# Lost 6.7 "Dr. Linus" **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [March 9, 2010, 7:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lost-6-7-dr-linus/531891 "2010-03-09T19:02:13Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 9
**Author:** ![Skott](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b4bc9f/32.png) [@Skott](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skott)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2010, 7:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lost-6-7-dr-linus/531891/161 "2010-03-12T19:17:05Z")
So there’s this hidden place that’s really, really hard to get to, should you even find out where it is. Which is usually by accident. It contains a mysterious power that needs to be watched over. Two people live there. One never leaves, one occasionally makes excursions. One is waiting for a replacement, the other is secretly trying to find a way to escape. A riddle is used for identification. Eventually, one gets really angry about being trapped there and causes the other one to die. Is it the Island or the Hatch? ---
**Author:** ![ProfessorX](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ce7236/32.png) [@ProfessorX](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ProfessorX)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2010, 7:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lost-6-7-dr-linus/531891/162 "2010-03-12T19:21:02Z")
> [@Arcite](#): > > I think Dogen just told him that because he wanted to make sure Sayid would stab Flocke and bring his wrath down upon him immediately, instead of giving him a chance to talk which might allow him to turn Sayid to the Dark Side (which, of course, happened anyway.) Plus, it was done to confuse the viewer, like everything on Lost. 😃 Ya, I think he just wanted him to all out attack him for no reason so Flocke would be pissed and go kill him out of anger. But yes, I think probably a false lead just to confuse and entertain all of us. ---
**Author:** ![Monstre](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e274bd/32.png) [@Monstre](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Monstre)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2010, 7:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lost-6-7-dr-linus/531891/163 "2010-03-12T19:52:03Z")
> [@Skott](#): > > So there’s this hidden place that’s really, really hard to get to, should you even find out where it is. Which is usually by accident. It contains a mysterious power that needs to be watched over. Two people live there. One never leaves, one occasionally makes excursions. One is waiting for a replacement, the other is secretly trying to find a way to escape. A riddle is used for identification. Eventually, one gets really angry about being trapped there and causes the other one to die. > > Is it the Island or the Hatch? Oooh, good call – interesting parallel. “Are you him?” ---
**Author:** ![fiddlesticks](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fiddlesticks/32/18129_2.png) [@fiddlesticks](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fiddlesticks)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2010, 10:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lost-6-7-dr-linus/531891/164 "2010-03-12T22:01:20Z")
Fingers crossed we get to see Kelvin (Clancy Brown is always interesting!) in the ATL sometime…maybe he’ll pop up when we get back to the Jin/Sayid ATL storyline. ---
**Author:** ![Monocracy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/monocracy/32/4493_2.png) [@Monocracy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Monocracy)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2010, 11:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lost-6-7-dr-linus/531891/165 "2010-03-12T23:46:41Z")
So Ben gives up the chance to improve the education of thousands of students to get one girl into a college she can’t afford anyway. Have we gotten our explanation of the whispers that have confounded us since the first season? They seem to occur when Smokey appears in human form. Why was Christian Shepard’s body missing from the coffin? Was it done just to fuck with Jack’s head or did the body need to be used for some purpose? Smokey doesn’t need the physical corpse when he mimics other people. ---
**Author:** ![Minnie\_Luna](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/4bbf92/32.png) [@Minnie\_Luna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Minnie_Luna)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2010, 3:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lost-6-7-dr-linus/531891/166 "2010-03-13T03:01:15Z")
> [@](#): > > Do principals or teachers actually write letters of non-recommendation anyway? I would think any instructor who was asked to write a letter of rec for someone and proceeded to basically sabotage their future would have a lawyer on their ass lickety split. In normal cases of course the instructor could simply decline the request to write the letter for the student but if Alex is as good a student as she’s depicted the other teachers plus a lawsuit would easily show that the letter was invalid. There are certain keywords and phrases that admission committees look for. I know one person who is on a admissions committee at Penn and can easily discern the “good” letters from the “bad”. She herself has written letters for others, but when she truly does not want to recommend someone, she will not say bad things about them, but she will make sure the admissions committee receiving the letter knows that the person is **not** highly recommended. On another topic-WAAALLTT! Ok, so doesn’t WAALLTT! have to change his name when he goes back home after he and Michael get off the island so that no one knows that they survived the plane crash? Did we find out what that name was? Could he maybe be Henry Gale who returns to the island at a much later date? ---
**Author:** ![Justin\_Credible](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/a8b319/32.png) [@Justin\_Credible](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Justin_Credible)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2010, 3:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lost-6-7-dr-linus/531891/167 "2010-03-13T03:16:47Z")
> [@Minnie\_Luna](#): > > On another topic-WAAALLTT! > Ok, so doesn’t WAALLTT! have to change his name when he goes back home after he and Michael get off the island so that no one knows that they survived the plane crash? > > Did we find out what that name was? Could he maybe be Henry Gale who returns to the island at a much later date? That would be awesome. ---
**Author:** ![Pyper](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Pyper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pyper)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2010, 4:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lost-6-7-dr-linus/531891/168 "2010-03-13T04:12:30Z")
> [@Monocracy](#): > > Why was Christian Shepard’s body missing from the coffin? Was it done just to fuck with Jack’s head or did the body need to be used for some purpose? Smokey doesn’t need the physical corpse when he mimics other people. Yeah, this is bugging me too, now. All this time, I thought Zombie Christian had been mysteriously resurrected by the Island, and that’s why we always saw him wandering around. Now, it seems pretty clear that Zombie Christian was actually the Smoke Monster. So WHERE IS CHRISTIAN SHEPHARD’S BODY?! Aggh! Mystery…unsolved! ---
**Author:** ![BMada](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/96bed5/32.png) [@BMada](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BMada)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2010, 4:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lost-6-7-dr-linus/531891/169 "2010-03-13T04:16:37Z")
it probably landed in the jungle and is rotting or eaten by scavengers. Not too sure if the casket was opened by Jack or it was already opened/damaged when he opened it. ---
**Author:** ![ekweizn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7c8e57/32.png) [@ekweizn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ekweizn)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2010, 12:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lost-6-7-dr-linus/531891/170 "2010-03-13T12:35:02Z")
> [@Pyper](#): > > Yeah, this is bugging me too, now. All this time, I thought Zombie Christian had been mysteriously resurrected by the Island, and that’s why we always saw him wandering around. Now, it seems pretty clear that Zombie Christian was actually the Smoke Monster. So WHERE IS CHRISTIAN SHEPHARD’S BODY?! Aggh! Mystery…unsolved! Zombie Christian appeared off-island to Jack, and Smocke has made it pretty clear he hasn’t been off-island… ---
**Author:** ![Merijeek](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f05b48/32.png) [@Merijeek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Merijeek)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2010, 2:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lost-6-7-dr-linus/531891/171 "2010-03-13T14:19:54Z")
> [@Monocracy](#): > > Why was Christian Shepard’s body missing from the coffin? Was it done just to fuck with Jack’s head or did the body need to be used for some purpose? Smokey doesn’t need the physical corpse when he mimics other people. Because it’s easier to fuck with Jack (and the audience) about “what’s the DEAL with Shepard?” if there isn’t a body to just look at and say, “must be in his head”. After all, once everyone saw Locke’s body it was pretty clear to everyone what was going on. Perhaps Smokey didn’t want to tip his hand quite yet? -Joe ---
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2010, 4:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lost-6-7-dr-linus/531891/172 "2010-03-13T16:01:47Z")
> [@woodstockbirdybird](#): > > But it’s not. They already showed the date on Claire’s sonogram that said it was 2004. I mean “future past”. ALERT: CRAZY ASS THEORY BELOW Basically, I see this happening. The Smoke Monster is defeated and one of our main people is chosen to be the new “Jacob”. This person is in charge of the island and can, to a certain extent, control it. He/She makes it so that for the others, it never happened. It isn’t a perfect “time retraction”, which might explain some oddities(Desmond??), but it is better than going through what they have had on the Island. ---
**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:** [March 13, 2010, 4:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lost-6-7-dr-linus/531891/173 "2010-03-13T16:22:36Z")
I wouldn’t be at all surprised if it ends with the insinuation that the cycle starts all over again, but with different people in control of the island. ---
**Author:** ![BMada](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/96bed5/32.png) [@BMada](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BMada)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2010, 8:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lost-6-7-dr-linus/531891/174 "2010-03-13T20:19:51Z")
that would be a terrible ending. I’d be disappointed if they do insinuate a cyclical nature of the mystery Lost. ---
**Author:** ![AlsoNamedBort](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alsonamedbort/32/3213_2.png) [@AlsoNamedBort](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AlsoNamedBort)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2010, 10:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lost-6-7-dr-linus/531891/175 "2010-03-13T22:29:44Z")
I’ve been thinking about the little conversation from the season finale, when the Black Rock is on the way to the island: > [@](#): > > MAN IN BLACK: Am I? They come. They fight. They destroy. They corrupt. It always ends the same. > > JACOB: It only ends once. Anything that happens before that is just progress. Now, we’re meant to think he’s talking about new people coming to the island. But what if there is a cycle to the island? Esau is saying the cycle just repeats itself, but Jacob is say that there’s always progress and eventually the cycle will end. What if the alt-timeline is the end of that cycle? ---
**Author:** ![Cardinal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cardinal/32/4000_2.png) [@Cardinal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cardinal)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2010, 7:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lost-6-7-dr-linus/531891/176 "2010-03-14T07:23:47Z")
> [@Cuckoorex](#): > > Do principals or teachers actually write letters of _non_-recommendation anyway? I would think any instructor who was asked to write a letter of rec for someone and proceeded to basically sabotage their future would have a lawyer on their ass lickety split. I teach HS, and the letters are usually mailed in directly. The student doesn’t see it or know why he/she got rejected. I especially was honest on a web-based recommendation to a military academy about a student once. The kid can’t pass AP classes; I don’t want the academy wasting its time or my money. ---
**Author:** ![illuminati](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/e47774/32.png) [@illuminati](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/illuminati)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2010, 10:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lost-6-7-dr-linus/531891/177 "2010-03-15T10:22:10Z")
> [@Cuckoorex](#): > > In other news, the actress who plays Alex is beautiful. I know that Linus and Alex were depicted as father/daughter previously but they didn’t seem to be in the ATL and I was fully expecting it to be really awkward from a sexual tension standpoint during the tutelage session. Seconded, she is hot! This confused me too, I thought they were father and daughter but this sideways flash showed them as teacher/pupil with some awkward sexual tension. Living outside of the US Im not sure but is it standard for a pupil to show up at your house late in the evening to ask for a little ‘extra tutition’? Can anyone confirm (or theorise) why they are not related off island? ---
**Author:** ![Justin\_Credible](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/a8b319/32.png) [@Justin\_Credible](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Justin_Credible)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2010, 10:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lost-6-7-dr-linus/531891/178 "2010-03-15T10:26:26Z")
> [@illuminati](#): > > Seconded, she is hot! > > This confused me too, I thought they were father and daughter but this sideways flash showed them as teacher/pupil with some awkward sexual tension. > Living outside of the US Im not sure but is it standard for a pupil to show up at your house late in the evening to ask for a little ‘extra tutition’? > > Can anyone confirm (or theorise) why they are not related off island? In the regular timeline, I think Alex’s dad was some member of the French science team. Ben just adopted her after bringing her back to Othertown and raised her as his own (I think). ---
**Author:** ![illuminati](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/e47774/32.png) [@illuminati](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/illuminati)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2010, 10:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lost-6-7-dr-linus/531891/179 "2010-03-15T10:34:17Z")
> [@Justin\_Credible](#): > > In the regular timeline, I think Alex’s dad was some member of the French science team. Ben just adopted her after bringing her back to Othertown and raised her as his own (I think). Well that makes more sense! Thanks ---
**Author:** ![Fenris](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fenris/32/498_2.png) [@Fenris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fenris)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2010, 12:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lost-6-7-dr-linus/531891/180 "2010-03-15T12:11:32Z")
> [@ekweizn](#): > > Zombie Christian appeared off-island to Jack, and Smocke has made it pretty clear he hasn’t been off-island… What was that business from Hawking about how deadLocke had to wear deadChristian’s shoes on the plane? What was the point of that? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lost-6-7-dr-linus/531891.md?page=8) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lost-6-7-dr-linus/531891.md?page=10)