NOTE: Due to the nature of the new video, along with other information revealed at Comic Con, the following does contain some mild-to-medium SPOILERS.
Way back in my very first article for "The Constant", I entertained the idea of some existing history between Daniel Faraday and the Dharma Initiative / Hanso Foundation. I figured if anyone would be interested in his groundbreaking research, the Dharma Initiative would be. Also, if you remember he lived with a caretaker, but we never learned exactly why. Some people guessed it had to do with his memory issues and that perhaps his mind had been completely fried from the experiments he was doing with conscious time-travel. But then there was that odd incident where he cried during footage of the "crashed" flight 815 on the ocean floor, and something told me he wasn't being cared for as much as he was being watched over.
Next, a great clue was given to us in the finale "There's No Place Like Home" revolving around Charlotte Lewis. We already knew of her familiarity with the Dharma Initiative through her encounter with the polar bear skeleton in Tunisia. But her story seems to only get deeper.
When she first landed from the helicopter, she hung upside-down over a small lake. After cutting herself free she plunged into the water and emerged with a giddiness that I instantly assumed was familiarity with her surroundings. Some people have told me I am reading too much into this, and that she was just happy to finally be loose from the tree. But I believe there is another layer to be uncovered here. In fact, the entire scene can be interpreted as a rebirth of sorts. I went into this in more detail in my article "Shine on You Crazy Island."
Later in the finale, Miles Straume cleverly hints to Charlotte that it might not be her first visit there. When she then asks Daniel, “Would it make any sense if I told you I was still looking for where I was born?”, it would seem only too obvious now that she does indeed have origins on the Island.
So at this point it would be natural to assume that both Daniel Faraday and Charlotte Staples Lewis both have some connection to the Island that we have yet to see completely revealed.
But now, what about Miles?
I've been wondering a lot of things about our "ghost-whisperer", especially after the brief exchange he had with Michael before boarding the Kahana in "Meet Kevin Johnson". It was hinted at that Miles can not only somehow commune with the dead, or send his consciousness through time, or hear events on the Island "played back" like a recording, but that he is also flat-out psychic. He even seemed to know something about Charlotte that she did not seem to know (or remember) herself. The first thing that came to mind once again was the Dharma Initiative and their research into paranormal and telepathic abilities. I speculated on a few forums that Mr. Straume was perhaps a product of Dharma...perhaps even one of the young minds that they shaped at some point or in some incarnation off the Island.
I also wondered why he was so perfectly calm and content with staying on the Island even after Dan's repeated warnings. It seemed to me it was as if he knew it was his place to go wherever the Island goes; as if he had Work to Do.
Enter the new Dharma video..."secretly" obtained from the Octagon Global Recruiting Booth at Comic Con.
Our favorite lab-coated scientist with various names from the various Orientation films finally reveals his real name, Pierre Cheng, and mentions that we should be seeing this message roughly 30 years in the future!
Here's the transcript of the video from Lostpedia:
Dr. Cheng: Hello. My name is Dr. Marvin Candle and I....you know what? Forget it. No point in games anymore, right? If you’re watching this now, you already know that my name is, my real name is Pierre Chang and I...
(baby cries off screen and Cheng looks over. He gets up from the couch)
Dr. Cheng: Jennifer! Just take him outside, please! I’ve got one chance at this.
(Chang sits back down.) [static]
Dr. Cheng: ...professor of theoretical astro-physics from Ann Arbor, Michigan. I was brought to this... [static] godforsaken island years ago to conduct experiments to study the Kerr metric solution to the Einstein field equation and... [static] If I can hold this pinhole open long enough, you should be receiving my message roughly thirty years [static] If you’re... [static] The American president is a man named George W. Bush and you share digital information instantaneously on something called "Internet". And, unfortunately, my colleagues and I are all dead and if [static], of a violent purge, one that we are apparently powerless to escape.
(Chang looks down sadly at his left arm, which looks normal, and grasps it with his right hand.)
Dr. Cheng: [static] This information comes to me from a source that has proven himself to be credible.
Other man 1: None of that matters. It doesn’t matter. Just get to it, please! [static]
Dr. Cheng: Because, if this transmission is successful, it’s proof the work I’ve been doing here is valid. This place, it has extraordinary properties. I’m begging you, no matter what’s happened, it’s imperative that the DHARMA Initiative be reconstituted. You have to continue to research [static] and you have to do it now. Time is not just of the essence, it is the essence. Perhaps you’ll be able to find a way to save us, to change the past and to [static] (something) You can’t let it....
Other man 2: This is useless! Alright? It’s just useless. They’ll never gonna see this. How do I turn this off?
Dr. Cheng: No, no! W-w-what are you doing?
Other man 2: How do you turn it off?
Dr. Cheng: No! What are you doing? [static]
Now, if you watch the version now offered on ABC.com, you might be able to recognize the two voices, "Other man 1" and "Other man 2", in the background of the video arguing with Dr. Cheng. Maybe I am just hearing things, but it sure sounds like the two men are Daniel Faraday and Miles Straume!
Here comes the crazy (a warning just in case some of you didn't already know I like to go a little "out there" with my ideas...)...
The Island was moved, and I think it's going to pop back up about 30 years ago to the time when the Dharma Initiative was active there, or even right around the time it was first discovered.
I know, I know, there are paradoxes to consider, and the producers have already vehemently stated that they are "anti-paradox". For instance, what would happen to the people who are on the Island in both times, such as Richard Alpert and the Others? To be honest I haven't quite figured that out yet, but I'm working on it.
However, there are definite reasons why I have come to this conclusion, besides the video from Dr. Cheng and the voices that sound like Miles and Daniel in the background.
1) Damon and Carlton said (I need to check the source but I think it was a podcast...) that season 5 will feature a lot more of the Dharma Initiative and their story.
2) At Comic Con we were told they don’t like to use the term "flashback" anymore...that they won’t be using that same device, but instead have a new way of telling the tale.
3) We were also told we would learn more about Richard Alpert in the "very near future" and Damon added "and that’s pun intended...the very near future..."
4) We were also told we will still get to see Danielle Rousseau's story...and that we will see her again in season 5.
5) I noticed Damon and Carlton were very specific not to say Rousseau's "backstory". So my question is this: How else are they going to tell this history of the Island without "flashbacks" without bringing the entire Island itself back in time?
6) Dr. Cheng says, "This information comes to me from a source that has proven himself to be credible", right after looking down at his left arm as if he is not looking forward to losing it. I am really starting to believe that Cheng learns of the Purge from whoever on the Island traveled back with it when Ben last turned the Frozen Donkey Wheel.
You know, people like Charlotte, Dan, and Miles. I think we are going to eventually see that video being made from the makers’ point of view, possibly even in this next season.
And one last dribble of crazy: I do think the baby crying in the background, the one Dr.Cheng asks to be taken outside, is also Miles Straume.
Is it possible that, if the Island did indeed travel back to the time he was still a baby, that this might also have something to do with his abilities to commune with the Island, and why he might also be perceived as being psychic?
I cannot wait to find out!!
a.N
*I write about LOST because I love the challenge of deciphering the clues and adding the pieces together. My thoughts are based solely on the show, the LOST Experience, and random research, as I try to avoid spoilers, promos, and even future episode titles. I love to guess what is going on, but I also like to do so in a way that leaves some of the conclusions still up to you. I do not know the answers and am often wrong. Whatever the truth turns out to be, it has been the journey that has meant the most to me.*
Awsome work Ana! I was thinking along the same line.
ReplyDeletethanks for not making me feel so crazy...
ReplyDeleteyou know, if what i think happens does indeed happen, i also wonder if this might be the reason for the magical changing picture frames ed posted about...
She's good
ReplyDelete@rbrog77 i'm flattered!
ReplyDeletebtw i SOOOO try to stay away from spoilers, but as i was reading a recent interview with R.Mader she said something to the effect that we found out she was born on the Island in season 4...so i was a bit happy-fied since it was hinted at but not said outright...
:)