Thanks, John preferred Mace. Please clarify for this totally non-bizball fan. (Runs and hides, admitting he watched the Lost rerun). Did “Lost” air an episode last week (10/19)? If so can you spoil(er) any major events for me, if board kosher?
No need to spoiler it. You can find the thread here.
Not much happened except that Mike went off looking for WAAAAALT! 
I’ve heard they’re saving all their new episodes for November sweeps.
You can go to Itunes and LEGALLY download last week’s episode for $1.99 if you want to see it.
Did we ever settle the solar/solo race around the world question? I had understood him to be in a solo race (which exist; here’s one for example) and not some kind of solar powered vehicle race. Do we have a confirmation (or even a consensus) one way or another?
But it’s also the sequence that was broadcast by radio, the serial number for Desmond’s medicine, and the serial number of the hatch. The password for the computer was probably chosen because it was easy to look up if you forgot it – just check your meds or the hatch. Whichever reason caused someone to etch those numbers onto the hatch, and choose them for the meds, was the “core” reason. We just don’t know what that reason is.
Correct–that partial answer to 37 doesn’t have anything to do with what they mean, just another instance of where to find them in the show. The most all-encompassing answer I’ve heard bandied about depends strongly on science virtually indistinguishable from magic. I’m looking forward to seeing what their explanation is; remember that in the first days of this series, the producers were saying that everything we’ll see will have a reasonable explanation. And that it’s not dinosaurs.
Let’s see:
Heck, that’s good enough for a full answer as far as I’m concerned
Yup. I had it as a partial before, but now that Bernard is accounted for, I think that’s a full answer too.
I’m not sure - and frankly, I made the same mistake myself. It looked at first like a big underground magnet was responsible, but the Dharma orientation video talks about the unique magnetic properties of this part of the island. Still a big question mark here.
Exactly. I also covered this answer above.
Correct. Well, aside from the shark bit.
tanstaafl - I heard it as “solo race” too. If someone has a copy of the episode, I’m sure they can check the Closed Captioning to verify.
Sure, but I mentioned that one because with our survivors punching in the numbers now, it’s more of the focus of the show. I probably should add some of those to the answer though.
I don’t remember for sure. Did he actually think it had ended or was he just wondering? I got the impression he was just making sure that the button was still working. Sort of like if I have a light switch that turns on a light in another room, but I never go into the other room. So I have to ask someone if the light is still working.
Did that make any sense?
Every time we encounter new people there’s a tendency to wonder if they’re an entirely new group. For now, everybody on the island seems to consider them to be The Others. I’m going to stick with that until I get some evidence otherwise.
As to the second part of your question, I think that was just editing.
Question: Will Weird Al be making a guest appearance?
Cleaned up list for this week:
- 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?
- 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 that were found with Adam and Eve?
- What did Kate do to put her in trouble with the law and make her so eager to run from everything? PARTIAL ANSWER
- What exactly was the nature of Locke’s paralysis?
- Why wasn’t Jack’s Dad in the coffin?
- Who killed the boar? Locke or the monster?
- What happened to the tail section of the plane? ANSWERED
- Did anyone other than those accounted for, including Rose’s husband, survive the crash? ANSWERED
- How did the 48 people (initially) survive the plane crash? Was it just luck?
- Did Locke actually see the monster? And if he did, why is he still alive?
- What cured Locke’s paralysis?
- Who are the “Others” that Danielle thinks control the transmission and make the whispering noise?
- Why did Danielle kill the other members of her team (or at least Robert)?
- Is Nadia dead or alive?
- What was the scientific mission of Danielle’s team and why did they need rifles?
- Was the psychic legitimate, and if so, what did he see in his vision?
- Who the HELL is Ethan?
- What does Ethan want with Claire?
- What is the significance of Claire’s baby?
- How did Hugo get the nickname “Hurley”?
- In what way is Hurley known as a warrior?
- What is the nature of Walt’s “special abilities”?
- What is the significance of the song “La Mer”?
- How come Locke’s compass no longer points north?
- How were Boone and Locke changed by their vision quests?
- What’s inside that hatch/where does the door lead? ANSWERED
- Who sealed it and why? PARTIAL ANSWER
- Why does Claire have amnesia?
- How did Claire escape from Ethan?
- Why did the ocean level suddenly rise and flood the beach they were living on?
- Why was Jin hand-delivering watches for Sun’s dad?
- What do the numbers mean? PARTIAL ANSWER
- Is Hurley (still) cursed?
- Why was Hurley in a mental institution?
- Who set up the original transmission?
- What happened to Jack’s marriage? PARTIAL ANSWER
- Who sent Kate the letter about her mom?
- Why did Kate’s mom freak out at the hospital?
- What is the significance of the black smoke?
- Was it The Others who took Walt?
- Why do they want with Walt?
- What became of Alex?
- What’s the deal with the transmission Boone heard?
- When did Claire and Danielle meet before - and why did Claire scratch her?
- How did The Black Rock (the ship) get so far inland.
- Was The Black Rock a slave/mining ship, or something else? And if it was, what explains the discrepency regarding the ship having dynamite earlier than it should?
- What were the keys that Brendon took, and why did he take them?
- How did Martin loose his arm?
- Was the man Sarah had the car accident with Shannon’s father?
- Did Walt try and communicate with Shannon and if so, how?
- How did Desmond end up under the island? ANSWERED
- What does the computer do - and specifically the EXECUTE button?
- What did Desmond inject himself with?
- Who or what was under quarentine? ANSWERED
- What is the significance (if any) of the number 108 beyond being the sum of Hurley’s numbers? ANSWERED
- Were Michael, Kate and Locke all in accidents with the same car, and if so, why?
- Who is ‘the one’ that Desmond is expecting? ANSWERED
- What’s the meaning of the “DHARMA” symbol on all of Desmond’s stuff - and why is it on a freakin’ shark? ANSWERED
- How did Jin wind up back on the island before Michael and Sawyer?
- Why haven’t they sent a replacement?
Just to point out - at the end of last season we had 53 questions left, two partially answered. At that time we had answered about a third of the questions raised. We’ve added 12 questions so far this season, but we’ve at least partially answered 10 more (8 full answers, 2 partial). Not bad.
Since both Shannon and Sayid have seen Wat: Is Walt actually back on the island? Or are Shannon & Sayid having a shared hallucination?
(Of course, if Walt is on the island it brings up several related question: How did he escape the freaky boat people? Sdrawkcab gniklat eh si yhw dna?)
That’s so true. I don’t understand the notion, in the weekly threads, that they are just spinning our wheels every week. I feel like we’ve got a lot of info this season. Even when we don’t get full or partial answers to these questions, most of them are in play and we are getting clues.
So I decided to do a bit of a classification. I will take these questions and put them in the following categories: ANSWERED(we got the full truth), PARTIAL ANSWERS (we got a part of the answer), CLUES GIVEN (the matter has been central to the story, and we’ve got more info but no resolution), PROMINENT BUT A COMPLETE MYSTERY (they haven’t dropped the plot line, but we still know nothing), LARGELY IGNORED (a huge mystery that no one talks about any more…very frustrating), and POSSIBILY A NON-QUESTION (questions that we might should remove from the list).
ANSWERED
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What happened to the tail section of the plane? ANSWERED- Unfortunately, Ana Lucia survived.
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Did anyone other than those accounted for, including Rose’s husband, survive the crash? ANSWERED- Again…Ana Lucia.
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What’s inside that hatch/where does the door lead? ANSWERED- The most complete answer we have. Of course, it unleashed new questions…
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Was the man Sarah had the car accident with Shannon’s father?- Answered last night. YES.
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How did Desmond end up under the island? ANSWERED- I’d argue this is a partial answer. We know how he wound up there about as much as we know how Flight 815 wound up there. He crashed. Why?
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Who or what was under quarentine? ANSWERED- Again, I’d classify this as a Partial. Or maybe ask a follow up question about it.
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What is the significance (if any) of the number 108 beyond being the sum of Hurley’s numbers? ANSWERED- How was this answered? This feels like a CLUES GIVEN at best. Maybe a PARTIAL. What was the answer?
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Who is ‘the one’ that Desmond is expecting? ANSWERED- The answer was a “replacement” right?
PARTIAL ANSWERS
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What did Kate do to put her in trouble with the law and make her so eager to run from everything? PARTIAL ANSWER- Still something to it, but we know a big part of it now.
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What does Ethan want with Claire?- This one is not marked as a partial, but we know that Ethan, like the CFL, thought Claire’s baby was of value. Why? I have no idea.
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Who sealed it and why? PARTIAL ANSWER- It’s the why that bugs me!
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How did Claire escape from Ethan?- Shouldn’t this one be PARTIAL? Didn’t the CFL play some role in rescuing her?
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What do the numbers mean? PARTIAL ANSWER- I’m not sure we even have a partial answer!
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What happened to Jack’s marriage? PARTIAL ANSWER- We know they aren’t married any more and we assume she might have died.
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What’s the meaning of the “DHARMA” symbol on all of Desmond’s stuff - and why is it on a freakin’ shark? ANSWERED- Again, I’d think this was a partial. We don’t exactly know why it was on a shark.
CLUES GIVEN
3) How did a polar bear get on the island?- With the bears fighting on the film strip in the hatch, and the shark in the ocean, we get the idea that there is some form of animal experiment going on here.
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What is the big monster?- We’ve seen it a few more times up close and we heard mechanically sounds and saw Locke getting pulled in by something that seemed like a winch.
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Did Locke actually see the monster? And if he did, why is he still alive?- A lot of clues given. Something he saw changed him profoundly. It also clues us in that there are two entitites on the island. Because what we talk about as the TCM is probably not what Locke saw.
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What cured Locke’s paralysis?- Maybe. At the very least, there are clues that people who are hurt (Jack’s wife) miraculously are healed.
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Who are the “Others” that Danielle thinks control the transmission and make the whispering noise?- We were borderline “partial answer” last night. Though we don’t know who they are yet, we know more about them.
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Why did Danielle kill the other members of her team (or at least Robert)?- It is reasonable to SUSPECT that Robert and company were converted by the Others and became dangerous.
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Is Nadia dead or alive?- Wasn’t it said that she was in LA? They could be lying, but at the very least, we were given some info.
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Who the HELL is Ethan?- At the very least, we know that there are many different factions around the island that Ethan could be a part of. One of the other experiments, the boat people, the Others…
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What is the nature of Walt’s “special abilities”?- We have seen several examples of his powers. We don’t know anything for certain, but they keep showing Walt with weird abilities.
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How come Locke’s compass no longer points north?- We are all fairly sure we know the answer to this one. The question also sounds like a euphamism for a viagra commercial.
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How were Boone and Locke changed by their vision quests?- There have been many instances where Locke has shown he has become a believer in the island. Boone…not so much…
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Why was Hurley in a mental institution?- We’ve at least seen his behavior that suggests it was warranted!
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Was it The Others who took Walt?
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Why do they want with Walt?- We keep getting info about the Others and we also know Walt has some form of power.
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What became of Alex?- We can guess that Alex is either a jungle dwelling other (likely) or taken by the child stealing boat people.
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What’s the deal with the transmission Boone heard?- Almost a partial to fully answered. The tailenders have a radio. I suspect this one will be answered next week.
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What does the computer do - and specifically the EXECUTE button?- The Skinner reference leads many tho think “experiment”, but if we believe Desmond, something terrible will happen if the numbers aren’t pushed. But if that is the case, why is Candle so calm about it?
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What did Desmond inject himself with?- Some suggest it is what is responsible for Locke and Mrs. Jack’s recovery.
PROMINENT BUT A COMPLETE MYSTERY
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Why did the plane lose radio contact?- Always a prominent question, but we are still unsure.
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Why did the plane crash?- I thought of putting this one in the Clues Given
Section. It COULD be the magnet. -
How has the FT been broadcasting for so long?- Almost ready to slip to ignored. But we did discuss the broadcast late last season. Someone needs to talk about that darn cable Sayid found!
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What exactly was the nature of Locke’s paralysis?- They’re building up to something, but we aren’t there yet.
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Was the psychic legitimate, and if so, what did he see in his vision?- Only last night’s comments by Charlie to Locke pulled this one out of the ignored section.
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What is the significance of Claire’s baby?- Is it? Was it just a red herring? Was it Walt all along that was special? What about the psychic’s visions?
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Is Hurley (still) cursed?- At least he isn’t with the Tail Enders!
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What is the significance of the black smoke?- Was it ever lit by the Others or did the CFL make it up? We don’t know because no one seems to remember it happening.
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Did Walt try and communicate with Shannon and if so, how?- We still know very little about this.
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Why haven’t they sent a replacement?- But were they ever going to?
LARGELY IGNORED -
Are Adam and Eve part of that same group mentioned in the FT?- The mystery that annoy me the most. I want to know who they were. Amelia Earhart?
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What’s the deal with the black and white rocks that were found with Adam and Eve?- We haven’t seen much of that lately.
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Why wasn’t Jack’s Dad in the coffin?- Was he even supposed to be there?
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How did Hugo get the nickname “Hurley”?
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In what way is Hurley known as a warrior?- Both of these questions haven’t really been addressed. They probably aren’t Earth shattering, either way.
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What is the significance of the song “La Mer”?- We haven’t talked about it since.
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Why does Claire have amnesia?- It’s like she forget that she had amnesia.
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Why did the ocean level suddenly rise and flood the beach they were living on?- I think it is still a question because of the theory the island in mobile, but we haven’t heard anyone talk about it since.
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Why was Jin hand-delivering watches for Sun’s dad?- This hasn’t been mentioned since.
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Who set up the original transmission?- The transmission itself is quickly dropping to the back burner. Let alone, who set it up initially.
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Who sent Kate the letter about her mom?
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Why did Kate’s mom freak out at the hospital?- Nothing
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When did Claire and Danielle meet before - and why did Claire scratch her?- Somewhere between partially answered and completely ignored. We think she may have rescued her, but we also think she kidnapped Aaron. Of course, no one seems to care anymore.
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How did The Black Rock (the ship) get so far inland.- Maybe not even a question except for the fact that some think the island is moving. No one on the show ever commented on how far in land the ship was.
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Was The Black Rock a slave/mining ship, or something else? And if it was, what explains the discrepency regarding the ship having dynamite earlier than it should?- Again, possibly a non-question. Plus, many think the dynamite was moved there for storage by CFL’s team.
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Were Michael, Kate and Locke all in accidents with the same car, and if so, why?- This one intrigues me. But I am not sure about it.
POSSIBILY A NON-QUESTION
11) Who killed the boar? Locke or the monster?- We’ve seen Locke do so much since that moment, that I think this one may be ready to come off. Perhaps a modification of question #15 that asks what whether the encounter changed Locke in such a way that made him the great hunter.
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How did the 48 people (initially) survive the plane crash? Was it just luck?- This is an important questionm but it is so broad that it probably encompasses every question on the list! SPECIFICALLY, it is either a non-question or something no one is asking anymore.
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What was the scientific mission of Danielle’s team and why did they need rifles?- I was the one pushing for this to be included, but it is either “Largely Ignored” or was never meant to be a big question. I wouldn’t pull it, but I am starting to think it isn’t important.
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How did Jin wind up back on the island before Michael and Sawyer?- I think the answer might be “the tide.” I think we pitched this one when we were suspecting Jin was in on the conspiracy.
HUH?
- What were the keys that Brendon took, and why did he take them?
- How did Martin loose his arm?- I don’t understand either of these questions. Who are these guys?
Nice work middleman. I’m kinda slammed at work right now but I look forward to checking out your classifications. I’m sure I’ll have some input on one or two of them.
Anyway, as you so correctly point out, 54 is officially a “Yes”.
Thanks. Also, where did the question about the Nigerian Drug Plane go? I thought we had one in there some where.
Nice job, middleman. And since you asked, I’m pretty sure that Brendon and Martin were members of Danielle’s team, and she mentioned them at some point.
I was thinking Martin might Marvin, who had a non-moving arm in the film strip. How weird that a guy named Marvin and a guy named Martin both have arm issues!
Well, middleman, I’ve now had a chance to look at your list. Like I said before - good work. I’m going to offer some comment just to let you know my thinking on the questions at hand and how I’ve choosen to deal with them. You, of course, may continue to catagorize the question however you see fit. A different perspective is always a help in a thread like this and your more nuanced approach is a welcome addition.
Maybe yes, maybe no. It’s certainly possible that someone could just crash on the island in a perfectly normal crash-like scenario. We know there was weirdness involved in flight 815. Until there’s reason to suspect weirdness in Desmond’s crash I’m considering his story to be fairly straightforward.
Jack’s comments in “Orientation” lead me to think the outside was quatrentined as does the word “Quarentine” on the inside of the hatch. If you wish to propose a follow up question, that’s cool.
It’s the time on the countdown. Considering that the only instance of the number 108 that we were wondering about was on the mural and that mural would probably be painted by someone obsessed with the countdown, it looks like an answer to me. Granted, one could ask why the countdown resets to 108. But the orriginal question was about the mural, so that one is answered.
You are correct about 62.
Do we know that? We suspect that. I don’t think we know it.
I’m fairly confident that the shark was part of the DHARMA initiative’s work in the feild of zoology as stated in the orientation video. Close enough for government work.
Sayid was indeed told that she was in LA. My own theory is that Nadia was killed for Sayid’s work in that episode and that he was told of her death at the airport after he was pulled aside for leaving an unnatended bag by Shannon. Just a theory though.
I’ve been meaning to revisit this one. We have reason to believe that the french transmission - as well as everything else on the island is powered by a geothermal sourse. This would leave open the question of what the cable is for.
I’m pretty sure it was commented on.
All things considered, I’m all for removing this question. If no one objects, I’m taking it off the list.
Regarding your possible non questions, I’m not quite ready to take off 14, 20, or 64. I suspect we’ll be getting some information on those at some point. Number 11 is more up-in-the-air to me, but I’m going to give it a little more time.
As Draelin says, questions 52 and 53 refer to comments made by Danielle regarding her adventures on the island. Probably they are members of her original research team. But those comments were made in such an offhand way, I’m wondering if they have any real importance. I’m willing to remove those from the list based on input from the rest of you guys.
As always, you are a fair commissioner!
But what about adding a question about the Nigerian plane? Did we not have one? Do we need one?
Honestly, I’m not sure. Is there something unusual or mysterious about the plane? I seem to remember some talk about the plane being weirdly off course, but I can’t remember for sure and my grasp of geography is not what it should be. If that is the case, it goes on the list.