Alright, let's try to take a more serious, less recap-based stab at this thing called "Confirmed Dead".
What is the connection between Abaddon, Naomi, and the freighter four? What is their connection to other entities (Dhama, Hanso, Widmore, etc.)? Who is Minkowski? Why couldn't he come to the phone? And, who is Ben's man on the boat?
We know that Naomi answers to Abaddon, and that she was to be in charge of the team. We also know she was the only member qualified to engage military skills. So whence came the F4?
As was previously mentioned, all but Miles have a (revealed) connection to Oceanic or Dharma. Do they all have a connection to the island itself? One possibility is that they've been there before. Or that their fathers were somehow involved (like the Shepards, Widmores and Paiks).
I do think parentage may play a role, but I suspect it's not the same for each character. For instance, Widmore and Paik seem to be likely to be allied with the freighter, and Christian Shepard (or, at least, Ghost Christian) seems to be allied with the island/Jacob. A previous visit to the island then? Once agian, I suspect it's not that simple. Some level of connection to island related entities is obvious; if there's more of a connection, it probably won't be clear until we know more about the connections between the aforementioned big players.
I think a case can be made (and has been, elsewhere) for the makeup of the F4 having to do with their various skills. Dan is a physicist, and he has already noticed that "the light doesn't scatter quite right." He also probably knows about electromagnetism. Charlotte is an anthropologist. Can you say three-toed statue? Miles can communicate with the dead; can he communicate with Jacob? And Frank, well, it's not as clear what he brings to the party as far as an island-relevant skill. He may be simply the only pilot who can land on such a difficult to reach location. That seems unlikely, so we may have to let it unfold, although I'd say there's a chance it has to do with Capt. Seth Norris. Greg Grunberg guest spot?
So, Ben's man on the boat. Popular opinion seems to be centered on Michael. I have to admit, unless he shows up in a Flash Forward, I don't see how else he can make a return (OK, I guess there could be a Desmond style "I couldn't get away from the island!" return, but c'mon, it's not gonna go down like that). Flash forward only makes sense if he has reason to be in everyone's FFs. If he were only going to be in a couple epis, Harold Perrineau's name wouldn't be appearing in the regular-cast credits at the beginning.
So I guess my vote for now is Michael, although this opens up the questions "Huh?!?", "Wha...?", and "What happened between the time Michael and Walt left on a boat from the Pala Ferry in sesaon 2, and by the way what's up with Walt anyway, is he a ghost or is it astral projection and why is he taller?" (Heheh, "Taller Ghost Walt." lolz)
Anyway, that's it for now. See you (in spirit) on Thursday, until then, Namaste!
6 comments:
Many great questions still remain from this episode, you have mentioned several, such as, Why couldn't Minkowski come to the phone? That's a bizarre one. What could he possibly be doing that he couldn't come to the phone? And who is Ben's man on their boat? For my money, I think it is someone new. Why would they trust Michael at all? And why would Michael be working for Ben? Nah, doesn't make sense. Perhaps it is Jo...antham?? Heh.
As for connections to the island, what do we really know? Sure, Frank knew Seth Norris, worked for Oceanic, and was supposed to be the pilot for that flight. But none of that really gives him an actual connection the the island. Unless we figure Oceanic was implicit in the crash, we can't give his connections much weight. As far as being chosen for the operation, anyway. Dan? What's his connection? We don't know of one yet, do we? We assume him to have been chosen for his skills in his field, is all. But there must BE a connection, or else why the crying? Was it subconscious? Does he not remember certain things, for whatever reason? But he's only crying over the plane wreckage, not anything to do with the island. Miles, bupkus so far. Charlotte is the interesting one. Yes, she would have skills relating to the FOUR-toed statue, but she has knowledge of Dharma, and it would seem that she has been there before. We don't know it yet, but I think perhaps soon we will. (Other evidence of an ancient civilization: Ben's Others went somewhere "very old." And whatever OG Sawyer was tied to looked like an ancient column or something.)
Ghost Christian Shephard seems concerned over his son's well-being, but I don't feel much likelihood that he was involved in anything before Jack came to the island. Perhaps once he got there, he got all the updates from Jacob and became concerned about Jack's future. All the ghosts do seem to powwow quite a bit.
Walt can clearly astral project. He's done it several times already. He may even know how to commune with Jacob. I assume he's taller because he aged off-island.
All right, that's all I've got on this ep. Tune in soon for more commentary and theorizing!
What is up with Minkowski? First he couldn't come to the phone, then Frank wanted Dan to hang up if M got on the phone.
I agree trust issues going both ways vote against Michael being the mole, but how else is he going to come back?
I suspect Frank is more important than just a pilot, although I agree a pilot of exceptional skill is needed to land on the island.
Was the somewhere very old built by the Alpert crowd? The Black Rock crew? Or is it even older than that?
Christian's line about Jack having "work to do" makes me think he's got more of a connection to the island than simply being the place where his corpse crashed.
Oh yes, the thing where Frank told Dan to hang up if Minkowski got on, that was bizarre. Blew my mind. No idea what to make of that.
Heck, Michael could come back any number of ways. He might even be ON the freighter, perhaps they found him out in the ocean, but I would still doubt he was the mole. How could that even be possible? Unless Ben had brainwashed him, and turned him into some kind of sleeper agent. Unlikely.
No, the old place, I'm thinking has to do with the four-toed staue, the temple, whatever ancient civilization built that. I'm sure Alpert & Co. only discovered it later.
Christian didn't seem to have anything to do with the island pre-death. Unless there is some huge conspiracy and he sold his soul at some point, or his children's. I think once he came to the island, he learned of what needs to be done, and Jack's role in it, courtesy of Jacob. And it's okay that it was instantaneous, because time probably isn't quite linear for the Whisper People. But I'm sticking with the "simplest explanation is best" theory. Until further notice.
I guess Frank could have more of a connection, it's not impossible. Again, there's no need to read too much into EVERYTHING. Some people have come to the island who don't seem to be all that important. Like 30 Losties, for instance.
I still want to know more about Alpert. I heard Cain isn't coming back. Does this mean a there is potential for seeing Richard in the yet-to-be shot final 5 epis? I'd love a flashback. I'm still not sure if he doesn't age because of the island alone or if he is naturally different. We don't know of any others like him. Could he be the last of his kind? Who knows how long he's been there. Reality sets in and you say, oh, TPTB didn't even know if they were going to be able to get Nestor Carbonell back, so Richard can't be that important. But I'm still fascinated by him. I don't think his lack of aging has anything to do with the time discrepancy.
"Yet-to-be-shot final 5 episodes?" And how exactly do you know they've got three in the can already? Strike's only been over a week!
Boy, you're throwing a lot out there regarding Richard. I'm sure Nestor was always supposed to play a part, and his involvement in that other show would either have been worked around or not. But I'm sure he's fairly important, and will be showing up again periodically. "Last of his kind?" And what kind exactly is that?? Well, the fact is, we don't know shit about Richard, why he didn't seem to age while Ben grew up 25-30 years, where he's from originally, how he travels to and from the island and whether or not the island's unique properties affect his aging process. When he originally met Ben, he may have been time-travelling, or that might not even have been the same Richard we know of! Hell, we got nuthin! All we seem to know is that Richard is not happy with Ben's leadership, and wants someone to remind them of why they're there. Whatever that means!
The plan is to make 5 more episodes, giving us a total of 13 for the season. The storyline for the season will be the same, just more compressed. There will still be a total of 48 epis for seasons 4-6, so the last two years will have three extra epis distributed between them. For season four, the first pod will now end after epi 7, then a four week break, then 6 more.
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