Mike1055

A google search of Tabula Rasa turned up this link

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tabula_rasa

I haven't been watching the reruns, I'm waiting to get the DVD so I can watch in widescreen. My cable system is just starting to get HD and the price isn't worth it for what they are offering.

aktick

Michael - you do know of the site that has all the number references, right? I don't know the link off the top of my head, I'll look though.

Thanks for the definition...so Kate gets a "blank slate," as it were? And the John Locke info, neat, hadn't seen that before (though I know the writers said he was named that on purpose)...but as I read further, some of it reminded me of the little I've heard about the nanotech theory - does it relate?

TheGodfather

From that link:

Science
In computer science, "tabula rasa" refers to the development of autonomous agents which are provided with a mechanism to reason and plan toward their goal, but no "built-in" knowledge-base of their environment. They are thus truly a "blank slate".

In reality autonomous agents are provided with an initial data-set or knowledge-base, but this should not be immutable or it will hamper autonomy and heuristic ability. Even if the data-set is empty, it can usually be argued that there is an in-built bias in the reasoning and planning mechanisms. Either intentionally or unintentionally placed there by the human designer, it thus negates the true spirit of tabula rasa.


Thought that was interesting considering some of the theories we've all been discussing...

TheGodfather

Wow - it dead out stopped raining right when Michael said he'd find the dog when it stopped raining. I forgot all about that and about Michael seeing Sun's ninnies.

aktick

Michael - here's a link to a listing of all the number occurences - http://thenumbers.greatestjournal.com/

aktick

Sawyer: "Yeah, give it to al-Jazeera, he'll protect us."
Charlie: "Al-Jazeera's a network..."

collven

I'm trying to remember if they ever mentioned later in the season why Charlie put the tape on his fingers and wrote on them. Did I miss this?

Big Boy Laroux

don't think they ever mentioned why. probably just a Junkie thing.

Professor Frink

To help summarize things, I though I'd post a list of some observations and theories. Some of this is copied from other people's musings:

• Character link -- In a Jin flashback, there was a brief shot of Hurley on the TV. Not sure if it was a news broadcast or something else. Plus I read somewhere that Hurley was also on TV in another flashback. Anyone remember that one?
  
• Character link -- Hurley's attorney informed him that he now owns a box company. Locke used to work for a box company.
  
• Character link -- Supposedly, the woman who drew Hurley's winning lottery numbers is the same woman who was in bed with Sawyer during one of his flashbacks (the woman that Sawyer tried to scam).
  
• A full season of the show is only ~40 days on the island, so how will they deal with young Walt and his "rapid aging"?
  
• I believe Rousseau said that the "Black Rock" had been the source of the first vocal transmission of numbers (and later Danielle's recorded SOS).
  
• She told Sayid that she had killed her crew because they had gotten "sick" -- I wonder what the real story is there....
  
• It was the exact same transmission -- at the exact same time -- that was picked up by the listening post (that led to the guy going crazy and passing the numbers to Hurley), and also that caused Rousseau's ship to crash.
  
• When Hurley asks Locke what he thinks is in the hatch, he says "Hope." Possibly a reference to the mythological Pandora's Box; it was opened and let out all the evils of the world, and after all the evil came out, at the bottom of the box was one more thing -- Hope.
  
• Leonard (the crazy guy) mentions to Hurley that "once the box is open, you can't stop it, it will keep coming." A reference to the hatch being some sort of Pandora's Box? Or maybe the numbers themselves are a Pandora's Box?
  
• In episode 11, Boone and Locke are tagging trees with red shirts to make a trail; Boone is doing the tagging, and mentions that the Star Trek team members who got killed every episode wore red. Sort of a premonition about Boone's death.
  
• Most of the characters experienced some sort of shame/depression/loss before boarding the plane: Hurley has to purchase two seats; Locke is carried on board; Sayid is mistaken for a terrorist; Sun is mocked by people who do not know she speaks English; Walt feels unwanted by his Dad; Michael feels burdened by his son; Kate is in police custody; Charlie hits rock-bottom in his addiction; Jack is transporting his dead father back home; Boone and Shannon just had a night of sin. Could this tie into what Locke said about how the island "chose them"? Or maybe it's nothing.
  
• Moments after Michael tells Walt that the rudder is "the most important part of the ship", they hit a log which rips the rudder off the raft. Coincidence? Or perhaps another example of Walt's "powers"? (the same way he seemed to kill the bird and conjure up the polar bear by thinking about them). Also, his dad said he would find Walt's dog as soon as it stopped raining and it stopped raining immediately. However, I don't think he is consciously aware of his abilities. One more thing about Walt -- he seems to have a sense of what's going on with the island, because he told Locke, "don't open it", without ever being told about the hatch.
  
• Is this island some sort of "Bermuda Triangle"? It sucked in the "Black Rock" ship, the drug plane, Rousseau's ship, flight 815, and possibly something else that led to the "Others" being there (unless the "others" are actually Rousseau's people).
  
• The "Other" who throws the bomb onto the raft is female. Could it be Rousseau's daughter Alex, who was taken by "The Others" 16 years earlier? Maybe not, because she looks older than 16, but then we don't even know how old Alex was when she was taken.
  
• When Boone makes the radio transmission, the static-filled response initially sounds like "There were no survivors of Oceanic Flight 815". But one of the producers has stated that the person really said "No, we're the survivors of Oceanic Flight 815" -- perhaps a hint at the tail section having also survived? The black woman, Rose, is convinced that her husband is still alive, and he was in the tail section. The woman (played by Michelle Rodriguez) that Jack flirted with in the airport bar -- she was in the tail section.
  
• If Locke is so convinced that the monster is not going to hurt him then why did it kill the pilot? Maybe because the monster knew the pilot was not a passenger? The passengers all seem to be there for a reason, but perhaps the pilot wasn't meant to survive?
  
• Did the island somehow draw the plane in? Or did Walt make the plane crash with his "powers"? I go with the former, because it does seem like this was all somehow "meant to be", as Locke would say.
  
• Rousseau kidnaps Claire's baby boy in an attempt to satisfy "the others" who claimed they want "the boy". Remember, "the others" took her baby, so she was most likely trying to use Claire's baby as barter to get her child back. Of course we know now who "the boy" really is -- Walt. Maybe that's why Ethan returned Claire unharmed, because her baby wasn't who "the others" wanted.
  
• Perhaps Walt knew all along that that raft mess was going to happen? He told his father that they "have to go" (whatever that means).
  
• I'm pretty sure that Rousseau had nothing to do with Ethan and his kidnapping of Claire. Well, at least she wasn't working with Ethan.
  
• Go to http://maps.google.com:
  
  • Put the following in the search bar and press enter: 4.815 162.342 (the exact sequence of the mystery numbers, in coordinate form -- latitude: 4 deg 8 min 15 sec, longitude: 162 deg 3 min 42 sec)
    
  • Click the "Satellite" link at the top right of the page
    Zoom out to all the way (drag the slider all the way to the minus)
    
  • You will see this is a satellite image of a point somewhere between Australia and Los Angeles. As you zoom in closer the map will be centered on an island in the middle of the Pacific. Hmmm......
  
  
• As for the theory that the island might involve nanobots.... First of all, the monster kind of looked like a nano-cloud. And remember, Rousseau called the "monster" a "security system". Plus, when the "monster" was dragging Locke, there were some weird mechanical sounds coming from it.
  
  Nanobots may have been what healed Locke. That would also help explain why his miracle cure took a mysterious 180 when he and Boone approached that old plane, like maybe he wasn't "supposed" to climb up there like Boone did. And if Locke is being manipulated somehow, would that explain why he has such an innate sense about things on the island?
  
  The first time Locke saw the "monster", he looked almost happy. In an interview with the actor, he said he asked the directors what he is looking at -- they told him to imagine "the most beautiful thing you've ever seen". So perhaps the "monster" is indeed a nanoswarm, and it took the form of something when he saw it, something wonderful? (of course, none of this helps explain why it attacked him in the finale.... maybe because they were getting too close to some thing or some place, and it scared them off?)
  
  Sure, Jack's dad was probably just a hallucination. But, like in Prey, it could have been nanos taking human form, leading Jack to the water. And let's not forget that the coffin was empty....
  

OK, that's all for now. Feel free to add more.

I was going to list some occurrences of the numbers, but that link above pretty much does it all.

Big Boy Laroux

I've posted this link in another thread (I was not the original poster, so am not claiming it as my find), but i think the word needs to get out more.

Vile Vortices


There are triangles in North Africa (the drug plane - All the Nigerian stuff), off the southern coast of Africa (for the Slave Ship - Locke mentions Mozambique), and of course there is a triangle east of Australia (Flight 815). These have all apparently been reported sites of plane disappearances and the like.

Perhaps they are all a "portal" to this island? to me, this looks like a route the show is taking.

TheGodfather

Wednesday, June 22, 10/9c
"Walkabout"
Survivors are jolted awake in the middle of the night when wild island beasts invade the beach encampment. Kate and Michael join the mysterious Locke on a hunt for food — and a shocking secret about Locke is revealed. Meanwhile, some survivors are horrified by Jack's plan for the dead bodies still scattered among the wreckage, and Jack sees someone in the jungle who might not have been on the plane.




I assume they're talking about ?

aktick

I'm pretty sure that's it. So far they've gone in order with the first 4 episodes, I wonder which will be the first episode deemed "unworthy" for a repeat?

LorenzoL

I consider "Walkabout" the series best episode so far.

Maquis

I haven't gone back to rewatch the last episode to confim it, but I remember Rousseau say that she was pregnant when they arrived on the island? So Alex must really be 16(ish)

aktick

Did she say she was pregnant? I couldn't remember, thanks. That would sure make it seem less likely that she's Alex.

aktick

After rewatching this tonight, I'd definitely agree it's at least one of the best.

A lot of things happening tonight...

Rose (black lady) saying, quite emphatically, that her husband is still alive. And she said, "they're probably thinking the same thing about us," after Jack said the tail section broke off in mid-flight and that everybody in it was gone. So it's episode #4 and they were already hinting that the tail section may have survived.

Locke's run in with the monster...right before it appeared, there was that running sound that we heard when the smoke went bouncing across the screen in the finale. It sounded like a boar running, which definitely makes sense for this episode, but what about for the finale? Maybe more evidence that the "monster" is actually a combination of many thing on the island (polar bear, plane, pirate ship, boar)?

Also the mechancial clicking noise could be heard, though it wasn't made real obvious. The only difference this time - it wasn't pooring rain right before it showed up, and I didn't notice any smoke dashing across anywhere.

TheGodfather

Does anyone know if they're playing repeats of the repeats?

I missed Wed.'s rerun and just wanted to know if I can catch it again at some off time or something.

Thanks.

Also, aktick, good of you to point out that Rose was talking about the tail section people in ep 4. Sure makes it seem like the writers have a direction and are not just "flying by the seat of their pants" like some posters in other threads have suggested.

aktick

I'm pretty sure they aren't repeating them, just the "new" repeats every Wed.

FYI, this was the episode where we learned Locke was in a wheelchair. Some # references with Locke - he'd been talking with the lady on the phone for 8 months, and he'd been in a wheelchair for 4 years. And the "Explore Mysterious Australia" image on www.oceanic-air.com was behind the guy at the office of the walkabout outfit.

Oh, Jack started seeing his dad in this episode also.

I agree that it definitely shows the writers knew what they were doing (for the most part, at least) all along.

boogieman03

Helen told Locke that if they keep talking on the phone, that she would have to charge him 89.95 for another hour. (I'm assuming it's American currency)
She's not allowed to see clients.
She says that Locke should see a therapist. (Which I take it to mean she isn't one)

What would Helen's occupation be?

Edit: "see a therapist"

boogieman03

Oops...double post.

aktick

My guess is phone sex operator .

Big Boy Laroux

she said locke should SEE a therapist.

and yes, i took it to also be that she is a phone sex operator. and was it $89.95/hour? that's damn expensive!

boogieman03

Yea, meant SEE. Sorry about that.

Damn, that better be some damn good phone sex!

Personally, I think it's gotta be something else. That's just to expensive for that to be right. Not sure what she could be though.

Big Boy Laroux

well, wait... $89.95 an hour? that's only $1.50 per minute. i go back on what i said before. that's what i'd expect from a phone sex line. not that i know firsthand or anything.

one2go

For answers from executive producer Damon Lindelof as to who are the others, what will happen to Sawyer, a hint to why the plane crashed and other hints of season 2 go to a report from the L.A. Times covering the first LOST convention in Burbank at:

http://www.calendarlive.com/tv/cl-et...,6549780.story

WARNING: In the report the writers reveal who the others are, a mind blowing fact regarding the plain crash, something about what will happen to Sawyer and a promise that they will not drag out the suspense over 9 seasons like the X-Files.