Friday, August 8, 2008

"Thoughts On The Tunnels"

Ever since we learned of the possibility of subterranean passageways on the island, we've wondered how the DI could have created all the miles of conduits through the volcanic island rock, in the short time since they landed on the island. But after seeing Ben turn the FDW, I'm starting to think now that most of the tunnels were dug out by the ancient islanders and the DI was able to add onto the existing tunnels, with offshoots to their buried stations. A few of the points in the show that make me think this way are:

1) The limited amount of time the DIs had to dig these tunnels. It seems as if they were mostly ready as soon as the stations were finished. The DI would have to be careful drilling around underground, in case there were still any "live" lava veins in the area. Wouldn't it be dangerous to be drilling everywhere quickly without careful and cautious geological exploration of a small volcanic island ahead of time?

2) We saw the ancient looking construction and glyphs in the cave/tunnel where Ben called on Smokey, and into where he had to crawl to get to the FDW. So some sub-structures were there before the DI arrived and set up shop.

3) If there were ancient inhabitants, there's a volcano, and they could have known about any empty dead lava tubes to use for tunnels. This could have assisted them in creating the vast system of conduits without modern technology -- unless they had some kind of Alien/Atlantean equipment to use of course (j/k, sort of). Otherwise, they could have just taken their time and primitively dug their way around over the course of many decades or centuries, since it looks like someone's been on the island for a very long time.

4) The Others/Hostiles seemed to pop up in the most obscure (from the stations and barracks) positions when they began to take the 815ers in the first two seasons. Why would the DI bother to scrape out tunnels in remote areas of the jungle and beach that weren't connected with their stations or experiments? The remote surprise access probably also aided the Hostiles in their attacks on the DI.

So, it looks as though there could have been a pre-existing tunnel system left from the early days of the island. After the DI arrived, the stations then could have been considered according to where the main tunnels were, allowing them to easily create new linking passages for the stations. Radzinsky's map may also show where the DI attempted to cut off access from their stations' tunnels to the Hostiles' tunnels after trouble started. Chances are, the DI never got to finish exploring all the subterranean tubes within the island before their situation began to deteriorate.

31 comments:

lost2010 said...

Good points.

Capcom said...

Tx. :-)

I should have added in the last paragraph that chances are, we won't get to explore the tunnels further in the short time that we have left either.

Wayne Allen Sallee said...

You never know, Capcom. The depisode where Ben first arrives with his dad gave us a heck of a lot of info. Juliet always seems to know more about things, e.g., The Tempest, than she's telling. A flashback with her might shed some light, but my money would be on a Richard Alpert (or even a Widmore/Hanso) flashback. That video where people are saying where its Faraday filming 30 years in the past? Could very well be, it always looks like he is flipping BACKWARDS in his journal for things like the Orchid diagram or the note about Desmond.

Uh-oh. Mad Men and X-Files icons. And me with my same old Frankenstein icon.

Wayne Allen Sallee said...

PS I don't know what a "depisode" is. Maybe I've created a new word, like an in depth episode. Or *sigh* an episode with Johnny Depp...

Wayne Allen Sallee said...

PS I don't know what a "depisode" is. Maybe I've created a new word, like an in depth episode. Or *sigh* an episode with Johnny Depp...

Capcom said...

Yes, but we need lots more info on the ancients, dangitt. I wish TPTB would get on with that already. They've thrown us enough bones, now we need some meat! And wahtever happened to that spoiler of the photo of dinosaur bones? Maybe that was actually a planted foiler. :-(

Capcom said...

BTW, you did change your avi recently Wayne! And I'm changing mine again soon, that X-Files movie was depressing. :-(

Wayne Allen Sallee said...

Capcom, I meant EVERY avatar photo has Frankenstein if its me in the photo, ha ha. I don't know about the spoiler you mentioned, I mean I'm not aware of it. Could it have been related to the excavation on Hydra Island?

Capcom said...

Nooooooo, Wayne! I think that you're very photogenic. In fact, I have an idea for a drawing with you in it, but I can't start it for a while till after I finish up a couple other projects...that transcribing job for my old church, for one.

That spoiler photo came out in between S3 & 4 last summer. All the other photos that got leaked with it appeared on the show and were fulfilled in some way, but not that one. Check it out here:

http://spoilerslost.blogspot.com/2007/10/new-station-and-dinosaurs.html

Some people figured that it was just another set for a movie location that was in the same vacinity as the LOST locations.

Wayne Allen Sallee said...

I do recall mention of the bones now that I've seen the link, I've just never seen the photos. I recall someone mention the Tempest logo. I do also recall a few people saying that those props left over from Jurassic Park. Myself, I can't imagine a set of bones that big appearing on the show, the reveal would be more subtle, like the Tunisian polar bear.

Capcom said...

I'll tell you the scene I would like to see...Hurley and maybe Sawyer running from something, not watching where they are going, and plowing smack into the pile of giant bones falling all over them. "Sonnovva....!"

**BOOM** -- LOST logo!

:-)

Unknown said...

My guess is Smokey made those tunnels.

Capcom said...

That's an interesting thought! Like he crashed down all the trees, etc., he also plowed around underground? I like it. :-)

Maybe Smokey is one of those old volcano gods.

Wayne Allen Sallee said...

One way of looking at it, Capcom, is like when the smoke monster was going to pull Locke through one of the "vents." Food for thought, but if the smoke monster was around for centuries, as an earth elemental and then harnessed as Cereberus or the security system, maybe burrowing all those years made the tunnels bigger and bigger, and in a few cases, e.g., the Orchid's FDW room, deeper and deeper. I think the tunnels will need to be explained (you were thinking maybe not) because, along with the statue and the temple, I think that the smoke monster will eventually be explained.

Wayne Allen Sallee said...
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Capcom said...

Put it this way...I'm hoping it will be explained, but not getting my hopes up about it. At this point there are a lot of serious mysteries that the explanations for are going to just go down the drain as unanswered, by the time season 6 is over. :-(

Yes, I really also like the idea of Smokey boring holes in the island. :-D

lost2010 said...

There is at least a miniscule chance that Christian took Claire on an underground tour of the island and explained the mysteries to her. . .miniscule. . .but a chance.

Wayne Allen Sallee said...

Also, this thought brings up Miles. He was the one who saw Claire leave, but he didn't know, or admit he knew, who Christian was. Miles might have an idea about the Island's past, but don't forget about Charlotte's past, either. A joint Miles/Charlotte flashback might be revealing in many ways.

I do think that, unlike, say THE X-FILES, who banked on a big budget film after the series ended, that the producers and writers have the pacing down good enough now to finish the show with as few holes as possible. We can only hope, right?

Capcom said...

I like that idea, Lost2010!

And a Miles/Charlotte FB would be great Wayne. Two little kids smacking each other on the playground, if we can judge by their current personalities. :o)

The X-Files waited to damm long for that post-series movie IMO, but I guess that you can't plan around lawsuits with the network. :-p Too bad that the first movie wasn't the one that was just released.

pgtbeauregard said...

Good thinking about the tunnels - I bet smokey does move through them, but I'm with you, I think Richard's people built them.

Maybe the next time the wheel is moved, they will go back in time to the original inhabitants of the island, and Jack will wake up in a loin cloth lol

Capcom said...

Hi PGT! LOL!

I'm really craving for some ancient-people action soon, I hope that we get some.

pgtbeauregard said...

Hi Capcom,

Bet we will see some ancient action.

Re the tunnels, do you think Ben and Juliet went underground all the way to the ? from othersville (I refuse to call it new otherton).

Capcom said...

Well I never thought about that, but it makes sense. And didn't they leave via a more lateral exit than the hatch above? I think so. Good call. Probably whomever left the cigarette butt in the Pearl previously may have left by that way too.

BTW, your avi is cute. :-)

Wayne Allen Sallee said...

I tend to think so because Paolo never heard them descending the stairs. Of course, they were in bare feet and wearing the brown, dirty clothing (for some reason), but even with barefeet I assume there'd be echoes. (They could have taken their shoes off because the door at ground level was open, they blamed Tom). Then again, there'd be echoes just by being in the bathroom. What I've always questioned is why there was not some type of Dharma vehicle to shuttle people around unless there is too much rubble down there from the Incident. Or, in the days before the Purge, only a certain amount of people knew of the tunnels because of the heiroglyphs (at least at the entrance from Ben's place).

Wayne Allen Sallee said...
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
Wayne Allen Sallee said...

Sure enough, Capcom, another damn double post. Delete one and blame Comcast for me.

Capcom said...

Heehee, done. Comcast is a little too efficient, heheh.

Hey, they should have had a shuttle like the Krell in "Forbidden Planet". :o) I guess one could say that the Krell were the ultimate DHARMA Initiative!

Wayne Allen Sallee said...

True, Capcom. FB was based on Shakespeare's THE TEMPEST which in itself was centered around an island. I double-posted on EYE M SICK, too; I don't see my entry and am afraid to lose it if I type a long one, then it freaking double-posts. Ah, well. And, as you said, Ben and Juliet did seem to just be making a turn and not ready to climb. Also, I forgot that the Nikki/Paulo episode jumped all over the place; B&J might have been playing Others elsewhere on the Island in that particular time frame, hence the clothing.

Capcom said...

Yes, I find that fascinating about FP/Tempest. And, Gene Rodenberry apparently got much of his inspiration for Star Trek from FP. The similarities between the captains and other characters are easy to see. :-)

pgtbeauregard said...

Thanks Capcom,

That's my 180 lb great dane named PGT Beauregard. He loves to hang out in the den and watch Lost with me!! :)

Capcom said...

Awwwww. :-)