Top 5 Burning Questions coming out of Star Wars: The Force Awakens

Last night most of the civilized world saw the premiere of Star Wars, Episode VII: The Force Awakens.  Rather than do a review, I would like to pose my list of my Top 5 Burning Questions that were left after the end of the movie.





Obviously, massive *** SPOILERS ***






1) Who is Rey, and where does she come from?  To me, it seemed during the movie she would be revealed to be either Han and Leia's daughter, or Luke's daughter.  I think the chances of her being Han and Leia's are pretty slim now, but there's still the possibility of Luke.  From the intense Force-flashbacks she had after touching the lightsaber, to her quick-learned fighting ability, this would seem to be a logical possibility.  But daughter by whom?  Or is she a completely independent person who happens to be Force-sensitive, and will likely be part of Luke's new Jedi order.

But the other half to this question is why was she on Jakku?  She apparently was either stolen or left there at a young age, with a promise that someone would be back for her.  Who was it?  And why was that promise or mission so strong she felt so compelled to return there time and time again?  What is her purpose in the greater story?


2) What happened to Kylo Ren to turn him to the Dark Side?  All we really know is he was Han and Leia's son, Luke tried to train him, he turned to the Dark Side and Luke ran away.  There's a huge untold story there, and I'm not sure how much we'll be told in detail (at least within the framework of the actual trilogy).  He seemed very young to have risen to such a position in the First Order, and immature as well.  Obviously he has a volatile temper and is easily provoked.  What components of his character led him to reject his parents and mentor so utterly and go down a path that would lead to Han's murder?

The other half of this question is what exactly happened to Han and Leia that they split up, and were estranged from each other?  Was it Kylo's betrayal that caused their rift, or was it the reverse - their disagreements led to Kylo's feelings of abandonment and anger?  Now that Han is gone we may never get the full story, and I'm not sure of Leia's involvement in the ongoing story.  The answer to this question is likely a key aspect to Kylo's character so I believe it must eventually be addressed.


3) Who is Supreme Leader Snoke?  What is he?   Is he a Force-sensitive as it was hinted?  Where did he come from, how did he get to be Supreme Leader of the First Order?  Is he a Sith Lord, and Kylo is his apprentice?  Or is he something completely different that will be introduced into the mythology?  Does he really look like the creature that was in the hologram, or is there someone else "behind the curtain"?

Another part of this, is what exactly does "First Order" mean?  It's such an arbitrary phrase I think it has to refer to something specific.  How did it come to power on the ashes of the Empire?  I would guess there will eventually be books and other supplemental material to address this, but I hope they don't leave it so ambiguous in the next movies that it becomes a mystery that won't be solved.  How did it become so powerful that it could build a "Death Planet" without the New Republic even knowing about it until it was operational?  How much of the galaxy does it control?  How much does the New Republic control?  And if the New Republic is the legitimate government, why are their defenders called The Resistance?  Typically Resistance is synonymous with Rebellion, and the Rebel Alliance was "resisting" the established Empire. Why is The Resistance resisting an outside force?


4) How did Han and Chewie really lose the Falcon?  I know there was a story how it was stolen by this guy, and that guy, and that guy, and eventually ended up on Jakku.  But depending on what connection Rey is to the larger mythology, that can't be a coincidence.  I think it was left deliberately there on Jakku for her to eventually use to escape.  But it seems hard to believe Han and Chewie would abandon their beloved ship without good reason.

For that matter, how did they happen to be near the Jakku system just at the moment Rey and Finn needed rescuing?  I think Han mentioned something about this in the movie, but it seemed a very convenient explanation.

Again, what happened between Han and Leia to cause his self-imposed exile for so many years, going back to smuggling apparently but without the Falcon?  Hopefully this story isn't what it seems at face value.


5) Why is Luke really in exile?   What happened during the process of beginning to train a new Order of Jedi Knights?  Where are these other trainees?  Did Kylo kill them, similar to how Anakin and the Emperor purged the Jedi Knights, or have the scattered to the winds?  It seems out of Luke's character to run away and hide.  I get the feeling there is a lot more to this story than simple shame and guilt that would drive our heroic Jedi to flee.  If so, why leave behind parts of a map with R2 and Lor San Tekka/Poe Damaron/BB-8 that would help the Resistance find him?  I think his disappearance is part of a much larger plan that he has put together to either bring down the First Order, recover Kylo Ren to the Light Side, or train Rey in the ways of the Force.  Or there may be, and I hope this is the case, a stronger cause to create a new Order of Jedi that is nothing like what was there before.

Oh, and who was Max Von Sydow's character Lor San Tekka, and what was his connection to Luke?  He was there for so short a time to deliver the map portion to Poe we don't know anything about him.  He obviously had some kind of history, but he's dead so who knows if his character will be referred to again.  Why is Poe Damaron such a good pilot?  Is he Force-Sensitive as well?  His convenient disappearance/reappearance seemed very pat - there seems to be more to his story.   And while we're at it, how was Finn such a good lightsaber fighter out of the gate, without even knowing anything about the weapon?  And how was he so lucky, and able to break his conditioning?  Are they all Force-sensitives?



Those are my five burning questions (ok, with lots of corollaries).  What do you think?

LOST AGAIN (S2E1) Series Re-Watch - Season 2, Episode 1, "Man of Science, Man of Faith"

Day 44

The first eye-opener of the second season is Desmond, in the hatch, although we don't know who he is yet.

And Hurley mentions his Chicken Shack gets hit by a meteor. Or rather, meteorite. It sounds like a non sequitur what he mentions it, but we actually see it happen in a later episode flashback.

The conflicts and rivalry between Jack and Locke that defined itself in the previous episode really puts itself into action here. Jack is a man of science, medicine, and logic. Locke trusts in faith, fate, and the island to tell him what he needs to do. This division more or less defines the rest of the series, as far as these two are concerned. At various times they divide the survivors into two camps, each following one or the other of them.

The theme of miraculous healing works on and off the island. Even years before the crash, Jacob was watching Jack and manipulating 

LOST AGAIN (S1E24) Series Re-Watch - Season 1, Episode 24, "Exodus, Pt.2"

Day 44

This weeks eye-opening is a baby. A baby? What kind of baby? A baby baby!

Sorry, let me start over.

This weeks eye-opening is a baby. Which baby? Looks like little turnip-head, although he's actually already awake and fussy.

Not counting the brief glimpse at the end of last week's episode, we see the Black Rock here for the first time. Of course, it's the centuries old slave ship that brought Richard Alpert to the island during a tsunami, crashing through the statute. We'll actually see the remnants of that statue for the first time later this episode. The Black Rock is the scene of many of the series pivotal moments, including the death of Locke's father and the flashback to one of the first appearances of the Man in Black.

"You've got some Arnzt on you." Best line of the series.

Danielle Rousseau's baby was taken from her 16 years ago. She nearly lost her sanity in the time since. When Claire is left behind on the island, and Kate takes her baby home, Claire nearly loses her mind as well.

We see Michael trying to get his mother to take care of Walt for him when they return to the States. Michael's mother will end up taking care of Walt after Michael is lost on the freighter.

It's worth commenting on how interesting it is to see the other stars of the show pass it and out of each others lives at the airport, waiting on the plane. None of them know each other at the time, but will come to know each other intimately starting a few short hours from then. It's interesting to think about the anonymous people that pass in and out of our lives every day. But for a few different circumstances, those people could be one's friends, enemies, or even lovers. We know the Candidates and the rest of the passengers were brought together for a specific purpose, but it's still true.

Sun's conversation with Shannon about whether they were on the island because they were being punished is one that is brought up many times by other characters. That idea fueled many fan theories about the island being a form of Purgatory.

For all the "bad luck" obstacles life, fate, or the Man in Black threw in Hurleys way, any one of them could have kept him off Oceanic 815. But he overcame them all and eventually became the one fated to take Jacob's place. In fact, nothing sums it up better than when Hurley says, "Please, for the love of all that's good and holy in the world, let me on this plane." Hurley is good and holy. Thus, the island.

Locke's story about why they were all brought together to the island is basically absolutely correct. He doesn't know about Jacob for the Man in Black, specifically, so he believes the island itself is responsible, but it's basically the same thing. The concept that the island demanded a sacrifice in Boone may not be incorrect in the abstract. If you consider Jacob and the Man in Black both to be two halves of the island's identity. Jacob chose to protect certain candidates, in the Man in Black decided to take one that was unprotected. Of course, Locke was an unwitting dupe in his plans.

LOST AGAIN (S1E23) Series Re-Watch - Season 1, Episode 23, "Exodus, Pt.1"

Day 44

It's interesting when you think about it, Walt really has very little time that he spends with Michael before they're separated. A week or so in Sydney, and a month+ on the island. And then he was captured from the raft. After they escape there's time, but not before then.

The excavated outside of the hatch area looks very much like it did in the past, in Dharma times, when the hatch was actually being constructed.

The scene where Sawyer tells Jack about his encounter with his father is probably the closest the two of them ever get on the series. There's always a mutual respect, in some ways, although of course they're never close. Their rivalry over Kate and both characters' general stubbornness keeps them from being close allies. But it's good to know and see Sawyer has a bit of a heart.

Michael has a line he says to Jin, "No, this one goes here, that one goes there." This is a memorable line Han Solo says to Chewbacca in "The Empire Strikes Back." Only Star Wars geeks would probably get the reference, but there you go.

I never quite understood The Man in Black/Smoke Monster's reason for causing such commotion when moving through the jungle. It wasn't a large creature like he was pretending to be, so why the theatrics? Scare tactics? Intimidation? Probably, but after a while the effect is lost when you never see it. And intimidation and fear weren't quite what he wanted - just death.

Dr. Arzt had a chance to save himself when he left the group to return to the beach. The smoke monster chased him back, but in light of what eventually happens to him, he probably would have rather taken his chances.

The launching of the raft is one of the most triumphant moments certainly of this series, and of any series I've ever seen. The music especially is gorgeous. Knowing what happens to the raft and the people on it tempers the moment with heartbreak.

LOST AGAIN (S1E22) Series Re-Watch - Season 1, Episode 22, "Born to Run"

Day 43

Charlie tells Kate that when they are eventually rescued, they'll all be famous. He's actually correct. The six survivors are called the Oceanic Six. Only Charlie is not one of them.

I want senses when Locke touches his arm that they are trying to open the hatch. He mysteriously warns Locke against doing so. We know Jacob and the Man in Black control the actions of various people on the island, dead or alive. Whether one of them is controlling Walt, giving him special insight, or something else is never quite clear. It's also not quite clear why either one of them would not want the survivors getting into the hatch at all.

LOST AGAIN (S1E21) Series Re-Watch - Season 1, Episode 21, "The Greater Good"

LOST was a revolutionary television show that aired on ABC from 2004-2010. Utilizing unique storytelling techniques, an extensive mythology and capitilizing on the burgeoning social media scene to boost popularity, the LOST experience can now be viewed as a whole. I will be attempting to re-watch the entire series episode by episode, and will comment on each episode in terms of the complete story - foreshadowing, recurring motifs and character growth. I hope you enjoy the commentary and watch along with me.

Day 42

Walt is concerned about sharks attacking them while they're on the raft. There actually is a shark lurking nearby with the Dharma symbol tattooed on its fin.

Shannon holds Locke at gunpoint in the rain in the middle of the jungle, and fires the gun. Only a few episodes into the second season she herself will be shot by Ana Lucia, in the rain, in the jungle. Ana Lucia herself will be shot several episodes after that.

LOST AGAIN (S1E20) Series Re-Watch - Season 1, Episode 20, "Do No Harm"

Day 41-42

Kate being the one to deliver Claire's baby is full of subtext and foreshadowing. Kate eventually raises Claire's bab when they get off the island.

The same of Claire's delivery is also the moment that one of the candidates witness again as they travel around in time. I am ashamed to say I don't remember which one but I think it may be Jin.

Jack angrily tells Sun, "Don't tell me what I can't do." This echoes Locke's mantra. It's not unusual to see Jack and Locke exhibiting the same degree of stubbornness, but it's usually not so on the nose.

Jack's wedding to Sarah it's one of the very few times his father actually gave him decent advice.

Little Aaron was born about the same moment that Boone died. There were no references later on in the series about any connection between the two, but it would have been interesting. If Shannon hadn't died, they might've thought about it.

Jack learns about letting go in this episode, but I'm not sure if either he didn't learn it well enough or needed this experience to fully let go at the end of the series. I think it's the latter.

LOST AGAIN (S1E19) Series Re-Watch - Season 1, Episode 19, "Deus Ex Machina"

Day 39-41

Locke's concept of faith is greatly examined in this episode. The dichotomy between faith and science is another one of those basic building blocks of the whole series. Locke trusts that a higher power gave him back the use of his legs, and the power is somehow tied to the island. He has no rational basis for this assumption, save that his legs do work and there is no rational explanation. When his faith is tested by his failure to open the hatch, he begins to lose feeling in his legs.

There are several moments in Locke's flashbacks over the first couple of seasons where we are teased into thinking that particular incident is what caused him to originally lose the use of his legs. Getting hit by a car is the first of these teases.

We find out much later that Locke's mothers belief in John's special nature is due partly to Richard Alpert's intervention when Locke was a child. Alpert was extremely long lived and was directed by Jacob to visit Locke in his childhood to determine if he was a candidate.

Locke's vision of the Beechcraft airplane crashing in the jungle was of course a real event on the island. They stumble upon the wreckage of the old plane in the next episode The plane itself was carrying Mr. Eko's brother and a load of drugs and crashed on the island several years prior. We will meet Mr. Eko next season.

It's kind of a shame we never got a flashback from Boone of his nanny, Theresa. But Boone doesn't last much longer anyway. So we never get to see exactly how she falls up the stairs. Too bad.

Locke's father turns out to be the "Sawyer" that our Sawyer is searching for, who brought about the death of his parents. This may be the most toxic cross-character relationship on the show.

Boone again says "we got to go back" when trying to help Locke walk.

Anthony Cooper tells Locke, "See you on the other side, son." This is fairly similar to Desmond's farewell to Jack, "see you in another life, brother." At first I thought it might be significant, but it's such a common phrase it probably is not.

The subplot about Sawyer needing glasses kind of slipped my mind, mostly because once he gets the glasses they don't last that long. He doesn't wear them very much in the future. But then, there's not as much time to sit and read so it would make sense.

Though Locke and Boone don't realize it, they and the Beechcraft or very close to another hatch: the Pearl station. It will be discovered a couple seasons later.

Boone makes contact with Bernard and the Tailies over the plane's radio. In an episode next season, we'll see Bernard receive Boone's transmission in a flashback. At the time, I remember wondering if there was some sort of parallel universe/time travel involved and they were talking to themselves. I guess they were in a way. 

Locke's life to this point has been a pattern of faith and betrayal, faith and betrayal. It's amazing that he's kept at it. But eventually his fate will be rewarded when he sees the light in the hatch.

LOST AGAIN (S1E18) Series Re-Watch - Season 1, Episode 18, "Numbers"

Day 35-36

The significance of The Numbers are too widespread to even begin to list here. Their overall meaning is the numbers of each of The Candidates, as we will find out much, much, much later in the series.

I'm not sure living out the rest of his life as a demigod on the island is exactly the luckiest thing to happen to anyone, But I think Hurley probably ended up with the best deal of all the passengers all he wanted to do was help people with the money that he won, and with the island's powers he ended up doing just that.

Our first glimpse of the mental institution where Hurley spent so much time is in this episode. We see his "friend" Dave that he hallucinates later on the island. Who is not seen is Libby, who is later revealed to have also been a patient at the institution. In fact, her character had not even been invented yet.

LOST AGAIN (S1E17) Series Re-Watch - Season 1, Episode 17, "...In Translation"

Day 32-33

This weeks eye-opener is Jin, although he isn't waking up, he's just staring out at the ocean.

Sun and Jin are probably the characters that change the most from the beginning to the end of the series. There almost unrecognizable in the first season.

Big cross-character flashback: we see Hurley on TV in Korea. It goes quickly so you have to be sure to see it. We know now that it's reporting his winning the lottery – apparently it's big news even overseas.

We also see where Jin got the dog that he gives later to Sun. It was a gift from the Korean secretary to Mr. Paik.

Sawyer and Jin would become pretty close in their time working for Dharma together. Of course in the beginning of the series it's not uncommon to see a number of relationships go up and down. They would settle down into familiar patterns as the series went on.

There's an interesting parallel that I didn't see in this episode before. Maybe I'm just dense. Sun intervened by slapping Michael when Jin would have done much worse to him. Similarly, Jin intervenes by merely beating up the Secretary when the hitman would have killed him.

Wait, wait, wait, wait, wait... Did Michael just fist bump Walt? Was that a thing in 2004? Hey, maybe you're getting old when you're not even close to sure when fads actually started.

Walt's question to Locke about whether his father was cool, is so full of ironic subtext that we'll find out later, it's not even funny. It's like asking a survivor of the Titanic, "So, was the ship nice?"

Poor Hurley. Everybody's got a girl but him. But at least he has his tunes. Until the CD player dies. At least eventually Libby will show up. But then she dies. Poor Hurley.

One of the main, most obvious running themes of LOST is the concept of characters having daddy issues. Jin is the only character we've seen so far who has a positive relationship with his father. Does no one else in the LOST universe grow up to be like their father? And while were on the subject, I feel the show lost an opportunity when it was revealed Jacob and the Man in Black actually had mommy issues. Maybe the rewatch will shed a different light on this, but it feels like the show needed to be brought full-circle by showing them having issues with a father.

LOST AGAIN (S1E16) Series Re-Watch - Season 1, Episode 16, "Outlaws"

Day 29-30-31

This week's eye-opener is young Sawyer. In his flashback. In Knoxville! I wonder what part of town the Ford family lives there. I'm just going to say, here, he lives in Fountain City. Because maybe me and Sawyer were buddies in elementary school and I just don't remember it.

"It'll come back around" is the phrase the jungle whispers keep saying. As I said in a previous entry, we know The Others are watching the castaways. But I seriously don't recall what the whispers meant and why they were whispering. Maybe it will become apparent again.

Do you know this about just occurs to me. Only three or four weeks have passed since the series started, and this is the 16th episode. Each episode we pretty much see all the cast members in different clothing. I know this isn't Gilligans Island, and they don't have an infinite supply of clothing. And I do know that they do wash their clothes quite often. But it seems to me, even with the ripening after a few days, if it were me I would probably wear the same clothes several days in a row before changing. I mean, what's the purpose? So what if you wear the same shorts and T-shirt three days straight on a desert island? There's probably three or four other people that will smell worse than you anyway.

I never understand "I Never." And I never played it in college. I played Pool of Radiance, Ultima IV, and D&D. Does that count?

It would've been interesting if Locke's story about his sister had included something about his father. It would've made Sawyer's conflict about killing the wrong man very ironic. Sawyer killed the man he mistakenly believed was responsible for his parents' death, when it was actually was Locke's father.

In the light of how Christian Shepherd ends up bringing Jack back into the light, and how much he pops up in the other castaways flashbacks and past lives, It would've been interesting to see him play even more of a role in the past. A very firm connector between all the castaways (or a large number of them ). Their "constant."

Claire is obviously pregnant with a manatee.

Sawyer jokingly calls Jack, "sheriff." Which is ironic because a few years later - in the past - sawyer will become sheriff of the Dharma station.

The whole with about the Red Sox never winning the series comes back around a couple seasons later when Ben shows Jack video of the Red Sox doing just that.

LOST AGAIN (S1E15) Series Re-Watch - Season 1, Episode 15, "Homecoming"

Day 27-28-29

it's funny, the episode' very first image is Charlie waking up as they bring Claire back into camp, but it's not an eye-opener scene. Funny that they would skip a perfect opportunity.

Amnesia – the most popular trope there is.

Ethan's casual cruelty and his seemingly superhuman strength… Are they products of his and The Others' affiliation with Jacob and/or the Man in Black?

Sometimes it's hard to tell whether the character' actually experiencing a memory, when we see a flashback during the episode, or if it's just insight into the past of the character. This is one of the rare instances we actually see the character (Charlie) react to the flashback that has just played. Specifically, Charlie remembers getting sick while trying to demonstrate the copy machine. He then reacts in disgust to the memory in the present. That doesn't seem to happen very often.

LOST AGAIN (S1E14) Series Re-Watch - Season 1, Episode 14, "Special"

LOST was a revolutionary television show that aired on ABC from 2004-2010. Utilizing unique storytelling techniques, an extensive mythology and capitilizing on the burgeoning social media scene to boost popularity, the LOST experience can now be viewed as a whole. I will be attempting to re-watch the entire series episode by episode, and will comment on each episode in terms of the complete story - foreshadowing, recurring motifs and character growth. I hope you enjoy the commentary and watch along with me.

Day 26-27

The next eye-opening is Michael, calling for Walt.

Locke tells want to respect his father. Very ironic, knowing the kind of relationship Locke has with his own father, as we find out later.

Michael is more of a jerk than I remember him being. This goes beyond inexperienced parenting, it's a real character flaw. At this point, knowing what he will do in the future to betray his fellow passengers, including killing some of them, he seems at this point much less sympathetic, even though he did it to ensure Walt's safety.

If Walt did actually cause that bird to fly against the window and kill itself in the flashback, is it possible he somehow also willed his mother to take Ill and die? Not on purpose, of course, but subconsciously because… I don't know. But it seems an interesting coincidence. Walt's "abilities" are never fully explained in the series.

LOST AGAIN (S1E13) Series Re-Watch - Season 1, Episode 13, "Hearts and Minds"

Day 24

Our next eye-opener is Boone, on the beach, spying on Sayid and Shannon.

The first major character flashback crossover is Sawyer appearing in Boone's flashback, in the Australian police station. Most of these crossovers involves supporting characters, and are more subtle, although this one is hard to miss.

When LOST first aired, the Boone/Shannon relationship was very odd. They were brother/sister, but there was a faint romantic undertone to their interactions. I have to say, on re-watch, I don't see it as much. Knowing they are not blood related, it may just be too difficult to have set that aside. But in fact I really didn't see much tension between them at all at this point. Maybe it was just in everyone's head.

Sayid's malfunctioning compass gives us our first hint of the island's special electromagnetic properties. We will see you eventually it's strong enough to bring down the plane and move through space and time.

I understand most of Locke's wilderness survival training was learned in preparation for his walkabout, but I wonder where in his Webelo manual he learned to make hallucinogenic healing salve.

I totally bought into Boons hallucination the first time I saw this. I really thought Shannon was dead. Sometimes I'm slow about these things.

Boone and Shannon's relationship was a lot more complex than I remember it being. I'm glad, I really only remember it being dysfunctional. Seeing it play out again makes it kind of tragic. I feel a little better towards their characters than I did before.

LOST AGAIN (S1E12) Series Re-Watch - Season 1, Episode 12, "Whatever the Case May Be"

Day 21-22

The waterfall pond makes its first appearance. We of course see you again much later as the location the Ajira 316 survivors appear.

The shows most indecipherable pairing starts here: Shannon and Sayid. 11 years later and I still can't figure it out.

I can't help but think the scene with Sawyer trying to break into the suitcase by slamming it on a rock reminds me of that commercial with the gorilla I think it may have been intentional.

That "fish movie" made with "computers," of course, is "Finding Nemo." Which, ironically, occurs a good bit in Sydney, Australia.

LOST AGAIN (S1E10) Series Re-Watch - Season 1, Episode 10, "Raised By Another"

DAY 15-16

This week's eye-opening opening is Claire in a dream. There's some interesting foreshadowing of Locke with jet black eyes. The smoke monster will consume him eventually.

Claire's psychic warns that she must be the one to raise the baby, and it must not be raised by anyone else. And that danger surrounds the baby. Of course Kate is the one to raise the baby, until he's three years old. Claire is left behind on the island by herself for three years. Little Aaron seem to turn out OK. The psychic's prediction, while certainly there was danger surrounding the baby, really turned out to not be true in the specific.

Clara mentions her dad when talking to the prospective adoptive parents in her flashback. It seems like a throwaway line, but she's referring to Christian Shepherd. Sometimes these little facts just jump out at you when you least expect them.

This is the first of the flashbacks that the characters explicitly refer to in present time. Claire tells Charlie about the psychic they discuss whether he was accurate or not. It's also the first flashback to have a semi-direct connection to the show's mythology, at least it seemed to at the time.

I think they missed an opportunity when they didn't introduce Ethan earlier in the season. We saw a glimpse of him last episode, And some dialogue with him earlier in this episode. It would've been fun if they've made you think he was a semi regular, like Rose.

LOST AGAIN (S1E9) Series Re-Watch - Season 1, Episode 9, "Solitary"

DAY 12-13

Sayid's discovery of the metal cable buried in the sand is the first indication of some sort of technology on the island. We find out later that it is the power cable supplying the Looking Glass Dharma station that's underwater.

We meet our first two island residents in this episode. Danielle Rousseau has been on the island since her science expedition crash here 16 years ago. Ethan Rom is also an island resident, but is posing as a survivor. Supposedly he is been amongst the group from the beginning, although we haven't actually seen him until now.

Danielle mentions a number of details from her past, including her husband, Robert and her daughter, Alex. We meet Alex before too much longer, but the rest of the details are fleshed out in flashback much later. We actually meet Robert and see the music box before it was broken.

I have to say that Mira Furlin has such amazing poise and dignity in her carriage. I loved her on Babylon 5 and she does a great job playing Danielle Rousseau here as well. I need to remember to find and watch other things that she's been in.

We also learned of the presence of The Others on the island. Both in the past and in the present. Danielle believes they carried a sickness that caused the rest of her science team to go insane and die.

We also hear the first reference to the Black Rock, which we will see is actually the ship that carried Richard Alpert to the island and washed up in a tidal wave. For many episodes we think the Black Rock is exactly that, a black rock.

The writing on the back of Nadia's photograph says, "You'll find me in the next life, if not in this one." This is very similar to Desmond's farewell to Jack, "See you in another life, brother." The concept of life, afterlife, and other lives beyond these plays out until even the finale.

I'm not sure we ever found out exactly what The Others were whispering about. And why they were whispering in the first place. We know they were watching the crash survivors at a distance. But I'm not sure the whispers ever became particularly relevant in the grand scheme of things.

LOST AGAIN (S1E8) Series Re-Watch - Season 1, Episode 8, "Confidence Man"

LOST was a revolutionary television show that aired on ABC from 2004-2010. Utilizing unique storytelling techniques, an extensive mythology and capitilizing on the burgeoning social media scene to boost popularity, the LOST experience can now be viewed as a whole. I will be attempting to re-watch the entire series episode by episode, and will comment on each episode in terms of the complete story - foreshadowing, recurring motifs and character growth. I hope you enjoy the commentary and watch along with me.

DAY 9-10

Here's something that happens often in movies and TV shows where someone is knocked out by a blow to the head. When they try to tell someone what happened, they always seem to be able to remember right up to the point they got hit. Seems like I recall hearing that blows to the head often call short-term memory loss. But Sayid remembers everything. Ah, TV.

Sawyers letter makes it seem he is the one that the letter was written to, possibly by the son of the woman in the flashback. We know he is the boy who wrote the letter, and took the name Sawyer from the man who caused his own father to kill his mother and then himself. And that the older Sawyer is actually Locke's father. That little triangle and the steps that are taken to resolve our Sawyer's quest are one of the most interesting in the early part of the series.

Nice continuity – when Jack takes a swing at Sawyer, he holds his shoulder in pain. The one that was dislocated in the previous episode. I also noticed Michael limping in the previous episode, a result of where he was gored by the boar in the episode previous to that. You don't get that kind of continuity on The Love Boat.

Jack and Sawyer's fistfight is the first of several throughout the series, culminating in an extremely bloody one in a later season.

Hurley's hero-worship of Jack brings us his first of many pop-culture references: "Jedi moment." Love it. When they find themselves back in Dharma times, Hurley is determined to pre-write "The Empire Strikes Back" for George Lucas. Too bad he didn't just try to rewrite "The Phantom Menace."

Everything became worthwhile when Kate, reading the envelope from Sawyer's letter, gives a big shout-out to Knoxville, Tennessee. I spent a good amount of time the next couple of seasons trying to pinpoint Sawyers brief live in Knoxville. I'll speak more of it as it happens later on.

LOST AGAIN (S1E7) Series Re-Watch - Season 1, Episode 7, "The Moth"

DAY 8

Kate, Jack, and Sawyer love triangle really starts up in this episode.

You know there's not much mythology or long-term character development in an episode, when it's about halfway through and you only written one line of commentary.  OK, I will say this. I wish all of us who have problems with determining their self-worth got an opportunity to prove it, As Charlie does rescuing Jack from the cave-in.

I do like that the creators of the show decided to acknowledge the fact that the survivors of the crash did so with minimal injuries. Which should have been completely impossible. And they know that. So we can move past it.

Scott and Steve make their first appearance. Or is that Steve and Scott?  There interchangeability is a running gag for several episodes. Until they die.

I don't think I realize this previous episode, but did they ever test the water in the cave to make sure it was pure before drinking it?

This online rewatch commentary isn't about reviews of the episodes, so I won't really talk much about it. Only that it was nice to have a straight episode to sit and watch without a lot of thought.

LOST AGAIN (S1E6) Series Re-Watch - Season 1, Episode 6, "House of the Rising Sun"

DAY 7

Fourth eye open: this time it's Sun. 

In the caves we see the two skeletons (Adam and Eve). Speculation on their identities raged for many seasons until we finally found out they are the Man in Black and his "mother." The black and white stones they find initially mirror the backgammon stones, but also symbolize the light and dark aspects of the Man in Black, Jacob, and their mother.

Charlie yells that he's allergic to bees, but is stung many times and suffers no apparent ill effects.

Sun's revelation that she can actually speak English was a big surprise. I didn't see that coming at all.

Charlie's guitar and guitar case are an early symbol of recurring motifs. Hurley must bring a guitar case with him on Ajira Flight 316 later in the series to complete the circle.

Watching the episodes in quick succession makes it easier to remember things that happened a few episodes back, especially since little time has passed on the island. Jack, in desperation, ask Kate what she did. She reminds him that he had the chance to find out already. That did happen a few episodes ago. If you watch the show with a week between episodes, you might not remember that. Or perhaps you might. Depends on how good your memory is.

One of the best parts of the series is seeing the passengers interact with each other and the rest of the crowd at the airport before my flight. Seeing parts of other characters flashbacks interwoven amongst their own is very cool. Eventually you hope to get a complete mosaic all that went on.

This split of the survivors into two camps, the beach and the caves, is foreshadowing of another, more contentious split later on. Right now the split is over logistics. The one later on is ideological: Jack against Locke.

Seems very odd for episode entitled, "House of the Rising Sun," to not include at least part of the song, "House of the Rising Sun." But we did get was Willie Nelson. Yeah, that makes perfect sense. And Hurley, why are you wasting the batteries on the Walkman?