Your Voice: Charlotte Is None Other Than. . .Charlotte?
Submitted by Blumoon
With all the commotion going on after the amazing season finale I was jumping for joy, and for a few reasons. The primary reason, above all else, was the scene between Miles and Charlotte. Miles tells Charlotte he’s surprised to see her leaving because, in his words, "It’s just weird after all the trouble you went through to get back here." I was excited because this added an entire canister of fuel to the fire that is my theory regarding who Charlotte is.
Flashback *trademark LOST flashback warning sound* to season 2 during the episode "?", where Mr. Eko has the honor of flashback duty. During his flashbacks, we learn that during his time as a priest he was tasked with investigating a woman’s claims of a miracle involving her daughter. The woman claims that her daughter drowned in a river and was somehow resurrected the day after. Even the medical examiner on the case seems to support the story, telling Eko that she seemingly came back to life right on the autopsy table, and even gives him an audio tape of the incident for supporting evidence. Eko goes to visit the woman’s house, only to be told that it’s not an appropriate time for visiting. The father (who turns out to be Claire’s psychic) then comes out and tells his wife to go back inside. He confesses to Eko that he is a fraud as a psychic, and that he thinks his wife knows that and is pulling the whole miracle thing just to spite him. As Eko leaves the house, we see the young girl staring at him through a window.
In a later flashback towards the end of the episode, we see Eko at the airport getting ready to board Oceanic flight 815. Just as he steps away to leave the ticket desk, he is confronted by a young girl; the girl who supposedly drowned. She then tells Eko, to his shock and disbelief, that she met his brother Yemi while she was "between places," and that she knew he was not a real priest, but that he should still have faith in himself because Yemi still has faith in him. That girl’s name was Charlotte Malkin.
Now, ever since they introduced the character Charlotte Staples Lewis (hereafter referred to as "Lewis"), I’ve been convinced that she and Charlotte Malkin (hereafter referred to as "Malkin") were one and the same. I realize there are some holes in this theory, and I’ll go over those, but hear me out. First of all, they certainly look similar enough for Malkin to be a young Lewis. They both have red hair and notably light green eyes. Now onto the more scientific evidence. Malkin supposedly drowned, spending about 2 hours underwater in the river, and was brought to the autopsy lab completely lifeless, presumably dead. Now, Lewis told Daniel in the finale that after what Miles said she decided to stay. Her rationalization was that "she was still searching for the place she was born." Back to Malkin, she told Eko that she was "between places", which could be taken many different ways. The key? Why, conscious time-travel, of course! Remember how Desmond time traveled after trying to leave the island? His consciousness traveled between two different points along the timeline of his life. During these travels, his body appeared lifeless; he appeared to be dead. Because of this, it’s now possible that Malkin didn’t die, but instead consciously time-traveled. The problem here is that she would have needed a constant to keep it from happening too much, and she, according to Faraday, would need to have been recently exposed to radiation, typically electromagnetic. Well, let me remind you that her father, the psychic, claimed there were several geological "areas" that exhibited incredibly high electromagnetic activity. It’s very possible, maybe even likely, that they lived near one of these areas. There are several ways I could go with this.
The most interesting thing to me is that, if my theory is correct, Malkin may have been born on the island and then forced to leave at some point. There are some things that could ruin this theory, like the fact that Malkin did not have an accent (to my recollection, at least). Of course, this is LOST. I’m sure there are many ways they could explain that issue if Lewis is indeed an older Malkin. Could it really be her? Maybe we can all figure it out together.
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I like the connections you make, how can we make this a viable theory? The age difference between Malkin and Lewis is roughly 20 years, how could someone age so fast? Unless she has come from the future and traveled into the past which is present day Lost. Traveling back in time seems a bit far fetched at this point though. Anyone else have any theories to make these link up?
Comment by blutoshmooto — June 12, 2008 @ 9:31 am
Blumoon, I like the idea, but like blutoshmooto said… it’s not possible unless some serious time travel is involved. When we first meet Charlotte Lewis in Season 4 Episode 2 it is approximately 91-92 days after the crash. Thus it is only 91-92 days after Charlotte Malkin meets Mr. Eko at the terminal. Not enough time to say that she aged greatly. Plus, Ben is always on his game, don’t you think he would know that Charlotte Lewis wasn’t her real name when he shouted out her profile?
Comment by JScotty — June 12, 2008 @ 9:42 am
um.. there is a 20 year age difference. from the time eko met her at the terminal BEFORE BOARDING 815 (DUH) and we see charlotte come to the island only 90 days have passed.. this is the worst theory i have ever read come on!
Comment by stupidtheory — June 12, 2008 @ 11:15 am
no.
Comment by johnlocke — June 12, 2008 @ 11:16 am
Although I think there are a number of problems with this theory, it is important to remember that the Lost producers have emphasized that names are not given on the show by accident. I suspect there is some kind of connection between Charlotte Lewis and Charlotte Malkin, even this isn’t it.
Comment by Jeremy — June 12, 2008 @ 1:43 pm
Blumoon, I don’t know if I agree with your theory. I certainly wouldn’t call it the worst theory I ever read, unlike “stupidtheory” (DUH) did. I commend you for putting your theory out there for people to comment on. By the way, the character of Charlotte was not written to have a british accent. They liked Rebecca Mader and decided to go with her real accent. I am also impressed by your memory. Season 2 seems so long ago.
Comment by Alaine — June 12, 2008 @ 2:00 pm
doesnt time move differently on the island? so therefore is it not possible that young Malkin aged normally and came to the ‘present day’ island which was actually in the future?
and also, when you mentioned the river i thought you may make a connection between that and where Lewis ended up when she jumped from the helicopter…? that bit of your theory really had me going with the conscience jumping
Comment by philoceanic — June 12, 2008 @ 3:33 pm
“Well, let me remind you that her father, the psychic, claimed there were several geological “areas” that exhibited incredibly high electromagnetic activity.”
I think you’re confusing two characters here–Malkin never said that. Rose’s psychic, Isaac of Uluru, said that. Totally different guy.
Comment by Tombo — June 12, 2008 @ 6:01 pm
Tombo; thank you for correcting me. You’re absolutely right; I got Isaac mixed up with Richard Malkin there. Philoceanic; yes, time does indeed move at a slower pace on the island. In fact, because of this, a possible inconsistency has been brought to my attention. We saw in Daniel Faraday’s payload experiment that what should have arrived inside of five minutes instead took just over 31 minutes, indicating a serious time discrepancy. This would lead me to believe that my theory has more merit than I thought; if less than five minutes translates to over 31 minutes 18 seconds, I can certainly imagine that 91 days could very well translate to several years. There’s a big problem with this, though; not only in the context of my theory but of the entire story. When the Oceanic Six returned, it seemed as though time had passed just the same off the island as it did on the island, which doesn’t make any sense because that would mean that the time discrepancy discovered by Faraday is false. What am I missing here?
Comment by Blumoon — June 12, 2008 @ 9:57 pm
Blumoon, that is exactly what i was thinking when i wrote that last comment…i distinctly remember someone saying (though i cant remember who) something along the lines of ‘youve been here longer than you think’…this whole time aspect that they have introduced to LOST is both good and bad - it really gives us stuff to think about, but at the same time is so out there that it isnt really possible, unlike the science involved in the show up till now, with the swan.
now, will someone please make something of the link between blumoon’s theory and the landing in the river?!
Comment by Philoceanic — June 13, 2008 @ 4:31 am
Isolated incidents. I would be disappointed if they pulled that connection.
Comment by Dan Berry — June 13, 2008 @ 12:01 pm
The one thing I’ve learned from Lost is that explanations & connections tend to be a lot simpler than this absurd theory.
The biggest hole in this theory is the age difference, and since Eko is from the same time as each 815′er, its just not even possible. Charlotte and the other Freighties are from only a few months after the crash, and Eko had that encouter with MALKIN like, right before the crash. That was why he was in Australia.
Another huge hole is that when the body goes “lifeless” during conciousness traveling, the body might appear dead but the heart would still be beating. Otherwise, they would be DEAD. Moreover, when Desmond was catatonic, he was still standing up straight during some of his “trips”. If your heart was stopped, this would be impossible.
I’m sorry to be the bearer of bad news. I’m not trying to rain on this parade, but I feel I have no choice. I’m a man of science.
Comment by ZebraKiller — June 13, 2008 @ 3:47 pm
For the record, ZebraKiller, I am also a man of science. With that said, I am well aware of the age issue. You also make a good point about the characteristics of Desmond’s catatonic state. It’s obvious that I was excited about this possibility and failed to thoroughly analyze everything.
However, the fact remains that something isn’t adding up here. Faraday’s payload experiment showed us a significant difference between the speed at which time flows on and off the island. What took less than 1 minute from Regina’s perspective took 31 minutes from Faraday’s perspective. Theoretically, that puts the outside world traveling through time at roughly 31 times the speed at which the island is traveling through time. If this were true, then the roughly 91-day stay on the island would translate to almost 8 years. Ian McVay’s autopsy report shows that Charlotte Malkin was 5′5 and weighed 96 lbs; it’s also worth nothing that he paraphrased her saying “I’d get sick if I didn’t eat more”. These characteristics lead me to believe she was roughly 17-years-old at the time. Charlotte Staples Lewis is currently 25-years-old; approximately 8 years older than Malkin was. If Faraday’s discovery was true, then that only helps the possibility that Lewis could be a grown Malkin.
Unfortunately, even with this strong evidence, there is still a large hole in the theory. The Oceanic Six do not seem to have returned in 2005, when according to Faraday’s discovery, they should have returned in 2012. That completely contradicts the time discrepancy discovered by Faraday, and in my experience, the LOST writers would never do something like that unless it didn’t contradict the over-arcing story. There is one more idea that could save this, though.
Remember when Desmond turned the fail-safe key? The sky turned purple/white, we heard a distinctively strange sound, and, while others on the island seemed to be unaffected, Desmond temporarily traveled back in time to his apartment back when he and Penny were still together. Now, the season 4 finale showed us that Desmond’s fail-safe key almost definitely moved the island, supported by the fact that moving the island displayed the same distinctive purple/white sky and strange sounds. Now things get interesting. During Desmond’s time back in the past, he met Charlie on the streets outside of Charles Widmore’s offices. Charlie didn’t know him, but he remembered Charlie. Now, this might seem a bit far-fetched, but I believe that I know why Desmond had flashes about Charlie dying. I think that, rather than predicting the future, he was remembering it because he’d been there. If this were true, it’s possible that Charlie was, at that time, his constant, or something to that effect.
Regardless, the point behind this Desmond rant is that, if the fail-safe key did in fact move the island, I believe it moved the island back in time. This could account for the fact that 8 years did not seem to have passed when the Oceanic Six returned.
This got way too big, and needs refinement. I’ll be back later.
Comment by Blumoon — June 13, 2008 @ 6:27 pm
Bluemoon
I think your theory may have some merit. I believe the oceanic six left the island using the coordinates 305. Daniel Faraday set those coordinates to stay with a current time line. If some one would leave with different coordinates there would be different time lines established. For example, the doctor showing up on the island before he was killed on the ship. I think there are several time lines intertwined together through out the series.
Comment by pat — June 13, 2008 @ 8:00 pm
blumoon, are you watching the same show as the rest of us? go back and look at every major twist in Lost history. they are surprisingly simple. this whole theory is a huge stretch and your “strong evidence” is just reaching for something that isn’t there. they’ve already established that if you come to the island on a different bearing (not 305) you will arrive or leave either in the past or future. the oceanic six left on 305 thanks to frank’s piloting.. faraday’s rocket, the doc’s body, etc, all came to the island on a different bearing, hence why they arrived either 35 minutes late or in the past.
charlotte is charlotte. she may have been born on the island and taken off. we’ll have to wait until 2009 to find out.
Comment by rose — June 13, 2008 @ 11:19 pm
Blumoon makes some interesting points - and I think we shouldn’t just rule it out right away… the most interesting one is the idea that Charlotte Malkin dies… and then comes back. Could it be that the island has a purpose for her (Malkin) that she hasn’t yet fulfilled?
The age difference between Malkin and Lewis is a challenge to work with, but the story isn’t done yet, and we might learn of some other issues. Let’s not forget that Lewis found the polar bear (with Dharma collar) in Tunisia, that had been there for a VERY long time… there’s still chances to loop her back simply enough.
Richard Malkin has shown a particularly interesting affinity for delivering the island’s will… just because he’s called himself a sham as a psychic doesn’t mean he isn’t still more aware of what’s going on than we’ve been lead to believe.
Sure, there are holes in this theory - but I think it merits a little attention. It’s probably not 100% right, but incrementally, this could be a step in a right direction. This is thinking a little out of the box, and the theory acknowledges its holes… I like it.
Comment by BitterQ — June 16, 2008 @ 6:44 am
I’m not certain where the concern comes up that these two women differ greatly in age. The girl who played Charolette Malkin was born in 1981. Rebecca Mader was born in 1979.
They’re literally the SAME age.
We assume that Malkin is a young girl… but I think that’s folly.
Why would they choose 2 actresses with the same complexion, eye color, hair color and name, who are nearly the same age, if they weren’t meant to be connected, somehow?
Comment by melanie — June 16, 2008 @ 2:35 pm
Maybe the explanation is as easy as a casting change.
Comment by kerrie — June 16, 2008 @ 7:01 pm
The time discrepancy with Faraday’s experiments doesn’t necessarily mean time measures/travels differently ON the island.
If island time goes faster than normal time, how could people on the freighter communicate with people on the island and hold up a conversation? Wouldn’t the sun rise/set in relatively a quick amount of time (ie 1 hour, etc) from the perspective of the people on the island?
I think the experiment was just a way to introduce the idea of some sort of space-time shift, something that ultimately explains why the island is well hidden.
Also remember those traveling on the raft back in season 1, how they went out only to go in circles and come right back. Essentially, there is some sort of barrier, with only a small doorway (at a specific heading). Still, traveling OFF the island takes LONGER than expected (from the perspective of the islanders).Remember how long it took for the helicopter to get back to the freighter?
Remember the freighter’s doctor ended up dead ashore on the island, someone called back to the military folk to tell them this, and all while the doctor was still on the freighter. SO, it’s not just the barrier that slows down time, it’s almost like the island exists slightly ahead in the future (1/2 - 1 day?).
I think the Charlotte-Charlotte link is just coincidence. If Charlotte was born on the island, it would mean her parents were Dharma — probably scientists. Having two scientist parents and ending up to be a scientist isn’t unheard of. The other Charlotte’s family don’t seem like they could be the scientist type. Why would a scientist at heart do something as odd as being a psychic? It’s two separate mentalities, almost conflicting/exclusive of each other.
I think there’s a HUGE difference between space-time anomalies (that would make travel slow down when going through an area, or thru some sort of wormhole transport polar bears/Ben to the African desert), and full-blown time travel by 10-20 years.
I think the “moving the island” thing merely moved it FORWARD in time, still at the same place. Perhaps the Locke that came for everyone’s help is from roughly the time when the Oceanic 6 left.
Comment by anonymous — June 17, 2008 @ 11:10 pm
I always liked the theory that Charolotte may be Anne from Ben’s flashback. But then recently I was reading that Cynthia Watros (the woman who plays Libby) was quoted in an interview saying that her character “Annie” would be back soon. She totally called her character on LOST Annie instead of Libby. Maybe this was just a huge slip up, or maybe she also just knows a lot more than we do. Hmmmm…
Comment by Steve — June 20, 2008 @ 10:26 am
Big problem with this theory, the age difference for one, which some people here have already explained, and then the fact that Eko talked to the girl before boarding Oceanic flight 815. So unless she aged 20 years in the past 3 months or so, she could be the same person. But isn’t.
Eko even gets pissed and Libby comes by asking if everything is all right. So we know he was at the airport for his flight, Oceanic 815.
Comment by Signus924 — June 21, 2008 @ 8:57 am
When C.S.Lewis first was introduced, I automatically thought of Charlotte Malkin. Why else would they put Malkin’s story in. It really didn’t move Eko’s story along. The C. Malkin looks about 16 and CS Lewis is probably in her mid to late 20s. If they are not the same they have to be somehow connected. What is more, think about Walt’s “growth spurt” he was a small boy on the island and weeks later he is a teenager. Perhaps that has something to do with the age differences.
Comment by dan — July 14, 2008 @ 6:23 pm