tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2289595359432630118.post5701076014666447694..comments2024-03-18T04:36:26.547-04:00Comments on Paul Levinson's Infinite Regress: Lost: Keys to What's Really Going OnPaul Levinsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07609987407926836519noreply@blogger.comBlogger17125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2289595359432630118.post-34017690833773247592008-05-12T02:57:00.000-04:002008-05-12T02:57:00.000-04:00Welcome back, Bill!You can find my reviews of this...Welcome back, Bill!<BR/><BR/>You can find my reviews of this season of Lost - which I think is the best so far (even better than the first) - starting here at <A HREF="http://paullevinson.blogspot.com/2008/02/losts-back-full-paradoxical-blast.html" REL="nofollow">Lost's Back</A>...<BR/><BR/>I noticed and mentioned Ben's "Destiny is a fickle bitch" ... but good connection by you to Boethius!Paul Levinsonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07609987407926836519noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2289595359432630118.post-68085790216460526562008-05-10T01:21:00.000-04:002008-05-10T01:21:00.000-04:00Hello Paul,It's Bill from the May 13 and 14 posts ...Hello Paul,<BR/>It's Bill from the May 13 and 14 posts last year. I'm no longer such a procrastinator though!<BR/>It's been a while. What do you think of the season thus far? Looks like your time travel prediction was right, and it's also beginning to look like the producers did in fact have some things worked out in advance. What do you make of occasional literary allusions? Are they just flourishes from the writers' grad school classes or are they functioning as meaningful clues? Turn of the Screw in the hatch a long time ago w/Desmond, the book club w/Ben, the Boethius "Destiny is a fickle bitch" from Ben last night, and theere was a long shot on a book Ben was reading 2 weeks ago (that was recognizable), but right now I can't remember what it was.<BR/>Just wondering if you'd noticed.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2289595359432630118.post-42491811726187513962008-03-03T18:09:00.000-05:002008-03-03T18:09:00.000-05:00True about everyone being interconnected - but, th...True about everyone being interconnected - but, there weren't that many people on the plane, in comparison to all the people in the world, so the odds of two people on the plane, or on the plane and otherwise on the island (like Jack and Desmond) running into each before the crash would have to be exceeding low - to happen even just once. Yet, in Lost, it's happened a lot...<BR/><BR/>Welcome to Infinite Regress, Maggie...Paul Levinsonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07609987407926836519noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2289595359432630118.post-50173575046445980632008-01-01T00:42:00.000-05:002008-01-01T00:42:00.000-05:00Really interesting approach -- and I think you are...Really interesting approach -- and I think you are right that the core coincidences (Hugo/numbers;Jack/Desmond) have to turn out to be central to the ultimate resolution.<BR/><BR/>But I did want to observe that it's not unreasonable that there would be the sort of random coincidences that pepper the flashbacks. Given the huge number of people we interact with or merely pass along the way and the law of permutations, we all have these types of intersections with everyone we meet. The guy you bumped into at the gas station last week has bumped into or spoken to someone you know in your life. It would be overwhelmingly unlikely that there's NO connection between you and him. On that view, the only 'weird' thing about the coincidences in the flashbacks is that the intersections happen to pop up at points in people's lives that are important enough to be told in a flashback about them. But I think that pointing out the odd coincidences in the flashbacks could well be the producer's way of pointing out that we really are all interconnected. And then using that background interconnection in order to provide a backdrop for the few links that really do bear weight in the story.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2289595359432630118.post-4328946675565186612007-05-24T17:33:00.000-04:002007-05-24T17:33:00.000-04:00I never take as gospel what the producers say, Jef...I never take as gospel what the producers say, Jeff - because, for one, they could always change their minds... and, two, they might be deliberately trying to throw off-track...Paul Levinsonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07609987407926836519noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2289595359432630118.post-43742257298017544842007-05-24T10:21:00.000-04:002007-05-24T10:21:00.000-04:00I agree the coincidences are hard to ignore and se...I agree the coincidences are hard to ignore and seem to point to some underlying revelation - but I thought I remember hearing or reading an interview with Carlton Cuse / Damon Lindellof that these types of coincidences will never be explained, they just make interesting storytelling.Jeff Schillerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08519917349324569248noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2289595359432630118.post-63159700117413350342007-05-21T03:54:00.000-04:002007-05-21T03:54:00.000-04:00At least one of the coincidences was realized - wh...At least one of the coincidences was realized - when Jack recognizes Desmond after first entering the hatch at the beginning of Season 2...<BR/><BR/>But you're right, the others are not recognized, and even this Jack-and-Desmond recognition doesn't go any further - at least, not that we can see....<BR/><BR/>My guess is the characters won't start acknowledging the coincidences until the whole series moves closer to completion - because, once they do, we'll also then learn what the coincidences mean...Paul Levinsonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07609987407926836519noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2289595359432630118.post-45204992777532295272007-05-20T18:54:00.000-04:002007-05-20T18:54:00.000-04:00hey thats a really interesting point. i always vie...hey thats a really interesting point. i always viewed the coincidences as irrelevent-just something to spice up the show for the fans, but the idea that by crossing paths, the characters all end up taking the same route in defo. worth a think. however, if this was true, how would their meetings result in ending up on the island? lastly-why do they never uncover coincidences/do you think they ever will? for example, jack and claire being related.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2289595359432630118.post-35380610322306478352007-05-18T13:42:00.000-04:002007-05-18T13:42:00.000-04:00A lot of what you say makes very good sense, but I...A lot of what you say makes very good sense, but I'm curious about one thing. There are many coincidences that are very large that the characters are not aware of, but if they are not aware of them, couldn't we as people just as easily be having such run-ins and never being aware of it. Maybe the writers are making a comment abour the greater tapestry weaved by life. That's just something that I thought of.<BR/><BR/>Sometimes it seems to me that maybe the island (or something anyway) is reaching out and drawing all these people together as they start to mix. Perhaps whatever this thing is finds one person, somehow, then when that person comes in contact with someone else, it can follow that person and then continue on down the line, until it finds all the pieces to the puzzle it needs to complete. It's almost searching for them in a way, and the coincidences are how it found each of them. <BR/><BR/>That's just something I thought of while reading your very well thought out and articulate post here. Good show. I love dialogue between fans.Mellowcreme Puhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10023494591056635011noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2289595359432630118.post-29590181351565618492007-05-17T18:27:00.000-04:002007-05-17T18:27:00.000-04:00Hey, Bill - yeah, I have noticed the father thing ...Hey, Bill - yeah, I have noticed the father thing on Lost ... especially interesting, when you consider that the key motivation of most of Alias was the relationship between Sydney and Jack Bristow (her father)...<BR/><BR/>On time travel - I'm thinking it's part of the explanation, but not the whole story ... isn't that helpful? :)Paul Levinsonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07609987407926836519noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2289595359432630118.post-86627199829055221942007-05-14T02:43:00.000-04:002007-05-14T02:43:00.000-04:00Thanks,Paul. I'm Bill, the "anonymous" of the prev...Thanks,Paul. I'm Bill, the "anonymous" of the previous long message (May 12). If you're right about time travel, then maybe the whole thing is an advanced project from the future designed to fix something historical(or learn from it), and then maybe that project itself went awry. The retro Dharma videos and computers were set up to coincide with the “native time” and nature of its subjects. The island only exists in the future, but maybe a few powerful people in the present are in on it in some way, notably the father of Desmond’s girlfriend and maybe Ben. Getting on and off the island in the way Desmond does causes the accompanying time/space complications. Perhaps this island is the only land left on the future Earth, and all the whisperings are actually its many, many future inhabitants, not necessarily humans, who have the power and technology to summon (and perhaps embody) subjects from different times. You're right, the more you try to explain things, the more complicated it gets. On another note, have you noticed that the show has an obsession about bad fathers?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2289595359432630118.post-7334938401236614252007-05-13T04:55:00.000-04:002007-05-13T04:55:00.000-04:00You didn't miss a thing - excellent, perceptive co...You didn't miss a thing - excellent, perceptive comment!<BR/><BR/>I'm thinking/hoping/hearing that Lost will go the time travel route. Desmond as time traveler would certainly explain his meeting Jack on the stadium steps. But time travel behind all the back story coincidences would be an incredibly complex weave of story lines (was Kate's father time traveling, too - when he met Sayid - and why?) ...<BR/><BR/>Should be an exciting ride ... the next few weeks, and the next few years ...<BR/><BR/>Come back here whenever you like, and continue your analysis as the show progresses...Paul Levinsonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07609987407926836519noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2289595359432630118.post-45922746965276862592007-05-13T01:44:00.000-04:002007-05-13T01:44:00.000-04:00Hi Paul Levinson, I really liked your insightful c...Hi Paul Levinson, I really liked your insightful comments about this show, especially your ideas about the nature of the flashbacks. I don't think purgatory is what's going on (in fact I'm quite sure), but it needn't necessarily be a trite solution if it were. It would depend on HOW it was purgatory, and whether the whole web of coincidences and parallel events worked to make for a intriguing story with potential for powerful, elaborate, and meaningful interpretations. After all, who knows what the hell "purgatory" should be like? Besides, Dante, that is.<BR/>I would prefer it if the whole thing could be resolved without dreams, ghosts, souls, hell, purgatory, or anything like that, but I really don't see how that could possibly be done. I do hope the whole thing isn't a dream --that would be a terrible resolution. Perhaps, as you seem to suggest, it's a little of both. There is a "real" project, a "real" conspiracy, and it involves mind and memory manipulation, but part of what we see as relevant to the story are the mental effects of this project on its victims. This creates the kind of genre problem Hitchcock had with the lying flashback . . . Now I'm realizing I didn't really read your entire bit on genre, I just scrolled down to the HItchcock part, so sorry if any of this is sort of what you said!Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2289595359432630118.post-9384624650155732702007-05-07T18:24:00.000-04:002007-05-07T18:24:00.000-04:00Well, the world being anyone's dream - includuing ...Well, the world being anyone's dream - includuing Hurley's - is certainly always a possibility.<BR/><BR/>But I would be even more disappointed with that than the Purgatory explanation.... :)Paul Levinsonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07609987407926836519noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2289595359432630118.post-69456916538171358182007-05-03T10:17:00.000-04:002007-05-03T10:17:00.000-04:00hurley is having a dream, and the show will end up...hurley is having a dream, and the show will end up with him back in the mental institutuionAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2289595359432630118.post-66598709942451566212007-01-19T19:42:00.000-05:002007-01-19T19:42:00.000-05:00Just read it - even before you posted your comment...Just read it - even before you posted your comment. I enjoyed it!<br />Feel free to come by here, anytime!Paul Levinsonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07609987407926836519noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2289595359432630118.post-75452135235324866542007-01-19T18:20:00.000-05:002007-01-19T18:20:00.000-05:00I posted a piece on Heroes vs. Lost (spoiler alert...I posted a piece on Heroes vs. Lost (spoiler alert: Heroes kicked those no-plot-advancing fools around). Read it here: http://www.thejay.com/2006/12/11/heroes-lost-rumble/<br /><br />- The Jay<br />www.TheJay.comAnonymousnoreply@blogger.com