Movieline Attempts to Tie Up Almost 100 of Lost's 'Loose Ends'

After the Lost finale aired, some people complained that there are still dozens of questions left unanswered -- but is that really true? Sure, there are still a few loose threads left hanging, but I'd argue that the bulk of the questions people have are either answerable or can be strongly guessed at based on the information the show has already given us.

To put my theory to the test, I decided to rebut a popular video compiled today by College Humor that lists nearly 100 outstanding questions that Lost has left us with. How many could I answer, and how many were legitimate loose ends? Let's find out.

Why did the monster kill the pilot?

Because he's an angry smoke monster who often kills people who come to the island, as long as they're not candidates.

What did Locke see when he first saw the smoke?

Smoke, I'm guessing?

What's with the polar bear in Walt's comic?

It...was a polar bear in Walt's comic. Would you like to know who published it, or...?

Where's Christian Shepherd's body if it's not in the casket?

On the island somewhere, presumably.

Why did the psychic say that Claire had to fly on Oceanic 815, and why did he insist that her son had to be raised by Claire?

It's open to interpretation. In one of Eko's flashbacks, the psychic seemed to be a bit of a fraud, but if you subscribe to what he's saying, it still makes some sense. It was Claire's destiny to be on that flight, as she was a Candidate (albeit one who was eventually crossed-out...maybe Jacob was more interested in her before she got pregnant). As for why Claire had to raise Aaron, look how many people tried to kidnap that baby! And look what happened to poor Claire when she had to go without Aaron. Her hair was terrible.

Why did the Others want Walt so badly?

The Others kidnapped children, since they were unable to reproduce. Walt was a child. Ergo, Walt was kidnapped.

Who sent Kate the letter telling her about her mother being treated for cancer in the hospital?

Some dude? I mean, do we really care?

How does Walt know about the hatch and why does he warn Locke not to open it?

Walt had some special psychic powers, so he learned about the hatch by picking it up from Locke. As for why he didn't want it opened...well, a lot of bad shit went down in that hatch. Like, Walt's dad shot some people and stuff. It wasn't all fun and Mama Cass records.

Why does the smoke monster make mechanical sounds?

Because it's cool.

How is Walt able to apparate before Shannon?

Special powers.

How did Walt communicate with Michael using the Swan computer?

Probably got on one of the Others' computers, checked his email, played a few rounds of Words with Friends, and still had a little time left over to tool around a bit.

What is the deal with Kate and that horse?

I mean, it's an island with polar bears and zoo animals. A black horse may hold special resonance for Kate, but can't it just be a black horse? We've seen people riding horses on the island before.

Why are supplies still being dropped on the island after the purge, and by who?

All right, we finally have our first really legitimate unanswered question. I wouldn't mind knowing the answer, either.

What triggered the lockdown, and why on earth would anyone trigger it so that during the lockdown, black lights would go on?

The food drop triggered the lockdown. As for black lights, who doesn't love those?

What happened to the original Henry Gale?

Ballooned to the island, then died. I mean, it could have been interesting to know more about him, but what more did we really need to know? He was a red herring for the Ben story.

What happened to the original timeline Libby in the mental hospital?

Unanswered question #2.

Who built the four-toed statue?

We can intuit that among the people who crashed on the island were Egyptians, just to go by their hieroglyphics and Tawaret statue-building. Did we actually need to see them in a flashback, peering over blueprints and sweating on ladders? I didn't, but your mileage may vary.

Why does only one specific bearing get you off the island?

Because it's a hidden, magical island, and it just does?

What are the hieroglyphics on the Swan countdown timer about?

An homage to the Egyptians who used to live on the island and tagged hieroglyphics all over the place?

Why did Tom feel the need to wear a fake beard?

To fool the Oceanic survivors into thinking that the Others were simply a primitive tribe of other castaways, not a technology-possessing race tapped into the mysticism of the island.

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Comments

  • Leo says:

    Christian Shepard and Yemi both died on the island. Ben's dead mommy didn't.

  • Leo says:

    U're right but Danielle was already pregnant when she reached the rock.

  • Poggy says:

    Tomh, the smoke monster tries to get candidates killed but it can't do that directly. Some have speculated he was impersonating Hurley's imaginary friend on the island to make him commit suicide, for instance.
    Now, this is just my speculation - but if we assume that the smoke monster retained MiB's personality (I think they are separate entities; Original Flavor MiB, who wasn't *that* bad, died 2000 years ago)... well, MiB didn't *like* people, even if he lived among them. Like his mother, he claimed they would only corrupt the island, while Jacob wants to draw people to that place to prove that they can prosper. So Smokey a) "judges" people to see if they are worthy of being there (or if they can be useful to his goals, like he did with Ben), b)indiscriminately kills them to oppose Jacob's plan. At least that's how I see it.

  • omniro says:

    All your answers were crap.

  • darrellp says:

    I'm willing to accept a little bit of loose ends, but the main thing that bothers me is that it's pretty obvious that the creators just made up crazy stuff without any idea of why other than it might confuse people more. "Hey, wouldn't it be cool if pregant women died on the island? Why? Dunno - ratings I guess." I feel a little duped by the writers spending most of Lost intimating that they had full knowledge of what they were doing, when in fact, they were as clueless as anyone else. We had pretty much an entire season about pregnant women not surviving on the island, and no answers. This is not a trivial "loose end" - this is a major plot point of the story arc that apparently they really didn't think out carefully before including it in the story. It's much easier to write random crazy stuff and let people believe that there's actually something behind it than to write a cohesive story that really does have something behind it. I still like the show, but I'm definitely disappointed.

  • salt h2o says:

    My Big Unanswered Question:
    How did Locke's dad get on the island so Sawyer could kill him?!?!?

  • robertocabanis says:

    Why are supplies still being dropped on the island after the purge, and by who?
    The island is moving, and if something doesn't enter through the right bearing, it can come down at any time. So, the supplies drop is just a Dharma plane w/ bad aim. Easy !!

  • sarah says:

    Henry Gale is a Wizard of Oz reference, not someone who previously crashed on the island.

  • bazu says:

    like the finale itself, this post is fatuous and condescending. like, "how dare you have gotten invested in this show and actually wanted a decent ending with decent answers? what happened happened, OK DUDE?" pfffft.

  • itchyd says:

    Many of your answers are awful. Particularly the four toed statue. Ok so Egyptian people get shipwrecked on the island, what possible reason could they have to toil for like 100 years on a 100 foot high statue? Ok maybe their ruler crash landed with them, and there just happened to be a big enough population to sustain the many many people that would be required to get that statue built and not starve to death by eating every animal on the island, but still WHY 4 TOES??

  • Ella says:

    Awesome article. I don't agree with all the answers, and there were some I could have answered better, but there were a few things there I hadn't thought of, and generally I applaud any well-researched attempt to explain why Lost is actually awesome if you're smart enough to think it all through.

  • Ella says:

    I like this. And I like you.

  • Bob Vance says:

    Are you paid by Darlton?

  • Lawrence K. says:

    Most of these answers are correct. But there's no way that the Other women died in childbirth as a result of the nuclear bomb!
    Consider: (1) The bomb went off in 1977, and Alex was born healthy on the Island in 1988. (2) Juliet was a brilliant doctor and would easily have diagnosed radiation poisoning. (3) Juliet determined that if a pregnant Other left the Island by her second trimester, she could give birth on the mainland and then return. [This raises the tangential question of why the Others didn't find that solution satisfactory.] What kind of radiation has no effect on first-trimester embryos or infants, but is a guaranteed killer of pregnant women in their third trimester? Not just of their babies, but of the women themselves! And recall that Ethan was only two days old when the bomb went off and it didn't hurt him. (4) The curse ended suddenly, with Aaron's birth, rather than fading out as a natural cause would have.
    So the cause must have been mystical. And therefore it's a true Unanswered Question. Because Ben and Richard seem to have thought that it wasn't mystical when they recruited Juliet, a very skilled but non-mystical doctor!

  • Gina says:

    Not sure if anyone's mentioned this but I believe we are to assume Ben was almost always taking instruction from the MiB posing as Jacob. Ben wanted to be a leader and MiB took advantage of that. With that said, it'd change 2 of your answers. But I don't want to go back and find them, though - one had to do with The Purge. I assumed that was MiB's influence.

  • Gina says:

    Isn't it anyone who gets pregnant ON the island is harmed? So it still could be from the The Incident. Who knows why... but for some reason, that does seem to be the connection.

  • Gina says:

    The pilot could fly them off the island if they were an opportunity to be had. Smokey didn't wan't anyone leaving except for himself. And ntm, he's just cruel. And yes, he does try to kill candidates and he can - indirectly. Or after they've been scratched off Jacob's list. Because that is one of Jacob's rules, can't harm the candidates.
    Smokey showed Locke something he wanted to see, no doubt. Take note that Smokey did indeed scare Locke at first. It's not until the last few frames that Locke smiles a bit and then later he tells Jack what he saw was beautiful. Locke was wanting to believe he was on the island for a purpose because of his ability to walk again. Smokey took advantage of him and led him to places that could bring him harm. i.e. The plane that fell (no doubt Locke would have gone up if he hadn't gotten hurt.), the hatch, etc.
    We're to assume Walt has powers to make things he thinks about appear, obviously. This is why I think he's able to make himself appear to others, actually. Plus whatever else occurred having to do with him. But, I mean, I honestly don't know how Damon and Carlton could explain Walt to us. There is no explanation, he can just do really random things with his mind from the looks of it. A gift from the island, maybe Jacob specifically, since he's a child and therefore more "pure". I assumed as much the reason Hurley's able to speak to the dead is because of his good heart and honesty - so only he can hear true thoughts from those who have passed on. You know?

  • 2frog games says:

    I always thought Tom wore the beard so he'd freak Michael out even more when he kidnapped Walt. Because he enjoys messing with people.

  • Leo says:

    Alex borned healthy because Danielle was already pregnant when she got to the Island. Just like Aaron.
    On the contrary, Sun conceived her baby on the Island, so she had to go out to be able to deliver.

  • Leo says:

    mmmh...I think Ben was taking instruction from Richard (so from Jacob). He didn't know nor Jacob neither MiB.

  • guest says:

    lol, one of more idiotic attempts to give answers to lost questions.
    some people should never ever write.

  • MC says:

    What did Locke see when he first saw the smoke?
    Smoke, I’m guessing?
    You guess? Did you watch the show at all? He said he saw a white light.

  • MC says:

    " In Star Trek, for example, you bought that Kirk went into that cave because there weren't a million other things that didn't make sense or weren't explained."
    Like warp drive, time travel, ray guns, transporters, planets imploding...yeah, no other questions left open.

  • Dick says:

    No, we are not. Abrams's Star Trek wasn't good sci-fi, it was LOST sci-fi.

  • Any reason why there aren't any insightful comments still?