I definately agree that Walt’s mother was a horrid person. Particularly given that at the time she hauled the kid to Amsterdam, Michael had been the primary caregiver – she was hard-charging at her career, remember? And Michael, in the baby shop, had said something about being a stay-at-home dad. Making it impossible for a child to have a relationship with a loving father is a shitty, SHITTY thing to do. Then pestering your new squeeze to adopt the kid; AND going to visit the kid’s father at his all-time lowest point to pressure him into allowing the adoption? Didn’t Michael say it would be 1 year of physical therapy before he was back to normal? And he works construction, so you know he wouldn’t be able to work until the PT was complete. I think he let the adoption go through because he truly felt it was the best thing for the baby. But he kept writing, even after that, trying to keep in touch. She was just a cow. And Brian was no prize either. I had no mixed feelings about Michael taking the blame for the change of custody, BTW. Michael’s a father – he consistently put Walt’s needs before his own.
It’s hard to tell from the still – even after enlarging it – whether or not Claire is still pregnant. Maybe, maybe not. If I was forced to choose, I’d say she still is… but I’m by no means sure of it.
Nah. Why would you assume that craziness would ensue? Hey, there’s a crazy French lady on this island who gets her kicks by torturing sexy Iraqis, there’s a strange-looking dude who enjoys kidnapping sweet pregnant girls and stringing up hobbits, oh and BTW, he wasn’t even on the plane, and you think a metal door is going to cause craziness?! Amidst TCMs, polar bears, kidnappings, torture, and with no steady supply of Paxil, I think the castaways have kept it together pretty well. Considering.
When Claire emerged from the bushes, I found myself wondering if Locke would turn to Boone and tell him not to tell the others yet, because they “aren’t ready.” I think Locke is fascinating, but I think his motives sometimes reflect those of the Island, and not necessarily with the other castaways.
But Jack saw the dog first thing when he woke up after the crash. He looked around and saw the palm trees and the dog. Vincent (the dog) ran off, and later when Walt was looking for him, Jack said he saw him.
And technically, it’s not even his dog, it was Brian’s. I’m thinking he and Brian were never really close, even though Brian adopted him - it had to be obvious that Brian wasn’t much into being a father, plus he and Walt’s mom kept moving (Amsterdam, Paris, Sydney), and from that glimpse of the house, they were quite sucessful, so they must have been workaholics. I doubt he had much time for Walt.
Look how quickly he dumped the poor kid back on the father he didn’t even know.
I bet Michael made the travel arrangements, and then scooped up the dog at the last minute as a final “Screw you” to Brian.
Claire looked non-preggers to me. Also makes sense plot wise.
IMHO, Walt’s a red herring for the most part. One, the “clues” were extremely heavy handed and obvious (unlike the usual manner of dispensing them). Two, the first polar bear showed up nowhere near Walt. Three, Walt couldn’t even get his dog back-- Locke used his Island provided upgrades to find and deliver him. Four, Walt’s storyline was used to blur the good/bad line on Locke to hide the intention of making him the primary bad guy/manifestation of the island’s effect on long time residents. Five, other people have had things they thought of (like jack’s father’s coffin) just show up island style. Six, the bears seem to predate to current group according to our favorite crazy French woman. Seventh, just about everyone is “not right” on that island: heck, given the bank robbin’, prisoner torturin’, family griftin’, step-sister shaggin’, husband ditchin’, substance abusin’, mystical child bearin’ backgrounds, the coinsidence that the bird hit the window seems the least amazing thing shown in the backgrounds yet.
But because of the heavy handed editing on the comic book and the bird, we could lose focus on the Island and Locke again moving to enforce Locke’s desire to stay in his new home with his fancy new walking legs and Island provided upgrades. Once the raft plan was set in motion, the Island acted to provide a drama to distract him from the project and to remove the adversial nature to his relationship with Locke. The dog takes off after something invisible to us, the bear shows up to threaten, but not harm them (come on- bringing a knife to a polar bear fight?) they happen to (on this “big” island) find them exactly at the right time, and everything is in place for Locke to play the hero again.
Locke is the key, because the Island’s effect on the castways is the central theme of the show. Danielle’s show gave us many of the important clues to that- as did the bodies in the cave. Locke was the first to go native, but he won’t be the last. In fact, you can see the “battle” lines forming now. The interesting thing is the “undecideds” and the “why”. The why they survived and the island acts as it does (Claire’s baby, the hatch, the radio transmission, Ethan and the Others, or the French woman’s original mission, the fundamental nature of the Island’s mystical power) is why I am enjoying this so much.
After fifteen years on the island, you’d think she would be more adept at identifying the large predators by sound. I’d think it would be a useful survival tool.
Yeah. I meant to put that in my post and suggest it weakens the theory. But, then again, if you believe that he conjured the polar bear, then it is worth pointing out that it also manifested away from Walt. I don’t think he has the ability to use his abilities at a conscious level (if he has any at all).
This kind of confused me a bit. If Walt had been living with Brian for 8 years, one would think he’d consider the dog his own. Was this the writers tip off that Brian had always treated Walt as a non-family member. Otherwise, it would be the “family” pet. But since Brian was a workaholic, Walt was probably the one that played with the dog. I’ll bet the dog thought it belonged to Walt.
I’m sure he was flippant about it because he hated Brian for what he took from him (and then later, returned), but I felt it was more to help Walt. He knew that it would give Walt some stability and comfort, and quite frankly couldn’t care less about Brian.
Everything Michael did in the flashbacks made me like him more. As Jess said, every choice Michael made, even when it hurt him personally, he made it in the best interest of his child. I didn’t feel like the choice to take Vincent was any different.
But, I also think Vincent’s presence means something. I could see them having a dog on the showjust to have a dog on the show from other shows. But on Lost, usually a cigar is not just a cigar. It’s a Tree Crushing Monster.
I agree with this, and it nicely segues with the MEMEs (Multiple Etymologies and Meanings of Episodes) for Lost se1ep14, “Special.”
The three most seemingly revelant definitions:
adj.
Surpassing what is common or usual; exceptional: a special occasion; a special treat. (Walt’s “luck” and the manifestation of strange events fits this and the next two defintions.)
Peculiar to a specific person or thing; particular: my own special chair; the special features of a computer. (Michael’s severed bond and awkward relationship to his son.)
**n.
Something arranged, issued, or appropriated to a particular service or occasion: ** rode to work on the commuter special. (The whole experience with the mysterious polar bear reeks of smething that was somehow orchestrated. A distraction. Something to make Bond Michael to Walt, something to make Locke look good in Michael’s eyes, and possibly get Michael’s loyalty)
So ask yourself this: who or what arranged for the bear’s appearance? Walt? or the island? Or something else…?
That’s okay. (His death was actually a little X-files mystery-like.)
The one thing that was odd about Lost was that she got sick so quickly. Granted Sniffs’s brother’s blood symptoms hit suddenly, but Rachel Crawford’s character suddenly showed symptoms and died within a week :eek: At least the Brian guy said it – was sudden at that she developed symptoms and died within that time frame. That’s a little weird.
Damn, I can’t keep up with you guys! How does this show spawn four pages less than 24 hours after it airs, and Joan of Arcadia is lucky to get 16 posts?
In any event, I don’t think Claire is pregnant. She was close to popping when she was kidnapped. I think French Woman is keeping the baby.
Speculation…Claire will have no memory of what happened to her. Why make things easier on the rest of the survivors?
What if Walt is imagining the whole plane-crash-TCM-survivor thing, a la St. Elsewhere?
Is there an intentional connection between the leash and the cuffs? Their uses are related…
Interestingly, later, when Sayid and Sawyer are fighting:
Of course, the connection between the cuffs and the leash, as well as the subsequent subtle mention of a dog when the cuffs come up again might be totally chimerical – but, later still:
Except for the reveal with Kate wearing the cuffs, every time they come up, there’s a dog connection. Three of four mentions. This show could easily push someone over the edge into lunacy.
I was going to post a driveby because feel the same way. I’m not even bothering to read these threads anymore because they leap out of bounds so quickly that it’s impossible to keep up…
The comic book confused me since I was sure that it was the golden age Flash and Green Lantern in the pilot and this time it was the modern age. That link cleared it up. Thanks.
Did anyone else notice how close Boone was to the tree when Walt threw the knife at it. I guess he really really trusted Locke’s ability to teach him!
