Mythology of Lost
Lost is a "genre" television show and includes a number of mysterious elements that have been ascribed to science fiction or supernatural phenomena. The creators of the series refer to these as part of the mythology of the series.[1]
The Monster
The monster (nicknamed "Smokey" by fans) is the first piece of mythology introduced on the show. On the night after the crash, the encamped survivors hear a loud, unidentifiable sound coming from the jungle and witness trees being torn down in the distance. The next day, Jack Shephard, Kate Austen, and Charlie Pace see the power of the monster when it rips the pilot from the cockpit and leaves his mangled body in a tree. Both Charlie and Hugo "Hurley" Reyes become quite interested as to whether anybody has seen the beast; nobody had. In "Walkabout," John Locke also has a direct encounter but is spared. When Michael asks Locke if he had seen it, Locke lies that he did not. Locke later tells Jack, "I looked into the eye of this island, and what I saw was beautiful." In "Exodus, Part 2," Danielle Rousseau refers to the monster as a "security system" whose purpose is to protect the island. Later in the episode, Locke's second encounter provides the first on-screen glimpse of the monster: a tendril of black smoke accompanied by mechanical-like sounds. In "The 23rd Psalm" Charlie and Eko have a confrontation similar to Locke's. As Eko stares down the monster, the black smoke briefly flashes images of Eko's past. John Locke states that when he first saw the monster, it appeared as a "bright light" which he described as "beautiful." Eko replies, "That is not what I saw." In "The Cost of Living," the monster kills Eko by slamming him repeatedly against nearby trees and the ground.
In the episode Left Behind, the monster appears twice. It is unseen by the audience in the first encounter, when it releases a series of bright flashes near Juliet. The monster appears on-screen during the second encounter, where it is revealed that it cannot penetrate the Others' sonic wave fence.
The May 26 2006 official Lost podcast claimed that viewers have seen the monster after "The 23rd Psalm" without realizing they were looking at it. Also, the producers have often hinted that the black cloud of smoke is not a monster in the traditional sense, and that it is not a cloud of nanobots.
The Numbers
The numbers 4, 8, 15, 16, 23 and 42 appear throughout the series, both in sequence and individually. They were broadcast from the Island's radio transmitter, and it was this message that drew Rousseau's expedition there. Although she later changes the message after the deaths of the rest of her team, the digits had also been heard by other people, eventually making their way to Hurley, who used them to win a lottery. After those around him suffer a series of misfortunes, he begins to believe the numbers are cursed. In the episode "Numbers," it is revealed that Hurley heard the numbers from Leonard Sims, a patient at a mental hospital. Sims had received them from Sam Toomey, with whom he had served in the U.S. Navy, at "a listening post monitoring longwave transmissions over the Pacific" 16 (one of the numbers) years earlier. The numbers are prevalent throughout the modern-day island, as they are engraved on the hatch of the Swan station, appear on medicine bottles, and constitute a code that must be entered into the Swan station's terminal. The sum of these numbers, 108, has become significant in connection to the DHARMA Initiative, and is the amount of time in minutes between entry into the station's computer. The product of the numbers is 7418880, which appears on a piece of electronic equipment in a polar research station in the message: ">/ 7418880 Electromagnetic Anomaly Detected".
According to the DHARMA Orientation video in the Lost Experience, the Numbers represent the core factors of the Valenzetti Equation, which claims to accurately predict when humanity will be extinguished. Some people believe that Alvar Hanso and the de Groots employed many scientists and theologians to try and alter either the numbers themselves, or the formulae connecting them in order to ensure the continued existence of humanity. They were sent to 'The Island' as this is where it would be easiest for them to carry out their experiments due to its unique properties.
The Others
"The Others" are mysterious inhabitants of the island whose presence predates the crash of Oceanic Flight 815, as well as Danielle Rousseau's arrival. In addition to kidnapping Rousseau's daughter, Alex, as an infant, the Others infiltrate the Flight 815 survivors' camps on at least two occasions. They are responsible for the deaths of at least two castaways, and the unexplained disappearances of numerous other survivors. They have been shown to occupy several of the DHARMA Initiative stations and have hinted that they were involved in the project.
In the episode "Raised by Another," Claire Littleton is kidnapped by Ethan Rom, one of the Others, and held against her will for several days. She later escapes with the help of Alex Rousseau. When Ethan attempts to retrieve her, he is killed by Charlie Pace.
At the end of the first season, the Others kidnap Walt Lloyd at sea, shooting Sawyer in the process, and blow up the raft that the castaways had built to escape the island.
During the second season, they are shown to have abducted twelve tail-section survivors including several children, and killed at least one. Rousseau later catches a man who claims to be "Henry Gale from Minnesota", who turns out to be Benjamin Linus, the apparent leader of the Others. By the end of the season, the Others initiate a plan to free Ben, and capture Jack Shephard, James "Sawyer" Ford and Kate Austen.
In season three's opener "A Tale of Two Cities," the Others are shown to occupy a suburban-esque village as well as another DHARMA Initiative station, codenamed "The Hydra." In "Every Man for Himself," Ben reveals to Sawyer that the station is on a second small island that is "roughly twice the size of Alcatraz."
While in their captivity, Jack was shown a video by Ben of the 2004 World Series and given information indicating that the Others have contact with the outside world.
The DHARMA Initiative
The existence of the DHARMA Initiative is established by the film that Jack and Locke find in the Swan Station. It was founded in 1970 by University of Michigan doctoral candidates Gerald and Karen de Groot and financed through Alvar Hanso and his Hanso Foundation. It comprises a group of "scientists and free thinkers" from around the world who were brought together at a "large-scale communal research compound" to conduct research into various disciplines, including meteorology, psychology, parapsychology, sociology, zoology, and electromagnetism. According to the Swan's orientation film, the DHARMA Initiative has placed a number of research stations around the island. Six have been featured in the series thus far: The Swan, The Arrow, The Staff, The Pearl, The Hydra, and The Flame. The Swan station, commonly called "the hatch," was occupied by the survivors until the end of the second season. As part of the Lost Experience, DHARMA has been revealed as an acronym for "Department of Heuristics And Research on Material Applications."
The "Lost Experience" revealed that the objective of the DHARMA Initiative is to alter 6 factors of the Valenzetti Equation revealed to have a huge impact on the date the human race will destroy itself, whether by global warming, warfare, overpopulation or many other possible methods. These factors are represented as numbers in the Valenzetti Equation and are also the numbers frequently mentioned in the show: 4, 8, 15, 16, 23 and 42.
Visions
On the Island, numerous characters experience auditory and visual hallucination-like phenomena, including apparent visions and messages from deceased family members. Both Jack and Eko receive visitations from dead relatives whose bodies are present on the island; however, the dead bodies of Jack's father Christian Shephard and Eko's brother Yemi had disappeared. Similarly, Locke converses with the deceased Boone during a vision quest in "Further Instructions." Previously, he received a similar vision, directing him to the site of a crashed airplane, while Boone was still alive.
An image of Walt appears to Shannon on a number of occasions during Season Two, and is later seen by Sayid, just prior to Shannon's death. In "Man of Science, Man of Faith," a water-drenched Walt appears before Shannon, and whispers incomprehensibly, which has been ascribed to reversed speech. Walt is seen twice more by Shannon: the first time, he again speaks in reversed speech, which according to Entertainment Weekly, sounds like, "They're coming and they're close."[citation needed] When Walt appears a second time, he puts his index finger to his mouth and made a "sshhh" sound right before he leads Shannon to her death.
Hurley experiences visions of Dave, an imaginary friend who he had seen before while in a mental institution. Dave goads Hurley into briefly believing that the Island itself is his hallucination, and that he can only reawaken to his real life (in the mental institution) by leaping from a cliff ("Dave").
Kate receives two apparent visitations from her past: the seemingly channeled message from her deceased step-father, spoken by Sawyer while in delirium; and later, an appearance of a black horse which she believes is the same one which enabled her escape from custody.
Desmond apparently has the power of precognition, first discussed in "Flashes Before Your Eyes."
Miracles
Some castaways have expressed belief that they have been miraculously healed since the crash. Prior to his arrival, Locke was confined to a wheelchair, but he regained the use of his legs immediately after the crash; he tells Walt that a miracle happened to him ("Pilot, Part 2"). Similarly, Rose had been dying of cancer before crashing on the island; after the crash, she feels as if the cancer has "left her body" and credits the island as her cure ("S.O.S."). Sun becomes pregnant, despite the fact that a doctor had previously (secretly) declared her husband Jin to be medically incapable of fathering a child. She informs Jin of the true diagnosis, although she does not tell him about her recent affair (in Korea) with her English teacher, Jae Lee; Jin declares that the conception is a miracle ("The Whole Truth").
Crossovers
Prior to their arrival on the island, both major and minor characters had occasion to interact, often unknowingly, sometimes affecting each others' lives. These are revealed through characters' flashbacks, and are typically only obvious to viewers. Some intersections are quite noticeable, with different characters conversing with each other, but most often they are oblivious to these crossovers, with characters sometimes appearing on televisions or being glimpsed in the background. Damon Lindelof has stated that these are not "Easter eggs," but rather a larger part of the mythology of the series.[2]
References
- ^ Benson, Jim. The 'Lost' Generation: Networks Go Eerie, Broadcasting & Cable, May 16, 2005.
- ^ Cuse, Carlton and Damon Lindelof (02/06/2006). "The Official Lost Podcast". ABC.com (Podcast).
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