Probably not, seeing as how the 42 was included in the Valenzetti equation (as we know from the Lost Experience)

I just thought it was interesting that there was a smudge where the 42 was when that guy was reading them off, is it possible that the Swan serial numbers aren't supposed to be 4 8 15 16 23 42?

i thought the same thing!!

well actually I thought he was going to say a different number, but maybe thats just what the writers wanted us to think. to create some tension.

But also why is it a serial number?? Why would the serial number for a door on a hatch suddenly be broadcasted over a radio tower??
100%
i thought the same thing!!

well actually I thought he was going to say a different number, but maybe thats just what the writers wanted us to think. to create some tension.

But also why is it a serial number?? Why would the serial number for a door on a hatch suddenly be broadcasted over a radio tower??

I dunno, I believe the numbers are stated in the orientation video. Surely someone would catch the oversight at some point, unless there's a huge breakdown in communication.

was not a mistake
that smudge just gave Hurley a chance to fill in the blank

The numbers interested me in the first few seasons, and I enjoyed thinking about what they were for. However, once it seemed like a little plot element, I wasn't that interested in them anymore. The numbers being a serial number on the hatch seems to be a downplay by the writers.

What I'm wondering is this.

Why does a hatch door need a serial number anyways?

Seriously... I'm honestly wondering this.

Aren't serial numbers usually given for products that are mass-manufactured, to uniquely identify each one that is made?

So why does something that there's only one of need a serial number?

I agree with all of the above comments, I too think it was probably just something minor, but I'm also wondering why the Swan needed a serial number...

BrothaJefe316, your comment got me thinking, what if there were more than one "Swan-type" stations?

MarkKligman, I thought they were gonna say another number at first too, I was thinking "Oh my god, one of the "variables" of the equation was changed!" But, it was read as 42...

almost everything around us has a serial number, even doors and chairs ... so, i think it's just a serial number. why will it become so 'dangerous' we'll have to wait and see.

was not a mistake
that smudge just gave Hurley a chance to fill in the blank

I agree. For dramatical purposes only.

Just a device to create a moment of tension.

Nothing to see here folks.

I don't think it's really only a serial number. I think that's just what they're telling the minions because its real significance is "classified".

From the mild irony department:

The night this episode aired was on Jackie Robinson Day in Major League Baseball. That day all the players throughout the league wore the number 42 to honor the Brooklyn Dodger great. In the Lost episode a Dodger, albeit a Los Angeles one (Tommy Lasorda), is pictured on the cover of the Sports Illustrated that Miles was reading.

From the mild irony department:

The night this episode aired was on Jackie Robinson Day in Major League Baseball. That day all the players throughout the league wore the number 42 to honor the Brooklyn Dodger great. In the Lost episode a Dodger, albeit a Los Angeles one (Tommy Lasorda), is pictured on the cover of the Sports Illustrated that Miles was reading.
Cool connection. :biggrin:

Perhaps not so much a coincidence since the numbers actually correspond to those of retired Brooklyn players in the first place.

I don't think it's really only a serial number. I think that's just what their telling the minions because its real significance is "classified".

I agree, especially since the serial number is the core values of the VE, which the DI is trying to change in order to save the world.

What I'm wondering is this.

Why does a hatch door need a serial number anyways?

Seriously... I'm honestly wondering this.

Aren't serial numbers usually given for products that are mass-manufactured, to uniquely identify each one that is made?

So why does something that there's only one of need a serial number?

The hatch needs a serial number in case it accidentally malfunctions and almost destroys the world and the Dharma Initiative has to return it - duh.

Cool connection. :biggrin:

Perhaps not so much a coincidence since the numbers actually correspond to those of retired Brooklyn players in the first place.


From the 1955 team, the most fabled of the Brooklyn Dodgers teams:

Uni. # - Player Name
4 - Duke Snider
8 - George Shuba
15 - Sandy Amoros
16 - None
23 - Don Zimmer
42 - Jackie Robinson

Tommy Lasorda was up with the Brooklyn Dodger big-league club in 1955 for a cup of coffee (appeared in four games.) He wore number 27 that year. The next year, with the Kansas City Athletics, he wore number 23.

Sources:
http://www.baseball-almanac.com/teamstats/roster.php?y=1955&t=BRO (http://www.baseball-almanac.com/teamstats/roster.php?y=1955&t=BRO)
http://www.baseball-almanac.com/players/player.php?p=lasorto01 (http://www.baseball-almanac.com/players/player.php?p=lasorto01).

The numbers have got to be more than just a serial number... they're used in the computer to reset the counter every 108 minutes. The numbers are still a big mystery in my opinion and I do hope for a reason aside from they are arbitrary numbers from a hatch. I thought the numbers are an effort to remind people of that plot point and to show that they are still in play... it's upsetting that we didn't learn any new stuff about the numbers though... I was hoping for something... now we have to wait another couple of weeks!

was not a mistake
that smudge just gave Hurley a chance to fill in the blank

Agreed -- but it was kind of a dumb moment, since we already know that Hurley is well acquainted with the numbers. It made me wonder why they bothered with the scene, other than to let us know it was the Swan Station they were building.

I thought the reason they stamped the numbers into the hatch was for some sort of reference. Maybe if a time traveler were hopping around time and/or multiple realities and wanted to check if some action of theirs changed the Valenzetti Equation, then they could go to the hatch and check out what the numbers were in that particular time/reality. A computer or voice recorded message would be too easy to accidentally or nefariously change or prone to blackouts or something. The steel door stamp, not so much (at least without it being pretty obvious).

The numbers have got to be more than just a serial number... they're used in the computer to reset the counter every 108 minutes. The numbers are still a big mystery in my opinion and I do hope for a reason aside from they are arbitrary numbers from a hatch. I thought the numbers are an effort to remind people of that plot point and to show that they are still in play... it's upsetting that we didn't learn any new stuff about the numbers though... I was hoping for something... now we have to wait another couple of weeks!
They are more than serial numbers. They're the numbers of the Valenzetti Equation according to The Lost Experience which was an ARG put out by ABC after Season 2. I, too, wonder why they needed to stamp the numbers on several pieces because that wasn't the side of the hatch that Hurley saw in the season 1 finale so they were embossed throughout the Swan Hatch it seems. It wasn't until later, after the Incident, that they were used in the computer. When they started broadcasting them, we don't know yet.