LOST - The Man in the Box
Of the many lingering questions from the season finale, the one that seems to be generating the most hotly debated conclusions is "Who is in the casket?" Our best clue is in the few shots of the wrinkled obit Jack tore from the newspaper. Fans from all over the LOST fan community have managed to translate most of the text. It is so wide spread at this point, I can’t begin to guess who to credit for deciphering the text other than to say it was a communal effort. The complete text reads:
The body of John Lantham of New York was found shortly after 4 am in the 4300 block of Grand Avenue. Ted Worden, a doorman at the Tower Lofts complex, heard loud noises coming from the victim’s loft. Concerned for tenants’ safety, he entered the loft and found the body hanging from a beam in the living room. According to Jaime Ortiz, a police spokesman, the incident was deemed a suicide after medical tests. Latham is survived by one teenaged son. Memorial services will be held at the Hoffs-Drawlar Funeral Home tomorrow evening."
It is interesting that the victim’s name is spelled ‘Lantham’ in the beginning and ‘Latham’ later. Is this an oversight, or is there a purpose behind this? Many of you are assuming it is "John Latham" since he is an artist who was involved in creating a concept called ‘Flat-Time.’ You can see an archive of his actual website here.
There are a couple of possibilities with many branches all their own. Is John Lantham a new character named after someone that introduced the world to concepts pondered in the subtext of the show, like John Locke, or David Hume, to name a few? Or is John Lantham the pseudonym for a character?
The fact that his funeral appeared to be taking place in a African American neighborhood, and that Lantham/Latham was survived by a teenage son, has driven some fans to the conclusion that the man in the box is Michael. Also, Michael was an artist, so it would make sense for him to draw a pseudonym from the field of art. However, as is the case with LOST, Michael being the man in the box does not solve the mystery, it creates new ones. Why is he living under a pseudonym? Why is he living under a pseudonym in close proximity to his enemies? If Michael were living under an assumed identity it was very ineffective where Jack and Kate were concerned.
Likewise, why would Michael’s death, as a fugitive living under an assumed name, drive Jack himself to suicide. It could be that Michael found out how to return to the island after his escape and refused to share the info with Jack.
This would be the common theme between the two possibilities. Whoever died drove Jack to the ultimate depth of his despair by denying him access to some form of knowledge. Whether it be just a link to what he was so desperately seeking, or the prize itself, the death of this person was a tidal wave of hopelessness. Other candidates from the cast of known characters don’t make much sense at this point, because they lack (as far as we know) the teenage son element. Not that those creative folks at LOST couldn’t easily rectify that, but I’m trying to stay in ‘just the facts’ mode.
The other possibility is that this is a completely new character that we have not met yet. For one thing, as mentioned earlier, he fits the criteria for naming pivotal characters. A small consideration in one regard, but a beaten path none the less. Would the guys and gals at LOST feed us so much ammo for a Michael assumption just to drop that in favor of a new character? Perhaps the better question is, in this Rorschach of clues are some of us seeing truth where we should be seeing meaningless dabs of ink on paper?
Interesting!
Comment by WILLOW — May 30, 2007 @ 12:31 pm
I don’t believe it’s a man in the coffin, Doc, as I’v said here before. The coffin is far to small. Check out this URL, Doc and let us know what you think: http://www.phillsworld.co.uk/lost.cgi?forum+view+55
Comment by The Pearl — May 30, 2007 @ 12:56 pm
It’s a man. The headline of the article says “Man found . . .” Plus, the coffin being “small” is just an illusion. If Jack were to spread his arms out his wingspan would probably just about equal or barely exceed the length of the coffin. A person’s wingspan is equivalent to their height; so assuming Jack is about 6′0″, the coffin could easily hold a normal sized 5 foot-something man inside.
Comment by Kevin — May 30, 2007 @ 1:18 pm
I agree with The Pearl. Coffin’s are reinforced so even if The coffin is 6 feet long you ahve to take 4 inches from the top and bottom totalling 8 which would mean they would have had to cram a 5′4″ man in there. 5′4″ is pretty short for a dude. Does anyone else think the flash forwards belong to Desmond?
Comment by John Locke's Bastard Son — May 30, 2007 @ 1:41 pm
Maybe the news was not intended to be read. As Doc said on the post, maybe it should be just some ink. Only a small number of fans are as obssesed as we are to get into forums and discuss and dissect every single frame… or maybe that’s what I want to believe because it would be much more interesting if we had all the possibilities open as opossed as having to wonder who John Lantham is.
Comment by sebastian81 — May 30, 2007 @ 1:53 pm
Ok. I was actually skeptical when people assumed that it was Michael in the casket. However, it may be him. He could have changed his name when he returned to the states, and he would have a teenaged son. If this is several years in thf future, from the time our Losties crashed on the island, Walt would be in his teens.
Comment by Tukachen — May 30, 2007 @ 2:05 pm
Michael is/was an artist, after all.
Comment by Tukachen — May 30, 2007 @ 2:07 pm
Pearl, I was so inspired by your work I decided to try to find another vector to either verify or disprove, and I’ve got your back! New post coming up.
Comment by DocArzt — May 30, 2007 @ 2:11 pm
John Latham is a maniac. Can anyone understand what the hell he is saying on his website? I wanted to punch myself after trying to read that.
Comment by Higdon — May 30, 2007 @ 6:38 pm
Its obviously not someone we’ve seen before. Consider the theory that when Jack makes the call, it’s some time before they get off the island. They still have three seasons left dont they? A pound to a penny that the boat doesn’t take them off the island, just introduces some more characters, seeing as though the others that get all the screen time are now dead. I can’t make an assumption as to weather this Jeremy/John is someone he meets on or off the island but it’s definately someone who has something Jack wants because he isn’t a friend of family but he becomes so upset when he discovers he’s dead. But I know one thing, if the flashforwards run in reverse I’m sure when we hear John/Jeremy introduced there will be that definate trumpet whizzing passed type sound as it does whenever theres a cliff hanger.
Comment by Ben's Wheelchair — May 31, 2007 @ 1:26 am
friend OR family I mean. When he was asked in the funeral he said ‘neither.
Comment by Ben's Wheelchair — May 31, 2007 @ 1:32 am
Is it just me, or could they all be living under “new” indentities? Many people have pointed out that Kate is no longer a fugitive in the “future”. This is hard to believe since the Feds went all the way to Australia to find her. Not to mention that the Chief of Surgery didn’t know who Jack was. Also, I thought it was weird that Sarah wouldn’t give Jack a ride home. Despite being divorced and having moved on, I don’t see why driving him home wouldn’t be “appropriate” as she stated. Can she not be seen with him?
Comment by Your Mom — May 31, 2007 @ 5:21 am
Is it a definite fact that this Lantham guy is actually real..??? cos that website fits rather too well for my liking! insane as it is - shame the pictures don’t come up.
Comment by Wangolini — May 31, 2007 @ 6:09 am
oh .. just saw the wiki, ignore that.. doh.
Comment by Wangolini — May 31, 2007 @ 6:18 am
How would Jack recognize the name if it was a fake. If it is someone living under a pseudonym he would have to know the actual person in order to recognize it in the paper. So if for example Ben was John Lantham then Jack would have to know him under that name or else the obit would not have caught his attention. Especially when drunk. Or the name is just a red herring to carry the story forward.
Comment by Erik — May 31, 2007 @ 6:54 am
It’s possible that Jack has been tracking Michael the whole time he has been back so he would know is alias. It’s possible Michael has rejected any contact with the survivors as well. Don’t you think Michael would have a good reason to kill himself since he sold his friends out.
Comment by Gobstopper — May 31, 2007 @ 8:55 am
This makes more sense if you think about it being Michael. They’re probably all living under false names or at least lying about what happened on the island. None of them would ever want to reveal what the hell happened on the island. They probably agreed to not tell anyone and just move on with their lives. However, Michael couldn’t take it anymore (maybe Walt thought too hard about his dad dying?)
It also makes more sense when we consider the fact that Harold (the guy who plays Michael) is being offered a regular spot on the show. In order to show more about the guy in the casket (Michael) they’re going to have to film a lot more with him
Comment by Mike C — May 31, 2007 @ 10:21 am
Justin-I also agree with you. What are they lying about? I agree that they would need to keep what happened on the island a secret. Perhaps the “forces” on the island that Dharma was trying to control have fallen into the wrong hands (thanks to Jack making that call). Perhaps they are all living with the knowledge that this is going on-and thus are living the lie that “everything is OK”.
I also want to know why Jack said, “Forgive me” when he was about to jump off the bridge. He doesn’t seem like a spiritual person (i.e. Man of Science), so I don’t think there would be a connection there.
Comment by Your Mom — May 31, 2007 @ 10:52 am
In the flashforward…
Jack: “We weren’t supposed to leave the island”
Kate: “Yes we were…” *walks away*
Everyone is breaking this man in the box down as someone Jack likes and someone Kate doesn’t. Think about it, both Jack and Kate thought that getting off the island was the right thing to do at first, now only Kate does. I believe that it’s either Locke or Ben because they both tried to stop Jack from leaving the island. Jack is upset because he wishes he would’ve listened to either of them. I think it’s one of those two characters or someone not yet introduced who will try ot stop them fro leaving the island.
Thanks
Comment by Doggy — May 31, 2007 @ 12:15 pm
The only problem with the new identity for all of them theory is that Jack still goes by Dr. Jack Sheppard and everyone refers to him as such.
Comment by Gewher — May 31, 2007 @ 1:31 pm
Unless there’s a time shift going on, Walt wouldn’t be in his teens. Lostpedia lists his birthday as August 24, 1994 so he’d be 12 in April 2007. I was sure it was Michael until I read that, but I suppose they could have rounded up his age.
Comment by Tresbien — May 31, 2007 @ 5:04 pm
Im surprised no one has mentioned the casket was image reversed
Comment by burger — June 1, 2007 @ 12:39 am
Gewher, didn’t Jack tell people his name was Dr. jack Shepard? I don’t recall anyone-other than Sarah who would know his real identity, calling him by name unless he told them who he was. I mean, wouldn’t the chief of surgery know one of the best spinal surgeons in the hospital? It just isn’t sitting well with me.
Comment by Your Mom — June 1, 2007 @ 6:25 am
TED WORDEN - THE DOORMAN?!
Check this out. Not sure what it means, not really a Leave it to Beaver buff, however I googled “Ted Worden” (the doorman in the obituary) and found that he was a character played by an actor named Don Haggerty on exactly one episode of Leave it to Beaver in the 60s. Think there is any significance?
http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0353628/
Comment by Kimberly — June 1, 2007 @ 10:19 am
If it was Michael I would be a little surprised at the funeral director asking if Jack was family. They don’t exactly look like they are related.
Comment by Allison — June 1, 2007 @ 1:04 pm
Allison,
If it were Rose in the casket and Bernhard walked in and was asked the same question, he would reply…
“both.”
Comment by gusteaux — June 1, 2007 @ 5:39 pm
Hi Doc,
I don’t think that the body in the casket belongs to a children or a little boy. The article in the newspaper talks about a MAN and howhever if this is a child’s “funeral” it’s very unlikely that NOBODY comes to its funeral. If a man dies is something normal (pass me the term…It’s painful, but it is quite normal), but if it dies a child it always is somethingt special and probably someone that never meet this child (or little boy) should go to its funeral.
And I don’t think that this man is an afro-american person. If nobody recalls the body, he probably will “expose” in the nearest place to the murder (or suicide) scene. The most important aspect is that the neighborhood seems to be a “poor” place, and the man who dies probably isn’t very rich!
P.s. I’m sorry for my english (I’m from Italy), but I hope that the meaning of my words is clear!
Comment by aspera — June 2, 2007 @ 3:28 am
i agree with doggy. being locke or ben makesthe mostsense to me, who nos what happened on the island? ben could have dont it with juliet, left the island or whatever, then boy would grow up and be a teenager. haha just kidding that all sounds pretty gay. but i could see it being ben or locke in the casket. or maybe juliet? im probably wrong but on the plane when he looked at the paper there was a woman there. she kinda looked like the book club woman. we dont no where she went but maybe she couldve donw something bad to them except jack. and maybe juliet had some age-altering experience when she left the island. she mightve done something bad to the survivors again that made no one (except for jack) trust her
Comment by poop wad — June 2, 2007 @ 8:21 am
Ok, first of all. We should be fairly certain that the person in the casket is a MAN not a boy or a woman. The newspaper/obituary clipping is probably our most viable source of information because the producers know that the people obsessed with every detail of the show are not going to overlook what the obituary says. That is a pretty concrete piece of evidence. It is also probably safe to assume that the producers of the show DID NOT have the actor of whoever’s funeral it was jump into the coffin just to make sure it was the correct size. I feel like measuring screenshots of the size of the casket is seriously over-analyzing just a bit.
Secondly, what if the reason Jack is commiting suicide is because he feels guilty. What if the man in the casket was murdered by Jack or Kate (or both). The obituary says it was suicide but it could have easily been made to look that way. After all, it says loud noises were heard coming from the apartment. Perhaps it was Michael and he refused to tell Jack how to get back to the island. Jack is, after all, prone to extreme moments of rage and he also seems to be a little bit crazed after returning from the island.
Michael would be living under a pseudonym probably because he was in the plane crash and thus was assumed dead. If he suddenly returned, alive, many people would be wondering where all the others were. If I remember correctly, part of the deal of Michael getting off the island was to make sure he never came back or told anyone how to get there. Possibly, Michael sought out Jack when Jack and the rest of the recovered losties returned from the island which would have been a much higher profile return. Jack would then know that Michael was living as John Lantham and would also know where to find him.
I also don’t believe the theory that all the losties are now living under pseudonyms. This is evident by the fact that, in the hospital, Jack’s lab coat is clearly labeled “Jack Sheppard”. Though the new chief of surgery doesn’t seem to know who Jack is, he also does say that he knows a little about Jack (before Jack loses it), if my memory serves me correct.
I think it is also safe to say that the flash-forward is a considerable ammount of time farther in the future than most people seem to think.
Here is a question I’ve been wondering about: What is the deal with Richard? (One of the others, played by Nestor Carbonell) He seems to be Ben’s right-hand man, probably because he is the one who helped ben cross-over from the Dharma group to the current group of “others” during the purge. My question is, he meets Ben when Ben is in his teens. He looks exactly the same then as he does currently - seemingly not aged one bit. Why is Richard immune to the aging process? I think this is a minute detail that will soon be explained as well.
What are some theories about the four-toed statue? Did anyone else catch Ben’s reference to “the temple”? I am also wondering about this.
Comment by Colin — June 3, 2007 @ 12:34 pm
Colin-
I really like your theory about why Michael is living under an assumed name. It makes a lot more sense than my theory. I also like the idea that perhaps Jack found (maybe has spent his time trying to find Michael since leaving the island to find a way back) Michael and killed him when Michael wouldn’t tell him where the island was. I have a hard time believing that Michael would commit suicide leaving Walt behind-which is why your theory makes sense to me.
Walt doesn’t come to the funeral though (remember the funeral director said no one came). Is this because he is also in hiding from Jack? That is another question. Who or where is he hiding? And do you think that Kate knows the man is Michael? Perhaps her comment of, “Why would I go?” was more of a way to point out that she didn’t know who the man was.
What do you think?
Comment by Your Mom — June 5, 2007 @ 4:49 pm
1. Ted Worden = the doorman.
2. Who was last seen at a door? Charlie.
3. What happened to Charlie? He drowned.
4. TED WORDEN = ET DROWNED.
So we know that Charlie was an extraterrestrial.
Poignant that his death enabled Jack to “phone home”.
Comment by whatevs — June 6, 2007 @ 2:47 pm
Ted Worden has no “h” so your anogram is invalid.
Comment by Lost_It — December 16, 2007 @ 11:34 am
I can see why people are thinking it is Michael, with the New York connection and the teenage son! I think it is most likely to be him, and possibly when Michael returned to the island, Jack has had some sort of connection with him which made him angry, but only Jack and Michael ever know about, hence the reason why Kate wouldnt be interested in going to the funeral!
I read somewhere before that the following seasons are as followes: Season 4 - who gets off the island, Season 5 - why they need to go back, Season 6 - what happens when they go back. I think the flash forward is part of Season 5, which works with my theory about who it is that has died:
There is other evidence to suggest it isnt one of the original Losties (excluding Michael) coz in the Kate court case, Jack lied about what happened, saying when giving evidence that 8 people survived, and only 6 actually made it AKA the Oceanic 6. Also, the date on Jin’s coffin was 22nd Sept 2004 ie. the date of the crash, making out that somehow the O6 have had to lie about everyone else on the island so possibly everyone else has been killed and they’ve covered it up.
I cannot wait (but will be extremely sad) when the LOST finale comes and we can all find out exactly what the hell has happened!
Comment by Callacrap — May 4, 2008 @ 3:17 pm