http://thelaymansanswerstoeverything.com The meaning of life according to some guy who likes TV and stuff. Mon, 14 May 2012 19:19:57 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 http://thelaymansanswerstoeverything.com/2010/05/26/lost-in-myth-%e2%80%9cthe-end%e2%80%9d/ http://thelaymansanswerstoeverything.com/2010/05/26/lost-in-myth-%e2%80%9cthe-end%e2%80%9d/#comments Thu, 27 May 2010 01:45:19 +0000 The Layman http://thelaymansanswerstoeverything.com/?p=1388 Lost is dead. Long live Lost. And so it ends, in much the same way it began—with a close-up of Jack’s eye, staring straight up past the tall stalks of bamboo that circled the sky above. This time however, that eye would close, and with it, our six-season journey that took us right back to where we started—with questions about a mysterious show that seemed to parallel the mysteries of life. For some, the journey was far more compelling than the destination. For others, it was the perfect resolution and they can walk away feeling fulfilled. Whatever you thought about the conclusion, the one thing most viewers can agree on is that the show challenged us to think in ways we might not have otherwise. In short, Lost was a real trip. And what a long, strange trip it’s been.]]> http://thelaymansanswerstoeverything.com/2010/05/26/lost-in-myth-%e2%80%9cthe-end%e2%80%9d/feed/ 30 http://thelaymansanswerstoeverything.com/2010/05/20/lost-in-myth-understanding-%e2%80%9cwhat-they-died-for%e2%80%9d/ http://thelaymansanswerstoeverything.com/2010/05/20/lost-in-myth-understanding-%e2%80%9cwhat-they-died-for%e2%80%9d/#comments Thu, 20 May 2010 04:27:16 +0000 The Layman http://thelaymansanswerstoeverything.com/?p=1369 In the penultimate episode of Lost, “What They Died For,” Jacob tells the surviving Losties why he chose them as candidates: “I chose you because you were all alone. You were all looking for something that you couldn’t find out there. I chose you because you needed this place as much as it needed you.” This explanation really resonated with me, on one hand because it provided a mythologically sound answer to the main question I’ve always had about Lost: why do all these characters have major issues? And having that answer provided the other reason I really liked the explanation: I immediately understood that while Jacob was addressing the remaining candidates, he was really speaking to us.]]> http://thelaymansanswerstoeverything.com/2010/05/20/lost-in-myth-understanding-%e2%80%9cwhat-they-died-for%e2%80%9d/feed/ 21 http://thelaymansanswerstoeverything.com/2010/05/13/lost-in-myth-discovering-you%e2%80%99re-really-from-%e2%80%9cacross-the-sea%e2%80%9d/ http://thelaymansanswerstoeverything.com/2010/05/13/lost-in-myth-discovering-you%e2%80%99re-really-from-%e2%80%9cacross-the-sea%e2%80%9d/#comments Thu, 13 May 2010 17:38:54 +0000 The Layman http://thelaymansanswerstoeverything.com/?p=1345 In “Across the Sea,” Lost finally gives us the origins story for Jacob and the Man In Black. The episode was pure, 100% mythology. Those who watched the episode based on the surface story alone were probably disappointed. Let’s face it, taken literally, myths are silly: talking snakes, little boys defeating giants, jealous gods, immaculate conceptions, mortals with superpowers, a sword stuck in a stone, the Force, Never Never Land, Wonderland, Oz, the Matrix, the Island. On the surface, all myths seem like children’s stories. It’s only when we dig deeper that we find the truth worthy of a wise old soul—a soul that knows where it really came from.]]> http://thelaymansanswerstoeverything.com/2010/05/13/lost-in-myth-discovering-you%e2%80%99re-really-from-%e2%80%9cacross-the-sea%e2%80%9d/feed/ 40 http://thelaymansanswerstoeverything.com/2010/05/05/lost-in-myth-are-you-a-candidate/ http://thelaymansanswerstoeverything.com/2010/05/05/lost-in-myth-are-you-a-candidate/#comments Thu, 06 May 2010 03:40:51 +0000 The Layman http://thelaymansanswerstoeverything.com/?p=1330 Wanna know why the Man In Black is really trapped on the island? It’s not because he’s malevolence, evil, or darkness, and it’s not because Jacob wouldn’t let him leave. It’s because he hasn’t overcome his issues. And what are his issues? Up to now, all we know is that he seems to be terribly frightened of adolescent boys. Hopefully, we’ll get a better answer next week, but as ridiculous as this might sound, I actually think there may be something to it.]]> http://thelaymansanswerstoeverything.com/2010/05/05/lost-in-myth-are-you-a-candidate/feed/ 3 http://thelaymansanswerstoeverything.com/2010/04/22/lost-in-myth-is-the-last-recruit-a-sucker/ http://thelaymansanswerstoeverything.com/2010/04/22/lost-in-myth-is-the-last-recruit-a-sucker/#comments Thu, 22 Apr 2010 15:24:37 +0000 The Layman http://thelaymansanswerstoeverything.com/?p=1314 In Lost’s “The Last Recruit,” the Man In Black refers to John Locke as a “sucker” for believing in fate. As he points out, Locke pursued this belief until it got him killed so perhaps MIB has a point. Despite his compelling argument, Jack takes a leap of faith towards the exact same conclusion as his former nemesis. So does this make Jack—the last recruit himself—a sucker too? My short answer is yes, but, what if this isn’t necessarily a bad thing?]]> http://thelaymansanswerstoeverything.com/2010/04/22/lost-in-myth-is-the-last-recruit-a-sucker/feed/ 4 http://thelaymansanswerstoeverything.com/2010/04/15/lost-in-myth-everybody-loves-answers/ http://thelaymansanswerstoeverything.com/2010/04/15/lost-in-myth-everybody-loves-answers/#comments Thu, 15 Apr 2010 06:28:59 +0000 The Layman http://thelaymansanswerstoeverything.com/?p=1295 In Lost’s “Everybody Loves Hugo,” Richard complains that Jacob “never tells us what to do.” Richard’s frustration echoes clearly into our world. For most of us, Jacob, aka God, never seems to tell us what to do. He just sits back and lets us make our own mistakes, leading to countless horrors and suffering. For many, this is a major argument as to why there is no God. Yet, when watching Lost, we see that Jacob does in fact tell the Losties what to do—sometimes directly, sometimes through his lists or clues, and sometimes through messages that he passes on through his emissaries. But certainly this doesn’t happen in our world. Here, there are no ghosts of Michaels past, otherworldly whispers, or visits from dimension-hopping Desmonds to guide us on our journey through life. Or…is there?]]> http://thelaymansanswerstoeverything.com/2010/04/15/lost-in-myth-everybody-loves-answers/feed/ 3 http://thelaymansanswerstoeverything.com/2010/04/12/lost-in-myth-where%e2%80%99s-your-%e2%80%9chappily-ever-after%e2%80%9d/ http://thelaymansanswerstoeverything.com/2010/04/12/lost-in-myth-where%e2%80%99s-your-%e2%80%9chappily-ever-after%e2%80%9d/#comments Mon, 12 Apr 2010 04:27:16 +0000 The Layman http://thelaymansanswerstoeverything.com/?p=1280 Once upon a time, you believed that you were very special. That you’d grow up to make a difference in the world, be paid handsomely for doing so, find true love, have some equally special children, and live happily ever after. Unfortunately, life hasn’t worked out quite as good as the fairytale. So, were we all lied to? In Lost’s “Happily Ever After” Desmond discovers that there is a reality where all his dreams can come true. So where is this reality and do we need to be as special as Desmond to get there?]]> http://thelaymansanswerstoeverything.com/2010/04/12/lost-in-myth-where%e2%80%99s-your-%e2%80%9chappily-ever-after%e2%80%9d/feed/ 3 http://thelaymansanswerstoeverything.com/2010/04/01/lost-in-myth-unwrapping-the-package/ http://thelaymansanswerstoeverything.com/2010/04/01/lost-in-myth-unwrapping-the-package/#comments Thu, 01 Apr 2010 16:08:17 +0000 The Layman http://thelaymansanswerstoeverything.com/?p=1268 In “The Package” Jin is distraught over having his $25,000 confiscated at the airport, Sun is panicked that her lavish bank account was emptied by her father, Widmore is angry that events aren’t going according to plan, and Desmond didn’t seem particularly happy about being drugged, stuffed in a sub, and brought back to the island. But if there’s anything that life and Lost teach us, it’s that our plans aren’t always in our own best interest. They say that man plans and God laughs. The question is, is God laughing with us, or at us?]]> http://thelaymansanswerstoeverything.com/2010/04/01/lost-in-myth-unwrapping-the-package/feed/ 0 http://thelaymansanswerstoeverything.com/2010/03/25/lost-in-myth-%e2%80%9cab-aeterno%e2%80%9d-cadabra-and-the-island-is%e2%80%a6a-cork/ http://thelaymansanswerstoeverything.com/2010/03/25/lost-in-myth-%e2%80%9cab-aeterno%e2%80%9d-cadabra-and-the-island-is%e2%80%a6a-cork/#comments Thu, 25 Mar 2010 15:13:21 +0000 The Layman http://thelaymansanswerstoeverything.com/?p=1213 In “Ab Aeterno,” Richard Alpert loses his faith after discovering that the plan he’s dedicated so much of his life to, may in fact, not exist. From the very same episode, some Lost fans began feeling the same. For six years, Lost viewers with an insatiable hunger for answers have anxiously waited to find out what the mysterious island actually is. At the writer’s strike a couple years ago, Carlton Cuse held up a picket sign that read: “Do You Want To Know What The Island Is??” Thousands of fans have dreamed up imaginative theories, all in an attempt to solve the show’s complex riddle. And now at last we have our answer! According to Jacob himself, the island is…A CORK!!! (crickets)]]> http://thelaymansanswerstoeverything.com/2010/03/25/lost-in-myth-%e2%80%9cab-aeterno%e2%80%9d-cadabra-and-the-island-is%e2%80%a6a-cork/feed/ 2 http://thelaymansanswerstoeverything.com/2010/03/20/lost-in-myth-the-message-of-%e2%80%9crecon%e2%80%9d%e2%80%94learning-to-let-go/ http://thelaymansanswerstoeverything.com/2010/03/20/lost-in-myth-the-message-of-%e2%80%9crecon%e2%80%9d%e2%80%94learning-to-let-go/#comments Sat, 20 Mar 2010 19:08:13 +0000 The Layman http://thelaymansanswerstoeverything.com/?p=1199 In “Recon,” James Ford learns a life-changing lesson from a TV show just as we are learning from Lost. The metaphor is clear: there are messages in the media that are meant to help guide us on our journey. All you have to do is let yourself see through to their true meaning in order to uncover the wisdom.]]> http://thelaymansanswerstoeverything.com/2010/03/20/lost-in-myth-the-message-of-%e2%80%9crecon%e2%80%9d%e2%80%94learning-to-let-go/feed/ 0 http://thelaymansanswerstoeverything.com/2010/03/14/marc-oromaner%e2%80%99s-lost-in-myth-the-lesson-of-%e2%80%9cdr-linus%e2%80%9d%e2%94%80what-about-you/ http://thelaymansanswerstoeverything.com/2010/03/14/marc-oromaner%e2%80%99s-lost-in-myth-the-lesson-of-%e2%80%9cdr-linus%e2%80%9d%e2%94%80what-about-you/#comments Mon, 15 Mar 2010 03:18:06 +0000 The Layman http://thelaymansanswerstoeverything.com/?p=1181 For many of us, our lives don’t work out the way we planned. But that doesn’t mean that there isn’t a plan. It’s very apropos that Lost’s “Dr. Linus” episode was named for a teacher since it taught us some very valuable lessons about who we are and what our purpose here may be. In other words, it really was all about you. ]]> http://thelaymansanswerstoeverything.com/2010/03/14/marc-oromaner%e2%80%99s-lost-in-myth-the-lesson-of-%e2%80%9cdr-linus%e2%80%9d%e2%94%80what-about-you/feed/ 1 http://thelaymansanswerstoeverything.com/2010/03/04/lost-in-myth-%e2%80%9csundown%e2%80%9d%e2%80%94temptation-of-the-dark-side/ http://thelaymansanswerstoeverything.com/2010/03/04/lost-in-myth-%e2%80%9csundown%e2%80%9d%e2%80%94temptation-of-the-dark-side/#comments Thu, 04 Mar 2010 17:16:52 +0000 The Layman http://thelaymansanswerstoeverything.com/?p=1156 Whereas “Lighthouse” was all about our enlightenment, “Sundown” explored our dark side—temptation. “I can see her lying back in her satin dress in a room where you do what you don’t confess,” sang Gordon Lightfoot in his 1974 hit “Sundown.” The song is all about succumbing to temptation, hence once again revealing the double entendre that the Lost writers are so fond of using in their episode titles. When the sun goes down, man gets tempted by the dark. Why a “satin” dress? Sounds like Satan, don’t it?]]> http://thelaymansanswerstoeverything.com/2010/03/04/lost-in-myth-%e2%80%9csundown%e2%80%9d%e2%80%94temptation-of-the-dark-side/feed/ 5 http://thelaymansanswerstoeverything.com/2010/02/24/lost-in-myth-how-%e2%80%9cthe-lighthouse%e2%80%9d-can-enlighten-us/ http://thelaymansanswerstoeverything.com/2010/02/24/lost-in-myth-how-%e2%80%9cthe-lighthouse%e2%80%9d-can-enlighten-us/#comments Thu, 25 Feb 2010 04:16:49 +0000 The Layman http://thelaymansanswerstoeverything.com/?p=1134 You’ve probably noticed that in every flash-sideways so far on Lost this season, the central character of the episode has been shown looking into a mirror. Kate looks at herself in the auto body restroom after discovering that Claire was pregnant, Locke in his own bathroom just before attempting to call Jack, and Jack looks at himself both in the airplane while noticing the strange mark on his neck, and again in “The Lighthouse” when noticing an appendix scar that he doesn’t seem to remember. The easy metaphor of course, is that we are looking at secondary versions of these characters through the looking glass. But what’s the deeper meaning for us?]]> http://thelaymansanswerstoeverything.com/2010/02/24/lost-in-myth-how-%e2%80%9cthe-lighthouse%e2%80%9d-can-enlighten-us/feed/ 2 http://thelaymansanswerstoeverything.com/2010/02/22/lost-in-myth-why-lost-can-be-a-substitute-for-willy-wonka/ http://thelaymansanswerstoeverything.com/2010/02/22/lost-in-myth-why-lost-can-be-a-substitute-for-willy-wonka/#comments Mon, 22 Feb 2010 14:15:10 +0000 The Layman http://thelaymansanswerstoeverything.com/?p=1104 Lost episode 6.4, “The Substitute,” has so many parallels with Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory , I am convinced that the movie can be used to reveal Lost’s endgame. While I’m sure those parallels also exist within the actual Charlie and the Chocolate Factory book, since I am more familiar with the 1971 Gene Wilder movie (having seen it dozens of times), I will make my comparisons there. Sure, this may turn out to be nothing more than stuff and nonsense, but in the words of Wonka, “a little nonsense now and then is relished by the wisest men.” So, let’s get to it because we have so much time and so little to do. Strike that…reverse it.]]> http://thelaymansanswerstoeverything.com/2010/02/22/lost-in-myth-why-lost-can-be-a-substitute-for-willy-wonka/feed/ 7 http://thelaymansanswerstoeverything.com/2010/02/13/lost-in-myth-a-tale-of-two-kates%e2%80%94why-you-can%e2%80%99t-escape-fate/ http://thelaymansanswerstoeverything.com/2010/02/13/lost-in-myth-a-tale-of-two-kates%e2%80%94why-you-can%e2%80%99t-escape-fate/#comments Sat, 13 Feb 2010 22:13:35 +0000 The Layman http://thelaymansanswerstoeverything.com/?p=1079 Have you ever met someone for the first time who seemed really familiar to you? Strangely, this person likely wound up being an important player in your life. This exact scenario happens to Jack in LA X when he recognizes Desmond on the plane. In What Kate Does, Kate’s parallel life is once again setting up the scene for her to have a connection with Claire and baby Aaron. What if the reason for this familiarity is because we are recognizing these people from our future, or from the story of our destiny?]]> http://thelaymansanswerstoeverything.com/2010/02/13/lost-in-myth-a-tale-of-two-kates%e2%80%94why-you-can%e2%80%99t-escape-fate/feed/ 2 http://thelaymansanswerstoeverything.com/2010/02/03/lost-in-myth-what-the-la-x-in-%e2%80%9cla-x%e2%80%9d-really-refers-to/ http://thelaymansanswerstoeverything.com/2010/02/03/lost-in-myth-what-the-la-x-in-%e2%80%9cla-x%e2%80%9d-really-refers-to/#comments Thu, 04 Feb 2010 04:56:20 +0000 The Layman http://thelaymansanswerstoeverything.com/?p=1066 As soon as I learned of the title of Lost’s Season 6 premiere episode last year, I immediately began to wonder about its implications. Sure, the LA X was a reference to LAX, the abbreviation for Los Angeles International Airport where Oceanic Flight 815 was suppose to land, but why was there a space between the “LA” and the “X”? Like everything on Lost, surely this play on letters was for a reason.]]> http://thelaymansanswerstoeverything.com/2010/02/03/lost-in-myth-what-the-la-x-in-%e2%80%9cla-x%e2%80%9d-really-refers-to/feed/ 2