2721

I’m going to say it’s the electro-magnetic field that surrounds the island which prevents normal communication to the outside world.

Radio or satellite communication couldn’t be completely blocked though. It seemed that Mikhail was watching TV feed right after the plane crashed, and Ben was communicating with whomever it was to film Juliette’s sister.

-Julian

2722

Yeah, plus Ben turned on a baseball game to show Jack how they were still in contact with the outside world. Major plot holes ahead, I bet.

2723

Wasn’t it Desmond unleashing the EMP that borked the communications for everyone? In which case, all that stuff with Juliet’s sister doesn’t count. And Ben was playing a tape - he said “The Red Sox won the World Series” and showed them celebrating when Jack told him how ridiculous that was.

Troy

2724

The EMP was at the end of season two. The part with Juliet’s sister was right after the plane crash. My point is - radio/satellite communication did work. And while the EMP then borked the equipment, there’s no real explanation why the satellite phone they got ahold of now should not work. Like Moggraider, I do think we a plot hole incoming here.

-Julian

2725

I agree.

2726

I think when the hatch blew the issue was bigger than just the results of the immediate EMP. I think whatever the machine in the hatch was, it played some role in stabilizing some natural magnetic weirdness around the island enough for communications to work. The whole sub vs boats, need for beacons, the helicopter and airplane crashing when flying over, etc all point to there being something kind of bubble thing going on and I think various hints point to them still being in some kind of incommunicado dead zone, even though The Others previously had means of contact.

2727

To be fair, the show is still in the Top 20 so while ratings have fallen it’s still a pretty big hit. But, yeah, I think they’ll end it at 5 seasons.

2728

The main phrase that I recall being bandied about from 'Zeke this season is “every since the sky turned purple, comms have been down”, or something to that effect.

As for the baseball game, Ben showed it to Jack on a VCR. The same one that Juliette later used for her “kill Ben, please” tape. Given all the crazy shit that already occurs on the island, I don’t think it’s much of a stretch to think that they tape important transmissions, if only to play during barbecues in their backyards.

And as we the audience know, the puple sky/EMP something to do with Locke, et al blowing the hatch. What we don’t know is whether the purple sky was the result of not pushing the button, or rather from Desmond activating the failsafe. I think it’s implied that Desmond stopped it, but I can can definitely see it the other way as well.

2729

Lost to end in 2010. Pretty slick move on their part, now just write an ending that doesn’t suck.

2730

I like this idea a lot - three more seasons of 16 episodes each. Shortened seasons make for tighter plotting, as HBO has taught us.

2731

So, I was thinking a few things:

  • It’s highly possible that The Others created the scenario that put Sawyer and Kate together so that she would get pregnant. They need guinea pigs but don’t want to spare any of their own women, so they create this elaborate scheme that gets Kate knocked up.

  • The second thing that I was thinking is that maybe the island is the center of ‘power,’ ala ley lines, on Earth. It might be that the hatch was there to contain the power, but now it is unleashed. If it’s like the bermuda triangle or something (maybe EXACTLY on the other side of the globe from the Bermuda triangle, though I don’t know where that would put it) then it would explain nobody being able to find the island.

2732

'Cause men and women, trapped on remote desert island with bountiful food supplies where men’s sperm counts magically jump through the roof, would never hook up without the byzantine omniscient machinations of Ben.

Three more seasons? Of what? Tooo much. I don’t think I can stand the last episodes of the Sopranos much less 36 hours over three years of Lost.

2733

The idea of 16 episode seasons sounds great to me.

2734

The idea that it’s about two seasons worth of episodes spread over three years is good for plot (or at least, better than three seasons worth of episodes remaining), bad for anyone who actually wants to watch it.

2735

I disagree. The UK has been doing this reduced schedule for decades now, and you often get much more focused, tightly written television.

I’d be happy if all drama were 13-16 episodes shown back to back. It would have done wonders for Farscape and Battlestar…

2736

I’m with Andrew on this one- 22 or more episodes a year often seems to be stretching many shows’ cast and crew way too thin. Shorter seasons should actually allow the creators to do much better work and I think Lost viewers will benefit from this move.

2737

A shorter season would be great,since we don’t get enough reruns,clip shows,filler episodes,and midseason tryout shows as it is…

2738

You must’ve missed the part where they’re gonna run the show nonstop for 4 months a la 24.

I, for one, welcome our regularly scheduled overlords. If I can wait 8 months of the year for Jack Bauer, I can wait for Jack Shephard as well.

2739

Four whole months out of twelve, huh?? Be still my heart…

2740

When is the Lost season finale?