5x07 Pre-Thoughts

One of the things that comes up from time to time is the question of who is “good” and “bad” on Lost. The Others are fond of saying they are the “good guys”, but are they really? Is Widmore really evil?

My belief is that both sides are amoral and simply attempting to serve their own interests. But it may well be that one side’s objectives are better than the other in some meaningful way, and I think it’s more likely that the Others are on that side than Widmore and his people.

That being said, there is one thing I know for sure about LOST. Benjamin Linus is a bad guy. He may be working for the nominally good side, but make no mistake--he is an evil person. He is one of the most charming evil people out there, as seen by the Lostaways continuing to trust him when they have every reason in the world not to, and by his popularity among fans of the show. He is a great character, and Michael Emerson is a fantastic actor.

But Ben Linus is evil. There is no goal, no matter how noble, that can justify all of the evil actions that he has taken. Again, he may be less evil than Widmore, but don’t let that distract you from the truth that he is a bad dude.

Ms. Hawking said the island is constantly moving in time. So why doesn’t anyone on the island ever notice unless there is a catastrophic event like the donkey wheel getting offline?

Based on the fact that the island’s movement can be estimated with some accuracy by the equipment in the Lamppost, my explanation is that the movement of the island in time is predictable and stable under normal circumstances. Therefore, the people on the island do not notice and it does not effect them.

Consider the matter of the Earth. Our planet is hurtling through space at unbelievable speed, and at the same time it is revolving rapidly around the sun, and at the same time it is spinning on its axis. But we don’t notice that. We notice some of the effects, of course--we see the sun rise and set, for instance. But it does not feel like we are moving through space at breakneck speed. If somehow the fabric of the universe came apart, and we suddenly stopped or something, then you’d better believe we would notice it. But the constant movement does not really affect our lives barring some catastrophe. I believe the same is true with respect to temporal movement of the island.

When discussing the identity of “this fellow” in my recap of “316”, there are several good candidates that I managed to miss: Faraday in some kind of time travel (doubt it), Marvin Candle, and my new favorite, Enzo Valenzetti of Valenzetti Equation fame. We were told that DHARMA’s mission on the island was the alter the constants of the Valenzetti Equation, so it would make sense if the genius behind that equation was the man who also managed to find the island. Of course, for now Valenzetti’s existence remains non-canon, so this theory has to be taken with a grain of salt.

I avoid spoilers like the plague, and this year have even attempted to stop watching promos for upcoming episodes. One thing I do like to know and do not consider a spoiler is the title of the upcoming episode. I find that they often just whet the appetite but almost never give away important details (for example, “Enter 77” has great meaning within the context of the episode, but it meant nothing to anyone before watching the episode. There are exceptions, like “What Kate Did” or “One of Them” in which a major plot points are strongly implied, but overall this is not a big deal). Sometimes they are very misleading (I thought for sure that “316” would be Locke-centric).

Well, this week is one of those titles that gives away what the episode is about. I’m not going to share it here, but allow me to say: it sounds very cool.