31) Is Jin really dead?
Sun told her father two people were responsible for her husband’s death. Her father and…? Widmore? Ben? Is she suckering Widmore when she meets him at the end of season four?
Answer (2/4/09): No.
32) What’s the Black Rock backstory?
I’d love to see a superflashback episode to the 19th century to see the Magnus Hanso-skippered Black Rock’s ill-fated voyage.
Answer (3/23/10): “Ab Aeterno” pretty well covered that. The slave ship was headed to Sri Lanka when it got shipwrecked in a storm that drove it right through the Tawaret statue.
Answer #2 (9/7/10): Or was it? An entry from the journal of the Black Rock’s first mate (from the complete series box set):
December 19? – I awoke paralyzed by fear. Amidst the sounds of the night, there was something else. Though faint it sounded like the whispering of voices seemingly all around me. Then a scream froze in my throat – In the doorway to my cabin stood a shape –
It was Captain Hanso. Pale and fearful as if he’d seen the devil himself. I provided him a whiskey with h opes of putting him back in bed should any crewmember see him in this state, but the poor man seemed beyond calming. His mind was beset by conspiracies involving a man he called “Jacob” who Hanso believed commissioned this very expedition with the intention of bringing us to this maddening place.
Once Hanso was back in his quarters, I immediately reviewed the shipping receipts, but found no mention of any “Jacob”
If anyone is to get us out of this, it will not be that fool.
33) Is Locke really dead?
Or did he “become more powerful than [we] could possibly imagine” once Darth Vader struck him down? is there more to “Jeremy Bentham’s” story? Why doesn’t he remember Alpert from his childhood?
Answer (2/25/09): No. … Maybe.
Answer #2 (5/13/09): Yes. The Jacob followers that came to the Island aboard Ajira 316 brought Locke’s corpse with them. The man masquerading as the outdoorsman was revealed to be Esau/The Man in Black/Smokey. This is not to say that Locke’s consciousness/spirit couldn’t somehow return, but the corporeal form we once knew as John Locke is absent any sign of life.
34) What’s that line of powder around Jacob’s cabin?
A barrier to keep Jacob contained?
Answer (2/2/10): It’s ash, presumably from the volcano that Horace Goodspeed’s teacher wife taught the Dharma kids (including Ben) about in the 70’s. Why exactly Smokey can’t cross it has yet to be answered, however.
35) Who is Dexter Stratton?
Charlie’s older brother gave him this ring, and Charlie gave it to Aaron shortly before he went off to his death in the Looking Glass station.
Answer (8/24/10): Phil Collins’ brother. Seriously though, I believe he was mentioned as a cousin or uncle of the Pace boys.
36) What were the Others having their slaves working on?
Sawyer and Kate, along with some other captives/workers, were tasked with clearing rock and other debris from what Juliet later described as a “runway.” For what, not even she knew. UFO’s? A Dharma plane?
Answer (3/18/09): Yep, it was a runway, one that Frank Lapidus guided Ajira Flight 316 to a relatively smooth landing on in 2007.
37) Why did the Australian psychic tell Claire that she must be the one to raise Aaron?
He also gave her the plane ticket for Ocean 815. When Ghost Claire appears to Kate in season four, she strongly urges Kate not to bring Aaron back to the Island.
Answer (8/24/10): Another lost opportunity/plot thread, I’m afraid. When we saw the psychic again in an Eko-centric episode, he told the “priest” he was a fake preying on the gullible for money. He certainly seemed pretty convincing when urging Claire to keep Aaron.
38) Is there a “magic box?”
Ben told Locke to imagine a box, and to imagine whatever you wanted in the world. Poof–out of the box it would come. Was this just Ben using metaphors to manipulate? Or is there another Dharma station that somehow conjures all your heart’s desires?
Answer (8/24/10): Yes, they’re readily available at all Walgreen’s and Rite-Aids near you.
39) Is Vincent more than just a golden retriever?
Okay, I should probably wrap this thing up if I’m leading you to believe a dog is something much, much more than man’s best friend…I, for one, believe Vincent is the reincarnation of Mama Cass, returned from the dead to eat ham sandwiches and help our castaways whenever possible.
Seriously, though, in the season 3.5 webisodes, Ghost Christian Shephard says to Vincent, “we have work to do.” This occurs right after the 815 crash. There’s gotta be more to Vincent than meets the eye. (Probably not.)
Alright, one more…
40) Who’s that dog in the portrait in Jacob’s cabin?
I’m guessing season six will feature nothing but dogs, as all of the characters have died and become ghosts. Vincent versus Hank (I’m calling the portrait dog “Hank”) for control of the island! There will be lots of growling, marking territory and crapping all over the rug!
Answer (8/24/10): I’m wondering if this was indirectly answered somewhere in the show’s run. Was the painting taken from the Black Rock, perhaps?
You have questions not listed here but think need answering? Maybe they already have been and the Lost writers were too subtle about it. Ask in the comments and I shall answer by way of psychokinetic trickery.
Great to read and be reminded of all of this before the show starts again this week..thanks. More questions? Are you kidding me? That’s all I have is questions….and no answers! Yes, you’ll get your share as they come to me…you asked for it!
great stuff gordo…without your recaps I would be as lost as the cast members themselves.
41) Why do pregnant women die after their first trimester?
Juliet was brought there to try and figure out why but failed. Claire was 8 months pregnant when they crashed. Perhaps it’s getting past that first trimester that’s the trick.
Just reading all of these again make all these things seem so far in the past! So much has happened this season that, as usual, it boggles the mind…Let’s hope the writers have answers to all of them, and that our “tracker” makes sure that all storylines are tied up with no loose ends in the end!!!
42) What are the “whispers?”
Answer (4/13/10): They are the voices of those that have died on the Island but can’t yet “move on.” Michael tells Hurley as much while guiding him away from the Black Rock’s dynamite and an explosive fate.
Stumbling into your blog while researching some stuff kicked up by visiting the nuclear weapons museum in Albuquerque was truly wierd. I visited that museum as a USN trainee in 1959, the casing of the Mark 17 was exhibit #1, and the resemblance between the “Jughead” bomb in “Lost” and the EC-17 was noticeable, the other thing that startled me was finally seeing that the Dharma emblem is a cross-section of the trigger section, the Mark 5. Well, the test of it “vanished” the island, leaving a pit 6,000 feet wide. All the Dharma technology is so reminiscent of all the testing equipment I used to work with in the project, it is truly creepy. Maybe the island is the missing island of Bikini, off wandering.
Good stuff; thanks for the insight!
43) Who was in the outrigger chasing and shooting at Sawyer, Juliet and company during the time flashes (5×04 – The Little Prince)?
Answer (9/7/10): Those who’ve purchased the complete series box set should read over the journal entries included in the set, as they reveal the mysterious outrigger was captained by crewmembers of the Black Rock.