Things I Noticed - The Glass Ballerina by Vozzek69

"Each week I have invited Vozzek69, one of the posters I admire to write up a summary of the previous Episode. I hope you enjoy reading these articles as much as I do and although some of his ideas/theories are not necessarily those I personally believe in I think he makes some great points worthy of discussion. So without any delay here is his first article on The Glass Ballerina" - DarkUFO

Things I Noticed - Glass Ballerina by Vozzek69

Last night's episode, believe it or not, we finally got more answers than questions. Here's what I think I learned:





Sun is a filthy liar

Think about it. She's lied to Jin so many times it's almost ridiculous. She lied about not knowing English. We now know for sure that she was having an affair. She was the one who inadvertently poisoned Michael last season. But I think the exclamation point at the end of all this was the glass ballerina. That scene showed that she had no honor, even at a young age. One might argue that she lied only because she was afraid of her father, but he really didn’t seem that angry. It seemed only that he wanted the truth, and Sun was willing to allow her maid to be fired rather than tell it.



Juliet used to date Ben

Several things point to this. Juliet just seems too aggravated with Ben all the time for it to be surface tension. We’ve got the “You never brought me soup” line – a dig Ben throws at Juliet that only ex-lovers would toss around. Finally, Juliet’s rebellious attitude toward “all things Ben” during the book club meeting in episode one sounded very much like a woman scorned. It was more than just a subordinate questioning her boss’s leadership; it seemed more personal than that.



Colleen might be involved with Ben

When Colleen comes across Ben and Juliet talking alone, she seems monumentally ticked off. Venomously she asks “Am I interrupting something?” to which Juliet snidely responds “Would it really matter if you were?” – it sure looked like a catfight to me. But then later on, we see Pickett kiss her affectionately on the cheek. Colleen looks very uncomfortable about this. They make it a point to put the camera on Sawyer during this scene, so that we know that he sees it. Likely this will come up later on. Sawyer could very well use this to drive a wedge between Ben and his subordinates, as it certainly didn’t seem that Mr. Friendly and the others around him had a problem with the kiss.




The Others are looking for something

Watch the chain gang scene again, and it looks a lot like Juliet and that taskmaster guy are checking out some sort of map. They’re overseeing the moving of rocks from one place to another. Why? If they were just keeping the prisoners ‘busy’ they wouldn't be bothering with this. Either they're searching for something or they're clearing that area out for a reason.



Kate – Captured again?

How many times has Kate been held at gunpoint now? Her skull is like a pistol magnet. Sawyer did all that ass-kicking only to be held back once again by Kate’s inability to help out (or at the very least get out of the way). Could Kate be an Other? I really don’t subscribe to that “one of the 815’s must be an Other” theory, but if someone held a pistol to my skull and made me choose someone… it would have to be Kate. When things go down she seems just a little too helpless for my liking.



Pearl necklace

Not sure this means anything, but Bernard was looking for pearls mid-season last year. Remember that? He said he wanted them for Rose. Maybe the pearls symbolize something in LOST or maybe the producers just wanted an excuse to make a ‘pearl necklace’ joke.



Contact with the Outside World

The biggest thing we learned this episode was that Ben & the Others have “contact with the outside world”. But what exactly does that mean? Does it mean they can interact with the world? Can they leave? Personally, I don’t think so. Here’s what I think about this… and I’ll keep it short.


(People who get aggravated by “time” theories should probably leave now)

Since early last season, I’ve speculated that the island exists in some sort of limbo, LOST from the world, lying alongside what I referred to as ‘parallel timelines’. We’ve all seen theories involving multiple timelines, complete with screenshots of different furnishings of Desmond’s hatch. Not gonna rehash that here.

I’m betting that the Others have access to TIME itself. They seem to have the ability to see the future. Although for them, it’s not the future… the island exists in multiple time periods simultaneously, so the past/present/future are all one big wellspring of knowledge from which they can draw. (By the way, I think this is where the whispers are coming from)

This is why they know everything about all the main characters. Did they know this instantly? No. They needed lists. They needed names. Once they had names, they could look this information up, much like we use the internet today. They could see who was ‘good’ (whatever their definition of that is) and determine who they cared about and why.

This is why when Jack asks “Is she happy?” Juliet can answer “Yes, very happy”. Perhaps Juliet can see the rest of what happens(ed) to Sarah. Maybe she went on to marry that guy and have six kids and live to be a hundred. Juliet knows this. Everything’s documented, from Jack’s life to his father’s death. She’s got access to the past, the present, and the future. In her own words: “We can get anything we want”. If you think there's a rational, uber-conspiracy, CIA Jack Bauer way for this to happen, you're deluding yourself.

And when Ben says “Your plane crashed on September 22nd, 2004” – why would he mention the year? If you and I were having a conversation about what happened a month or two ago, we wouldn’t need to. It’s assumed we mean the current year. By specifically stating 2004 Ben is making a point.

I think the Others ‘contact’ with the outside world is one-sided. They can see what happened or what’s happening or even what’s going to happen… but that’s all. When Jack asks Ben “Why wouldn’t you leave?” he seems to perk up a bit and smirks: “Yes Jack, why wouldn’t we leave?” This could indicate that he likes it on the island, but I think it’s more along the lines that he can’t leave. Why can’t he leave? Because in the real world… he doesn’t truly exist. Ben was born on the island – born into limbo – born into non-existence. That’s why he wouldn’t leave.

Anyone still with me? Good. Almost done.

Just because sixty-nine days have passed since the crash, don’t be fooled into believing it’s November whatever he said it was. To the survivors? Yes. To the Others? Everything is timeless. Many of the more traditional (i.e. non-sci fi) viewers hate that, but I have a feeling this is going to be the “big reveal” during the end of episode six. Either that, or “Kate’s an Other” – after all, it is a Kate-centric episode. But I still don’t think she is.

And my “Manifestation theory”, listed in the theories section - still stands. I still believe the island itself can interpret the thoughts, dreams, and desires of individuals into existence. I believe this explains many of the things the characters have been seeing since season one, as well as the Other’s uncannily immaculate village. It’s not exactly as if someone wishes for a glass of water it should appear in their hand, or if they wished hard for a rescue boat one would show up – I just don’t think it works like that. The island works its own ways, I’d imagine. Although perhaps the Others have learned more about how to utilize its power, even they can't simply wish for anything they want. It's not a wish machine.

To me, the island is a sticky ball rolling through time and space, picking up random people and things on its surface. The Black Rock, the four-toed statue, flight 815… everyone and anyone who didn’t come voluntarily during the Hanso/Dharma days of holding the island in place with the magnet.

The real question now is, what do the Others want with Jack? It seems that Ben needs him to 'come around' to his way of thinking. What could Jack offer Ben that he doesn't already have? What's his agenda? What are the Others searching for? All big questions.