Top 10 Unimportant & Unsolved Mysteries of LOST
Anne Gould Northgraves - February 9, 2010
Lost's final season began last week, and those of us who have devoted five seasons to the show are beginning to get answers to major questions. But many, MANY loose ends need to be tied up, while some mysteries may remain forever unresolved. There are oddities, events and actions that seemed so critical at the time, but now are relatively unimportant to the overall story.
Here are 10 of those mysteries.
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Why did the psychic instruct Claire to get on Oceanic 815?
Description: Way back in the first season, Claire flashed back to her early pregnancy when a psychic, Richard Malkin (pictured), told her terrible things would happen if she didn't raise the baby herself. She visited the psychic a second time to tell him about her plan to go to Los Angeles to give up her baby for adoption -- and then he inexplicably sent her on Oceanic 815.
Mystery: Did the psychic really see the future, or was he a quack or con man who wanted to gain from the adoption? What terrible things did he "see?" And did he know Oceanic 815 would crash? Why Unimportant: As the series has unfolded, Claire's child, Aaron, turned out to merely be a child. Terrible things happened when Claire was raising the baby, and when Kate ended up raising Aaron, he played a positive role in her emotional growth. So far, the psychic's visions about "trouble" weren't very accurate, and his role probably unimportant. |
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What's up with the "special" children?
Description: Given the hubbub surrounding Aaron, most thought he was "special." And the other child on the flight, 10-year-old Walt, definitely was gifted — the things he thought about actually happened — and that attracted the attention of the Others.
Mystery: Is there something particularly different about Aaron? Why is Walt special? And what did the Others want with him? Could they be the future leaders of the Island? Why Unimportant: As discussed, it turned out that nothing has been particularly special about Aaron. And though the question still lingers about Walt, it is clear his story arc has finished. We have seen him living a normal teenage life in New York, and he was not on the new Oceanic 815 last week. He may be special, but he won't be a special part of this final story. |
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Why are all the castaways connected in their pre-Island life?
Description: As seen in their flashbacks, the characters often appeared in each other's pasts -- from just running into each other to unknowingly influencing the lives of other Oceanic members.
Mystery: Is there some greater purpose behind all of their interconnectedness? Why Unimportant: While there COULD be something to this mystery, it's not likely to be true since it would be way too complex. The characters' connected lives are simply a great storytelling device to show how we all affect the lives of other people. |
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Who are the skeletons (aka Adam and Eve)?
Description: When the survivors moved into the caves during the first season, they found a pair of skeletons.
Mystery: Who are the skeletons? Why Unimportant: There are a plethora of questions much more vital to the overarching themes of the show than this one. Also, this is an unimportant mystery because it is not likely a mystery -- Rose and Bernard decided to live on their own in the 1970s, and it stands to reason the skeletons would be the loving couple. |
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Why does the Smoke Monster kill some people and not others?
Description: The Smoke Monster (now revealed to be the Man In Black and Fake Locke), has a history of letting people live — such as real Locke, Eko (at first), and Ben — and killing others — Eko (later), the Mercenaries, members of the French party.
Mystery: How does Smokey decide who is worthy of life and who deserves to die, particularly since it changed its mind about Eko? Why Unimportant: From Man In Black/Smokey/Fake Locke's comments, it seems he is pretty fickle and defensive. The arbitrary nature of his actions make any answer to this mystery pretty unlikely, and, just as unimportant, we still want to know WHAT the Smoke is. |
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Why did the Others take Kate and Sawyer with Jack at the end of Season Two?
Description: At the end of Season 2, the Others took Jack (as it was later revealed for him to perform surgery on Ben's spinal tumor) … and inexplicably brought along Kate and Sawyer.
Mystery: Given the hype surrounding the abduction, the question going into the third season was why THOSE three? Why Unimportant: After the reason for Jack's capture became clear, there remained no clear purpose for bringing the other two, besides setting them up to have cage sex. That, in and of itself, was reason enough, and any further justification is unnecessary. |
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What about the polar bears?
Description: Since the second episode, the intriguing juxtaposition of a polar bear on a tropical island has continued to come up -- from attacks on the castaways to evidence of their presence.
Mystery: Fans have clamored and speculated since the beginning of the show for a reason behind the bears' existence, going as far as wondering if the Others could shape-shift. Why Unimportant: Despite the many fans that still wonder about the bears, this question is completely unimportant at this stage in the show because it HAS BEEN ANSWERED. The DHARMA Initiative researchers used polar bears in their zoology and time travel experiments. Fans hoping for a more complicated answer are better off worrying about more pressing mysteries. |
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What happened to Annie?
Description: When Ben was a young boy on the Island he was practically mute and anti-social — save for a little girl named Annie who befriended him, even giving him a birthday present. Yet besides her presence in his childhood -- and that he still owns her a gift -- she has not been mentioned or seen since.
Mystery: After such a poignant set up, why did she drop off the face of the earth? Why Unimportant: Though this is still a very interesting mystery, it is ultimately not crucial to the double-realities story of the current season, nor is it important to the greater themes of the show. File Annie under 'Interesting But Disposable' -- like many other numerous flashback characters who were never to be heard from again. |
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What's the deal with the giant, four-toed Statue?
Description: In the finale of the second season, Sun, Jin, and Sayid saw this remnant of the statue. Since then, it has been shown to have been around for a long time … and to have once been a part of a full-size statue of the Egyptian goddess Taweret.
Mystery: Many questions surround the statue: When did it break? Who built it? What is its significance? Why Unimportant: All the questions are valid and interesting to raise. However, since Lost primarily focuses on the beloved castaways, it seems unlikely the show will detail the history of the statue. Also, the mystery of the statue seems more important than getting the answers. |
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Is there really a sickness on the Island?
Description: Throughout the series, there have been references to an "illness." Danielle Rousseau said her French team was infected, they behaved strangely in Season 5, and the Hatches were marked "Quarantine" while the DHARMA members took vaccines.
Mystery: While there has been much setup of an actual disease, all the survivors seem fine. So is there anything valid about the claims of a sickness? Why Unimportant: Given the grander events of seeming reincarnation, any sickness on the Island pales in comparison. Chalk this up to one of the many mysterious events that are referenced on Lost but seem to lead nowhere. |
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Anne Gould Northgraves is a student at Ithaca College, majoring in screenwriting with a minor in learning to live with no money. Her passions include "Lost," the Red Sox, and amassing knowledge of everything about every film and television show.