LOST Season 4 Predictions Part 3 - Characters On Parade
With the revelations this week concerning the five actors joining Lost I thought it would be a great time to dust off these predictions that I produced on demand for a good buddy last week. Who are the five characters? Now that we know Lost’s producers are savvy to the secretagentman and company’s ploy of mining spoilers from character casting sheets, we need to look at these things in a whole new way. Not as pure bunk, but as semantic puzzles. Hidden somewhere in the inference that lays between the character traits is a real description. Even though the particulars may not be dead-on, they definitely steer us in the general direction. Each character description must be deconstructed to divine what the Lost boys are really after. Here are some of my guesses. Beware, some of them are wild.
Russell - A brilliant mathematician and deep thinker who is capable of great insights and has a tremendous knowledge across various scientific fields. He sometimes struggles socially by being too direct and disconnected in his interpersonal relationships. While an empiricist by trade he is humbled and fascinated by the magic and mystery of all in this world that cannot be explained by science.
Also rumored only to be appearing in eight episodes.
Because he is roughly half of the episodes, I’m going to say that Russell is a flash forward character - since the forward/back ratio is rumored to be 1:1 - and someone who shares Jack’s desperation to find the island, but for an entirely different end result.
So here are a couple of options for you theory wise:
(Playing themes of Russell’s mix of Science and Faith against the series’ tendency to play those themes in absolutes of character, i.e. Locke and Jack, this theory assumes that Russell is developed as a character capable of extending those themes through amalgamation. I strongly suspect that one of the season four mysteries will be did Locke get off the island, and I suspect we’ll find out he did, but not by choice, towards the end. Just a hunch. But a character that embodies unifying character traits could lead Jack and Locke back into unity, or at the very least unify the themes themselves within the context of the story.)
1. Russell is an extension or liaison of the Brother Campbell/Mother Time organization for the flash forward sequences, and the only one that can help Jack in his quest to find the island, but only after Jack can make the same leaps of faith that this ‘man of science’ has.
(Here’s a far out one assuming the entire character description is misdirection.)
2. Assuming that every character trait is misdirection to prevent fans from learning too much from the casting description I would say Russell sounds a lot like an autistic savant since autism is marked by social adjustment, disconnectedness, and a constant discomforting wonder of the world regardless of the deep insights that can come with savants.
Charlotte - Very attractive in a naturalistic, athletic way, her looks are only one small part of charms. Precocious, loquacious, and funny, Charlotte a very successful academic who also knows how to handle herself in the real world. On a personal level, it is hard to crack the hard shell of poise and certainty around her, but when it does crack, it’s like an egg; lots of repressed and pent up emotions spill out.
Wow, this one is either full of creative usage - which is fine by me - or we have a genuine mystery on our hands. Loquacious, yet hard to crack? Hiding behind a fountain of trivial information? Here we go…
3. Charlotte’s delicate interior indicates she has been through a trauma, I would say this is a trauma of isolation as one of the only surviving, functioning, members of the original Dharma initiative who has has been continuing her mysterious task in seclusion on the island.
Arthur - Ruthless corporate recruiter. Tall, thin, chilling.
4. I also predict Arthur for the future story arc, and keeping with the cues of the basic description I would expect that Arthur is someone who knows that certain survivors of Oceanic 815 know about a certain island, this drives his sinister ‘recruitment’ efforts and his menace will be what drives those characters back together.
Ken Leung’s top secret character.
5. Since Leung’s character’s name is a secret we must assume it will give something away. Young doctor Candle wouldn’t be that big a giveaway since we don’t even know what Candle’s name really is, so how about Kwon, or better yet Paik, for a possibility. Maybe the mysterious watches from season one - the reason Sun and Jin were on the road to begin with - will become a very long tail part of Lost’s underlying plot.









i think krn leung is jin and sun’s unborn child in the future
Comment by cekma — August 30, 2007 @ 8:56 pm
Do you realise we don’t even know why Kate went to Australia yet?
Comment by Chris — August 31, 2007 @ 2:13 am
This is interesting speculation, but Carlton, Lindleof said in EW.com that the character descriptions were deliberately misleading.
Comment by Rayray — August 31, 2007 @ 3:24 am
Hey Chris, I think Kate went to Austr. to run from the feds. However, it really is never stated why is it?
Comment by Matt — August 31, 2007 @ 4:03 am
Mysterious watches S1….Jin & Sun??? Pls explain..
Comment by Erik — August 31, 2007 @ 5:02 am
Erik, you remember mr. paik’s watches don’t you? the one he told jin he needed to bring with him before he flew on 815??
anyways, that mathematical genius/autistic character description is relatable to that crazy dude who gave Hurley the infamous numbers in the mental institution. i totally forgot about that guy. Really, before seeing the flash forwards, that crazy dude is the only one we know that has been to the island and back, at least it appears he has. Maybe he will fit in with Jack’s attempt back to the island, maybe we’ll finally find out what the numbers actually mean this season.
i cant wait for the damn show to start…
Comment by FOAG — August 31, 2007 @ 6:50 am
and the 5th actor will play….Jacob? I seem to remamber TPTB in their newest interview making a nice little comment about how the two of them are interested in seeing Jeff Fahey’s beard, because a beard just might work for the character. did Doc mention that above? i don’t think he’s commented on that yet. comment! comment!
Comment by jon — August 31, 2007 @ 7:10 am
What if the role of "Charlotte" was to be Ben’s childhood girlfriend and what happened to her?? Would we get 8 episodes of her for that?
Comment by adam — August 31, 2007 @ 7:46 am
I read that interview too. He was asked if the actor would be shaving his beard and they said that they dont think so because it would fit with the character that they have in mind for him. It’s Jacob, not even a spoiler, I slowed down that episode where they’re in the cabin and you can see the guy in the chair looks exactly like Fahey. Mind you, I know it’s not him in the Season 3 Episode as he wasn’t hired yet, but they definately had the image for Jacob in mind when they showed the miniscule glimpse in the chair in the cabin.
Comment by FOAG — August 31, 2007 @ 8:37 am
hey FOAG how do we know that the guys in the mental home actually went to the island, not doubting you i just really dont ever remember that being said
Comment by AP — August 31, 2007 @ 8:37 am
by the by,
Ben’s childhood girlfriend: Annie = Daniele . What else makes sense? Why else would Ben adopt (other than to feel a little human)?
Comment by hurleybird — August 31, 2007 @ 9:09 am
SOMEONE EXPLAIN THIS ONE TO ME IT STILL MAKES ME GO NUTS!!!!!!….
Season 2 finale, jack kate and sawyer are kidnapped and see the destruction of the swan station/sky turn purple. Tom tells jack that "ever since the sky turned purple" in response to Jack questioning why he was kidnapped, when they could get off the island and bring a surgeon on. So it would seem the others took jack to do the surgery because the others no longer can recruit a surgeon from the outside fine.
HOWEVER the others abducted Jack sawyer and kate BEFORE the sky turned purple.
Yeah the others could be lying and not get off the island and when there surgeon Ethan bit the bullet they needed Jack. Yes Tom could be referring to another incident, but I smell a plot hole with this one.
Someone please clarify in a logical way. I love the show in fact it’s my fav series, not trying to look for negative, i look into the series this much cause I love it.
Comment by cekma — August 31, 2007 @ 10:01 am
Cekma you are right, it is illogical - also, when our Losties first got into the hatch, why did Desmond run off instead of using the fail safe key if he really thought they were all doomed?
In Raised by Another, Claire talks about her mom as if she’s an active participant in her life - in Season 3, we find out she’s been in a coma the whole time (presumably)
Also in Season 1, Charlie says he can’t swim… then Greatest Hits shows he has known how to swim his whole life. People explain this one by saying he was using and lied.
But there’s a ton of inconsistencies like this. I think the one you pointed out is the biggest. It used to drive me nuts, but now I just accept them and move on because it’s a great show. They definitely got in over their heads and things like this can happen when you know the beginning and the end and write the middle as you go. Don’t even get me started on how many mysteries they introduce, dominate the show for a while, and then disappear altogether as if nothing ever happened at all.
People who try to explain all of these logical errors and inconsistencies after-the-fact (show writers included) make the situation worse, I think, by coming up with improbable scenarios or quasi-rational explanations. I say just accept it and it’s fun to pick out the plot holes. Next we can work on Smokey.
Comment by Four-Toed Armenian — August 31, 2007 @ 11:36 am
i’ve heard various explanations for all these things that make sense to me for the most part. and in all fairness, we haven’t seen all the pieces of the mosaic yet. let’s wait till it’s all over to decide whether or not these are inconsistencies. i think we’re all just a little too into the show. ha ha!
Comment by Jon — August 31, 2007 @ 1:42 pm
Hey guys— sometimes I like to go back and read spoilers that were about season 2 and 3 before those seasons ended, and one that has not come to pass yet was one posted on 11/8 by tv guide– Ausiello And it was that their are indeed OTHER TAILIES out there! and they just have not been discovered or somehow got seperated from the original tailies. You think any of our new characters mentioned sound like a taily? I sure dont, but worth speculating
Comment by Beatty — August 31, 2007 @ 2:52 pm
I am willing to accept the Charlie using thing for swimming, and Claire loved her mother so I could see her saying this as her being a part of her life when they were together, and also her believing that she would come back to her one day, again the theme of faith. Your right it’s not fair to judge early, and I wasn’t I have full faith in the creators/producers.
I work on a very famous tv show that shall remain nameless and see many inconsistent things, but nothing like the jack kidnapping which is a major story arc to lost which is why it upset me.
I will say this however I love John Locke, they dare not get rid of him. I feel he will become the tragic hero in the end. It would suck if it’s anticlimatic, or they do him in early, I really want him to live of course and be good, which I feel he is.
Comment by cekma — August 31, 2007 @ 3:18 pm
I think they explained the reason they took Sawyer and Kate in episode 14…when Paulo was in the bathroom of the Pearl Station, Ben and Juliet arrive to view the monitors. Ben says he will recruit Jack by exploiting his emotional investments. Juliet asks if this means they’ll grab Ford and Austen too.
Comment by singularity — August 31, 2007 @ 7:44 pm
I think they explained the reason they took Sawyer and Kate in episode 14…when Paulo was in the bathroom of the Pearl Station, Ben and Juliet arrive to view the monitors. Ben says he will recruit Jack by exploiting his emotional investments. Juliet asks if this means they’ll grab Ford and Austen too.
Comment by singularity — August 31, 2007 @ 7:45 pm
Adam
the producers have said that “charlotte” will be acting with an english accent. we know that for certain. Did Annie have an English accent as a child? Because I thought it might be her too, but I cant figure out how she would develop an english accent.
Comment by KatesFate — August 31, 2007 @ 9:04 pm
The whole Jack being kidnapped and sky turning purple "inconsistency" can be explained by Tom not really knowing everything. It’s been made clear that not all the Others know everything, and that Ben has deceived some or all of them. Tom might actually be confused as to what’s going on. He also might have been about to say something like, "After the sky turned purple we can’t leave and return to the island anymore. Oh, and Ben doesn’t want to leave anyway."
Continuing along the same ide, consider that while Ben could have left the island to get a doctor, he really never wants to leave that place, even for a short time. As he said in an early S3 episode, "Yes Jack, if we could leave the island, why would we be here?" The point of that line was that there is something very special on this island that Ben wants to be near. Ben may have calculated that while a surgeon could be recruited from off the island, it would be quicker to have the spinal surgeon already on the island do the work.
Comment by hexonxonx — September 1, 2007 @ 7:12 am
Again, Charlotte is not Annie. Or at least i’m 98% certain that Charlotte and Annie have nothing to do together. Annie and Ben are roughly the same age on the island right? So if she stayed, most likely they’d still be roughly the same age. How old does Ben look compared to this beautiful new Charlotte? hmmm… Annie has been right in front of everyone since the first season. If Ben truly cared about someone like he seemed to care about annie, then wouldn’t it stand to reason that he’d allow her to live on (Like Danielle), if he had the chance? Let’s just say Annie was allowed to continue on the scientific work while Ben was being a workman. Annie’s on a scientific vessel with a crew, and we don’t know what they were researching. Annie’s pregnant and crazy and kills her crew (does she reallY?) and Ben decides to adopt the daughter as his own for the love that he once felt for Annie. The producers have said that names have REAL significance on lost. Thus, you would have to accept that Annie is a nickname for Danielle. And Annie WAS NOT british!
Comment by hurleybird — September 1, 2007 @ 10:15 am
I think Annie is dead before the purge. When Ben and Roger are out getting drunk in the hurlymobile, and ben looks at his watch Roger says ‘do you have a date? i thought she was…’ I think this is our clue that something had happened to Annie prior to the purge, I’m guessing she died, possibly in child birth. The result of her death pushes Ben over the edge and leads to his role in the purge. He obviously wasn’t taken in completely by the hostiles when he met Richard in the jungle and probably struggled with the decision to leave the barracks because that is where Annie is (perhaps she couldnt join the hostiles either because she feared them or she wasn’t special like Ben), so he remained on the fence about defecting, her death meant there was no reason for him to remain with Darma.
I’m still uncertain of Danielle’s purpose in the show, as of now she is in limbo i think. She and Alex are reunited so her story is seemingly wrapping up. I do NOT think she is Annie because, if she were, she would have been able to make a much stronger case for Ben not being Henry Gale. She would have been able to take the Losties to the Barracks AND… why the hell would she have a developed french accent and dark hair after living alone for 16 years.
I do think there is more to her story than we are going to get for a while but I’m almost certain she is NOT Annie. If anything, perhaps her transmission meant something other than what Shannon thought she heard. although it has been translated by others online and that would be tough to explain away. I dunno, I’m eagerly awaiting more info on her, hopefully we will get it soon and she doesn’t just hang around with nothing to do, that’d be pretty lame.
Comment by bohemus — September 1, 2007 @ 11:05 am
Bohemus, you’re having auditory hallucinations ^^
Roger never ever said "I thought she was…" He just said "Do you have a date?" and then the conversation moves on about Ben’s birthday and all…
As for the Annie = Danielle, that would be the lamest "revelation" of all time!!!
Comment by Caroline — September 1, 2007 @ 4:41 pm
i went back and checked, as I should’ve done before posting i guess, but what roger says word for work is: "you got a date? - isn’t…" he stops himself, changing the subject to say, "if it makes you feel any better… etc"
i stand by my prediction though. i think its a possible pre/foreshadowing an Annie related flashback where we learn of her death
Comment by bohemus — September 1, 2007 @ 5:05 pm
I was thinking that Bens childhood girlfriend and teacher were the two gals in the hydrostation? Maybe this has been said, so sorry… but I’ve not seen it.
Comment by Carla — September 5, 2007 @ 10:00 am
yeah but what about how the plane was actually found in a trench near Indonesia (as said by both Anthony Copper and Naomi)
this suggests that either
1) the corportation lied and didn’t actually find the plane (but this is unlikely cos Naomi says that "they sent a probe down etc"
2) the plane was cloned in some way. (this theory is further suggested with the clone bunny rabbits in the Orientation Video for that Station). So in thinking about this, maybe anyone who is taken to the island ALSO exists in the real universe. Maybe Juliet actually EXISTS in both worlds (maybe this is why her sister was so happy and was able to survive the cancer) Maybe Sawyer only killed ONE of the Anthony Coppers and there is in fact another one out there (or maybe he died in the car crash)
of course, maybe this cloning ability does not function now after "the sky went purple"…..
am i on to something or am i on to something?
Comment by will07 — September 7, 2007 @ 1:39 am
The corporation did not lie because Anthony Cooper coroborated the same story. Naomi gave her explanation on why she was on the island and what happened to 815 on the same episode that Cooper was killed and said "we’re in hell". Damon and Carlton used Anthony Cooper’s statements to keep fans from theorizing that Naomi was lying. PERIOD.
Comment by bchova — September 9, 2007 @ 6:35 pm
I kind of agree with the Cloning theory. I have read several posts, and it does logically make sense. Think about when the hatch exploded and the purple light burst out. Desmond woke up completely naked in the woods. So it would make sense that the actual Desmond died, and the new desmond was reborn thus no clothes. Plus it would make sense why Ben and the others have double names for everyone. And perhaps not every one on the island is meant to be cloned, maybe it is just new born babies, and thats why they can’t be born because of the attempt to clone. Or, the people on “the list” are the ones that are to be cloned. This would obviously also explain how the actual flight 815 was found in the ocean with no survivors. Yet all of the passengers are surviving on the island. We know that the plane crashed because Desmond didn’t enter the numbers in time, the excess energy caused the plane to crash.
If the clone theory is not correct, then I really do believe that time travel is playing into this. I would look for jack and Claire’s dad to play a much larger role in season 4, and probably even be discovered as a central character on the island. I just hope he isn’t jacob. Although, so far he has a connection to Jack, Sawyer, Kate, Claire, and god knows who else. So it could be possible. If he is on the island, then that would almost translate into the plane crash being premeditated, which would cancel the accident of Desmond not entering in the numbers, and thus the plane crashing by accidental energy burst.
Back to the time travel theory. If this is true, then I think Desmond can only see the future because he is from the future, and thus is having flashbacks. He might have known he was going to die in that hatch, and purposely sent himslef back to that date.
As for the forthcoming season 4, it is gonna be amazing. Lock obviously knows to some extent what Ben knows as far as secrets of the island, and therefore will be obliged to spill soem of the beans to jack in an early episode. Does anyone know how the writers strike is going to affect the show? IMDB only has the first episode of season 4 as complete.
Comment by Zach Bodine — January 7, 2008 @ 10:40 am