OBLIGATORY REFERENCES
First, I must send appropriate props to Vozzek69’s thoughts on “The Constant.” Some of the things I saw and will expand on here are stated in Vozzek’s “Things I Noticed” post for this show. Also, I’ll have to point readers to “Aohora Redux” to further explain my own endgame perspective of the show.
SEEMINGLY OBSCURE INTRODUCTION
Let’s begin with a barrage of “Kate Haters” who posted after last week’s “Eggtown.” I was puzzled by so many fans’ reaction to Kate. They hated her, they were annoyed by her, they thought the show was “filler” and “slow,” and they were overwhelmingly concerned with whether she was actually pregnant and lying about it or whether the Aaron we see her embracing in the end was “Claire’s Aaron” or Kate’s baby she named Aaron. No one seemed to be asking the same questions I was asking.
Why on Earth would Kate act like she wants a baby so badly? Why would Kate, who has a pathological need “to run” in every episode up until now, be eager and happy to cut a deal with the prosecutor where her probation ties her down to one place for the next 10 years? Why would Kate backhand Sawyer in bed?
And then there was that weird moment when Kate hugged Aaron and said his name. . .(but I’ll get to that later).
“TIME TRAVEL” EXPLAINED
What could be a better solution to time travel and paradoxes than time travel by one’s conscious self? Desmond, presumably after electromagnetic exposure during the hatch implosion, experiences a “time jump” similar to his previous “dream state flashback.” However, this time (HA!), instead of future Desmond landing in the past, his past self (from 1996) pops up in 2004 and is understandably confused and distraught. No less are we, until we clear up a few issues.
1.) Where does 2004 Desmond go when 1996 Desmond is jumping back and forth?
The answer to this lies in simpler terms than quantum physics and alleviates the paradox syndrome. When 1996 Desmond is jumping back and forth, he is effectively changing 2004 Desmond (changing his memories & changing his past experience). This means that until 1996 Desmond is finished and settled back in 1996, 2004 Desmond is in flux. While in flux, 2004 Desmond can’t exist (or exists in infinite possibility—same difference). This way, the time line of Desmond’s mind stays intact.
2.) What about the matter/anti-matter bunnies?
I have no idea how this relates to the Orchid Station Orientation Film, where the two bunnies have to stay away from each other to avoid catastrophe, but I can say that as far as Desmond is concerned, there’s no way his two selves can meet. Time travel for those in contact with the island seems restricted purely to the consciousness. Since the present consciousness is in flux while the past consciousness is adding new memories and experiences, they can never meet. The past must always precede the future. The future is always dependent on the past. Since Desmond’s body stays where it belongs in the timeline while his consciousness is jumping around, there is no bunny paradox.
3.) What about Daniel’s participation in this time jumping? Why wasn’t he in flux?
The question of Daniel, the only person’s past experience changed by 1994 Desmond, is answered in his little card game. Charlotte refers to Daniel’s card guessing as “a sign of some recovery.” Clearly, Daniel is suffering from some brain issue where his memory is affected. The recovery he is looking for could be healing (like Rose. Desmond remarks about the lack of radiation protection for Daniel’s head during his experiment with Eloise, the ill-fated rat). 2004 Daniel is unaffected by a difference in past memories because he doesn’t have them anymore. His memory timeline can’t change if it is blank. However, he is aware that his past has changed because of his note to himself about how Desmond will be his “constant” if anything should happen. This note only appears after Desmond interacts with Daniel in 1994.
4.) I’m still stuck on Daniel (you might say). Why would he cry to see the supposed remains of Oceanic Flight 815 on T.V.? He can’t already have the answers to the Eloise problem if Desmond hasn’t gone back to give them to him, unless Desmond’s time jump has already happened before it actually happens!!
When Daniel tells his caregiver (another indication of an incapacitating illness), that he doesn’t know why he’s crying, it simply indicates that he knows he has some kind of connection to the missing flight, but can’t remember what it is. Well, that could be interesting, but it is not a sign that Daniel is time jumping himself. Also, remember, Daniel eventually finds the numbers and frequency he needs and completes his work with Eloise without Desmond’s help. That’s why he has them to give to Desmond. Remember how Crazy Flashback Lady from Desmond’s post hatch implosion experience says that some things are just destined to happen regardless? Daniel chooses to interfere with his own past experience, but wisely chooses one that he can’t remember himself but that he knows he has already accomplished.
Having a time jumping guru on island has certainly made things interesting, yeah?
A WORD (OR TWO) ON THE EYES
Desmond’s time jumps can be initiated by lights flashing in his right eye. That was VERY interesting to me. Suddenly the preponderance of close up eye shots from the very first scene of the show are not just arty thematic elements but actual clues to the inner workings of the island (and the show). Starting close ups of either the right or left eye on a character might be of significance in more than one way. Apparently this ability to have “side effects” varies from person to person. (See “Aohora redux” for more theory about this “special” ability).
Now, I could go on and on about the eye issue, but I’ll stick to my original point after pointing out one very, interesting but nearly obscure fact. Mikhail is missing his RIGHT EYE. And before the Flame Station blows up, he is reading a journal in Russian and making notes on it, as if he is trying to remember something. I’ll just leave this link and let you mull that one over! http://www.lostpedia.com/wiki/Mikhail%27s_document
HE’S ONLY “MOSTLY DEAD”
The dead, without a doubt, have some kind of connection to the island. Jack’s dad is talking, walking around and hanging out with Jacob. Charlie visits Hurley in what seems to be a legitimate post death experience (for Charlie anyway). The dead speak in whispers and dreams and who knows what else.
Realists who watch this show have resisted the idea of “ghosts,” and have reacted with surprise and disappointment at Myles’ “ghost buster” vibe. But when considered, a connection to the dead doesn’t seem all that far fetched. If, theoretically and according to Daniel’s experiment and Desmond’s experience, the human consciousness can separate from the physical body to traverse time between bodies, then it’s not much of a jump for that consciousness to exist separate from the body entirely and independently.
For our island, this seems to be a “normal” phenomenon. The line between the living and the dead is only delineated between those living who are able to “see” and those who aren’t. If Christian Shepherd is dead (according to the producers), and he is able to appear to Jack and Hurley, then the question isn’t “Is Christian a ghost” or “Is Christian actually Jacob,” but why does Christian’s consciousness (the thing that when missing makes his body a “pile of meat”) need to get in contact with our losties? Why is he consistently preparing Jack for events on the island throughout Jack’s flashbacks? Why doesn’t he “make that phone call” to reconcile with Jack before he dies?
Regardless of endgame results, forces aligned against each other (the “bad” guys, the “good” guys), communication or influence of the dead, controlled or involuntary human consciousness time jumping, the fact remains that people hated “Eggtown” when they should have been BLOWN AWAY.
FULL CIRCLE COMPLETION OF ORIGINAL THOUGHT
“Eggtown” was actually the mother of all Easter egg shows. To see it, though, you have look very carefully at the scene where Naomi dies.
After dropping out of a tree and confronting Kate, Naomi makes the call on the “magic” phone to give the freighter folks what they need to drop our four newcomers on to the island. Somewhere during this exchange, something very strange happens to Kate. The initial moment is so quick, it’s difficult to catch without slo-mo access, but it seems to happen when Naomi lets Kate out of a choke hold and both drop to the ground. Naomi looks at Kate (with a very strange looking right eye). Suddenly, with no real explanation, Kate looks at Naomi first, like she is terrified, and then like she is not exactly sure what is going on. As she listens to Naomi’s conversation with George, she looks at the huge stab wound on Naomi’s back like she’s surprised to see it. When Naomi finally dies, Kate looks horrified and terrified--wholly uncharacteristic, don’t you think? The kicker is this: look carefully at Kate’s right eye during this exchange (check out the sequential! screen caps on http://gallery.lost-media.com/displayimage-1364-437.html). The sequence goes like this: Kate has a weird fainting thing, Kate looks at Naomi, Naomi looks at Kate with a weird eye, Kate’s right eye goes weird as she looks totally freaked out, then Kate’s eye’s go back to normal and she starts looking around like she’s trying to figure out what’s happening.
The eye thing by itself could mean anything, right? I mean, Evangeline Lilly went on Letterman to discuss her allergies and how they mess up her eyes. However, it does not explain why Kate changes personality, voice cadence, physical movement, etc., after this moment.
Try looking back over “Eggtown,” then, with this thought in mind. This character we’re seeing IS NOT KATE. If you have followed me this far, let’s consider the possibilities. The most logical jump (since we are jumping here) is that Naomi’s consciousness somehow “jumped” into Kate. However, that doesn’t follow since Naomi kept talking after Kate got all weird, and Naomi, along with everyone else on the freighter knows about the jail time Kate is facing, which would make NotKate’s interrogation of Myles unnecessary.
The second logical possibility is that NotKate is actually FUTURE Kate. This would explain how she is so sure that she’s not pregnant, and why she would not bother sleeping with Sawyer. However, that conversation with Myles throws this one off too. Why would a future Kate need to know if the outside world knows she’s a wanted criminal? In what possible rescue scenario would no one know she is a criminal?
The biggest clue here is the baby. Let’s assume that NotKate is someone we’ve met on the show (not a new character that will be revealed later) and that NotKate is female. Can you think of a female, who has died on island, who might have been exposed to the electromagnetism of the hatch, who would feel comfortable flirting with Jack and canoodling with Sawyer, who would have no idea that Kate was a fugitive, who would also feel comfortable backhanding Sawyer for his smart mouth, and who would desperately want a baby?
Nothing yet?
Well, consider that NotKate also knows how to handle a gun, how to sweep a room, and is also physically aggressive, not very subtle, and would feel stiff and awkward around baby Aaron?
There’s only one that fits the bill, folks, and that’s Ana Lucia.
If you have access, please compare Kate’s behavior in “Eggtown” to any scene where Ana Lucia is talking to Jack or Sawyer, or where Ana handles a gun.
So how does this relate to the end of “Eggtown?” Well, I don’t have as much evidence to go on that future Kate is also NotKate, but there is that thing about not wanting to run that makes no sense for Kate. Another thing is the way the weirdo guy shouts at Kate that, “We all hate you!” in the same backwards, ghost whispering language that Myles uses to communicate with a dead Naomi. Perhaps he can see what she actually is. The kicker here is the reaction to Aaron at the end. When Kate says, “Hey, Aaron,” the music cues at a very small but disturbing moment when Kate’s eyes both open wide and go slightly glassy. Then there is the tiniest wisp of something that seems to enter her right eye. That’s when she goes all mushie and huggy on the baby.
Could Aaron be NotKate’s constant? The anchor that’s holding her consciousness where she wants it to be—living Kate’s life and finally having a child of her own? Could this actually be the infection Danielle referred to? Instead of her team time jumping, which would have some serious repercussions off island as well, could they have been vulnerable in this way? Could the vaccine actually be some way of stabilizing the human consciousness? Could this also be the secret of the island’s ability to ward off aging? Both Sayid and Jack show signs of graying in their flash forwards, but Kate looks younger than ever. Could this be why the powers-that-be behind the freighter folks are so very interested in getting on the island? Could this also be why Ben is so obsessed with a successful on island conception and birth? Why does Richard feel Ben’s fertility obsession is not part of the bigger plan?
All in all, this means one thing for sure: Evangeline Lilly is a pretty good actress to pull this change off without so obviously giving it away. It also means that the producers might have other surprises from the dead waiting in the wings.
Off topic prediction/question: So what do you think will happen if NotKate/Ana Lucia meets up with Michael again? Me too!
Theory by aohora
First, I must send appropriate props to Vozzek69’s thoughts on “The Constant.” Some of the things I saw and will expand on here are stated in Vozzek’s “Things I Noticed” post for this show. Also, I’ll have to point readers to “Aohora Redux” to further explain my own endgame perspective of the show.
SEEMINGLY OBSCURE INTRODUCTION
Let’s begin with a barrage of “Kate Haters” who posted after last week’s “Eggtown.” I was puzzled by so many fans’ reaction to Kate. They hated her, they were annoyed by her, they thought the show was “filler” and “slow,” and they were overwhelmingly concerned with whether she was actually pregnant and lying about it or whether the Aaron we see her embracing in the end was “Claire’s Aaron” or Kate’s baby she named Aaron. No one seemed to be asking the same questions I was asking.
Why on Earth would Kate act like she wants a baby so badly? Why would Kate, who has a pathological need “to run” in every episode up until now, be eager and happy to cut a deal with the prosecutor where her probation ties her down to one place for the next 10 years? Why would Kate backhand Sawyer in bed?
And then there was that weird moment when Kate hugged Aaron and said his name. . .(but I’ll get to that later).
“TIME TRAVEL” EXPLAINED
What could be a better solution to time travel and paradoxes than time travel by one’s conscious self? Desmond, presumably after electromagnetic exposure during the hatch implosion, experiences a “time jump” similar to his previous “dream state flashback.” However, this time (HA!), instead of future Desmond landing in the past, his past self (from 1996) pops up in 2004 and is understandably confused and distraught. No less are we, until we clear up a few issues.
1.) Where does 2004 Desmond go when 1996 Desmond is jumping back and forth?
The answer to this lies in simpler terms than quantum physics and alleviates the paradox syndrome. When 1996 Desmond is jumping back and forth, he is effectively changing 2004 Desmond (changing his memories & changing his past experience). This means that until 1996 Desmond is finished and settled back in 1996, 2004 Desmond is in flux. While in flux, 2004 Desmond can’t exist (or exists in infinite possibility—same difference). This way, the time line of Desmond’s mind stays intact.
2.) What about the matter/anti-matter bunnies?
I have no idea how this relates to the Orchid Station Orientation Film, where the two bunnies have to stay away from each other to avoid catastrophe, but I can say that as far as Desmond is concerned, there’s no way his two selves can meet. Time travel for those in contact with the island seems restricted purely to the consciousness. Since the present consciousness is in flux while the past consciousness is adding new memories and experiences, they can never meet. The past must always precede the future. The future is always dependent on the past. Since Desmond’s body stays where it belongs in the timeline while his consciousness is jumping around, there is no bunny paradox.
3.) What about Daniel’s participation in this time jumping? Why wasn’t he in flux?
The question of Daniel, the only person’s past experience changed by 1994 Desmond, is answered in his little card game. Charlotte refers to Daniel’s card guessing as “a sign of some recovery.” Clearly, Daniel is suffering from some brain issue where his memory is affected. The recovery he is looking for could be healing (like Rose. Desmond remarks about the lack of radiation protection for Daniel’s head during his experiment with Eloise, the ill-fated rat). 2004 Daniel is unaffected by a difference in past memories because he doesn’t have them anymore. His memory timeline can’t change if it is blank. However, he is aware that his past has changed because of his note to himself about how Desmond will be his “constant” if anything should happen. This note only appears after Desmond interacts with Daniel in 1994.
4.) I’m still stuck on Daniel (you might say). Why would he cry to see the supposed remains of Oceanic Flight 815 on T.V.? He can’t already have the answers to the Eloise problem if Desmond hasn’t gone back to give them to him, unless Desmond’s time jump has already happened before it actually happens!!
When Daniel tells his caregiver (another indication of an incapacitating illness), that he doesn’t know why he’s crying, it simply indicates that he knows he has some kind of connection to the missing flight, but can’t remember what it is. Well, that could be interesting, but it is not a sign that Daniel is time jumping himself. Also, remember, Daniel eventually finds the numbers and frequency he needs and completes his work with Eloise without Desmond’s help. That’s why he has them to give to Desmond. Remember how Crazy Flashback Lady from Desmond’s post hatch implosion experience says that some things are just destined to happen regardless? Daniel chooses to interfere with his own past experience, but wisely chooses one that he can’t remember himself but that he knows he has already accomplished.
Having a time jumping guru on island has certainly made things interesting, yeah?
A WORD (OR TWO) ON THE EYES
Desmond’s time jumps can be initiated by lights flashing in his right eye. That was VERY interesting to me. Suddenly the preponderance of close up eye shots from the very first scene of the show are not just arty thematic elements but actual clues to the inner workings of the island (and the show). Starting close ups of either the right or left eye on a character might be of significance in more than one way. Apparently this ability to have “side effects” varies from person to person. (See “Aohora redux” for more theory about this “special” ability).
Now, I could go on and on about the eye issue, but I’ll stick to my original point after pointing out one very, interesting but nearly obscure fact. Mikhail is missing his RIGHT EYE. And before the Flame Station blows up, he is reading a journal in Russian and making notes on it, as if he is trying to remember something. I’ll just leave this link and let you mull that one over! http://www.lostpedia.com/wiki/Mikhail%27s_document
HE’S ONLY “MOSTLY DEAD”
The dead, without a doubt, have some kind of connection to the island. Jack’s dad is talking, walking around and hanging out with Jacob. Charlie visits Hurley in what seems to be a legitimate post death experience (for Charlie anyway). The dead speak in whispers and dreams and who knows what else.
Realists who watch this show have resisted the idea of “ghosts,” and have reacted with surprise and disappointment at Myles’ “ghost buster” vibe. But when considered, a connection to the dead doesn’t seem all that far fetched. If, theoretically and according to Daniel’s experiment and Desmond’s experience, the human consciousness can separate from the physical body to traverse time between bodies, then it’s not much of a jump for that consciousness to exist separate from the body entirely and independently.
For our island, this seems to be a “normal” phenomenon. The line between the living and the dead is only delineated between those living who are able to “see” and those who aren’t. If Christian Shepherd is dead (according to the producers), and he is able to appear to Jack and Hurley, then the question isn’t “Is Christian a ghost” or “Is Christian actually Jacob,” but why does Christian’s consciousness (the thing that when missing makes his body a “pile of meat”) need to get in contact with our losties? Why is he consistently preparing Jack for events on the island throughout Jack’s flashbacks? Why doesn’t he “make that phone call” to reconcile with Jack before he dies?
Regardless of endgame results, forces aligned against each other (the “bad” guys, the “good” guys), communication or influence of the dead, controlled or involuntary human consciousness time jumping, the fact remains that people hated “Eggtown” when they should have been BLOWN AWAY.
FULL CIRCLE COMPLETION OF ORIGINAL THOUGHT
“Eggtown” was actually the mother of all Easter egg shows. To see it, though, you have look very carefully at the scene where Naomi dies.
After dropping out of a tree and confronting Kate, Naomi makes the call on the “magic” phone to give the freighter folks what they need to drop our four newcomers on to the island. Somewhere during this exchange, something very strange happens to Kate. The initial moment is so quick, it’s difficult to catch without slo-mo access, but it seems to happen when Naomi lets Kate out of a choke hold and both drop to the ground. Naomi looks at Kate (with a very strange looking right eye). Suddenly, with no real explanation, Kate looks at Naomi first, like she is terrified, and then like she is not exactly sure what is going on. As she listens to Naomi’s conversation with George, she looks at the huge stab wound on Naomi’s back like she’s surprised to see it. When Naomi finally dies, Kate looks horrified and terrified--wholly uncharacteristic, don’t you think? The kicker is this: look carefully at Kate’s right eye during this exchange (check out the sequential! screen caps on http://gallery.lost-media.com/displayimage-1364-437.html). The sequence goes like this: Kate has a weird fainting thing, Kate looks at Naomi, Naomi looks at Kate with a weird eye, Kate’s right eye goes weird as she looks totally freaked out, then Kate’s eye’s go back to normal and she starts looking around like she’s trying to figure out what’s happening.
The eye thing by itself could mean anything, right? I mean, Evangeline Lilly went on Letterman to discuss her allergies and how they mess up her eyes. However, it does not explain why Kate changes personality, voice cadence, physical movement, etc., after this moment.
Try looking back over “Eggtown,” then, with this thought in mind. This character we’re seeing IS NOT KATE. If you have followed me this far, let’s consider the possibilities. The most logical jump (since we are jumping here) is that Naomi’s consciousness somehow “jumped” into Kate. However, that doesn’t follow since Naomi kept talking after Kate got all weird, and Naomi, along with everyone else on the freighter knows about the jail time Kate is facing, which would make NotKate’s interrogation of Myles unnecessary.
The second logical possibility is that NotKate is actually FUTURE Kate. This would explain how she is so sure that she’s not pregnant, and why she would not bother sleeping with Sawyer. However, that conversation with Myles throws this one off too. Why would a future Kate need to know if the outside world knows she’s a wanted criminal? In what possible rescue scenario would no one know she is a criminal?
The biggest clue here is the baby. Let’s assume that NotKate is someone we’ve met on the show (not a new character that will be revealed later) and that NotKate is female. Can you think of a female, who has died on island, who might have been exposed to the electromagnetism of the hatch, who would feel comfortable flirting with Jack and canoodling with Sawyer, who would have no idea that Kate was a fugitive, who would also feel comfortable backhanding Sawyer for his smart mouth, and who would desperately want a baby?
Nothing yet?
Well, consider that NotKate also knows how to handle a gun, how to sweep a room, and is also physically aggressive, not very subtle, and would feel stiff and awkward around baby Aaron?
There’s only one that fits the bill, folks, and that’s Ana Lucia.
If you have access, please compare Kate’s behavior in “Eggtown” to any scene where Ana Lucia is talking to Jack or Sawyer, or where Ana handles a gun.
So how does this relate to the end of “Eggtown?” Well, I don’t have as much evidence to go on that future Kate is also NotKate, but there is that thing about not wanting to run that makes no sense for Kate. Another thing is the way the weirdo guy shouts at Kate that, “We all hate you!” in the same backwards, ghost whispering language that Myles uses to communicate with a dead Naomi. Perhaps he can see what she actually is. The kicker here is the reaction to Aaron at the end. When Kate says, “Hey, Aaron,” the music cues at a very small but disturbing moment when Kate’s eyes both open wide and go slightly glassy. Then there is the tiniest wisp of something that seems to enter her right eye. That’s when she goes all mushie and huggy on the baby.
Could Aaron be NotKate’s constant? The anchor that’s holding her consciousness where she wants it to be—living Kate’s life and finally having a child of her own? Could this actually be the infection Danielle referred to? Instead of her team time jumping, which would have some serious repercussions off island as well, could they have been vulnerable in this way? Could the vaccine actually be some way of stabilizing the human consciousness? Could this also be the secret of the island’s ability to ward off aging? Both Sayid and Jack show signs of graying in their flash forwards, but Kate looks younger than ever. Could this be why the powers-that-be behind the freighter folks are so very interested in getting on the island? Could this also be why Ben is so obsessed with a successful on island conception and birth? Why does Richard feel Ben’s fertility obsession is not part of the bigger plan?
All in all, this means one thing for sure: Evangeline Lilly is a pretty good actress to pull this change off without so obviously giving it away. It also means that the producers might have other surprises from the dead waiting in the wings.
Off topic prediction/question: So what do you think will happen if NotKate/Ana Lucia meets up with Michael again? Me too!
Theory by aohora
