FAQ

I want to thank everyone for all of the great emails. It may take me a few days at times, especially when the show is on, but I do answer every email that I get.

Quite a few fans have submitted similar questions to me about this site and also about the show. If you have any additional questions, please let me know and I will do my best to answer them here.

	Can you explain what happened in regard to the recent problem with plagiarism and your copyrights?
	What do you think about Jack indicating that his father is still alive in S3E22?
	Did the May 2007 Announcement That There Will Be Three More Seasons of LOST Affect Your Theory?
	Violence on LOST
	Why should I care about new characters when they are introduced?
	Isn't LOST a MORPG or an ARG?
	Why don't you think Locke is more of a special character than any other LOST character? The island healed him and now he can walk. Doesn't that make him more special?
	Who is playing?
	Who is winning?
	What is the purpose of the Flash Backs and Flash Forwards in the game?
	"What about Desmond, in the game, he seems like a "background character" or one chosen from a list by good or bad player for manipulation purposes? Why is he in the game?"
	Is there a relationship between sex and death?
	How do you decide which roles to include?
	How do you decide if a role is 'good' or 'bad'?
	Why don't you mention any characters from The LOST Experience?
	Do you buy all of the LOST merchandise like the books and puzzles?
	Why don't you have a chat room?
	How many hours a week do you spend working on this site?
Can you explain what happened in regard to the recent problem with plagiarism and your copyrights? Jack, NJ
First, let me state that what happened in March 2009 was not the first time that I had encountered this type of problem. The first incident of someone laying claim to my theory and my own original thoughts and interpretations occurred back in November 2005 on one of the LOST forums. And every six months or so since then I wind up having problems with people who post information from this website in various forums and make claims that my theory is in fact theirs. So I have unfortunately had over three years of experience dealing with this type of thing. The difference with the March 2009 situation was the degree to which the plagiarism occurred. One benefit of starting this website is that it gave me a legal way to copyright my own original work. It is not my desire to stop other fans from discussing the fact that LOST is a game. I encourage that and always have. Nor have I ever claimed that I own what has been created by TPTB and is being slowly revealed to fans over time. I have stated over and over again that I am in awe of their genius and that I have nothing but the utmost respect for TPTB. However, it is my intention to protect my copyrights regarding my own original thoughts and interpretations included on this site.
What do you think about Jack indicating that his father is still alive in S3E22? Barbmom
Matthew Fox answers this question in an article from Entertainment Weekly. According to Fox, he says he asked TPTB what the line meant and they told him that it wasn't intended to indicate that Christian Shephard was still alive. Instead, it was intended to show just how high Jack was from taking the stolen drugs.
Did the May 2007 Announcement That There Will Be Three More Seasons of LOST Impact Your Theory? Elizabeth,TN
I received a lot of email regarding the Official Announcement that there will be three more seasons of LOST (2008, 2009 and 2010). And that each of these seasons will consist of 16 episodes. Here are a few thoughts that I have included in my recent email responses: There isn't a problem with the number of seasons left, but with the fact that they are rapidly running out of the total number of on-island days in the game (108). There was a development regarding the 108 days on-island time frame when we found out in S4E1 that the "Oceanic 6" left the island before the end of the full 108 days. The implication is that they will all have to return to the island to complete their full 108 days on the island before the game can end. In addition, TPTB have dramatically slowed down the passage of time covered in each episode . I predicted this at the end of Season 2 and we have seen this happen, as the last few episodes of Season 3 and the first few episodes of Season 4 have only covered two days. Barbmom, an avid supporter of this site, suggested another possibility to me that I think is intriguing. So far we have seen the LOSTies successfully complete Levels. But as any video game player knows, sometimes it just seems impossible to complete a level and move on. So, perhaps if the objectives in a Level are not successfully achieved, the TPTB would 'play' that level over again. However probably the most likely answer came in Season 5 when we entered what I have termed the "Time Out" period. I believe we will remain in the "Time Out" until all the required LOSTies return to the island to complete their 108 on-island days. I have always thought that at the end of the final episode of the show TPTB would release a complete DVD set that will include an explanation of the game. It could easily include a Commentary version of each episode that explains in step by step details what is happening as the game is played through all six levels. The "enhanced version" of the episodes for Season 4, that have been seen just before the airing of the new episodes, demonstrates exactly how this could be done, with little pop-up messages that provide information. As I started out saying, it's all just speculation on my part. I guess we'll all just have to wait and see what happens.
"Do you think that the level of violence on the show is increasing?" Lise, Quebec This is probably the question that I am asked the most. Especially after we saw Sawyer treated so brutally in the first 6 episodes of Season 3. My answer is a simple no. I do not think that the level of violence has increased. If you recall, in Season 1, we had some very violent scenes. Such as Sawyer being tortured by Sayid, Sayid being tortured by Danielle, the pilot's death, Charlie being hanged, and Boone's hallucination of Shannon being killed by the monster, etc. The violence continued in Season 2 as we saw more character deaths and more torture scenes. But here is what I think has changed, over time the audience has become very attached to the LOSTies. So now, when something bad happens to them, it affects us more because we care about them more.
"Why should I care about new characters that TPTB introduce?" Jeff, UK When we first met the Tailies at the beginning of Season 2 many fans had a negative reaction to the new Tailie characters, just as they seem to have to Nikki and Paolo. It took some time for us to care about the Tailies. Mr. Eko is an excellent example. It wasn't until we got to know him that the fans really began to care for him. And while there were claims that no one cared about the Others, fans seem to have embraced Ben and Juliet. Daniel is also rapidly becoming a fan favorite
"You seem so convinced that there are only two players. Why don't you think that LOST is a MORPG or an ARG?" Robert, California For one very simple reason, Locke's quote from S1E2 when he says "Two players. Two sides. One is light. One is dark." Many fans write to me and say that they believe that I am right and that LOST is a game. However, many are inclined to believe that LOST is a MORPG or ARG (especially fans who also play these games online). But there hasn't been any thing directly from the show to support any more players than two. I have gone over the transcripts searching for any possible references besides Locke's quote on the number of players. There just aren't any other references to the number of game players.
Why don't you think Locke is more of a special character than any other LOST character? The island healed him and now he can walk? Doesn't that make him more special? Frank No. In my opinion, curing Locke of walking is no different than Charlie coming back from the dead after being hung or Rose's cancer being cured. In fact, Locke's cure may be less important since not curing Rose and Charlie meant their deaths. Locke was never in danger of dying from his broken back. We even had Richard saying this about Locke in S5E16 "I've gone off the island 3 times since then to visit him. But he never seemed particularly special to me". It was just more dramatic to show Locke walking than it was to talk about Rose's healing or Jack bringing Charlie back from death. And fans remember that Locke was healed and seem to forget about the other miraculous healings that have occurred. One of the things that keeping track of Duplications for this website does, is that it keeps lots of facts in front of me all the time. When you look over the lists of Duplications over and over again, things that may seem to be a one-time event actually wind up being much more common place than most fans remember. Here's a list of other unexplained/miraculous cures that have occurred: Unexplained Cures/Miracles S1E3 Locke's legs S1E1 and Walt tells Michael "Mr. Locke said a miracle happened to him" S1E8 Sun cures Shannon and Boone says "It's like some miracle" S1E11 Charlie's recovery from being hanged S2E1 Sarah Shephard S2E16 Jin's sterility S2E19 Rose's cancer S2E21 Charlotte Malkin S3E16 Richard Alpert says that Rachel was sterile S3E16 Ben/Fake Henry claims Rachel is cured of her cancer S3E18 Patchy says " On this island, the wounds are a bit different" S4E8 The nurse tells Michael that "It's a miracle you're alive" S4E11 The nurse says about Baby Locke "he's the youngest preemie to ever survive in this hospital. He's had infections, pneumonia, you name it and every time he knocked them out. He's a fighter, your little John, The other girls say he's a miracle baby" S4E11 Abbadon tells Locke "You survived falling 8 stories out of a building, that's a miracle Mr. Locke" when Locke says he doesn't believe in miracles, Abbadon replies "You should I had one happen to me" S4E12 Carole Littleton who was supposed to be practically brain dead in S3E12 has recovered S4E13 Locke tells Jack "It's not an island,it's a place where miracles happen" and Jack replies "there's no such thing as miracles" S4E13 Kate says about Aaron not being hurt in the crash "...it's a miracle" S5E12 Ben tells Sun "I've seen this island do miraculous things. I've seen it heal the sick, but never has it done anything like this" , "Dead is Dead" And "You don't get to come back from that, not even here"
"Who is playing the game?" Jo, Abu Dhabi You can find my lengthy answer to this on the Playing page under the Who's Playing? section.
"Who is winning the game?" Mike F. I would have to say that I think "Light" is winning since I believe that "Light" has to maneuver all characters into 'good' roles and meet all the requirements to pass on to the next level. And "Light" has accomplished them to move through the various levels. So, I believe that would give "Light" the advantage because "Light" has successfully moved from Level 1 through to Level 5. However, to complicate things, it is difficult at this time to know exactly what actions would gain points besides those that I think I have been able to identify to date, or just how many points might be awarded for certain actions. It is possible that an equal number of points are granted to either "Light" or "Dark" if they get a character to move to a 'good' or 'bad' role respectively. I do, however, think it is probable that certain actions like saving someone's life would result in being awarded more points than finding a hatch or a map. So, I have to say that right now, I'd lean heavily toward saying that "Light" may be winning. On the flip side "Dark" probably gets points for actions like kidnapping LOSTies, introducing a version of the monster that results in the LOSTies changing plans or getting a character like Sayid to torture Sawyer. It also appears that points may be lost for an action that goes against the objectives of the game. In S3E9 Ben says to Jack "And here we go again. I've already given you a ticket off this island, Jack What's it going to cost me this time?" And in the same episode, Achara tells Jack that there will be consequences for him forcing her to give her the tattoo. I don't mean this as a cop-out, but without knowing the exact point structure, it is premature for me to make any definitive statements until we get a better idea of how the points are awarded.
"What is the purpose of the Flashbacks and Flash Forwards in the game?" Steve I am not sure what inspired the creative team to write it that way, but think about it, with only 108 on-island days it could be very difficult to stretch the show out over 6 seasons and make over 100 episodes without having the Flashbacks and Flash Forwards to add extra story lines and activities. TPTB use them to give us some background to understand the characters' motivations and add to the drama. However, in the game theory, who cares? Actually I think it is important to the game theory- it gives us a chance to see the characters in a much wider of variety of roles. After all, to be a "Murderer" you have to kill someone- just how many people can you kill on that island? With the back stories handled in the Flashbacks, we saw Sawyer murder Druckett, Kate killed her father Wayne Jansen, Sayid killed Elsa, and there were lots more murders committed by a whole bunch of people. We also got to see many of them have fathers that are in the bad Daddy role. We also saw Sawyer as a "Prisoner", likewise for Desmond. It gave us Eko as a "Man of Faith", Eko as "Drug Dealer", Eko as kidnap victim ("Prisoner"), and Eko as a "Murderer". Anyway, you get the drift-- if gives them a chance to put the characters in a much wider variety of roles than they could easily do if they were just limited to the story of what happens on the island.
"What about Desmond, in the game, he seems like a "background character" or one chosen from a list by good or bad player for manipulation purposes? Why is he in the game? " Steve I agree that someone put him in the game, but I think that Desmond's introduction served a really good purpose. Initially, in Season 2, he was there to introduce them to the hatch and to make them start entering the numbers. Think about it, he tells them where the film is so they can learn about Dharma, he gets Locke worked up into a "Man of Faith" addicted to spending his time down in that hole in the ground watching a clock count backwards from 108 for an entire Season. But, as the Seasons have progressed, Desmond has become a much more active character in the show. And he is now going through just as many role changes as any other character does.
"Does a character having sex have anything to do with dying? We saw Anna Lucia die after having sex, ditto for Shannon. Perhaps if you have sex while in a good role it is a strike against you?" Barb TPTB know their demographics, and sex sells in the 18-49 year age group. In addition, they love to lead the audience off on tangents wondering what the relationship is between things. So they in effect created the whole "sex and you die" theory. While Ana Lucia and Shannon did die after having sex. I do not believe that they died because they had sex. I believe Ana Lucia died because she killed while she was a policeman (the 'good' role of "Sheriff"), just like Eko died because he killed while in the 'good' role of "Man of Faith". And I believe that Shannon died because she was in the 'bad' role of "Useless" three times. The last time she referred to herself that way was just minutes before she got shot. By the way, it's the same reason Boone and Charlie died. You might want to read over the Deaths section on the Playing page. So that brings us to Kate and Sawyer having sex, I don't see anything in their behavior so far that puts them in danger of dying. Do they get points for having sex? Maybe, it could be related to the idea that many fans hold of their being a need to produce children.
"How do you decide which roles to include?" John, Seattle I take the names of the roles directly from the dialogue on the show. If you look on the Roles page you will find not only the Game Roles but also a section called Another Life where I list the specific references to these roles from each episode. There is only one role that I have named myself- that is Aaron's role as Future King. I chose that name for him because Claire had been in the role of "Princess" and because many of the LOSTies activities have centered around protecting Aaron. I strongly suspect that there are additional roles that I have not yet identified in my list and I am watching (and re-watching) the episodes carefully to identify them. If you read back over my What's New page you'll see that over time I have added roles, combined roles and renamed roles as additional information had been provided.
"How do you decide if a role is 'good' or 'bad'?" John, Seattle I determine if the role is 'good' or 'bad' by looking carefully at the dialogue, by depending on whether the individual role acts for "The Greater Good" or by looking to see if being in a particular role somehow causes harm to someone else.
"Why don't you mention characters from The LOST Experience?" Laura, Buenos Aires TPTB stated that TLE did not provide any information necessary to solve LOST. Therefore, you will not find any characters or facts from TLE listed on this site. You can listen to the podcast from March 10, 2008 for a further discussion of what is canon to the show.
"Do you buy all of the LOST merchandise like the books and puzzles? Do you think they offer important clues to understanding LOST?" Craig, NJ No, I do not. TPTB have stated many times that reading "Bad Twin" or playing with the LOST puzzles is not going to help fans solve LOST. But, I do own all of the DVD sets, the Soundtracks, the LOST game for my cell phone and Via Domus. And I was given the Season 1 MacFarlane figures of Hurley, Jack, Kate, Locke and Charlie for Christmas 2008. I also own several of the LOST books that have been written about LOST by independent authors. And I love especially "LOST MIND GAMES" by Anne Dawson.
"What about adding a chat room?" waltisfuture There are several reasons why I have chosen not to add a chat room. First, there are so many excellent chat rooms out there already. Next, I am only one person and I have decided to dedicate my time to adding content to the site. And last and most importantly, you will notice that there is absolutely no advertising on this site, I do my best to keep costs down so I can continue to keep it free of annoying ads.
"How many hours a week do you spend working on this site?" Everybody asks this one Many more than I originally intended to spend! In 2006, I estimated that it took me about 4 hours to watch each episode and then document the facts from each episode on the site. Due to the tremendous number of Duplicates that now occur, it can now take me much longer depending on which team of writers actually writes an episode. The really long hours add up when I carefully re-watch episodes to locate mistakes, when I double check my facts if someone questions them, when I do basic background work to back-up facts with either screen caps or direct dialogue, and due to the many long hours I spend answering emails. But I love every minute of it. I am especially grateful for the encouraging emails I get from fellow fans.