Sunday, February 8, 2009

LOST: Skeleton Key

Fans have expressed doubts about LOST, concerning the big picture the writers have in mind. The plot of the show is so complicated, many suspect that the writers are simply winging it. The suspicion is that they are weaving together a myriad of subplots, hoping to pull a rabbit out of a hat by the time they reach the seventh and final season.

Damon Lindelof and Carlton Cuse (the primary writers) have assured us that they have always known what they were doing. As proof, they offer Adam and Eve.

In Season One, when Jack leads half of the survivors inland to a source of fresh water, they find two skeletons that have obviously been there for some time. One is male and one is female. Somebody then makes the comment along the lines of, “Looks like we have our own Adam an Eve.”

Lindelof and Cuse claim that when LOST is finished and all the loose ends are tied up, they will be able to point back to this “Adam and Eve” detail as proof they knew what they were doing the whole time. This of course means that this particular bit of the story is extremely significant. This also seems to suggest that anything undeniably connected with it is also extremely significant. So here are some considerations.

As a figurative Adam and Eve, they are possibly the “beginning.” If the Others are truly indigenous to the island, then Adam and Eve might be their ancestors.

It might also be assumed that they are a couple and not just a random partnership brought about by chance. If this is the case, then I have another theory about this skeletal pair. The writers have often set up surprising connections among their characters. This has resulted in multiple occasions in which characters resurface either literally or in some spiritual or hallucinatory fashion. The time anomalies on the island have provided the means to ignore chronological progression. So here’s my theory: Adam and Eve are a male and female character that we have already met. At some point toward the end of LOST, they will be transported back before any of this began. We will see them set out living their days on the island, knowing they will ultimately finish their lives there.

My first choice was Desmond and Penny. Now, I think it might be Jack and Kate or even Sawyer and Kate. Or maybe even Charlie and Claire. Whatever the combo, I am convinced we already know them.

One detail that is closely associated with the skeletons is a small pouch found on them containing two small stones—one black and one white. I think it is safe to assume that these are also unavoidably significant to the story as a whole. It follows then that all other aspects of the plot paralleling the stones will also be significant.

Several times, the black/white theme has appeared in various episodes. Locke and Walter played backgammon. So did Walter and Hurley. In the mental hospital, Hurley played chess. What all this means, I have no clue, but I will be keeping my eyes peeled for anything along these lines.

When the show is completely over, the skeletons will be the key to the final solution. So, ironically enough, Adam and Eve will not only be representative of the Beginning, but also of the End.

1 comment:

Abbie said...

I agree that we probably already know them or else they wouldn't seem very significant to us. The only thing I can't figure out is how that would prove they knew what they were doing from the beginning. Even now they could pick a random twosome and make it work so that somehow they were around at that point in time on the island for one reason or another. I don't know- I guess we'll find out soon enough.