The Last Mile

So here we are at last, the final outing. Will it answer all of our questions? I doubt it, but it should answer more then a few.

First of all I have to apologise for my absence throughout most of this season. This season has been an unusual one, with the answers/new questions ratio finally tipping in favour of answers there has just been a whole lot less to debate and discuss and many of the pieces have fallen fairly neatly into place, pretty much where we expected (such as with Jack being the chosen one). However, I have really enjoyed this season and am looking forward to the finale, even though it means the end of an era.

At this stage we think we know a lot, but of course Lost is a show that likes to show us that we really know nothing. So what do I think we know? Well on the topic of Jacob, Adam (I’m going to refer to the current incarnation of the Smoke Monster as Adam as it’s the only name that character has ever been given), and the light:

• The island is older then Jacob and Adam, so it’s story pre-dates theirs and we are yet to see it (and it’s possible we won’t).
  

• The “Light” at the centre of the island is very important. Should it be destroyed it would be very bad for everyone. We don’t know why.
  

• Should someone go into the light they become a Smoke Monster and are tied to the island (presumably by the light).
  

• Being tied to the island inevitably leads a Smoke Monster to want to destroy the light and so the island needs a protector.
  

• While the island has a protector only they and people they allow can find the light. This is why Jacob needed a replacement and why the island needed a protector even before Adam became a Smoke Monster. It also seems Smoke Monsters can’t harm the protector or potential protectors (not sure how that one works).
  

• It seems very likely (given the ancient hieroglyphs) that Adam was not the first smoke monster. If that is so, then it seems it can be destroyed. Unless the non-Adam Smoke Monster was not sentient as such and could be controlled by the Protector (perhaps used to kill Adams camp). Perhaps the suggestion here is that it can be cleansed of the human spirit inhabiting it.

All that still leaves the big questions: When did all this start (the light, island and any proto-Smokeys) and how does it effect the outside world.

So how about how things will turn out on the island? Here are a few thoughts:

• It seems to me that Ben wanted to know what Widmore knew and the only way to reliably get that info was to have him die and get Miles to use his ability to get the info. He knows he couldn’t trust Widmore to tell him, nor could he trust Widmore to tell the truth to Adam or Adam to tell him the truth. If there is one thing Ben knows really well it is deception after all! This suggests why they spent time making sure Ben could get in contact with Miles via the walkies.
  

• Desmond is obviously key to both Widmore and Adam’s plans. He also seems to be key to what is going on with the sideways reality. So that suggests that the two are very much linked together themselves. Can Desmond be consciously active in both realities and working towards a goal tied in both?
  

• We’ve all no doubt noticed that for most of the Losties the sideways reality is significantly better then the Island reality. Most notably for all of the ones that are dead in the Island reality. But will it turn out to be a way for the Island reality guys to have a happy ending or is it some kind of Devils Paradise? It could just be a side effect of damaging the islands light by nuking near it’s source (perhaps suggesting that if the island is destroyed it would un-write all of time?), but then why all the action over there?

To be honest I do not have a firm theory for this conclusion and that is really the way I prefer it at this stage. It’s also important not to forget while all the mysteries are being answered that there will be a number of personal stories concluding in this episode. Despite all the complexities and puzzles of Lost is has always really been about the characters. For the most part their personal stories could be considered concluded already, but I think we can still expect more.

Anyway, that is all I have. Like everyone else I will just have to watch and find out. So to everyone, good luck and Namaste.

Carrie

"What happens if there are others like her? What happens to the world?"

Stephen King's novel Carrie has been seen many times in the Lost series. In A Tale of Two Cities, it's the book club book chosen by Juliet. In Not in Portland we see it on a nightstand in Juliet's sister's home. Also, Ben is reading it on One of Us, in a flashback, in preparation for the book club.

Some Key Points in Bullets:

• Carrie White is telekinetic.
• Who on the island is telekinetic? It seems Walt is, and maybe even Jacob or Ben.
• The novel purports that TK is genetic (p. 233) perhaps there is some sort of test for the gene, and this could be one of the things going on with the island.
• In the Room 23 V-cast we see a load of dead birds on the ground after something Walt has done. What if the birds smashing into walls and windows is only a side effect from what Walt is doing with his mind. Sort of like the town's people just "knowing" Carrie is behind what's going on.
• What if Jacob's cabin chaos is also a side effect of him using TK to try to communicate with Locke.
  
• Carrie makes the things in the town happen by picturing it in her mind. Could this be what happens in Room 23? The flashes on the screen allow the viewer to make things happen according to what the pictures suggest?

• Throughout the book, Carrie hears a constant inner voice. It drove her to practice her TK, it drove her to kill her mother, and it drove her to destroy her school and town.

• The town "knew" that Carrie was causing all of the things going on without anyone telling them or anyone really seeing her do it. It was like she was in their minds telling them what she was feeling and doing. It was like they were able to hear her inner dialogue in their minds.
  
• Could this be how Ben tells Harper what he wants her to do, or how he communicates with the others when he is captured?
• The book has a lot of blood in it. It's all stemmed from blood, from Carrie's first period , to pig's blood flowing over her at the prom, to the blood of the town that flows when she begins her reign of terror and destruction. Carrie's blossom into womanhood and with it her ability to become pregnant is the catalyst for all that happened in the story.
  
• Carrie's mother thinks that womanhood is dirty, conception is dirty, and as a matter of fact viewed her own pregnancy as terminal cancer before she knew better.
• To Carrie's mother, sex as painful, sinful, bad, and dirty.
• Ben feels that Alex (having sex) becoming pregnant would be catastrophic, as all pregnant women on the island die.
• We see Kate struggle with having sexual relations with Sawyer as she thinks she is pregnant.
  
• For the longest time Jin was very protective of Sun showing her body too much, as if it was sinful or shameful for a woman to do that.
  
• The Prom was to be a new start for Carrie. Almost everyone viewed her differently (like Roger Linus and his new start on the island?).
  
• The chaos in town was very reminiscent of the chaos in Jacob's cabin when he and Locke go there. Is Jacob like Carrie, and if so does he lose control of what he is able to do when he gets upset?
  

Losties Versus Carrie:

• Juliet- She proclaims that Carrie is her favorite book. Is this because she identifies with Carrie on some level?
  
• She was sent to the island as a new beginning. She was told by Ben that she was needed but was lied to about how long for, and also as to the circumstances of her stay. This is like Carrie, who was led to believe the prom would be wonderful, but was then subjected to pig's blood on her head and ridicule just like always, even though that was not what was intended.
  
• The kids at the prom sort of adopted a mob mentality and in their hysterics resorted to laughter at Carrie because that's what they had known in the past. Is this what Juliet being branded was all about? She was just a victim of what the inhabitants knew to be the thing to do in crisis?
• Walt- He seems to be telekinetic, and so was Carrie.
  
• Is this what makes him special, or does it make him an outcast. Is his "specialness" what makes his step-father wary of him.
  
• Is he unable to control the things that he is able to do (the birds), like Carrie was at the end of the book?

• Ben- Like Carrie, he is the sort of person that would invite ridicule if he were in the real world. One of those strange, maniacal people that no one really gets. I wonder if he didn't take over power and make everything "his", would one of the bodies in the pit have been him, rather than he being a huge cause of all the chaos that went on the day of the purge.
  
• In a way I wonder if the purge as an idea was fine for him, like Carrie making her mind stronger and practicing her TK (flex). As she got more upset though, it sort of got out of her control, until the chaos from the prom just really led to her destruction. It started happening and she just couldn't and wouldn't stop it. I wonder if the purge became like that? An ultimate revenge for Ben against his father that just sort of spiraled out of control, but he wouldn't and couldn't stop it.
• Jacob- Like Carrie, it seems that whoever or whatever Jacob is, he has some weird abilities that allow him to do the things that he can do. Is he telekinetic?
• He seems to cause all of the stuff in his cabin to fly around, and catch on fire. He makes his cabin hop around the island, and he can't be seen by everyone. I'm going on the idea here that it is indeed Jacob that is making all of this happen and not actually someone else like Locke or Ben (whether willingly or unknowingly by them).

Final Bullets:

• I sort of want to say Carrie White is telekinetic and so is Walt...the end. I want it to be as simple as that, but I also re-read this book before Season 4 began. We now know there is a heck of a lot more going on on that island than people being able to move things with their minds.
• What if it really is that simple though? Maybe Stephen King was onto something when he writes about TK being genetic. Maybe having the TK gene in combination with getting near the island, and being exposed to electromagnetism makes Desmond get unglued in time. Could this be what Ben is trying to get a handle on?
• Wiki has quite a lengthy entry on Psychokinesis (aka Telekinesis), and often lumps teleportation into the theme and term of TK.
• I'm also curious as to why this book in particular is Juliet's favorite. What about that story strikes a chord with her? Don't get me wrong, it's a great book, but in my experience for something to be your "favorite" you really need to identify with it on a deeper level.
  

Coming Soon: VALIS by Philip K. Dick

Taking Sides - Season Four Episodes 1-3

Well, it took a while but I'm finally talking about the new season! I think the overwhelming theme we have seen so far is that of taking sides. Whether it is within the Lostaways, or the larger faction of Bens Others and the mysterious group from the freighter. We have a very complex picture. There are many factions, sub-factions and pseudo-factions. it may all boil down to black rock/white rock or it may be something far more complex, we do not know.

So I thought I would take a moment to look at the various factions we have encountered through Lost and it's associated media.

But first I want to talk about an old friend of ours:

I have for a long time had a theory that the creators of the four toed statue and original inhabitants of the island are the missing ancient civilisation thought to have been from the antarctic. What am I talking about? Well have you heard about the Piri Reis Map? Well to cut a long story short, it's an old map that was copied from much older sources (some suggest these sources may have been found in the great library of Alexandria). This map is curious for the fact that it shows the coastline of the Antarctic. That is the coastline of the actual land and not the ice. The accuracy of which would only have been possible had it been charted some time before 4000bc when it was last clear of ice (note, this involved the shifting of the poles. A hot topic in various current theories). The theory is that there may have been a civilisation based there. This civilisation mysteriously disappeared.

Also I noticed on the wiki of it (which incidentally is a terrible Wiki, lots of opinions lacking citations), that it mentions the mythical island of "Antillia" is also on this map. The Wiki on Antillia was a real eyebrow raiser. Is this our island? Did this ancient civilisation end up there?

Okay so now that is out of the way let's take a look at the factions involved in Lost:

• The Original Others - They seem to refer to themselves as natives (although perhaps that is un interpreting things wrong, maybe the natives are the voices and are ghosts of the ancients, after all talking to the dead is part of the mythos now), while Dharma referred to them as the Hostiles, a word from the Latin word "Hostis", which means stranger/enemy. That could explain why Richard Alpert asked the young Ben "do you even know what that means". While Ben seems to have control of the Others these days, there are some that seem to be "traditionalists" and doubt Ben's leadership. Primary amongst these is Richard himself, despite the fact it was he who initiated Ben into the group.
  
  
• Ben's Others - Although there is some doubt within the others camp, on the whole the majority of them seem to be loyal to Ben and his agenda. Ben supposedly takes his orders from Jacob, but as he claims only he can communicate with him, it is hard to say how much direction actually comes from Jacob. I have wondered for a while if Jacobs list was actually inverted by Ben so as to avoid any threat to his power on the island. In theory the Losties are NOT on the list, but they seem to be connected to the island which suggests the list the Others have been using is incorrect. Whatever other factions are involved on the island it's pretty safe to say that Ben has an agenda of his own. He may technically answer to Jacob and/or other people, but in reality he is out for himself. What we know of his Agenda is that he had no love for Dharma and he is actively trying to dispose of whatever group was behind the Freighter (if the bracelet link in the S4E03 is to be believed)
  
  
• The Dharma Initiative - This it appears is no longer an active faction in itself. However Dharma has massive links with the island and their influence could still have repercussion. There is still a strong likelihood Dharma were behind the Black Smoke, the references to Cerberus on the blast door map point in this direction. It also seems there is a strong chance there is at least one more undiscovered (by the Losties at least) Dharma Station on the island, like "The Orchid". There may even be further Dharma survivors around or people with links to Dharma out for revenge for the mass murder of their comrades. It's also worth noting the numbers continue to come up and Dharma was all about the numbers. It is also worth noting that Alvar Hanso's knowledge of the island may have been the link point for several of the factions involvement. Magnus Hanso's Black Rock keeps coming up again and again and that can't be a co-incidence.
  
  
• The Hanso Foundation (under Mittlewerk) - It's important to note that at the time Lost is set, Thomas Mittlewerk does appear to be in control of the Hanso Foundation (seems he was since Alvar Hanso disappeared in 2002). The Foundation was also having dealings with Paik shortly after Jin and Suns wedding (we don't have date, but it is likely under Mittlewerk control at the time). If Pail was up to something with Mittlewerk then there could be repercussions on the island. Now, we all know it's unlikely Thomas Mittlewerk himself will appear, but we have seen the direction the Foundation has taken under his control and so there is a chance of some kind of New Hanso faction being involved directly or indirectly.
  
  
• The Widmore Group - This is a difficult one to look at. We have met Mr.Widmore and it is clear he is an ass. We also know Widmore as a company has links with the Hanso Foundation, Paik Heavy Industries and the Maxwell Group. It would be hard to consider that all co-incidence without something more to the group. The Maxwell Groups involvement in particular makes Widmore looks particularly shady. However, who's side they are on we do not know. The main people that appear to have a motive for the Freckage are the Others, so does that mean Widmore is working with the Others? At the same time there is a lot of theorising that they are behind the Freighter group, so perhaps they are playing both sides or it is such a big group that both sides are represented within.
  
  
• Penny Widmore - This is obviously just one person, however she has much of the resources of the Widmore Group and a lot of cash at her disposal. We know she has people out in the Arctic scanning for the island (or something anyway) and she must have been attempting to make contact when she spoke to Charlie. There are likely to be people working for her, but likely not a lot or on anything huge as she would want to keep bellow her fathers radar. The fact that she seemed to know something of the island, if not a lot, suggests again the Widmore Group is in this very deeply.
  
  
• Paik Heavy Industries - We don't know much about their involvement with everyone else, except that they are involved and they work is highly illegal (they seem to do a lot of knocking people off). I suspect we may get further clues to this when we find out who those watches Jin was given were meant for. We never saw who got the watch in Australia and we don't know who the other one was intended for in the US.
  
  
• The Maxwell Group - We know this group is likely directly behind the Freckage. We also know the Maxwell Group is a part of the Widmore Group. It was strongly suggested the Maxwell Group is interested in magnetism and especially the works of James Clerk Maxwell. If they did set up the freckage it seems very likely they know all about the Island. It is possible they are aligned with the others as this would certainly explain the freckage. It is unlikely they are aligned with Abaddon (unless they were set up just the same as poor Sam, perhaps Talbot new they were being set up and that is why he was so anti-Sam) as it doesn't seem to make sense to set up the freckage and then shortly after make a mission to the island to find Ben. However if they are working with the Others, that could have made Abaddon smell Bens involvement and hence get him out looking. The question is, if Maxwell is working for the Others, what does that mean for Widmore and it's other associates.
  UPDATE: It seems that Maxwell is totally non-cannon as is most of Find815. As John Lydon would say "Ever had the feeling you've been cheated?". Replace this with the mystery faction of whomever was actually behind the "Christiane 1" and it's mission.
  
  
• Matthew Abadons/The Freighter - This is a very curious group. They seem to be direct enemies of the Others, or at least of Bens. What set Abaddon off to try and get to the island at that particular time? Sure the Freckage was just found. But why would that make him suddenly try and get to Ben. It doesn't make any sense for his group to be behind the freckage and then randomly set up a mission to the island. More likely something about the Freckage set up gave away to them something about the island or Bens involvement and so that is why they launched the mission. The other thing we seem to know about this group is that Ben see's them as a very real threat. Ben could have wiped out the Losties easily but he didn't see them as a threat it that way, however he has Sayid going around hunting these guys down. Well... That is if you believe the bracelet link. I do... currently.
  
  
• Oceanic Air - Various theories have arisen over time about Oceanic Conspiracies. However as of yet we have no real facts that are anything other then an airline that just happen to be involved in the events of Lost. Personally I think even if they turn out to be more involved they will simply be directly under the wing of one of the other factions of the game. It is worth noting that even though Abaddon claimed to be a lawyer for Oceanic, he could produce the documents.
  
  
• The Time & Destiny people - Okay time travel seems quite likely these days (what with the Orchid video and all). When it was just Desmond it was hard to say if these people were merely part of Des' subconscious, but now it seems much more likely they are a real group. Did they actually meddle with Desmond's past? Was his conscious flashback actually what happened? Was the head monk in the monastery involved with this group? Are this group only involved with Des or have they manipulated the destinies of other people to get them to the island. I have wondered for a while if they messed with all the Losties destinies to get them to the island. perhaps they were behind the change of pilot for 815. On the other hand maybe those four newcomers were meant to be on the island themselves and someone or something stopped that destiny going as planned (which would suggest these people have an enemy).
  
  
• The Monster - What is the agenda of the black smoke? If it was created by Dharma does it have similar goals or did it go wrong? Did it start as a security system and then develop into something more sentient? It seems very judgemental of people and does not seem to be working with the others. Indeed the others seem just as in the dark with the Monster as the Losties. Lockes top question for Ben was about the Black Smoke, this seemed to take Ben by surprise. I think this secret will be fundamental to the story.
  
  
• Jacob - We don't know a lot about Jacob, who he is, what he is, or what his goals are. He could be a one of those ancients or he could be part of a Dharma experiment, he could be a anthropomorphic personification of the island or the Monster in another form. We do not know. However he is powerful and knows more then anyone it seems about the island. We have recently learned that his cabin seems to move around the island. We don't know if it always did, but if I read the expression on Bens face correctly when Locke couldn't find the cabin (he seemed a little smug, more then usual that is), he wasn't surprised at this turn of events. It reminds me of the movie Krull, where the castle of the villain moved location every day. Seems to me the ash circle may have been simply to mark one of Jacobs locations.

Okay that's it. It's a long one, but it's a good to have all this information in one place. There are so many elements involved in Lost now it's easy to be overwhelmed by it all. Anyway, I think my next posts will be down to a more sane length and more directly relating to the episodes.

The Wizard of Oz

No matter how dreary and gray our homes are, we people of flesh and blood would rather live there than in any other country, be it ever so beautiful. There is no place like home."

This, I am ashamed to say, is the first time I have ventured to read The Wizard of Oz, and not just look at the movie. It seems to be the theme of the summer; reading books I probably should have long before now! So, hooray for Lost and the book club, and new horizons.
I really liked this book, and can say that even though it didn't actually appear on the show, it certainly has a lot of ideas that are relevant. For reference I am using the book The Wizard of Oz~ L. Frank Baum (complete and unabridged) ISBN 0-812-52335-0. I'm going to look at a few key themes here: Comparisons to the Losties, Comparisons to Ben and the Others, and Comparisons to Jacob.

The Losties:
The first idea to look at is that any of the flight 815 survivors could be compared to Dorothy, as she literally came into Oz by falling from the sky.

• Her house crash landed and ended up killing a not-so-nice witch for which she is congratulated. Flight 815 didn't necessarily fall on top of anyone and rid the place of an evil, but there were certainly people aboard that probably had questionable morals, and were cleansed (for lack of a better word) of them by the crash. The survivors didn't have a house fall on them, but in their fall from the sky, something in them changed. We can see an examples of this in Kate, Charlie, and Eko (just to name a few).

• Kate, until the crash was really out for her own survival and took whoever was in her way down or got them killed. She is now very much worried about the well being of those around her (specifically Jack and Sawyer). Charlie, through the crash and island survival, was able to conquer his drug addiction. Eko was able to confront his brother, his past, and move out of the world not apologizing for anything, but being cleansed in a way by accepting his faults and knowing that he has not led a good life.

• On the flip side, the island seemed to make the bad side of others come out, like Ben, Locke (could be argued, but I think he's up to no good), and any of The Others really. Take your pick. While not technically bad people, since coming to the island they have been encouraged to do bad things in the name of science, and survival.

Ben and The Others:
The character of Ben is reflected throughout the book in several areas. Firstly, when we meet him on the island he calls himself Henry Gale and purports to have fallen onto the island in a hot air balloon. I'm pretty sure I don't need to delve into that much further as it's cut and dry right out of the book.

• Right in the story it mentions that the wizard can see all that goes on in the land of Oz. I thought that this particularly related to Ben as he sees all through his monitors and cameras.
• At one point in the story Dorthy is granted an audience with Oz because she has been marked by a kiss from the good witch. Are Ben and Locke somehow marked and that is why they are allowed to see Jacob? Perhaps killing your own father marks you in a way which allows you to meet and/or see Jacob?
• From chapter 11: "Everyone seemed happy and contented and prosperous." Ben has created a strange vibe in his version of Otherville. Almost like everyone is going through life with this illusion of happy. Carrying on with a book club, keeping a community. Even Jack, when he briefly joined Otherville was somewhat included in this with his infamous game of football.

Jacob:
The character of Oz pretty much screams Jacob. There are just blatant flat-out comparisons that can be made, and I think the easiest way to look at them is to just go ahead and list them:

• (p. 13) No one knows what Oz is, no one sees him. As far as we know, only Ben has seen Jacob, and now Locke as well.
• (p. 68) Oz never lets anyone come into his presence. It's the same with Jacob and the others.
• The actual Emerald City is all an illusion. Nothing there is really emerald colored, it's just an illusion put on by Oz when he makes everyone strap on green glasses. Otherville is also an illusion. Especially the rugged, ripped up clothes, tent city that we first think is Otherville.
• (p. 71) To those who are not honest, Oz appears terrible. Could honest translate to good? Perhaps that is where the whole good and bad lists come from in Lost. Only the "good" can see Jacob for what he is and not something terrible?
• (p. 120) Oz is a ventriloquist and can imitate bird and beast. Could this be where Smokey is coming from? The mind of Jacob, or some sort of projection (either from his mind or from a machine) that he controls?
• (p. 132) Oz can't go out because people will know that he has deceived them. Could this be why Jacob is holed up in a shack in the woods? Is Jacob the illusion, and the real controller is hiding, and afraid of being discovered?

Final Bullets:

• (p. 34) We meet the tin man and he tells the story of how he came to be made of metal. His story begins with the removal of his legs, which he replaces with tin ones. Eventually his whole body is replaced and he is left without a heart. This story reminded me of Locke and how his legs were repaired. Also, for Locke, it seems that the more he goes through the more jaded his heart becomes.
• (p. 80) Dorothy is told by Oz that she can go home if she kills the wicked witch. She becomes disheartened because she can't kill anything. I thought this also reflected the story of Locke and how in order to see what he wanted, he had to kill his father. He was also unable to and so was Dorothy. She only succeeded because she accidentally killed the witch. Lock was similar in that he just got someone to do the dirty work for him.
• (p. 96) Dorothy could have become a slave because she doesn't know the powers that she has (ie. the hat that calls the winged monkeys and the silver shoes). I thought this was very reflective of Walt, in that he seems to have extreme abilities but has no idea of this until the others take him and poke at him for a while.
• (p. 150) When Dorothy encounters the China Country she discovers that if she's not careful she will break everything there including the people. One little china woman says, when asked if they just couldn't be mended, "...but one is never so pretty after being mended you know." This really made me think about all of the Losties that have been mended in different ways, and really haven't been the same since. This is certainly not all of them but just a few that come to mind:
• Locke (legs)
• Jack (Kate stitched up his back)
• Sawyer (shot)
• Charlie (hanged/drowned)
• Ben (tumor removal)

Final Final Bullets :D :

• Each character in the story eventually got what they wanted because of Dorothy (Lion=courage, Tin Man=heart, Scarecrow=Brain, all of them ruled lands, even the munchkins got rid of the wicked witches). All if their desires were filled by this stranger that fell from the sky. I think that Ben is hoping, even though he fears the Losties a little, that all of his desires will be filled by the people that fell from the sky in flight 815.
• Throughout the story Dorothy just wants to go home. Even though home is very depressing, and not really that happy at all. Her entire journey is to leave this beautiful land where she could live like a queen if she wanted to and get back to dreary Kansas. Some of the Losties are reflective of this. Jack in particular, really hasn't got that much to go back to, yet his desire to return home seems to drive him into loads of trouble and sticky situations.

Next Month: Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking-Glass

Remember the Future.

Have you ever wondered what the deal is with the flashbacks? Sure there is speculation that they could be implanted memories or the black smoke monster extracting them. There is also the theory that they are just simple plot devices to move on character development and add to the general mystery of the show. Okay there is some truth in that last one. But is there more to them? I think maybe there is a lot more going on than it seems. I have a theory that ties the flashbacks and various other events on the island with the island's unusual properties and perhaps even the Valenzetti Equation. Consider the following:

• The Lostaways always seem to have relevant flashbacks to whatever is going on. One could easily presume that these flashbacks are memories triggered by events that are happening. But then think about the timing. Almost every time the flashbacks happen just before the event that could trigger them. Take the most recent one for instance. Charlie is thinking about his own "greatest hits" before Naomi mentions the album to him and before he was told that he had to die. Of course he may have been thinking on his mortality anyway. But is it a co-incidence that he thinks about learning to swim and seconds later he is told he is going to drown? Had this happened once you may call it a co-incidence, but this happens all the time.
  
  
• What about Desmond's precognitive ability? He sees "flashes" of things that are going to happen. What this establishes is two things, firstly that there is some kind of capability to see into the future within the show. Secondly it establishes Desmond's conception of it. Humans aren't really designed to deal with precognition, but like any sensory perception it is all about how we perceive it rather then what it actually is (consider for instance how different creatures perceive the visual appearance of the same things differently). Desmond sees flashes of the future. Perhaps it is a bit like dejavous, which may trigger memories from the past, but in Desmond's case it triggers some from the future. What if everyone on the island actually has some precognitive ability, while on the island. Like the island helps channel it. Desmond is now heavily in touch with it, but other people are only able to process the information in very basic ways. Triggering a more traditional sense of dejavous, where they can only conceive future events based on their own past experience.
  
  
• A lot of people have speculated that "Jacob" looked a lot like Locke. Considering that we were seeing him from Locke's perspective, what did we really see? Locke saw someone that looked like himself and heard a voice saying "help me" just after that he was shot by Ben and said those exact words (although quoting Jacob, which creates a strange paradox in that theory). What if Ben also sees someone that represents himself in that hut? Perhaps what Jacob really is, is the center of the islands precognitive influence. People see themselves in Jacob and through that image they can view the future, but only if they are truly sensitive to it. That makes you wonder what Desmond would see in that hut!
  
  
• How does Ben stay one step ahead of the Losties so often? Perhaps that is via Jacobs hut too. If he see's the future there then he would be able to manipulate events to suite himself. Which interestingly could be why the island is turning on him. Perhaps the reason that Lockes father ended up on the Island was because Ben saw his car crash when visiting Jacob and sent some of his operatives out to pick him up. That way Ben can say the island/Locke brought him to the island and go on about magic boxes, where as in reality he just knew when an unfortunate event would happen and be there to take advantage of it. Perhaps he also saw Juliets ex being hit by a bus and so knew that Alpert would be able to recruit her. It could also be that Juliet has some natural precognitive skills too.
  
  
• The whole purpose of the Dharma Initiative was based on the concept of being able to predict the end of the world. While the Lost Experience may not intertwine heavily with the Lost show but we cannot ignore this very important fact. For a start it again emphasizes that it is possible to see into the future in the Lost world. In this case it's a mathematical equation. This brings up two important questions. The first is did Dharma set up on the island because of these unusual precognitive effects? Perhaps they thought it would be a good way to find a back door to changing those core values.
  
  
• The second question about Dharma is sort of the reverse. But ties into the apparent effect that the dead seem to have on the island. We have heard things that sound like the voices of the dead and we have seen Smokey take the form of the dead on a regular basis. What if the deaths of so many of the Dharma Initiative on the island, and apparently close to Jacobs hut too, had an effect on the islands "mentality" (or something similar). Even ignoring the deaths, what if having so many alive on the island at one time that were investigating the future and trying to change it had an effect on the development of the strange properties of the island.
  
  
• We have heard that the show will be based on scientific possibility rather the outright fantasy (with Smokey perhaps the sole exception). So where does precognition fit in? Well read this article (Credit to Ange on that one). It seems that it is entirely within the character of the show.
  
  
• The subconscious manipulation of oneself based on knowledge not consciously available to you, could perhaps be the answer to why the Lostaways all ended up on that plane with people they are deeply tied to but are not consciously aware of. Perhaps they are all coming to the island for an event they have seen in their subconscious but are totally oblivious to.
  
  
• The article linked to above quotes something from Through the Looking Glass by Lewis Carroll. The Red Queen says, "It is a poor sort of memory that only works backwards." That is an interesting quote in many ways and made me think about Chaos Theory. In Chaos theory even a small event can cause massive repercussions. A good example is the lazy blacksmith not fitting a new shoe to a horse. The horse is unable to take a kings messenger to a point in a battle in time to give vital directions. Thus, a whole kingdom falls. Just because of a lazy blacksmith. So what if this can work in the other direction too? One event that is yet to happen leads out from the center of a massive web. This event causes repercussions through everyone's pasts that work when viewed in a forward direction. A series of intertwining events pushing people towards a central point. That links in with the subconscious influence. Everyone is actually aware of it yet they are not conscious of it. Could this be mathematically plotted? The whole concept is mind blowing and the big question is, can you avoid the "cause" if you are already suffering the "effect"?

So there you have it. To finish, I leave you with a quote:

"I believe that we can 'sense' the future, we just haven't yet established the mechanism allowing it to happen." - Nobel Prizewinning physicist Brian Josephson.