Through the Looking Glass/Theories

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Theories about Through the Looking Glass

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Theories may be removed if ...

Stated as questions or possibilities (avoid question marks, "Maybe", "I think", etc). More appropriate for another article. Illogical or previously disproven. Proven by canon source, and moved to main article. Speculative and lacking any evidence to support arguments. Responding to another theory (use discussion page instead). This does not include responses that can stand alone as its own theory. Usage of an indented bullet does not imply the statement is a response. See the Lostpedia theory policy for more details.

Only Jack Remembers Being on The Island

• Very powerful and influential forces (government, corporate, etc.) have been aware of the island for some time and have used psychological and pharmaceutical techniques to "erase" the memories of the survivors pulled from the island. They only remember the crash and the subsequent rescue.
  • Somehow Jack is the only survivor that truly remembers the events on the island in their entirety. Either he dodged the erasing procedure, or it failed to stick.
    • People don't truly look at Jack with the level of sympathy one might expect. He's viewed as someone simply sick with alcoholism, drug abuse, and delusional thoughts. Like he hasn't yet recovered from the traumatic experience of a plane crash. They (the chief of surgery, his ex-wife, etc.) don't appreciate or know anything of the mind-twisting experience he truly had. They don't view him as someone who experienced 90 days of traumatic living. The new chief of surgery would likely know, in detail, Jack's story if it were public and recognized as fact.
    • Jack being alone in these memories contributes to his depression.
  • Kate has been appeasing Jack for the most part, not really remembering the experience of the island, but only the plane crash itself. However, she does have some brief "flashes" of memory that correspond with Jack's recollection of events on the island. This, along with the bravery he showed immediately after the plane crash, encourages her to secretly meet with him occasionally.
    • This explains why Kate shows little concern/interest in the person at the funeral. While it was somebody that was close to both of them on the island, Kate has no memory of the individual.
    • Kate tends to view Jack as if he is somewhat delusional.
• Some Losties stayed behind on the island, but they have been reported as deceased in the plane crash.
  • The DHARMA initiative has resumed and initiated a second purge of "the Others" and any survivor not willing to undergo the memory erasure techniques.
    • Why is DHARMA still doing food drops to the island then?
• This is just like the character "Jake" in Stephen King's "The Waste Lands" from the Dark Tower Series. The gunslinger drops Jake into the abyss, Jake wakes up back in his life in New York. Jack, at some point in the next season will be killed. Instead of dying he finds himself at some point in time back in the States. It is an alternate relality of sorts just like Jake experienced. Just like Jake, Jack is having trouble because he remembers the island and remembers dying, but now it is as if all those experiences were just a dream. Eventually he will find his way back through some sort of portal like Jake did through the old house.
• Jack, Kate [and maybe other Losties] got rescued by powerful corporation (probably Naomi's connection) and got opportunity to choose between life on the Island like The Others or life in the outside world, without any possibility to ever come back, because the Island hase to be protected in any way. They also have to keep the truth from the outside world as well. Jack, Kate [and I presume Juliet] decided to go. In the meantime, Juliet died in some kind of accident, so Jack got into serious depression state. He 'lost' himself again just as he did before the crash having issues with his ex-wife and his father. He got desperate desire to go back and find the Island, he wanted to be a leader and happy again.

Island Cover-Up

• Borrowing from the same theory above, only without the memory erasing. The Losties upon rescue have been incentivized/threatened not to repeat the details of the island experience to anyone.
  • The survivors were all given certain "wishes" as compensation for not seeking "external" psychological or hypnotic treatment that might help them deal with the traumatic experience of the plane crash, etc. (e.g. Kate's pardon)
    • At least Jack was given a "golden pass" by Oceanic, which suggests they acknowledged some wrong-doing (the crash). However, the newscast about Jack being a hero does not include mention of him being one of the survivors of 815, which suggests that the public (news media) is not aware of any 815 survivors. Add in Naomi's claim that the plane was found with no survivors in the outside world, and we either have an alternate reality (two planes) or a cover-up (plane wreckage planted and/or falsely reported).
    • The crash itself could have been acknowledged by Oceanic, but the forces keeping the survivors quiet could be a different company.
    • The news would not necessarily mention the detail that he was an 815 survivor as it is irrelevant
      • If a person was in a plane crash that went undiscovered for a length of time, was involved in some media aided cover-up with microscopic cameras showing alleged bodies that turned out to be false, then nothing that person did for the rest of their llives would be irrelevant to that, certainly not within five years (one could presume) of the crash.Bluemamie 22:56, 25 May 2007 (PDT)
      • The crash was well known enough that Naomi knew it based simply on the flight number.
      • Perhaps the survivor's identities were kept secret after the crash.
    • Is there proof that Naomi was telling the truth about the reported finding of the crash site? Penny does not appear to have sent the search team, yet Naomi said she was looking for Desmond. If this is not true, anything she said can also be viewed as suspect, so maybe there was no reason to explain two crashes to the public.
      • If Naomi is lying, then how she got the photo is an interesting question. She may not have been contacted by Penny directly, her superiors were.
        • Penny may not be the only person searching for Desmond. Penny's father may have noticed Penny's hope that Desmond will return, and may be trying to find him first. This would explain how Naomi obtained the photo of Desmond.
  • As a part of this agreement, they agree to not have any contact with other survivors
  • Losties that fail to comply are threatened with consequences, including death. This may explain the funeral, who was likely of a Lostie (perhaps John Locke) that didn't want to "forget" about the island.
• Kate and Sawyer both appreciate the second chance offered to them and have resumed their life (together). This is why she would not go to the funeral, and why no one else attended. She would be threatening this new life by attending the funeral and is also doing so by secretly meeting with Jack.
• The public has no knowledge of what happened on the island.
  • The Losties were never supposed to crash and they need to keep quiet or be killed.

No More Flashbacks

• This episode marks the beginning of the "flash-forward" mechanism and the decline of the flashbacks used in past seasons. Rather than primarily theorizing/speculating on what events will happen next, from now on fans will be given each character's separate "endings" and will get to theorize/speculate on what happened that lead them to where they are now--whether it be life AFTER/OFF the island (e.g. Jack, Kate), life STILL on the island (e.g. Locke perhaps?), or how they ended up dead (e.g. the unknown body in the coffin).
  • As in many series, everybody should be "at risk" to some point. Kate and Jack are known survivors. Unless the flashback is from a third source who sees possibilities (Walt for example) or some sort of time-travel / reset button is permitted, flash-forward stories are only possible futures. Cuse has done stories before with possible futures in one way or another (Rambaldi futures in Alias, John Bly's 1000 years of future rule after getting the Orb in The Adventures of Brisco County, Jr.
  • Instead of flashbacks, Season 4 episodes will feature an unfolding story centering on future Jack's attempt to find someone who can get him back to the Island. Initially he will seek out Desmond, who is "unstuck in time" (cf Slaughterhouse Five), but it will be revealed in a mid-season twist that Desmond is powerless to help Jack, having become an instrument of the "bad guys." Jack will then be sought out by the only person who can help, future Walt. This would be a useful explanation for the actor's real world aging. Starting with this episode's appearance at the bonepit, Walt will be projecting himself back in time to change events through the knife-slinging instrument of destiny that is John Locke.
• Going forward, flashbacks will occur on The Island and the aftermath of the Losties will be presented as "now".
• Season 4 will still have flashbacks, but about what happened on the Island between 2004 and the time Jack's flash forward takes place. Season 4 will start about two-three years after the end of Season 3, thus explaining the aging of the actors.
• They will still continue to employ the use of flashbacks because the producers stated that they will try and address the stories of deceased characters i.e. Libby, therefore would require the use of another character's flashback.
  • However, producers also stated that they wanted to focus on living characters first, and they would address stories of people like Libby as time allowed on the series, (i.e. possibly may not return to deceased characters).
  • Also, following Charlie's death, producer Damon Lindelof was quoted in an article in TV Guide as saying, "You'll still be feeling Charlie's presence very much, although the character is dead. That's not to say that we won't see him again. You just won't be seeing him in the present." This would seem to indicate that Charlie will continue to appear in flashbacks, unless the story indeed features an alternate universe. [link]
• They won't return to this storyline until the end of season 4 as they have with the two Portuguese-speaking guys at the end of season 3
• The scene with Jack and Kate off the island will be the final scene of the official LOST timeline by the end of the series.
  • OR the series will somehow end with Jack returning to the island. (A "happier" ending)

Jack's beard

• Jack has grown a beard to appear more like a castaway.
  • Shunning a mark of civilization (shaving) may be a manifestation of Jack's desire to return to the Island.
• On the island, Jack's beard was graying, but back in civilization it is dark.
  • The same thing that made Kate's freckles disappear, caused Jack's hair to keep its youthful colour.
    • 'Just for Men' rarely removes freckles, however it does color beards.
• Jack's escape from the island has made him a public figure, so he wears a beard to avoid being recognized.
  • Two explanations: it's a symbol of Jack's depression that he has given up shaving or taking care of himself. Also, the episode was heavy with Exodus symbolism and direct references to the biblical story. (Someone calls Jack Moses, the group is seen crossing a river, they are escaping potential annihilation from a Pharaoh-like ruler, etc.) Moses, leading the Israelites out of bondage in Egypt, went up to Mount Sinai and came down with a beard. Leading his people to freedom in Israel, he himself was not allowed to enter the holy land. It is possible that Jack, having secured rescue for his people (at a point we may see in a future episode) is not allowed to ever return to the island.
    • Neither Exodus nor Deuteronomy mention Moses' beard, whether in relation to the Mount Sinai story or not. Moses' face is radiant upon return from the top of Mount Sinai (Exodus 34:29-30).
      • Regardless of what the Bible actually says, the stereotype of Moses is bearded.

Not a Flash-Forward

• More of a Flash-Sideways. Jack's father is indeed alive in the alternate time line that Jack, Kate & unknown other characters have been forced through (to get them off the island).
  • Seems to create a paradox. Jack was originally in Australia to collect his dead fathers body, If Christian was still alive in this alternate time line, Jack would have never flown to Australia in the first place.
    • The paradox is in fact one change to the timeline that created this alternate reality. All the Losties will be revealed to have had similar changes made to their histories, removing all their reasons for being on Oceanic 815. However, Jack, Kate, and the other Losties in the possible future are the characters we know. They were on the Island and remember events as we have seen them. Their escape from the Island both created an alternate history and allowed them to take the place of their alternate selves.
      • Maybe Jack knew that his father wasn't dead, but simply wanted to cast him out of his life and therefore he told everyone that his father had died.
      • This would be a plot queue from Stephen Kings the Dark Tower series, where time diverges when Roland has to make a choice that creates a paradox, he remembers a time line that is impossible, but is unable to reconcile it, because he knows it has happened.
        • The series ends with Jack going through a portal of some sort and entering himself in the very beginning scene of the pilot in which he awakens after the crash, thus returning to the island but forced to relive all of the events with certain (subtle) differences. In actuality, he has done this loop an uncertain amount of times. All as per the ending of Dark Tower VII.
          • This explains the black/gray beard discrepancy. In Dark Tower, Roland is often described as being extremely aged, much more so than he should have been. This is because he is in a never-ending time loop. The flashforward is actually a flashback before Jack slips through the time warp (thus having a black beard; we'll call this Loop 1) and the events on the island that we see in the past three seasons are actually in Loop 2 or 3 (thus Jack having a gray beard).
            • This does not explain how Jack, from the beginning of the series, seems not to know anything about anyone on the island if, in fact, he is supposed to remember events from past loops. Jack never 'slips up' (ie. reveal a fact about someone or something he "shouldn't" know yet) or never has a "deja-vu" moment, therefore, the events of the first 3 seasons are not part of a Jack-centered alternate time loop. That is not to say that a time loop cannot, or will not exist, just that Jack is not the "loopie" if you will.
              • John Locke seems more likely to be the center of the multiple time loop theory. His motives for trying to keep the losties on the island are not clear perhaps for reasons only known to him from a previous loop. This can also explain John's deep rooted faith in the island as he is unable to reconcile his "past" (previous loop) memories and, therefore, attributes them to premonitions from the island.
      • This also explains why Kate is seemingly no longer a fugitive.
      • Would also explain why Oceanic Airlines is still in business and capable of granting 'gold cards' even though they allegedly had financial 'setbacks' and ceased operations after the crash of Flight 815.
      • But then, if the whole crash had not happened in that alternate future, why would Oceanic have given them a "Golden Pass" (obviously as a compensation for the crash)?
        • Oceanic is part of a consortium including The Widmore Company, Paik Heavy Industries, and the Hanso Group. They were behind DHARMA, and are the "bad guys" Ben fears coming to the Island. Jack, Kate, and whomever else escape the Island by making a deal with them, and the powers-that-be among the bad guys, like the Losties themselves, remain aware of the extinct timeline.
      • It's not a flashforward, because time moves faster off-island than in-island... We'll see bearded-Jack making contact with Penny (who is married to Desmond - in the final scene in Season 2, Penny is in bed... we'll see that Desmond is with her, i.e., the 40% that viewers did not see), and we'll learn that this contact is the reason why Penny managed to contact with Charlie in the Looking Glass... Thus, the flashforward shows events that happened in the past, therefore, is a flashback, maintaining the show's logic.
  • No definitive proof that the flashes were in the future.
    • Jack is using a cell-phone that would not be released until two years after the events on the island. Given the attention paid to detail, it is highly unlikely this was an accidental blooper.
      • It could also be product-placement. Granted, the writers wanted to establish these events happen in some indeterminate future, but two things stick out. The focus on the phone (each time he made a call, the camera seemed to zoom in on the phone) and if this takes place during the construction or completion of the Grand Avenue Project, wouldn't the RAZR/KRZR be obsolete?
  • No one seemed to be aware that Jack had been through the traumatic events of being 'lost'
    • Didn't he say that he was tired of lying? Probably about what happened.
      • He's tired of lying about being a hero. Just like he wasn't a hero in the flash-forward (he caused the accident), he wasn't a hero on the island. He's obsessed with getting off the island, and getting revenge on the Others. All that will cause him to go into a downward spiral (we are seeing him hit rock-bottom), possibly with him starting a war against the Others and perhaps going after any of the survivors who think he is going too far.
      • It's possible that as a condition of their rescue from the island, those who returned to civilization were not allowed to speak of their experience on the island. That would explain why people recognized Jack from his "heroic" act on the bridge, but not from any celebrity he would have gained as a survivor of a plane crash on a mysterious island for months and months. Obviously there are powerful agencies interested in keeping the island's existence a secret, and Jack may not be able to tell anyone what happened to him and his fellow survivors in the months they spent on the island.
  • Kate was not in jail
  • Jack's remark about his father was sarcastic, hence the confused look of the new chief of surgery, the post that Jack's dead father once held.
  • He was a hero the first time because he got a plane-full of people rescued from an island.
  • Presumably the survivors of the crash are given unlimited flights, by way of apology from the airline.
  • He saved the woman and child from the burning car, which was splashed all over the news.
    • Yes, he went for the kid and then back for the mother- that is twice
      • This seems to be confirmed by Kate asking him later "still pulling people out of burning cars ?"
      • Kate actually said "Still pulling people out of burning wreckage?" She was most likely referring to what he did after the plane crash.
  • Perhaps it was a slight reference to the miraculous surgery he performed on his wife. But, then, why would a random stranger be aware of that?
• Kate has no freckles because she is using makeup as part of a disguise to avoid arrest.
  • Kate has no freckles because she is off the island. Direct, bright sunlight tends to make freckles show more. Now that she (presumably) lives in smog-covered LA, her freckles have faded away.
  • Kate has no freckles because she covers them with make up or had them removed because Sawyer called her "Freckles" and something bad happens to Sawyer.
    • The lighting and "airbrushed" look was interesting- possibly reflecting his view of her?
      • Yeah, but we know it was really hot on the island, so her hair was more curly then, but now that she has returned to a normal climate, it's gone straight.
• Future-Kate is free from criminal prosecution because she "died" in the crash of 815, thus erasing her criminal record.
  • Anyone returning from the island would have likely made headline news from surviving a plane crash, and Kate's criminal record would most likely still be used against her.
  • But apparently Jack Shepherd can walk among those who recognize him. Surely this would have triggered an investigation into Kate's whereabouts.
  • Kate may have taken on the identity of one of the other passengers that died.
    • Jack and Kate also met in a remote location, perhaps to hide Kate's identity.
• The island is still hidden in the 'flash forward' time period. Jack is searching for it desperately, but cant find it again.
• The first three seasons on the island were all flashbacks and the show actually takes place in the flash-forward that we saw for the first time tonight.
  • This may have some truth to it. The first 3 seasons took place in 2004, which is the "past" now to the audience. What we saw during the "flashbacks" was not the "future" but the "present" (07-08?). It took place after they were rescued and will be the "present" of the show when it returns in season 4. The flashbacks will then fill in the missing time from the rescue to the present. This also explains the age difference with Walt, since it is now the present and Walt will have aged since leaving the Island with Michael in 2004.
    • There is a difference between a flashback and a story told in the past tense. The flash-forward may indeed have been to "real-time," but there is no way the disparate points of view (not to mention usual flashbacks) are all a flashback of any one character.
      • While it is true that the On-Island scenes were from more than Jack's POV, and therefore not exactly within the definition of his "flashback", it would not be the first time LOST has shown past events that were not from the POV of the character that had the flashbacks. Like last episode: it was Charlie's episode, but they showed the past event of Alex warning Karl and him going to warn the survivors. Also in season 3, episode 1, the whole scene in Otherville was from the POV of Juliet, but it was not her flashback episode.
• The idea that is pulled from Alice's Through the Looking Glass, that time is running both forward and backward at the same time. Thus what we are seeing is a set past but a future that is directly affected by the here and now.
  • Sort of. This is a flash forward--we are seeing one of Desmond's future flashes in its entirety. This future we are viewing is not set in stone, but preventable due to Desmond's knowledge of it. It is however, a likely future, given what is happening now. Desmond can prevent it by telling them about it, and his powers.
  • Maybe Jack realizes that he is not supposed to be rescued (knowing what the future entails) and the remaining seasons will be spent trying to convince people to stay on the island.
• Where is the convincing evidence that this is in fact not a flashback. Arguably, Kate is not on the run and Jack’s father is still alive. Jack also spends a lot of time in Asia and could have purchased his phone there where technology is often released ahead of the United States. Also, his tattoo references that “he walks amongst us but he is not one of us.” Perhaps he got his wish to go back to the island when 815 crashed and he and Kate are not who we assume they are.
  • The "5 second" scene in season one seems to discount them knowing each other before the crash. Especially not being as close as they appear in this "flash." They were alone in that scene, so there would be no reason for them to "act."
  • Kate and Jack talk about a plane crash and about how "pulling people out of a burning wreckage" is an old habit. If you want to believe that this is a flashback, you would have to believe that they crashed somewhere before together. You would also have to believe that they staged their conversations throughout 90 days on the island about not knowing each other, even when they are alone. Thinking this is actually a flashback is not logical.
    • She never said plane crash, just crash. He could have pulled someone out of a car in the past.
  • The phone is a Motorola, which is made in the US, they do not release overseas first.
    • Motorola began researching the phone in summer 2003 and sold the first units in summer 2004 although it did not catch on in the mainstream until 2005 due to the price being over $500 with a contract. It was released in Hong Kong around the same time as in the US.
  • See above. There's your evidence.
  • Remember when Jack found his father's casket and it was this whole big dramatic thing that he got up the courage to open it and when he did the casket was empty? Yeah, maybe dear old dad was never dead to begin with and it really is a flash forward.
    • The producers have stated definitively that Christian Shephard is dead. The flash forward is an alternate reality where Christian Shephard is alive.
      • Actually, they've stated that they "may be using the word 'dead' in a sense we [the audience] don't fully understand yet."
      • Jack talking about his father is a cause of his clear depression. The drug addiction, the attempted suicide, him talking about his father is him being a delusional, suicidal drunk. You can tell this by the look on the other doctors face when Jack talks about his father, and you can also kind of tell in the pharmacy where he says "don't bother calling him, hes on vacation." Its just Jack being a delusional drunk drug addict, trying to use his dead father to his advantage.
• Could be similar to the visions shown in Charles Dickens' "Christmas Carol," where it really does happen if characters continue down a certain path
• Jack's father has not died yet so Jack is having major problems reconciling the "real" past. Kate has not killed her father therefore she is not on the run. Sawyer has not killed the guy in Australia. Locke can still walk. Each survivor is able to redeem themselves and change their own futures. Most, like Kate, are happy about this. Jack isn't.
• It is just what Jack is THINKING about what is going to happen when they get rescued. It is not the definite future/a preminition of Jack's or Desmond's.
• Jack is having a dream (nightmare) of what could happen if they get rescued. The fact that Ben and Locke don't want the island to be found and believe that only misfortune will come upon them has influence Jack and he's having a nightmare. His worst fears come true. He lost his job and he is out of the hospital, his father who dominated his life is alive, his wife is having a baby with another man, his love (Kate) won't see him and lives with another man and he is pressed by the burden of being a hero.
• These events are a vision, similar to Desmond's visions of the future. Locke is now experiencing visions, and that is why he tells Jack that he is making a mistake in placing the call - his vision has told him that Jack's life will be ruined off the island.

Why "future" Kate wasn't in prison

• She was pardoned after rescue.
  • Pardoned because of a heroic act she did on the island.
  • Pardoned in exchange for her silence about the island.
  • Perhaps since Kate had no previous criminal record, she was pardoned for her suffering on the island.
• Found not guilty.
• Found guilty, but was given a light sentence and has already served her time.
• She changed her identity when getting off the island.
• She's still on the run, which might explain why it was so hard for Jack to get a hold of her; it's a risk for her to come out of hiding.
  • She was indeed still on the run. This explains why she and Jack only meet at night at this left-alone place near the airport.
  • Jack's and Kate's secret meetings may not be to hide from the law but to hide from the "he" Kate refers to. "He" obviously knows about Jack from the phone messages he leaves, but he wants Kate to stay away from Jack.
  • Jack talked in the collective "us" for the Golden Ticket Oceanic gave them which would be inclusive of Kate.
• It's possible that an organization associated with the island (Hanso, Dharma, Widemore, etc.) is so powerful that it could make Kate's legal troubles and fugitive status disappear. (If such an organization could convince the world that no one survived the crash of Oceanic 815, and keep a tropical island's location secret while still providing it with supplies, erasing someone's criminal record would not be too difficult.)
• Kate has been placed back in time before the killing of her father. Therefore she is not on the run.
• Kate has already been declared dead after the plane wreck and can't be sentenced to death a 2nd time

Penny not knowing Naomi

• It is possible that Penny was not aware of Naomi when she spoke to Charlie because in the timeline that Penny is in when she talks to Charlie, she hasn't sent Naomi yet. If Naomi is from the future, and time is different on the island, this is plausible.
• This could be the result of coming back into the real world from a "Total Recall" fictional world.
• It could be simply that Penny is not personally involved with each person who works for her (similar to hiring a construction crew, the president of the company may not personally know each of the crew that he/she has hired).
  • The revelation that Penny did not know Naomi was meant to shock the audience and lend validity to Ben's claim that she was a representative of an evil group that he has some prior knowledge of (though he could obviously still be lying). If it was simply a matter of Penny delegating and not knowing everyone under her authority (a sloppy attitude which seems unlikely given how committed she is to finding Desmond), it would represent a monumental cop-out on the part of the writing team. There has to be something more to this than Penny subcontracting what is apparently her new mission in life.
• Penny is part of the organization funding the island (food drops, research on losties, etc). Naomi is employed by the rival organization trying to find the island. Naomi's picture of Penny and knowledge of Desmond was part of research into Penny's organization.
• Naomi is an alias, and not her real name.
• Naomi works for Penny's father, who doesn't want Desmond rescued.
  • Penny's father has something to do with Widemore Industries, which has some relationship with the island, the Dharma Initiative, etc. He may have some interest in finding both the island and Desmond, or it may be that his knowledge of Desmond's existence - since he was presumed dead after being lost from the sail boat race around the world - triggered Penny's dad to begin searching for the island. There may be a huge conflict between Penny and her dad.
• Penny doesn't know Naomi because she doesn't know Naomi! Naomi is working with Dharma, who has waited however long to eradicate the hostiles who destroyed their initial mission.
• Penny sent Naomi to find the island, then Desmond triggered the hatch explosion causing the electromagnetic anomaly which caused a splitting event (in other words, a creation of an alternate reality), Naomi finally finds the island, but now we have two realities: one where Penny has sent Naomi and one where she hasn't, the two realities crossed and Charlie spoke to the Penny that did not send Naomi--confusing, yes, but but possible considering that Desmond has some apparent affect over space and time.
  • Like a Schrodinger's Cat experiment where the cat lives in one reality and dies in the second. However, because of the electromagnetic anomaly, we are seeing both realities butting up against each other.
• Naomi stated she had never met Penny- Penny had hired Naomi's Company- Penny was not on the ship
• Naomi has some knowledge of the future herself, she shows Jack how to use her phone "if anything should happen to her"
• Naomi is actually working for a group affiliated with the Widmore Corporation. Penny's father has learned of his daughters search for Desmond. He has sent a group looking for Desmond's location. This explains how Naomi has a copy of the picture.
  • Naomi is working for the Widmore Corporation as said above. In Bad Twin, the Widmore Corporation and the Hanso Foundation have headquarters in the same building, and this is not the only reference given to their connection. The Dharma Initiative failed - to be brutally honest, it was killed off - and the Hanso Foundation would obviously not be pleased. Thus, Widmore Corp. would receive a double benefit from coming to the island: one, they would remove Desmond from the equation with Penny; two, their (partner?) the Hanso Foundation would gain revenge against the others/hostiles and be able to re-establish their research buildings.

• Naomi is from the future or an alternate timeline.
  • This explains her advanced-technology satellite phone.
    • (What's so advanced about it?)
      • vivid-colors 6-inch touch-screen sans-antennae, in 2004??

• Penny says herself she didn't know Naomi or send rescue. If you remember from season 2 when the electromagnetic surge happened the two portuguese people momentarily had a signal from the island. However Penny still doesn't know where the island is (she asks charlie where they are)so therefore could not send a rescue ship. Therefore Naomi is with another group, and Ben may have been telling the truth about other hostiles wanting access to the island.
  • Penny has not yet sent help because until this interaction with Charlie in the Looking Glass, she was unaware of the island. It is this communication that sparks her investigation of an "island" where Desmon seems to be located. The scene at the end of Season 2 with the two Portuguese men in the helicopter has not actually happened yet.
    • Naomi's boat is not how the Losties get saved. It is actually through Penny's search and the 2 Portuguese men in the helicopter that they all get rescued off of the island. This will not take place until much later.
      • This supports Desmond's vision that Claire and Aaron (and presumambly the rest of the Losties) get rescued from a helicopter.

Also when Naomi crashed she said in either russian or portuguese "i am not alone" to Patchy with out subtitles implying this infomation was only meant for Patchy (and the others).

The "Rescuers" on the Other End of Jack's Phone Call

• The Hanso Foundation and the Dharma Initiative came in and took revenge on the Others, while resuming whatever abusive/destructive experiments they were conducting on the island.
  • Something in this revenge has changed Jack's mind about "the good guys."
  • This is the new DHARMA Initiative, headed by Thomas Mittelwerk of The Lost Experience. The fate Ben refers to and which Jack regrets is Mittelwerk's virus. The Hanso Foundation isn't helping them now that Alvar Hanso has been reinstated, so their last hope of accomplishing their goals is to take control of the island and its mysterious resources.
    • The Sri Lanka Video and The Lost Experience supposedly takes place in 2006, which states that the DHARMA Initiative was a failure. The Losties are still in 2004.
    • We don't know the status of Alvar Hanso in 2004. The Lost Experience takes place in 2006.
• Flash-forward Jack is determined to return to the island because some or many of the Flight 815 survivors are still there on the island. He has a guilty conscience, feels responsible, and wants to get back to them.
• I don't think that girl was lying when she said that she was just "given coordinates". I think the Hanso Foundation/Dharma hired them so that they didn't have to do the dirty work.
• Ben was telling the truth. There are bad things coming to the island because of the phone call that Jack made. That is why Jack is so messed up in the flash forward. His distress call to Naomi's ship will lead to the downfall of many of the Losties.
  • But Ben says that the people coming to the island will kill everyone, which wouldn't be the case if Jack and Kate were able to make it off the island.
    • As is often the case with Ben, truth and lies are intermingled in such a way as to be indistinguishable. Ben really means "everyone who matters to me and not you."
    • The unknown death in the flash-forward may have convinced Jack that Ben was right; not that the "rescuers" would kill the Losties, but that their rescue and leaving the island would lead to their deaths.
      • It's likely to assume that Ben didn't mean the word death literally. If we look at depressive "future-Jack", we see a person whose destiny (Leading) has been taken away. Jack's personality, as a leader, died when he and the other Losties were saved.
    • Ben was not relating a vision of future events, a la Desmond, he was merely telling Jack the intentions of the "bad guys." They will come to the Island intent on a new purge, ironic given Ben's role in the original. Jack and Kate's and anyone else's survival will surprise Ben, if he survives long enough to see it.
• The Dharma Initiative/Hanso Foundation people were on the other end of Jack's phone call. They have been searching for the island ever since the purge but haven't been able to find it because of the signal jamming from the Looking Glass. The Dharma people are now coming to exact their revenge on everyone currently on the island.
• But Dharma food/supply drops are still being made via aircraft flying over the island. Dharma apparently still has knowledge of the islands coordinates
  • But the others use the buildings to receive supplies thinking DHARMA don't know about the purge. That's why they send the assault team Naomi's helicopter many years later.
• Actually a group working for the Widmore Corporation. Penny and her father are competing to locate Desmond - Penny wants him back, the father wants to prevent that. Charles Widmore has given those working for him, a copy of the picture of Desmond and Penny.
• Hermann Minkowski (the mathematician mentioned on the character's lostpedia page) is an anagram for "I'm known, mean shirk" - Shirk defines a person who avoids an assigned duty, or fraud, trickery, a scoundrel. It may also derive from the German word "schurke" (scoundrel) or the Old High German word "fiurscurgo" (demon)

Rescued Losties

• Not all of the Losties will leave the island. A few or even most of them get off, but Kate and Jack lie to the rescuers at some point and say there are no other survivors. That is why Jack feels so guilty. This plays into Jack's "Shepard" role and his comments about getting everyone off the island.
  • Locke will stay on the island to lead the Others and defend against the people trying to find the island.
  • Hurley will remain on the island to escape his "curse."
  • Alex will not leave the island because she just found out that Danielle (who will also stay behind) is her mother.
  • Rose and Bernard won't leave the island because of the prospect of Rose's cancer returning.
• Karl and Alex will leave the island so they can be together
• Claire, Aaron, Jack, and Kate will leave the island. The future flash shows Kate and Jack off the island. Desmonds vision shows Claire and Aaron being rescued.
• Kate and Jack were the only two rescued.
• Juliet wasn't saved, (perhaps all the group at the beach) since if she was saved, Jack wouldn't be in the condition he was in, and they would be together in the future.
• Sun and Jin left the Island, thinking that Sun has a better chance of survival and birth off the island than on the island.
• All the lostie were saved, but their lives fell apart shortly after (plausible, considering their flashbacks - they are all failures in one way or the other), hence, it turns out the only time they truly "lived" was on the island. Hence Jack's behaviour in the flashes.
• Naomi's "freighter" is the Helgus Antonius medical ship, which has been sent to the island by Charles Widmore, who gave the photo of Desmond and Penny to Naomi to trick Desmond into thinking the ship was sent by Penny.
  • The quarantine units in the ship will be used to restrain the "rescued" losties who will be told they are infected with the sickness and forced to undergo drug-induced brainwashing disguised as medical treatment, in a manner recalling Claire's treatment at the Staff.
  • Desmond will refuse to board the ship and will be rescued by Penny for real or remain on the island.
  • Jack will avoid being drugged during the quarantine, realising the sickness is a deception.

Ben's position as Leader of the Others

• Ben is quickly losing his control of the others.
• In Season 4, we shall see Ben lose complete control of The Others, ultimately resulting in his own death and possibly his entire following.
  • A real-life parrallel to this is Jim Jones, who led The Peoples Temple to a secluded area in Guyana called Jonestown. As time passed, members were not allowed to leave and eventually Jone's ordered a mass suicide to cover up the actions that he had taken against the people of his congregation.
• While tied to the tree, Karl appears to be speaking with Ben, seemingly checking to make sure he is okay. Despite the way Karl has been treated, we see a sense of loyalty that Karl still has towards Ben.
  • Karl may be mocking Ben. We never heard what is said.

John Locke's (Speculated) Death

• It is (to some people) VERY possible that after Jack answered the phone, and John ran behind the tower with gun in hand, he committed suicide.
  • Knowing that he would be leaving the island, and that he would have a terrible life off the island, he couldn't see any reason to live
  • He did what Walt told him to do, (Which was the only thing stopping him from suicide before) and with no other orders, he felt like he did his job.
  • Locke only wanted to kill himself because he feared he was really paralyzed again, when it turns out he can walk, he no longer has the urge to end it.
  • Locke probably didn't want to die a long, painful death of dehydration under a tropical sun in a pit full of rotted corpses.
• The only visible flaw with this theory is that no gunshot was heard, although it could have taken place after the camera stopped.
• Locke simply walked away to avoid being seen with the other survivors and not be rescued. He wouldn't have to kill himself.
  • Exactly. John is committed to understand the island, and to accomplish this task. The Island has warned him, through the Walt apparition, that there a danger lies within the 'rescuers'. John tried to stop Jack contacting them. When John decides not to shoot Jack, he does not abandon his quest, but disappears to find another way to do what he has to do without resorting to violence.
  • Locke may have gone to get something, or someone (possibly Walt) to show Jack that Locke is right, and that making the call is the wrong course of action.
  • Locke retreated to the radio tower to try to jam the signal before the ship can lock on the location.
• If John is in the casket then he did not commit suicide on the island. The article referenced an apartment building and Jack was surprised to see the article.
• Locke went to reactivate the tower broadcast to block the, as yet, uncompleted satellite phone trace. Wascowski says "hell yeah we can, sit tight, we'll be right there" indicating that they are in the process of tracing the location. If John reactivates the broadcast, it will interrupt that.
• Locke will not commit suicide but will be killed by the Monster/Island for failing in his task.

Brainwashing

• None of the survivors were actually rescued. They are all still on the island and are being brainwashed by Naomi's people, possibly working for the Hanso Foundation or Dharma. For some reason, these people wish to convince the survivors that they must stay on the island and are implanting false memories of their rescue and the aftermath, with each survivor's worst fears coming true after leaving the island. Other flash-forwards may include Bernard losing Rose to cancer (and Juliet losing her sister the same way), Desmond losing Penny, Locke becoming paralyzed again, Sun miscarrying Jin's baby, etc.

Alternate reality

• In this reality, Jack's dad is still alive, the plane crashed and everyone died, and so on. So it really is a different world for everyone. Jack wants to go back to the island because he sees it a way to get back to his "home."
  • The maps Jack is looking at are of Britain (the main one at the top) and of Kent, in England, underneath it.
  • Somebody, possible Jack, was able to shift all events in time to the moment of the 815 crash, so there was no crash, no Island and so on. So Jack is trying to find the Island to rescue Juliet. Missing her leads him into depression.
• The flash forward in this episode takes place in the Mirror Universe.
  • Jack, previously always clean-shaven, has a beard. This could be a reference to the Mirror Universe of Star Trek.
  • And Kate, previously freckled, has clear skin.
    • It was probably just foundation.
• Kate and Jack are in different time line because of the hatch blowing up when Desmond turned the failsafe key and the sky turned purple it changed the time line so all the survivors died in the plane. Thats why jack want to go back to island to get his normal life back and thats why kate doesnt want anything to do with jack or the island because she is free woman now. In this time line she never killed her stepdad.
  • Desmond, or a character with similar abilities, time-traveled back and changed all of the events that lead to the Losties getting on the plane. In this timeline, Jack never reported his father's alcoholism, so Christian never went to Sydney, and never drank himself to death. Kate never killed her stepfather, and thus never fled to Australia. Somehow, Jack and Kate have "memories" of their time on the Island.
    • That fails to explain how they got "golden tickets" from the airline.
      • They got the "golden tickets" because they managed to get off they island so it means they didn't die in the crash. The original Jack and Kate from the new timeline died in the crash.

The Woman in the Car Crash

• Not every story line has a deeper connection. The most likely explanation is that the woman and child in the car crash are two random people with no connection to Jack. They are more or less a device, used to illustrate how far Jack has fallen. Where once he cured what seemed like an inoperable injury on the woman who would become his wife, now he can barely stand up straight, wants to kill himself, and is an addict with shaky hands much in the way his father was an alcoholic. Only on the island was he able to be a hero. With only three seasons to go, don't expect any explanation or flashback showing that the car accident had a bigger connection than that.
• The woman and child that Jack saves from the burning vehicle are Claire and Aaron, respectively. It can explain his eagerness to operate on her. The boy also seemed to recognize him quite well. On the other hand, since Claire is Jacks sister, he could have used that as an argument in his favor.
  • However, Jack and Claire do not know they are half-brother and -sister. Claire did not know her father's name, and she is the "closest" of anyone to knowing the truth. Maybe someday Jack will show her a picture of his dad, and she'll recognize him as her own.
  • That would be interesting, but it's just not feasible. The boy is 8 years old. Much too old to be Aaron.
    • We don't know how far in the future the flash-forward is so there is no way of knowing if it is feasible or not.
  • The news report says the woman is in her 40's. Unless the scene is 20 years in the future, it cannot be Claire.
    • Jack might have wanted to kill the woman because she saw him trying to kill himself.
  • The boy recognizes Jack because Jack pulled him and his mom from a burning car wreck.
• The woman and child are Rachel and Julian Carlson.
  • This is a great theory since the woman who was in the crash with her son is 40 and has a young son. Juliet was on the island for three years prior to the crash. We can assume (since Juliet saw live footage of Rachel playing with her infant son) that Rachel gave birth three years before the crash, so her son would be about 6 or 7. This flash forward takes place in 2007. Jack also referred to her as "Arlen", Rachels last name is Carlson (could have been misheard during episode).
    • Could it be that Rachel has gotten married at some point since Juliet left for the island?
• The woman is Cassidy (Sawyers old girl friend) and the child is Sawyer and her child.
  • This is not possible because Sawyer's child from Cassidy is a girl named Clementine.
• Jack wants to operate on the woman since he is responsible for her accident in the first place. Saving her would give him a sense of redemption.
• The boy could have been Ethan. The face closely resembles Ethan's face.
  • He could also be Jacob. Makes as much sense and bears as much of a similarity ;)
• Dr. Hamal calls the woman Mrs. Arlen when Jack runs into him after stealing the hospital's Oxycotin

The Looking Glass station

• Liam, Charlie's brother was the musician that was referred to by Bonnie in the Looking Glass station that programed the jamming system's deactivation sequence.
  • There is no evidence to support this; the jamming program has been running for years and until recently his brother was a drugged out musician, not a DHARMA programmer.
• The jamming system was programmed by a member of Geronimo Jackson.
• The system was programmed by Dexter Stratton.
• The System was programed by Charlie in an alternate reality
• The song used to choose the code was the Beach Boy's "Good Vibrations", a reference to the magnetic waves that emit from the island.

Desmond's Vision

• Claire and Aaron are taken off the island via helicopter by the people that Naomi was working for. According to Ben, they would be a danger to the island so they took Claire and Aaron away so they would not get hurt.
• The whole episode was Desmond's vision that they did not show in the last episode.

Aaron

• Claire's Baby is 'Special' because he sensed Charlie's death.
  • This is supported by the claims made by the psychic that it is imperative that Aaron should not be raised by another.
  • This can also be a cinematic shot, but then again this is Lost.

The Temple

• The Temple that the others were heading for was built by the same people who built the four-toed statue. We will get more information about this temple in season 4.
• The Temple is a new DHARMA station/hatch that we don't yet know about.

Back To The Future

• These "flash-forwards" are examples of what life will be like for characters in the end unless changes are made.
• Just like Marty McFly had to do certain things in Back To The Future to save himself from being "erased", Jacob is someone involved in our situation who has gone back in time in an attempt to make sure the right things happen.
• This is why Locke says,"You're not supposed to do this." when Jack uses the satellite phone.
• This would be the "Work..." that Locke "...needs to do." as decreed by Walt.
• This would fit extremely well in the realm of Fate versus free will
• During Lost: The Answers, it was said that the survivors are alive and living somewhere in the space-time continuum.

Mikhail's Supposed Second Death

• Mikhail has a special power similar to Walt, Desmond, Hurley and Locke. Mikhail's power is that he can cheat death. Kate pronounced him dead at the Sonic Fence which was initially explained away as "not being set to lethal" at his first reappearance. However, in this episode he was shot through the heart by Desmond with a spear gun and he came back to life to kill Charlie. This is not a normal manifestation of the Island's healing powers as he shot Bonnie and Greta through the heart with his own gun in the same scene.

Possible cultural references

• Star Wars: Charlie talking with Penny through the microphone is an homage to Han Solo speaking into the microphone during the first Star Wars film. Dr.Hammil almost shares a surname with Mark Hamil, who portrayed Luke Skywalker in Star Wars.
• "It's a Wonderful Life": Jack aborts his suicide attempt on the bridge to save a stranger in trouble.
• House: Jack's beard and addiction to a painkiller are very similar to Dr. Greg House.
• Back to the Future II: By calling The Ship, Jack has caused an alternate reality, similar to Marty's alternate 1985.
• Star Trek: Jack's beard may be a reference to the Star Trek Episode "Mirror, Mirror", in which regular characters meet their alternate universe "evil" counterparts. Memorably, Spock's double has a distinctive beard. The idea that alternate universe counterparts have beards has been much parodied.
• Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan: Desmond and Charlie touching hands through the glass that separated them precisely echoes an iconic moment in Start Trek II when Kirk and Spock touch hands as Spock dies, having sacrificed himself for "the good of the many."
• Oxycodone: Jack in the future becomes addicted to Oxycodone, a recent and popular drug of choice that's been in the news lately.
• Hermann Minkowski: mathematician who developed the mathematics later used by Einstein in relativity theory.
• The Gospel According To John: Ben reintroduced Alex to Danielle Rousseau "this is your mother", like Jesus Christ in John 19:27. (Religion)

• Through the Looking Glass: the 9th album by the British band Siouxsie and the Banshees, including song titles such as "The Passenger", "Gun", "Sea Breezes", "Hall of Mirrors", and "You're Lost Little Girl", all of which oddly fit the theme of the show. (Music)
• Through the Looking Glass: the 11th album by the American band Toto. (Music)

• Volvo: Kate, who previously seemed to be "low-income" and a rebel, is now driving a Volvo, the epitome of a family car. (Cars)
• John Latham: Artist and philosopher involved in the theory of Flat Time, in which the basic units of the universe is not matter or energy, but elementary events.[1]
• Jonestown: Jonestown was the communal settlement made in northwestern Guyana, by the Peoples Temple, a cult from California. Cult leader Jim Jones did not allow members to leave and eventually, ordered a mass suicide. Can be compared to the Island in relationship to The Others, as we start to see Ben ordering the executions of his own people to prevent rescue from the island.
• Harry Potter: As in "Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets," an antiquated light blue car unexpectedly bursts out of the forest to save the day.