I'm Alive

You guys are watching "The Substitute" right now...

So I'd like to hear what you have to say about it.

My Smoke Monster/MIB theory

This is covered a little in the Lostpedia site where all of the theories about the "Evil One", or the Man In Black (MIB) are posted. Nemesis Theories

So the one that closest follows my thinking is the one titled:

Jacob's Nemesis is the Smoke Monster in human form.

Based on the very little information we have about the MIB, we know for a fact:

- He has been on the Island for a very long time, at least 150+ years

- He knows who Jacob is, and he wants to kill him

- For reasons unknown he needs to find a ‘loophole’ to kill Jacob, because he cannot do it himself

- He is able to look like someone else; someone dead. Specifically Locke after his corpse is brought back to the Island.

These points have lead me to believe that the MIB is in fact just one of the many human forms that the smoke monster assumes. Each of the items above (in my humble opinion) seem to support this idea.

He has been on the Island a long time

We already know that he has been around a long time thanks to his conversation with Jacob at the beginning of the Season 5 finale (The Incident Part 1).In this scene, the four toed statue is still a full statue, and it appears that The Black Rock is sailing on the horizon. The ship was last seen off the Island in 1845 before it disappeared so we can guess that this scene took place close to that date. Not ageing is a theme on the show, but it only has been seen with Jacob, Richard and the MIB (who actually changes forms as opposed to aging). We know that the smoke monster has been on the Island a long time too, (it is integrated in the temple for example) so it could be that it took form as the MIB.

He knows who Jacob is and wants to kill him

The fact that the MIB wants to kill Jacob is not in question. He both says it directly to Jacob in the first scene of the S5 finale, and then makes it happen at the end of the show. There is of course a question of motive. Why does the MIB want to kill Jacob?

Here is what I am thinking:

- It is possible that because the smoke monster is the security system for the Island, that he wants Jacob dead because Jacob can bring people to the Island. This ability to touch people and in doing so setting them on a path to the Island makes the MIB’s job of protecting it ever more difficult. I do not know for sure what Jacob’s motive is in bringing people to the Island, then again, this post isn’t about him, it’s about MIB.

- There could also just be a simple confrontation in the past that has caused the two powers to be in this perpetual feud, escalating toward the events of the show.

For reasons unknown MIB needs to find a ‘loophole’ to kill Jacob

This is where (for me) things really start to get interesting. What would be keeping MIB from killing Jacob? Why does he need a “loophole”? I think that there might be rules that the smoke monster follows that create this situation. Let’s look a little bit more about what we have seen of the smoke monster.

- It has the power to kill stuff

o This is evident from the pilot episode when I kills, well, the pilot. Knowing that it has the power to kill your average human being, why can’t/won’t it kill Jacob?

- It can look like dead people (this deals the last point about the MIB; He is able to look like someone else; someone dead. Specifically Locke after his corpse is brought back to the Island)

o Often when we see someone on the Island walking around, who is known to be dead, the smoke monster is not far off. (i.e.Yemi,Alex) But the two are never depicted at the same time. I think that the smoke monster needs to have access to an (unburied) body in order to look like it. This is why it was able to take on the appearance of Christian during most of the series and most recently Locke.

o I am not sure how this process works, but I have given it some thought. I think it is evident that the smoke monster not only looks like these people, but also has access to their thoughts, or memories. I bring this up mostly because of the scene where Christian is helping Locke at the donkey wheel(s5e5 This Place is Death). Just before the light flashes and Locke leaves the Island, Christian yells to him “Say hello to my son for me.” Locke, not knowing this is the image of Jack’s Dad, asks “Who’s your son?” This is either proof that smokey can tap into those memories, OR just another mind game that he is playing on Locke.

o I know that there are appearances of other things on the Island that can be attributed to the smoke monster as well (Kate’s horse, I’ve even heard that the spider that kills Nikki and Paulo is ol’ smokie). This could challenge the need for an unburied body, to be fair, I don’t have answers for everything.

- There are places it can’t go

o Namely through Dharmaville when the fence is turned on. Whatever makes that fence work, keeps the smoke from passing through. Which makes me wonder…

o Is this what the ash is for around Jacob’s cabin? Is the fact that the line of ash is broken what allows the MIB/Smoke monster to enter and use the cabin?

- I likes taking you underground

o What it does with you once you are there is between the two of you… Although it does seem, from what we know in season 5, that once it takes you to the temple wall, you are sold out for the Island.

So back to the loophole business, what does that mean? Well we know that when evil Locke/MIB enters Jacob’s home with Ben, Jacob’s response is “WellI guess you found your loophole.”But what is the loophole? Is it that Ben is there to kill him? That seems like thecase. But why Ben? Is it just that it has to be a human who kills Jacob? Not a smoke monster. Is it that the smoke monster can only kill those with sin and Jacob may lack that? These are still huge questions, that I’m am confident will be answered.

All told, this is just a theory, but the more and more I think about it, the more it makes the most sense. If anyone has any other input or disputes to this, please comment.

It is way past due...

I really need to put together a post on my thoughts of the final episode as well as the season as a whole. I only had a full week of sitting on the couch with four less wisdom teeth to accomplish this. Well I didn't. But it should be coming soon. Should be.

I May Have Something Here...

In light of the season 5 finale, I think I have figured out the basic storyline LOST is trying to follow. While I'm not sure of details, I think that LOST is following the Biblical story:
http://www.economicexpert.com/a/Esau.htm
If you take the time to read this short article, I think that Jacob's enemy represents Esau, his brother. I think this more because right before Ben kills Jacob, he complains about never getting to even see him. Then he talks about Locke and something along the lines of: "When he [Locke] want's to see you, he gets taken up here as if he were Moses himself."

And so...I predict Season 6 opens up with Jacob being born by his mother, Rebekah. Any thoughts/comments anyone???

ZOMG!!!! Figured it out

The Island is a Stargate!

All this time travel stuff and now egyptian heiroglyphics, it all makes sense!

but, on a serious, non-Kurt Russell note...

Which do you think came first, the Egyptians or the Island?

Or, do you think the people from the Island influenced the culture of Egypt, or do you think that Egyptians somehow landed on the Island to create the heiroglyphics?

Smoke Monster Vent

Okay, so I was just taking another look at previous episodes (which we all know I needed to do), and I came across something pretty interesing. It's not a huge thing, but I didn't want to forget about it. So in the first episode of season 5, the Dharma folk were working on construction underground. This is the spot where we saw the Asian guy from the videos and Miles. They didn't make a big deal about it, but they definitely showed and focused on the vent holes (exactly like what we saw in Season 5 Episode 12 (Dead Is Dead). This is the square with like 30 holes or so. I thought it was pretty interesting and may raise some questions...

Maybe this is just the guy who is uneducated on LOST speaking, but could this be the same vent that Ben went to? Did they purpously make these vents for the Black smoke monster (or some other reason)? Or perhaps these vents were just always there?

During this scene as well, they talk about so much energy being released that they could use it for time travel if they drill any further? After the Asian guy leaves, Miles stands just staring into the holes that the guy was drilling.

Anywho, just doing my necessary LOST homework and trying to spark some ideas and see if anyone can shoot this down or build on it. I recommend re-watching Season 5, episode 1 (Because You Left).

He will never be the same

So tonight sealed up some recent mysteries that involved our lady Kate.

First off there was the issue of what Sawyer asked her to do before he jumped out of the
chopper. I always had a feeling it had something to do with his kid but seeing as I never mentioned it you could all think I am lying. Either way this did end up being the case and we learned that Kate did not keep 'the lie' to herself and she went off blabbing to everyone. I guess this was a solid answer about what Sawyer wanted but there isn't much to it. I guess this could come into play later just because she did know the secret.

We also found out what happened to Aaron. When she lost him in the store we were all rather upset at the possibility that this was the reason Aaron was gone. Then when she brought Aaron to his Grand-mammy it made a lot of sense save for one thing, why? Why is she really going back to the Island? Is she honestly going to look for Claire? Was she just done with Aaron and wanting to escape? Idunno.

I really liked the conversation that took place between Miles and Hurley during the house arrest. The whole Back to the Future thing was hilarious and they really had a flat out explanation of how the time travel stuff was working (you know for people who don't dedicate their lives to this kind of stuff). I thought for a minute that it was all going to be for show when Hugo pointed out the fact that Ben never realized that Sayid was the guy who shot him as a kid. But as we saw at the end of the episode what happens to little Ben in the Temple will cause him to forget what happened.

So the cool thing that we all picked up on at the watch party was that Jack's decision not to help little Ben, in an attempt to prevent the big evil Ben, actually resulted in the course of events that made Ben the way he is. It's in a way, Jack's fault.

Finally I have to say that I am super excited to see next week's episode. It is clearly going to be Ben centric and we should get a great look at the Temple and some of the mythology of the Island. Also I like that we will get to see some of what happens when Ben gets a beat down at the docks. I can't wait.