HerbEly

Great Post on "Lost"

Go over to Amy Welborn's Open Book for posting and comments about the TV show. Even after the comments, I'm still sticking with the purgatory and reconciliation theory.

Lost: Chiastic Structure in “Man of Science, Man of Faith”

Has anyone else noticed the chiastic (crosswise) structure of the September 21st episode of Lost? John Locke, bearer of the philosopher’s name, believes that the Island is the embodiment of some mysterious higher power. Jack Shepherd, bearer of an apostle’s and divine names, believes that the answers will be found in human reason. By the end of the episode, Locke has apparently found that the object of his mystical quest is a creature of technology. The mysterious hatch that he opened was placed there and equipped with computers dating from the 1970’s. Jack, enters the hatch looking for technology. He meets a stranger who had told him to “lift up” his surgical failure. This failure, turned out to be a success: his patient walked and later married him.

ABC has crossed us up. The man of science discovers faith; the man of faith finds technology. It will be interesting to see how the story develops.

BTW, the David Ely who played a bit part as an intern is not our our David Ely

ABC's "Lost" Finale Disappointing

In their eagerness to provide cliffhangers that will bring viewers back next season the producers/writers of Lost put together a cheap, exploitive episode. Anyone watching the show with an interest in character development will need to wait until next season to see if anyone at all is rewarded for coming to terms with his/her past. To date, the only two who have gotten of the Island after an unselfish act have done so by dying.

There was one scene (from minutes 53-55), that includes a hint that may - or may not confirm my previous suggestion that the Island represents a last chance for each character to make amends for harms done in the past. In this scene Sun asks Shannon if she thinks that they are on the island because they are being punished for past secrets and lies. Shannon asks who would punish them. Sun answers: "fate". Claire walks up and says no, it isn't fate.

Clearly. the script writers have inserted some Ghosts - religious concepts hidden behind the pixels - to keep us guessing. We could spend the whole summer debating the choice of names and their philosophical implications (for example, Locke). This debate assumes that the writers have a consistent concept behind the script and that ABC hasn't distorted the concept in order to attract audiences.

My own guess that their is a consistent concept - keep throwing out obscure hints in order to bring viewers back every week. I had thought about watching the entire series again and teasing out the life task that each character was sent to the island to perform. After last night, I'm not sure it is worth the effort. Comments, anyone?

Three Reconciliations in “Lost”

Last night’s episode of ABC’s Lost gave us three incidents in which residents of the island began to come to terms with their past and to make amends for harms they had done:

1. Jin apologies to his wife, Sun for the ways in which he has harmed her and tells her that he is getting on the raft in order to find help and save her. This was a genuine and complete reconciliation.
2. Sawyer gives Jack some information about his father. Jack realized that his father wanted reconciliation with him but, because of pride, was unable call Jack before he died. This was the first unselfish act that Sawyer has made. It was an indirect amends, i.e. it did nothing to undo the harms that Sawyer has done but it undid harms between Jack and his father.
3. Shannon accepts Walt’s offer of his dog. Walt tells her that she can talk to the dog about her brother’s death. In accepting the dog, Shannon implicitly recognizes that she needs to deal with her feelings. This is an important step for her.

Everyone on the raft has taken steps towards undoing harms committed in his past. While what his all will mean is unclear. I’m still following up on a suggestion from my son, David,

”Every character that the show’s featured so far had a reason for being in Australia, and all of those reasons involved confronting demons. Most of them didn’t do a good job of it, and the island is their next chance.”

It seems that Jin, Sun, Sawyer, Michael, Walt and Shannon have all taken steps towards making amends for their past. Based on this theory, they should all fare well in the next episode.

P.S. "Who woulda thunk it?" Here I am writing about a soap opera.