# Lost 1.14: "Special" **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [January 19, 2005, 5:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lost-1-14-special/285581 "2005-01-19T17:50:50Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 10
**Author:** ![Odinoneeye](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/97f17d/32.png) [@Odinoneeye](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Odinoneeye)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2005, 9:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lost-1-14-special/285581/181 "2005-01-21T21:05:30Z")
Reflections on a second look. Walt wasn’t upset when his mother first started to get sick. He started to get upset when they wouldn’t listen to him because she was sick. Then the bird did the kamakazee run. Claire really doesn’t look pregnant, but like everyone else says, it’s too dark to know for sure. Boone should have been hit by Walt’s flying knife just for being stupid enough to stand right by the target. ---
**Author:** ![Justin\_Bailey](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/justin_bailey/32/8792_2.png) [@Justin\_Bailey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Justin_Bailey)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2005, 10:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lost-1-14-special/285581/182 "2005-01-21T22:38:00Z")
Am I the only one that doesn’t buy “The Cult of the Knife”? Locke was handing those things out like candy when it was time to hunt. Including one to Kate who I don’t remember ever speaking to Locke beyond pleasantries and direction questions. The knives are meaningless as symbolism. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2005, 10:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lost-1-14-special/285581/183 "2005-01-21T22:54:52Z")
So, can we agree that Rousseau is now officially to be known as CFL? Concerning polar bears… Was Michael with the group that encountered the very first one? I’m wondering if Walt “summoned” the first one, too. Is there anything about that incident that would indicate Walt was involved? Aslo, if he has this amazing ability to summon animals, why can’t he summon Vincent? Surely he’s been angry at other times, too. ---
**Author:** ![AncientHumanoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ancienthumanoid/32/278_2.png) [@AncientHumanoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AncientHumanoid)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2005, 10:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lost-1-14-special/285581/184 "2005-01-21T22:57:08Z")
> [@Justin\_Bailey](#): > > Am I the only one that doesn’t buy “The Cult of the Knife”? > > Locke was handing those things out like candy when it was time to hunt. Including one to Kate who I don’t remember ever speaking to Locke beyond pleasantries and direction questions. > > The knives are meaningless as symbolism. I’m not totally in on that aspect of it, either. However, if by TCotK, they mean the giving in to Locke’s power, then yeah. So, his giving knives out is separate from his bringing you in to the inner circle. Yeah, I got nothin… ---
**Author:** ![Eats\_Crayons](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/278dde/32.png) [@Eats\_Crayons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eats_Crayons)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2005, 11:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lost-1-14-special/285581/185 "2005-01-21T23:42:31Z")
> [@Odinoneeye](#): > > Boone should have been hit by Walt’s flying knife just for being stupid enough to stand right by the target. He wasn’t standing anywhere near the target. He was leaning against a tree over to Walt’s right. ---
**Author:** ![Cervaise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cervaise/32/16693_2.png) [@Cervaise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cervaise)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2005, 12:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lost-1-14-special/285581/186 "2005-01-22T00:09:59Z")
Another thought about Walt, and indirectly Locke: It seems like a stretch to me that Walt is somehow causing things to manifest (it’s too _Forbidden Planet_ monsters-of-the-id and will be unsatisfying to me if that’s how things turn out), but given that stepfather Brian previously referred to him as special, perhaps we should consider Walt, rather than an active but unconscious _cause_ of the island’s weirdness, but as a _conduit._ In other words, he brings to the island some quality we don’t quite understand yet. The island, by what means we also don’t yet understand (not to mention for what reason), _capitalizes_ on Walt’s quality and uses it to bring things about. In this interpretation, the island is the actor, not Walt, and better yet, I think it fits much more tightly with how we’ve been seeing Locke develop. The island (or whatever force it represents) is obviously using Locke; seems to me we should be considering the Walt puzzle from the same angle. (By the way, is there a more interesting character on television now than Locke? I can’t think of a single one. Tony Soprano, maybe, but given the absurdly long hiatuses that show takes, I’m discounting it for now.) ---
**Author:** ![RikWriter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/49beb7/32.png) [@RikWriter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RikWriter)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2005, 12:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lost-1-14-special/285581/187 "2005-01-22T00:18:56Z")
> [@Cervaise](#): > > (By the way, is there a more interesting character on television now than Locke? Possibly Al Sweringen from Deadwood. ---
**Author:** ![Odinoneeye](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/97f17d/32.png) [@Odinoneeye](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Odinoneeye)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2005, 12:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lost-1-14-special/285581/188 "2005-01-22T00:42:03Z")
> [@Eats\_Crayons](#): > > He wasn’t standing anywhere near the target. He was leaning against a tree over to Walt’s right. I’ve watched it twice. He was standing only a few feet away from the tree Walt was using as a target for the knife. ---
**Author:** ![AncientHumanoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ancienthumanoid/32/278_2.png) [@AncientHumanoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AncientHumanoid)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2005, 12:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lost-1-14-special/285581/189 "2005-01-22T00:47:56Z")
> [@Odinoneeye](#): > > I’ve watched it twice. He was standing only a few feet away from the tree Walt was using as a target for the knife. I seem to remember that he was relitively close by, but I don’t know about mere feet… What was clear to me, tho, was that it was shot with a long focus (telephoto) lens, thus giving us that wonderful compressed distance look that hilights certain aspects of a scene or shot. Everyone’s right. ---
**Author:** ![Eats\_Crayons](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/278dde/32.png) [@Eats\_Crayons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eats_Crayons)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2005, 1:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lost-1-14-special/285581/190 "2005-01-22T01:15:21Z")
> [@Odinoneeye](#): > > I’ve watched it twice. He was standing only a few feet away from the tree Walt was using as a target for the knife. I’ll see if I can find a screenshot. If it was a clock face, the target tree was at 12, Walt was at 6, Locke and Boone were at 8 and 4 respectively. It was particularly clear when they had the low camera shot from near the foot of the tree, with the tree in the extreme foreground and Walt “visualizing” the knot. Boone and Locke were also in the background on either side of Walt. Considering he’d been missing all his other attempts, it’s not like Locke would’ve just let Boone stand there like a yutz. ---
**Author:** ![Cervaise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cervaise/32/16693_2.png) [@Cervaise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cervaise)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2005, 1:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lost-1-14-special/285581/191 "2005-01-22T01:24:29Z")
Maybe he would. I can picture him saying with calm intensity: “It took your finger. That means you didn’t need it. Let it go.” 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![tripthicket](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripthicket/32/297_2.png) [@tripthicket](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tripthicket)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2005, 1:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lost-1-14-special/285581/192 "2005-01-22T01:48:14Z")
May I just add that, as much as I am enjoying _Lost_, and I am, these threads intimidate the _hell_ out of me. Reading them, it’s like I’m a pedestrian admiring all the beautiful cars whizzing by on the 8-lane highway right in front of me: I am just not equipped to join in with any hope of keeping up. :eek: I love reading them, though. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![AncientHumanoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ancienthumanoid/32/278_2.png) [@AncientHumanoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AncientHumanoid)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2005, 1:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lost-1-14-special/285581/193 "2005-01-22T01:56:30Z")
> [@tripthicket](#): > > May I just add that, as much as I am enjoying _Lost_, and I am, these threads intimidate the _hell_ out of me. Reading them, it’s like I’m a pedestrian admiring all the beautiful cars whizzing by on the 8-lane highway right in front of me: I am just not equipped to join in with any hope of keeping up. :eek: > > I love reading them, though. 😃 We’re just fans. Extremely passionate and observant fans, but still simply fans. Join in at any point in the threads, none of us own them, nor would anyone look down on any other fan’s input. (If I may be so bold as to speak for the majority here.) 🆒 ---
**Author:** ![Cervaise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cervaise/32/16693_2.png) [@Cervaise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cervaise)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2005, 2:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lost-1-14-special/285581/194 "2005-01-22T02:22:48Z")
> [@tripthicket](#): > > I am just not equipped to join in with any hope of keeping up. Based on past history, you wouldn’t go wrong picking some random character we haven’t talked about yet, and saying, “Okay, but I bet _this person_ is gay.” 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![levdrakon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/49beb7/32.png) [@levdrakon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/levdrakon)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2005, 2:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lost-1-14-special/285581/195 "2005-01-22T02:31:25Z")
> [@tripthicket](#): > > May I just add that, as much as I am enjoying _Lost_, and I am, these threads intimidate the _hell_ out of me. Nah, jump right in. Nobody bites. About the only thing that _might_ get you snickered at is if you claim to be the very first person to have noticed something when it’s already been noticed several times, and discussed, on pages one through three. ---
**Author:** ![eenerms](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/cdc98d/32.png) [@eenerms](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eenerms)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2005, 2:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lost-1-14-special/285581/196 "2005-01-22T14:44:27Z")
How about when Michael was talking about building a raft with Sayidd, Jack et al. Everyone voiced their objections, then Shannon spoke up and said, “And I get seasick” All the group looked nonplussed. Funny moment. (Oh on the raft…no poster thought…Michael Row the boat ashore…???) 😃 ---
**Author:** ![look\_ninjas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/b2d939/32.png) [@look\_ninjas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/look_ninjas)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2005, 2:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lost-1-14-special/285581/197 "2005-01-22T14:52:20Z")
As awful as Shannon is, she’s kind of great in her own way. I love these threads. I may not comment a heck of a lot on them, but I come back and read them every chance I get. Everything’s so open to interpretation that every time I come back, there’s always some intriguing new idea. Or, if not a new idea, at least a good joke. ---
**Author:** ![Spoke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a88e57/32.png) [@Spoke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoke)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2005, 3:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lost-1-14-special/285581/198 "2005-01-22T15:56:57Z")
> [@Ellis Dee](#): > > I guarantee that Claire is till pregnant. You save the birthing (especially in less-than-ideal conditions) for sweeps, don’t you know. I disagree. That baby has been birthed, and is now being “Raised by Another.” ---
**Author:** ![GreyWanderer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/7cd45c/32.png) [@GreyWanderer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GreyWanderer)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2005, 8:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lost-1-14-special/285581/199 "2005-01-23T08:25:43Z")
> [@Cervaise](#): > > It seems like a stretch to me that Walt is somehow causing things to manifest (it’s too _Forbidden Planet_ monsters-of-the-id and will be unsatisfying to me if that’s how things turn out), but given that stepfather Brian previously referred to him as special, perhaps we should consider Walt, rather than an active but unconscious _cause_ of the island’s weirdness, but as a _conduit._ He was also called lucky by his father, which supports your theory. ---
**Author:** ![middleman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e9a140/32.png) [@middleman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/middleman)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2005, 1:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lost-1-14-special/285581/200 "2005-01-23T13:50:35Z")
But how was he acting as a conduit before landing on the island? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lost-1-14-special/285581.md?page=9) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lost-1-14-special/285581.md?page=11)