Hurleygo?
Oh, yeah… I’d forgotten.
A.L.E.C.K.S = A Large Evil Castaway Killing Species
See what happens after two weeks? I forget all the continuity of our wild specualtion!
What better front for a baby broker than to be a psychic, whether real or fake? If you buy into the supernatural/paranormal ideas, the a psychic baby broker plays well. So does a scam artist psychic baby broker, if you disbelieve. The ambiguity makes it worth watching.
I believe that, within the context of the show, the psychic was real. His insistence on the specific flight was to assure that Claire and the child are not separated. There are powers at work here. Pens that stop writing, plane pieces falling reasonably intact from the sky… Powers, I tell you! 
EvilHamster, it was Hurley that said Ethan was from Canada, not Ethan himself.
I, for one, am not believing that Ethan is Evil just yet. They aren’t going to show anything on the previews that means anything plot-wise. I’m betting that Ethan’s comments to Jack are taken completely out of context.
A show like this is totally dependent on ambiguity and deliberate misdirection to maintain suspense.
Most of the fun comes from craning your neck to try to see around the next curve!
It’s obvious that we’re meant to take the psychic at face value, but it’s very probable that things are not as they appear, and that the writers have given us more subtle clues as to what is really going on, which have delayed significance. (Or they haven’t but are going to yank us around anyway. Heh heh.)
Ayuh. Also, his actions are consistent with the time-tested art of reeling in a big fish:
“No! Oh no! I have seen something mysterious. Mysterious and deeply troubling. Really. I’m not trying to extract money from you at all-- in fact, take your money back. Take your money back and leave this place at once! Money means nothing to me, and cannot distract me from my terrible sight. Think no more about it. Thank you. Thank you very much. Bye-ee!”
This establishes a certain amount of credulity about motivation. The next time she goes back, it’s not as the skeptical girl being brought in by an arm-twisting friend. “Please, oh wise one. Please reconsider and take my money. Tell me what it is you know.” Now that she’s on the hook, she can be totally manipulated. “I know what’s best for your baby. I can save it from an unspeakable fate. Don’t consider for a second that I might have any other motivation.”
As for insisting on that flight – we needn’t ascribe any mystical insight to Mr. Malkin in order explain that. It was the next flight. The importance of getting her on that flight is that a later flight will give her time to think things through. Every little delay (like, say, the time it takes to find a working pen,) provides Claire with an opportunity to change her mind.
VunderBob, I agree. I wonder if they intended the ambiguity or they thought it should be clear one way or the other?
Either way, I think the ambiguity makes the show (and these threads) more interesting!
I don’t think he was a ‘baby broker.’ I think he was legit. Some of you may be basing the ‘baby broker’ thing on the producer/writer interview where it was said that there is no supernatural element, however (and I can find this if need be, but I am sure of it) he did say that everything can be explained by science or “pseudoscience.” Psychic powers may be pseudoscience in some way, but they are not necessarily ‘supernatural.’ So if you’re thinking that they can’t be real psychic powers because they said “no supernatural elements” I would say that the psychic powers are NOT supernatural and therefore would not contradict the information in the interview.
Is there some central place to go to see these types of comments from the producers and/or writers? I’ve been on the “Lost” board on the ABC web site, and the folks over there swear that “the writers” have said that the theory about all the passengers being dead and the island being purgatory is incorrect. I’d like to read these comments myself, and haven’t seen any anywhere.
John Mace, I’ve read only quotes and links to quotes provided here on the SDMB. A perusal of the “Lost” threads should hopefully turn up some links.
Cuckoorex, you’ve phrased things the way I remember them. Your interpretation of the permissibility of psychic power could very well be correct.
I accept, in the framework of the show there could be supernatural powers (or pseudo scientific if you prefer). Hell, I believe Hurley is god!
I just got a vibe that that guy was a con man. It felt like a con.
And I think the show supports several possibilities:
- He was always psychic and sent her on her way to the crash.
- He was never a true psychic and it was a scam. The crash was a coincidence.
- He had previous never been a true psychic, but got a vision when he touched her, became obsessed and sent her on the crash on purpose. (my working theory).
- He thought he was scamming her, but some higher power was working through him (like Hurley!)
When Claire was at the adoption place and was going to sign away her baby, notice that all the pens wouldn’t write? I think she saw this as a sign, and went back to the psychic and asked him what HE saw and what HE was offering.
I’m going so far out on this limb that I hope there’s something soft down there to land on, but… the lullaby:
The island “caught” a falling plane and now it’s not letting them go. Saving them for something, perhaps?
I got the meaning of Hugo Reyes. At least, so I think:
Hugo: From Germanic hug, meaning “heart, mind, or spirit”.
Reyes:“kings” in Spanish. This name is usually given in reference to the three kings (also known as the three Magi) who visit the newborn Jesus in the New Testament.
Could it be?
Sometimes a cigar is just a cigar, and sometimes a psychic is just a psychic.
I don’t buy the baby broker theory for two obvious reasons:
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Pretty shaky scam if it depends on three pens in the office of a lawyer you don’t know failing to function.
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On the first trip, the psychic knew Claire was pregnant. OK, maybe Claire’s firend fed him the info. But then on the second trip (with the friend nowhere in sight) the psychic knew the father had skedaddled.
Dude was psychic, I’m telling you. And that baby is eeeeeevilllllll.
Or potentially so.
Since Hurley was doing the census and people have mentioned that we haven’t seen him in any crash flashbacks, is it possible that he’s in cahoots with Ethan? Is he Alex? Is he from the island but Ethan’s enemy (he didn’t recognize him during his interview because they’re shapeshifters or something), and they’re dragging the unsuspecting crashies into some sort of Cain & Abel sibling war?
Damn! there are just too many loose threads!
Does anyone know if the writers are making up the season as they go along, or if the basic outline is already finished and they know where they’re going with all this?
No, it just depends on enough suckers finding some reason to believe in the ‘psychic’. If it’s not pens not working, it would be a traffic jam on the way to the meeting, or the car not starting, or…
On the first trip, the psychic ‘knowing’ Claire was pregnant was classic cold reading (assuming the friend was truthful in not having said anything to the psychic). What he actually said was, “How long have you known?” Claire gives instant feedback that he’s on to something, but replies, “Known what?” Psychic guy has to fish a bit and says, “The baby.” Not a bad guess for a young woman who’s already shown strong feedback to “how long have you known” and he doesn’t commit to much, since he hasn’t specified her baby, any vaguely related baby will do, and, if you’re a baby trader on the side, it’s just the sort of hit you want to drive home. Of course, Claire jumps on it and suddenly it’s “He knew I was pregnant!” I don’t recall the second visit so well, but guessing the father left her when an upset young pregnant woman comes in isn’t that big a stretch, either, especially not if he’s been following up on her for the scam.
Not that that’s necessarily the way it will work in the show, but that’s my devil’s advocate position.
More anagrams for Ethan Rom:
HATE NORM. Is there somebody named Norm?
MEAT HORN. Kinda disturbing, actually.
So Danielle would be… 55? 60? Island living sure did right by her…
Right, like that whole “Santa–Satan” thing.
Yeah, that worked so well for Yoda… “Go if you must… help your friends you will not…”
Did anybody else notice that in the dream, the airplane mobile broke apart at the same places the plane came apart IRL?
duality72 is getting close on my psychic baby broker theory. The psychic is in a position where he sees a lot of distraught young knocked up girls, and then funnel them to the real brokers. It works whether he’s truly gifted or not.
WRT the non-functional pens, that’s a case of Deus Ex Machina, not a setup.
On preview, I see this has been covered, but I don’t mind being redundant.
First, it was only the first two pens that didn’t work – the one on the table and the one from the lawyer’s pocket. Claire didn’t take the third pen offered.
Two dry pens do not necessarily add up to divine intervention, and the hypothetical ploy didn’t depend on that happenstance – it depended on exploiting the anxiety of credulity of a vulnerable woman. So the pen increased her anxiety, putting her over the edge. – That doesn’t mean the universe was actively conspiring to keep her from giving her chld up for adoption. (As you say, sometimes a cigar is just a cigar.)
Scammers sow seeds and hope that some of them eventually bear fruit. It’s essential that the mark feels that they are deciding things for themselves.
Anyway, it’s ambiguous enough that we could easily play ping-pong with it until something comes along next week to distract us from it.
Some other stuff that pops to mind:
John Locke and his black & white stone eyes. This reminds me of his dialogue with Walt about the interplay between light & dark in backgammon, and the last episode implied that Walt was looking to Locke as something of a mentor. (The next episode is “All the best cowboys have daddy issues,” is this a Walt episode or is it someone else’s? “Daddy issues” seem to be something of a recurring theme: Sun/Jack/Claire’s baby/Walt all have stuff going on with their father. Anyone else?)
Anyway, are there maybe some parallels with Walt and Claire’s baby? Absent (or estranged) father – possible implications of supernaturalism? (Walt reading about the polar bear and then a polar bear appearing.) Walt seems good-hearted, and there have been ominous utterances about a potential for great evil in Claire’s baby. I’m still thinking a little bit about Rousseau’s Emile, with its emphasis on raising a child on “their island,” as an early educational method, particularly as Rousseau railed warned so strongly against the dangers of leaving your child to be raised by another. (ie; schools, convents, etc.)
Hmmm…
For you, John Mace.
This is a place called The Fuselage. From what I can see, the writers of the show, post a lot of stuff there. Don’t go, if you don’t want to see spoilers.