SDCC 08 – Daniel is Charlotte’s father

(Update: I changed the title of this post about one third into it when I had the revelation, so the first part of this post may seem unrelated.)

We got a lot of very subtle info at Comic-Con.  Then again most Lost info is subtle.

Daniel

So what can we say about the video?  First of all it’s very obvious that Daniel is the man behind the camera in the video with Pierre.  Secondly the source of “credible” info that Pierre speaks of can be assumed to be Daniel.  So how did Daniel go to the island in the past?  Perhaps he’s flashing back in a similar way as Desmond in The Constant, going back in time with his mind.  We can place the year that video was recorded at sometime between 1970 and 1978 (30 years before G. W. Bush was president), therefore I submit that Daniel was on the island in the seventies.  Since he was obviously not a child in that video it’s possible to assume that he doesn’t age, in a similar fashion as Richard.

Oh my god!  New instantaneous revalation.  Perhaps he’s not in love with Charlotte, perhaps he’s her father!  I haven’t thought this through at all so please tell me if I’m wrong.  I’m going to try to prove myself wrong (suddenly this has turned into a live blog into the innerworkings of my mind)… OK I thought about it and I can think of nothing that proves it wrong.

• He has never met Ben or Richard, the only two people who would recognize a Dharma member.
• He appears to have complete devotion and care for Charlotte, he never really expresses love, Jin and Sun think he loves her and obviously Charlotte thinks so too, but he seems pretty platonic towards her.
• We probably know that Charlotte was born on the island, that’s all we know about her parentage.  She appears to have been adopted by a British family and raised in England, that doesn’t mean anything.
• Daniel appears to know a lot about the island, and the stations.  For some reason we just thought that it was because of research or something but the more I think about it the more I think that notebook he carries around is full of his memories that he can’t remember on his own.  So if he remembers Dharma logos and stations, it’s not due to research on Dharma it’s due to memories of Dharma.

One puzzling thing is why was he chosen by Whidmore.  I’ve been theorizing that Whidmore was at one time a member of Dharma and one of the individuals who turn the donkey wheel.  So he probably would have known Daniel, maybe that’s why he chose him.  I’ll think about Charles later, he’s a mindful on his own.

But back to the analysis of the video.  We know that Daniel knows a lot about time travel, he knows he can’t change the present by going into the past.  So I think that is why he is always threatening to turn the camera off.  Whenever Pierre tries to mention saving him and the other Dharma members from their inevitable death Daniel starts saying it’s useless.  In the end he is right, he was trying to send a message to modern day people, trying to get them to join Dharma.  Obviously that part of it is the ARG (alternate reality game).  So the message of the video doesn’t really matter.  What matters is that Daniel is old and possibly a father.

That’s all I got for today, I’ll be back tomorrow to talk about other things we learned and maybe more about Daniel.

And I don’t want to appear cocky, but I believe I am the first person to suggest this theory so spread it around.

- Izi

Comic-Con 08 Q & A

Here’s a list of all the Questions the audience asked Darlton and the answers they received (also the prizes each person got):

Q: When the hatch imploded and the sky turned purple did the island move then? Like it did when Ben moved it (more recently)?
Damon Lindeloff: No. But something happened and that’s an excellent question.
Prize: an Oceanic Airlines bottle of water

Q: Are Jin and Locke dead?
Carlton Cuse: Jin and Locke will still be on the show in some form. You’ve not seen the last of either of those characters. You know, dead is a relative term. In the timelines of those characters there’s still a lot of story to be told.
Prize: Jin’s panda bear doll.

Q: Is “Lost” coming back next year?
DL: We’re doing 17 hours in February 2009 and 17 hours in 2010.
Prize: A “Lost” calendar.

Q: Favorite episode and favorite season?
CC: ‘The Constant’ would be my favorite episode. I think in terms of favorite seasons, the first one was so amazing and we were trying to figure everything out; yeah, just the excitement and terror of it.
DL: The Season One finale with the raft launch and all of that stuff. It was back when the show could be hopeful before it degraded into despair. And for favorite season? Season Four; everyone worked really hard. You will be rewarded for hanging in until Season Six.
CC: For us it was a huge advantage to get an end date to the show; it really reinvigorated us.
Prize: Apollo bar and an Apollo T-shirt.

Q: I just wanted to slap you around for the Jin and Sun episode — you guys are naughty.
DL: For slapping us around, here are some “Heroes” DVDs. It’s a much better show than ours. Enjoy!
Prize: “Heroes” DVD box set

Q: Are we going to get a (Danielle Rousseau) flashback? Will you definitively say in front of 6,500 of us that there will be one?
CC: We will say this: You will see Rousseau’s story. But to use the word flashback would be disingenuous. We’re going to do flashbacks and flash-forwards next season, but we’ll mostly be doing something different.
DL: Danielle Rousseau will be in Season Five.
Prize: “Lost” luggage tags

At this point, someone asked a question about whether production would continue under “the new SAG contract,” to which Lindeloff replied that he wasn’t aware there was a new one yet — there isn’t — but reassured shooting would continue regardless. For asking the question, the guy received the best worst prize of the lot: Photographs of the actors who played short-lived Nikki and Paulo. “Who wouldn’t want that?” Lindeloff asked. “Yes, two SAG actors,” said Cuse.

Q: Do your own mothers not know how the show will end?
CC: They like to be in the dark.
Prize: A life jacket signed by all the writers.

Q: Where is our special guest?
DL: The actors [are] scattered all over the world at the moment, so it’s almost a Herculean task to get any of them out here.
Prize: Signed box set of all seasons of the show.

Q: What happened to [the dog] Vincent?
DL: Vincent made it and will appear in season five. Safe to say he’ll make it to the end of the show.
Prize: Polar bear doll

Q: Are Jack and Kate your one true pairing and will they end up together?
CC: There it is. Someone who asked a real question, a ballsy question that gets right to the heart of the story and the mythology — we can’t answer it.
DL: Sir, we can not tell you the answer to that question. Obviously we’re very invested in that relationship.
Prize: Jack Shepherd autographed doll … delivered by surprise guest Matthew Fox.

Q: Will Kate ever see Sawyer again?
DL: Not if Jack has anything to say about it! No, yes, Kate will see Sawyer again
Prize: A signed “Lost” poster

Q: Now that the island has moved, what happened to the survivors and Daniel Faraday?
DL: You refer to the Zodiac boat and the non-line speakers, right? Sadly, there is a monsoon a comin’ for some…
Prize: An authentic Faraday tie. “For those of you wondering why Faraday is wearing a tie on the island, stay tuned,” Lindeloff said.

Q: Flash-forwards, how are you going to limit yourselves?
DL: When Season Five starts, you won’t know where and when you are. The way we’re gonna tell stories is gonna be different too.
CC: We organized a bit differently; if we were constrained by FF and FB that that was not gonna be the best way to tell our stories.
Prize: Hanso foundation hat.

Q: How does this show end?
CC: It ends well, we hope — we can’t answer that.
Prize: A six pack of Dharma drinks

Q: Do you ever come up with stuff like, let’s make Kate a dude, or do you have it all planned out from the beginning?
CC: You can’t have It all planned out. We actually try to write ourselves into corners every day. What we try to avoid is filming that without knowing the answers. We try to puzzle our way out of situations.
Prize: DryErase eraser signed by CC and DL

Q: How old is Richard Alpert and how many toes does he have?
CC: That’s a really good question. He is quite old. We’ve hinted that people age differently on the island and people heal. That is hopefully an engaging mystery that will keep you tuning in. You will learn more about Richard Alpert.
DL: You’re gonna see his toes too.
Prize: A T-shirt that says: “I asked a Richard Alpert a question and all I got what this lousy T-shirt.”

I Got this from list from an article on the LA Times website.

(-On a side note, Carlton or Damon (I enjoy not knowing who’s who) has a shirt that says Trust Snape.  Awesome!)

- Izi

Comic-Con 08 Dharma Video

I was hoping that we would get a better quality video of this, but no luck yet so here’s what we have:

Before I start analyzing it, here is the transcript from Lostpedia:

Hello. My name is Dr. Marvin Candle and I….you know what? Forget it. No point in games anymore, right? If you’re watching this now, you already know that my name is, my real name is Pierre Cheng and I…(baby cries off screen and the Doctor looks over. He gets up from the couch and yells: “Jennifer! Just take him outside, please! I’ve got one chance at this.” He sits back down.) [static] …professor of theoretical astro-physics from Ann Arbor, Michigan. I was brought [static] years ago to conduct experiments to study the Kerr metric solution to the Einstein field equation and… [static] If I can hold this pinhole open long enough, you should be receiving my message roughly thirty years [static] If you’re… [static] The American president is a man named George W. Bush and you share digital information instantaneously on something called “Internet”. And, unfortunately, my colleagues and I are all dead and if [static], of a violent purge, one that we are apparently powerless to escape. (he looks down sadly at his left arm, which looks normal, and grasps it with his other normal hand). [static] This information comes to me from a source that has proven himself to be credible.
Other man: None of that matters. It doesn’t matter. Just get to it, please! [static]
Dr. Cheng: Because, if this transmission is successful, it’s proof the work I’ve been doing here is valid. This place, it has extraordinary properties. I’m begging you, no matter what’s happened, it’s imperative that the DHARMA Initiative be reconstituted. You have to continue to research [static] and you have to do it now. Time is not just of the essence, it is the essence. Perhaps you’ll be able to find a way to save us, to change the past and to [static] (something) You can’t let it….
Other man: This is useless! Alright? It’s just useless. They’ll never gonna see this. How do I turn this off?
Dr. Cheng: No, no! W-w-what are you doing?
Other man: How do you turn it off?
Dr. Cheng: No! What are you doing? [static]

So that was the video.  I don’t want to start analyzing anything until I post all of the info we got this weekend.

Next time I’ll do the Q & A.

- Izi

111 – All the Best Cowboys Have Daddy Issues

Review:

In my opinion this is truly one of the worst names for a Lost episode, maybe I just don’t get the reference.  That’s not to say the episode is bad but the name is just awkward and long.

Some important things happen in this episode, mostly at the end.  Most notably Locke and Boone find the hatch which we know is the driving force behind most of the storyline in the rest of season one and in all of season two.

Also Charlie dies for a few minutes.  As I mention below, this is one of the first moments when Lost had me yelling at my TV.  I think that’s pretty notable, if a TV show can get me off my couch and angry or at least emotional that’s a good sign.  This kid of thing doesn’t happen often in Lost but when it does happen it’s very memorable.  For that and the fact that we see our first glimpses at The Hatch I’ll give the episode a 7.5/10.