Ok, I realize she had turned the gas on and let it build up in the house so she could blow it up. But there had to be a spark to ignite it.

She was sitting on the front stoop flicking the lighter (which, based on the size of that explosion, meant that there was already a tremendous buildup of gas) so her sparking that lighter should have set it off right then. Pretty unrealistic but that may have just been one of those TV things - flicking the bic around a huge gas leak without setting it off - a scene used for dramatic effect....whatever.

Anyway, she gets on the bike, rides off and the house explodes behind her. What spark set it off? It had to be inside the house so what was it?

I thought maybe the spark from kickstarting the motorcycle did it. But she was on it for awhile and then rode off with nothing happening so that wasn't it. I thought perhaps she left the lighter next to the bed because she knew he would smoke a cigarette before he went to sleep. But that would be expecting a lot of a man so drunk he was nearly unconscious. And she wasn't planning on just killing him with gas because she gave her mom an insurance policy for the house (meaning she knew it would be destroyed).

So she planned to blow the house to Kingdom Come - this much we know - but where did the spark come from to set it off??? :cnfused1:

This is bugging me......

I don't think the lighter would have necessarily set of the explosion. It depends on when the leak started, how much gas had permeated, etc. We have to imagine Kate had a pretty well thought out plan. I figured she had set something up to trigger the explosion. What that trigger was seemes unimportant to me...

Perhaps he lit a ciggarette? The marshal said it was amatuer hour so perhaps it wansn't something spectacular...

I don't think that how the spark was done is very important. She obviously let the place build up with gas. Even a turned on light would cause the explosion. He was so drunk he never saw it coming.

Maybe Kate was playing Russin Roulette, and letting fate decide. If the lighter ignited the explosion while she was sitting there, she dies, and if not then she kills Wayne?

No ideas on the how though. I like the idea of it being a cigarette, so it could parallel they way that Sawyer let off the flare, but it seems unlikely.

I agree WIF, I think it was a Russian Roulette sort of moment/game, and I think that she then left to let him technically blow himself up.

Maybe Kate was playing Russin Roulette, and letting fate decide. If the lighter ignited the explosion while she was sitting there, she dies, and if not then she kills Wayne?

No ideas on the how though. I like the idea of it being a cigarette, so it could parallel they way that Sawyer let off the flare, but it seems unlikely.

Sawyer didn't light a ciggy to set off that flare. Locke hit Sayid. He said as much in a late-season episode.

Not that I'm an arsonist, but I can't imagine that lighting a cigarette lighter would provide anything but an instant explosion in a house filled with gas.

She had planned a getaway, no doubt. She wouldn't have kept the insurance policy with her if she'd thought there was a chance of her being killed. The policy would have disappeared with her and her mother would not have found out about it for a long time, if ever.

Hoping her dad would light a cigarette leaves too much too chance. An electrical short, a candle in a closed-off closet that she opened when she left...Whatever the case may be, Kate rigged something, IMHO. She's intelligent that way. :flmethro:

usually with a gas leak, at least to my understanding, well from watching lots of movies that is, a refrigerator or someother appliance causes the ignition. Something as easy as a candle in a remote room would do the trick too. By the time the gas built up to reach the candle the house could be completely filled to the breaking point.

I'm sure she rigged something. But if I remember my high school chemisty right if there is gas in a certain ratio with air it will explode with very little provocation. If there was a gas stove in the house all she had to do was wait.

I'm sure she rigged something. But if I remember my high school chemisty right if there is gas in a certain ratio with air it will explode with very little provocation. If there was a gas stove in the house all she had to do was wait.

Yes that's true. And I think there WAS a high buildup of gas simply because he complained of the smell. A lot of people can't smell a small gas leak. And he was very drunk, which dulls your sense of smell. So the gas in there had to be thick for him to act like it STUNK!

Which leaves me to thinking, why the heck did she stay in there with him that long??? That was an awfully volatile place to be when she could have just watched him go inside and then left. It made me think she needed to go in to rig some type of spark to ignite the gas. Why else would she go in? :ohwell:

usually with a gas leak, at least to my understanding, well from watching lots of movies that is, a refrigerator or someother appliance causes the ignition. Something as easy as a candle in a remote room would do the trick too. By the time the gas built up to reach the candle the house could be completely filled to the breaking point.

Correct. This is how Tyler Durden blew up the narrators apartment in Fight Club. He let the gas run for a few days while he was out of town and when the compressor for the refrigerator kicked on - KABOOM.

Also, anything with a pilot light will ignite gas, like a furnace or hot water heater. You dont *need* to rig something up if you plan it out.

That being said, I dont think its that importan of a plot point or anything. I think we are just to assume that she figured it out and it happened.

Correct. This is how Tyler Durden blew up the narrators apartment in Fight Club. He let the gas run for a few days while he was out of town and when the compressor for the refrigerator kicked on - KABOOM.

Also, anything with a pilot light will ignite gas, like a furnace or hot water heater. You dont *need* to rig something up if you plan it out.

That being said, I dont think its that importan of a plot point or anything. I think we are just to assume that she figured it out and it happened.

welll i was just about to post that answer, but had to read all the way to the end to make sure no one else had already.... as i was thinking hot water heater, or furnace, or compressor in the fridge too...

She could have just left as he went in the house and yet she didn't,
Maybe that ws cos she wanted to makes sure he didn't go investigate what the smell was and find the gas stove turned on and turn it off again....
Instead she made sure he went to bed and the gas was still running when she left, to cover the possibilitie of him finding the gas on... then just left it to a hotwater furnace or refridgerater compressor to kick the whole bombfire burning... or could have been simply a cigarettte that set it off... ....

she also could have stayed after the house blewup and gone ahead and called for help, and played along with the charade of a gas leak.... would have helped divert any suspicion... running just made it suspiciuos... she could have later given her mother the insurance policy saying, i had taken out this for you as a way to show she cared about her mum and not said anything...
guess she wasn't that smart

Diamondone:hypocrit:

There probably wasn't a LOT of gas buildup in the house. You can clearly see, when she opens the door to help Wayne into the house, that there are a bunch of windows open. The drapes are blowing around when the door is opened. Wayne smells the gas as they are moving through the kitchen, where she already has the oven door open. I think she probably just lit the lighter and set it down, closed the windows, and left. Zippos don't go out until you close them or they run out of fuel.

I think I've seen movies where something as simple as a light coming on causes stuff to blow up.

Explosions rule.

I think I've seen movies where something as simple as a light coming on causes stuff to blow up.

Explosions rule.

Explosions *do* rule. Every tv show and movie should have at least one.

And the Mars Volta need to make another album dammit. I have played Deloused and Frances to death. I've downloaded every live show and B-side from www.thecomatorium.com (http://www.thecomatorium.com) and I *still* want more stuff.

I wonder when they hit the studio again.

Ok, that was mildly off topic.

There probably wasn't a LOT of gas buildup in the house. You can clearly see, when she opens the door to help Wayne into the house, that there are a bunch of windows open. The drapes are blowing around when the door is opened. Wayne smells the gas as they are moving through the kitchen, where she already has the oven door open. I think she probably just lit the lighter and set it down, closed the windows, and left. Zippos don't go out until you close them or they run out of fuel.
good answer. I was wondering why a Zippo not a bic

About the Mars Volta, I found and downloaded something called "Scabdates" but I think it's either b-sides or live performances. Lots of it was the doodling/effects stuff that they do between the "meatier" parts of their songs.

I haven't listened to Deloused or Francis in a month or so, I think I supersaturated myself with their music! Got any suggestions for other similar (or equally good) bands I should check out? In a week or so my internet connection won't be so limited so I can get back into checkin out some new music.

Gonna need something to help pass the hiatus!