I am still reeling from last night’s season finale of LOST. I won’t ruin the BIG HUGE REVEAL of who was in the coffin here but needless to say, I was shocked. All season long I had predicted that it was Michael’s body but, man-o-man, was I wrong!!! (Credit where credit is due, my wife guess correctly)

Now here is something I found absolutely fascinating about tonight’s episode. The name given to the body in the coffin was Jeremy Bentham. The real Bentham was a English philosopher from the late 1700s and early 1800s. He is most known for his advocacy of Utilitarianism, the idea that goodness is derived from an action’s outcome. True goodness is measured by the impact it has on a situation as a whole. What is done for the greater good and the greatest number of people is deemed truly great. Looks like we have a season of story in there somewhere.

The thing that most struck me about the real Bentham and how he might relate to LOST as we go forward was his corpse. To the best of my understanding, Bentham had his body preserved and stored in a cabinet. One article said that this was due to financial reasons. More likely is that he allowed his student, Dr. Southwood Smith, to preform an autopsy on his body. Autopsies were highly controversial but Bentham and Smith believed that by dissecting a dead body many great things might be learned for the betterment of society. Again, the greater good would be served.

In 1850 University College London acquired the body and presented it on display in their main building. Apparently, the head fell off one day and so the powers that be sculpted a replacement head out of wax but kept the real head in the cabinet. The head, after years of being stolen and being just plain creepy, was removed and is in “safe keeping.” The college allegedly brings Bentham’s cabinet to important Council meetings where he is marked “present but not voting.” According to the Wikipedia article, if there is ever a need for a tie breaking vote Bentham votes in favor of the motion.

So what does this mean for our friend in the coffin? Well, Ben said everyone has to go back so… looks like “Bentham” will be tagging along. Add a little creep factor to this if he sits in on the return trip planning meetings too.

It is hard to believe that I have to wait until 2009 to find out that I’m probably wrong about this. Leave your thoughts and theories in the comments section friends. Have a good weekend everyone.

*LOST SEASON FOUR DISCUSSION HAPPENING BELOW* PROCEED WITH CAUTION!!!

For those of you who are Lost fans you know that this season has been dealing with a lot of nerd-friendly issues such as theoretical physics, the space time continuum, and the nature of reality. All good stuff to be sure but often times I feel like my puny little BA can’t match up with the likes of Dr. Faradey and his time traveling rat.

So to make up for Lost time (ha) I have been expanding my reading list to now include a handful of scientific books. I began last Christmas with The Fabric of the Cosmos. I liked that book so much that I have since picked up Greene’s first foray into explaining deep, difficult, theortical concepts to everyday joes, The Elegant Universe.

In The Elegant Universe Greene introduces the reader to superstring theory. While general relativity deals with the big things in the universe, quantum mechanics deals with the smallest particles. Einstein believed that there must be a unifying theory that explains the entire workings of the universe both large and small. Many believe that superstring theory could be that unifying theory. Greene argues that throughout the history of physics, conflicts have emerged that, once settled, rewrote our complete understanding of what we know about how the universe works. Yes, like Desmond, I sometimes get a nosebleed just reading this stuff.

As I began reading last night I immediately ran across something that jumped out at me as extremely important as we head into the (second) season finale for season 4.

We all know that there is something off about the island and that this season we have come to understand that time plays a big role in that. First a rocket payload landed later than expected. Then a dead doctor washed ashore hours before he died. What is going on here? Now as we move toward the big finale John Locke is on a mission to “move the island.” What does this mean for those left on the island? What about those now on the freighter? What about the rest of us living our lives unaware of the islands existence? For those of you who have been following closely this season get a load of this:

The first conflict concerns puzzling properties of the motion of light. Briefly put, according to Isaac Newton’s laws of motion, if you run fast enough you can catch up with a departing beam of light, whereas according to James Clerk Maxwell’s laws of electromagnetism, you can’t. Einstein resolved this conflict through his theory of special relativity, and in so doing completely overturned our understanding of space and time. Accoring to special reletivity, no longer can space and time be thought of as universal concepts set in stone, experienced identically by everyone. Rather space and time emerged from Einstein’s reworking as malleable constructs whose form and appearance depend on one’s state of motion.

I think that this is a pretty significant bit of information as it concerns our castaways. If the island can move (or is in a constant state of motion relative to…) then no wonder there is a hiccup in time as it concerns rockets and dead doctors and satellite phones.

Maybe I should send Grizzly Jack a copy of this book to help aid him in his quest to return. I’ll just have to tell the postman to stay on the bearing 305 lest he too get a nasty nosebleed.

I can’t believe we have to wait another two weeks to (not) get answers to the mysteries surrounding the island, the survivors of 815, the freighter people, Ben, and Charles Widmore.

If anything should happen to me during these next two weeks, Desmond Hume is my constant.

It begins… D’oh! It’s a recap show!

To quote the wife, “Well, we’ve got an hour.” I’m going to take out the trash.

See you in 58.

Ok. Quick thought about the recap. I am a little unnerved that it is being narrated by Ben. Just sayin’.

Here we go. It begins… for reals this time.

8:00- Bumbelbee’s cousin, Red Hornet? (The wife recognized the car as Hurley’s)
8:03- Nope, it’s Hurley. “I’m one of the Oceanic 6!” That’s one for me.
8:04- Best. Theme Note Tone. Ever.
8:06- The story is taking place in the present. That’s 2.
8:07- “I never met her.” Lies, lies, lies.
8:08- Back to the nut house for Hurley. And flashback to the island for us.
8:10- I still don’t trust Ben.
8:13- Charlie’s dead.
8:14- The guy on the other end of the phone is named George. Naomi went missing. My money is on Ben having that knife. I still don’t trust Ben.
8:20- A kiss goodbye is all Ben needs to see. He’s found a new foothold in the love triangle.
8:21- Back to the present.
8:22- An Oceanic Representative offering an upgrade? Didn’t think so.
8:24- D’oh! Hugo’s alone.
8:25- Jacob’s left the light on for him.
8:29- Ben saw more then a kiss. Or so he says. I still don’t trust Ben.
8:30- I stand corrected. He was telling the truth.
8:31- Ambush by Naomi. That was quite a jump for someone with a giant knife wound in the spine.
8:33- Meanwhile, at Jacob’s… which is down the trail from Jacob’s… Locke seems to have been paying Jacob a late night visit.
8:40- Reunion time. Sun & Jin, Bernard & Rose, Claire &… oh yeah. Sorry.
8:43- What the WHOO-HAH!!!!! Charlie’s in the present telling Hurley that “they need you.”
8:46- Locke just got sucker punched! Jack pulled the trigger. I think he has had enough of Locke. On a theological note, that wouldn’t have been the first time science tried to kill faith. (I had to throw that in there)
8:51- Jack’s been handing out the beatings as of late.
8:54- Locke, Claire, Danielle, Ben, Hurley, Survivor #23, the teens, & Sawyer are off to the barracks.
8:57- Hurley has another visitor- Jack. Go with that beard idea, dude.
8:58- Keep your mouth shut Hurley!
8:59- Sorry? We have to go back. And here we are.
9:01- “Are you Jack?”

Ok. So what do we know?

1) We know 6 people made it off the island. We know who 3 of them are: Jack, Kate, & Hurley

2) The 6 people that came back are hiding information about what happened to the other people left on the island. At least Jack and Hurley are having second thoughts about coming home.

3) There are people trying to get to the bottom of that mystery.

4) Hurley was sorry that he followed Locke. I’m very interested to follow that series of events.

5) We know Jack wanted to grow a beard and that he made that dream come true. In spades.

Great season premiere! Welcome back survivors of Oceanic 815.

Tonight’s episode, The Beginning of the End, is only a few hours away.

I have no idea what’s in store for us tonight but here are some of my thoughts, ideas, and theories…

1) After last season’s “game changing” finale, where we were treated to a flash-forward rather than the typical flashback, I have thought that this season might follow the same pattern. I have wondered whether season 4 will take place in the present (off the island) and that the flashbacks will take us back to the events that lead to some of the islanders (we only know of Jack and Kate) escaping from the island.

2) This last theory has gained more legitimacy with me due to the title slide featured on the commercials. The advertisements show the island reflecting off the ocean but the reflection is that of a city skyline.

3) 6 people will leave the island. The commercials have featured the number 6 flashing subliminally between images of the new season. We know that Jack and Kate leave the island. Your guess is as good as mine as to who the other 4 are. However, one of them might be Michael because…

4) I think Michael (Walt’s Dad) was the person in the coffin Jack visited in last season’s finale. If it is Michael, then he and Walt might have been the ones who led the “rescuers” back to the island. We saw Walt telling Locke to crawl out of Dharma pit last year. Before that, the last time we saw Walt, he and Michael were leaving the island in a small boat.

5) In the finale, Jack throws a raging, drunk tirade when he is challenged by the chief of surgery. “Bring my father down here ands see if he’s drunker than I am,” he railed. Ummm… as far as we know Jack’s father is dead. He died in Australia and Jack went to bring him back to LA. It was the whole reason Jack was on Oceanic Flight 815. Now Jack could have said this because he was drunk out of his mind. He was out of touch with reality and dealing with a lot. However, the island is special. Locke was in a wheel chair prior to arriving on the island. Jin was infertile. The island has significant healing powers. If the body of Jack’s dad was on that plane… Nah! That’s crazy talk. Or is it? I think I might have seen Jack’s dad in the season 4 trailer. He’s alive. I’m calling it.

Only 2 hours to go… Check back during the show.

If it wasn’t Penny’s boat then whose was it?

Which guy was waiting on Kate to return after her late night rendezvous with Grizzly Jack?

Oh, LOST. How we have missed thee! Welcome back.