Lost Update Twilight Zone: Where Is Everyone

It has been a little while since my last Lost update and as we patiently wait for the start of season six, the final season of Lost to begin February second, 2010. As promised earlier, we are going to discuss the correlation between Rod Serling’s science fiction television program, The Twilight Zone, (1959-1964) and the current ABC network hit, Lost.

Some Background Before we Proceed:
The Twilight Zone was a classic science fiction television series created by Rod Serling that aired from 1959 to 1964. Each episode intertwined the supernatural with topical moral events in today’s society ending with a twist convoluting the outcome. I argue that the same can be said about ABC Lost. The castaways are more than just stranded on an island. There are mysterious forces at work of powers unknown. And just like the Twilight Zone, a twist is inserted in the story convoluting the outcome.

The Twilight Zone had a standard format. Each episode began with a prologue, usually with the host, Rod Serling doing the voice over introducing the characters and setting. At the end of the show, Serling would offer up a final narration of what the viewer just witnessed.

Tonight's offering is: Season 1 Episode 1 Where Is Everybody

I think once you see the similarities of both programs, you will quickly realize that Lost is a modern day Twilight Zone.

Monologue:
The place is here, the time is now, and the journey into the shadows that we're about to watch could be our journey.

Plot:
Mike Ferris wakes and finds himself in a strange town all alone. He is dressed in an air force uniform but doesn't remember how he got there. As he walks through town, he seems to have just missed finding people as he sees water dripping from faucets, stoves burning, food cooking, tea boiling, cigarettes in ashtrays but no living sole in sight. While in the street, he clicks the traffic walk sign which brings him back to reality. Mr. Ferris was in an experiment for the space agency, testing his ability to cope with being alone in the void of space.

Epilogue:
Up there, up there in the vastness of space, in the void that is sky, up there is an enemy known as isolation. It sits there in the stars waiting, waiting with the patience of eons, forever waiting... in the Twilight Zone.

Lost Tie In:
Ben Linus is Mr. Ferris. Perhaps Ben is also in an experiment, one to study absolute power and authority and how it affects morality. Similar attire, air force jump suit Mr. Ferris wears and the Dharma institute jump suit Ben wears. The empty town Mr. Ferris sees and the empty village Ben sees. Mr. Ferris in some outlandish experiment dealing with isolation and Ben isolated from the outside world in the middle of some outlandish experiment.

Mr. Ferris then clicks the traffic sign and returns to reality. Perhaps that is what Ben is about to do as well. Click the button and return from scratch. With a new cast and new scenario.

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Lost Update: Life From Both Sides Now

Lost Update - Season V - 05/06/2009

Moons and Junes and Ferris wheels
The dizzy dancing way you feel
As every fairy tale comes real
I've looked at love that way

But now it's just another show
You leave 'em laughing when you go
And if you care, don't let them know
Don't give yourself away

I've looked at life from both sides now
From win and lose and still somehow
It's life's illusions I recall
I really don't know life at all

John Locke is dead. However, for a dead guy, he sure does get around. He came to the island a broken man, both in body and spirit. In an instant he found his purpose, his path, his destiny. A moment later, he was dead, in a casket. Now he has come full circle, back on the island, taking his assumed rightful place as leader of his people. John Locke has come full circle. So much so that while on his journey, he spies his past self and has Richard Alpert assist and aid Locke in the past while present or future Locke and Ben looked on.

What if this is why we're here? I think we're on this island for a purpose. It's our destiny, it's why we're here. Who do you think said this? If you said Locke, you would be correct. You would also be correct if you said Jack. See what's happening here Lost fans? See how my Lost theory is all coming into place? What, you don't know my Lost theory? You must have been living in the past for the last 30 years.

Just what is the Grassy Knoll Institutes Lost theory….I’ve been waiting a long time to tell you…..
Although it appears the survivors of Oceanic flight 815 are on a tropical island, they are being deceived. There is no island. The survivors are in a virtual reality laboratory. All the castaways are interconnected to one another sharing each others thoughts, memories, and feelings. While in this virtual reality laboratory, a battery of physical and mental experiments are performed on them. And who is running these experiments? As Juliet stated, the Aliens of course.

Lost season five finale will be all about the ying and the yang. White marble, black marble. Good and evil. Right and wrong. What was once odd, is now even. One who was once good, is now evil. I know, you don't believe me, but come on, the signs are right in front of you.

Let's start with Jack And John. (Locke) Jack is a nick name for John. See, they are one in the same already. When the series began, Jack didn't believe the island had special magical powers and rationalized that everything happening had a logical explanation. All he wanted to do was get everyone off the island and he would do whatever it took to complete his task.

John believed in the island, believed that it had special powers, and that he was placed there to protect the island. John did whatever it took to protect the island. Hell, he even died for the island.

Now look at Jack, the current Jack we are seeing. Let it be in 1977 or present time. He wanted to go back to the island. The same island he did everything he could to get off. Now he believes he is there for a purpose. To fulfill his destiny.

And now look at John. He is in command, (And also quite dead BTW) and instead of business as usual for the "Others" he stakes out a journey to visit Jacob with all the tribe. (I'll get back to jacob in a few minutes) He tells Ben that he is not going to seek his advice, but to kill Jacob and free the people from his rule.

Both Jack and John have done a complete 180. And there's more. There's always more.

Jin and Sun. Remember season one and two, Jin was the hotheaded husband getting into fights and skirmishes. His job on the mainland, (Real life) was being a thug for his wife's father. Now Jin is a kinder, gentler, man, one who learned English, who keeps his head together. But Sun, whoa, look out.

Sun, in the beginning was the meek and battered wife trying to flee from her husband but didn't have the strength to do so. And what happened later in the series. You bet, Sun is now the sexy bitch controling her father's empire and calling the shots. Both did a complete 180.

You want more? You got it.

Sawyer, the grifter, hustler, a man out for himself, seizing an opportunity to better himself at the expense of others. Sawyer looked out for himself. As the season's unfolded, Sawyer became a caring man, looking out for Hurley, and others, becoming a team player. He is now settled down with Juliet living the life of Leave It To Beaver's Ward and June Cleaver. Yup, a complete 180.

Why is this so important? Social psychology my friends. Imagine if you will, a laboratory so vast, say, the size of the big island of Hawaii, where the subjects of the social psychology experiment could roam wild and free. Imagine that the test subjects were unaware they were the focal point of said experiment. Imagine the clear pure data that could be collected in such an experiment.

And that is what is happening on Lost. Variables are inserted to make the test subjects react differently. The results are studied and new variables are added. The cycle never ends. Hence, like Desmond seeing Charlie killed many times over, is merely experiencing just one of the variables of the experiment. (Notice Desmond never sees Charlie die the same way)

To hammer this home, put yourself in this situation. Say you accepted to participate in an experiment for a psychology course from the local college. At that point, you know it is a test, and the results, no matter how accurately obtained, would be skewed because you knew it wasn't real life. You could make conscious decisions to alter the experiment with no danger to yourself. In essence, say or do what you think the professor wants you to say or do.

Now say you are in the same exact scenario of the experiment, but you are unaware that you are a test subject. Your actions would be pure, for you would believe it was real life.

That is what is being studied on the Lost island. Human behavior. Good versus Evil. Love and Hate. Alpha male. In a perfect environment. The data would be pristine. And when you were through with one scenario, simply change the variables and study how the humans react to the new settings.

I promised I'd get back to Jacob. Put in your mind what Locke said and did at the end of this episode. He banded the tribe together and set forth to find Jacob and put an end to the reign to a person no one has ever seen. Now I want you to follow the link below to one of my Lost Updates back on May 22nd, 2008 titled Old Man In The Cave. I want you to read that update again. Go ahead, I'll wait for you.

Good, you're back. Startling information isn't it? And I predicted this a year ago. Tonight's final scene was an exact replication of Rod Serling's Twilight Zone's Old Man In the Cave.

Bonus Lost coverage here folks. The burning question, (I hear these's an ointment for that) is, What lies in the shadow of the statue? Here's your answer and you heard it here first. Jughead. Yes, the bomb. It is under the statue in the caves where Eloise, Sayid, Jack, and Richard uncovered the bomb.

Tidbits On Tonights Episode:

* Juliet has one hell of a rack. Just saying.

* Locke is going to kill Jacob.

* Locke insinuates that Ben has never seen Jacob.

* Juliet has a hell of a rack. (I know, said that already, but she does)

* Richard Alpert watched them all die 30 years ago.

* Ben told Sun that Richard has been an advisor for a very very long time.

* Ben is impressed with Locke's timing as his past self comes out of the jungle.

* Juliet remarks about the real world, and that she can't remember it anymore.

* Season five is over next week leaving us many months to ponder what will become the focal point of the final season, season six, on Lost. I believe Sayid said it best tonight when he replied back to Jack about being right or wrong on his theory to use the hydrogen bomb to blow the island up to put everything back on course. "Either way, you'll put us out of our misery."

Until next week, Get Lost.

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Lost Update - The Good Samaritan

Lost Update - Season V - 04/22/2009

Tonight on Lost, ABC aired a recap following the Oceanic Six escape from the island and eventual return back. Instead of rehashing the rehash, I am staying on point and will analyze yet another social psychology experiment that is being implemented on the Lost Castaways. Tonight's topic is The Good Samaritan.

Everyone knows the parable of the Good Samaritan right? You could take the time and look it up in your bible, in the Gospel of Luke, Chapter 10, verse 25-37. For those not wanting to look it up, here it is in the short version.

A man was walking from Jerusalem to Jericho, when he fell into the hands of robbers. They robbed him of his clothes, possessions, and beat leaving him for dead. As the man lay in the street all crumpled up, a man of the cloth walked by and saw the man but he passed him on the other side. A short time later, another man of the cloth saw the man in need but walked right by him as well. Finally, a Samaritan was walking down the road and saw the man, and he stopped to attend the man. He cleaned and bandaged his wounds, and then lifted the man upon his cart and took him to an Inn. The next day, he paid the innkeeper two silver coins to look after the mans needs and informed the innkeeper that he would return the next day and would reimburse him for any expenses incurred.

The Good Samaritan experiment has been studied many times over by professors across the world. And sometimes, in the case of the Lost Islanders, off the world as well.

We will start with Jack and Ben. Remember a few years back when Jack was forced to operate on Ben to save his life? After he agreed and had Ben open on the operating table, he stopped and demanded that Kate and Sawyer be set free before he would complete the operation and save Ben. Now jump to the present season, just a couple of episodes ago. Young Ben Linus was shot by Sayid and left for dead in the road.

Juliet, Kate, Sawyer, Hurley and gang sought out Jack to help young Ben. Jack flat out refused sealing Ben's fate to die. Remember, Jack was always the good guy, helping the castaways from the get go. Now he goes against his oath as a doctor to heal the sick.

In steps Sawyer. He finally has his life in order. He has become head of security for Dharma, has a nice house, life, and a hot blond doctor in Juliet to do the nasty with. Life is good. But Sawyer does not step around the man lying in the road. (Young Ben Linus) Instead, he risks everything to save him and formulates a plan to deliver Ben to the "Others" (The Innkeeper) to look after and care for him. Sawyer is the Good Samaritan.

Wait a minute? What does the Jesus parable of the Good Samaritan have to do with ABC's Lost and my theory of what is really happening on the island? What, you don't know what the Grassy Knoll Institute Lost theory is. For you first timers, in a nutshell...

Although it appears the survivors of Oceanic flight 815 are on a tropical island, they are being deceived. There is no island. The survivors are in a virtual reality laboratory. All the castaways are interconnected to one another sharing each others thoughts, memories, and feelings. While in this virtual reality laboratory, a battery of physical and mental experiments are performed on them. And who is running these experiments? As Juliet stated, the Aliens of course.

Think about it gang. The castaways are put into incredible situations each and every week. Their very lives hang in the balance with each decision they make, or choose not to make. Dead people are walking around the island handing out advice as if they were a dispenser of knowledge from the great beyond. The island vanishes and appears in different places and also at different times. The castaways are traveling through time, some faster than others, some get lost, some get found.

But the one constant of the show, from the pilot episode to last week's airing, is that each castaway has a choice to make. A life altering choice. That choice is what the experiment is all about. If given different scenario's, what choice would you make? Would you choose to help the group, or choose to help yourself. Think of the characters on the show, and how many of them have made an about face on their choices.

Until next week, Get Lost!

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