Boomer

I don't think this is the future.....

However, I was surprised they didn't let the whole 'Charlie gonna die' go on for a bit.
I mean, he could still last a while, but it woulda been interesting for us to be thinking it was Claire going to bite the bullet for a bit....then pull a fast one on ya

Blue Notch

I'm sick of people dying on that show. I wish they'd just leave them be. Or kill of some more of the others!

rrobello

This episode excited me, I love the wierd paranormal/time distortion/traveling themes that have been running throughout this show since the begining and was actually discussing this with some friends after last weeks episode saying that I hope they get back to it and they DID, sweet.

Whether or not Desmond is time traveling can be argued both ways, if he isnt then what is going on? Is he dreaming or halucinating somehow getting flashes of preminitions of the future? Or is he actually somewhere in the future (further foward in the story line than we are) and conciously reliving his past as it appeared that he did when the hatch blew and he suddenly was reliving his accounts of Penny in England.

If he isnt traveling through time then it would make sense that it is some kind of hallucination/vision/dream/altered flashback and there were a couple of things in the episode that could be evidence of this theory, but of course this is only speculation and it could simply be errors in the show, but if not then most likely they were done to deliberately add a dose of surrealism to lend to this idea:
-In Desomond's apartment when he wakes up, the paint cans have the letters FUTU...on them, we can not see the rest of the letters because they are covered in red paint, could the word be future?
-there was a painting in Widmore's office that switched walls, could be just a production error
-After Desmond leaves Widmore's office he throws his tie on the ground, there is a poster on the wall behind him in the street and the model in the poster blinks.
OPEN:

CLOSED:

-the obvious Wizard of Oz reference, the guy getting crushed wearing the red shoes. In the Wizard of Oz dorthy lands on the witch when arriving to Oz and wears red shoes, then at the end wakes up and realizes its all a dream
-then there is also Desmond's own words, that his life flashed before his eyes. could the writers be telling us not to look too deeply into this, that sometimes things are as they appear and that he was simply having flashes of his life?

either way I think Desmond is no longer living in a linear time line as we know it and is either moving through this timeline or sees it all at once, future, past and present.

Here is why I think he is traveling through time and why we may very well see him going back: At the end of Season 2 we see in the last couple of minutes after the hatch blew Penny getting a phone call by the guys in the artic that were looking for the blast, and she says theyve found him or something to that effect. Ive always wondered how she knew how to look for him. And while watching this episode I instantly thought of that and it all made sense. Perhaps he goes back again and tells her, or perhaps she simply remembers him briefly mentioning the island and then through talking to his friend at a later date, who Desmond told about the island, the hatch and the electromagnetic explosion, pieces it all together or at least figures its worth a shot to find the love of her life. Either way it would prove that he did travel back in time. What I dont get is that we see that there was only one copy of the picture they took on the street, and in this episode Desmond has it on the island, but in the scene at the end of Season 2 Penny had the picture, is it a different past/present/timeline or does he go back and give her the picture?

either way you figure she found out how to locate Desmond it would prove that he is indeed traveling through time, or at least did this one time, otherwise no one would know about the Island or the hatch, not Penny nor his friend. But the picture I think is key. There is only one, and so there are either two timelines or Desmond figures out how to trigger his trips through time and goes back to tell Penny how to find him and gives her the picture, but cant stay and do it right this time because he has to go back again to the island to continue pushing the button, but this way he has left himself an out and a solution to both problems. I need to go back to the time when she is trying to talk him out of going on the boat race around the world and see if there is anything there. Why are they talking again at that point if they broke it off so long ago, and he is determined to go; could it be because he knows he needs to get to the island?

The problem with all of this time line manipulation is what I mentioned a while back and that is holes in the plot, like why cant Charlie remember Desmond? if Penny has the pic back when the hatch blows; how does Desmond have one while they are drinking on the beach? especially if he does go back to give it to her.

rrobello

also why is everyone waking up on their backs? whats with that, in a couple of cases we see that it is a result of the black smoke, wierd sounds and characters discussions/interactions with the island, could the other times (like Jack in the very first opening scene of the show) also have been visited by this black smoke and we just dont know it yet? If so is this trip through time for Desmond related to the smoke? is it further proof of a halucination or is this how the smoke/island works its magic, could it have taken him back in time (black smoke=black hole???) if so is the old lady in the ring shop the island? how else would she know so much? and she did speak in a wierd, kind of cryptic manner.

just more food for thought people

LEO_06GT

Did anyone catch what Charlie was singing in Desmond's dream???

He was singing Wonderwall by Oasis. More importantly and ironic though are lyrics he was heard singing, ".. Cause maybe your going to be the one that saves me...".

Desmonds his Wonderwall.

BTW-Next weeks episode is a "Jack" epsiode. Bai-Ling will be a guest star.

rrobello

nice catch

Lalo

That is hilarious... I so totally didnt catch that

Lalo

Saw this over at Yahoo!
I blame the time change! I can hardly stay up for it.
http://entertainment.tv.yahoo.com/en...167010000.html

ZipZap04

I agree, an hour earlier is better.

Blue Notch

It's actually the opposite for me. I can't get home until 9pm(time on here) so its works great for me! Sorry to hear it doesn't work for either of you though, maybe you should drink a couple gallons of coffee!

LEO_06GT

The reason they moved it up an hour was because they didn't want to compete with alleged ratings powerhouse American Idol.

Lalo

Are any American Idol fans also Lost fans? I would guess very few are

Boomer

I timeshift on the Satelite, so i don't have to wait.
I watch it at 8pm

Really doesn't affect me.

Lalo

8pm would be perfect for me!

Blue Notch

I am!

Lalo

It's all YOUR fault that they moved Lost one hour later!!!

Blue Notch

Sorry! Maybe you should move to a different timezone!

Lalo

rrobello

well lets start with the title, since the writers are very keen on making everything mean something, names and titles, ect.

The title shares the same name as Heinlein's sci-fi novel "Stranger in a Strange Land." The book is about an outsider who transforms Earth culture by introducing radical new ways of thinking. Although he is human, there is little human about him. In the beginning he is naive and confused and held captive, and used as an unwitting pawn by the powerful. However he soon begins to have an influence on people and eventually becomes a messianic figure.

"He walks among us, but is not one of us."

The foreshadowing here is that Jack will begin exerting an influence on the Others, perhaps causing their ideology to collapse from within. There is something unique about Jack that makes him powerful. Perhaps the Others faith in Ben will be shaken by the fact that Jack is not on Ben's list, but appears to be very special anyway.

Stranger in a Strange Land is also a biblical allusion to Moses, who refers to himself by that name in Exodus. As a young man Moses fled his home in Egypt and found a wife far away in Midian, where he had a son named he named Gershom, which means stranger or alien. Jack may be the outsider who finds a wife (Juliet??) in an unfamiliar place.

and a couple pieces of pop culture for fun:
opening scene (I believe), Sawyer is singing the same song they sung on the boat in Jaws just before Jaws attacks the boat. and my other favorite in this episode, Ursa Theodorus, hahahaha Latin for Teddy Bear....Brilliant! That is all I am doing tonight, Id like to hear other peoples thoughts. Anyone got anything on the two "marks," Jacks and Juliets? or thoughts about Isabelle? or perhaps the "kidnapped?" or anything?

Boomer

Isabelle is the woman in previous episodes (season2 i believe)
when they said 'her list' or in reference to 'her' in the others camp.

Remember back to the end of Season 1 where there was an african american woman that made the requests to Michael about who to bring back, and the one who told Hugo to go back to the camp and never return... we have not heard or seen of her lately..and whats her part.

Loved the Jaws reference too... was expecting to see the Dharma shark swimming beneath them

Jacks tatoos were kinda explained, but just the phrasing, not the rest..like the #5 etc...

Sounds like in the next couple episodes we'll see some Dharma stuff too...
and hopefully figure out who the patch guy is (from the video in the other hatch)

It'll be the same as last season... 18 episodes of build up for the big payoff in the end...