LOST
As always in my LOST discussions, there are lots of spoilers. Since this show thrives on the measured delivery of enigmatic information, spoilers can seriously detract from your enjoyment. So if you haven't seen this episode yet, but you will eventually, then you should not read this or any of my LOST posts. This means you, rurouni_jedi. SRSLY.
Tonight will be yet another new episode of LOST. The past couple of weeks have been quite the banquet for LOST fans, in terms of the number of new episodes, the quality of said episodes, and the volume of new information being revealed. So this is as good a time as any to cover the recent spate of revelations, to keep them fresh in my mind.
Last week we learned yet another valuable lesson for life. It's a lesson that "Henry Gale," the prisoner, should have learned. And that lesson is: Don't underestimate Sayid. Sayid is crazy. You think you know how crazy Sayid is, but that's beans compared to how crazy he really is. He is hard. core. He knows when you're lying. How? Because he doesn't feel guilty when he tortures you. Of course, this is kind of a sucky method of lie detecting if you're not lying.
Sayid: *torturetorturetorture*
You: AAAAAGH!! *cyrcrycry*
Sayid: ... you know, I feel kind of bad about this. I think maybe you are telling the truth. Here, take your fingernails and leave.
Yeah, that would suck. But not as much as it's gonna suck when Sayid pays back "Henry Gale" for sending him on a wild balloon chase. Sayid didn't need evidence to know "Henry Gale" was lying. He already knew. He just needed evidence to shut the others up so he could commence his torturizing in peace. The last thing a torturer needs is for people to keep barging in on him while he's working. Seriously, how productive can a man be in working conditions like that? Locke was doing just fine as the "good cop," Jack. No need for you to come in here and kiss "Henry Gale's" boo-boos.
"Henry Gale" is an Other. Sayid knows it. Mr. Eko knew it. That's why he cut off those bits of his beard and gave it to the guy. He was saying, "sorry for killing your two dudes. Here' have some of my DNA and maybe you can grow you some dudes who won't fall over dead from a conk on the head. But no one cares about their opinions. Because the mighty Jack and the great Locke have decided the man is a teddy bear who can come out and join them for cereal. The great white leaders have spoken, and to hell with what those crazy brown dudes think. This guy's an American from Minnesota! He's not a dirty foreigner like you people!
Well now they know better.
But on to bigger things.
Bunker! Blast doors! Alarm! Food drop! Invisimap!
Dub. Bull. Yew. Tea. Eff.
Okay, okay, one thing at a time. Locke hears a countdown on the speakers. It's not related to the computer of the magic "Execute" button. It's difficult to make out what it's saying exactly, due to static. Would this indicate that it's being transmitted from elsewhere? At the end of the countdown, the "blast doors" come down. I don't know if they're actually blast doors. They look thick, like they're made to withstand something major, and they have those big Lego-bumps on the bottom so they lock into the floor. So let's just assume for now that they are blast doors. Anyway, the blast doors come down, sealing off the main chamber from the computer area. The computer is in the geodesic dome room. I'm not certain if the main chamber was sealed from the outside world or not. The doors are down long enough for Locke and "Henry Gale" to try and pry one open, then for Locke to get his legs crushed. Then the black lights go out and the invisible map becomes visible. Eventually, the blast doors open and the lighting returns to normal. Later, a shipment of food is discovered nearby.
Food drop, click to enlarge!
To me, it looks like the food is a drop shipment, cargo dropped by parachute from an airplane. Since it was undetected by the survivors, it was probably a HALO drop (High Altitude Low Opening) which means the airplane was high enough that no one could hear or see it, dropping its cargo so its parachutes opened at low enough altitude that few people would notice it drifting down from the sky. And it happened too soon after the blast door business for the two not to be related.
How often is food dropped? Probably not that often. The survivors have been on the island less than two months. The cargo looked like quite a bit of food. Maybe not for 48 survivors, but considering the bunker was supposed to have been staffed by two individuals, it was probably enough food to last for months. Of course, this assumes that the food was intended for the people manning the bunker, and not for the Others or some other group.
Here's how I am guessing the blast doors and food drop are supposed to work: The airplane flies over, broadcasting the countdown. The bunker dudes should know that it's time to go to the dome, where they can keep an eye on the computer and keep pressing the button every 108 minutes. We know that the bunker people presumed the outside world to be infected with an illness, "quarantined." Desmond was taking injections against the sickness, which "Henry Gale" and the Others who kidnapped Claire also mentioned. Two people were supposed to be manning the bunker. So perhaps one of them stayed in the computer dome and the other one went out to bring in the food, hoping that short exposure to the outside world wouldn't be lethal. (Or perhaps both people stayed in the computer dome and other individuals brought in the food. If that was the case, then who are those other people, and where are they now?)
Why would they need the blast doors? The island is presumed to be a hostile environment. They place was stocked with guns. The hatch was well sealed. It wouldn't open without dynamite. So perhaps there were people trying to get into the hatch long before out survivors arrived. These people might have waited until the food drop in order to attack or invade. Thus the blast doors, to keep the computer sealed off and protected in the event of an attack. This must mean that there is a way to close the blast doors other than simply waiting for the next food flight.
The interesting thing about the food drop is that it confirms that whatever organization once ran the island and its bunkers is still in operation today. The bunker is not abandoned, the experiment is still running. Do they have any idea what's going on now with our survivors? Is it part of their plan? Are they related to the Others? And most importantly for Hurley, did they send more ranch dressing?
The biggest mystery of the blast doors is, of course, the invisimap. Who drew it? Why? Are the black lights that come on an automatic thing, or did they come on by accident? The map seems to contain a lot of information about the island, so it's certain that Locke and the survivors will try to get those blast doors to close again, just to see the map. Fortunately for us, through the magic of high-def TV, TiVo, and the Intarwebz, we don't have to wait that long.
Screencap found on lost.cubit.net, click to enlarge!
Here is a large, enhanced version, with contrast punched up to make it more legible.
Enhancement found on Sier's LOST Artwork, click to enlarge!
And to make it easier on you, here is an image of the map, overlaid with clear text transcriptions of the handwriting. The italicized, yellow text are all Latin phrases. To the lower left is a list of translations of the Latin.
Annotated map found on lost.cubit.net, click to enlarge!
There are several such maps on the internet, but this one is the most accurate I've found.
The fact that the map was drawn invisibly implies that it was being hidden. Perhaps the creator of the map was a resident of the bunker, instructed to stay in the bunker, but who occasionally ventured out to explore the island. It seems unlikely that they could get very far and still return in under 108 minutes, but with a two person team, one person might have manned the computer for a few days while the other explored. But if the map was hidden, who did they fear would find it, and why? Couldn't they simply write the information down on paper? or would the people they were hiding the map from actually search through the bunker?
There is also repeated mention of the term "Dharmatel." The Dharma Initiative is the oprganization running the "experiments" on the island. But we know very little able them, or what the acronym D.H.A.R.M.A. stands for. One such phrase is "system wide failure of Dharmatel intranet." Was this intranet how Walt was communicating with Michael over the computer?
As the orientation film suggested, there are six bunkers on the island. The map shows seven bunkers, with one scribbled out. Was this a guess at a bunker location that turned out to be wrong? Or was this bunker destroyed somehow? Near the scribbled bunker is a fragment of a remark, "following AH/MDG incident, but could be #6" The orientation film mentioned that "not long after the experiments began, there was ... an incident." Was this bunker a casualty of this "incident?" Another phrase says "Caduceus Station believed to have been abandoned due to AH/MDG incident of 1985, OR possible catastrophic malfunction of Cerberus System."
Another term repeated on the map is "Cerberus." In Greek myth, Cerberus was the name of the three-headed dog who guarded the entrance to Hades, the underworld
The map mentions the three bunkers we know about so far: The Swan (our bunker), the Arrow (where the tail section survivors were staying), and the Staff (the caduceus medical station where Claire was taken). It also mentions a station called "The Flame." These four stations are drawn in solid lines. There are two additional bunkers drawn in dashed lines. Were they destroyed? Or are they dotted lines because their locations are not confirmed? There is a notation next to one of the dotted-line bunkers saying "cv IV? The Pearl?" There is no final word on what the "cv" labels on the map mean. Could this station be named "The Pearl?"
And in the center of everything is a dashed circle with a big question mark. Is this the center of Dharma Initiative activity on the island? What is the meaning of the straight lines drawn between various stations and this circle? Too many questions, of course. Have a look at the maps for yourself, and see what you come up with.
In addition to the big revelations of this episode, the theme seemed to be cons. Which is a bit surprising for an episode that's not about Sawyer, but whatever. Locke's biological father, Cooper, the man who tricked him out of his kidney, was a big time con artist. Cooper cons Locke into throwing away the only good thing in his life to help out his no-good dad. And it's a good guess that Cooper was the "Sawyer" who set our Sawyer (real name: John Ford) on his path of revenge, turning him into a con artist himself.
Sayid brings an end (hopefully) to "Henry Gale's" con. Locke, perpetually the victim of cons, first Cooper and now "Henry Gale," has got to be doubting himself something fierce by now.
And surprisingly, Jack cons Sawyer. In a game of Texas hold'em, Jack reveals that he can, in fact, "tussle with the big boys" (as Sawyer says). He does the whole "oh I was wandering by with my mangoes, and I stumbled across your game. No I don't wanna play, but you talked me into it." Next thing you know, Sawyer has lost all his fruit and a good chunk of his pride. Finally, Jack makes his move, the one he'd been angling toward since the first scene when he realized no one on the island has so much as a tube of Neosporin without becoming indentured servants to Sawyer. He plays for Sawyer's entire stash of horded medicine. And wins. Frankly, I thought Sawyer was a better con than that, and that he was playing Jack. But no, Jack was on a mission, and now it's Mission Accomplished. As in, he succeeded in liberating the medicine from Sawyer. Not the other way.
...
Here's a bit of a spoiler. The teaser for tonight's episode, the first scene before the title card comes up, has been leaked onto the internet. I present it to you now:
Interior, SWAN bunker.
Scene picks up right where the previous episode left off. Henry Gale, Locke, Jack, Sayid, and Ana Lucia are standing in the bunker.
Sayid: But still I did not believe it to be true. So I dug up that grave and found that there was not a woman inside. There was a man... A man named Henry Gale!
Henry Gale's driver's license, click to enlarge!
Sayid holds out Henry Gale's driver's license. The man pictured bears no resemblance to the Henry Gale standing before them.
Henry: Well, I... this is not... um...
Sayid looks as Henry. Nothing Henry can say at this point will be enough for Sayid.
Sayid: Is Sayid going to have to torture a bitch?
Henry stops talking, in shock.
Sayid: I think I'm going to-- I'm not a violent man, at least, I try not to-- I think I'm going to have to--
Locke: Run, bitch! Run for your life!
Henry runs as fast as he can toward the exit.
...
Of course, there's always the remote possibility that "Henry Gale" really is Henry Gale, and the Others dug up his wife, replaced her body with that of some guy, and made a fake driver's license and left it in the grave. Just to turn the survivors against Henry Gale. But really, what are the odds of that?
Tonight will be yet another new episode of LOST. The past couple of weeks have been quite the banquet for LOST fans, in terms of the number of new episodes, the quality of said episodes, and the volume of new information being revealed. So this is as good a time as any to cover the recent spate of revelations, to keep them fresh in my mind.
Last week we learned yet another valuable lesson for life. It's a lesson that "Henry Gale," the prisoner, should have learned. And that lesson is: Don't underestimate Sayid. Sayid is crazy. You think you know how crazy Sayid is, but that's beans compared to how crazy he really is. He is hard. core. He knows when you're lying. How? Because he doesn't feel guilty when he tortures you. Of course, this is kind of a sucky method of lie detecting if you're not lying.
Sayid: *torturetorturetorture*
You: AAAAAGH!! *cyrcrycry*
Sayid: ... you know, I feel kind of bad about this. I think maybe you are telling the truth. Here, take your fingernails and leave.
Yeah, that would suck. But not as much as it's gonna suck when Sayid pays back "Henry Gale" for sending him on a wild balloon chase. Sayid didn't need evidence to know "Henry Gale" was lying. He already knew. He just needed evidence to shut the others up so he could commence his torturizing in peace. The last thing a torturer needs is for people to keep barging in on him while he's working. Seriously, how productive can a man be in working conditions like that? Locke was doing just fine as the "good cop," Jack. No need for you to come in here and kiss "Henry Gale's" boo-boos.
"Henry Gale" is an Other. Sayid knows it. Mr. Eko knew it. That's why he cut off those bits of his beard and gave it to the guy. He was saying, "sorry for killing your two dudes. Here' have some of my DNA and maybe you can grow you some dudes who won't fall over dead from a conk on the head. But no one cares about their opinions. Because the mighty Jack and the great Locke have decided the man is a teddy bear who can come out and join them for cereal. The great white leaders have spoken, and to hell with what those crazy brown dudes think. This guy's an American from Minnesota! He's not a dirty foreigner like you people!
Well now they know better.
But on to bigger things.
Bunker! Blast doors! Alarm! Food drop! Invisimap!
Dub. Bull. Yew. Tea. Eff.
Okay, okay, one thing at a time. Locke hears a countdown on the speakers. It's not related to the computer of the magic "Execute" button. It's difficult to make out what it's saying exactly, due to static. Would this indicate that it's being transmitted from elsewhere? At the end of the countdown, the "blast doors" come down. I don't know if they're actually blast doors. They look thick, like they're made to withstand something major, and they have those big Lego-bumps on the bottom so they lock into the floor. So let's just assume for now that they are blast doors. Anyway, the blast doors come down, sealing off the main chamber from the computer area. The computer is in the geodesic dome room. I'm not certain if the main chamber was sealed from the outside world or not. The doors are down long enough for Locke and "Henry Gale" to try and pry one open, then for Locke to get his legs crushed. Then the black lights go out and the invisible map becomes visible. Eventually, the blast doors open and the lighting returns to normal. Later, a shipment of food is discovered nearby.
Food drop, click to enlarge!
To me, it looks like the food is a drop shipment, cargo dropped by parachute from an airplane. Since it was undetected by the survivors, it was probably a HALO drop (High Altitude Low Opening) which means the airplane was high enough that no one could hear or see it, dropping its cargo so its parachutes opened at low enough altitude that few people would notice it drifting down from the sky. And it happened too soon after the blast door business for the two not to be related.
How often is food dropped? Probably not that often. The survivors have been on the island less than two months. The cargo looked like quite a bit of food. Maybe not for 48 survivors, but considering the bunker was supposed to have been staffed by two individuals, it was probably enough food to last for months. Of course, this assumes that the food was intended for the people manning the bunker, and not for the Others or some other group.
Here's how I am guessing the blast doors and food drop are supposed to work: The airplane flies over, broadcasting the countdown. The bunker dudes should know that it's time to go to the dome, where they can keep an eye on the computer and keep pressing the button every 108 minutes. We know that the bunker people presumed the outside world to be infected with an illness, "quarantined." Desmond was taking injections against the sickness, which "Henry Gale" and the Others who kidnapped Claire also mentioned. Two people were supposed to be manning the bunker. So perhaps one of them stayed in the computer dome and the other one went out to bring in the food, hoping that short exposure to the outside world wouldn't be lethal. (Or perhaps both people stayed in the computer dome and other individuals brought in the food. If that was the case, then who are those other people, and where are they now?)
Why would they need the blast doors? The island is presumed to be a hostile environment. They place was stocked with guns. The hatch was well sealed. It wouldn't open without dynamite. So perhaps there were people trying to get into the hatch long before out survivors arrived. These people might have waited until the food drop in order to attack or invade. Thus the blast doors, to keep the computer sealed off and protected in the event of an attack. This must mean that there is a way to close the blast doors other than simply waiting for the next food flight.
The interesting thing about the food drop is that it confirms that whatever organization once ran the island and its bunkers is still in operation today. The bunker is not abandoned, the experiment is still running. Do they have any idea what's going on now with our survivors? Is it part of their plan? Are they related to the Others? And most importantly for Hurley, did they send more ranch dressing?
The biggest mystery of the blast doors is, of course, the invisimap. Who drew it? Why? Are the black lights that come on an automatic thing, or did they come on by accident? The map seems to contain a lot of information about the island, so it's certain that Locke and the survivors will try to get those blast doors to close again, just to see the map. Fortunately for us, through the magic of high-def TV, TiVo, and the Intarwebz, we don't have to wait that long.
Screencap found on lost.cubit.net, click to enlarge!
Here is a large, enhanced version, with contrast punched up to make it more legible.
Enhancement found on Sier's LOST Artwork, click to enlarge!
And to make it easier on you, here is an image of the map, overlaid with clear text transcriptions of the handwriting. The italicized, yellow text are all Latin phrases. To the lower left is a list of translations of the Latin.
Annotated map found on lost.cubit.net, click to enlarge!
There are several such maps on the internet, but this one is the most accurate I've found.
The fact that the map was drawn invisibly implies that it was being hidden. Perhaps the creator of the map was a resident of the bunker, instructed to stay in the bunker, but who occasionally ventured out to explore the island. It seems unlikely that they could get very far and still return in under 108 minutes, but with a two person team, one person might have manned the computer for a few days while the other explored. But if the map was hidden, who did they fear would find it, and why? Couldn't they simply write the information down on paper? or would the people they were hiding the map from actually search through the bunker?
There is also repeated mention of the term "Dharmatel." The Dharma Initiative is the oprganization running the "experiments" on the island. But we know very little able them, or what the acronym D.H.A.R.M.A. stands for. One such phrase is "system wide failure of Dharmatel intranet." Was this intranet how Walt was communicating with Michael over the computer?
As the orientation film suggested, there are six bunkers on the island. The map shows seven bunkers, with one scribbled out. Was this a guess at a bunker location that turned out to be wrong? Or was this bunker destroyed somehow? Near the scribbled bunker is a fragment of a remark, "following AH/MDG incident, but could be #6" The orientation film mentioned that "not long after the experiments began, there was ... an incident." Was this bunker a casualty of this "incident?" Another phrase says "Caduceus Station believed to have been abandoned due to AH/MDG incident of 1985, OR possible catastrophic malfunction of Cerberus System."
Another term repeated on the map is "Cerberus." In Greek myth, Cerberus was the name of the three-headed dog who guarded the entrance to Hades, the underworld
The map mentions the three bunkers we know about so far: The Swan (our bunker), the Arrow (where the tail section survivors were staying), and the Staff (the caduceus medical station where Claire was taken). It also mentions a station called "The Flame." These four stations are drawn in solid lines. There are two additional bunkers drawn in dashed lines. Were they destroyed? Or are they dotted lines because their locations are not confirmed? There is a notation next to one of the dotted-line bunkers saying "cv IV? The Pearl?" There is no final word on what the "cv" labels on the map mean. Could this station be named "The Pearl?"
And in the center of everything is a dashed circle with a big question mark. Is this the center of Dharma Initiative activity on the island? What is the meaning of the straight lines drawn between various stations and this circle? Too many questions, of course. Have a look at the maps for yourself, and see what you come up with.
In addition to the big revelations of this episode, the theme seemed to be cons. Which is a bit surprising for an episode that's not about Sawyer, but whatever. Locke's biological father, Cooper, the man who tricked him out of his kidney, was a big time con artist. Cooper cons Locke into throwing away the only good thing in his life to help out his no-good dad. And it's a good guess that Cooper was the "Sawyer" who set our Sawyer (real name: John Ford) on his path of revenge, turning him into a con artist himself.
Sayid brings an end (hopefully) to "Henry Gale's" con. Locke, perpetually the victim of cons, first Cooper and now "Henry Gale," has got to be doubting himself something fierce by now.
And surprisingly, Jack cons Sawyer. In a game of Texas hold'em, Jack reveals that he can, in fact, "tussle with the big boys" (as Sawyer says). He does the whole "oh I was wandering by with my mangoes, and I stumbled across your game. No I don't wanna play, but you talked me into it." Next thing you know, Sawyer has lost all his fruit and a good chunk of his pride. Finally, Jack makes his move, the one he'd been angling toward since the first scene when he realized no one on the island has so much as a tube of Neosporin without becoming indentured servants to Sawyer. He plays for Sawyer's entire stash of horded medicine. And wins. Frankly, I thought Sawyer was a better con than that, and that he was playing Jack. But no, Jack was on a mission, and now it's Mission Accomplished. As in, he succeeded in liberating the medicine from Sawyer. Not the other way.
...
Here's a bit of a spoiler. The teaser for tonight's episode, the first scene before the title card comes up, has been leaked onto the internet. I present it to you now:
Interior, SWAN bunker.
Scene picks up right where the previous episode left off. Henry Gale, Locke, Jack, Sayid, and Ana Lucia are standing in the bunker.
Sayid: But still I did not believe it to be true. So I dug up that grave and found that there was not a woman inside. There was a man... A man named Henry Gale!
Henry Gale's driver's license, click to enlarge!
Sayid holds out Henry Gale's driver's license. The man pictured bears no resemblance to the Henry Gale standing before them.
Henry: Well, I... this is not... um...
Sayid looks as Henry. Nothing Henry can say at this point will be enough for Sayid.
Sayid: Is Sayid going to have to torture a bitch?
Henry stops talking, in shock.
Sayid: I think I'm going to-- I'm not a violent man, at least, I try not to-- I think I'm going to have to--
Locke: Run, bitch! Run for your life!
Henry runs as fast as he can toward the exit.
...
Of course, there's always the remote possibility that "Henry Gale" really is Henry Gale, and the Others dug up his wife, replaced her body with that of some guy, and made a fake driver's license and left it in the grave. Just to turn the survivors against Henry Gale. But really, what are the odds of that?