tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30892649.post4156667502976694943..comments2024-02-04T05:13:04.501-05:00Comments on Nik at Nite: Lost: Did Jughead Explode?Nikki Staffordhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04463618183850438914noreply@blogger.comBlogger87125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30892649.post-31916954843919953492013-10-08T18:10:26.839-04:002013-10-08T18:10:26.839-04:00Don't know if anyone's still reading this,...Don't know if anyone's still reading this, but since I did perhaps someone else will too.<br /><br />I believe the bomb both did and did not explode. If the bomb exploded and neutralized the pocket of electromagnetism, as Faraday suggested, it would've caused a massive paradox, because if 815 never crashed then Jack & Co. never would've gone back in time to neutralize it. So when Juliet causes the bomb to detonate, it fractures the timeline into two. One, the "real" timeline, where the bomb did not explode and was at some point wired into the failsafe that Desmond triggers decades later. The other timeline is the "flash-sideways" timeline, where the bomb did explode and destroyed the island. Of course, the problem there is that without the island there's no magic light, and thus no life. So this new timeline can have no life, which is why the timeline is only populated by dead people. It's a way for the timeline to "course correct", allowing the bomb to explode without causing a paradox.<br /><br />Additionally, it solves the problem of Locke destroying the hatch computer, which would've caused the end of the world had there not been a nuclear bomb wired into the hatch. In other words, if Jack and Co. had never gone back in time and dropped the bomb down the magnetic death hole, then the DHARMA folks would've built a hatch with no failsafe and decades later when Locke trashes the hatch computer it would've been curtains for humanity. But thanks to the wonders of time travel, there was a handy dandy failsafe there for Desmond to trigger and save the world.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07812472972193013083noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30892649.post-38514462120624465982011-11-29T04:17:54.754-05:002011-11-29T04:17:54.754-05:00Why do people want 'scientific' explanatio...Why do people want 'scientific' explanations for the FSW? <br /><br />This show has ghosts.<br /><br />As in spirits...<br /><br />Do you want a scientific explanation for that too?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30892649.post-11838168451666465442010-08-07T13:06:09.838-04:002010-08-07T13:06:09.838-04:00Anyone still guessing? ABC.com now has an excerpt ...Anyone still guessing? ABC.com now has an excerpt of the forthcoming "Lost Encyclopedia" (which has been delayed until autumn unfortunately) - and from the more than 400 pages they chose the entry on Jughead. The final sentence:<br /><br />"Broken and bleeding at the bottom, Juliet found the bomb next to her and managed to grab a rock and hit the bomb, causing it to detonate."<br /><br />So there we have it. The enyclopedia is supposed to be canon, so it's official: Yes, Jughead did explode! What happened next is still open to interpretation, though.mgkoelnnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30892649.post-28004839801224151272010-07-10T15:48:05.149-04:002010-07-10T15:48:05.149-04:00@ S.Penguin:
I was really hoping that what had ha...@ S.Penguin:<br /><br />I was really hoping that what had happened was that the bomb did explode, and that it worked in the sense of the reset that the lostaways had been hoping it would: that as a result of changes to the original Incident, and to the resulting Swan station, the Oceanic 815 did not crash. BUT, since in the OT, the plane <i>did</i> crash and the results were the 5 seasons of <i>Lost</i> that had already occurred,and since these event were necessary to put Jack & co. in place to detonate the bomb, a paradox would have existed unless, in fact, both timelines were somehow valid. As I have pointed out in the past, quantum mechanics may allow for this.<br /><br />That such an event may have split off a second "universe" in which things were altered in fairly standard fare in speculative fiction. That the FSW was billed as "what would have happened had fight 815 not crashed" as well as the clues we were given in the form of Farady's notations on quantum mechanics seemed to point in that general direction, although it was admittedly contradicted by the fact that the showrunners also stated that it was "not a separate timeline." <br /><br />Still, the fact that it ended up being a sort of Bardo or Purgatory in which the people who had encountered one another on the island created together and needed in order to resolve issues arising from or around their time on the island seemed to me to be quite a letdown in the end. It struck me as a rather sappy, feel-good non-solution to the series as a whole, which I still love...I just thought it might have ended in a more satisfying manner, particularly from an intellectual standpoint.Rainierhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03673583306782535437noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30892649.post-64639525260056285242010-07-09T16:49:11.519-04:002010-07-09T16:49:11.519-04:00@ Poltercow: Your summation of the FSW's influ...@ Poltercow: Your summation of the FSW's influence upon Desmond is spot-on, and I did note a similar connection in my blog write-up back when the episode aired. I suppose when I refer to the FSW as being an "ain't that neat" epilogue if it's not connected to The Incident, I mean that the FSW being "just the way life/death works" in the world of the show makes it seem too superflous to me, even if Desmond's FSW experience was crucial. It's not saying it would be unimportant w/o the Incident connection, it's saying it would be tangential and/or out-of-nowhere. This is a legit complaint many people have, but for me the oddity of it is lessend when one doesn't dismiss all the clues that linked the FSW to the Incident pre-finale. Also, when we're left with Christian saying that the characters created the FSW - we have ZERO clues on how this works or why OTHER than the Incident-related ones. So, for me it just raises too many unnecessary, unrelated questions if one doesn't go with the only available in-show suggestion and stick with the Incident being what started the FSW. But that's just my perspective on it :)<br /><br />@Rainer: My take is just that it's not possible for the light to create another equally real place. In LOST there seems to just be the one true timeline, and the FSW is an imperfect creation of the Island's light/energy (the stuff that makes up life and death, etc). I think it was physically just as real as the original timeline for the folks within it, but because it was an offshoot removed from time, the memories (and neck injuries) of real-existence were able to seep through and change things (in the same way that our characters often interacted, even physically, with supernatural apparitions/visions and such on the Island). Hence David is only a physical being in the FSW, because he never existed in the original timeline, and seems to disappear after Locke reminds Jack he never had a son.Sagacious Penguinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02300030494408133540noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30892649.post-50475449044736587142010-07-08T22:34:19.226-04:002010-07-08T22:34:19.226-04:00@Poltercow: I think that your interpretation of th...@Poltercow: I think that your interpretation of the FSW is an intriguing one, particularly as it relates to Desmond and his sudden change of demeanor on the island. Nice piece of thinking!<br /><br />And S.Penguin is correct that it makes far more sense that much of the energy from the detonation could well have been shunted into creating the FSW. But my question remains: why would that amount (and it would have been a prodigious amount) of energy have been used to create this other reality...only for it to reside on a strictly spiritual plane of being? Would it not have made more sense for the "pocket universe" thus created to reside in a physical plane of being - ie, a true alternate timeline?<br /><br />Yes, I still want an explanation rooted in science. Sigh.Rainierhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03673583306782535437noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30892649.post-479155698037886252010-07-08T08:15:04.609-04:002010-07-08T08:15:04.609-04:00Poltercow-enjoyed reading your posts. I still fee...Poltercow-enjoyed reading your posts. I still feel the hydrogen bomb did not explode. I guess there is one side that feels it did explode because that's what always happened, that they (jack et al) created the incident. However Daniel Faraday believed them to be the "variables", and if the actions of the variables were successful (bomb detonating), that event would be significant enough to not only negate the energy but would stop them from needing to build a hatch and would stop several series of events from ever happening including oceanic 815 from crashing.<br />We never actually saw 1977 again after the 8th bang by Juliet. We do know that they all flashed to 2007 and that the island looked the same as they remembered it when they were last there in 2004 (hatch was imploded, camp was still there etc.). So at least in Daniel Faraday's vision of it working, it didn't work. There was no "reset". The candidates plus Miles, Juliet, Rose, Bernard and Vincent flashed, probably as a result of Jacob bringing them right after Ben stabbed him he said "they're coming".<br />However there was still the incident as there always was, they did drill into the energy pocket, and they needed to contain it by building the hatch. Nothing changed.<br />I still also believe that the sideways world had absolutely nothing to do with the hydrogen bomb or the incident. At first I too wondered why Juliet said "it worked" as she was dying, but this was explained at the end by her saying "it worked" meaning unplugging the vending machine.<br />The sideways world does not exist in time. Unlike the flashbacks where we could see who the characters were in their actual past, the sideways world shows us who the characters became at the very "end". I don't feel one "incident" or one person could ever create this place. It exists based on everyone's experiences on the island, and how those experiences changed them. It was created by all of them as Christian said. I do not know "how" exactly a purgatory type of place exists or even if there is a scientific type of explanation for it, but it was not the "incident". Just my interpretation.<br />LindaAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30892649.post-30600725848075597672010-07-08T02:00:36.833-04:002010-07-08T02:00:36.833-04:00Damn. Sorry about the "double posting." ...Damn. Sorry about the "double posting." I tried to hit the delete key, but nothing happened until the eighth time, then there was this white flash ...Poltercownoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30892649.post-32882672652511503552010-07-08T01:23:10.712-04:002010-07-08T01:23:10.712-04:00continued ...
Widmore told Ben that Jacob visited...continued ...<br /><br />Widmore told Ben that Jacob visited him and convinced him to come back to the island -- to bring Desmond back. If Widmore had not done that, it seems reasonable that Flocke would have simply left the island after he thought he had killed the candidates. But once Widmore told Flocke why he brought Desmond back, Flocke couldn't resist the opportunity to destroy the island -- "something I could never do myself." Desmond was indeed a weapon, as Jack surmised -- the rock had to be removed, and the light put out, in order for Flocke to become vulnerable and be killed. But it seems Desmond was also bait to hold Flocke on the island and give Jack one last chance to fix everything.<br /><br />Seen in this fashion, the Sideways World does become much more than an "ain't it neat" epilogue device. It becomes a crucial element to the entire tapestry.Poltercownoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30892649.post-45610883253535877842010-07-08T01:21:58.170-04:002010-07-08T01:21:58.170-04:00Sagacious Penguin: "Far more interesting for ...Sagacious Penguin: "Far more interesting for the Sideways to be the direct result of our characters' actions/sacrifices (as indicated) than just an "ain't that neat" epilogue the way a lot of viewers seem to dismiss it as."<br /><br />I always figured the bomb did go off, but like some others here, also figured the explosion "intermixed" in some fashion with the force that Radzinsky had drilled into. The thought of the "Sideways World" being a product of those actions in the "real world" is fascinating.<br /><br />I also think it entirely plausible (and logical) that the Sideways World is much more than an epilogue device when you take Desmond's experience into account.<br /><br />The other characters have their epiphanies in the Sideways World, remembering things that happened when they were alive. Desmond's experience is more complex. During Widmore's "electromagnetic experiment," Desmond "experiences" the Sideways World as the others do -- has his epiphany, remembers his life on the island and what happened there -- but then he carries that memory back with him to the "real" world, when he was still alive.<br /><br />This changes the way Desmond behaves back in the real world. It has an effect. Causality is thrown for a loop (literally)!<br /><br />We see Desmond become preternaturally calm in his responses to Widmore, Flocke, Sayid, etc. He stuns Widmore by agreeing to help him. Flocke is at a loss for words at the well when he asks Desmond, "Why aren't you afraid?" Desmond "remembers" that everything is going to turn out all right. He knows that he will "remember" what to do when he gets to the bright light.<br /><br />But his memory is faulty. He was unconscious after pulling the rock out of the hole, then he spoke with Jack, but fell unconscious again for who knows how long after that. He recalled pulling the rock out of the hole, but like a trauma victim, doesn't get all the details right. He never saw Jack put the rock back in (in fact, nobody did).Poltercownoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30892649.post-73331713037912973042010-07-08T01:19:37.579-04:002010-07-08T01:19:37.579-04:00Sagacious Penguin: "Far more interesting for ...Sagacious Penguin: "Far more interesting for the Sideways to be the direct result of our characters' actions/sacrifices (as indicated) than just an "ain't that neat" epilogue the way a lot of viewers seem to dismiss it as."<br /><br />I always figured the bomb did go off, but like some others here, also figured the explosion "intermixed" in some fashion with the force that Radzinsky had drilled into. The thought of the "Sideways World" being a product of those actions in the "real world" is fascinating.<br /><br />I also think it entirely plausible (and logical) that the Sideways World is much more than an epilogue device when you take Desmond's experience into account.<br /><br />The other characters have their epiphanies in the Sideways World, remembering things that happened when they were alive. Desmond's experience is more complex. During Widmore's "electromagnetic experiment," Desmond "experiences" the Sideways World as the others do -- has his epiphany, remembers his life on the island and what happened there -- but then he carries that memory back with him to the "real" world, when he was still alive.<br /><br />This changes the way Desmond behaves back in the real world. It has an effect. Causality is thrown for a loop (literally)!<br /><br />We see Desmond become preternaturally calm in his responses to Widmore, Flocke, Sayid, etc. He stuns Widmore by agreeing to help him. Flocke is at a loss for words at the well when he asks Desmond, "Why aren't you afraid?" Desmond "remembers" that everything is going to turn out all right. He knows that he will "remember" what to do when he gets to the bright light.<br /><br />But his memory is faulty. He was unconscious after pulling the rock out of the hole, then he spoke with Jack, but fell unconscious again for who knows how long after that. He recalled pulling the rock out of the hole, but like a trauma victim, doesn't get all the details right. He never saw Jack put the rock back in (in fact, nobody did).<br /><br />Widmore told Ben that Jacob visited him and convinced him to come back to the island -- to bring Desmond back. If Widmore had not done that, it seems reasonable that Flocke would have simply left the island after he thought he had killed the candidates. But once Widmore told Flocke why he brought Desmond back, Flocke couldn't resist the opportunity to destroy the island -- "something I could never do myself." Desmond was indeed a weapon, as Jack surmised -- the rock had to be removed, and the light put out, in order for Flocke to become vulnerable and be killed. But it seems Desmond was also bait to hold Flocke on the island and give Jack one last chance to fix everything.<br /><br />Seen in this fashion, the Sideways World does become much more than an "ain't it neat" epilogue device. It becomes a crucial element to the entire tapestry.Poltercownoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30892649.post-84159304880874878822010-07-07T23:50:59.344-04:002010-07-07T23:50:59.344-04:00I side with those who believe that the bomb did de...I side with those who believe that the bomb did detonate. I tend to agree that the interaction of the energy of the bomb and the energy from the island's electromagnetism either canceled each other out - to some degree - or that something else happened. I quite like Kevie's idea that the bomb acted as a failsafe, and that perhaps later another A-bomb was used as the failsafe triggered by Desmond. Very neat idea!<br /><br />I particularly enjoyed Fred's extensive post on the relative merits of each side, and the split between the science fiction genre and the spiritual allegory genre, as well as the discussion of how these two may fuse. <br /><br />It seems clear to me that the detonation of the bomb did, in fact, result in a fork in the path that the show took - and that the writers chose to explore both directions in the island reality and the FSW, respectively. <br /><br />I remain disappointed in the finale. I felt that the entire FSW storyline wound up detracting from the series as a whole, and it did not have to be that way. I would have found the story far more satisfying if the FSW had remained an alternate timeline rooted in this plane of existence, and if the writers had paid off the discussions of quantum physics and so forth that might have resulted in a kind of "possibility travel" that did not end up relying on a strictly spiritual plane of existence. I simply would have found it far more interesting and intellectually satisfying. <br /><br />Considering the statements that were made about the FSW representing "what would have happened if flight 815 had never crashed", I felt like the FSW ended up being a long con on the viewers. And while I admit that it was satisfying on a purely emotional level, that was never the reason that I loved <i>Lost</i> and became so invested in it.Rainierhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03673583306782535437noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30892649.post-91223869556155942952010-07-07T23:50:34.428-04:002010-07-07T23:50:34.428-04:00The bomb that they set off (or didn't, dependi...The bomb that they set off (or didn't, depending on your interpretation) at the end of S5 was this primary stage (trigger) of the H-bomb. An interesting note: it would appear on the show that this trigger is the wrong shape. In order for it to go to critical mass, the primary stage is a sphere, so that when the high explosive goes off, all of the energy is directed toward the center of the sphere, where the uranium/plutonium core resides. <br /><br />The secondary stage - where the fusion happens - also contains a hollow core of plutonium, but it is in an elongated shape and cannot achieve critical mass without being compressed by the energy from the trigger. This core is surrounded by fusion fuel (essentially, heavy hydrogen).<br /><br />SO - in order to detonate the atomic bomb, they had to detonate the high explosive surrounding it. How Juliet would have done this by banging on the case with a rock is beyond me. Most high explosive just is not that unstable; it should have needed to be triggered with some sort of detonator.<br /><br />The primary stage for an H-bomb would probably, in and of itself, not have had that (relatively) great a yield. Remember, even some of the places where we conducted H-bomb tests - such as Bikini Atoll - are still around, if somewhat radioactive. So it would not have destroyed the island entirely in any case. <br /><br />Add to that the effects of the mysterious island EM energy, and anything might have happened...even the time shift that brought the characters back to 2007.Rainierhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03673583306782535437noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30892649.post-92016560113887782672010-07-07T23:50:06.957-04:002010-07-07T23:50:06.957-04:00First, I am so late to this party. I have been abs...First, I am so late to this party. I have been absent from this blog for some time, as I've been occupied with sorting out my personal life. But I am very glad to be back. I have missed this community greatly. <br /><br />@Nikki: Regarding H bombs and the detonator - <br /><br />The difference between an A-bomb and an H- bomb is that in an A-bomb (like the original nuclear bombs that were created by the Manhattan Project and that we dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki)), refined uranium and/or plutonium is used to create a reaction the causes the atoms of uranium/plutonium to split (fission), which releases an immense amount of energy and radiation. <br /><br />An H-bomb is a much more powerful reaction, in which plutonium is used to drive a reaction that causes hydrogen atoms (there is a dry fuel in the core of the secondary stage that produces some heavy isotopes of hydrogen) to fuse, forming helium, and releasing high-energy neutrons. <br /><br />The fusion core of the bomb may in turn be surrounded and compressed by a layer of uranium-238, a material that becomes fissionable when bombarded with those neutrons. So what you get is a fission - fusion - fission reaction that is extremely powerful and very dirty; it produces a lot of radiation. <br /><br />The bombs that were tested in the Pacific in the 50's were producing reactions up to 15 megatons - several hundred times the yield of the bombs dropped on Japan. <br /><br />In order to set this fusion reaction in motion, an A-bomb is used as a trigger. The A-bomb, or primary stage, consists of a core of uranium and/or plutonium surrounded by high explosive, which is in a configuration that actually implodes, compressing the uranium/plutonium enough to cause it to go to critical mass - the point at which the fission reaction begins. It may also be "boosted" by a small amount of fusion fuel.Rainierhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03673583306782535437noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30892649.post-36919126654847357992010-07-07T23:48:12.389-04:002010-07-07T23:48:12.389-04:00First, I am so late to this party. I have been abs...First, I am so late to this party. I have been absent from this blog for some time, as I've been occupied with sorting out my personal life. But I am very glad to be back. I have missed this community greatly. <br /><br />@Nikki: Regarding H bombs and the detonator - <br /><br />The difference between an A-bomb and an H- bomb is that in an A-bomb (like the original nuclear bombs that were created by the Manhattan Project and that we dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki)), refined uranium and/or plutonium is used to create a reaction the causes the atoms of uranium/plutonium to split (fission), which releases an immense amount of energy and radiation. <br /><br />An H-bomb is a much more powerful reaction, in which plutonium is used to drive a reaction that causes hydrogen atoms (there is a dry fuel in the core of the secondary stage that produces some heavy isotopes of hydrogen) to fuse, forming helium, and releasing high-energy neutrons. <br /><br />The fusion core of the bomb may in turn be surrounded and compressed by a layer of uranium-238, a material that becomes fissionable when bombarded with those neutrons. So what you get is a fission - fusion - fission reaction that is extremely powerful and very dirty; it produces a lot of radiation. <br /><br />The bombs that were tested in the Pacific in the 50's were producing reactions up to 15 megatons - several hundred times the yield of the bombs dropped on Japan. <br /><br />In order to set this fusion reaction in motion, an A-bomb is used as a trigger. The A-bomb, or primary stage, consists of a core of uranium and/or plutonium surrounded by high explosive, which is in a configuration that actually implodes, compressing the uranium/plutonium enough to cause it to go to critical mass - the point at which the fission reaction begins. It may also be "boosted" by a small amount of fusion fuel.<br /><br />The bomb that they set off (or didn't, depending on your interpretation) at the end of S5 was this primary stage (trigger) of the H-bomb. An interesting note: it would appear on the show that this trigger is the wrong shape. In order for it to go to critical mass, the primary stage is a sphere, so that when the high explosive goes off, all of the energy is directed toward the center of the sphere, where the uranium/plutonium core resides. <br /><br />The secondary stage - where the fusion happens - also contains a hollow core of plutonium, but it is in an elongated shape and cannot achieve critical mass without being compressed by the energy from the trigger. This core is surrounded by fusion fuel (essentially, heavy hydrogen).<br /><br />SO - in order to detonate the atomic bomb, they had to detonate the high explosive surrounding it. How Juliet would have done this by banging on the case with a rock is beyond me. Most high explosive just is not that unstable; it should have needed to be triggered with some sort of detonator.<br /><br />The primary stage for an H-bomb would probably, in and of itself, not have had that (relatively) great a yield. Remember, even some of the places where we conducted H-bomb tests - such as Bikini Atoll - are still around, if somewhat radioactive. So it would not have destroyed the island entirely in any case. <br /><br />Add to that the effects of the mysterious island EM energy, and anything might have happened...even the time shift that brought the characters back to 2007.Rainierhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03673583306782535437noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30892649.post-40608210900911416492010-07-07T16:41:40.098-04:002010-07-07T16:41:40.098-04:00Wow! Can't believe I missed this! That's t...Wow! Can't believe I missed this! That's the question of the season for me!<br /><br />I'm in the camp that say it did go off. <br /><br />The combo of H-Bomb plus mad Electromagnetic Energy resulted in the Sideways timeline which was identical to the original prior to 1977. (Hence how Sideways Eloise could have possibly possessed original Faraday's journal and known so much since she had it in '77).<br /><br />The Island course-corrected our heroes' huge time-threatening obstacle by shunting the majority of the H-bomb damage into its newly created timeline, which caused the island to slowly sink there, forcing Dharma to leave bit by bit until the Island was completely underwater in 2004. <br /><br />In the original timeline our heroes were boomed back to 2007 and left scattered around on their backs much the way survivors have been rescued and scattered before from such things as the crash of Flight 815, the Hatch Implosion, and the Ajira Flight -- the will of the Island or perhaps Jacob at work.<br /><br />So the original timeline retains "Whatever Happened, Happened," and perhaps Miles was right to some extent when he suggested Jack was about to cause "The Incident," and the Sideways time is created ("It Worked") by our heroes as a place for themselves to meet up again. But since the place is transitory and not as legit as the original timeline, they're able to "let go" and "move on" from it, remembering their entire original lives in the process. For everyone else in the Sideways, however, who never come to realize their other lives, the place is just as real. (Maybe they'll remember both lives after they've died and gone into the bright light).<br /><br />That's how I see it all anyway :) I try to buy into the theory that throws out the least amount of plot points, and there were plenty throughout Season 6 that connected the H-Bomb to the Sideways world (Underwater Island, Faraday's memory, "It Worked"). To say all those things were just red herrings would really under-cut the overall narrative/drama for me. Far more interesting for the Sideways to be the direct result of our characters' actions/sacrifices (as indicated) than just an "ain't that neat" epilogue the way a lot of viewers seem to dismiss it as.Sagacious Penguinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02300030494408133540noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30892649.post-50559121640568366132010-07-06T07:56:52.006-04:002010-07-06T07:56:52.006-04:00At the end of season 5, Jacob's last words wer...At the end of season 5, Jacob's last words were "they're coming", meaning "the candidates are coming". The flash is what Jacob knew was going to happen - it was part of his plan to bring them to 2007 to replace him.<br />I think the bomb simply didn't explode when Jack dropped it because he waited too long, or he was too late. Radzinsky had already drilled into the energy pocket, and that somehow caused interference when Jack dropped it. Juliet tried in her weakened state to detonate it, but the flash interfered.<br />There is no evidence to suggest the bomb did explode. Anything we saw in the "sideways", does not exist "in time".Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30892649.post-54043924029923578862010-07-02T11:15:31.169-04:002010-07-02T11:15:31.169-04:00Hmm . . . I think that the bomb did not go off, it...Hmm . . . I think that the bomb did not go off, it just created another time flash, and sent everyone flying. And since they were so close to the construction site, they were rendered unconscious.Gillian Whitfieldhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08776289103891165089noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30892649.post-3913971848559894862010-06-28T12:25:52.829-04:002010-06-28T12:25:52.829-04:00Well, I was out of town last week, and missed most...Well, I was out of town last week, and missed most of the discussion, but, um, what Benny said. :)Austin Gortonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14281239771248780430noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30892649.post-43687280444910686172010-06-27T05:40:42.161-04:002010-06-27T05:40:42.161-04:00"As for the Desmond failsafe... let me posit ..."As for the Desmond failsafe... let me posit this for fun! What if the bomb was detonated but its energy contained within the EM pocket? The Swan could be a containment station and the failsafe would have acted as a way to release the bomb's energy... just throwing it out there."<br /><br />I really like this because it pulls the elements together nicely.<br /><br />Dharma drills into an EM pocket causing uncontrollable "bleed" of that energy out with catastropic results. Juliette detonates Jughead which somehow staunches the EM "bleed" but the result is that the combined energy has to have a controlled release every 108 minutes which is way the Hatch and the button are designed. <br /><br />The button continues to be pushed because Dharma isn't sure what the result of releasing the energy will be. (turns out to be purple sky) Then after the Purge..the only Dharma members left are the two the gas couldn't reach. And they just keep pushing that button.LT McDihttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06760191794587989262noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30892649.post-60013328492572828852010-06-26T23:21:13.310-04:002010-06-26T23:21:13.310-04:00Blow up / didn't blow up... It's irreleva...Blow up / didn't blow up... It's irrelevant. You built up a fan base for a show that built a fan base that was interested in the twists and turns of the island and the characters on 815. The wrtiter really ignored that with the finale. I'm really surprised there isn't a huge amount of backlash. why did you watch this show all those years? because of what was going on on the island. In the end, all of it and the unanswered questions were glossed over and it was just a way to say the group bonded and are going to heaven together. all the millions of questions that didn't get answered is why the show lasted so long. and they were ignored in the end. I was very disappointed and we can debate things all day. but it's not in the show.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30892649.post-68025078241322016782010-06-26T12:56:25.775-04:002010-06-26T12:56:25.775-04:00LittleMo: No, don't worry at all! I didn't...LittleMo: No, don't worry at all! I didn't take that as criticism, just wanted to make sure everyone knew that I wouldn't change my method of writing on this book just because it's the last one. I've tried my hand at speculation, but it always seems to blow up in my face, so I do it my way instead and it works better. And makes me look less insane. (Well, just a tiny bit less insane.) ;) <br /><br />And yes, definitely check out Slaughterhouse-Five. When people ask me if there was one book above all others on the show that helped illuminate the theories, I point to that one. ;)Nikki Staffordhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04463618183850438914noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30892649.post-29260552278904319732010-06-26T12:08:32.305-04:002010-06-26T12:08:32.305-04:00Hey Nikki - thanks for such a long and comprehensi...Hey Nikki - thanks for such a long and comprehensive reply . You have made my day by reading it all and then taking the time to give a full answer. It wasn't meant to be an attack or lesson in any way - maybe just some helpful tips - that were unnecessary.<br />So..........<br />HUGE APOLOGY - I'm sorry. I wasnt' meaning to criticise your or your books in any way. I do in fact have them all (about Lost) and have read them all, but its a while ago now and the memory fades. I do remember them having great discussions of all points of view in - now I think back !!<br />Yes - I'll put slaughterhouse five on my reading list !<br />It was just the very black and white question you asked of - did the bomb go off yes or not with a very black or white answer (yes or no) - led me down the blind alley of thinking that maybe you were going to start to be black and white with things yourself and try to give definitive answers now that it has all finished. I'll know better next time !! :-)<br />And I'm looking forward to the book even more now. <br /><br />Also thanks for the long answer about purgatory and parallel lives etc. I did understand it and it has helped me to understand about that whole sideways thing - so thanks for that too. <br /><br />So now I just look forward to your next question and a lively debate about it. Keep 'em coming and keep up with the good work - we know you can deliver :-)LittleMonoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30892649.post-75778734048731619772010-06-26T10:33:50.793-04:002010-06-26T10:33:50.793-04:00Hey Nikki -- I have to admit that I don't have...Hey Nikki -- I have to admit that I don't have any professional training in bombs, or anything like that, but I seem to remember that in Season 5 when Jack and Sayid into the underground tunnels with Richard and Eloise to get to Jughead, that Sayid said they didn't need to rake the whole bomb, just the detonator. My distinctly inexpert understanding is that the detonator is a small device the starts the nuclear reaction, and that the rest o the bomb is the plutonium or other fuel that creates the really big boom ... but I could be wrong! I'll have to go back and watch that scene.Erichttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06314376712900733054noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30892649.post-90104781846911513312010-06-26T09:36:59.574-04:002010-06-26T09:36:59.574-04:00LittleMo: Nikki maybe that is an approach to your ...LittleMo: <i>Nikki maybe that is an approach to your book. Don't try to give us right and wrong answers. Give us the alternatives and the points for and against them - and then let us make up our own mind. <br />If you try to be to conclusive and state that a certain thing is right well - you run the risk of being wrong and you may alienate a lot of people and go against the intentions of Damon and Carlton</i> <br /><br />If you've read any of my books you'll know this is exactly the approach I've taken in every one of the books I've written. Rarely do I say, "THIS is what happened and that's that" but instead I've always left things wide open to interpretation, giving people the questions they should be asking and helping them along by giving them the tools to come up with their own interpretations. <br /><br />Since that's also the approach I've always taken on the blog, and the day after the finale I offered several different readings of the last 15 minutes to help people reach their own conclusions (and once again wrote this very post on the bomb in the form of a question) I'm surprised someone is giving me this as advice, when it's been my method of writing for the past 12 years. ;) <br /><br />Re: purgatory: we only saw what happened after he got on the plane, so it doesn't necessarily mean he didn't go and do all of those things, but that we were just privy to watching those few crucial days that mean the most to us. Another possible explanation is that he was given all of those memories as if he'd lived it already, but didn't have to go through the actual 35 years or whatever it took him to get there. <br /><br />And also, Christian says that time doesn't exist there. So that means everything is happening at once, in a sense. I know that doesn't make a lot of sense, but if you read Slaughterhouse-Five it might make more sense (a book referenced in S4; I outline it in my S4 guide). The idea is that all of time is happening at once. You could be 25 right now, but somewhere you are also 12 and 8 and 5 and still experiencing all of the experiences you had at those ages at the same time, but your primary consciousness is in the 25-year-old body. In "The Constant," Desmond's consciousness jumps between those two ages. They are happening and are always happening, but typically his consciousness is simply rooted in the one that is moving forward. It's a shock to his system when it breaks out and revisits a time from his past, erasing all of the future memories to make it more realistic time jump. <br /><br />That probably didn't explain it very well (I'll do a better job in the book) but that's another possibility for why time seems so fluid in the SW. <br /><br />The Lost Goose: I don't see it as controversy as much as a disagreement, but the reason the disagreement exists is simply because we all have different backgrounds and are interpreting the moment the way that best suits us, which is the way Darlton have set up the show to be watched. So as you can see from the comments, some people feel vehemently that that bomb actually did go off, and others that it didn't. I thought it didn't, but after reading this thread I'm convinced it did. :)Nikki Staffordhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04463618183850438914noreply@blogger.com