Lost Is Smart and Hot: It's TV Heaven

I'm with Kate: Jack was so convincing on the stand, testifying on her behalf, that I almost believed he believed what he was saying. Crashed in the ocean? Only eight survivors? Jack was hurt badly? Kate saved all but two of them? So I spent much of the rest of the episode wondering whether the Oceanic Six had been brainwashed into accepting the cover-up story. But no: Kate and Jack's conversation at the end of the episode pretty much put the kibosh on that: they know that the official story is not the real story. That may be more insidious than the idea of them being brainwashed: what could possibly induce them to lie about their experience? Just a buttload of money in a settlement? How could they not talk about all the deep weirdness of the island?

Or here's another thought: What if the Oceanic Six only think what happened on the island is real? Maybe the official story is the real story, and the Six are sharing a fantasy of 40 some odd survivors and Others and Black Smoke and polar bears (maybe those memories have been implanted, for who-knows-what reason). Or what if the Six only think they've been rescued? What if what we've been seeing as flashforwards are merely dreams or delusions... or Desmond's visions of a possible future?

The book that Locke brings to Ben in the basement? It's Valis, by Philip K. Dick, which, the author's official site explains, is about "a coterie of religious seekers [who] explore the revelatory visions" of one man; it turns out God is a toddler and the visions are the product of an alien intelligence beaming things into people's heads. Sounds like as good an explanation to me for what's been going on here. Of course, the book -- the jacket of which is only visible if you freeze-frame -- could be a decoy joke on the part of the show; and Ben dismisses it, saying that he's read it already.

I tried to make out what book Sawyer was reading, but the first time it appears, it's too blurred to read, and the second time, Sawyer's bare chest is way too distracting, even on freeze-frame hi-def DVR -- perhaps especially on freeze-frame hi-def DVR.

But that's okay. A show that's literate, philosophical, and features hot guys who take their shirts off on a regular basis? The Lost team may have reassured us many times that the Oceanic survivors are definitely not in purgatory, but I'm in heaven.

P.S.: Actually, with a little futzing around on Amazon, I was able to figure out that Sawyer's book is The Invention of Morel by Adolfo Bioy Casares, which is set on a mysterious island and explores the nature of reality, like whether we can trust what we see is real. Hmmm...

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MaryAnn Johanson (email me)
reviews, reviews, reviews! at FlickFilosopher.com

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