"OLP Insight On The Snowglobe"

Thank you to TPTB!
During the last Official LOST Podcast before the S4 mini-break, TPTB gave an analogy during the Q&A, on the snowglobe and magic coordinates. Combining the snowglobe aspect with the critical bearings for getting through the magnetic/atmospheric field around the island, passing through the barrier can be compared to a de-orbiting spacecraft re-entering the earth's atmosphere to land.

On TV news coverage during one of the early US space missions, someone (probably newsman Jules Bergman or astronaut Wally Schirra) explained the re-entry situation like this: if the earth was the size of a basketball, the window for re-entry would be as small as the thickness of a piece of paper. I believe that this was also featured in the movie "Apollo 13". As TPTB said in the OLP, if the angle of attack upon re-entry is not within the window, you either come in too shallow and bounce off of the atmosphere into space, or you come in too steep and burn up. Although we still don't know the nature of this mysterious barrier, or what causes it, this is an interesting way to look at the critical nature of staying on course when exiting or entering the island's boundary. Especially after Dan showed such grave concern about Frank staying on course flying back to the freighter, and, the way Dez was bounced right back toward the island while trying to sail away from it.

I'm sure that everyone heard this on the OLP, but I just thought that it was a pretty neat illustration of the island conditions.

"Keamy's Tattoos"

Should we pay any attention to Keamy's skin art?
Sherlock Homegirl on the job again for you! These might just be the actor's personal tattoos and therefore they mean nothing to the show, but mean the world to him personally. Lord knows, at this point in the series (mid-season 4, with precious few episodes left to answer the important mysteries) we don't need another episode about flaky (skanky) tattoo shamans. So, to TPTB...if these mean nothing, ignore our queries! At any rate, in case they do have a part in the tale, here are some options. The art on his right arm looks like Native American symbols, which are easy enough to check out online. Here are some possibilities that I came up with. The sites where I got them are just a couple of the many available:

http://www.chichesterinc.com/TradingPostMaps.htm
http://www.kivatrading.com/symbol1.htm

I have not looked for a complete image of the left arm art yet. If anyone comes across one, let us know. I haven't found anything that could be a match, it looks like some kind of abstract human form but who knows, it could also be a barn swallow. :-)

UPDATE: 2costa over on the TLC blog found a great shot of the left arm art. By golly, it does look like a barn swallow! Still could be a stylized human graphic. 2costa also says that the actor had the bearclaw tattoo in another movie, so it could all be meaningless to this show. Whew!

"Hanso Or Not So? 4.08"

Who is Michael's roommate in the hospital?
There is already heated debate as to whether or not this is Old Man Hanso here. It's interesting that TPTB would linger a shot on a neighboring patient if it wasn't important, or at least the kind of "gotcha" easter-egg moment that LOST is known for. Some viewers think it looks like Hanso, and the naysayers are already getting upset about it for some reason.

I think that it could very possibly be the same actor. The brow, temples, hairline, nose bridge with downward slope, and nostril curve, are very similar to Ian Patrick Williams' features. I'm a portrait artist, so I'm good at matching subtle facial features at various angles. But the big "tell" here would be the ears. In forensic portrait science, the ears are just about as unique a feature on a person, as their fingerprints. And like fingerprints, the overall form of the ear cartilage does not change with age (they just get longer), so ears are an excellent body part for identifying missing persons after many years, etc.

The good news is, "Hospital Bed Man" has a very unique and definitive ridge down the edge of his ear from top to lobe, that can be seen clearly in the episode cap and that would make an ID very simple. The bad new is, I can't find any clear images of Mr. Williams' ears online! But I'm working on it. Here are some samples so far (the Sri Lanka film is useless BTW):

"What's Up Doc? 4.08"

Someone on the LOST team has got to be a Looney Toons fan!
I loved this scene, it was such an intense moment, that totally goofed on us by turning into a comedy! The old Bugs Bunny popgun trick...fools 'em every time. :-)

"The Island Made Me Do It 4.08"

What does it mean that the Island does or doesn't want people to do things?
And how does it manage to control people thousands of miles away? We've heard this many times up to now, but I don't think that we have ever heard it in such concrete, unambiguous conviction as we heard Tom say it in this episode. If TPTB are going to make the Island have a sentient consciousness, they are definitely headed for hard core Science Fiction territory -- a place where they said that they were not really going to go. Well, if they change their minds as they are writing the story, that's what creativity is all about. But the Island has had a personality since very early on, so it's been SciFi for a while now. S'OK with me. And the way Tom talked about the Island, made me visualize in my head some great giant evil eyeballs and smirk hovering over the Island. Which in turn, made me think of that original cover art for The Great Gatsby.

"Left Me Speechless! 4.08"

There's a sniper in the jungle?!
Boy, who expected Karl and Danielle to get shot?! I thought that Smokey was going to grab one of them, I did not expect the Lone Gunman to strike on the grassy knoll where they were taking a water break. Well, I guess that I can live without Karl even though I liked him, and he and Alex were cute together. But I don't want to say good-bye to Danielle if TPTB have killed her off! Hopefully, the Island will decide that she "has work to do", and will heal her up quickly. Wow, I really thought that Ben had sent them to be safe. Did he have them killed? Did someone from the Freighter Four kill them? Or...maybe it's someone that we haven't met yet? :-)

"Creepiest Moment 4.07"

Man overboard!
No biggie, I guess. It was weird enough that she jumped, but the way that everyone on deck just watched it happen was particularly disturbing. As if they were zombies. Maybe that's a part of the "heightened case of cabin fever"? The Captain seemed to have it all analyzed logically, but the deckhands looked more strung out. I was sorry to see her go so soon, we didn't get to know her much. Hopefully the Doc or the Captain will be more forthcoming about her personality and malady before the season is out.

"Best Buddy Scene 4.07"

An actual conversation!!!
This was an awesome scene, because we got something that we don't get much on LOST...a heart to heart dialogue between two people who like each other, that is useful to each character, and that doesn't turn into a non sequitur moment that jumps to another scene without completion to force drama. OK, so I like real scenes, with real people, who have something to say to each other. I'm a traditionalist, I guess. :-) Although I find it difficult to believe that Jin understood everything that Bernard was saying, heheh.

"Best Apology Ever 4.07"

"I brought dinner."
Jin really took to heart what Bernard said to him in the boat, and took even more from it than Bernard intended it to mean. That is to say, Bernard's character had no idea how deep his words really penetrated into Jin's heart and soul. Bernie meant it as a bonding moment to possibly help Jin feel better after the row with Sun that he happened to walk in on. But Jin knew how deep their problems went and applied Bernie's wise old words to his and Sun's entire history of emotional baggage. Maybe he was concerned about the Karma that Bernie mentioned, being passed on to his baby's fate and possible future complications? I think that Jin also deeply wanted to keep the fresh start that he and Sun had managed to find since they had worked things out on the island. He enjoyed the happiness that they had found, and he must have realized that it would serve no purpose to lose the peace and true love that they had finally attained together, for the sake of holding onto both of their past sins with the chains of grudges.

At any rate, TPTB wrote one of the most thoughtful and moving apologies and acts of forgiveness that I have ever seen on Prime Time TV in a long time. Not since gentle dad and husband Ward Cleaver, has there been a more mature act of accountability and mercy between a husband and his family shown on TV as far as I can remember (OK, there were some moments like that on The Brady Bunch). And in today's TV climate of characters blaming everyone else for their mistakes, it was pretty darn refreshing to see someone holding themselves accountable for their part in a broken relationship. This scene made me cry. It was a true moment of redemption for these island characters, and it was beautiful.

"Cried Like A Baby 4.07"

Incredibly moving scenes.
Well done TPTB, and also Yunjin Kim! And, the 10 babies who played little Ji Yeon. :-)

"And The Emmy Goes To...4.06"

Well, in a perfect world it would anyway, IMHO!

I'm glad that TOQ got Outstanding Supporting Actor in a drama last year, after being the hardest working man in television since 1980. But this is Michael Emerson's year, after "The Other Woman". Can he get any creepier? Probably.

"Creepiest Lies 4.06"

"I'm only going to be here six months".........."Right, of course!"
Oh yeah, they have a "history", Tom. Ew.

"...we're about to leave the island"........
Right, of course, in so many words, by Juliet.

"Funniest Line 4.06"

"What?!"
So what if I cold-cocked her in the head with the butt of my gun, she's a nosy pushy beetch and had no business asking what we were doing, let alone rifling through your bag, and she deserved it anyway for everything that she did before, and for what happened to Naomi, and for anything that she's sure to do to us in the future! I mean, this one word just said so much! :-D

"Creepiest Scene 4.06"

Stalker's Paradise.
From Ben's lovely Pottery Barn furnishings, to the Martha Stewart perfect dinner for two, this scene could not have been any more creepy unless Ben did a Red Skelton "Clem Kadiddlehopper" tweedly-jump as he was walking the ham from the oven to the table. Blech. Ben's behavior in the scene with Juliet and dead Goodwin are just as disturbing. Well done Powers That Be, and bravo Michael Emerson!

"Favorite Location Shot 4.06"

The Tempest!
The big payoff for those of us who peeked at the minor spoilers over the Hiatus. I knew that this logo wouldn't be the Orchid! :-)

"Favorite Jack-Face 4.06"

Pretty much no Jack-Face at all.
No anger, no grimace, no pouting, no yelling, no pursing of lips. Just a nice, mellow, nondescript, calm face for a change.