‘Lost’: What’s in a name?

This article was originally on a blog post platform and may be missing photos, graphics or links. See About archive blog posts.

Now that is what we were all waiting for! Those people who continue to watch ‘Lost’ and complain about its lack of resolution and immediate answers were surely wailing and gnashing their teeth after ‘Confirmed Dead,’ the second new ‘Lost’ episode of the season, but the first one to really kick the storyline into overdrive. More questions were raised than answered (as is usual) but when the questions are as tantalizing as they were in this episode, who really cares? Those of us who love to pick apart the clues were riveted.

After yet another beating at the hands of the Losties, (I think actor Michael Emerson has had a total of five or so episodes when he hasn’t had to wear bruise makeup) Ben revealed the true objective of those mysterious rescuers -- the capture of Ben himself. And how did he know this? He’s got a mole on the rescuers’ boat (smart money seems to be on that man being Michael).

But that wasn’t the night’s real mind-blower. That came in the episode’s very first scene, when we witnessed the discovery of the remains of Oceanic 815 resting at the bottom of the ocean. Wait a minute, didn’t we just see the wreckage of the airplane on the beach? And if everyone on board is confirmed dead, who are the characters we’ve come to know and love over the past three seasons? Hence, the mind-blowing.

That opening moment, combined with the later revelation of the Dharma polar bear skeleton in the Tunisian desert served to take the entire “Lost” story to an epic level. The mysterious events this show revels in are no longer confined to that mysterious island. This is happening on a global scale. What does it all mean? Time travel is a popular theory. Perhaps the island is somewhere back in the beginning of time. Daniel Faraday’s line about how the light is odd on the island and “doesn’t scatter quite right” seems to be a big clue -- is there no pollution in this pre-historic island? And don’t forget the shriveled male and female bodies discovered in the first season – Adam and Eve?

In a bit of nostalgia, the producers decided to give us some old-fashioned flashbacks. This time we looked at the recent past of those sinister rescuers –- a physicist, a ghostbuster, an anthropologist and a pilot. Their backgrounds don’t seem to be as important as the man who brought them all together -– Matthew Abaddon (Lance Reddick). What exactly does he want with Ben? We don’t know yet. The clues we do have come in the names of our new “Lost” friends.

Whether the ‘Lost’ producers are just having fun with us or are actually signaling their overall plan remains to be seen, but until we know for sure, let’s look at what we do know about these new characters.

Daniel Faraday: Played by the-always-reliable Jeremy Davies -- in what’s quickly becoming a signature twitchy Davies performance -- this character claims to be a physicist, has a wife or girlfriend whose identity remains oddly unclear (we were never shown her face in the episode) and appears to be the most sensitive or conflicted of the rescuers. A quick trip to the Wikipedia reveals that Faraday is an ‘obsolete unit of electrical charge’ Sort of like that massive discharge of electrical energy off the island in Season Two? I think this is just a little joke, and not anything that signals the character’s true nature. Moving on...

Charlotte Lewis: British actress Rebecca Mader makes this anthropologist both exuberant like a school girl, but with hints of a Tracy Flick-like ambition. Her full name is Charlotte Staples Lewis. C.S. Lewis, anyone? Perhaps Oceanic 815 flew through the giant sky-bound equivalent of a wardrobe. Perhaps this island is their Narnia? Lewis was also a noted author of religious texts, perhaps a signal to the ongoing theme of religion in the series. I think this character and her name have many, many more layers than what we were shown in this episode. She’s one to keep an eye on.

Miles Straume: Played by Ken Leung, who played Uncle Junior’s crazy rest-home mate on ‘The Sopranos,’ this ghostbuster is a troubled soul. The name is a play on ‘maelstrom,’ although there are several towns in Norway called Straume. Is the island really in Norway? I doubt it.

Frank Lapidus: Sci-fi fans can probably barely recognize ‘Lawnmower Man’ Jeff Fahey underneath that beard and those eyebrows. But that’s him, looking grizzled and haunted all at once. He’s the original pilot for Oceanic 815, and since his name is in the guest-starring credits as opposed to the main cast, I have my doubts he’ll be around for much longer. As for his name, it appears to be an anagram for ‘Farads link up.’ Does he have a special connection with Faraday? Maybe. The ‘Lost’ producers are big fans of anagram names, it seems.

-- Patrick Day