I'm back from vacation, so I'm posting this later than some other places, but I just had a chance to watch it for the first time, and it's pretty cool. Last year we saw the Orchid video, where the Marvin Candle character is standing in the Orchid station holding a rabbit, when what appears to be the same rabbit pops up behind him and he hides the one in his arms, saying they cannot see each other and screaming to remove the other rabbit. The video, shown at last year's Comic-Con, was an indicator to us that season 4 was going to be about time travel, since it appeared it was actually the same rabbit, with one in the present, the other one time-travelling into the present.
Here is this year's video. Watch it first before reading my comments below:
So now we have confirmation that Candle is an actor who had been hired to do the orientation videos (duh), but what's interesting is the mention of a wife named Laura, and a baby. Someone who has time travelled to the future has come back to tell him that in 30 years, he will be dead from the Purge, the Internet exists, George W. Bush is president (that should have been the worst news he was delivering)...
He mentions that he's trying to keep a pinhole open to transmit the message 30 years into the future. Could the "pinhole" be that point in the bubble we've been discussing for much of this season, that opening on the bearing that Daniel gave Frank to fly through? As we saw in The Constant, there's definitely something that happens when one passes through that pinhole, but it's interesting that Chang mentions it here.
The thing I'm sure everyone will be (or has been) talking about is the voice behind the camera. I think it's pretty clear it's Daniel Faraday. The question is, when did he travel back to Chang to deliver this news and have him make this tape? What was the purpose in having him make this tape?
Can anyone make out what we hear another frequency saying at 2:42? Something about "visage"? Maybe the audio has been reversed there?
I love that they give us little tidbits to play with until the real game begins again!
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
15 comments:
He's not an actor, he's a professor of astrophysics.
Welcome back Nikki!
I also think it's Faraday's voice behind the camera - absolutely. I can't figure out when did he travel back, though. On the one hand, I would say sometime (long) before "Confirmed Dead": when I re-watched the episode, I thought he was crying because he knew the 815 wreckage was a fake and the real plane was on the island.
On the other hand, it might be interesting to note that in 2007 - when S4 ends - George W. Bush is still president... So, the tape could have been recorded for the people that "have to go back" eventually.
Also: I wonder why he cuts Chang short when he starts to mention his "credible source". Not because they're in a rush, as he simply decide to give up the recording.
Last but not least, I'm pretty sure Chang's baby is actually Miles. It would explain why he decided to stay on the island after all.
Brian: Yes, I know he's a professor of astrophysics from Michigan, but as Marvin Candle, he was an actor. As in he was acting as Marvin Candle. I'm a writer, but if I were pretending to be someone else, I would be an actor in that situation. You're right.
What was interesting is, doesn't he say he's a professor in "theoretical" astrophysics? Would that include time travel?
Cordelia: Hello! That's interesting, because when I heard his voice my thoughts went to the same place -- that the reason he was crying in Confirmed Dead was because of his former knowledge of the Purge.
OOH! Awesome theory on Miles, I never thought of that! Good one.
Blah, blah, blah. You're Canadian, you're politically liberal. What a surprise.
How is that remotely relevant to the topic of the post, which is otherwise quite interesting?
Anonymous... is that a jab at her President Bush comment? He is by far one of the worst Presidents of all time. I can't wait until Barak Obama wins and finally our country can start to head in the right direction.
Anonymous: Blah blah blah. You're taking a potshot at me and posted anonymously. What a surprise.
I'm constantly amazed by the fact that if I make an off-handed comment against Herr Bush in any of my posts, someone no doubt jumps all over me for it, in a rude and abrupt way. That's quite the insecurity.
As to your comment about liberal Canadians, you do realize the Canadian prime minister is Conservative, don't you?
chris: You got it.
Welcome back from vacation, Nikki ... hope it was an enjoyable and relaxing one for you and the family.
Although the new ARG/Dharma Initiative recruitment has been slow to ramp up, it certainly has given us some interesting fodder for discussion as we endure the hiatus. That's Faraday's voice, all right - I don't think he had to "travel back" to be there with Pierre Cheng. One of the things we missed out on with the reduced number of episodes in Season 4 is more backstory on Faraday.
There's been increasing speculation that several of the "Freighty Four" (leaving aside Keamy et. al. for the moment) had been to/on the Island previously. We know that Charlotte was, Miles certainly seems to know his way around, and now we see/hear evidence that Faraday may have had a prior connection. (Frank's story is yet to be told, as well)
I think we will learn early in Season 5 that Faraday experienced the consciousness shift from his "Now" Island self to his prior, researching/experimenting self. This will have prompted him (post meeting Desmond) to either travel to the Island or seek out Chang off-island to inform him of the events of the Purge and fate of the Dharma Initiative.
This, in conjunction with the fallout from his own experiments, may have left him altered, memory impaired and fragile ... we see him crying while watching news of the crash of 815 without knowing why. (I'm thinking, too, of the card/memory game he plays with Charlotte after landing (back?) on the Island) Meeting his Constant in Desmond while there may have stabilized his memory and enabled him to act decisively in the closing episodes of Season 4 ... and in the upcoming Season.
Can't wait! I'm counting the weeks until Season 4 is released on DVD - I'm sure the commentary and features will offer insight into these and other topics.
In the meantime- "Anonymous", please grow up and accept that George W. Bush is amongst the least popular and most despised "deciders" in the history of the US. Half of the country has been strongly against him from the beginning and much of the other half has awoken from its political slumber to discover the social, economic and policy nightmare Dubya and his cronies have visited upon the country and the world at large.
Of course, that's just my OPINION. It's still (barely) legal to have those here in the US. In the meantime, Anonymous, please learn that humorous jabs such as Nikki's are the rule and not the exception in the waning days of the Bush 'Administration'. Sorry to get so off-topic ... these sort of mindless reactionaries push my buttons ... at LEAST every 108 minutes!
What I find most interesting is that you don't need to see these viral videos in order to understand or follow the upcoming season. So everything 'revealed' or the clues dropped in this video aren't really needed for all viewers.
Thus, I just like to watch these things without speculation for some reason. An episode I will mull over, but these are sort of like little nuggets of fun that I don't feel obligated to 'get' before the season starts.
Love coming here to find these tidbits, though!
**As for the president comment, I just roll my eyes and go on. Everyone has their opinion...but sometimes it surprises me to find them in blogs about non-political topics.**
Doubt Miles is Chang's son. Miles is such a great character, in terms of personality and plot, it would be kind of disappointing and cliche to have introduced him a year early just to reveal - he's the other Asian guy's son!
It seems to me that Faraday's presence out in the Zodiac on the water and thus on the border of whatever event Ben triggered by turning the wheel to "move" the island is what sent him back. But then again, who's to say that 1978 isn't where/when the island moved anyway? We may come back next year and find all our Lostaways in bell bottoms...
humanebean: Excellent points, as usual. I definitely agree with you on Daniel doing some major consciousness-tripping over the years, hence his memory lapses. In the case of Desmond, his consciousness tripoped back into his body in 1995. But what if Faraday's body in 1978 was 2 months old? How could he consciousness-trip back to it? I'd love to hear your thoughts on that, because the time travel thing is still seriously messing me up. :)
Kristin: Agreed... in the first couple of years, I'd skip the ARG stuff and watch the occasional video and say, "Nice. Anyway..." and not think about it at all. But now I can't help myself. The thing is, I like asking questions rather than speculating, because as you say, no doubt I'll be wrong by the first episode! hahaha...
Eric: LOL! I felt that way when the original talk started that Abaddon was an older version of Walt. "Oh, yes. Of course. Because they're both African-American, it MUST be the same person." ;) I would love Miles to be connected to the Dharma purge in some way, though... if he'd been surrounded by SO much death at a very young age, perhaps even less than one year old, it might account for his abilities.
Joshua: HA!! And giant sideburns, and huge collars. Oh god. You know, come to think of it, they're already bombing around the island in a VW van from the 60s blasting Three Dog Night, maybe they're there already!! AAHH!
Hmmmmm .... I must admit I sorta forgot that the video was filmed in 1978. *doh!* Yes, that might have been a tad awkward for "now" Faraday to time-shift back to his toddler self. So, I'm going with the theory that moving the Island has caused it to become "unstuck" in time. This shift affects people differently depending on where they were when the event occurred.
Faraday, returning to the island on the Zodiac boat, finds himself in the Island's past - and seeks out a fellow theoretical scientist to help him get back to the "present". He offers enough information to be the 'credible source' Chang speaks of. Chang seems a bit unhinged, himself, in the video ... has he been 'consciousness shifting' with Faraday's help? Or is he just alarmed at what will happen when the Dharma research tools fall into the "wrong" hands?
Over at DocArzt's LOST Blog, he commented on a Darlton remark that in addition to flashbacks-and-forwards, in S5 we would see a "third time" that had not yet been extensively explored. I think this has to be the Dharma Initiative period prior to the Purge ... and having Faraday there would provide the perfect entry point.
We could finally see some Danielle backstory, perhaps learn of Charlotte's origins, understand more of Richard Alpert's on-and-off Island wanderings ... and see who was leading the Others when the decision was made to effect the Purge. So, when S5 opens, we will have 1) Jack and the O6 working to return to the Island, 2) Faraday trying to get back to the Island "present" and 3) Shirtless Sawyer and Juiced Juliet, along with Leader Locke and the Hostiles/Original Others .... whenEVER and WHEREever they are "now" on the Island.
Wow. I think I just wrapped my OWN mind around a Frozen Donkey Wheel. See what happens when you try to go cold-turkey during a Hellacious Hiatus?
humanebean, I think you're on to something. It makes sense that Faraday, stuck on his little boat, would end up somewhere apart from everyone else. But since he's Faraday, of course he ends up in some other TIME.
Also, I read somewhere that we should look to the Ji Yeon episode for a clue as to the structure of Season 5. I imagine there will not only be three "times" going on, but it will not be immediately obvious where we are on the timeline at first. Maybe they will even throw some traditional flashbacks in there just to mess with us.
I also like the theory that Miles is Chang's son. As much as it bums me out that "of course, the two Asians MUST be related," it's a brilliant theory, and it allows us another avenue to find out about early Dharma.
Season 5 can't come soon enough!
Could the baby possibly be Charlotte? That's why she has such a strong connection to the island and wanted to stay--specially when Miles hinted that she was already there?
Nationality doesn't make that much sense... but Alex was viewed by people as being Ben's true daughter for a long time... maybe they've always had some baby making problems on the island?
I do agree with the posts that it's Daniel off camera... as soon as I watched it... I screamed "DANIEL!"
Maybe Daniel and Jin will team up in their time frame.. yes, I'm still on the raft that thinks Jin is still alive-- how else will they get Sun to come back to the island, besides vengeance?
Post a Comment