[cowering in corner]And please make sure not to shoot down (or confirm) somebody's non-spoiler-enriched theory if you know the answer because of spoilers you've read. I'm always careful reading certain peoples' non-spoilerized posts because I know they read spoilers and might accidentally give an answer that, while not a direct spoiler, is only answerable because they've read a spoiler.[/cowering]

There is definitely something going on with TIME in this series, and I think that's the solution to at least a few of the mysteries. The episode with Desmond, the guy who doesn't age, the fact that there's a pirate ship on the island (maybe), and also the episode where Juliet was taken to the island and had to be drugged because "the trip can be a little intense" or words very similar to that.

Also, I think in the special features of the Blu-Ray disc the producers semi-confirmed that playing around with space/time is definitely part of what's going on.

Plus, if you think about the whole structure of the show - flash forward, flash back - time is key to the entire story.

Maybe the island is in a different time than the rest of the world, and that's why it's so hard to find? Yeah, I know, there are a lot of things that have happened that could possibly negate that theory, but it's an idea.

As with some other theories being discussed (including the ones I've thrown out) I think this is on to something, but not the whole story. Some things that negate is they are seemingly able to stuff from the mainland in the immediate time, such as the video of Juliet's sister with the baby. Of course, we assume it was being broadcast live...maybe it was taped at a different time and place and the recording simply played for her.

But I still continue to think the clone idea is complete bunk and that something to do with this time paradox and the island is why there have been two 815s found...one crashed under water where everybody dies and one on the island. I think at some point in the future, somebody else makes it "off" the island like Desmond did and tries to change the events to avoid getting to the island and the result is the plane crashes. Again, I am sure things will happen in the series that will prove me wrong, but time travel is playing a role in this series.

As for the original inhabitants not aging...I think that's part of the power of the island. They heal faster and they age slower. And even the "others" who have been there for a long time seem to be getting stronger with the island. Ethan, for example, was nearly a freaking superman. All except for Ben. I still am not sure what is up with that.

...now I have a machine gun.

Here's a promo pic from next week's episode that is pretty interesting:

Can anybody make out the text of the email the guy pulls off the board?

what the bleep is that?

this is what i think this is..

Los Angeles, CA - Jack
Tustin, CA - Hurley
Ames, IA - Kate
Miami, FL - Juliet (she and her sister were in Miami in her flashback)
New York, NY Mike/Walt
Portland, OR - Ben (born 32 miles outside of Portland.)
Knoxville, TN - Sawyer
Seoul, South Korea - Sun and Jin
Sydney, Australia - Claire

Exactly what I was thinking. Every single other actor on the show is more capable than the guy who plays Hurley. It's a shame the writers continue to use him as one of the key characters in major plotlines. His emoting is sheer high school play level.

Couldn't disagree more with the Hugo Haters - He's always been one of my favorite characters.

the whole time aspect doesn't add up for me if for no other reason than what was around November 2004 on the show (assuming we use the established timeframe) Ben showed Jack the tape of the Red Sox winning the World Series in Oct 2004. To me that seems like a topical thing to show to Jack but that's just the Red Sox fan in me talking I guess

Clones my ass.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4bTvAUVPyLI

Ok, I wasn't buying any of the time travel theories until I watched that.

Well, obviously if we assume that the time theory is valid, we also have to accept that the Others have (or had, not sure now that the "submarine" is gone) the ability to travel back and forth in time, especially ageless eyeliner dude. It's how they get people like Juliet to the island. So that explains things like what you're talking about and the video of Juliet's sister, among other things.

why is that?

Doesn't prove or disprove clones in any way.

Well I still don't necessarily believe that time travel is the key to this whole thing. But after seeing what happened with the rabbit in that vid I definately accept it as a possibilty. Or who knows, that may be just a red herring.

Don't think anybody dislikes the character, just the actor's performance playing that character. He has no range whatsoever; I really can't stand watching a crying scene where there are no tears. WTF? If he can't perform, why don't they just pass an onion under his nose before they start shooting?

It's Casimir not Kazimir.

When I read this, I wasn't sure how this effect could be used in time travel until I Googled around. I found that this effect can be used to create a negative mass region of space which can in turn be used to stabilize a wormhole. And wormholes allow you to travel through both space and time (maybe).

It seems this is the way they're going but creating a wormhole and, more importantly, stabilizing a traversable wormhole is really way beyond our current science.

Yeah, Juliet definitely isn't Portland. One of here flashback episodes was 'Not In Portland', because that's where they told her she would be working but before the left "doesn't age guy (forgot his name)" confesses that shes not exactly going to Portland.

Those flight destinations definitely have to do with the people from the show / mean something because Ames, IA is a college town that doesn't have an airport that's going to have big planes that Oceanic has.

I believe the island exists in two dimensions. One of the dimensions is the world in which we live now. And the other dimension is the world in which the island and the characters we see on the show exist. I believe the island exists in our dimension but doesn't have The Others, Hatches or anything else that we see in the show. I also believe that when the plane crashed there were actually two planes, not clones, but actually some occurence where the one plane crashed and everyone was killed and the one we saw where the place crashed but many survived. Don't ask me how this works but I believe that this is one of the things that Jack and Hurley are keeping secret. They know that many of their friends are alive but were sworn to secrecy about their own demise and the actual state of being of their friends. They know that in this other dimension their friends are alive but are in a state of despair. They also know that the rest of the world believes that the other passengers are just dead and nothing more. I wouldn't be surprised to find out if this particular hunting party is government related and familiar with what is really going on.

what exctly happened to the rabbit.

Just noticed this Lost promotion on my Xbox 360: http://www.xbox.com/en-US/community/...es/default.htm

The part I find interesting is one aspect of the prize is "A special surprise package from ABC and Oceanic Airlines". 6 people will be chosen for first place prizes (Oceanic 6?) and 3 people will be chosen for the second place prize.

9 total prizes and 9 destination cities. Coincidence? Maybe or maybe not. I wonder if each prize package is unique.