Lost: The world of misdirects and clues!

What makes Lost great viewing the first time you see the show is the way that it misdirects the audience to believing something that they are hearing and seeing and then it pulls the rug away from under your feet by showing you that what you thought was wrong.

One of the best sequences was the keeping of Henry Gale as prisoner in the hatch. Never has been there been a more convincing portrayal of a man from Minnesota than that one. He seemed genuine, he drew a map to where his balloon was and after it looked like there was not going to be a balloon, then, big surprise, all of a sudden there was the big Smiley air balloon in a tree just as Henry Gale had said.

We expected at that point that Ana-Lucia, Sayid and Charlie would come back to the Hatch knowing that they were keeping a unfortunate but honest guy as a prisoner.

Then all of a sudden we learn that what we saw was not the whole picture and that this Henry Gale was not genuine and that he was definitely not who he claimed to be.

It is this surpise twists that are a key part of the show.

The Nikki and Paulo death episode is another example of a classic misdirect, the episodes begins with their deaths but it is not until the end that we learn that they were not really dead!

We see this with Juliette, she is shown leaving a tape for Ben while she was in the Losties camp. She seemed to be a spy in their camp as well as a double agent. Then later we are told that Jack knew what she was doing and all these bad acts of Juliette were actually good acts to help protect the Losties.

Mikhail, we saw him killed at the sonic fence, but to our surprise he was not dead, then we saw him being harpooned, and we thought good now he is dead, but shock he was alive enough to swim to the window and blow up himself and Charlie.

There are many stories, the first Locke flashback did not show the wheelchair until veru late in the episode, so that was a big shock.

The show is full of misdirects and tricks. This is why I believe that that Kate is the real leader that the "Others" have been waiting for. It is the "him" that even the Dharma workers like Kelvin were expecting. All the common elements are there Kate, Ben and Locke have all been implicit in their father's death.

Ben and Locke were not raised by their biological mothers, Kate was not raised by her biological father.

JJ Abrams had originally planned on the character Of kate becoming the leader of the Losties. A role that Jack was given. I wonder if this information is again a misdirect to assume that Kate as leader is not an option. I think that Kate will ultimately become the key player in the series. Her biological father, whose story we have heard little about, probably has some ties to the Dharma Initiative and to Christian Shepherd.

I think that Jacob knows that Kate is his hope, and it is by using the terms him that throws us off the track. It might also be a way of keeping Kate safe. I think that not being on Jacob's list may be a good thing, just as not being on Ben's list is a really really good thing.

This is my theory on Kate and I thought that I should post it as a theory, just in case in two season times we are shown it to be the case. Then I can say I saw that coming years ago.

Stitch

StitchExp626 wrote:
This is my theory on Kate and I thought that I should post it as a theory, just in case in two season times we are shown it to be the case. Then I can say I saw that coming years ago.

Stitch

Yes. I think you could be so right about Kate. When you factor in, as you did, that Jack (originally) was not to be a main player in the show it makes so much sense. I had written somethng similar to this a while back and you have very clearly explained it all very well. In my mind it was only a small filament, floating around with many others, trying to weave some sense into it all and you've gone and created a nice tapestry already!

I will be one of the first ones saying "Stitch was right!"

Cosmic you are my hero, but maybe I better post a theory later on that says Kate is not a leader ... that way I will be sure to be right!

I'm not sold. I mean, even assuming Kate is unaware of this leadership mantle waiting for her (I presume that's where you're coming from) I think between Locke and Jack (who I think will be the leader) there's no room for Kate. The best she can hope for is being pivotal to the Jack-Sawyer-Kate love triangle - and what exactly her role in Aaron's upbringing will entail.

So I guess that puts me at the front of the queue for the firing squad waiting to shoot me down and say, "You were wrong, Comet!"

Hey AC there has to a first time for everything. Besides I wouldn't shoot you ... that wouldn't be a friendly thing to do.

I will just take out a multinational advertising campaign with the banner AC No See Stitchy Theory so AC 0 and Stitchy 1. Gosh that is catchy ... Not!

I think you could be on to something, and she does have all the necessary ingredients - tracking skills, determination, good instincts, a penchant for stirring speeches. I am reminded of Bens comment to Jack, after Kate took the phone off him and went looking for Naomi..."atleast someone around here knows what they are doing"

I still want to know what happened to her inbetween her cosy breakfast on the beach with Ben, and being escorted back to the cages with bloody wrists. Perhaps there is still a lot about Kate we are yet to see, bringing us to a conclusion that is different to how we see her now.

I like it Stitch. She needs to be something more than Sawyer/ Jack arm candy.

SunburnedPenguin wrote:I still want to know what happened to her inbetween her cosy breakfast on the beach with Ben, and being escorted back to the cages with bloody wrists. Perhaps there is still a lot about Kate we are yet to see, bringing us to a conclusion that is different to how we see her now.

Me too.

Stitch, you are absolutely correct about the misdirects and twists we are thrown by the writers.

From the beginning, I felt Aaron somehow played a role with 'the island', and had wondered if Claire and Jack may be 'Adam and Eve'. You can't deny the Shepherd family seems to play a keen role in the storyline. Now that Kate is raising Aaron however, that may be the twist!

I still think there is so much more we need to know before I can make a decision on Kate being the 'chosen one', so to speak. I think if the writers are looking for a twist, that would be a perfect one!

Good thoughts!

Kate's bloody wrists I can answer for you.

It was a deleted scene. Basically she was given a bit of time alone - in the locker room, possible. And she struggled and struggled to tears trying to pull the handcuffs off. To no avail. And that explains her tearful demeanour and sore wrists when she was taken back to her cage.

Ah the mystery is solved! Thanks AC

Thanks AC for that insight. I hope that you are right as it was ambiguous to the viewer what was actually shown.

I don't see it Stich, but I have been wrong every time, so perhaps I am not a solid opinion. I like the concept, I just can't buy it as Kate's show (which it would be). I love your angle..could anyone else fill the part?

AC, you are right about that scene being a deleted scene, however, I read somewhere (and now I can't find it) that one of the writers said it was taken out for a reason, a big reason. He ended the answer to the question by saying that the deleted scene is by no means canon to the show. Believe me, when I saw this I was rather happy about it because I always wanted there to be more to that scene. Kate's pure emotion when she is put in her cage is of utmost defeat and sadness. I think her subtle acting in that scene is absolutely her best acting thus far on the show.


....and yes, that means that I do have a plan for it somewhere in my version of S5... haha, I had to defend the scene because I need it to further my work.

I like your theory and love the way you wrote it Stitch. You've convinced me.

Trying to think ahead and see those misdirects coming is half the fun.

I kind of agree with your theory Stitch. If so it would be interesting to see how they pull it off re Kate.

While I know that a lot of you aren't interested in namesake theories, I've posted elsewhere that it is possible that Kate Austen's namesake is John Austin, whose main contribution to jurisprudence was command theory, which provides that law (and order) is possible because it issues from an absolute sovereign (standing above and outside the law) who can back the law up with punishment.

Kate seems to fit the role of sovereign. She is above the law (or she answers only to her law). And with regard to her on island relationships, there is always a little bit of distance between her and the person she is involved with.

And also re the twists and turns...here I am walking around with the idea that Kate's namesake is John Austin, and right before posting this I google "Kate Austin" to check the spelling of her last name, and I find this, the first hit:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kate_Austin !

Maybe this is why nobody seems to like namesake theories.

I think you are spot on, about Kate being the eventual leader. That was what was intended before they decided not to kill Jack in the Pilot. + 4,815,162,342

katesawjack wrote:I think you are spot on, about Kate being the eventual leader. That was what was intended before they decided not to kill Jack in the Pilot. + 4,815,162,342

Is this a fact or speculation? It does make sense that "someone else" was supposed to be the leader since Jack was supposed to die. I have alway had a question about that. Why would an established actor like Matthew Fox take a part in a show that only consisted of one episode? I am surprised he agreed to that.

blonde wrote:

katesawjack wrote:I think you are spot on, about Kate being the eventual leader. That was what was intended before they decided not to kill Jack in the Pilot. + 4,815,162,342

Is this a fact or speculation? It does make sense that "someone else" was supposed to be the leader since Jack was supposed to die. I have alway had a question about that. Why would an established actor like Matthew Fox take a part in a show that only consisted of one episode? I am surprised he agreed to that.

Blonde, I don't know, how widely known this is, but "Michael Keaton" was at first going to be on Lost as Jack, but he backed out when they told him the character was not going to be killed off in the Pilot episode.
So I guess Matthew Fox was hired after that.
I am not really sure where this information can be verified though? But I also did read that Kate was the intended leader before that change. I think it may have been on the Lost bible "Lostpedia".

Here is part of an interview about Michael Keaton being offered the part of "Jack Shephard" on Lost. There is also a video,if you go to the link,but you can barely hear what he is saying.

http://www.mtv.com/movies/news/articles/1579979/20080121/story.jhtml

MTV: There was also talk that you were the initial choice to play Jack on "Lost." True?
Keaton: Yeah. J.J. [Abrams] called me and he said, "I know you don't want to do a television show but just hear me out." Here's what the idea was: He created this huge setup in the pilot episode with this guy who looks to be the lead or the hero. He has all those earmarks. And then all of a sudden he dies in the middle. I had to go think about it. And what happened was he went to [ABC] and said, "Here's how it works." And they said, "Nah." I think they read it and thought, "No, you've got to keep that guy alive." And then I was out of that.
MTV: They haven't come calling for a guest spot since?
Keaton: No! I didn't think about that! What's not to love [about me] now!

Wow.....great info KSJ!! Thanks for sharing. I had never heard any of that.

Again it shows the nature of the misdirects that the show is based on. You can imagine them advertising the series with a big name star such as Michael Keaton.

Everyone watching the first two hours would assume that of all the characters he would be safe, and then to have the shock value of him being killed of in episode 2, this would have a big impact on the show.

The producers like to get their audience to make assumptions then they go out of their way to make those assumptions wrong.

Can't quite swallow the idea of Kate being the actual future leader of the others...maybe Aaron, but not Kate. Though it is an interesting theory.
and one other minor nit-pick...

StitchExp626 wrote:
One of the best sequences was the keeping of Henry Gale as prisoner in the hatch. Never has been there been a more convincing portrayal of a man from Minnesota than that one. He seemed genuine, he drew a map to where his balloon was and after it looked like there was not going to be a balloon, then, big surprise, all of a sudden there was the big Smiley air balloon in a tree just as Henry Gale had said.

We expected at that point that Ana-Lucia, Sayid and Charlie would come back to the Hatch knowing that they were keeping a unfortunate but honest guy as a prisoner.

Then all of a sudden we learn that what we saw was not the whole picture and that this Henry Gale was not genuine and that he was definitely not who he claimed to be.

It is this surpise twists that are a key part of the show.
Stitch

I was not at all surprised to find out Ben was a bad guy.
And I don't think anyone else was who saw this scene:
Jack pulls a crazed Sayid away from Ben just after Sayid tried to shoot him. As the hatch door closes you see Ben looking at Sayid with a look of utter evil in his eyes. If you saw that, you knew Ben was a baddie!

and nobody on this planet was suprised to see patchy alive.


But still a very interesting theory

Ben at the breakfast table told Jack and Locke that "Wow, you guys have some real trust issues, don't you? Guess it makes sense she didn't tell you. I mean, with the two of you fighting all the time. Of course, if I was one of them -- these people that you seem to think are your enemies -- what would I do? Well, there'd be no balloon, so I'd draw a map to a real secluded place like a cave or some underbrush -- good place for a trap -- an ambush. And when your friends got there a bunch of my people would be waiting for them. Then they'd use them to trade for me. I guess it's a good thing I'm not one of them, huh? "

This made Henry Gale look very evil ... then we saw Ana-Lucia, Charlie and Sayid arriving at the spot on the map Henry drew. This spot was secluded with underbrush and sure enough no sign of any hot air balloon. I was worried that they were about to be ambushed. Ana-Lucia insists on searching just to make sure so that they could say they exhaustively searched the area but no balloon.

Then just as we are convinced that Henry was lying behold they discover a hot air balloon just as henry Gale described.

If that did not cause you to think that poor prisoner Henry Gale was telling the truth then I thinked the writers failed in their intention. Although it did fool me and this only added to the surprise whammy when Ana-Lucia, Sayid and Charlie returned, not with the story that Henry told the truth but with evidence that he lied.

In regards to Patchy, well nobody is an exaggeration, there was at least one person surprised ... me lol