Yes, I know it’s on tonight, but I got a lot of interesting e-mail about last week’s episode, and I want to share, so we all have something more to think about tonight.First off, spunkyboss Ben came up with an anagram for us. Benry’s van last week was labeled “Canton-Rainier Carpet Cleaners’. Ben spotted that “Canton-Rainier” is an anagram for “Reincarnation”. Bonus points for Ben!
Next, spunkybuddy Julie wondered if Faraday and Charlotte might actually be related, as “he seems more nurturing and protective than romantically involved”. That’s good! On the one hand, I know a little something about how the socially awkward geek mind works (I know…contain your surprise…) and I can understand his attitude right now. When you’re actually in a position to take care of your crush object, you attack that task.
On the other hand, from Day One he’s really seemed more concerned for her welfare than anything else. He’s avoided any kind of casual touch, too. Now, last season we had some suggestions that Daniel had time-traveled (Remember how he was having problems with his memory?), he had an immediate reaction to the crash of Flight 815, and at the beginning of this season, we saw him as a Dharma Work Man in the late 70’s / early 80’s. Finally, if White Oracle is indeed his mother and is Ellie from 1954, she either gave birth late in life, or we have time travel to thank for Faraday’s appearance in the present. What I’m basically saying is, well, what if Daniel is Charlotte’s father? I mean, the Dr. Marvin Candle scene took place right about when Charlotte would have been born. So take a minute before you start rooting for those two to get together, OK?
Another spunkybuddy, Autumn, suggested that perhaps some of Walt and Christian’s mysterious appearances were a result of time travel. I like that – they pop up in places where they’re not supposed to be, and then disappear without a trace. That’s pretty much what the Lostaways are doing right now, after all. And while I think there’s more to it with Christian, since he’s technically dead and also possibly Jacob, I think that’s definitely the story with Walt. Remember, the Others had him for most of Season Two and so far we don’t know anything that happened to him during that time. They mentioned a “test”, but that’s it. Poor little Walt might have been an unwilling time traveler. (And that just might explain why they don’t seem to need him to come back to the Island. If he jumped to the future, he might have already played his part.)
Our own Don pointed out that my “Locke is Jacob” theory doesn’t explain what’s going on with Christian and all the other weird doings in Jacob’s cabin. He’s right about that. I should have fleshed out my theory a little more, but I was so darn excited about it. See, I think there actually is a Jacob. Richard “Batmanuel” Alpert mentioned him already in 1954, Locke not only saw something in the cabin but had a lengthy conversation with a dead man. So clearly, there is, or was, an actual Jacob. However, I don’t think Benry’s ever seen or heard from him. The time he thought he did, in my scenario, it was actually Locke. Just one more way the Island rejected him. The previous leader of the Others spoke to Jacob. Locke spoke to him before even becoming the leader. Benry? Nothing. Now, there still are a lot of questions about what the deal is with Christian and/or Jacob. On that stuff, I’m still stumped.
Finally, spunkyspouse Mrs. Don thought of something interesting. Last season in “The Constant”, Widmore paid a lot of money for a journal from the Black Rock, the boat that ran aground on the Island. At the time, I thought that most of his information about the Island came from that source. Of course, as Mrs. Don points out, now we know that he was an Other. She suggests that he bought the journal to keep anybody else from getting information about the Island, rather than to learn anything for himself. I’d say that’s a good call. Also, she wonders if the original Others are the people who were aboard the Black Rock. I’d say that’s certainly possible. I tend to think Richard “Batmanuel” Albert goes back even further, but I certainly think a lot of the regular Others could be descended from the Black Rock crew. Or possibly are the Black Rock crew, and the Island kept them from aging as well. (The Black Rock disappeared in 1845.)
And about the Black Rock, according to the online Lost Experience, it was actually a slave ship. So, you know, the crew had to include some cruel and violent men. Qualities that would make you a darn good Other, I believe. Plus, we haven’t seen a non-white Other, that I can recall. Did they run aground on the Island and immediately begin with a massacre? And finally, on my last Black Rock note, there is a “Black Rock City” in Nevada. This is worth noting because it’s a “temporary city” that hosts the Burning Man festival every year. A city that exists for a week and then disappears? That’s certainly not unlike an Island that jumps around in space and time. And if this is intentional, I have to point out that the Black Rock was mentioned for the first time in the pilot episode. You know what? When they say they went into this show with a plan, I sort of have to believe them.
