This week is the 20th anniversary of the crash of Oceanic Flight 815 and the series premiere of LOST. Since the show was known for mysteries and theories, I wanted to delve into some mysteries that were never fully addressed. I thought about picking mysteries regarding the Island and its history (what was with the Hurley bird anyway?), but since the show was primarily about people, their histories, and their relationships, I wanted to focus on mysteries regarding some beloved characters. And for the fun of it I’ve included theories/head-canons to explain each mystery.
Walt’s Powers
Right from the first Michael/Walt-centric episode (“Special”) and maybe even before, we knew there was something mysterious about Walt. He seemed to have some premonitions and the mini-sode “Room 23” reiterates the effect he had on wildlife, but they never fully delved into it. Even after the series finale, they did the epilogue mini-sode “The New Man in Charge” in which Walt was retrieved by Hurley and Ben, but there was no clear indication what his purpose was, except to help his father.
My head-canon/theory: After the end of the series I wrote a "season seven" story that involved Walt returning to the Island to save his father (and the other whispers) and allow them to move on to the afterlife. I also explained how he appeared to Locke looking older.
Libby’s History
I started watching the series during the third season, after Libby was shot. So by the time I joined the bandwagon, there was already a demand for Libby’s backstory to be told. Psychologist? Psych patient? Boat benefactor? She had a lot going on and we were far from having the dots connected for us. We never even learned why she was on the plane. By the fourth season, the writers promised more of her backstory and that she was going to return. However, with the writer strike that interrupted that season, storylines and episodes were cut short and rearranged. So we saw Libby in Michael’s hallucinations… and then nothing until the flash-sideways of the final season. I still need answers!
My head-canon/theory: She’s the half-sister of Penny Widmore (sharing a mother and raised separately of course). After the death of her husband David, she gives her husband’s boat to Desmond (per Penny’s request) to help him in Widmore’s race. Later, the loss of her husband led her to a breakdown that was bad enough to put her in the hospital. And by the time Flight 815’s departure approached, Penny knew that Desmond was on the Island and sent Libby on the plane to find him. A bit convoluted of a story, but they didn’t give us much to go on.
Desmond’s Abilities
Speaking of Desmond, there were a number of occasions when he seemed to miraculously survive fatal electromagnetic events. How did he survive those? It was said he had a resistance to electromagnetic energy, but where did he get that resistance? Also, the fail-safe left him with his premonitions/flashes–Why? How? And for that matter, how did Eloise know as much as she did in “Flashes Before Your Eyes”? Seriously, I just want to know!
My head-canon/theory: Though he wasn’t seen amidst Jacob’s scribblings of candidates at the lighthouse or at the cave, I figure Jacob touched Desmond at some point before coming to the Island (like the flashbacks in “The Incident”). So much like Richard Alpert, he was kept alive to fulfill his purpose when he shouldn’t have survived.
Hurley’s Powers
At some point after leaving the Island, Hurley started seeing dead friends in his path. Unlike Miles, who could only hear their last thoughts (though there are some continuity errors/discrepancies regarding his powers), Hurley was able to physically interact with Charlie, Eko, Ana Lucia, Michael, etc. Why did these friends start appearing to him? Unless his imaginary friend Dave was really a deceased friend (seems unlikely) the ability didn’t manifest until after leaving the Island. It couldn’t have been the touch from Jacob, right before Ajira Flight 316, since he’d been visited by deceased friends for a couple years before.
My theory/head-canon: The best I’ve got is that the experience with the sky lighting up in “Live Together, Die Alone”, moving across the Island’s external boundary, or maybe his proximity to the Orchid Station triggered something when he left the Island. All those seem unlikely since others had more intimate experiences with those than Hurley, but that’s the best I have.
Claire’s Missing Time
After so many close calls with her baby, why would Claire (or any decent mother) leave her child in the middle of the jungle to follow an apparition of her absentee father? And when Locke found her in the cabin, she seemed so relaxed. What was going on? Also, why didn’t Claire jump through time with the other survivors? What did the Others do to her in her time of solitude? According to Dogen, Claire was infected like Sayid, but that only brings up more questions. When did she get infected? What did that exactly entail? And I can’t leave off this mystery without asking this unrelated Clair question: Why did Desmond say he had a vision of Claire getting on a helicopter if she was never on the helicopter?
My theory/head-canon: My belief is that when Claire’s house exploded, she died (like Sayid did after returning to the present day). After that, “the sickness” brought her back to life, bonding her to the Man in Black (again, like Sayid). So when the Man in Black (taking the form of her father) took her away from her baby, it was like her free will was taken away–not completely, as demonstrated by both Claire and Sayid, but enough. And regarding the helicopter vision, that’s part of a more intricate “season seven” I wrote involving Claire and the rest returning to the Island.
I’m sure I could think of several more mysteries regarding our LOST cast (How did Faraday lose his memories? How did Boone, Rose, and Bernard “wake up” in the flash-sideways?) but these seem sufficient for now. While I hope LOST never gets rebooted or restarted, I think fans would always welcome more snippets from the Island and the lives of the characters we love. What’s the harm in a few more mini-sodes? Show us more snippets of backstories, Island time, and after the finale. Nothing crazy or complex. Just more. But just to quote Hector in the epilogue, “We deserve answers!”
At least about Libby.
Please?
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