*ATTENTION! For viewers who take issue with the text-to-speech voice* All of these older videos have been entirely revoiced and remade in better quality (and feature A LOT more detail). They have been combined together as part of a six part video series called The Theory of Everything, which you can watch here: ua-cam.com/play/PL5iTj9psbPrNovFOg4pJJIyxiLAv2WAKB.html Namaste! 🙏
I always thought his scared reaction to Claire was because he was a fraud in his own mind and the fact that he was seeing these things scared him but is what motivated him to act on them.
If Malkin was so frightened that he had legitimately had a psychic episode for the first time in his life then why doesn't he seem scared or surprised that he knew Claire was pregnant straight away? There is no other way he could know this information at this point in the story. That should have freaked him out, yet he continues the reading without batting an eyelid. It is only when he sees the "blur" and gets a potent feeling that he asks Claire to leave.
Your videos are a shining beacon of hope for people who never could come to terms with things they couldn't understand, thus making the show, for them, somewhat devoid of meaning. Your insight and videos are a true godsent. We are eternally grateful for your hard work and dedication to LOST and shinning a light on it for us. LIVE TOGETHER, DIE ALONE.
That is truly a very high compliment. Thank you very much :) I'm extremely pleased and validated to know that there are fans who appreciate this channel.
This is right on. No way was Malkin a scammer. Every time I watch Raised by Another and try to view it as a con, it makes me want to tear my hair out. Also, major LOLs with that Sawyer reference!
I think the show also played with the statement “ the baby can’t be raised by another “ finally referring to Kate and her destiny to go back to the island and bring clair back to raise her child
You’ve answered so many questions! Video idea: Desmond, how the “rules don’t apply to him”, his exposure to electro magnetism and surviving. Just everything about him. Again great videos
It's funny I did believe he was a con artist cause I figured that was the show saying that was the answer. But...I forgot how intense the Psychic was at first.. with the constant phone calls. So no way all that was a con. I did really enjoy seeing how the flash sideways was referenced with Mr. Eko as early as season 2!
I was also under the impression that Malkin knew about Mr Eko too. Which might partly explain why he was so adamant about turning Eko away so quickly. The reasons you mentioned are the most logical, but I kind of wondered if Malkin was aware of his daughter's contact with Yemmy while she was un-alived. Which also got me to wondering if he had some unpleasant visions of what might happen if Claire and Eko were not on Flight 815.
What's your take on why Aaron has to be raised by Claire? Is there something about Aaron that the show just doesn't explore? Or is Claire and Aaron's whole purpose in the tapestry of time to get Kate to go back to the island?
Love your videos, I completely agree with you at no point in the show did I think he was a scammer even after he tells Eko he is. Also, Malkin could have been trying to deter Eko so it wasn’t found out that he influenced Claire to get on a plane that would eventually crash.
That is a solid point, I am sure many people did not factor in that the Island itself was conscious and had a will of its own when the show was around, they probably figured the Island was self explanatory lol. I tell ya, Damon and Carlton were so ahead of their time when they conceptualized this, its like they both took their shared knowledge and flipped it on its head and created something that is more than art: us as fans, ended living in it, it was so different and so new...yet we didn't realize it then, funny how that works. One scene that really made me think; when Locke and Boon were going to the beech craft, I either though it was the influence the MIB had on Locke that made him not be able to stand up, or it was the Island, I took both theories and see were they went and what they could explain, It made me think about how he just stood up when we woke up on the beech the day of the crash....was that MIB or the Island? Its very interesting, keeping track of different lines of theories and seeing were they lead you.
@@jamesglandon3737 I think for many seasons of the show it seemed to imply Jacob was this omniscient manipulator of events, but while he was a critical player in the game he wasn't God..that was the Source, the heart of the Island
Maybe if it was all a scam he gave her the money back expecting her to come back and offer him even more money maybe but I always thought it was a bit of both lol. He always did con people before but Claire was different maybe cause her connection to the island. The island and Jacob needed Claire to come to the island so they used the psychic as a continuate to convince Claire to go to l.A. . it has to be flight 815 it can't be any other lol. Is the psychic right though? I mean Claire did have Aaron for a bit but Claire does loose Aaron a few times and Kate raises Aaron for quite some time lol and he stays behind so Claire is not going to see him until they get back home. I guess she can raise him then but it was so adamant that she must raise him but her relationship with him is almost like Michael and walts relationship where there's gaps where he didn't see him then one big gap before he sees him again. By that point he missed so much he's trying to connect to him but its hard for him to cause he lost so much time with him. Seems like same may be with Claire. So why did Claire have to come to the island? Was she a candidate? They were all candidates at one point they said but she was pregnant and Kate was crossed out cause she became a mother. Wouldn't that be the same case with Claire? That she's a mother
Fascinating videos. I'm making my way through them all. Would it be fair to assume Claire's role in the "tapestry of time" is to give Kate a reason to return to the island, which in turn helps Jack do his part for the island? I suppose Claire and Aaron are also the initial force that puts the islanders at odds with the Others, when Ethan goes rogue.
Yes, that is definitely a huge part of it. Causality runs both ways because of the time loop and Claire is the only reason that Kate travels back to The Island in 2007, and therefore back in time to 1977, where it is Kate’s experiences with Aaron that motivate her to save a young Benjamin Linus. All of which feeds into the causality of her own future and into making all of these decisions.
I don't believe Malkin was a conman but neither was Isaac of Uluru. I believe both Isaac and Malkin could see but not the full entire picture but pieces that are jumbled in a mess.
I think that’s an accurate interpretation of Malkin. He didn’t know what he was seeing but he felt - very strongly - what he needed to do for Claire and acted upon it.
I thought he was a fraud. But in case with Claire he managed to see "future" for the first time. And that is why he was so frightened at the beginning. And only when he figured out what to do with all these mess he agreed to help her somehow.
I have heard this theory before and I disagree with it. If he was so frightened that he had legitimately seen the future for the first time then why does he not seem scared or surprised that he knows Claire is pregnant? He is clearly psychically reading her from the start (there is no other way he could know this information). Then the "blurry" vision happens and that is when he gets scared.
Kind of unrelated to the subject of this vid but I simply happen to be on this one and some idea occured to me. We already talked about Smoke Monster being Walt in 2x06 and how that contradicts the idea that he can only embody dead people and I thought of some other examples to consider: Dave and Goodwin's wife. Both of their behaviors seem to fit MIB's goals. Dave tries to get Hugo killed and Goodwin's wife tries to make the chemicals release that would kill everyone on the Island. However, one is an imaginary character and the other's fate is unknown. How do you feel about them being MIB? Are we really sure that he only could embody dead people or was it just one of his lies? However, Dogen seems to also believe that he can only take form of the dead.
Both Harper and Dave appearances are open to speculation. I personally don't think Harper was MiB or a whisper ghost, just a sneaky "Other". We see The Others on various occasions appear and stealth-sneak around the island; implausibly perhaps but not supernatural in any way. The Man in Black already had his plan with Ben & Locke in motion at this point so he didn't really need to do much else beyond wait for their return to the cabin. Yes, releasing gas might kill some candidates but it also might kill Ben (whom he had been working on for some time and very much needed). And the gas most likely wouldn't kill Jacob, which was the primary goal of MiB's plans. As for the Dave that we see on the island talking to Hurley... this is most likely a manifestation of Hurley's subconscious. His final battle with his mental illness. It is certainly the cleaner answer. However, it remains open to interpretation. If Dave is the smoke monster at this point in time then it opens up more questions. We know Smokey needs to scan someone in order to appear as people from their memories, so the question becomes "when did he scan Hurley?" I go into this idea in Chapter Ten on The Smoke Monster in a fair bit of detail. Could Smokey scan people whilst occupying other forms, such as animals, birds and insects? We never get confirmation on that but it's a possibility. If that is the case, then he could have scanned Hurley whilst in some kind of innocuous animal form and manifested Dave later from that. But it requires more conjecture.
I think the reason we don’t see Eko in the Flashsideways is because he’s stuck in an office building in LA absolutely convinced that “pressing the button” for some shady faith-based company is the most important thing in the world.
I completely agree with your conclusions on this one. My one disappointment is that you don't share my view (or certainly don't mention it here) that Malkin's main reason for trying to get rid of Eko is because he knows that Eko has to be on Oceanic 815. But that may largely come down to our previous long exchanges regarding whether or not Eko was a candidate.
You are correct, sir! I don't personally subscribe to the idea that Malkin knew Eko was supposed to be on Flight 815 too. The main reason being that Malkin's power seemed predicated upon touch and deep concentration in order to psychically connect with his subject. I honestly think that Malkin just wanted the priest gone before things went any further.
Psychic abilities are real in and outside the Lost universe. Also, Mr Ecko being a priest doesn't necessarily mean he would not believe in psychic abilities. Good video and you have a great channel.
Great analysis I like the statement this is what season 2 is asking us to think about. Now I’m intrigued to go back to each season, and look for the overarching themes. Nice analysis as always this is my second time through. It’s well edited and flows well. This series was a lot of work- kudos to you!
@@LOSTEXPLAINED108 Thank you! I’m really enjoying your videos. I didn’t watch LOST when it was originally on, and because of that I missed a lot of the fan interaction that happens when you get excited about a show. Up until now it’s been a personal experience, but I’m happy to find a community here still engaged in discussion and finding meaning in the questions this show has to offer.
I think that Claire's psychic is a lot like the one portrayed by Whoopie Goldberg in the classic movie Ghost. Initially she was just pretending to be psychic to scam people but then she encountered the ghost of Patrick Swayze. My guess is that Claire's psychic did have very good intuition and that he used it to take advantage... but when he actually had a vision, he did what he decided that he had to do.
I have heard this theory before and I disagree with it based on how the scene and performance play out. If he was so frightened that he had legitimately had a psychic episode for the first time in his life then why doesn't he seem scared or surprised that he knew Claire was pregnant? There is no other way he could know this information at this point in the story. That should have freaked him out, yet he continues the reading without batting an eyelid. It is only when he sees something "blurry" and gets a potent feeling that he asks Claire to leave. There is no reason to think that he was a fraud who had a random psychic moment one time, especially given his behaviour for the rest of the episode. We know psychics exist in the LOST universe, and the show demonstrates what a fake psychic actually looks like when we see Hurley taken to one in 'Tricia Tanaka is Dead'.
One thing I’ve found quite ambiguous on my rewatch is what Claire’s psychic saw in Claire’s baby. Why was aaron destined to become such a malevolent being? What sort of darkness surrounded this child?
Richard Malkin says that "great danger" surrounds Aaron if he isn't raised by Claire. I don't think that means that Aaron himself is malevolent in any way, only that if Aaron is raised by "another" (or "an other") then his life is likely to be at risk. Whether or not Malkin knew precisely what would happen is unknown. It was just an intense feeling that he got. Enough to motivate him into harassing Claire onto that plane. We see that Aaron being raised by Kate later on in the story doesn't actually have an adverse effect on the boy. However, it does have an adverse effect on Claire. Without Aaron, she is the one whom great danger surrounds and follows a path of darkness, as we see in Season Six.
Finally the video I was waiting for! I totally agree with your theories, mostly the idea of the island guiding Malkin’s actions over the months he is in contact with Claire, but there’s still an element that I can’t entirely figure. Considering that Malkin acts alone, this means that he is the one who gives Claire the money for the “adoption” (the 6,000$, if I remember well) and the money for the plane ticket. It seems a little strange to me that he gives her the money from his own pocket. What do you think?
If he is being guided by a force stronger than himself then Malkin will have done everything possible to get Claire on that plane, including giving her money to reinforce that this was all legit. Buying her a ticket is one thing but giving her $6k helps to motivate her further. Although I don't believe we ever see the money he allegedly gives her, only the ticket. Whether the money was real or not, the key motivation here is for Malkin to get Claire on Flight 815 by any means necessary.
@@LOSTEXPLAINED108 We see Claire with an envelope in her hand, and since she says that Malkin is offering her 6,000$ (Malkin then says: 12,000$, the other half in L.A) I just assumed that the money was also in that envelope with the plane ticket, but it could be possible that they are counterfeit money. Anyway, maybe Malkin knew how important these visions were, so yes, I believe you're right saying that he would have done everything possible to convince Claire
@@zekielswheel I have heard this theory that Jacob spoke to Malkin to get him to guide Claire towards Oceanic 815, but it doesn't make a lot of sense to me. Especially when we look at Malkin's behaviour and how he organically reacts to his visions then acts accordingly. At this point in the game, Jacob isn't directly telling people what to do. It's not until we get towards the endgame (three years later) that Jacob starts directly instructing people like Ilana and Hurley and Widmore on how they should proceed. Plus, there is no tangible in-show evidence to suggest that Jacob ever visited with Malkin.
I still don’t believe Malkin was psychic. I believe his daughter was and she was feeding information to her father to hide her gift and this is why he also turns Eko away. But as we also know we have time travel in the show and it all goes back to putting people on the island. Jacob could have touched Malkin’s daughter to set up Claire for the island. Malkin did con her but the con was to delay her from giving up the child until she got on Ocean 815. I think they were gonna do much more with this story before Eko left the show. How awesome would it have been to see a constant episode with Eko and Malkins daughter to explain what had to happen with Claire.
Charlotte Malkin giving her father the information for Claire's sessions? That's quite an elaborate explanation in order to keep Malkin as being a conman. The problem with this theory -- that Jacob was involved somehow -- is that it requires theory crafting a lot of off-screen events that are never suggested or implied by the scenes we see. To me, Jacob's involvement doesn't make a lot of sense. Especially when we look at Malkin's behaviour and how he organically reacts to his visions. The suggestion that he is a conman who has a real vision doesn't work either. He knows Claire is pregnant and doesn't seem surprised that he knows that, but then he gets surprised by a real psychic event? And if Charlotte told him what to tell Claire then why does Malkin get scared and send Claire away? Surely he would be prepared. His behaviour makes no sense in either context. Also, at this point in time, Jacob isn't directly telling people what to do. It's not until we get towards the endgame (three years later) that Jacob starts directly instructing people like Ilana and Hurley and Widmore on how they should proceed. As for Charlotte being touched by Jacob, does this suggest that he brought her back from the dead? Because Jacob specifically says he cannot do that (to Richard in 'Ab Aeterno'). It would take a lot of evidence to convince me of this particular theory. All evidence points to Malkin being legit.
Forgive me if I’m remembering the timings wrong but if Eko had been delayed further would he have had to miss 815? Could Malkin also have influenced Eko onto his path?
Malkin appears to need to make physical contact with a person in order to gain any insights into their future. This is a recurring action for psychic characters in LOST -- physical contact. I don't think Malkin knew that Eko needed to be on 815, but their interactions were absolutely part of a causal chain of events instigated by The Island to get Eko on the plane. In Claire's case, Malkin was directly guiding her. In Eko's case, he was unintentionally guiding him.
I always took this as he thought he was a fake and was scamming people then Clare turns up unplanned and he actually sees something this makes him really determined to help Clare.
I discuss this event briefly in my video on The Magic Box, which (if you're watching these in order) should be coming up for you later. Basically, it was a necessary event. The removal of Jack's appendix allows him to survive long enough after the MiB stabs him in the same spot in the series finale. If Jack still had his appendix there, he would have bled out and died before being able to re-cork The Source. Similar to why Locke's kidney needed to be removed, so that he would survive Ben's attempt to kill him on The Island several years in the future.
One thing I’ve a bit of a strange time with is the rare instances of dead people returning to life, like Malkin’s daughter, Sayid, and to a certain debatable extent Mikael. The show runners always said “dead is dead” on Lost, even naming an episode title as such. These instances contradict that show rule.
Don't forget Charlie being brought back from death by Jack in S1. "Dead is dead" is a perceived rule by people like Ben and Richard, but we know that isn't completely true and we know they are not always right in their many assumptions about the island. People *do* indeed come back from death because they still have work to do or a purpose to fulfil. Both Charlie and Sayid ultimately give their lives to save others following their respective revivals. Charlie in the Looking Glass and Sayid on the sub. There is always a reason.
@blisteringheightsofstupidity I address the flash sideways in its own video. Please see Chapter Fifteen on this channel for a more detailed explanation of it.
@@LOSTEXPLAINED108 Charlie’s revival is first, and is rooted in reality-a form of coming back from the dead” humans experience every day from CPR. I think it was a smart choice to start there for a character coming back “from the dead”. Especially for a character like Jack to witness.
The couple in Los Angeles is Kate and Jack in season 4. Why is this important? The island needed a reason for Kate to want to return to the island. To find Claire. And this got Kate back to the island to fulfill what she did in 1977 like get Ben to the Others. And she was necessary to kill the smoke monster as it almost killed Jack in the final episode. The island and fate knew she needed to be there for that moment.
Granted, it is not one of the biggest questions or mysteries from the show but it’s still on the laundry list. This channel goes through all of them, whether individual viewers think certain mysteries matter or not. Plenty of fans wanted this storyline unpacked and explained. While I agree with your big picture assessment as to why Claire needed to go to The Island, not everyone will get that from looking at this storyline on its own because of how it is presented with two possibilities by the show once Eko’s flashbacks call the psychic’s powers into question. EDIT: Apologies, I think I misread your comment asking "Why is this important?" as if you were asking me "Why is talking about this plot point important?". But I think you were just rhetorically asking that question and trying to say "This plot point is important because it leads to motivating Kate to go back to The Island." I got the wires crossed!
*ATTENTION! For viewers who take issue with the text-to-speech voice*
All of these older videos have been entirely revoiced and remade in better quality (and feature A LOT more detail). They have been combined together as part of a six part video series called The Theory of Everything, which you can watch here: ua-cam.com/play/PL5iTj9psbPrNovFOg4pJJIyxiLAv2WAKB.html
Namaste! 🙏
Malkin also tells her the baby can’t be raised by another. It could be read as An Other as well. Great analysis.
I always thought his scared reaction to Claire was because he was a fraud in his own mind and the fact that he was seeing these things scared him but is what motivated him to act on them.
If Malkin was so frightened that he had legitimately had a psychic episode for the first time in his life then why doesn't he seem scared or surprised that he knew Claire was pregnant straight away? There is no other way he could know this information at this point in the story. That should have freaked him out, yet he continues the reading without batting an eyelid. It is only when he sees the "blur" and gets a potent feeling that he asks Claire to leave.
@@LOSTEXPLAINED108 I'm not saying you're wrong I'm just saying it's what I thought when I saw the scene with him and Eko years ago lol
Your videos are a shining beacon of hope for people who never could come to terms with things they couldn't understand, thus making the show, for them, somewhat devoid of meaning. Your insight and videos are a true godsent. We are eternally grateful for your hard work and dedication to LOST and shinning a light on it for us. LIVE TOGETHER, DIE ALONE.
That is truly a very high compliment. Thank you very much :) I'm extremely pleased and validated to know that there are fans who appreciate this channel.
@@LOSTEXPLAINED108 You are most welcome Sir. I hope you, you're family and close friends are doing well, and in good health. Cheers from Canada!
I always assumed that Malkin was a genuine psychic, but like Miles, was taking advantage of other people.. until Claire.
This is right on. No way was Malkin a scammer. Every time I watch Raised by Another and try to view it as a con, it makes me want to tear my hair out. Also, major LOLs with that Sawyer reference!
I think the show also played with the statement “ the baby can’t be raised by another “ finally referring to Kate and her destiny to go back to the island and bring clair back to raise her child
You’ve answered so many questions! Video idea: Desmond, how the “rules don’t apply to him”, his exposure to electro magnetism and surviving. Just everything about him. Again great videos
It's funny I did believe he was a con artist cause I figured that was the show saying that was the answer. But...I forgot how intense the Psychic was at first.. with the constant phone calls. So no way all that was a con. I did really enjoy seeing how the flash sideways was referenced with Mr. Eko as early as season 2!
I have to wonder how Malkin felt when he found out about Oceanic 815 crashing. Doubtful he knew THAT would happen. He must have felt awful.
My theory: Jacob bought the ticket and ordered him to give it to Claire.
I've been watching all your videos and I'm so happy to have found them.
I STILL have a question. WHY???????
What did he see about tge baby so bad tgat she needed to be moroonwd on the island to die????
I was also under the impression that Malkin knew about Mr Eko too. Which might partly explain why he was so adamant about turning Eko away so quickly. The reasons you mentioned are the most logical, but I kind of wondered if Malkin was aware of his daughter's contact with Yemmy while she was un-alived. Which also got me to wondering if he had some unpleasant visions of what might happen if Claire and Eko were not on Flight 815.
What's your take on why Aaron has to be raised by Claire? Is there something about Aaron that the show just doesn't explore? Or is Claire and Aaron's whole purpose in the tapestry of time to get Kate to go back to the island?
Bravo!
Love your videos, I completely agree with you at no point in the show did I think he was a scammer even after he tells Eko he is. Also, Malkin could have been trying to deter Eko so it wasn’t found out that he influenced Claire to get on a plane that would eventually crash.
Great video. I love how you show the Islands influence on events.
That is a solid point, I am sure many people did not factor in that the Island itself was conscious and had a will of its own when the show was around, they probably figured the Island was self explanatory lol. I tell ya, Damon and Carlton were so ahead of their time when they conceptualized this, its like they both took their shared knowledge and flipped it on its head and created something that is more than art: us as fans, ended living in it, it was so different and so new...yet we didn't realize it then, funny how that works. One scene that really made me think; when Locke and Boon were going to the beech craft, I either though it was the influence the MIB had on Locke that made him not be able to stand up, or it was the Island, I took both theories and see were they went and what they could explain, It made me think about how he just stood up when we woke up on the beech the day of the crash....was that MIB or the Island? Its very interesting, keeping track of different lines of theories and seeing were they lead you.
@@jamesglandon3737 I think for many seasons of the show it seemed to imply Jacob was this omniscient manipulator of events, but while he was a critical player in the game he wasn't God..that was the Source, the heart of the Island
Maybe if it was all a scam he gave her the money back expecting her to come back and offer him even more money maybe but I always thought it was a bit of both lol. He always did con people before but Claire was different maybe cause her connection to the island. The island and Jacob needed Claire to come to the island so they used the psychic as a continuate to convince Claire to go to l.A. . it has to be flight 815 it can't be any other lol. Is the psychic right though? I mean Claire did have Aaron for a bit but Claire does loose Aaron a few times and Kate raises Aaron for quite some time lol and he stays behind so Claire is not going to see him until they get back home. I guess she can raise him then but it was so adamant that she must raise him but her relationship with him is almost like Michael and walts relationship where there's gaps where he didn't see him then one big gap before he sees him again. By that point he missed so much he's trying to connect to him but its hard for him to cause he lost so much time with him. Seems like same may be with Claire. So why did Claire have to come to the island? Was she a candidate? They were all candidates at one point they said but she was pregnant and Kate was crossed out cause she became a mother. Wouldn't that be the same case with Claire? That she's a mother
Fascinating videos. I'm making my way through them all.
Would it be fair to assume Claire's role in the "tapestry of time" is to give Kate a reason to return to the island, which in turn helps Jack do his part for the island? I suppose Claire and Aaron are also the initial force that puts the islanders at odds with the Others, when Ethan goes rogue.
Yes, that is definitely a huge part of it. Causality runs both ways because of the time loop and Claire is the only reason that Kate travels back to The Island in 2007, and therefore back in time to 1977, where it is Kate’s experiences with Aaron that motivate her to save a young Benjamin Linus. All of which feeds into the causality of her own future and into making all of these decisions.
I don't believe Malkin was a conman but neither was Isaac of Uluru. I believe both Isaac and Malkin could see but not the full entire picture but pieces that are jumbled in a mess.
I think that’s an accurate interpretation of Malkin. He didn’t know what he was seeing but he felt - very strongly - what he needed to do for Claire and acted upon it.
I thought he was a fraud. But in case with Claire he managed to see "future" for the first time. And that is why he was so frightened at the beginning. And only when he figured out what to do with all these mess he agreed to help her somehow.
I have heard this theory before and I disagree with it. If he was so frightened that he had legitimately seen the future for the first time then why does he not seem scared or surprised that he knows Claire is pregnant? He is clearly psychically reading her from the start (there is no other way he could know this information). Then the "blurry" vision happens and that is when he gets scared.
Kind of unrelated to the subject of this vid but I simply happen to be on this one and some idea occured to me. We already talked about Smoke Monster being Walt in 2x06 and how that contradicts the idea that he can only embody dead people and I thought of some other examples to consider: Dave and Goodwin's wife. Both of their behaviors seem to fit MIB's goals. Dave tries to get Hugo killed and Goodwin's wife tries to make the chemicals release that would kill everyone on the Island. However, one is an imaginary character and the other's fate is unknown. How do you feel about them being MIB? Are we really sure that he only could embody dead people or was it just one of his lies? However, Dogen seems to also believe that he can only take form of the dead.
Both Harper and Dave appearances are open to speculation.
I personally don't think Harper was MiB or a whisper ghost, just a sneaky "Other". We see The Others on various occasions appear and stealth-sneak around the island; implausibly perhaps but not supernatural in any way. The Man in Black already had his plan with Ben & Locke in motion at this point so he didn't really need to do much else beyond wait for their return to the cabin. Yes, releasing gas might kill some candidates but it also might kill Ben (whom he had been working on for some time and very much needed). And the gas most likely wouldn't kill Jacob, which was the primary goal of MiB's plans.
As for the Dave that we see on the island talking to Hurley... this is most likely a manifestation of Hurley's subconscious. His final battle with his mental illness. It is certainly the cleaner answer. However, it remains open to interpretation. If Dave is the smoke monster at this point in time then it opens up more questions. We know Smokey needs to scan someone in order to appear as people from their memories, so the question becomes "when did he scan Hurley?" I go into this idea in Chapter Ten on The Smoke Monster in a fair bit of detail. Could Smokey scan people whilst occupying other forms, such as animals, birds and insects? We never get confirmation on that but it's a possibility. If that is the case, then he could have scanned Hurley whilst in some kind of innocuous animal form and manifested Dave later from that. But it requires more conjecture.
I think the reason we don’t see Eko in the Flashsideways is because he’s stuck in an office building in LA absolutely convinced that “pressing the button” for some shady faith-based company is the most important thing in the world.
I completely agree with your conclusions on this one. My one disappointment is that you don't share my view (or certainly don't mention it here) that Malkin's main reason for trying to get rid of Eko is because he knows that Eko has to be on Oceanic 815. But that may largely come down to our previous long exchanges regarding whether or not Eko was a candidate.
You are correct, sir! I don't personally subscribe to the idea that Malkin knew Eko was supposed to be on Flight 815 too. The main reason being that Malkin's power seemed predicated upon touch and deep concentration in order to psychically connect with his subject. I honestly think that Malkin just wanted the priest gone before things went any further.
So good man
Psychic abilities are real in and outside the Lost universe. Also, Mr Ecko being a priest doesn't necessarily mean he would not believe in psychic abilities. Good video and you have a great channel.
Great analysis I like the statement this is what season 2 is asking us to think about. Now I’m intrigued to go back to each season, and look for the overarching themes. Nice analysis as always this is my second time through. It’s well edited and flows well. This series was a lot of work- kudos to you!
The themes of each season is a great idea for a video!
@@LOSTEXPLAINED108 Thank you! I’m really enjoying your videos. I didn’t watch LOST when it was originally on, and because of that I missed a lot of the fan interaction that happens when you get excited about a show. Up until now it’s been a personal experience, but I’m happy to find a community here still engaged in discussion and finding meaning in the questions this show has to offer.
I think that Claire's psychic is a lot like the one portrayed by Whoopie Goldberg in the classic movie Ghost. Initially she was just pretending to be psychic to scam people but then she encountered the ghost of Patrick Swayze. My guess is that Claire's psychic did have very good intuition and that he used it to take advantage... but when he actually had a vision, he did what he decided that he had to do.
I have heard this theory before and I disagree with it based on how the scene and performance play out. If he was so frightened that he had legitimately had a psychic episode for the first time in his life then why doesn't he seem scared or surprised that he knew Claire was pregnant? There is no other way he could know this information at this point in the story. That should have freaked him out, yet he continues the reading without batting an eyelid. It is only when he sees something "blurry" and gets a potent feeling that he asks Claire to leave. There is no reason to think that he was a fraud who had a random psychic moment one time, especially given his behaviour for the rest of the episode. We know psychics exist in the LOST universe, and the show demonstrates what a fake psychic actually looks like when we see Hurley taken to one in 'Tricia Tanaka is Dead'.
I always thought that he had "the gift" but he doesn't use it for all of his "customers"
One thing I’ve found quite ambiguous on my rewatch is what Claire’s psychic saw in Claire’s baby. Why was aaron destined to become such a malevolent being? What sort of darkness surrounded this child?
Richard Malkin says that "great danger" surrounds Aaron if he isn't raised by Claire. I don't think that means that Aaron himself is malevolent in any way, only that if Aaron is raised by "another" (or "an other") then his life is likely to be at risk. Whether or not Malkin knew precisely what would happen is unknown. It was just an intense feeling that he got. Enough to motivate him into harassing Claire onto that plane. We see that Aaron being raised by Kate later on in the story doesn't actually have an adverse effect on the boy. However, it does have an adverse effect on Claire. Without Aaron, she is the one whom great danger surrounds and follows a path of darkness, as we see in Season Six.
Finally the video I was waiting for! I totally agree with your theories, mostly the idea of the island guiding Malkin’s actions over the months he is in contact with Claire, but there’s still an element that I can’t entirely figure. Considering that Malkin acts alone, this means that he is the one who gives Claire the money for the “adoption” (the 6,000$, if I remember well) and the money for the plane ticket. It seems a little strange to me that he gives her the money from his own pocket. What do you think?
If he is being guided by a force stronger than himself then Malkin will have done everything possible to get Claire on that plane, including giving her money to reinforce that this was all legit. Buying her a ticket is one thing but giving her $6k helps to motivate her further. Although I don't believe we ever see the money he allegedly gives her, only the ticket. Whether the money was real or not, the key motivation here is for Malkin to get Claire on Flight 815 by any means necessary.
What if it was Jacob, not the island itself?
@@LOSTEXPLAINED108 We see Claire with an envelope in her hand, and since she says that Malkin is offering her 6,000$ (Malkin then says: 12,000$, the other half in L.A) I just assumed that the money was also in that envelope with the plane ticket, but it could be possible that they are counterfeit money. Anyway, maybe Malkin knew how important these visions were, so yes, I believe you're right saying that he would have done everything possible to convince Claire
@@zekielswheel I have heard this theory that Jacob spoke to Malkin to get him to guide Claire towards Oceanic 815, but it doesn't make a lot of sense to me. Especially when we look at Malkin's behaviour and how he organically reacts to his visions then acts accordingly. At this point in the game, Jacob isn't directly telling people what to do. It's not until we get towards the endgame (three years later) that Jacob starts directly instructing people like Ilana and Hurley and Widmore on how they should proceed. Plus, there is no tangible in-show evidence to suggest that Jacob ever visited with Malkin.
@@LOSTEXPLAINED108 Well put!
I still don’t believe Malkin was psychic. I believe his daughter was and she was feeding information to her father to hide her gift and this is why he also turns Eko away. But as we also know we have time travel in the show and it all goes back to putting people on the island. Jacob could have touched Malkin’s daughter to set up Claire for the island. Malkin did con her but the con was to delay her from giving up the child until she got on Ocean 815. I think they were gonna do much more with this story before Eko left the show. How awesome would it have been to see a constant episode with Eko and Malkins daughter to explain what had to happen with Claire.
Charlotte Malkin giving her father the information for Claire's sessions? That's quite an elaborate explanation in order to keep Malkin as being a conman.
The problem with this theory -- that Jacob was involved somehow -- is that it requires theory crafting a lot of off-screen events that are never suggested or implied by the scenes we see.
To me, Jacob's involvement doesn't make a lot of sense. Especially when we look at Malkin's behaviour and how he organically reacts to his visions. The suggestion that he is a conman who has a real vision doesn't work either. He knows Claire is pregnant and doesn't seem surprised that he knows that, but then he gets surprised by a real psychic event? And if Charlotte told him what to tell Claire then why does Malkin get scared and send Claire away? Surely he would be prepared. His behaviour makes no sense in either context.
Also, at this point in time, Jacob isn't directly telling people what to do. It's not until we get towards the endgame (three years later) that Jacob starts directly instructing people like Ilana and Hurley and Widmore on how they should proceed. As for Charlotte being touched by Jacob, does this suggest that he brought her back from the dead? Because Jacob specifically says he cannot do that (to Richard in 'Ab Aeterno'). It would take a lot of evidence to convince me of this particular theory. All evidence points to Malkin being legit.
Your channel inspired me to start a rewatch of the series.
After a decade.
Thanks man. And keep with the good job you're doing
Your father never had the makings of a varsity athlete. :)
@@jakeschlachter3104 small hands, that was his problem..
Forgive me if I’m remembering the timings wrong but if Eko had been delayed further would he have had to miss 815? Could Malkin also have influenced Eko onto his path?
Malkin appears to need to make physical contact with a person in order to gain any insights into their future. This is a recurring action for psychic characters in LOST -- physical contact. I don't think Malkin knew that Eko needed to be on 815, but their interactions were absolutely part of a causal chain of events instigated by The Island to get Eko on the plane. In Claire's case, Malkin was directly guiding her. In Eko's case, he was unintentionally guiding him.
I always took this as he thought he was a fake and was scamming people then Clare turns up unplanned and he actually sees something this makes him really determined to help Clare.
in other words, the light only started affecting him when Clare came to him.
Could you make a video explaining why Jack Shephard on the island came down with appendicitis?
I discuss this event briefly in my video on The Magic Box, which (if you're watching these in order) should be coming up for you later. Basically, it was a necessary event. The removal of Jack's appendix allows him to survive long enough after the MiB stabs him in the same spot in the series finale. If Jack still had his appendix there, he would have bled out and died before being able to re-cork The Source. Similar to why Locke's kidney needed to be removed, so that he would survive Ben's attempt to kill him on The Island several years in the future.
Jacob was involved. 😁
Actually, Claire’s girlfriend is Kate.
One thing I’ve a bit of a strange time with is the rare instances of dead people returning to life, like Malkin’s daughter, Sayid, and to a certain debatable extent Mikael. The show runners always said “dead is dead” on Lost, even naming an episode title as such. These instances contradict that show rule.
Don't forget Charlie being brought back from death by Jack in S1. "Dead is dead" is a perceived rule by people like Ben and Richard, but we know that isn't completely true and we know they are not always right in their many assumptions about the island. People *do* indeed come back from death because they still have work to do or a purpose to fulfil. Both Charlie and Sayid ultimately give their lives to save others following their respective revivals. Charlie in the Looking Glass and Sayid on the sub. There is always a reason.
@blisteringheightsofstupidity I address the flash sideways in its own video. Please see Chapter Fifteen on this channel for a more detailed explanation of it.
@@LOSTEXPLAINED108 She died?
@@LOSTEXPLAINED108 I think that was Charlie when Ethan hung with leaving him for dead and took Claire.
@@LOSTEXPLAINED108 Charlie’s revival is first, and is rooted in reality-a form of coming back from the dead” humans experience every day from CPR. I think it was a smart choice to start there for a character coming back “from the dead”. Especially for a character like Jack to witness.
The couple in Los Angeles is Kate and Jack in season 4. Why is this important? The island needed a reason for Kate to want to return to the island. To find Claire. And this got Kate back to the island to fulfill what she did in 1977 like get Ben to the Others. And she was necessary to kill the smoke monster as it almost killed Jack in the final episode. The island and fate knew she needed to be there for that moment.
Granted, it is not one of the biggest questions or mysteries from the show but it’s still on the laundry list. This channel goes through all of them, whether individual viewers think certain mysteries matter or not. Plenty of fans wanted this storyline unpacked and explained. While I agree with your big picture assessment as to why Claire needed to go to The Island, not everyone will get that from looking at this storyline on its own because of how it is presented with two possibilities by the show once Eko’s flashbacks call the psychic’s powers into question.
EDIT: Apologies, I think I misread your comment asking "Why is this important?" as if you were asking me "Why is talking about this plot point important?". But I think you were just rhetorically asking that question and trying to say "This plot point is important because it leads to motivating Kate to go back to The Island." I got the wires crossed!