The Beginning of the End

Wow! What a great season opener! Definitely worth the seemingly interminable wait.

Aptly titled, this episode marks a major turning point, in that we are now going to start seeing some of what happens in the future, due to the flashback device morphing into a flash forward. (Technically, this started in last season's finale, but cut me some slack!) This only adds to the mystery, given large time gaps that obscure the information we need to understand the future events we're seeing.

The one thing we do know, is there is some big secret that the rescued Losties are keeping. It seems logical to assume this has something to do with Losties left back on the island. We know it's not as simple as the two groups, Locke's and Jack's, that we saw at the end of the epi, because Hurley was in Locke's group, headed to the Barracks to buckle down. Yet we know Jack, Kate and Hurley made it off the island. Obviously, this is one of those mystifying time gaps; "What happened between now and then?", we cry to no avail.

Well, I think Locke's statement when the two companies part ways is illustrative. He says, "You know where to find us, when you change your minds." Not if, but when. Now, we all know Locke has been dead certain about things in the past, only to be brutally proven wrong. But in this case, I think we can assume that the evidence points to him being right, at least about the freighter people meaning harm, and that they shouldn't leave the island.

And yet, Hurley tells Jack, "I should have stayed with you." Why? Did Locke make some kind of mistake? Hurley's back home; what would be different if Hurley had stayed with Jack?

Either way, it seems reasonable to guess that Jack's people do indeed change their minds, and flee to the barracks at some point. What happens then is beyond my ability to speculate.

But back to the secret, and the people keeping it. We hear Hurley call himself "one of the Oceanic 6", and we understand this constitutes a minor celebrityhood. We can assume that Jack and Hurley are among them, and even though Kate would be an obvious choice, I feel her fugitive status gives some reason to believe she might not have claimed her status as a survivor. The logistics of this, I can't guess, but I think it would be a mistake to think she no longer has to be underground.

Regardless of Kate, I feel there may be other people who made it off the island who were not among the O6. Mainly, the occupant of the coffin. According to Carlton Cuse, it's someone we've seen before. That doesn't have to be someone from the island, but I'm guessing it is. [See my choice for who it is and why in an upcoming post.] But, whoever it is, a member of the O6 would have warranted special mention in the obit, and would likely have attracted more than one mourner.

The question of the secret leads us to Matthew Abaddon, the "lawyer from Oceanic" who visited Hurley in the mental institution. He apparently knows the existence of a secret, if not the answer ("Are they alive, Mr. Reyes?"), and I think it's safe to assume he does not represent Oceanic. [I have not been following find815, and anyone who has information on Oceanic that would shed new light on the forgoing statement, please fill me in!]

The name Abaddon deserves a closer look. Hebrew for "destroyer" or "abyss", Abaddon is identified in some translations of Job 26:6 as the place of the dead; ie., netherworld ("Sheol" in King James), and in Revelation 9:11 (no conspiracy theories please) as the angel of the abyss. He was King of the locusts from the bottomles pit who were given to torment all humans without the mark of god for 5 months. "In those days men will seek death and will not find it; they will desire to die, and death will flee from them." -Revelation 9:6

Whew! I think that's it for now; rather than get too deep into other aspects, I think I'll save those for separate posts. In other words, check back frequently! And please, leave comments! Comment on things I've said, give your own theories, and, in addition, I would welcome constructive criticism of the blog itself; is it too rambling? Too long? Not coherent enough? What would you like to see more of, less of?

Thanks for reading, stay tuned!