More DeGroot Rumors
If you are following spoilers, you probably already know about some news involving a certain dynamic duo of LOST mythology. Well, I’ve been forwarded a few more rumblings concerning said spoiler that suggest we will NOT be seeing said duo in the setting which we expected.
If this rumor is not true, then it should be. Essentially, what is being said is that the DeGroot flashback is not a ‘Dharma’ flashback in as much that it will cover what happened when Dharma arrived on the island. In fact, if the rumor is true, this episode will confuse matters even further by suggesting that Dharma may have been aware of the island’s special properties before even arriving there.
Maybe for you this isn’t confusing at all. Opinion seems split on whether or not Dharma knew what they were getting themselves into when they went to the island. Dr. Marvin Candle’s introduction to the formation of the bucolic compound never mentioned floating smoke monsters, or four toed statues amongst its attractions. As someone who likes to ‘play with the cards in my hand’, I always assumed Dharma discovered the island mysteries much the way our 815′rs did. Although, Marvin baby did mention the unique magnetic fluctuations.
This all comes about through a rendezvous between the younger DeGroot’s and a character of Dharma mythology we all know very well.
How do I rank the veracity of this info? On a scale of 1 to 10, it’s a 5. This same source told me about the Dharma bus before it appeared anywhere else in print. Therefore, I have no doubt he/she/it saw something that supports these ideas.
In a way, I hate this rumor because it evokes a lot of the theories that evolved from ‘The LOST Experience’, and I have a serious aversion to the concept of game mythology being canon to show mythology. (Even after Cuse and Lindelof themselves told me that there is some connection. I am just hard headed like that.)
On the other hand, one island mystery bugs me, and probably you, to this day. Why can some people go to the island anytime they want, while others cannot? Why does Ben consider it unreachable from the outside world when Oceanic 815, Desmond, The Black Rock, and Henry Gale, to name a few, seem to just randomly stumble upon it? If this rumor is true, there is a possibility we might finally get an answer to that question.
Now, one possibility is that this flashback episode is going to cover a wide expanse of time, so it may not mean that we will not see Dharma in later segments of the episode, ala ‘Expose’ or ‘The Other 48 Days’.
The rumor of a Dharma flashback episode has been kicking around since last season and with the overwhelmingly positive fan reaction to the prospect of such an episode it is hard to imagine the LOST producers will not seize the opportunity to deliver a guaranteed home run.
Yeah. Maybe.
Comment by Charlie Lesoine — April 6, 2007 @ 8:04 am
I stumbled upon a 14th century Dutch preacher / thinker / philosopher named Geert Groote or in English Gerard Groot, and posted some tequila induced midnight ramblings about him on the speculation forum here:
http://forums.buddytv.com/lost-speculation/7098-gerald-degroot-gerard-groot.html
anyway, Doc, you might want to peruse the life and times of good ol Gerard Groot, also refered to as Gerard DeGroot, because I’ve got to believe the Lost character Gerald DeGroot was named that for a purpose, just like so many other have been named after famous philosophers. Just another layer to the mythology perhaps?
Comment by Da Great — April 6, 2007 @ 8:33 am
I never write on these boards. Honestly all i do is read because i love when people come up with stuff! its great.
but i ABSOLUTELY HATE when people give stupid comments -like get a life.
i completly totally cosign with release! you tell em’.
Comment by MO — April 6, 2007 @ 10:39 am
This would be cool.
Comment by lostfanboy16 — April 6, 2007 @ 10:53 am
Thanks for the rumor. I think it’s cool.
I agree with release and MO as well.
The people who write snarky comments are ungrateful. They come to this free board and enjoy the news that DocArzt posts here then have the balls to complain about it.
I’m going to do a Hurley here and vote some folks off the island for being ungrateful and rude guests, LOL.
And what ever happened to manners? A better post would have been, “I do not understand what you wrote, could you please explain?”
Oy.
DocArzt you rock.
Comment by Matt — April 6, 2007 @ 11:42 am
I wonder if Locke is being taken to meet the De Groots?
One or both. During that episode, we see their flashback.
I wonder if at some point Dharma was taken over by people with a more military slant and the more hippie Others decided to purge them.
Can I jump on the (but I’m an idiot) bandwagon?
Just Kidding no offense intended.
Comment by blackrockbob — April 6, 2007 @ 11:50 am
I’m like MO, I never really post on these boards, but enjoy reading your stuff Doc. This is probably my favorite lost website/blog.
About the flashback, it is definitely long awaited. Why Ben saying things like “God can’t see this island any better” combined with Hanso and friends supposedly stumbling upon it has been a mystery to me for a while. Seeing this possibly explained I think will be great.
I hope next week gives me a little more information. I’m all good with the compelling story of Nikki and Paulo being buried alive, or of Kate and Juliet battling it out in the jungle, but I hope next week gives me a little more “kathump” brain-wise. Hope you know what I mean.
~overcast
Comment by overcast — April 6, 2007 @ 12:41 pm
Let me preface this by saying that I enjoy this website, and the information about Lost that I get from it, but I find myself getting frustrated and confused by the quality of writing.
I do appreciate the efforts being made to improve the quality of the posts and information, but the writing sometimes makes it difficult to clearly understand what information is being expressed.
This site really could use a proofreader, or at least another set of eyeballs to look things over before they are posted. If you were to submit this post to a high-school writing teacher, it would come back covered in red ink. I know that spelling, grammar and style are largely ignored on the internet, but I have to re-read sentences to figure out what they mean. If you have to write “Am I saying that correctly? Probably not. Let me try again,” halfway through the post, you might as well start over from scratch.
And in response to some other comments I’ve seen above: I don’t consider this to be rude. It’s criticism. I want this site to be better because I enjoy the subject matter.
Comment by Ben — April 6, 2007 @ 1:23 pm
Ben, I think you hit it spot on. I don’t think anyone was being nasty, just asking for clarification regarding the post. I LOVE this site but I had to re-read docs post 3 times. I even was going to ask questions for clarity, but I couldn’t word the questions correctly and just assumed I thought I knew what it meant. Degroots…flashback…might be prior or after Dharma started…got it. Since with this episode I am going to try and avoid as much as I can spoilerwise, I didn’t bother trying to decifer it.
DOc’s posts are normally fine for me though. Just this one was a bit hard to understand.
Comment by RazzleDazzle — April 6, 2007 @ 1:43 pm
Thanks for the info, Doc. I am totally excited to hear that there’s gonna be a DeGroot flashback. But I am sure it will, as usual, answer some questions and raise so many more. That’s why we love Lost.
Comment by AnotherOther — April 6, 2007 @ 1:47 pm
Yeah, I agree with Ben as well. I’d also like to hear where you’re getting these rumors from. If it’s from some kind of inside source you’re not supposed to mention then just say so, but if you’re getting this from other places on the intarwebz a link would be nice.
Comment by crazyforsw — April 6, 2007 @ 2:17 pm
The post is poorly written. Nothing against you Doc, but we can’t understand what you wrote. I’m a lawyer and I spend all day reading… for the life of me I still can’t understand what your post actually means.
Comment by Agree with Ben — April 6, 2007 @ 2:42 pm
Agree with Ben- If you can’t figure out what Doc wrote, I feel sorry for your clients…I bet there are a lot of innocent people behind bars because you can’t read.
Release seemed to get it, which will be hilarious if he’s reading it from a prison computer because his lawyer was inept….HAHAHAHAHA
Comment by El Prez — April 6, 2007 @ 3:21 pm
Yo Prez, here’s my official theory. Release’s name is actually Ben, and Agree with Ben is agreeing in code that Release should be released. You see, being that Agree was Release’s attorney, he did not understand the letter from blackrockbob that stated T was the snake in the box (not release). When he figured it out it was too late, and the judge was forced to not admit the letter as evidence. Encyclopedia Brown eat your heart out…
Comment by cap10tripps — April 6, 2007 @ 3:41 pm
El Prez - for such a funny man you really have trouble reading Sarcasm.
Doc - Maybe I should have started my post with a sincere “Thank You” before I complained about the clarity of the post. Believe it or not, I am grateful for your blog.
For those of you who are confused, my take on the post is this…
1) A person who we now associate with DHARMA finds out something about the islands abnormal properties.
2) The Degroots become privy to this information
3) DHARMA is founded by the Degroots, perhaps at the same time or just before the hatches are installed on the island.
The Flashback will take place before #3, but after #1.
Comment by Lawyer — April 6, 2007 @ 4:12 pm
Jicket,
You can find the ratings you seek on tv.com. I don’t recommend their message board, though.
peace
RazzleDazzle
Comment by RazzleDazzle — April 6, 2007 @ 4:21 pm
Good grief people. Give Doc a break. I read this site multiple times daily and am always amazed at the volume of information that is posted. I personally don’t see how a guy with a “real” job has anywhere near the time he puts into this site. Well, actually I do, LOST and thetailsection are his passion. I for one am exceedingly grateful and would be ashamed to flame his style. Keep up the good work Doc. These complaints are not worth getting worked up about.
Comment by gusteaux — April 6, 2007 @ 5:11 pm
Just a couple of thoughts.
1) Doc, the redneck reply of yours… friggin hysterical! Hands down.
2) Also to Doc; I am one of those “grammar nazi anal retentive” people you mentioned. I’m more than willing to proof-read and clean up any posts for you if you’d like to go that way. I won’t charge a thing. I love your site and I’d consider it a fair exchange. You give the content, I’ll do the editing for you. Seems like you could stand to have someone give something BACK every now and then.
3) Lastly, for the record, as a “grammar nazi anal retentive” ba$tard, I can tell everyone reading that I have never found that many grammer or structure problems on this site in the first place, so everyone needs to calm down a notch or two.
Comment by evangelical poet — April 6, 2007 @ 6:09 pm
Evangelical… I definitely cast too wide a net if I caught you in it. I have nothing against an appreciation for the craft at its most polished form. What I despise is when people behave as if those errors detract from the writer’s message, or worse yet, detract from the value of the writer’s commentary. If one of these people knew jack sh*t about grammar and proofing, they would know proofing yourself is one of the most difficult tasks in the world. You often get distracted by judging the voice instead of the mechanics. For some it’s easy, for me it’s not. Give me somebody else’s writing, and I’m all over it.
Comment by docarzt — April 6, 2007 @ 6:54 pm
Doc, I enjoy your commentary on the show but I have to agree that this was tough to read. I wouldn’t say it was the grammar but more of how you worded everything.
Also, when I first read it I was hungry and tired due to an exhausting 3 hours of Wii Sports play. =)
Comment by Muscle_Bob — April 6, 2007 @ 7:20 pm
Muscle_Bob… at least your man enough to admit it might be Nintendo’s fault. Damn them.
Comment by docarzt — April 6, 2007 @ 7:46 pm
Doc, my brother..U no I got mad luv 4 u bro…Thx b 2 tha G abuv dat u dont b ritin lyk dis…Ali G represent!!!!’
Seriously, I love how a great idea about THE SHOW got snowballed into this mess…and not snowballed in the Clerks way..although it could be like that….depending on if you are into that kind of thing….
Whoever “lawyer” is: I know what Sarcasm is…It’s one thing that is severely lacking on this site sometimes, considering the fact that this is about the show we all love..if I want to read a bunch of inane comments, I’ll go to the abc boards..
Big ups to Doc for keeping this about the show…Until they develop an internet pimp smack for all the haters, I say banish them!!!
Comment by El Prez — April 6, 2007 @ 8:09 pm
PS Cap10, I’ve missed you!!
I’m out of the country the next week so you have to do your due diligence and keep the time traveling, audience participating theories alive while I’m gone!!
Comment by El Prez — April 6, 2007 @ 8:11 pm
Doc: Keep doing what you’re doing, how you’re doing it, and just ignore this crap. You’ve wasted too much of your precious time defending yourself on these hecklers, who’ve wasted way too much of their precious time razzing you. Clearly, they have nothing better to do, like investing these precious minutes in relationships with friends, lovers, or children. I guess messing with you–and Lost–is all they’ve got going in their life. So just laugh along with these lonely, lost souls and move on with your rich, full, grammatically unique life. — Doc Jensen
Comment by Doc Jensen — April 6, 2007 @ 8:13 pm
Just remember Doc A, Doc J saying ‘Grammatically Unique’ is just validating the obvious. That your writing is weak.
Comment by DeezNutz — April 6, 2007 @ 8:42 pm
The joke is on the haters because while we are hardly glued to what goes on here, I can assure you there have been times where we’ve looked at docs predictions and said ‘Damn! We should have done something like THAT!’ Do what you do because YOU love it Jon, but know that it is appreciated by those who matter.
Comment by Icky — April 6, 2007 @ 8:46 pm
Uh… the person who said mechanics were half of the job probably never heard of Robert McKee. I’ve known Jon for eight years and was fortunate enough to co-write a screenplay with him called “Screams from the shift”. Jon is a brilliant, sensitive, introspective writer who comes up with the weirdest damn stories you’ll ever read in your entire life, bar none. Frankly blogging about this show is a sad waste of his talent, he should be writing it.
Comment by Barry Escando — April 6, 2007 @ 9:03 pm
Doc J, you are, of course, correct. Its sort of funny because part of the reason the post is so odd is because it was written amongst getting three kids ready for school, one of which has autism. All, one hell of a task after managing a whole four hours sleep from catching up on missed deadlines last night. This might also explain my defensiveness too… I’m lucky I can put two words together at this point… Hey Barry, where do I send the check! Now if only you were a player
Comment by docarzt — April 6, 2007 @ 9:14 pm
Not to go too far off topic or anything, but this DeGroots thing… where did you get it?
Comment by Barnabus — April 6, 2007 @ 9:31 pm
you can’t claim that your writing doesn’t have to be up to par because you have deadlines and a family…so do lots of other people and they manage to keep their shit tight…if you want to look like a joke that is up to you, it is your rep…i hope your real life writing gets a better once over…if this is all too much to handle maybe you should hang it up…otherwise you are going to be relegated to the level of the misfit:
http://themisfitishere.blogspot.com/
Comment by jefflebowski72 — April 6, 2007 @ 9:35 pm
Okay… the mystery can now be revealed. I called Damon and Carlton this morning and said “Hey is there any major plot line you’d like to give away today?” and they said “Why yes! About this DeGroot episode…” and proceeded to give me all the above info in a grammatically correct way that truly showed their Ivy League educations. But seriously. You would probably be amazed to learn how much legitimate information runs through my inbox in a day, and I cannot post ANY of it due to the request of those who share it. So occasionally, I just make stuff like this up to vent the frustration that I can’t publish a word about what I really know, which includes complete episode synopses up to the zombie season. I swear to god. But seriously. People who work in lowly positions on the crew are readers (although probably not anymore since I called them lowly), and I even have some friends over there who have been in front of the camera. And I will never say who they are. In the past, I’ve known about the bus well in advance… at the time I was told there were two, one “new” and one “aged”. This was months ago. See how good a boy I am at holding info until it breaks somewhere else? The observer of this information saw shooting from a distance. Did not have a script. Did have a call sheet. I would say that more than half of his assessment of what was going on at the shoot was purely conjecture, but what do I REALLY know. Were the DeGroots there. This he was pretty certain of. Was there another prominent Dharma figure there, this he was SURE of. Yes I know who the person was, no I’m not saying because spoilers of that depth suck. If you want to know so much about an episode that you don’t have to watch anymore… please go somewhere else.
Comment by docarzt — April 6, 2007 @ 9:43 pm
Wrong Jeff. I can claim that. This is my site, and nobody is obligated to read it.
Comment by docarzt — April 6, 2007 @ 9:44 pm
since there are still people who don’t get it… this is not a multi-million-dollar publication with a staff. I do the graphic design, any coding that needs to be done, and at best get help with some excellent headers that have been submitted. I apologize if in the stupor of my hectic life full of kids who need love, a wife who likes a little love, As many as eight articles due a day to my employer amongst other tasks, that a post here gets muddled… well… so what. If its so bad you can’t understand it, which I have to think is very very rare, then ask me nicely and I’ll fix it. But don’t tell me what I have to do because I don’t work for you and I don’t care if you read the site. You do not make the rules for how I contribute to this site. Your job is to take it, or leave it. I’m not above reproach, but I won’t tolerate hostility. And sorry, but my standards are set. love it, or leave it. There are some extremely intelligent readers who contribute to the conversation here without ever having to reduce themselves to shifting the focus of the site to insignificant bickering. Try to be one of the smart ones. It makes you feel good.
Comment by docarzt — April 6, 2007 @ 9:53 pm
Doc, stop defending yourself. Listen to Jensen. You don’t owe these ‘critics’ the time of day. I swear, if you respond to another one of their posts, I’ll smack you.
Comment by Jesper — April 6, 2007 @ 10:00 pm
Not only did I like this article, and had no problems understanding it, but I also recognize that Doc is respected by a pretty good group of people, he’s interviewed Carlton, Damon, Michael Emerson, The Artz guy (sorry), and Javi. There must be a reason why they trust him. So sorry but I don’t think this site is in danger of losing any standing because Doc makes a mistake or two. Don’t get worked up by these guys doc. None of them can say they’ve done what you have…
Comment by Peggy — April 6, 2007 @ 10:21 pm
It’s Doc Talk time:
Doc Jensen: Your comment here is educated and inspiring. As an adult, I actually and literally applaud you, your view, and your words.
docarzt: As someone extremely well versed in the language (and published in over 20 countries at my ripe old age of 23) I completely agree with you, and with El Prez. Peeple can reed this coment well n gud N not hav 2 bat a i, so Y cant they jst Njoy it? (but seriously El Prez… the Kevin Smith reference? GORGEOUS like Steve Irwin sir!)
Anyway docarzt, just know that my offer to correct/proof-read stands 100%, but I honestly don’t think it would even be worth the turn around time.
That being said I’m going to leave this site and tell all my influential media friends to talk about how horrible your site is and how only baby rapers would visit it because it DOES in fact have A- grammer instead of A+.
Keep up the great content and screw the critics… unless your thousand of page hits a day are some sort of mistake. Maybe people just like ads by google?
P.S. Click on over to my page at http://www.myspace.com/TabsForLife Not to be crude, but as a father of a child with autism, it might hold some interest for you.
Comment by evangelical poet — April 6, 2007 @ 11:03 pm
1. you publish something that is in a public domain…
2. people have a right to expect a certain level of competency/professionalism…
3. if you can not take criticism of your “art” then you are too thin skinned to be an artist…
4. i can’t imagine that you are any kind of “professional” writer based solely on your spelling, gramatical and useage errors…i have had many free lance and staff writers as room mates and they are the most anal of all when it comes to professional presentation…
5. i hope they have one hell of an intern proof reading that $80 million script…
Comment by jefflebowski — April 6, 2007 @ 11:14 pm
jefflebowski,
You’re logic, at least in part, is wrong. No one here has a ‘right’ to expect anything. No one is paying for this service. Given it’s free, you have no rights or expectations regarding quality or quantity of content. YES Doc A puts himself out there so he’s bound to be criticized, but in the end it’s his forum, not ours. we’re guests and should ultimately be polite and respectful of his free service. Not whine like babies when our FREE website doesn’t live up to our expectations every second of the day.
Center yourself people, and chill.
Comment by Ian — April 7, 2007 @ 12:08 am
Keep it up folks, inch by inch you’re sure to drive Doc’s fun out of working on this site into the grave one day, then what will you say? “Prick wimped out on us?” Get your head out of your rectums, and don’t hate Doc when you’re really hating yourselves for your own failed accomplishments.
Comment by Dusk — April 7, 2007 @ 12:37 am
Doc, please know how much your hard work is appreciated.
Ignore the grammar fascists.
Your first-drafts written on-the-fly are better than most people’s carefully edited and polished drafts.
Comment by back_gammon — April 7, 2007 @ 4:11 am
I’m posting in this thread, because the comment section of the next post seems to be disabled…
At the risk of being banned, I want to make a couple observations. Again, let me preface by reiterating my point from early on in the original post that I enjoy this site and the information I get from it, but occasionally find the writing a little obtuse.
1. This is a commercial website that gets money from advertising based on its viewers. While we don’t have a ‘right’ to a level of quality, or a ‘right’ to have our own opinions implemented by docartz, I see nothing wrong with critiquing and commenting on the content that is being provided. We do the same thing with Lost. What if ABC were to suddenly go on a tirade against messageboard postings that were critical of Lost? I think we can all agree that rudeness should not be tolerated, but doc, be careful about banning people for criticism.
2. “Retaliating” with a bogus story about a nonexistent (I suspect) season finale script verges on mean-spirited. It seems to me like dozartz is trying to get back at those who are complaining about grammar by teasing that he has some good spoilers but isn’t going to share them. If a finale synopsis is posted in the next few days I will be proven wrong, but if not, docartz is basically lying to us readers (it’s a little late for April Fools). I’m not sure I like where this is headed. I would bet that the vast majority of your readers never read the comments, and thus have no idea of this discussion, and after reading that post are expecting a finale synopsis. I hope you can provide that, and if you can’t, I hope this site doesn’t loose too many readers.
3. Keep in mind that out of all the bad grammar and writing on the internet, the commentors on these posts have chosen this site. I never usually feel compelled to comment on a poorly-written blog, I just stop reading it and close the window. The people commenting on this site are loyal readers who like this site enough to comment on how its quality could be improved. You should be proud that you have such passionate readers.
Comment by Ben — April 7, 2007 @ 4:53 am
This is one of my favorite websites (not just Lost related).
Doc, you do a great job. Please don’t let the bozos get to you.
Back on topic: I wonder if the person is Marvin Candle or Hanso? I think we will see both, and I can’t wait.
Comment by Blackrockbob — April 7, 2007 @ 5:05 am
DeezNuts: You’re nutz. My note was clearly affectionate in tine and supportive in nature. And anyone who goes by the grammatically unique handle of “DeezNuts” has no business being anything else but ironic in their criticism of someone else’s wordsmithing. What was it Tom told Jack back in “Stranger in a Strange Land”–something back people who live in glass houses…? Meditate on that for a spell.
Comment by Doc Jensen — April 7, 2007 @ 5:50 am
jefflebowski: You have
4 :Spelling errors (Thin-skinned has a hypen, roommates is one word, proofreading is one word, and “usage” is the proper spelling of the word you attempted.)
6 :Incomplete sentences (since, as I’m SO sure you’re aware, an ellipses denoted as “…” is properly used as an omission of a word or phrase necessary for a complete syntactical construction. Your “usage” of it, since clearly not resembling appropriate, also means that every “sentence” you attempted to create is, well, worthless.)
6 :Capitalization errors (Does this even need to be discussed?)
1 : Missed punctuation (Since MLA style, which should be used here, rules that a comma is needed after every item in a list of three things or greater except for the last item. Ex. You’re unbearable, insufferable, and intolerable.)
1 :General incorrect statement (As covered above by Ian.)
1 : Missing space (Your post should have read “errors… I.)
I (and I’m sure many others) could go through every post here and rip them to tatters. See, the problem with doing that is, as I have tried to demonstrate here, it makes me look like a self absorbed (which may be one word or two at the writers discretion) ass. For the record, if people reading this don’t get my allusion, I’m comparing this type of critiquing the writing of others to the type that has run rampant on these forums over the past few days.
You’re the literary equivalent of a backseat driver! Either sit down, shut up, and say “thank you” for the ride, or get out and walk.
P.S. You’re excessive use of quotation marks is foolish, especially when you insist on using them to put words in the mouths of other people. If this post seems harsh, just remember; you dared to present something creative to a public forum.
Comment by evangelical poet — April 7, 2007 @ 6:41 am
I just want to say that there is an ad for the new Nic Cage movie at the top of this page and Jessica Biel’s breasts look AMAZING.
Can we all just stop the hating for a minute and appreciate the beauty that’s in front of us?
Comment by El Prez — April 7, 2007 @ 7:04 am
El Prez… did you watch the trailer? The movie actually looks good, too. I was hoping for a little more of Biel’s talents in the preview… but they do look nice on the poster…
Comment by Dave — April 7, 2007 @ 8:09 am
ha.. yeah.. post something good and accurate because this is what i live off of and i can’t live without it.. ha!
give me abreak!.. everyone get a life!
Comment by Degroot — April 7, 2007 @ 8:31 am
It is most definitely Dr. Marvin Candle, would be my guess.
Comment by Andy — April 7, 2007 @ 10:28 am
Long time lurker, first time poster: I love all the info you send our way Doc. My view is you are so excited to be able to share with your faithful readers some great news/batch of spoilers you sometimes goof a few words. Between this and your BuddyTV work I give you thanks and a Todd from Scrubs high five.
Comment by mafafu — April 7, 2007 @ 12:47 pm
I consider the matter closed, but Ben… your approach was perfectly fine and didn’t cause me to bristle at all. But I should not value people who dismissively say “you suck”, or the equivalent. The answer to the question of will there be proofreading to improve the site? No. Then I would have to write a piece, send it to somebody, wait for them to fix it, send it back, and then post it. It’s not feasible. I will try to be more cognizant in the future. Anybody who truly knows the craft of writing knows it is difficult to self-proof for some people because we can get distracted by looking for the expression instead of judging the mechanics. So maybe another pass at best, but only for critics like yourself who posed their complaint constructively. The flamers can still go f*ck themselves.
Comment by docarzt — April 7, 2007 @ 1:00 pm
docartz - Thanks for taking the time to reply. I agree, I’m with you 100% on ignoring the flamers. Once again, keep up the good work, and I look forward to reading this site in the future.
Comment by Ben — April 7, 2007 @ 1:27 pm
No Prob Ben. The thing with these flaming wars is the folks coming in at the rational level always wind up in the crossfire. I totally value the input, and I do care about how the site looks, functions, and reads.
Comment by docarzt — April 7, 2007 @ 1:37 pm
Yes. Well, I just couldn’t help myself! Can we please just have another spoiler now, and move on?
Comment by jayh — April 7, 2007 @ 2:08 pm
I guess for jeff “don’t worry about my posting anything here in the future” is equivalent to 4 minutes. Maybe he holds the key to the question of time on the island. Keep up the great work doc.
Comment by bdub — April 7, 2007 @ 3:18 pm
I don’t want some high and lofty tin-king sitting atop his throne, Doc’s spelling/grammar errors 0.1% of the time let me know he’s “One of Us!”
Comment by Dusk — April 7, 2007 @ 4:53 pm
Wow….this went way off topic….
Anyway, lets journey back to the subject matter which is episode 20 flashbacks. Now that we have a better understanding of what the flashback will be about, lets speculate on the question that no one has bothered to ask.
“Who’s having the flashbacks?” Each episode of Lost, aside from “The Other 48 Days” was structured in a way that the person was remembering their past. Even the all island tailie flashback was fitting because it was boiling up to that point where they introduced those characters and kept hinting at their backstory.
However, with this island/Dharma flashback, it does not fit in the general direction of the show right now. Furthermore, it could very well be just a normal 5-6 scene flashback like any other episode. If thats the case, then who is remembering this stuff?
Any thoughts? And Doc if you already know could you give us a hint ? =)
Comment by Muscle_Bob — April 7, 2007 @ 5:57 pm
Somewhere between defending myself from the flame-thrower attacks you’ll find the full explanation muscle bob. I’m trying my best to make it sound more exciting then it really is. This ’source’ is sketchy.
Comment by docarzt — April 7, 2007 @ 9:14 pm
LOL, Docarzt your “Redneck Translation comment/post” was funny as hell.
I find your website highly entertaining and informative… I wonder where the personal blogs are of the idiots that do not appreciate this site? If they are so unhappy why do they not create their own site and write their own stories? Or if the grammar/typos bother them so much, why don’t they offer to dole out the money to purchase a spell checker program for you?
Ah, don’t worry about the stupid flame throwers doc, just ignore the dumb@sses, they are inconsequential and unhappy with their lives. It kills them to see people who make something fun and enjoyable to read. That’s why the idiots flame the LOST television show too, because they hate anyone creating something that they can’t and they are so unimaginative that they think no one is capable of having a brain to write something as creative, inventive and complex as LOST… thus they claim that the writers are making it up as they go along. They obviously are not.
You are awesome and you conduct the best interviews and I like reading your news and theories you post.
Comment by Sara — April 8, 2007 @ 12:00 am
I like the Locke going to meet with the deGroots theory. And it would tie in very well with the supposed plan for the rest of the season.
I think the character we associate with the DHARMA mythology may be Marvin Candle, in non-Orientation video form. (This may have been said, but I skipped to the end when the conversation devolved into the merits of the site and DocArzt, etc.)
BTW, Doc, love what you do brother. Sometimes the theories are a little out there, but I love the creativity and the passion you bring to it. And thinking outside the box, never a bad thing. (And I don’t mean the metaphorical magic box…)
Comment by RedStarRevolution — April 8, 2007 @ 12:43 am
Well either way it has been confirmed I think to be a Dharma flashback according to Dark’s site. My guess is that the new character coming in will have this flashback.
Comment by Muscle_Bob — April 8, 2007 @ 1:49 am
You know what’s really sad? Doc took the time to let us in on something that I for one am real thankful that I know before any of my LOST friends, but instead of thoroughly discussing the possibilities we’re forced to (once again) tell these high and mighty haters to shut the hell up and let the Arzt-man’s words flow. Doc, I’d like to throw in a vote for banishment to anyone who waists our time by pointlessly criticizing every last thing here. I can see if you want to vent about a frustrating episode, but these pointless ramblings of how someones written grammar sucks is such a waste of good writing space for the people who really want to discuss LOST. Doc, I’ve been in bands where I was the writer. I have always been annoyed at pretentiousness as opposed to letting yourself flow through your pen (or keyboard). This is your art. Do not let anybody bring you down from what you do.
Comment by cap10tripps — April 8, 2007 @ 7:02 am
Doc, there are many of us lurkers who appreciate what you do. I suggest turning off the comments totally or asking for volunteers to help you remove those comments that are just lonely people trolling for reaction. “oooh lookit me, I’m eating glue, teacher! pay attention to meeeee! I said a bad word! waaah!”
Keep on doing this heartfelt and charmingly imperfect offering and we who are your fans will continue to visit and enjoy your style and offerings.
Comment by KJ — April 8, 2007 @ 10:22 am
So to be clear folks, for those of you who are wasting time watching the flamer battle, jefflebowski, joeyjoejoelson, and homersimpson187, are all the same person. Who apparently is a teacher (who thinks he can blame comma splices on his blackberry), a Democrat, has many room-mates who are professional writers (but never read Plato’s ‘Argument’, so doesn’t know such a statement is irrelevant in the debate), and hates this site. Should I add an ignore feature for your guys. Sounds like KJ nailed your description pretty well.
Comment by docarzt — April 8, 2007 @ 10:49 am
So I guess I’m the only one trying to bring this back on topic eh?
Doc, just ignore them, lets talk about the episode. Who do you think will be experiencing the flashbacks?
Comment by Muscle_Bob — April 8, 2007 @ 11:09 am
First of all, Muscle Bob…. I must insist you use your proper, and very cool, name here. Which I believe is Muscle Bob Buff Pants.
Y’know, if I had to guess…. I would say this is a Tom flashback. Tome quoted Alvar Hanso as “a great man” so he would not be harboring any grudges from the ‘purge’ days. And also, I think Tom is involved in D.O.C.
Whoever the mysterious ‘Nemesis’ from D.O.C is that Desmond has help him save Naomi will probably be the flashback character. We’ll see.
Comment by docarzt — April 8, 2007 @ 11:23 am
doc - I hope so! It would be cool if Tom had a flashback. For some reason, he has become one of my favorite characters on Lost. Good ol Mr. Friendly. And once again thanks for the great website and work that you do, count me as one of the many who appreciate it.
Comment by mafafu — April 8, 2007 @ 12:21 pm
A musing I just had…
what if the flashbacks aren’t generated by the character, but rather, the ISLAND looking deep into the character’s past? So then, it wasn’t Kate remembering flashes of her past, but it was the island probing her mind in some way.
What I’ve been thinking about today is, what if the island *itself* could have a flashback? If we accept that there is some kind of sentient being on the island capable of recording and being aware of a past, maybe IT could be the being on which the DeGroot flashback is centered?
Comment by KJ — April 8, 2007 @ 3:00 pm
ok, i think i am like most normal people on this site we read because we like Doc (commas, full stops or not) he gives his time to let us know his thoughts and if i am anything like him he probably has a drink and speaks from the top of his head ( i.e without thinking and just typing)…..Doc keep doing what you do …i for one appreciate it more than you know!!!
Comment by the hunter — April 8, 2007 @ 4:44 pm
Hey Doc, ignore the haters. All pro writers have tiny grammatical and sentence structure mistakes on occasion. If it’s really that much of a turn-off to people, then they better dig themselves a hole in the ground and hide there because the world is full of articles that are poorly written.
I lurk around this site because of your articles, and they are the thing that keeps me coming back. Not only is the information and content interesting, but it is well written and professional. So THANK YOU very much for your continued dedication and hard work.
As for the actual content here - I also think it’s a possibility that rather than this being about a specific character, it might simply be about the progression of dharma or its developement on the island in general. Then again, I’m probably wrong. I don’t keep up with spoilers very well.
Comment by losty09 — April 8, 2007 @ 5:11 pm
I just don’t get the aversion to The Lost Experience that I see on so many LOST sites. If you come to a place Leslie’s here, you know that there’s going to be at least a dozen sites with recaps of *everything*. I never bothered with TLE, I just checked this one blog that was obsessive about it every week or so to see if it was finished. Once it was done, I went to LostPedia, watched the Sri Lanka video twice, read the transcripts of that video and read a summary of TLE. There, done in about 20 minutes and I was all caught up.
I think TLE could be filed under “failed experiment by TPTB”, like the 6 eppie mini-season and the introduction of Paulo and Nikki. With TLE, they wanted to find a way to get more info about the mythology out there, but it was so time-consuming and complicated, not to mention a blatant advertising thing, that it just didn’t work really. Still, there’s some excellent canon mythology stuff in it, so in that sense, it worked.
As for the spoiler, bring it on. I totally want to find out more about the history of DHARMA and the Island, the DeGroots/Him/Jacob, so this sounds like it could be a way to do that.
Comment by Jeremy Bender — April 8, 2007 @ 6:18 pm
I don’t usually post my full username because people always try to make fun of it. They never get that it’s an episode title. In fact it’s my favorite episode of my son’s favorite cartoon.
Anyway a Tom flashback would rock and I think you’re right because I forgot about his quote in “The Hunting Party”.
Infact does anyone else think that MC Gainey should be made a regular?
Comment by Muscle_Bob_Buff_Pants — April 8, 2007 @ 6:41 pm
Doc, your site is just that…YOURS. I appreciate the excitement with which you approach your subject matter, and I fully understand that in that excitement, grammar and spelling can fall by the wayside. I visit your site every day, often multiple times, and I appreciate the service you do for the Lost community. We would all do well to remember that the information you give us is voluntary, and is a generous thing you do, and some people shouldn’t act so entitled to it.
Comment by ParkwaySouth — April 8, 2007 @ 6:42 pm
DocArtz, your attempts at humor are about as good as your poor writing skills. Just FYI.
Comment by T — April 8, 2007 @ 7:56 pm
Hey T, the way you structured your sentence, I’m confuzzled. Are you saying Doc’s poor writing skills are good, therefore his attempts at humor are too? I’m sorry, but you kinda shot yourself in the foot there.
Comment by Dusk — April 8, 2007 @ 8:06 pm
If you take issue with the grammatical quality of current content, volunteer as a contributor to the site. Write your own grammatically perfect contributions and submit them.
He’s invited volunteers, so contribute.
Comment by Lance — April 8, 2007 @ 9:45 pm
And yet another lonely soul, T, emerges with a cheap insult, grins slyly at his monitor, then looks down to see his penis has not grown a single centimeter.
Comment by docarzt — April 8, 2007 @ 10:07 pm
The Degroots didn’t know about the island until they went to the Hanso foundation for funding. Of course they knew about it because of Magnus Hanso crashing there.
Comment by Charlie Lesoine — April 8, 2007 @ 10:22 pm
Theory/rumor/spoiler: It MUST take leaps ahead in time like other 48 and expose, otherwise how could it make sense. Maybe dharma was formed because of the island, and the story on the swan movie is a cover?
grammar nonsense: WTF? I see nothing offensive other than the fact that people would actually expect perfection from a blog. I actually like Doc’s writing and if there are mistakes I don’t notice them. Even if I did, I doubt I’d mention it. Unless, of course, if I were an ungrateful lout, or maybe a competitor.
Comment by Damn Yankee — April 8, 2007 @ 10:29 pm
Charlie Lesoine has avery good point which the grammerians have lost. Good ol’Magnus was there. Following through with this idea puts the de Groots as recruits by Hanso not an independent outfit. Whether the de Groots were fully informed of the uniqueness of the island prior to establishing their research facility may be the point of the flashback. Since sonic fences aren’t really avilable from Sears, I’d have to guess they were given some level of information. I base this on the map Sayid had which clearly denoted the power lines and fence lines.\
BTW–don’t sweat the small stuff doc.
Comment by doug1 — April 9, 2007 @ 4:35 am
wow, things have not been too friendly around here lately. If people hate the doc so much, why do they even come to this site? Keep it up doc, most of us think your doing an excellent job!
Comment by cerberus — April 9, 2007 @ 5:25 am
Doc it looks like The Misfit has come to your side and and supports you LOL
http://themisfitishere.blogspot.com/2007/04/spelling-and-grammer-alerts.html
Comment by jenny — April 9, 2007 @ 5:40 am
I saw that, LOL! He’s a funny guy, misfit!
Comment by cerberus — April 9, 2007 @ 5:45 am
I’m HAPPY to report that I have noW installed ThEmIsFiTiShErE’s Grammering and Spiel ENGINE and can now GUARANTEE 98.782674% PERFECT posts.
Comment by docarzt — April 9, 2007 @ 5:57 am
YAY! Now the haters will leave you alone!
(hey doc, sent you a message on myspace :))
Comment by cerberus — April 9, 2007 @ 6:04 am
The blast door map noted a location of magnus hanso/black rock. But Magnus had to have gotten off of the island somehow or else how would anyone know he crashed there? The DeGroots wanted the Dharma initiative to save the world through peaceful research but the Hanso foundation knew they could only make real progress by using living human subjects in their experiments. And what better place to do it than an island that not even god can see?
Comment by Charlie Lesoine — April 9, 2007 @ 11:00 am
LMAO..”grins slyly at the monitor…” ooooooooo, that is funny!
Comment by Chandler — April 9, 2007 @ 5:04 pm
Can I just say how annoyed I am about this particular page. I got so bored of reading things that are in no way related to the topic that I just had to scroll right down to the bottom of the page to write this. Half of this page was an argument wether people should be gramatically correct. WHO CARES!! On my title bar it says “more degroot rumors” but all I saw was more argumentative crap about spelling. We’re all here for the same reason, to theorise and read about lost, but some of you have comletely lost the reason you’re here along the way. For shame. DocArtz can I just say how much I love reading the theories on this site and not the petty squabbles that a lot of people seem to be here for.
Comment by Ben's Wheelchair — April 11, 2007 @ 3:57 am
Can I just say how annoyed I am about this particular page. I got so bored of reading things that are in no way related to the topic that I just had to scroll right down to the bottom of the page to write this. Half of this page was an argument wether people should be gramatically correct. WHO CARES!! On my title bar it says “more degroot rumors” but all I saw was more argumentative crap about spelling. We’re all here for the same reason, to theorise and read about lost, but some of you have comletely lost the reason you’re here along the way. For shame. DocArtz can I just say how much I love reading the theories on this site and not the petty squabbles that a lot of people seem to be here for.
Comment by Ben's Wheelchair — April 11, 2007 @ 3:57 am
Well something surely brought the worst out in a few people here for sure, didn’t it? I can honestly say after all the time running the site that I have not had this much flaming go on at once. Of course, most of it was from one guy, but still. Apologies Ben’s Wheelchair and thanks for your patronage.
Comment by docarzt — April 11, 2007 @ 2:55 pm