The Chiasm of Lost and Somewhere In Time

Stardate 02-29-2008

Last nights episode of lost was about the best hour of TV that I can remember watching in a very long time. It connected with my woman and I on multiple levels. Here is a very cool connection that Allison and I picked up from tonights episode. Tonights episode seemed to be based off of Richard Matheson's sci-fi/romance novel called Bid Time Returns. The book was later turned into the movie Somewhere In Time. Here are the connections:

1. At the start of Somewhere In Time, Richard is approached by a mysterious old woman. She gives him a watch and says, "Come back to me."

2. Richard visits his old physics professor and asks him about time travel. The professor explains to him that time travel is in the mind. That it is possible for oneself to hypnotize the mind. If accomplished, the body stays in the same place, but the consciousness goes somewhere else.

3. It is further explained that this can only work if everything remains constant. Specifically for Richard, his consciousness of 1912 cannot remember anything from 1979 or the hypnosis will break. The professor warned that the breaking of the constant greatly weakens the body.

4. Richard finally does make it back to 1912. He finds Elise McKenna, the mysterious old woman who asked him to come back to her. As you all know, the two eventually fall in love and after a beautiful afternoon of love making and fried chicken, Richard pulls a 1979 PENNY out of his pocket. The constant is broken and Richard's consciousness returns to 1979.

4. Desmond's constant is his girlfriend, PENNY. She exists in both 1996 and 2004. He has made contact with her in both times, therefore anchoring his consciousness to both places.

3. When Eloise, the rat dies, Daniel explains to Desmond that she had no constant. Nothing to anchor herself to. Her jumping from present to future confused her. She could not tell which was which and eventually, her brain exploded.

2. When 1996 Desmond meets 1996 Daniel the physicist at Oxford University, Daniel explains to Desmond that Eloise the rat did not travel into the future, rather it was her consciousness that was sent into the future.

1. At the end of the episode, when Desmond makes his 2004 connection with Penny, the two share a very tender moment together over the phone. One of the last things that Desmond says to Penny is, "I promise, I'll come back to you."

Allison was a bit skeptical when I first pointed out the connection and thought it was a bit of a stretch, but when she heard Desmond promise that he would "come back" to Penny, she was sold. In fact, Allison is who I should thank for making this amazing connection. She was after all the one who introduced me to Somewhere In Time.

Another interesting tidbit is that the author of Somewhere In Time is Richard Matheson. He's the guy who also wrote I Am Legend.

What do you think of the connection? Am I off my rocker? Where do you think Lost goes from here? Are you happy with the strong sci-fi tones of time travel and paradoxes that this season has introduced?