Ayers Rock is supposed to be one of the 'Vile Vortices'. This isn't an in-show thing but a real life conspiracy/fantasy theory which happens to synch up to some aspects of the show. Apparently the Tunisia location where Ben and the polar bear transport to is one of the vortices or something. http://www.lostpedia.com/wiki/Vile_Vortices Err, never mind, there isn't one in Austrailia. But in a podcast one of the writers said something Ayers Rock being important as a joke. Something like that.
Claire lived (and was presumably born) there. She is Christian Shepherd's illegitimate daughter, remember. Hurley went there to speak to a man who had experience with the numbers. Bernard took Rose there to try to cure her cancer. Charlie's brother was living there. Sawyer killed a man there. Jack's father died there. Ana-Lucia traveled there with Christian. Kate was captured by the marshal there. Locke was supposed to go on a walkabout there. Mr. Eko went there to investigate rumors of a resurrection. Sayid performed a mission there for the CIA to get information about Nadia. And lots more, I'm sure, that I can't recall at the moment. EDIT: In fact, read Australia in Lost at Lostpedia for a great chart.
Well, it could be the illness that Rousseau said the rest of her team got. Of course, Ben just said she was a crazy woman, so who knows if that was really true. Well, Ben said he used Desmond's boat (although teleportation seems more likely at this point).
Shannon was there with her boyfriend. Boone went to "rescue" Shannon (and get laid...eeewwww...). Nikki and Paulo...I don't even remember or care.
The Vortices are consistent with Damon Lindelof's statement regarding Tunisia that "there are certain special places on the earth that relate to the show and this spot is one of them" (...although he did also mention the non-Vile Vortex Ayers Rock). (Official Lost Podcast/February 28, 2008)
Well yeah, I know all those, but they're just the reasons why they were in Australia to board the plane in the first place. I don't really consider that any sort of significance to the country itself. It was just the backstories of the characters that somehow needed to bring them to Australia to board the plane. If I fly to France and back, there are gonna be a few hundred people on the plane with me, all travelling for different reasons. It doesn't mean that France is somehow crucially important in the overriding mythology of all our lives.
Another thought: Ben appears in the desert with only a billy club. Why not a gun? Because Orchid Teleportation follows Terminator Time Travel Rules: no machinery can go through. I'd bet you we didn't see him wearing a wristwatch either.
Yep, I did. I was just talking with a friend about it....makes me think that the Orchid station is how Ben gets off the island and that it will play a role in the upcoming Season 4 episodes.
Fair point, but I think the fact that so many of the main characters made mutual acquaintances while there may spell something a bit more interesting for Australia.
HOLY SHIT. Yeah, I give this one an excellent. So much going on here. I loved the fake-out intro---very clever. So Ben DOES have some control over the smoke monster, there ARE underground passages, the island IS in a different timeline than the rest of the world, and Ben CAN teleport off the island. I am DEFINITELY going to have to watch that again.
Wow! This show is amazing. Ben rules. Hurley, Sayid, Sawyer, Bernard! All great scenes. The Smoke Monster! Wow!
Maybe I missed something, but what in this episode gave us the idea that Ben could teleport off the island??
I have to give this an Excellent. Just complete awesomeness all around. Too bad about Faraday lying to the Beach camp, I thought he was cool.
So three redshirts die; is that supposed to represent everyone else on the compound died too or they managed to run off somewhere and we'll never see them again? And after Ben kills psycho merc, he needs to sing, "They-re gonna hang me in the morning, A'fore this night is done; They're gonna hang me in the mornin', And I'll never see the sun." Also, with the JJ Abrams connection, we now know how humans developed the transporter.
The fact that ben wakes up in the middle of a desert in a winter parka with a look of total shock on his face and he doesn't the know the date or even year for sure..............?
Excuse my french, but sweet holey fucking Shittery on a stick that was Fucking brilliant. I didn't think this show could get any better than "The Constant", but here we have it staring us in the face. I have to watch that again, maybe several times. The teleporting... as soon as I saw that I high fived myself, that was a beautiful reveal, even if it wasn't technically a "reveal". But it's basically a foregone conclusion now, but we still need the mechanics and limitations which it obviously has. And the whole Ben with Desmond's boat was obviously a smoke screen simply because telling Sayid the truth would have been a ridiculous idea, even if Ben wanted to. The invasion of the barracks... Claire survived that explosion for a reason. The island knew it wasn't her time. I'm convinced now that even though Aaron gets off the island, Claire will survive. Smokey... Smokey, Smokey. Even though I had read he was returning, it literally shocked me and I found myself cheering for him. Have you noticed every time we see smokey we see more and more of him? Can't wait for more! Poor Sayid, for Nadia... and poor Alex. That was sad. I really want to know what these "rules" are. And then that scene of pure brilliance with Widmore. Finally I don't see Jim Robinson any more. He's Charles Widmore now. That was fucking beautiful. And Ben... you can't kill Penny. We all love her to much, even though we've hardly seen her, really. So, where is Penny that Ben can't find her? And why can't Widmore find the island now? I can't wait for these answers.
It's not a mystery illness, they told you what it was in the promo for next week's show. I'd already figured out what it was but only because it's the standard cliche medical emergency for TV shows. Ah, somebody else picked up on that. I was wondering why the coat myself. Just where did Ben come from? Or is the sahara desert cool in October? I honestly don't know.