You knew it would happen sooner or later

I've flip-flopped on this for a week now. While this blog originally started out as a Word document keeping several notes from episodes, I must say that it has been fun to share my thoughts (and mostly the thoughts of others) with everyone that bothered to read (Thanks, by the way).

Here's the deal. Places like LOSTpedia and DarkUFO now house everything that I have to say, and then some...and some more...and even more. I would encourage everyone who isn't doing so already, to take a look at those sites. You will see that a chunk of my info and Easter Eggs came from there (which I noted as often as necessary).

Recent developments in my life (for the better) have me questioning whether I need to spend the extra time I have to continue to put these notes together, rather than keep them in my head and have enjoyable conversations with those of you that I know who read this.

Also...if someone feels compelled to continue this blog and take over...email me at armin.mohajeri@gmail.com

Who knows....I might change my mind and continue next season. But for now....Armin is Officially LOST.

Thanks for reading...and leaving your comments.

The Shape of Things to Come (S4:E9)

Just a warning...this week will be light, and next week will be non-existent, due to my Cancun vacation. Things should be back to normal afterwards.

By the way...did anyone like the episode? It was pretty good in my opinion. A lot of questions answered. Also, the title, "The Shape of Things to Come" is a book that's written as a historical book from the future. More time references.

1) So Sayid finally finds Nadia. He marries Nadia. Nadia gets killed. Ben gets in Sayid's head and we now know why Sayid works for/with Ben. Sayid is now an assassin out of his anger towards Nadia's death. I can't wait for the next Sayid Flash-Forward, when he finds Nadia. That should be on the same level as Desmond calling Penny.

2) Some Ben Questions: So how does Ben know that Hurley knows how to find Jacob? Did he figure it out when he went into the stone door and summoned the Monster? What exactly was in that room? Does Ben actually have a heart now, after Alex was killed? What was the deal he had in place with Widmore, now that the rules have changed? How will Desmond play into the whole part about Ben wanting to kill Penny? When did Widmore's accent go Australian? And the Shotgun in the Piano seat was classic!!!

3) This Ben question needed it's own spot. When he's spotted by the Bedouins, one of the Bedouin points out how Ben does not have a trail. The other replies, "Where did he come from? Down from the sky?" (From Lostpedia). Do you think Ben will find an excavation of Polar Bear bones nearby? The Vile Vorticies Theory is in full effect here.

4) What's the deal with Jack? In the "scenes from next week" Juliette says that his appendix has ruptured. Wouldn't it be creepy if the dead doctor from the island operates on ben from the ship in some twisted time warp? At first I thought he was taking the pill, and his addiction started from this point...but it turns out it was Amoxicillin. Not Oxycontin.

5) Ben uses the name Dean Moriarty. Sherlock Holmes's arch nemesis was Dr. Moriarty.

6) The name on Ben's Parka in the desert is Halliwax. As in, Edgar Halliwax, which is another name that Marvin Candle uses in the orientation videos.

7) A lot of loose talk about why Ben won't/can't kill Widmore. Some say Widmore can't die off the island, because he's been there (much like Michael). Another interesting one is that Ben and Widmore are each others' constants, and one would die without the other.

8) "Australia is key to winning the game." Hurley said something similar to that while playing Risk with Sawyer and Locke. I agree, in Risk that is. Australia is the first place I go in Risk. One point of entry from outside attackers, three territories in a safety net. However, in terms of LOST, Hurley may not be that far off either. They were all on a flight from Australia. We'll see if Australia plays any more of a role than it already has.

Sorry...short one this week...followed by a short hiatus. See you in a couple of weeks.

Find815.com

Check it out. It's pretty cool. They update every once in a while, and they have a lot of stuff that pops up later in the show. Click HERE

Meet Kevin Johnson (S4:E8)

Did Danielle get a DUI at some point? How about Karl? Ana Lucia, Libby and Jin got DUIs, and they all got killed off (sorta in Jin’s case). Anyway…it was nice to see Michael back in the fold. Nobody forgot that he left the island, and this was one of the loose ends that needed to get some attention. Also, not sure who was in the window, but it certainly wasn’t giant Walt.

1) I’m beginning to like the fact that it takes a bit before we can confirm whether we’re watching a flashback, flashforward, both, neither, etc. While last night was a flashback, it was a little hard to tell, at first, how far back they had gone until Michael spoke to his mother. As we’ve seen in the past, Michael tries to stand up to his mother, but she’s stronger than he is. It’s also ironic that Walt is now with Michael’s mother, as in one of Michael’s early flashbacks, he was on the phone with his mother and asked if she would take Walt.

2) Michael sees Libby, but he doesn’t see Ana Lucia. Either way, the question right now is, are those just random guilt-ridden hallucinations? Or, is it Libby trying to contact him, much like Charlie visiting Hurley near the Ho-Ho’s or at the Mental Hospital?

3) Early in season 3, Kate said that she wasn’t going to undress herself in front of him, and he replied with, “Don’t worry, you’re not my type”. Well, now we know what his type is. Meet Arturo. I wonder if Arturo has any clue what Tom is caught up in. Maybe he’s one of the Others. Does he know Tom is dead?

4) So, now the Island decides when you can or can’t die? Tom told Michael that the island won’t let him die. The gun jammed. Who knows? Maybe the pawn shop owner sold Michael a gun with a filed off firing pin. We’ll see what happens when Sawyer gets a hold of Michael. Will the island save him then?

5) Michael traded Mr. Paik’s watch (which Jin gave him) for a gun and some bullets. He was about to trade it for $300. Pretty sure if Jin finds out, he’ll actually kill Michael, as he didn’t finish the job when he wanted to kill Michael over the watch in season one.

6) Now Michael is one of the “Good Guys”? I don’t know. He was going to kill everyone on the boat. Has Michael ever been a good guy? He’s always kinda looked out for himself, even when it meant giving up Walt to be raised by another (it’s arguable, he was also allowing Walt a better life). At least now we know who sabotaged the communications equipment and why the engines won’t work. The question I have now is, has Michael had anything to do with those that have already died on the boat? Did he get into Regina’s head? Did he convince her to jump off the boat bound in the chains?

7) One of several cliff-hangers will be what Captain Gault does upon Sayid spilling the beans about Michael. I was waiting for him to say something like, “I already knew, because I’m working for Ben Linus too.”

8) Speaking of Sayid, he got a little PO’ed about Michael working for Ben. Which is ironic, because Sayid himself ends up working for Ben, as seen in his flashforward “The Economist” earlier this season.

9) Did Ben know, upon giving directions for Rousseau, Karl and Alex to go to the Temple, that
Rousseau and Karl would be killed? Somehow, I think he may have planned that. Actually, Karl might be dead, but I’m not so sure about Rousseau.

10) During the game show on the TV in Michael’s apartment, Kurt Vonnegut is the answer to one of the questions. His book “Slaughterhouse Five” has some similarities to LOST and its characters

11) From Lostpedia: The song playing in the car when Michael tries to kill himself is "It's Getting Better" by Cass Elliot, who also recorded "Make Your Own Kind of Music". “Make Your Own Kind of Music” is a song that has been in several episodes, which is a song dealing with making your own fate.

Alright…well here’s our little one month hiatus. Can’t wait for the new episodes. There will be five more episodes this season.

Ji Yeon (S4:E7)

Day after day, day after day,
We stuck, nor breath nor motion;
As idle as a painted ship
Upon a painted ocean.

Water, water, everywhere,
And all the boards did shrink;
Water, water, everywhere,
Nor any drop to drink.

(from The Rime of the Ancient Mariner)


Definitely a better episode than last week. But…but…Jin dies?!?!?!? WTF!!! His English was getting so good. I did like the use of flashbacks and flashforwards as a means to throw us off from the end of the episode.

1) So we get the final two of the Oceanic 6. Or do we? Jack (in the courtroom in “Eggtown”) said that there were 8 survivors of the crash. Could Jin, now that we know he’s in the “next life”, be one of the two that don’t make up the Oceanic 6? But what was the deal with Hurley asking if anyone else is coming? I’m starting to get this strange feeling…and I could be way off…that everyone knows, just as well as Sayid, that Ben is still lurking around.

2) What’s with Regina reading a book upside down? Last week, on Lostpedia, someone mentioned that the episode “The Other Woman” reminded them of “The Rime of the Ancient Mariner” (click here to see the poem, or click here to see the Wikipedia page). Vozzek69 from DarkUFO mentioned that this episode resembled the poem. Which I agree a little more with (I chose not to mention the poem in last week’s notes). The poem is about a mariner who goes on a voyage at sea and the mishaps, and at one point the despair when they are stuck. It is eerily reminiscent of what Regina does when she binds herself in chains and jumps off the boat (which may or may not be moving) or the gruesome bloodstain on the wall (which was also reminiscent of Radzinsky’s blood in the hatch). ***BTW…Kudos to Vozzek69 from DarkUFO. While I don’t like everything he puts into his analysis, there are some times where he comes up with some thoughts that are great.***

3) The book Regina was reading upside down is titled “The Survivors of the Chancellor”. Credit a poster on Lostpedia for this description of the book “…a novel by Jules Verne about the last voyage of the British ship Chancellor. In the novel, at the beginning of its voyage, the Chancellor carried eight passengers and twenty crew members. By the end, only eleven people (five passengers and six crew) remained alive.”

4) So Captain Gault (the one they’re not supposed to trust) spills the beans (not just Lima Beans) to Sayid and Desmond (or so we are led to think). Could Ben really be capable of faking the crash or gathering the dead bodies? I mean…he has gassed a lot of people, but who knows. The black box should be interesting. But, it just seems a bit much to me that they even have the black box from that trench in the ocean.

5) Meet Kevin Johnson. He’s not just a janitor. He’s Michael. Any surprise? No, but it was a cool scene no matter how much one anticipated it. Did Desmond and Sayid do a good enough job of pretending they don’t know him?

6) Juliet doesn’t know who she’s messing with. Sun is the one that poisoned Michael’s water to keep Jin from going on the boat in season one. Juliet better think twice before airing Sun’s dirty laundry. However, this exchange gave us the scene with Bernard and Jin on the boat together, where they have the marriage conversation. I loved the part where Bernard realized what he’d just interrupted. That kind of scene never gets old.

7) Did anyone notice Nikki’s bad acting in her death scene in the show ‘Expose’ which was on TV in the background in Sun’s flashforward?

8) This is the second time that someone has referred to a dead person in a flashforward. First there was Jack asking his “colleague” to bring his father down from his office to see who’s more wasted. Now there was Sun calling for Jin while in labor.

9) On Jin’s Tombstone, it says Sept 22, 2004. The day of the plane crash. So maybe, Jin isn’t even one of the 8. In fact, I’m wondering if Jin’s death might even be a ruse and he’s still on the island. Sun says that she misses him, at the grave site. Could Jin still be alive? Then again, why would Hurley show up to see a grave. There is a possibility of an interesting spin here.

10) Again…going to directly quote Vozzek69’s stuff here, because this theory was definitely one worth mentioning. Click the link and read the part titled “Course Correction, Jake Gyllenhaal, and my own Wild Conjecture”

The Other Woman (S4:E6)

I could have used the sleep. Especially while trying to get over this bronchitis (TMI?). What did this episode REALLY tell us? That it's all about Juliet. ZZZZZZZZZZ

We also see that Ben is still somewhat in charge, regardless of his situation, much like when he was held in the hatch. But, please...did anyone get fooled into thinking Juliet was part of the Oceanic 6 up until Tom opened the door to the house?

1) Juliet seems to be a woman who attracts MANY men...Goodwin, Ben, Jack. If she could be as manipulative as women are made out to be on screen, she could be running that whole island. If she could be half as manipulative as Ben is with Locke...ugh...it's rather disappointing. She's also stepping on Kate's foot there, as she did with Harper.

2) In Ben's case, what did Harper mean when he said the Juliet looks like "her"? Ben once told Juliet that he chose her to deal with Jack because she resembled Jack's wife. Dude...Puh-lease tell me that Jack's wife didn't leave him for Ben. PUH-LEASE!!!! Maybe he means his mother, but that's kinda....blekh!!! What about the little girl Ben knew as a child, Annie?


3) Ben mentions that Juliet is getting along well with Zack and Emma (the two kids stolen from Eko and the Tailies back in Season 2). Does Juliet have a bond with them? Would she be willing to leave the island without them?


4) I liked the part where Ben asked if the rabbit had a number on it. Did anyone catch the Orchid Station Orientation video? Or see my post on it? You can see the video on the 3rd season DVDs.

5) Took this one from Lostpedia about the Tempest: "The name of the DHARMA station comes from the play written by William Shakespeare, which was first published in 1623. It tells the story of the sorcerer Prospero and his daughter Miranda, who are stranded on a mysterious desert island that has mystical properties. Prospero raises a storm, or tempest, which causes a passing ship containing his enemies to run aground. Using magic, spirits and a man-beast creature named Caliban, he separates and manipulate the survivors of the wreck for his own purposes. The play ends with Prospero restored to his former glory."

6) Did Ben want Ethan to die too? Is that why he sent Ethan? This theory now has potential.

7) Why do I get the feeling that Charles Widmore is the Economist? Eh...that was too easy. However, we got to see what we've been expecting. Widmore is behind the boat. So it's not Penny's boat. It's her daddy's. But, she calls the boat?!?!? Let's connect some dots. Charles Widmore wants to find Ben. He hires Matthew Abbadon to get a team together. He hired Naomi and the other misfits. What if Penny got to Naomi somehow? Naomi had a picture of Desmond and Penny in her book. I doubt Charles Widmore cares about Desmond enough to go find him like that. Oy vey!!! My head is spinning.

8) By the way...any doubt that Harper, seen in the jungle by Jack and Juliet, was the black smoke?

9) I won't give the name of the next episode, for those that don't want any spoilers...as it pretty much gives away who the next episode is about.

That's all for now folks. Maybe we can come back to this one after a future episode gives it some greater value.

The Constant (S4:E5)

If last night didn’t make you fall in love with LOST again (if you ever fell out of love), then I question why you even watch the show. I watched the episode with people much smarter than myself last night, and they had great insights which will be lumped into the list below. Oh, and a shout out to Omar, played by Anthony Azizi (better known to most that knew him as Kamal Rowshan). Some of you will recognize him as two different terrorists (in two different seasons) on ‘24’. He also died both times.

The best comment last night was when someone mentioned that they love Desmond episodes. I too am a fan of Desmond episodes, and last night’s episode might have been the best of the entire series (in my opinion). Anyway…the scene where Desmond spoke to Penelope, in effect finding his Constant, was theatre/TV/etc. at its best. 1996 Desmond nodding as if he knew things were back to “normal”, 2004 Desmond on the phone mentioning the island, it was all done amazingly. Kudos to the LOST cast, crew and directors. We finally have Some Answered Questions. We finally closed the loop on some open issues.

Shall we?

1. Raise your hand if you were a fan of Quantum Leap. Last night reminded some of us of that great TV show. While it didn’t exactly match up, it was as if Desmond was doing a Quantum Leap within himself, except that it was 1996 Desmond leaping back and forth, while 2004 Desmond was somewhere in limbo. Another tribute to the 80’s was Daniel’s little argument that you can’t change the future. This kinda reminded me of Dr. Emmitt Brown (Christopher Llyod) in Back to the Future. Dr. Brown made a huge fuss about acts changed in the past that impact the future, causing a break from the time continuum, causing an alternate reality. This begs the question (now that we know the future can change): Are the Flash-Forwards that we’ve seen no longer a reality?

2. In the Desmond episode where he flashes back to an alternate past, he speaks to Mrs. Hawking from the jewelry store. She says events are structured and that the universe will correct itself. This sort of hurts the above argument with alternate realities.

3. “If anything goes wrong, Desmond Hume is my constant.” While this is easily explainable, I think it touches a little on Daniel’s character. He said it himself. A Constant is someone you care about. Has Desmond had enough impact on Daniel’s life for Daniel to care about him? On another note, does 2004 Daniel now remember the encounter in 1996? Regardless, this foreshadows possible time-leaps by Daniel and/or other people Losties (Foundies?). Daniel is exposed to radiation more often than the normal individual. Could this explain Daniel’s difficulties on the island? He had trouble with the memory game that Charlotte played with him. Has Daniel been having flash-times? When we first met him, he was in his chair cowering over news of the crash. Was that a vision of Daniel having a “Flash-Time”???? He went through that same storm in the helicopter. He’s been exposed to radiation. Or was it Daniel from 1996 that had met Desmond, and knew what the crash was all about…?

4. Charlotte and Daniel have a closer connection than we think. Plus, there’s the part where Charlotte got her PhD at Oxford, and now we find out that Daniel taught there.

5. Does this episode kind of explain why Desmond was in Military Prison? He left the military to visit Daniel, although he told Penny that he had a couple of days off starting the evening of the day he was in the phone booth talking to her. If I’m not mistaken, Desmond stays with Penny and they rekindle something, because not only did he end up in Military Prison while Penny was in love with him (her father tried to pay him off to leave upon his release, and leave his daughter alone). Also, it is mentioned that the picture with Desmond and Penny takes place close to where she lives at the following address.

6. According to some posters, Penelope’s address (423 Cheyne Walk in London) is the same street that Mick Jagger lives on. Supposedly, that’s where Widmore Corp is too.

7. George Minkowski mentioned that whenever Penelope would call, there would be flashing lights. This is similar to what Charlie witnessed when he talked to her. If it’s “NOT PENNY’S BOAT”, then why/how is she in contact?

8. Here’s some “coincidences” with numbers listed on Lostpedia: 1996 and 2004 Desmond are 8 years apart. Penny’s address 423 Cheyne Walk (4, 23 & 42). Daniel’s frequency is 2.342 (23 & 42). Black Rock Diary action number 2342 (23 & 42).

9. Another nice one from Lostpedia: George Minkowski died from the lack of a constant. “Minkowski’s Constant,” a.k.a. Minkowski's theorem, is the foundation of geometry of numbers.

10. Lostpedia is on fire. In the film “Donnie Darko”, water is used to construct a portal for time travel. Desmond’s flash-times are water-centric. He’s around sinks, rain and the ocean.

11. Apparently, off the island, it is December 24, but on the island it is December 26, according to day counters that people have had going for the series.

12. One of the more interesting theories that I’ve heard about Ben’s “Man on the Boat” is that it’s Sayid, working for Ben. Would it be freakish if Sayid were to run into himself. Others think it is Kelvin (the guy that was in the hatch with Desmond) or Michael.

13. The doctor on the boat gives Minkowski a shot. Is it the same shot that Desmond was taking in the hatch, and that we’ve seen numerous characters receive as well? Is it some sort of serum that doesn’t allow time displacement? Is what Desmond experienced, what Rousseau called “The Sickness”? Is this how Rousseau’s crew died? Why didn’t Rousseau die? Two amazing points made by Lostpedia posters on this topic: a) “The research Rousseau’s team was doing involved exposure to radiation, which Danielle avoided while she was pregnant. This explains how she was the only member of the team who was not affected as they approached the island.”; b) “This could be why pregnant women died on the island before giving birth. Their child starts to experience consciousness-travel (to the future when they are adults) before even being born and thus dying without finding their constant and killing the mother with him creating a paradox.”

14. Is Jack experiencing this in the future? Is that why he thought his dad was still alive? Is that why he feels he needs to go back to the island? Or…wait…could Christian Shepherd just be stuck in a time jump?

15. This brings me to a theory that I’ve been trying to prove since season one. That Christian is alive…and once again Vozzek69 of DarkUFO fame has summed it up perfectly: “Taking this into consideration, what if the plane crashed before September 22nd 2004? We’ve seen time differentials of 31 seconds and even a whole day now – who’s to say it couldn’t span a week or more? As we saw with Desmond, the consciousness is transferred but the body stays the same. So what if (and get ready to be totally creeped out here…) what if the plane crashed during a period in time when Christian Shephard was still alive? What if the only place his consciousness had to go was into his current body, tucked neatly away in the coffin that turned up empty on impact? Could this explain why Jack kept seeing him? Could this explain why Jacob looked like him for that brief instant, yet still looks like an embalmed corpse? Yikes.”

16. This episode basically opened a whole new door. Are the flashbacks really flashbacks, or is it the actual characters doing their own time-jumps??? I have to hand it to the writers of this series who have once-again managed to turn this whole story on it’s side.

17. And now, I leave you with an oft-used statement in this series, whether it’s said in different ways or languages, which now takes on a whole new meaning, “See you in another life.”

Note: There is still SO MUCH to this episode. If I can take time out of my busy life (yeah right dude…you write a frikkin’ blog), I’ll see if I can update some more.