Thoughts on Episode 2x17: Lockdown – The Back-Story

Let’s get the obvious out of the way first; the answer we were all hoping for didn’t come. We’ll have to wait until another episode to find out what caused Locke’s paralysis. I’m guessing we’ll find out in the season finale.

This episode’s flashback showed how Locke turned from the happy man that he was after meeting Helen into the depressed and pitiable man who spent his evenings pursuing a make-believe relationship with a phone sex worker. (The $200,000.00 his father gave him might explain how he was able to afford that expensive hobby.) By participating in his father’s plans and lying about it to Helen, Locke unintentionally proved to her that his deeper loyalty lay with his father.

Locke’s emotional state after losing Helen related to his brief friendship with the man claiming to be Henry Gale. “Henry” gained Locke’s trust (and brought him to tears) not by badmouthing Jack, but simply by not deserting him. Locke’s back-story showed that both his girlfriend and his father abandoned him in a seedy motel parking lot within moments of each other and his outlandish pursuit of an imaginary replacement for Helen demonstrates that he never fully recovered from the loss. His interaction with “Henry” in this episode showed that he is still very insecure and that his tough image is merely a facade.

The flashback also confirmed that Locke’s father was a professional conman named “Anthony Cooper” and not, as many expected, “Sawyer.” The circumstances of the story negate the theory that Locke’s father was the conman who destroyed Sawyer’s family. The greatest evidence supporting this theory, outside of the fact that Mr. Cooper is an old conman, was Locke expressing interest in where Sawyer got his nickname when they were tracking Michael in episode 2x11. However, the back-story showed that even after discovering his father’s profession, Locke had such limited contact with him that he never would have known his father’s alias. If the name “Sawyer” does hold some significance to Locke, it is for a different reason.

The reason I bring up the theory that Locke’s father is Sawyer’s conman is that spoiler sites have been declaring for weeks that this episode would reveal a radical connection between Locke and Sawyer. While a few spoilers in the past have been correct, this one is just another example of the many spoilers that have fizzled out. There is a lot of dubious information on the web and this episode was a reminder to regard spoilers with caution.

Instead of a Sawyer connection, the flashback showed a weak connection with Sayid: Locke inspected a house for Sayid’s love-interest, Nadia. It proves that Nadia safely arrived in America but, like the flashback in which Sawyer struggled with police officers while Boone filed a domestic abuse report in episode 1x13, this connection seemed more of a mildly interesting coincidence than a relevant plot point. While there may be a deeper relevancy that has yet to be revealed, many of the back-story connections appear to say nothing other than “It’s a small world after all.”

In this flashback, Locke, who was apparently a bit of a job-hopper, is a home inspector. This sets up an interesting irony with the island story. Locke never inspected the hatch, which he has taken more-or-less for his home. Michael discovered the blast doors and Sayid found the unusually thick concrete foundation. Locke never even noticed the black light bulbs until they all turned on. It’s interesting that a man who made a career out of looking at tiny details in a home should miss those things.

I’ll have my thoughts on the island events posted in the next day or two. Sorry I can’t get to them tonight but it’s my birthday and I have to party.

Thoughts on Alex: Why is She “Good”?

In episode 2x15, we learn that a young girl among the Others helped Claire escape before the Dharma doctors could take her baby. It’s fairly safe to assume that the girl is Rousseau’s daughter, Alex (it seems obvious, yet the show was coy about her identity so we could potentially be in for a surprise). Obviously, a thorough examination of Alex won’t be possible until more information is revealed about her, but her rescue of Claire brings up some intriguing questions.

According to Rousseau, the Others took Alex when she was an infant. Although Alex was raised by the Others and would no doubt have been indoctrinated in their philosophies, she apparently does not support their activities. She was so determined to thwart the Others’ plan to take Claire’s baby that she had a rag soaked in chloroform (or some similar substance) ready in case Claire resisted her rescue. When Claire told Rousseau about her experience in the medical hatch, she described her rescuer as being different from the Others and added, “She was good.”

Why did Alex rescue Claire? I see three possibilities.

• Alex saved Claire to prevent more death among her people from castaways seeking revenge. In episode 2x7, Goodwin told Anna Lucia that the Others changed their plans about kidnapping the strong castaways when two of them were killed. He was still trying to conceal his identity at that point, but there may have been some truth to his remark. The deaths of the four Others among the tail section passengers may have similarly persuaded Alex that the Others’ project involving the castaways wasn’t worth the risk.
• Alex knew that she was kidnapped as a child and rescued Claire to prevent a similar situation. However, if she knows of her circumstances, it is strange that she should return to the Others after betraying them by freeing Claire instead of searching for her mother. There are three possible reasons for this; 1) she is protecting her mother by avoiding a reunion, 2) she has further plans to sabotage the Others’ plans and doesn’t want to lose her infiltrated position, and 3) she doesn’t know that her mother is still alive.
• Alex simply developed an independent conscience that told her that kidnapping is wrong.

Although it takes place weeks after the flashbacks in Maternity Leave, Alex was first introduced in episode 2x11 when Mr. Friendly called on her to bring Kate out when he was talking with Jack, John, and Sawyer. Although she is not seen, it is clear that Alex was restraining Kate in the background. Since Alex was responsible for freeing Claire, it seems strange that she should be trusted to guard another detained castaway.

Why did the Others trust Alex with a prisoner again? Once again, I can think of three potential answers.

• They never found out that Alex helped Claire escape. When Ethan took Claire to the tree stump near the medical hatch, he told her that the Others were concerned about the possibility that she would try to escape. They may have simply assumed that Claire got away without help.
• They assumed that Rousseau, who rescued Claire in the jungle after Alex freed her, was responsible for the entire escape. (This possibility would also explain why the medical hatch was abandoned. The Others may have believed that Rousseau was looking for her daughter but found Claire instead so they quickly left before she could come back.)
• They knew of Alex’s involvement and assumed that the castaways did too. They had Alex bring out Kate to prove to Jack that she was loyal to them. They might also have given Alex the same mind-weakening drug that Claire was on, which would limit her choice in the matter.

Of course, there is the possibility that everything we know about Alex is wrong. Rousseau is not the most reliable of narrators. Perhaps she was rescued by Alex at some point, as Claire was, and imagined that her rescuer was her daughter. Or, she may be working with the Others and using Alex as part of her cover story.

What we do know is this: the castaways have a secret ally among the Others. This is a plot point I’m sure we’ll be seeing more of in the future.

From The Dawn of Our Species: The Castaways’ Lack of Curiosity

On several occasions, the castaways have squandered opportunities to examine the island’s mysteries. This tendency began in the first season when Charlie killed Ethan before he could be questioned. Because the second season has featured more interaction with the Others, the castaways have increasingly displayed a surprising lack of curiosity when interacting with the island’s residents. While this characteristic may be a narrative device designed to delay revealing the show’s secrets, there have been several clues that the lack of curiosity is actually an important element of the plot.

In episode 2x3, Desmond announced he was leaving after the hatch computer was damaged but Jack didn’t bother to ask him where he was going. His whereabouts have remained a mystery ever since. In episode 2x11, Jack, Sawyer, and Locke asked Mr. Friendly no questions about the Other’s identity, save for Jack’s illogical accusation that the Others were an insignificant group of two or three people. In episode 2x15, Rousseau explained that she killed her team because they had the sickness but neither Kate nor Claire (who believed her child might have the same illness) thought to ask for any details about it. Rousseau, Desmond, and Ethan have all mentioned the sickness to the castaways, yet no one has ever pressed for any particulars.

Curiosity, when it has been exhibited, has not been rewarded. Jack and Michael both questioned the validity of the Orientation video but Jack didn’t pursue the matter in the same way that Michael did. No one but Michael has ever been curious about the computer’s hardware or the hatch’s blast doors and only Michael has ever received instructions on the hatch computer to go somewhere in the jungle. The Others have taken great pains, including wearing costumes and abandoning their facilities, to hide their identities from the castaways. “Walt’s” messages to Michael, which distracted him from further curiosity about the hatch’s purpose, indicate that the Others do not like the castaways to snoop.

When Mr. Friendly was chiding John, Jack, and Sawyer for, of all things, being too nosy, he quoted an Alvar Hanso statement that originally appeared on The Hanso Foundation website. “From the dawn of our species, Man has been blessed with curiosity.” Curiosity is the basis of The Hanso Foundation’s mission statement. Since the emblem of The Dharma Initiative, a Hanso subsidiary, adorns every manmade object on the island, it seems strange that the LOST writers should make the characters so disinterested in their surroundings. The castaways’ ennui stands in dramatic contrast to the mysterious circumstances created by people whose very motto celebrates curiosity.

At the end of episode 2x16, Jack brought Henry Gale out of the gun locker for breakfast. Henry immediately began asking questions about his surroundings. “What’s the computer for?” “Where did the cereal come from?” “How old is it?” Jack, annoyed with Henry’s questioning, snapped at him but Henry then chided him for not knowing or being curious about anything in the Hatch. His story of sending Anna Lucia into a trap could be perceived as being a dramatic warning about the risks of becoming too lax with the situation. His comments reveal a disdain for the castaway’s complacency, a feeling that may be shared by the Others (if Henry is in fact affiliated with them).

When Claire was being held by the Others, she was drugged into a mindless state. She agreed with everything that Ethan said and even agreed to surrender her baby to him when he inexplicably offered her a choice in the matter. She was so unquestionably devoted to the Others that she even resisted attempts at getting rescued. Although Claire’s lack of curiosity was almost lethargic, the other castaways have shown similar tendencies, albeit to varying degrees. Claire’s experience proves that the Others have a way of stifling a person’s curiosity. They could be similarly affecting everyone on the island. There may be something in the Dharma food or in the island’s water that causes people to become indifferent towards the bizarre. It may be a symptom of the sickness. Whatever is causing the lack of curiosity, it seems likely that it is an important aspect of the plot and that it is not simply the writers’ method of extending a popular show to reap the extra advertising dollars.

Thoughts on Episode 2x16: The Whole Truth

This was a good episode with lots of things to think about. Obviously, my theory that Henry Gale is not an Other is now highly doubtful but I’ll discuss a few hints that might show I’m still right. Also, this is the first episode in quite awhile where a character’s back-story related to an island mystery. This episode also featured another allusion to the Widmore Company— though slightly more visible this time. As usual with LOST, everything that was revealed brought up ten new questions.

This episode made me think I was wrong about Henry Gale’s innocence. While I still have some lingering doubts about Rousseau’s involvement with his capture, his most recent behavior was not fitting into my model of an eccentric millionaire trying to talk his way out of prison.

His behavior remains ambiguous; it doesn’t totally conform with a marooned man nor does it totally fit what we know about the Others. After elaborately describing an entrapment scenario he casually remarked, “Luckily I’m not one of them.” If he is an Other, why would he bother to deny that fact after admitting his master plan to John and Jack? (Once Anna Lucia discovered Goodwin’s identity, he didn’t continue to deny who he was.) If he isn’t an Other, why did he risk alienating the castaways by mocking their fears about the Others? Either way, that story certainly didn’t earn him any new friends.

Henry Gale’s most recent comments support the theory that he is an Other because they are very similar in tone to things Goodwin said. Both Henry and Goodwin have made statements suggesting that the Others are not bad guys. Goodwin told Anna that the kidnappings on the beach didn’t mean that the Others were “attacking” them. Likewise, Henry referred to the Others as “people that you seem to think are your enemies.” Both comments imply that the castaways don’t understand the Others.

There is still a chance that Henry might not be an Other, though I admit it’s not likely. Henry’s setup story was manipulative because it played on the animosity between John and Jack. (Sawyer also capitalized on their mistrust of each other to steal all the guns.) Perhaps Henry is attempting to further divide his two guards in an attempt to escape, just in case Anna can’t find his balloon. Also, his story about how, if he was an Other, he would direct Anna to an obscure part of the island so that his friends could ambush her is a little too elaborate to be believed. It suggests a massive conspiracy that just doesn’t seem plausible.

The biggest problem is that Henry says the Others will capture Anna at the secluded spot (the clearing). If he was truly captured unawares by Rousseau, how would the Others know to look for anyone in the clearing? The only way that the Others could know Henry would be sending someone there would be if his capture had been prearranged. (In that scenario, Rousseau is either an Other or is being compelled to cooperate with them—perhaps with bribes of being reunited with Alex.) However, that plan is slightly outlandish for two reasons. First, the Others have always simply snuck into the camps to take people. They’ve had a few mishaps in the past but they if they were careful they could take anyone they wanted. Second, his stated goal in sending someone to the clearing is a prisoner exchange. Why would the Others go through all of the bother of sending him to the Castaways only to trade for him three days later? Henry hasn’t learned anything about the castaways that the Others don’t already know (Mr. Friendly’s jungle conversation with Jack, John, and Sawyer revealed that he knew names and that they were in the hatch).

Of course, any theorizing about Henry Gale is going to change episode to episode as new information is divulged. My posts such as In Defense of Henry Gale are probably going to prove completely wrong by the end of the season but at least they will serve as a journal of my LOST thoughts. Maybe a few other people will find them interesting as well.

After a few episodes with lackluster back-stories, we finally get one that advances the mystery of the island. First, we learned from Sun’s flashback that her baldheaded friend, Jae Lee, did not stay in America with the woman he moved there for. My money says that this woman is on the island or connected to someone on the island. Second, we learned that Jin wasn’t producing sperm and was unable to have children. Nonetheless, Sun has become pregnant, an event that Jin describes as “a miracle.”

Ever since Walkabout revealed that John Locke had been paralyzed prior to the crash, I have wondered if the island miraculously cured anyone else. Now it appears that like Locke’s lame legs, Jin’s lame testicles have been repaired. However, the circumstances of Locke’s miraculous healing bring up a few questions about Jin’s increased sperm count. Locke wasn’t truly cured of his paralysis. While he can move his legs, he can’t feel them—as the large shard of wood in his leg in episode 1x19 showed. Also, his paralysis has come and gone at least once since being on the island. When the Nigerion drug plane was first discovered, Locke was going to climb up the cliff to examine it but his ability to use his legs suddenly vanished—requiring Boone to climb to the deathtrap plane instead. This suggests that some outside force is granting him the ability to walk and that that force didn’t want him to die in the plane.

Is the same force giving Jin the ability to produce sperm? The seemingly irrelevant circumstances of Claire’s kidnapping indicate that it is. After Claire escaped from the medical hatch, Ethan returned to retrieve her. However, since Aaron’s birth, the Others have made no attempt to take him. For whatever reason, they seem to want a baby that is born in their facilities. Since Jack has admitted that he and Kate are not “hitting it,” the Others may have needed to help Jin with his problem because he and Sun were the only people having sex on the island.

Also, although the exact significance of the company is not yet known, the Widmore name on the pregnancy test suggests that someone was planning for a person among the castaways to get pregnant. As Kate pointed out, most people don’t take pregnancy tests on airplanes. Someone may have been planted the Widmore test in the wreckage or made sure that it got onto the plane.

The most intriguing part of this episode is Henry Gale’s accusation that Jack and John are lacking in curiosity. I will post an essay devoted to this subject tomorrow.

In Defense of Henry Gale: Rousseau, The Unreliable Narrator of LOST

Rousseau is the primary source of information for many of the island’s mysteries. It was she who claimed that the black smoke was a security system, that the sickness is incurable and that once infected a person needs to be killed, that the numbers are cursed, that the Others use a pillar of black smoke as a signal, and that Henry Gale is an Other. Much of this information has proven to be of questionable value. Rousseau may be innocently making misinformed educated guesses at subjects she has no real expertise in, but she is more likely telling people what she believes they need to hear in order to achieve her objective of reuniting with her daughter.

Her actions demonstrate that she is willing to lie to achieve her own purposes. In episode 1x24, Rousseau conducted a massive fraud in an attempt to kidnap Aaron. This included telling the story that the Others lit a black smoke signal when they were preparing to take people. However, the castaway’s experiences on both sides of the island have not supported her story. No signals of any kind were set before either of the kidnapping attacks on the tail section passengers, nor before Ethan kidnapped Claire. All of the evidence indicates that the Others operate without any signals at all.

Rousseau’s other stories have been equally suspicious. She has repeatedly said that she had to kill her team members because they were infected with the sickness, yet she has never provided details about what the sickness is. She conveniently appeared when Aaron became ill and was quick to diagnose him with the sickness even though he exhibited no symptoms save a rash and a fever—symptoms that are associated with many diseases, few of which justify mercy killings. Once again, Rousseau’s story was self-serving. By claiming that Aaron had the sickness, Rousseau was able to persuade Claire to lead her to the place where she believed her missing daughter might be.

Rousseau’s response to Aaron’s illness also demonstrates that she is quick to jump to conclusions, which casts doubt on her other major accusation, telling Sayid that Henry Gale is an Other and needed to be taken to the castaway’s camp. In both cases, Rousseau tried to establish trust with the castaways. She assisted Claire and Kate in their trek through the jungle (at one point permitting Kate to hold a gun to her chest) and she allowed Sayid to carry her gun when she led him to Henry Gale. In both situations, she adamantly reiterated her claims before disappearing into the jungle. To Claire—under the guide of expressing compassion, she suggested that Aaron would have to be killed. To Sayid, she empathically accused Henry Gale of being a liar.

Given that her previous actions have all been motivated by her desire to be reunited with her daughter, it would be foolish to assume that she assisted Claire or handed over Henry Gale out of a newfound sense of generosity. While episode 2x15 shows that Rousseau generously rescued Claire from the Others, she returned shortly after Aaron’s birth to kidnap him and exchange him with the Others for her daughter. Rousseau’s two contradictory actions, rescuing Aaron only to kidnap him later, indicate that she views the castaways as expendable tools in her quest to find Alex.

Rousseau’s very involvement with Henry Gale is likewise highly suspect. Her previous tales about the Others have included no more detail than hearing whispers in the jungle. For 16 years she has set traps, yet until capturing Henry Gale, she had never even seen an Other. Since the Others are obviously skilled at evading her traps, it is more likely that Henry Gale is who he claims to be. (Marooned millionaire businessmen are probably more susceptible to getting snagged in nets.)

When Rousseau captured Sayid in episode 1x9, she demonstrated that she was fairly proficient at torture. There was no real need for her to surrender Henry Gale to Sayid since she could have questioned him herself. Rousseau turned Henry Gale over because she had a high personal stake in insuring that the castaways detained him. She likely did not know of Mr. Friendly’s warning to Jack that “crossing the line” would exasperate their “misunderstanding,” but she may have believed that if the Castaways held an Other prisoner (or someone she believed to be an Other) that it would force a confrontation between the two groups which would bring her daughter into the open. Such goals would be consistent with her previous actions.

There has been much speculation about the meaning of Henry Gale’s suspicious looks at the end of each episode he has appeared in, but these glances and smirks do not prove that he is affiliated with Dharma. His actions, including trying to manipulate Locke against Jack, are consistent with a very smart man trying to talk his way out of a prison that is run by—from his perspective—insane persons.

Another heavily discussed topic is the Wizard of Oz allusion in his name and his description of reaching the island. These references are often perceived as clues that he’s lying. However, it is important to remember that the show’s writers have already used names and character back stories as red herrings. Nathan, the perceived Other among the tail section passengers, had a name similar to Ethan’s and both men called Canada home. At least until Goodwin snapped his neck, most viewers believed that the name and country coincidences were giveaways that Nathan was an Other. Henry Gale’s story also makes sense within the parameters set by the show. The Black Rock, Oceanic Flight 815, the Nigerian drug smuggling plane, and Desmond’s boat have all crashed on the island. Why not a hot air balloon as well? Also, LOST adds a new literary reference every week; is it that difficult to believe that Henry Gale’s name could be just one more?

Given that the first stone cast against him was from a self-serving character of dubious integrity and that the LOST has a history of false leads, we should believe that Henry Gale is telling the truth until we are given more compelling evidence to the contrary. The evidence so far serves to exonerate him far more than condemn him.

Sorry for the delay

I apologize to anyone who is waiting for the promised post. Yesterday was my father-in-law’s birthday party so I was not able to get the essay ready. It will be online tomorrow. A second essay will be following shortly.
Thanks - Chris

Introduction: Yet another LOST blog.

Thank you for taking the time to look at this blog. It really means a lot to me. Originally, I was going to talk about LOST on my personal blog but I decided to start a new blog especially for LOST-themed posts because very few members of my family watch LOST and even fewer LOST fans care about my personal life. Intermingling my LOST theorizing with pictures of my latest vacation just seemed like a bad idea on several levels.

When I was an undergraduate student, I had an English professor who would begin every class with a casual banter about the most recent LOST episode. I largely ignored these discussions; I had never seen LOST so I had nothing to contribute and I believed that network television had become stagnant and incapable of producing a thought compelling show. However, his discussions about a man living under ground who had to push a button every 108 minutes on a tropical island populated with polar bears soon began to intrigue me. My fiancée and I rented season one and became immediately addicted. We couldn’t watch the DVDs fast enough. (Even our wedding planning was put on hold until we were caught up with the series.) I soon joined with my professor and classmates in their LOST theorizing; a small group of us often lingered after class for up to an hour analyzing and debating the show’s many mysteries. I’ve really missed those experiences since finishing school. Our discussions were the perfect mix of scholarly analysis and obsessed fan geektitude. While there are some excellent blogs, message boards, and podcasts available, I haven’t found any that exactly replicate the same analytical (but fun) style of my classroom discussions. It is my hope to recreate some of that feeling on this blog.

While I may post some quickie evaluations immediately after viewing a new episode, I intend to primarily examine the show holistically through a series of short essays. I assume that readers of this blog have seen the show so I will not give spoiler warnings when I discuss plot details of previous episodes. I will include a warning if I reveal future plot spoilers.

I hope that you will leave feedback on my posts. I don’t believe that my LOST ideas are sacred so please leave a comment if you want to expand on a theory with something that I didn’t consider or if you think I’m completely off the mark. The only thing I ask is that you keep all remarks respectful and civil because everyone’s opinions are equally valuable and this is just for fun. Anything appearing on this blog is open for community use. I would be honored if you’d like to quote or summarize anything I’ve written in your podcast, blog, or discussion group. Please just include citation and links to this blog as well as emailing me at theblacksmoke-nospam@gmail.com (Remove the “-nospam” from the address before sending) to let me know where I can hear or read your comment. (This policy of open use does not extend to any projects that will be graded or published for financial gain.)

I’ll be making the first official post this weekend but in the mean time, please enjoy the two previous posts that originally appeared on my personal blog. Also, the professor mentioned above is a founder of and a frequent contributor to The Lost Wiki. I contribute there as well—rather infrequently I’m afraid—as “Aeroplane” (after my favorite album). It’s a great resource that I highly recommend.

Matthew Fox on The Daily Show

This post originally appeared on my personal blog on Monday, March 06, 2006

I was pretty excited when I heard that Matthew Fox would be a guest on the Daily Show last week. Unfortunately, the interview was disappointing. I thought it was obvious that Jon Stewart had never watched an episode of LOST and he didn’t seem to care much about it. I know that no one who hosts a daily show can watch/read everything that they discuss, but whoever gave Jon the summary of LOST did an unusually bad job. Jon seemed to have a vague knowledge of plane crashes and buttons, but we didn’t learn anything about the show other than Matthew’s statement that the cast is getting smaller, which could mean that future episodes will feature more character deaths or could simply be a reference to Shannon and Boone’s characters. Obviously, I wasn’t expecting any major revelations about the plot, but some intelligent discussion would have been nice.

Not only was the lack of interesting commentary about the show disappointing, the jokes were incredibly lame. Jon Stewart is a brilliant comedian, which is why I was very surprised that he opened the interview with a tired joke comparing LOST to Gilligan’s Island. Equally surprising was Matthew Fox’s reaction to the jokes. He giggled like a school girl at every clichéd television reference (‘I get it! There are castaways on Gilligan’s Island too! HA!’) as if he had never heard those comparisons before.

Barring the extremely unlikely scenario that he found that banter amusing, his Daily Show appearance did demonstrate a greater acting range than he has thus far been allowed to exercise on LOST: Not only can he cry in the jungle, he can also laugh on queue. Perhaps the writers will use this talent in a future episode.
Sawyer: There’s a new sheriff in town.
Jack: Hee hee. That’s cliché-a-licious
Sawyer: I don’t think you understand me. I stole all the guns from Mr. Clean.
Jack: Mr. Clean! Hee hee hee! That’s funny!
Locke: This isn’t the time for laughter, Jack.
Jack: Sawyer’s right, John! You’re bald like the cartoon guy! Hee hee hee.
Sawyer: If I were you, I’d stop chuckling and listen, Doc.
Jack: DOC!!! Like in the seven dwarves! Hee hee hee. Sawyer, you are too much.
Sawyer: What did you do to put him in such a good mood, Freckles?
Jack: FRECKLES!!! HA HA HA!!! Stop making me laugh, you big goof! I’m going to pee my pants.

Mentioned in LOSTCasts Episode 18

This post originally appeared on my personal blog on Monday, February 20, 2006.

I made a brief appearance in this week’s LOSTCasts. They read my email theorizing about Henry Gale—and promptly dismissed it with a “Nah!” But, it’s still nice to be mentioned in one of the better LOST-themed Podcasts.

You can download the show at this link. My email is read at 49:58.

I’ll expand on this later, but basically, I wrote that Henry Gale could be telling the truth since there seems to be some force causing crashes on the island. Oceanic Flight 815, the Nigerian drug plane, and Desmond’s boat (assuming Desmond is telling the truth) all crashed on the island. Why not a hot air balloon as well? Granted, the dimensions of the balloon he gave are not really suited for two passengers… None-the-less, the easiest way to determine if he is telling the truth or not is to have him lead the castaways (under heavy guard, of course) to the balloon crash site. One would think that an enormous happy face balloon would be fairly easy to find.

I have much more to say about Henry Gale and will be posting on the subject soon.