I've come up with a theory on the smoke that Jack, Locke, and Kate see in the season one finale (SPOILERS for everything up to episode 209).
I think that the smoke is some sort of hallucinagenic drug that is spread by whatever the monster is. The drug reacts to the fear inside you and makes you hear noises and imagine images - perhaps the whole monster is not even real (although there must be something spreading the smoke, which also ripped the piolet from the plane).
Here is evidence to back me up:
1. Locke sees the "monster", but stays calm. He later describes it as "beautiful", and in fact the creators told Terry O'Quinn to imagine the most beautiful thing he has ever seen when filming that scene. This is what leads me to believe the drug is based off of fear. Locke tells everyone to remain calm, and even tells Jack to let him go when he is being dragged into the hole. When Locke is calm, the drug does nothing, but when they panic, they hear the "monster".
2. Rousseau speaks of a "sickness" that caused her team to go insane, resulting in her shooting them all. Perhaps over time, the smoke causes permenant damage. We are already seeing the effects of this on our survivors - Jack seeing his father, Kate and Sawyer seeing a horse, and Shannon and Sayid seeing Walt (although that may be for other reasons). It appears the survivors are already falling victim to the drug.
3. In the season premiere of season two, we see Desmond injecting himself with a drug. Could this be some sort of agent to protect Desmond from the effects of the smoke? Dharma certainly wouldn't want him having visions when he is supposed to be pressing the button.
4. We know that there are "security systems" on the island. Is it too far of a stretch to believe that this drug is the greatest of those systems? Imagine a defense system that makes people go insane and think that they see a monster! That certainly sounds like the ultimate protection for whatever it is lies at the center of this island...
So, tell me what you think. Is this theory any good? Is it a load of garbage? I think it sounds pretty good. Let me know what you guys think!
If anyone calls this garbage..they are not very intelligent. It is obvious you put a lot of time and effort into this and did not just slap a thread together for the fun of it. If you get disagreements they are just that and not people saying you are wrong..good job putting this together. Very plausible..
It almost appears the "Monster" has the same type of effects as the sphere did in..."Sphere"...when you come into contact with it..the mind conjoures up just about anything.
It always seems to be raining when the monster pops out of the bushes..maybe the rain releases the chemicals that causes the visions??
Nothing is foolproof to a sufficiently talented fool.
That's a good point... It does rain very often on the island (like when the monster first appeared), and they have even mentioned how the weather is odd on the island.
I'm pretty sure it was Charlie who commented on the rain.
Hmm, the plot thickens!
Interesting, but I think there might be holes in it.
1) They first saw the "monster" when they were on the beach, before anyone really even went into the jungle. The smoke was not seen until Exodus.
2) The smoke came out of the hole that it tried to drag Locke into, and took off, as if it were alive/animated. It also was seen flying through the jungle in a wave-like pattern. Could have been a hallucination I guess.
3) The majority of the Losties don't seem to be having hallucinations.
I think that the smoke is some sort of hallucinagenic drug that is spread by whatever the monster is. The drug reacts to the fear inside you and makes you hear noises and imagine images - perhaps the whole monster is not even real (although there must be something spreading the smoke, which also ripped the piolet from the plane).
Here is evidence to back me up:
1. Locke sees the "monster", but stays calm. He later describes it as "beautiful", and in fact the creators told Terry O'Quinn to imagine the most beautiful thing he has ever seen when filming that scene. This is what leads me to believe the drug is based off of fear. Locke tells everyone to remain calm, and even tells Jack to let him go when he is being dragged into the hole. When Locke is calm, the drug does nothing, but when they panic, they hear the "monster".
Wow now that's a really cool twist of a theory.... i like that
totally believable, especially the calm verses the panic and the resultant effects
You could be on to something. It is interesting to me that Jack, since he appearantly investigated the medicine cabinet, didnt see the vaccine, or at least comment on it. That could be what it is for.
This theory might explain the others as well. Perhaps they were all on the island doing various experiments, an incident happened causing them to be in the jungle for too long. Now they have all gone mad from the effects.
Ya, I think that maybe the others are just so far gone on the drug that they have just lost it. It may also explain why they are so strong and fast.
Another possibility concerning the drug is that the drug is not a security system. Maybe the "incident" that was mentioned in the video was the outbreak of the drug? Now Dharma does not want any contact with the outside, because contact with the Others could spread the drug again.
An interesting tidbit: I was just rewatching some old episodes and noticed that Rousseau said that her team was returning from the Black Rock when they ran into "them". "They were the carrier" she says (refering to the sickness her entire team had). Is she talking about the Others, or is she talking about "them" as in the monster(s)? One thing is for sure, they need to get back into the Dark Territory and look around!
MR.FUSELAGE 2007
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