It remains an open question just exactly who has succeeded the Dharma Initiative and is now directing and supplying the elaborate social experiment unfolding on "Lost" island. Mikhail Baukunin recently informed the search party that he was "the last living member of the Dharma Initiative" and that the DI no longer exists as such, but has been replaced by a new regime established after a purge. In addition, "hostiles" acting in opposition to the others have been confirmed by Mikhail recently as well as by Kelvin previously. Clearly, multiple interests have a stake in this game. It has been fairly easy to posit, for example, a Charles Widmore, a man with vast resources at his disposal, as a man responsible for some of the rogue forces at play on the island. Yet he does not quite seem to fit the bill of the the omniscient "Him" or "great man" that Ben venerates while imprisoned in the hatch. Instead, I see the possibility developing that Widmore, along with Anthony Cooper, Sun's father, Mr. Paik, Adam Rutherford, father to Shannon and Boone, Christian Shepherd, and perhaps as yet unnamed others may comprise a cartel that has banded together in an effort to exploit the power of the island for their own purposes. I call them a conspiracy of fathers.
We have long been aware that most, if not all, of the castaways have serious "father issues," but the growing signs of interconnectedness among the characters and their immediate relations indicate that this shared feature leads toward some deeper significance. Redemption in the eyes of the father has been a strong theme in the back stories since the inception of the show. Even Ben recently alluded to his father in "The Man from Tallahassee." But what if this nexus of lives has come together on the island not by coincidence, or even fate, but rather by deliberate design?
First, consider that all these fathers have many similarities especially in terms of their characters. All of them seem to possess power, wealth, influence or some combination thereof. They all can be ruthless and demanding such as the "having what it takes" speech given by Christian to Jack or the slightly different version of the same given by Widmore to Desmond. Echoes of this kind of nature can be discerned in Ben's praise of the prime leader as "a great man, but not a forgiving man" willing to cut Ben loose in a heartbeat or requiring Miss Klugh to fall on her sword if need be. Remember how Rutherford left Shannon out in the cold because she needed to make her own way in the world or the harsh conditions that Sun's father imposes on Jin. These men are driven and expect results, maybe in an even greater degree, from their own families.
In addition, we have now discovered that Jack and Claire are linked by a common father. We also suspect this might be true for Locke and Sawyer, who seems to have Anthony Cooper's conning nature in his blood. The familial links to a rather small group of similar men abound. We have long wondered what the criteria for selection on Oceanic flight 815 might have been, blowing right past Mr. Eko's caution, and this common thread may be the answer. The passengers might have been chosen because they share a certain personality profile, but maybe it was because they have some connection to an inner circle we see slowly emerging from the shadows. The demanding fathers may have placed the castaways in this extraordinary place as a test, as a way to prove some latent potential not yet realized. Or perhaps they were offered as a necessary contribution or sacrifice for the conspiracy to open the box and ultimately gain its mysterious prize.
The detail that really sparked the connection of this conspiracy in my mind was the McCutcheon's whiskey. We had the story of its significance and value from Widmore, a placement so prominent that it was sure to raise the antennae of any veteran viewer of "Lost." Then, McCutcheon's reappears twice more including when Cooper needs some fortification in his confrontation with Locke. (It should be noted that, unlike Widmore, Cooper overturns and pours a second glass hoping in a Vaderesque way that his son will join him instead of suffering what should be a fatal fall.) One can easily imagine these men hatching their plot and sealing their compact over a shared drink of McCutcheon's. Then, as they face their most trying moments in their ruthless quest, they can return to the rare flavor of their precious commodity and instantly be reminded of their elite or privileged status as well as the enormous gain they expect from their venture.
I was hoping to develop even more on the saboteur as the agent of this conspiracy and whether that might be Locke or Rousseau, but this will have to suffice for now.
Theory by Mary
We have long been aware that most, if not all, of the castaways have serious "father issues," but the growing signs of interconnectedness among the characters and their immediate relations indicate that this shared feature leads toward some deeper significance. Redemption in the eyes of the father has been a strong theme in the back stories since the inception of the show. Even Ben recently alluded to his father in "The Man from Tallahassee." But what if this nexus of lives has come together on the island not by coincidence, or even fate, but rather by deliberate design?
First, consider that all these fathers have many similarities especially in terms of their characters. All of them seem to possess power, wealth, influence or some combination thereof. They all can be ruthless and demanding such as the "having what it takes" speech given by Christian to Jack or the slightly different version of the same given by Widmore to Desmond. Echoes of this kind of nature can be discerned in Ben's praise of the prime leader as "a great man, but not a forgiving man" willing to cut Ben loose in a heartbeat or requiring Miss Klugh to fall on her sword if need be. Remember how Rutherford left Shannon out in the cold because she needed to make her own way in the world or the harsh conditions that Sun's father imposes on Jin. These men are driven and expect results, maybe in an even greater degree, from their own families.
In addition, we have now discovered that Jack and Claire are linked by a common father. We also suspect this might be true for Locke and Sawyer, who seems to have Anthony Cooper's conning nature in his blood. The familial links to a rather small group of similar men abound. We have long wondered what the criteria for selection on Oceanic flight 815 might have been, blowing right past Mr. Eko's caution, and this common thread may be the answer. The passengers might have been chosen because they share a certain personality profile, but maybe it was because they have some connection to an inner circle we see slowly emerging from the shadows. The demanding fathers may have placed the castaways in this extraordinary place as a test, as a way to prove some latent potential not yet realized. Or perhaps they were offered as a necessary contribution or sacrifice for the conspiracy to open the box and ultimately gain its mysterious prize.
The detail that really sparked the connection of this conspiracy in my mind was the McCutcheon's whiskey. We had the story of its significance and value from Widmore, a placement so prominent that it was sure to raise the antennae of any veteran viewer of "Lost." Then, McCutcheon's reappears twice more including when Cooper needs some fortification in his confrontation with Locke. (It should be noted that, unlike Widmore, Cooper overturns and pours a second glass hoping in a Vaderesque way that his son will join him instead of suffering what should be a fatal fall.) One can easily imagine these men hatching their plot and sealing their compact over a shared drink of McCutcheon's. Then, as they face their most trying moments in their ruthless quest, they can return to the rare flavor of their precious commodity and instantly be reminded of their elite or privileged status as well as the enormous gain they expect from their venture.
I was hoping to develop even more on the saboteur as the agent of this conspiracy and whether that might be Locke or Rousseau, but this will have to suffice for now.
Theory by Mary
