Thanks for the additional background. I still vote for a “mystery” question here (c’mon Trion pick me! pick me!!) simply because we don’t know:
a) what led to Michael and his wife’s separation
b) why his wife and Walt moved around a lot - on the run from Michael? Michael is a bad guy? Michael’s wife kidnapped Walt after a nasty divorce?
c) why Walt is/was reluctant to be with his Dad - his dad is a bad guy? His mom poisoned Walt against his dad, telling Walt that his dad is a bad guy?
True, they currently appear to be domestically-focused mysteries, but they are not known. C’mon Trion - O great mystery question judge - add 'em to the list!!
watsonwil – good additions. I had completely forgot some of those. I only have a vague memory of #23. Can someone refresh my memory? (See, that’s why I started this thread.)
WordMan – I’m trying to ignore those “meta” questions that have to do with the metaphors and symbols that the writers use because I’m using this as a clearinghouse for those question to which we can reasonably expect an in-show answer. Hopefully as the show goes along we can include the answers in this thread and cross them off the list.
As for your other two questions, you make a good argument for the inclusion of Michael and Walt’s situation. A simple question of why two people got divorced isn’t much, but there’s reason to wonder why there was such a distance between father and son and why Walt and mom moved around so much.
I’m assuming that the reason Sun was leaving Jin was because of what he was doing for her dad and the subsequent strain on their relationship until I have reason to believe otherwise.
Thus:
Why was Michael so estranged from Walt for so long. Is it related to Walt and his mother moving around so much?
Right now the complete question list is as follows:
Why did the plane lose radio contact?
Why did the plane crash?
How did a polar bear get on the island?
What is the big monster?
What is the source of the French Transmission?
What happened to the people mentioned in the French Transmission?
How has the FT been broadcasting for so long?
Are Adam and Eve part of that same group mentioned in the FT?
What’s the deal with the black and white rocks?
What did Kate do to put her in trouble with the law and make her so eager to run from everything?
What was the nature of her relationship with the Federal Marshal? Was it more complicated than it seems?
What exactly was the nature of Locke’s paralysis?
Why was he traveling with three hundred knives?
What was the problem between Jack and his Dad?
Why wasn’t Jack’s Dad in the coffin?
What was Jin doing for Sun’s father?
Who killed the boar? Locke or the monster?
What happened to the tail section of the plane?
Is Rose’s husband alive, or has she just lost it?
How did the 48 people (initially) survive the plane crash? Was it just luck?
Was Sawyer refering to something specific with his line to Kate about his “birthday wish”?
Who conked Sayid on the head?
What was in the letter Sawyer was reading that made him seem upset?
Who was the woman in the photo that Claire gave Sayid?
Did Locke actually SEE the large creature?
What cured Locke’s paralysis? (a pretty broad question)
What killed the earlier group? (We may be wrong to assume it is the creature!)
Why was Michael so estranged from Walt for so long. Is it related to Walt and his mother moving around so much?
I dunno. I don’t think anyone’s going to come right out and say “Yes, we’re actually on an island.” But it’s probably better to be a completist. If they toss some kind of twist at us, we’ll be covered.
So:
What exactly is the geography of this still-very-ambiguous land mass they’re stuck on?
I thought we decided the “300 knives” bit was a rhetorical question from someone else (one of the other surviors).
Didn’t the case actually have just 6 or 8 knives? Maybe a dozen at most?
Biblio, I know it’s not literally 300 knives. I’m just using Charlie’s phrase to ask why Locke has a big box of knives. Seems quite a lot for a walkabout. Besides, in one of the other threads someone mentioned that if a character brings something up, we’re probably meant to be thinking about it too. Perhaps this question will turn out to be irrelevant, but I’m keeping it in for now.
Anyway, new episode. And our first official answer!
What was in the letter Sawyer was reading that made him seem upset? ( watsonwil )
ANSWER: It was a letter Sawyer wrote to the con man who scammed his parents out of their money, eventually resulting in his father killing his mother and then himself.
Looks like we’re also on the way to answering #29 (thank you Sayid) #21 is looking more and more like it was just a joke.
I have a feeling new light may shine on #s 5,6,7, and 27 next week. Or more questions will be added.
I think #13 will never be answered. I think Locke was just an overeager survivalist who had waited a long time and wanted to make it perfect. The true fun of outdoor activity, whether it is for a walkabout, camping, hunting or fishing is having a lot of great gear.
I also think last night puts a damper #21. It was a long shot anyway, but the coffin isn’t completely closed.
#17 may be a non-factor now. My personal take is Locke got it. I think he was inspired by whatever he saw, and went out to “fulfill (his) destiny.” He has since shown great ability to hunt and kill boar.
#22 got new drama last night. Signs point to Locke.
I don’t think he was on the plane, but it’s a good question anyway.
And where was she (what’s her name?) going, so very pregnant?
To meet with him? Get away from him? Start a new life with her baby?
Claire definitely told someone (Charlie, I think) in one of the first couple episodes that she was not married, and the baby’s father was not on the plane. WAG, but the way she said it made it seem as if the father was not going to be involved in the child’s life. As to where she was going, we’ll have to wait for her story, I guess.
Question 18 (What happened to the tail section?) may more or less have been answered. Jack, Sayid, and countless others have said repeatedly (as well as it having been shown in flashbacks) that the tail section broke off at altitude. Sawyer said that Boone’s copy of Watership Down washed up on the beach–I take this to mean that the tail section landed in the ocean.
Of course, assuming anything at this point is probably a bad idea.
As I recall, the secret Locke told Walt was that “a miracle had happened.”
From where I sit, I think we should edit question 25 to read:
25) How did Locke survive his encounter with the Monster?
The scene with Locke and the monster certainly implied that he had come face to face with it. As I recall, it was shot from the a Very Tall POV, and Locke was looking straight into the camera. If it wasn’t the monster, then the boar was on stilts.
My current WAG as to the answer hinges on the island’s central enigma being a spiritual one (rather than a mechanical one). Locke is the only survivor we’ve seen who fully appreciates the island’s miraculous nature. As such, the guiding intelligence behind what’s going on may have upgraded his status from “interloper” to “initiate,” placing him off-limits as Monster food.
For anyone who hasn’t seen it yet, Paul Dini gave a somewhat spoileriffic interview regarding Lost lately. Here’s the link; be warned, however, that there are a few spoilers in there…
