Lost Theories (yes i am obsessed with this show)

before i get to the some of the various theories... here are some links to LOST related sites/articles:

ROLLING STONE MAGAZINE ATICLE ABOUT EVY LILLY (Kate)

DRIVESHAFT (Charlie's old band with his brother Liam)

LOST (ABC website)

FLIGHT 815 (cool site)

below are some theories i've found on the web...

from HYNES
I had read a theory this past week about the show that at first I thought was interesting, but sounded too simple for the show; though after watching the show I'm beginning to wonder if the theory isn't pretty much on the money.

Basically there's this theory that during the Cold War it's been documented that the United States run multiple secret projects through various branches of government. You notice all the logos on the items within the bunker state DARPA or something like that (I think the show changed the letters to slightly). Nevertheless there is a program called DARPA (Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency). I guess rumors are that during the Cold War some of the experiments that DARPA ran were to locate isolated, uncharted islands in the South Pacific and use them as sort of testing zones on reactions people, animal, and plant life have within a controlled environment. Meanwhile the scientific crew was below within a quaratined bunker observing results.

So the theory is that the island is one of these abandoned islands. It doesn't completely work because if the United States were to can something as Top Secret as this, they wouldn't just cut off its funding. They'd completely destroy any remant of its existence - so the timer that counts down (to what?) would have been removed.

Also how is it Desmond is getting fresh foods still? Is he restocked every several months? How and by whom?

This also doesn't explain why the plane crashed where it did and how it did. Some theorize that Desmond took down the plane to further the research at the island. I find that laughable, and you can see that by the almost fantastical way he acts toward the group. If he truly did know or try to down the plane, then why would he have acted so paranoid? So I think thats a big hole. Supposedly by the season's end, the director said we will know at least why the plane came down - which leads me to believe that there was a reason the plane crashed where it did. But how or who is another set of questions altogether.

I've also read many people say that it will take many theories to solve the Lost riddle, which I think is a completely double-speak statement. How can multiple theories explain anything? There might be multiple facets to a theory, yes, but you cannot multiple varying theories explaining the whole for a couple of reasons: 1) it just doesn't work like that in real life. You don't have multiple competing theories coming together to provide a harmonious look at the overall picture. By their very nature, competing theories rule out the other as a way in which circumstances we find ourselves within or around to be explained. Also 2) that just makes for distracting and shitty writing by having multiple theories that compete against each other. You don't have flow and ebb between episodes - and we all well know that this show does have that.

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from MARK STEELE
THEORY #1: The island is not an island. (Brooke's note: JJ alludes to this in the DVD bonus - he says they made the island a character unto itself.)

There has been a long-standing conspiracy theory (in the real world) since World War II that the U. S. Government had several plans in place to prepare for the impending annihilation of mankind by atomic war. One of these "plans" is documented (though no one knows if the government ever really attempted it. This plan was to create a deep underground bunker (like NORAD) that would house a few men and women of great physical health. They would be given nutrients, exercise, and drugs that would maintain them so that, in the case of world destruction, they could begin society over as Adam and Eve. According to the plans, this underground bunker was to be disguised as a land mass (an island) that would perpetually MOVE to thwart off the enemy locating its whereabouts (erratic tides, anyone?). How would this land mass move? There would be an enormous MAGNETIC DEVICE in its center -- so powerful that the earth's core would repel it, causing the land mass to constantly move. Do I believe this government theory is real? No. Do I believe the writers of "Lost" used it as their basis? ABSOLUTELY. Why?

Because the name of this government plan is #4815162342.

And the plan was devised by two men named Locke and Rouseau.

So, what does this mean? Well, it would explain what Desmond was doing under there, as he told Jack in his flashback that he was preparing for a RACE (human race?) around the world.

The magnet would explain why the tides are erratic and why all compasses point inland instead of north. If the magnet is powerful enough to affect the electric synapses of the human brain, it would cause any human nearby to hallucinate their subconscious (whispers, shannon killed by monster, jack's dad, walt in the jungle -- basically anything someone experiences alone). Over time, the magnet would cause them to go insane (the sickness, the others, Rouseau, Desmond).

The moving land mass would mean that it could have drifted practically anywhere, including Antarctica (the nearest land mass), where a polar bear could have certainly just walked on.

So, now the question remains: why did our castaways crash? Why are they on this island?

THEORY #2: They were (almost) all put on that plane on purpose.

Most everyone on the island has some sort of mental power, whether positive or negative (Walt, Hurley's "Luck," Claire's baby, perhaps Jack's "miracle") even thought they do not all know it yet. I believe that they were gathered without their knowledge and put on the same plane to be a part of the advanced human race that would be developed in project #4815162342.

But why were they all put on the plane at once? Why the urgency? And here's the real whopper.

THEORY #3: The island is the new Noah's Ark.

The world has been destroyed, with the exception of those on the island. Creator Damon Lindelof said in Rolling Stone magazine that the number of total days the castaways were on the island in season one was VERY important to the big answer. They were on that island 40 days and 40 nights.

Perhaps project #4815162342 succeeded just in time. The world has been wiped away. All that is left of mankind are our castaways. This is why CHILDREN (the baby, Walt) are so important.When the castaways realize that rules and laws as they existed in the world no longer exist, just watch as enemies and factions form. It's "Lord of the Flies" time.

However...

There is one last wild card.

The emblem on Desmond's jacket.

This emblem is the EXACT emblem of another famed conspiracy theory. It was called Project Montauk. Google it. It also involves a project with a very large magnet.

A magnet that turned into a wormhole that ancient slave ships were rumored to pass through, Oh yeah -- one other thing passed through the wormhole.

An alien monster

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more from MARK STEELE
I believe that what tore apart the plane was irrelevant (explosion, magnet, etc.) because I think the real reveal is that the only REAL purpose for Oceanic Flight 815 was to get these people onto the project island. I believe the whole thing was instigated, every person unknowingly "recruited" to be on that flight (with the exception of one character -- that will have to wait for another time.) So, I think the cause of the crash is likely an explosion that was set and intentional by one of the people on the plane that we have already met.

Who do I think set the explosion? We'll save that for another time.

So, basically, there's not a coincidental reason the plane landed on this island (addressing the question of how it could land there if the island moves). The plane was put there on purpose, by the people who knew where the island was.

I believe that Rouseau and her team found the island for the same reason -- the people behind the project WANTED them to find it and, therefore, sent out the signal.

I do think the page of script on the website is a red herring, though most likely explained by the hallucination theory. There is a LOT of Lost theory rumination on clones and twins (and i considered it because Kate is a "gemini,") but if that plays in, I think it is an additional part of the plot rather than THE plot.

The 108 reset:

Though the government took extreme precaution to make certain the island was undetectable to the enemy, they put a failsafe in just to maker certain. Every 108 minutes, one of the individuals in the Montauk project is required to enter the project code to keep the failsafe system from blowing up the island in case it fell into the wrong hands. If the enemy ever found the island, broke into the underground, and killed the inhabitants, all evidence of the project would be destroyed after a maximum of 108 minutes.

So, why would the government require a reset every 108 minutes if they wanted the new human race healthy and well-rested?

Because there used to be more than one person down there.

They have all gone mad. Desmond is the only one left. hence the question: are you him?

He thought Locke was his replacement.

And I believe that Locke, indeed, is.

***

I think I focus too much on small details, rather than connecting the puzzle peices. Mark's theories are big picture - they make sense because they can be revealed and added to over time, extending the longevity of the series. this last reply though is just a mean teaser (if you read this Mark - MEAN!!!) and I can't wait to see if they pan out.

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some of MY THOUGTS
i read that in RS this week - however on Wednesday's (9.28.05) episode Locke tells Desmond the plane crashed 44 days ago... episode one & two of season two take place within 7 hours of the final moments of last may's season finale, so either Locke is lying to Desmond or Lindelof is wrong. [EDIT: in the RS article Lindelof isn't quoted as saying that season one took place in 40 days - the writer of the article, Gavin Edwards says "Also important is the number of days the castaways have been stranded each season: at the end of Season One it's forty days."] so Gavin Edwards may be wrong or Locke is lying.]

p.s. when i re-watched Season one on DVD - i tried to keep track in a notebook the number of days they were there. obsessive, i know, but i went back and counted the mornings/nights from Season one. i also have counted in any references to the amount of time they have been stranded.

NUMBER OF DAYS SHOWN: 30

edisode 8: charlie says to hurley: "we've been here for 2 weeks" (at that point only 9 days had been shown)

episode 12: at the end of ep. 11, Locke & Boone find the hatch. at the beginning of ep. 12, it is said that Locke & Boone have been looking for Claire (actually investigating the hatch) for 4 days.

episode 13: Kate: "we've been here for over 3 weeks" [at this point, adding the days shown to the days made referenced to, they could have been stranded for 23 days]

episode 19: it is said that it has been 4 weeks since the crash... [however, that doesn't match up with days shown (27 shown by episode 19) + the days made referenced to]

assuming that in ep. 13 when kate says we've been here for over 3 weeks - and asuming that my calculation of that being day 23, by the final episode of season one, they have been there for 37 days.

Locke tells Desmond in episode two of Season two that they have been on the island for 44 days. acording to head writer Damon Lindelof, the first 3 episodes of season two take place within 7 hours of the hatch being opened (which happens at the end of season one's finale. since it is early in the morning when Locke tells Desmond this, this could be the 38th calculated day... meaning that if Locke is correct (44 days) then approx. 6 days are unaccounted for.


i am a freak. obsessed and a freak.