04:002009-05-11T02:14:00.000-04:00The mystery of where the compass comes from reinfo...The mystery of where the compass comes from reinforces some sage advice:<br /><br />Always save your receipts.drugtestnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17517257.post-7204742127547981072009-05-10T17:01:00.000-04:002009-05-10T17:01:00.000-04:00WAAAAAAAAAALT
I want WAAAAAAAAAAAAAALTWAAAAAAAAAALT<br /><br />I want WAAAAAAAAAAAAAALTMichaelnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17517257.post-37728788262370743432009-05-10T16:01:00.000-04:002009-05-10T16:01:00.000-04:00Eliza notes: "I still think there's no way to know...<I>Eliza notes: "I still think there's no way to know if Jughead will go off or not. If it does = radiation everywhere, women can't give birth. If it doesn't, still in the basement leaking radiation below the Dharma town"</I>It does seem that in the past there's no evidence of a pregnancy problem on the island. Or am I missing something? If true, then this problem arose after our heroes traveled back to 1977. <br /><br />Moreover, the effects of radiation on pregnancy are well documented (post-war Hiroshima and Nagasaki) and do not match the description we've received of the problems on the lost island. The inference I recall from those descriptions was that these problems were related to whatever on the Island heals cancer/etc. Perhaps a release of radiation combined with this other factor x is the source of later pregnancy woes.<br /><I>-anonymoose</I>Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17517257.post-27613828724099243112009-05-10T14:22:00.000-04:002009-05-10T14:22:00.000-04:00Elizu said: ". . .but as Lost has been so paradox-...<I>Elizu said: ". . .but as Lost has been so paradox-free, . . ."</I> <br /><br />Once characters start seeing earlier versions of themselves, I think we are well beyond "paradox free". The view of time travel proposed by the show is ultimately an infinite regress and as such is unsustainable from the viewpoint of logic. Indeed, there are very few cosmological theories that permit a world where time travel into the past is possible and pretty much any show that proffers one runs into the inf-reg problem at some point. Be a Taoist of good cheer and let it all just flow right over you.<br /><br />Two cents, freely offered :)<br /><br />-<I>anonymoose</I>Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17517257.post-37461853194992380022009-05-09T23:39:00.000-04:002009-05-09T23:39:00.000-04:00Erizu wrote:
>>We absolutely can put faith i...Erizu wrote:<br />>>We absolutely can put faith into the detail of the show (haven't you stressed the importance of looking at the content of the 'text'?, this counts, no?)>><br /><br />Yes. I have. But I only put faith into the intentional parts of the show--I'm unconvinced that what the compass prop looked like 19 episodes ago relative to how they ended up needing it to look was intentional. Having Richard specifically point out that it was the same compass? Completely intentional. Having the compass looking the way it did in Because You Left? I'm not convinced that is intentional. Could I be wrong? Sure. But I'm willing to chalk that up to unintentional production gaff more than I'm willing to chalk it up to intentional writing. <br /><br />>>The writers obviously planned this season thoroughly ("I never said there was a bullet in my leg, Richard" "Well, you will"), so I see no reason to believe the compass prop being non-rusty is an accident, especially considering they highlight that the one Richard has had for 50 years IS.>><br /><br />Sure. I might be wrong. And if it turns out I am? I'll be like "Huh. Look at that. I stand corrected."bakijahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11357029145748622693noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17517257.post-20811293434023721052009-05-09T13:16:00.000-04:002009-05-09T13:16:00.000-04:00We absolutely can put faith into the detail of the...We absolutely can put faith into the detail of the show (haven't you stressed the importance of looking at the content of the 'text'?, this counts, no?) The writers obviously planned this season thoroughly ("I never said there was a bullet in my leg, Richard" "Well, you will"), so I see no reason to believe the compass prop being non-rusty is an accident, especially considering they highlight that the one Richard has had for 50 years IS. <br /><br />Granted, we haven't seen the origin of the compass yet, but as Lost has been so paradox-free, there is enough evidence in the show to indicate the compass Richard passes on is the same one he's had for 50 years. Infact there is no strong evidence either way, Richard hasn't said the same compass he passed on was the one he had, he just said he still had the one from '54. Hell, in Follow the Leader they don't even show the clip with the compass being handed off, so his line clearly wasn't that important.Erizunoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17517257.post-66149174332759924302009-05-09T10:14:00.000-04:002009-05-09T10:14:00.000-04:00Dave Angel wrote:
>>What has happened to lit...Dave Angel wrote:<br />>>What has happened to little Ben?!>><br /><br />He is with the Others. We haven't seen him since Richard took him, and really, not that much time has passed since then (a couple days, maybe, IIRC). And we already know what happens with little Ben from this point--he ends up back with the Dharma Initiative eventually, grows up, is secretly an Other all that time, and then helps kill all the Dharma folks in The Purge. <br /><br />At this point, it is likely important that we don't see little Ben again, as they have established that Ben doesn't remember the Losties being around in 1977, which is easily explained by him losing memory from around his getting shot, and then him not getting back to Dharma until after the Losties all vanish againbakijahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11357029145748622693noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17517257.post-6931636170209065502009-05-09T07:17:00.000-04:002009-05-09T07:17:00.000-04:00Hello all, first post and this episode has caused ...Hello all, first post and this episode has caused me to beg a few questions.. <br />What has happened to little Ben?! I've either missed something or we haven't seen him since Richard took him to the temple.. Where is his Dad in all the chaos of the evacuation off the island?! Horace, Radzinski and co also did not question Juliet about little Ben's disappearance after it became established that her and Sawyer were not what they seemed..<br /><br />It has made me think a little bit about the running time of the show and the amount of episodes. As a Brit who is used to shows lasting an hour and particularly loving 'the wire' and 'the sopranos', American shows that did last nearly an hour or longer, I can't help thinking that in a 16 episode season of 42 minutes each that big chunks of interesting story are being edited out.. Kate getting caught after leaving Jack and Sayid for instance. <br /><br />I think its a bit ironic that just as the show has got an end in sight and every single character and their arc has become really interesting there isn't enough time to tell all their stories.. Such little back story for Jin, Sayid and even how Sawyer and co got established with Dharma. Compare to the filler episodes of seasons 2 and 3, Jack's tattoo etc.<br /><br />It does mean that every single episode is taut and fast moving but I can't help thinking that say 20 episodes would have made for an even more satisfying season.Dave Angelnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17517257.post-80741842525850524732009-05-09T01:06:00.000-04:002009-05-09T01:06:00.000-04:00Erizu wrote:
>>No. Watch Because You Left ag...Erizu wrote:<br />>>No. Watch Because You Left again (because they don't show the moment in Follow the Leader), the compass Richard gives time-travel Locke is not rusty.>><br /><br />Heh. I don't think we can put much faith in a really minimal detail like what the compass prop looked like in Because You Left (filmed, and presumably written, before Follow the Leader). That is likely something that needs to be chalked up to "the writers and prop guys hadn't figured out what they were going to do at that point..."<br /><br />>>It cannot be the one he has been keeping for fifty years, because as he puts out, "it's a little rusty".>><br /><br />Except based on the story, it is the same compass (as Richard says it is the same compass). So we can take the character at his word (i.e. when he says it is the same compass, it is the same compass) or we can assume the character is lying. But that opens up too many cans of worms to even consider. <br /><br />>>I don't see how his comment changes anything, or makes it a paradox.>><br /><br />The Paradox is that the compass can't actually exist. As it was never made. It only exists because of a time travel loop--if we assume there is only one compass (and we have zero reason at this point to think otherwise other than pure conjecture), Richard got it from Locke in '54. Richard gives it to Locke in '07. Locke then goes back in time and gives it to Richard in '54. The compass didn't come from anywhere. It just is. Which is the paradox.<br /><br />>>I was wrong before, it is the same compass, what it actually is is the same compass at two different ages existing at the same time (kinda like Miles)>><br /><br />See, with Miles, there are two Miles-es (Miles-i?), and we know there are two Miles-es; the one who is an infant in 1977, and the one who is grown up in 1977 from 2007. There is no problem there. We don't have a similar situation with the compass. We only know of one compass--the one that Locke gave Richard in '54 and then Richard gives to Locke in '07. There is no information indicating that there are ever two compasses (which are the same compass from two different times) like there are two Miles-es. But there is information indicating that there is only one compass.<br /><br />>>Compass A - Richard buys a compass in 1997.<br />Compass A - Richard gives it to Locke in 2007.<br />Compass A - Having time travelled, in 1954, Locke gives this ten year old compass to Richard.<br />Compass A - 40 years later in 1997, Richard still owns this now-rusty compass, but buys a new, shiny one. The same compass, one younger one older.<br />Compass A - 10 years later, Richard gives the shiny (younger) compass to Locke.<br />Compass A - 2017 - Richard still owns this now 70 year old compass.>><br /><br />Which certainly could work. If we had any evidence at all that Richard bought a new compass. But we don't. We just have Richard saying he has the same compass that John gave him in '54. And again, we can believe what Richard says (and have no reason not to, based on what the story tells us) or we can choose to ignore what he says and conjecture other things. Which, again, isn't completely unreasonable, but I tend to go with the information we have.<br /><br />Now mind, you, this could all just be the result of sloppy writing. Or it could be the result of the writers realizing that the compass is a incomprehensible time loop paradox, and just going with it, 'cause it is funny. Or maybe next week, they'll explain it all with a second compass story (although that seems unlikely). But if we take the story, and it's characters at face value, and don't invent "second compass" theories on conjecture, what we got is an impossible paradox compass. Which I'm totally ok with. As it is cool. If non sensical.bakijahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11357029145748622693noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17517257.post-10200935217903628292009-05-08T19:59:00.000-04:002009-05-08T19:59:00.000-04:00@The Other Mike.F
"As I'm thinking through this p...@The Other Mike.F<br /><br />"As I'm thinking through this post, though, there's no way that the H-Bomb will go off. 27 years is nowhere near long enough for the island to shrug off the effects of an H-Bomb. There would have been very visible evidence in 2004."<br /><br />Like women dying during pregnancy from unknown circumstances?<br /><br />I still think there's no way to know if Jughead will go off or not. If it does = radiation everywhere, women can't give birth. If it doesn't, still in the basement leaking radiation below the Dharma town where, unfortunately, the Others all live and try to have babies, so the women can't give birth.Erizunoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17517257.post-2983955584527186822009-05-08T19:56:00.000-04:002009-05-08T19:56:00.000-04:00@Peter D
"And what we have seen on the show? An i...@Peter D<br /><br />"And what we have seen on the show? An infinite loop time paradox compass :-)"<br /><br />No. Watch Because You Left again (because they don't show the moment in Follow the Leader), the compass Richard gives time-travel Locke is not rusty. It cannot be the one he has been keeping for fifty years, because as he puts out, "it's a little rusty". <br /><br /><br />"But then compass he gives to John in 2007 is the compass John gave him in 1954. 'Do you have that compass I gave you?' 'Yes. A little rusty, but still points north'. It isn't a different compass. It is the same one."<br /><br />I don't see how his comment changes anything, or makes it a paradox. I was wrong before, it is the same compass, what it actually is is the same compass at two different ages existing at the same time (kinda like Miles)<br /><br />Here's how I make it:<br /><br />Compass A - Richard buys a compass in 1997.<br />Compass A - Richard gives it to Locke in 2007.<br />Compass A - Having time travelled, in 1954, Locke gives this ten year old compass to Richard.<br />Compass A - 40 years later in 1997, Richard still owns this now-rusty compass, but buys a new, shiny one. The same compass, one younger one older.<br />Compass A - 10 years later, Richard gives the shiny (younger) compass to Locke.<br />Compass A - 2017 - Richard still owns this now 70 year old compass. <br /><br />It's easier to think of it as an organic thing:<br /><br />So a kid is born in 1997, in 2007 he goes back in time to the fifties. By 2007, he's 60-odd. Simuntaneously, his 10 year old self goes back to the fifties, while the 60 year old keeps aging. <br /><br />So actually it is one compass, it's just the compass comes into existence at the same time as it's 50-year old self exists alongside it. I think you think its a paradox because you assume it has to be created before 1954.Erizunoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17517257.post-58880439188570243292009-05-08T16:01:00.000-04:002009-05-08T16:01:00.000-04:00Right after they said that Alpert was on the islan...Right after they said that Alpert was on the island for a very, very long time, they cut to a shot of him, and I got to thinking about he always appears to be wearing eyeliner... which for some reason made me think about how the ancient Egyptians were always depicted with a lot of eyeliner... which naturally led me to the idea of the giant Egyptian statue that once stood on the island. My new theory is that the island's origins will be tied to ancient Egypt, and that even if Alpert did not originate with that group, he has close ties to them.<br /><br />I love the certainty of a good hunch.pgillanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08627255978843800751noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17517257.post-9638487304257338242009-05-08T14:38:00.000-04:002009-05-08T14:38:00.000-04:00RE: Richard saying he saw them all die... we know ...RE: Richard saying he saw them all die... we know a couple of things: 1) There is "an incident," and 2) Richard survives it. <br /><br />Richard will somehow be safely removed from "the incident" (which seems likely to be the detonation of the hydrogen bomb). He probably thought that the Losties did not get safely away, and when he sees the H-Bomb explode, he simply assumes that everything alive will have been killed. But if they are thrown back to the future before the denonation without his knowledge, he would be under the impression that they were killed.<br /><br />As I'm thinking through this post, though, there's no way that the H-Bomb will go off. 27 years is nowhere near long enough for the island to shrug off the effects of an H-Bomb. There would have been very visible evidence in 2004.The Other Mike F.noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17517257.post-84383082634718033962009-05-08T14:21:00.000-04:002009-05-08T14:21:00.000-04:00The time travel is not as compelling to me as the ...The time travel is not as compelling to me as the characters. Richard's and Ben's exchange about Locke being trouble and Locke's march to Jacob are much more intriguing to me. This role of adviser or person who takes you where you need to be (Richard, Abingdon, Christian) keeps me hooked. And of course Jacob - the what or who. Richard took young dieing Ben and said "he'll never be the same" -- just prompts the trading your soul to the devil ideas. Is Ben (and possibly several others) a vessel for Jacob? <br /><br />Also, I just like the whole notion of exploring leadership in its many forms and how each style has its time to shine. Locke talking to the Others reminded me of the Guyana drinking the punch incident, though and gave me a bad feeling.annienoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17517257.post-59322905509767798592009-05-08T13:55:00.000-04:002009-05-08T13:55:00.000-04:00Alan you're correct in pointing out Kate was put o...Alan you're correct in pointing out Kate was put on the sub, but the larger question is still there - has Kate done or said anything related to finding Claire? Is her excuse for not doing anything that she's in the past?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17517257.post-49798652489582505402009-05-08T13:35:00.000-04:002009-05-08T13:35:00.000-04:00James M. Barrie said: "because of what Christy sai...James M. Barrie said: "because of what Christy said in her comments (that girl reads my mind)."<br /><br />This makes me smile, because I was thinking the same thing. That James M. Barrie, he gets me. No wonder I loved Peter Pan so much as a child (um, and as an adult as well).<br /><br />Like Erizu, I was also considering that Richard may have actually found the original, younger compass AFTER Locke gives him the old one. I didn't mention it because people seemed to be hung up on the compass proving something to Richard in the 1950s, so it was easier to explain the basic theory how it COULD be only one compass at different points in its "life" without just going round and round to infinity. But from a strictly logical standpoint, and given that we don't have enough information yet to say for sure where it originated or what Richard thinks of it, it could be. It could be that at some point between 1954 and 2007, Richard finds the young compass and says "OHHH, so that's where it came from!" And we will say the same thing :)<br /><br />Peter D Bakija said: "But then compass he gives to John in 2007 is the compass John gave him in 1954. "Do you have that compass I gave you?" "Yes. A little rusty, but still points north". It isn't a different compass. It is the same one."<br /><br />It's always the same one. It's just a matter of whether it's done the hand-off from Richard to Locke to Richard yet, from the "perspective" of the compass. If the compass had been shot in the neck while in Locke's possession, would it have a scar in 2007? :)<br /><br />What I mean is that when Locke says "Do you have that compass I gave you?" and Richard says "yes," he may be referring to either the younger one or the older one or both, because they are the same compass. One has traveled through time already, the other hasn't, but they are the same compass. Richard has probably figured that out by 2007, too.<br /><br />That is, if it's not an infinite loop time-traveling compass, but rather just a regular loop time-traveling compass.christynoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17517257.post-26708744846635408722009-05-08T13:04:00.000-04:002009-05-08T13:04:00.000-04:00can I also say, that when the gun went off--before...can I also say, that when the gun went off--before we knew it was Sayid--both my teenagers looked all excited, because they were so hoping that they'd actually killed Kate. I am sorry to report this, but it's worth mentioning, I guess. The youth of tomorrow aren't Kate fans.Jennifer Finney Boylanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12992190992201130545noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17517257.post-20692782610320226862009-05-08T12:57:00.000-04:002009-05-08T12:57:00.000-04:00James wrote:
>>Nope. It makes no sense that ...James wrote:<br />>>Nope. It makes no sense that the universe waits a while before colapsing.>><br /><br />Heh--I wasn't really suggesting that the show was going to end with an abrupt universal disolution. That was just comedy :-)<br /><br />>>Then, I will accept that theory of an older compass coexisting with a newer compass.>><br /><br />Which is a reasonable thing to do. But for my money, I'd much rather just go with what we have seen on the show (i.e. all we have is the text). And what we have seen on the show? An infinite loop time paradox compass :-)<br /><br />>>Then, he realizes that the compass he's got (going by Erizu's theory, a compass he got AFTER 1954) is the same one Locke gives him in 1954.>><br /><br />But then compass he gives to John in 2007 is the compass John gave him in 1954. "Do you have that compass I gave you?" "Yes. A little rusty, but still points north". It isn't a different compass. It is the same one.<br /><br />>>But now that I think about it, we have no explicit evidence in Cabin Fever that, when Richard asks young John "what object is already yours?", he is referring to the compass, do we?>><br /><br />Well, no. But this is, I suspect, way too far of a leap away from the text of the show. In Cabin Feefer, we get a completely unexplained scene of Richard presenting some objects to child Locke, asking him to identify which is his. One of these objects is a compass. Which, in Because You Left, turns out to be a significant object (the compass) that travels trhough time. We can make two things of this:<br /><br />A) Richard was hoping that John would recognize the compass as his, as Richard got the compass from John. From the future.<br /><br />B) Something else completely different that isn't really supported by evidence presented.<br /><br />I can see why someone would go to (B), but I'm sticking with (A).<br /><br />>>Oh, and for the people that are pointing out that discussing the compass issue is useless, I beg to differ.>><br /><br />Agreed 100%. This is some TV geek analysis gold!bakijahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11357029145748622693noreply@blogger.com