Sometimes I feel like Locke - flat on my back and staring for the first time at the blast door map. Its words and symbols create so many questions, punctuated with an actual question mark in the very center.
If I were to create my own blast door map of the things that still make my head spin, the questions below are the things I would write on it. These are typically questions I have not ever seen asked - or longstanding questions that just seem to have no satisfying answers. I would love to hear your own theories. And I will entertain new questions.
This is a work in progress. Much, much more to come...
- In Tabula Rasa, there are four distinct scenes where different characters are holding something in their mouths.
- Jack has a flashlight in his mouth while in the fuselage, searching for antibiotics that might save the marshal's life.
- Sawyer places an unlit cigarette in his mouth after he realizes he has failed to euthanize the marshal. He nervously attempts to light it but fails, and then throws the cigarette on the ground.
- Charlie holds his famous black sharpie marker in his mouth while he re-wraps one of his fingers with tape. He has just changed FATE to LATE.
- John Locke has a wooden dog whistle in his mouth that he fashioned himself. He blows on it. Vincent emerges from the jungle.
What do these four scenes signify?
- What is the significance of the song Shotgun Willie playing in Dr. Pierre Chang's house in Because You Left? And why does it skip on You can't make a record if...? Are we to focus on the lyric that would follow if it hadn't skipped - if ya ain't got nothin' to say?
- What is the significance of the song Downtown playing in Tale of Two Cities and does it have anything to do with the Seinfeld episode Bottle Depisit where Jerry and George discuss the possibility of a hidden meaning in the song for George?
- Why do we so often see Kate in a tree? (What Kate Did, Whatever the Case May Be, LA X, Parts 1 & 2, etc.)?
- In A Tale of Two Cities, Ben and his followers attempt to break the wills of Jack, Kate, and Sawyer. In each test, food is a key element...
- Jack must go to the back of his cell and sit against the wall in order to earn a sandwich.
- Sawyer must figure out the puzzle of the polar bear cage in order to earn a fish biscuit.
- Kate must put on a dress and then finally handcuffs before being allowed to eat her breakfast with Ben by the ocean.
What is the symbolism behind the food and its association with submitting to the will of Benjamin Linus?
- In Lighthouse, as Hurley and Jack make their way to The Lighthouse, they come across four strong reminders about death...
- The duo comes across Kate sitting by the stream. She hears their approach and, not knowing who they are, turns toward them and points her gun. After recognizing them, she says, "Jack - I almost shot you."
- They find Shannon's inhaler, reminding them of her death.
- They stumble upon the caves and revisit the bodies of Adam and Eve.
- They see the empty, broken coffin of Christian Shephard.
The caves are, as Jack said in White Rabbit in season one, "in the valley."
Is this the valley of the shadow of death?
Is this entire episode a retelling of Psalm 23? This is the episode where we see Jack's soul restored ("you have what it takes"). We see Hurley following Jacob's written instructions that "lead them along the right path." Later we see Jack sitting down beside the quiet waters of the ocean near the lighthouse, reflecting on his journey. Hurley's head is anointed with oil (ink). Etc.
- What is meant by the use of the color green, particularly in conjunction with John Locke in The Substitute?
- In the LA timeline, John falls out of his wheelchair and into his yard, his face in the green grass.
- In the next scene, Locke is in the bathtub, trying to choose between to swatches of green - apparently for chair backs for the October wedding.
- Just before Randy Nations fires Locke, Locke pulls a green folder from his desk and opens it.
- The woman who interviews Locke at the temp agency has a large, green coffee cup.
- As Locke enters the teacher's lounge, there is a woman in a bright green dress and matching coffee cup.
- Throughout the LA timeline, there are green flyers on the wall, green mailboxes, green shrubs - etc., to the point of being absurd. Watch it again with this in mind and you will see what I mean.
- In the 108th episode of LOST, Lighthouse, Jack and Dogen are talking. Dogen says...
Your friends - Ford and Austen and Kwon - they are not coming back, are they?
Ford = 15
Austen = 51
Kwon = 42
15 + 51 + 52 = 108
Other than sheer resonance, is there a deeper meaning behind these three characters adding up to 108?
- What is the significance of Benjamin Linus being a European history teacher in the ALT timeline while John Locke serves as a substitute (The Substitute)? Ben teaches of Elba, Napoleon, etc. Is there significance in Locke and Ben's meeting in the teacher's lounge while Ben complains about the empty coffee pot and Locke suggests Earl Grey tea?
- In Confidence Man, Claire remarks that she is the "only Australian who loves peanut butter." It is one thing to want some peanut butter and have the touching seen at the end of the episode where she and Claire enjoy an imaginary batch together. It is quite another, to me at least, to emphasize Australia in association with peanut butter. I have a developing theory, but want to know what others think first.