Probably won't last long (drivingwise), unless they find an excess of gas somewhere.


Also, at the speed they were racing down the hill, highly doubt they could just veer off at the last second and not go smashing into those rocks.

Awww, common!
Hurley and Charlie were having a moment!
They're allowed to have unrealistic driving moments

granted

possibly just another island miracle!

Awww, common!
Hurley and Charlie were having a moment!
They're allowed to have unrealistic driving moments


Absolutely! We must suspend belief to have fun.

they couldn't have made the van fly then?

so is the van now a tool or was it just used for this one time hurley fun episode?

sadly my non-believing in Lost husband came into the room just as they were going down the hill - he had so many negative things to say over how this was impossible it almost and I stress almost ruined the moment for me- but it was just too good to let go - so I yelled get out of the room - you have to BELIEVE!

Well, maybe if the Others' boats run on the same type of fuel that the van does :D

hahaha!

I can see them trying to drive the van to find..Jack? Even though he isn't on their Island. Othersville then, and then it running out of gas OR getting stuck somewhere...in which case they might use the map to find better roads and discover..other vans?

pretty sure Jack is on their island now or very soon

in which case they might use the map to find better roads and discover..other vans?

they could just stop and ask for directions:biggrin:

Yeah sorry, I got confused.
100%
they could just stop and ask for directions

Four guys?
Asking for directions?
Not likely :biggrin:

Is Sun growing any sort of renewable VW-powering fuel in her garden?

You'd think the Dharma people would have at least been able to get ahold of some old army Jeeps or something. That Van could not have been to helpful in the jungle, unless they used to have a more advanced road system?

I just loved how it had a Dahrma logo on the front instead of the VW logo.

Maybe the Van runs on Dharma Beer and Sawyer is drinking the fuel! Ha ha! I loved seeing Hurley doing spin outs in the field and making tracks.

Somebody had mentioned maybe the Van flies off. Reminded me of the end of Grease when the car flies off from the carnival. I have asked my wife over and over again why the heck the car flies off and I still have yet to get an answer.

It was good to see Charlie snap out and give fate and hope a chance.

they could just stop and ask for directions:biggrin:


Real Men NEVER stop and ask for directions. :rolleyes:

There was lot of papers in the van besides the map -- even when Saywer is grabbing the case there is a pink paper attached to it - I'd be interested in what they say even though the van and Roger were forgotten by Dharma --

Could it be possible the Roger and the van were "placed" there by Dharma? Similar to the subterfuge they had going with the dirty clothes and the fake beard. It just seems to me that one can't just look at the surface of anything in this show.

Where was Roger coming from and where was he going?

Obviously the lack of useable roads on the island should be a concern.

What was the source of the music? 8 Track, Cassette, or radio? If it was one of the first two there should be more tapes in the van. If it was a radio hmmm...

I think it would be really funny if they make that old van into a tank, like the A-Team used to do, and then use it to break out Jack!!! I can just imagine Tom running up to Ben, " BEN, they have an armored DHARMA van and they are attacking New Otherton!!!"

Where was Roger coming from and where was he going?

Obviously the lack of useable roads on the island should be a concern.

What was the source of the music? 8 Track, Cassette, or radio? If it was one of the first two there should be more tapes in the van. If it was a radio hmmm...



The better question is HOW DID HE DIE? He could have been shot for all we know.
Though I don't know why anyone would be murdered making a beer run? Anyway... I think it was an 8 track:)

I know we have to BELIEVE... but...

For that long the Gas would be Varnish.
Why didn't he steer the van earlier?
What was on the MAP in the van? Is Sawyer that stupid to only go for the beer?

Where was Roger coming from and where was he going?

Obviously the lack of useable roads on the island should be a concern.

What was the source of the music? 8 Track, Cassette, or radio? If it was one of the first two there should be more tapes in the van. If it was a radio hmmm...

Well, the whole van sequence requires a lot of suspension of disbelief but it was a whole lotta fun. I would love to check the back window for a Grateful Dead decal :biggrin: . It would've been great if "what a long strange trip it's been" had started blasting from the 8-track. Hee.
But of course the radio wouldn't really have worked using a battery that had been sitting for 10+ years. Even if you get the engine & alternator going by popping the clutch, the dead battery the power isn't at full strength. But that's OK.

Is Sawyer that stupid to only go for the beer?

I think that falls in the realm of things they should have asked/done.
Like yelled 'THEY HAVE JACK; THEY HAVE LABS; BEN'S THEIR LEADER; THEY HAVE SUBS AND THERE ARE TWO ISLANDS" to start.

I hope Patchy's camp has a gas station...

Is Sawyer that stupid to only go for the beer?

I think that falls in the realm of things they should have asked/done.
Like yelled 'THEY HAVE JACK; THEY HAVE LABS; BEN'S THEIR LEADER; THEY HAVE SUBS AND THERE ARE TWO ISLANDS" to start.


Good point. I kept thinking last night "Jump the Shark"...

Interesting note about VW and numbers:

"Volkswagen's VW logo contains the roman numeral V (2 + 3 = 5) and the 23rd letter W. Volkswagen is based in Wolfsburg which starts with the 23rd letter."
from
http://www.unexplained-mysteries.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=67211

After seeing that van push-start scene, I say bring on the aliens, spaceships, riffs in the space-time continuim, and all other implausible plotlines. Then again, it just might be the restorative powers of the island that kept the van in running condition. Yeah, that's it. That's the ticket. Fun scene, but even I can't suspend my belief that far.

I wondered about the VW bus also at first sight and then I thought about the "Black Rock" out there in the middle of nowhere as well. Then... the map was found...with roads on it. Were these already established roads? Or yet to be built roads? It didnt seem to me that the bus was found on a road of any sort to begin with so how did it get where it was tipped over? How did Roger die? The windows seemed in tact, the windshield at least, so you couldn't tell for sure if it was just a rollover accident. Then my mind shifted to the black smoke, and the ease at which it threw Eko around. Is it plausible that the Dharma 'janitor', as Sawyer called him, became lost, drove into the wrong area an got tossed around a bit by Smokey? The 'Security System"?

I know we have to BELIEVE... but...

For that long the Gas would be Varnish.
Why didn't he steer the van earlier?
What was on the MAP in the van? Is Sawyer that stupid to only go for the beer?

After seeing that van push-start scene, I say bring on the aliens, spaceships, riffs in the space-time continuim, and all other implausible plotlines. Then again, it just might be the restorative powers of the island that kept the van in running condition. Yeah, that's it. That's the ticket. Fun scene, but even I can't suspend my belief that far.

I was thinking the same thing. JUMP THE SHARK moment. I had to chalk it up to "the island and it's powers" because there is no way that van would have started.

The gas would indeed be varnish.
There is no way the battery would still hold a charge.
The belts on the engine would be brittle and come flying off.

It was a fun scene, but it was really a strech.

Well, even with the Three Dog Night 8 track you still can't really date how long the bus had been there in that position, Roger may have just been a big TDN fan, that or it is just the small selection of music availiable on the island. As for Rogers decomposition, if you look at the scene where Sawyer is sitting next to him, he is still pretty...together? If anyone has a screen cap of Eko's brother to compare Roger to, that would be helpful to figure out a timeline for the bus.

Could the magnetism of the have anything to do with the decomposition of the dead?
Or could they have harnessed it as a fuel?

Well, that's another thing. The corpses on the island look kind of mummy-ish. But the island is tropical. They wouldn't dry and get leathery. They'd rot.

Anyway, I'm with Care_n's husband: give me realism.

Otherwise, just let the van fly, and be done with it.

In the heat and humidity of a tropical island, it would have taken no time at all till the gas would have evaporated and all the rubber (belts, tires, etc.) would have rotted. Quite the insult to the viewers' intelligence. Trying to get rid of the last of us, eh, writers? Well, you are sure succeeding.

I think it would be really funny if they make that old van into a tank, like the A-Team used to do, and then use it to break out Jack!!! I can just imagine Tom running up to Ben, " BEN, they have an armored DHARMA van and they are attacking New Otherton!!!"


lol, I clicked on this thread specifically to make an A-Team reference! :D :D :D Sayid will fashion some kind of battering ram device and attach it to the front of the van, and they'll drive to Othersville and wreck their little houses.

That's right MellonCollie! And Alex will teach them all the art of the slingshot, so they can all jump out and start pelting Others with rocks.

Then, in a blaze of glory, they will torch the Others village and take the submarine for a joy ride. And then they can make a dunking booth and put Ben in it and all take shots at him. And then.........

We could all keep going with this!

I didn't mean to start a naysayer's thread...I was just posing some questions.

I definately don't think that the van is a Jump the Shark moment. It's not probably as signifigant as we might think.

More like jump-start the shark.

:biggrin: Haha... I find some of the comments on this to be incredibly humorous.

This is an island alive with polar bears, smoke monsters, plane crash survivors that should not be alive, buttons that control forces of nature, whispers that come from seemingly nowhere, ghosts from characters pasts, food drops from the sky, healing powers that cure disease and debilitations, visions of the future and time travel to the past.

But now some just can't "handle" the improbability of a VW van running again when its been sitting for an undetermined length of time? It ruined the show (Jumped the Shark) for you?

Try to realize what you have already accepted in this awesome show and take a breather. On this show NOTHING is too out there in my opinion, in fact the crazier the better, we have too much reality pushing down on us in this world. We deserve the imaginative break.
...all is LOST.

What is "Jump the shark" supposed to mean?:huh:

For that long the Gas would be Varnish.
But of course the radio wouldn't really have worked using a battery that had been sitting for 10+ years. Even if you get the engine & alternator going by popping the clutch, the dead battery the power isn't at full strength. But that's OK.
The belts on the engine would be brittle and come flying off.
all till the gas would have evaporated and all the rubber (belts, tires, etc.) would have rotted.

LOL gas varnish or evaporated - true
Belts brittle & would break I also think so
Tires flat - Yes
Battery dead - Yes
Let's not forget that the oil probably leaked out or turned to sludge leaving the engine parts to stick together.

With a totally dead battery an alternator would not produce power no matter how fast you pushed the car. However the alternator is not a problem as a Dharma issue VW this old probably had a generator. With a generator you can push start a car even if the battery is dead. (I know because I used to push start a VW with a dead battery, in a flat parking lot, with me being the only one to push)

But for once, the heck with rational thought and go for the fun moment with suspension of disbelief.
At least the beer was in pop top cans. I can remember still getting some beer in steel cans without a pop top clear up into the late 60's :eek2:

What is "Jump the shark" supposed to mean?:huh:


Back in the show "Happy Days" there was an episode where everyone was at the beach and the Fonz jumped over a shark on waterskis. At that moment the show defied logical thought and broke the type of realistic universe "Happy Days" had previously existed in. People started calling other moments in TV shows that denoted a drop in quality as "jumping the shark."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jumping_the_shark

Were the headlights covered?

:biggrin: Haha... I find some of the comments on this to be incredibly humorous.

This is an island alive with polar bears, smoke monsters, plane crash survivors that should not be alive, buttons that control forces of nature, whispers that come from seemingly nowhere, ghosts from characters pasts, food drops from the sky, healing powers that cure disease and debilitations, visions of the future and time travel to the past.

But now some just can't "handle" the improbability of a VW van running again when its been sitting for an undetermined length of time? It ruined the show (Jumped the Shark) for you?

Try to realize what you have already accepted in this awesome show and take a breather. On this show NOTHING is too out there in my opinion, in fact the crazier the better, we have too much reality pushing down on us in this world. We deserve the imaginative break.
...all is LOST.

Thank You!!! I soooo agree! That with everything completely unbelievable that has happened, and has yet to happen on this island, people just cant accept the fact that the van could possibly run. No one knows how long the van has been sitting there. For all we know, it could have happened the year before the plane crashed. Roger doesn't look that bad to me. After 30+ years he would have been reduced to nothing in that climate I would imagine.

they couldn't have made the van fly then?

No. Because then we would be watching Harry Potter and not LOST

so is the van now a tool or was it just used for this one time hurley fun episode?
The van will be the new escape boat.

They'll still get some mileage out of the van. We'll eventually get answers, perhaps next season.

Roger and the beer are interesting, but just they way Sawyer talked about the "recycling" thing leads me to believe that the real issue will be the paper in the van. Someone, most likely Sayid, the inquisitive one, will start through that stuff and even more questions will arise.

Roger could have been a run-away Other and loved beer. I wonder if we'll be able to buy some Dharma beer? To me the crumpled up paper made it seem that Rog was in a hurry. I guess I really don't understand why I thought that. Anyone else get that feeling or was Rog just messy and didn't keep a clean van.

I am thinking Roger was on the run - is it possible he had discovered something BIG and had to get away before getting killed ?

I also believe that we have to believe in the van running just like the polar bear and the fact that Charlie was brought back to life -

I really hope this isn't jumping the shark - but I have also heard that mentioned when they killed off Boone!

I was very disappointed the van didn't have DHARMA hub caps as well!

In the heat and humidity of a tropical island, it would have taken no time at all till the gas would have evaporated and all the rubber (belts, tires, etc.) would have rotted. Quite the insult to the viewers' intelligence. Trying to get rid of the last of us, eh, writers? Well, you are sure succeeding.

Javiadmirer,

Seeing as how you've only posted one time since you've joined the Lage, I would say that your comment about getting rid of the last of us seems a bit of an insult in and of itself. I suppose that there are certain things that will trip people up here and there in Lost, some people get annoyed because a van starts after rotting in the jungle for ten years, others get annoyed when Desmond goes back in time, and still others are annoyed when Sawyer lets Karl go without pumping him with meaningful questions about the Others. Everyone has something that acts as a trigger point. But overall the show keeps us coming back because it is such a great story, regardless of these annoyances. The scene with the Boys driving the van was well worth the petty annoyance of trying to figure out how it would start after so many years. Ultimately, it will be the picture of them riding around in that van that sticks in peoples' minds, not the fact that it was implausible. Far from "getting rid of the last of us", that scene actually did a lot to restore a lot of the fans' love for the show, as well as provide a pivotal point to the plotline, as we shall undoubtedly see...

So, go ahead and leave if you feel like it went too far for your personal tastes. Just don't assume to speak for "the rest of us". :ohwell:

I agree, the possibility of getting that van started even by popping the clutch was slim to none but I think the whole point of the episode is that you gotta have hope. If you do, eventually it will pay off.

I give this VW starting after all these years a pass. This was mostly a tongue-in-cheek filler episode. The creators were probably giving homage to Woody Allen's "Sleeper" and his finding and starting an old Bug gag, while on the run with Diane Keaton after he had been thawed out in the future. nyuk

I thought it was a beautiful touching episode, loved the interaction between the characters and I've never laughed so much during a Lost episode. I've rewatched the jumpstart the van episode several times as some friends of mine were ripping on it saying the editing as they were approaching the rock was botched, too much time passed, there's no way they could have turned at that speed etc. But I noticed things go into slow motion and something mysterious definately happened. Hell Hurley had his eyes closed the whole time, even after they threaded through the rocks. I think the producers were very deliberate in how they edited that scene to convey something happened.

For me the question of the plausibility of the van starting is insignificant next to the question of "Did Hurley make his own luck?" or "Was it Hurley's cursed luck protecting him (and Charlie just by being there)" to start the van.

I haven't lost my faith in the show yet by any stretch, I was totally amazed by this episode. Now I'm ready for more heavy stuff!

For me the question of the plausibility of the van starting is insignificant next to the question of "Did Hurley make his own luck?" or "Was it Hurley's cursed luck protecting him (and Charlie just by being there)" to start the van.


Excellent point! Of course, maybe all the good luck was due to the fact that Vincent brought him a lucky rabbit's foot keychain. ;)

I like the reference to the rabbits foot being lucky for Hurley. How many times in the episode did Cheech say something about making your own luck. This was big.

Oh, but the rabbits foot wasn't so lucky for old Rog.

Javiadmirer,

............... others get annoyed when Desmond goes back in time, .............. The scene with the Boys driving the van was well worth the petty annoyance of trying to figure out how it would start after so many years. ..............I believe you mis-spoke for some of us -- Desmond dreamed about past events :biggrin: :grin: ;)

But you are right on about the van scene being worth the rather strong implausibility of the van starting. I loved the scene but disliked their using a suspension of disbelief on a familar object like a van.

Seeing as how you've only posted one time since you've joined the Lage, I would say that your comment about getting rid of the last of us seems a bit of an insult in and of itself.

So, go ahead and leave if you feel like it went too far for your personal tastes. Just don't assume to speak for "the rest of us". :ohwell:

I just had to reply to this. Just because someone doesn't have a lot of posts, doesn't mean they don't have a deep interest in the show. I took the comment to mean that Lost has been losing viewers, and even some die hard fans have had trouble swallowing some of the latest developments. I have lost count of how many posters have stated that they are giving up on Lost because of this season. I truly doubt the person meant any disrespect towards "the rest of us". I personally feel that this episode was, by far, the best episode yet since the show came back from it's break. The van being able to start was not really an issue for me, but I can see how it might cause further loss of viewers.

I just had to reply to this. Just because someone doesn't have a lot of posts, doesn't mean they don't have a deep interest in the show. I took the comment to mean that Lost has been losing viewers, and even some die hard fans have had trouble swallowing some of the latest developments. I have lost count of how many posters have stated that they are giving up on Lost because of this season. I truly doubt the person meant any disrespect towards "the rest of us". I personally feel that this episode was, by far, the best episode yet since the show came back from it's break. The van being able to start was not really an issue for me, but I can see how it might cause further loss of viewers.

Yeah, but right from the very first season we have been shown things that were not completely explainable, or that some people had "trouble swallowing". This is not a phenomena that has suddenly popped out of nowhere in the third season - it's been hand in glove with the show from the very start! How can you explain Locke's miraculous cure of being able to walk right after he got to the island? How can you explain Walt's apparent psychic abilities? How can you explain why the jet engine sucked Gary Troupe up into the turbine - when it should have already been no longer functioning? How can you explain the fact that Hurley's use of the Numbers ended up winning the lottery?

The fact is that all this talk about the show going down the drain because there is unexplainable things going on in it recently is pure baloney. It's been going on from day one. And people who say they are leaving because of this are just a bunch of whiners, and they are welcome to leave, as far as I'm concerned, because guess what? This show has become a success in spite of the fact that sometimes there are inconsistencies.

To the people that want Lost to remain deeply entrenched in realism: would you have preferred it if Hurley and Charlie, the Abbot and Costello of Lost, had rocketed down the side of the hill and slammed into the jagged rocks, meeting a violent and gory death?

The message of this episode was the power of hope. As unrealistic as the premise is, I think you're getting caught up in that which is irrelevant. Of course it is highly unlikely the van would be in operable condition; that's what makes it so wonderful when, at the last moment, the van comes alive, seemingly reborn through the power of hope.

It doesn't make technical sense, but it's an uplifting, enjoyable episode. And I'll let you in on something else; if all of the mysteries of Lost island can be explained through logic and reasoning, this is going to be a very boring show, and thousands of people are going to be very disappointed. Mark my words.

I agree, the phrase "not seeing the forest for all the trees" comes to mind here. But I guess we all have differences in how much we are able to suspend our disbelief.

As an evil afterthought, too bad Boone wasn't able to make his own luck, that beechcraft would have flown right out of there, dammit!!!

Javiadmirer,

Seeing as how you've only posted one time since you've joined the Lage, I would say that your comment about getting rid of the last of us seems a bit of an insult in and of itself. I suppose that there are certain things that will trip people up here and there in Lost, some people get annoyed because a van starts after rotting in the jungle for ten years, others get annoyed when Desmond goes back in time, and still others are annoyed when Sawyer lets Karl go without pumping him with meaningful questions about the Others. Everyone has something that acts as a trigger point. But overall the show keeps us coming back because it is such a great story, regardless of these annoyances. The scene with the Boys driving the van was well worth the petty annoyance of trying to figure out how it would start after so many years. Ultimately, it will be the picture of them riding around in that van that sticks in peoples' minds, not the fact that it was implausible. Far from "getting rid of the last of us", that scene actually did a lot to restore a lot of the fans' love for the show, as well as provide a pivotal point to the plotline, as we shall undoubtedly see...

So, go ahead and leave if you feel like it went too far for your personal tastes. Just don't assume to speak for "the rest of us". :ohwell:

Well said, I'm tired of all the negativity, if you don't like it, leave,

by the way one of my favourite episode ever, it was plesant, good ol' fun time hurley

Just a random comment on this: I'm still mystified by the System Failures and failsafe. Pull a plane out of the sky, but the Beechcraft and Dharmamobile remain in decent condition?

A question because I don't know: Would the Shambhala 8-track in the van have been affected by the EM, especially if it followed the road to where it lead at the Swan? I know its partially to help give some time frame for the van, but could the 8-track have been chosen in the same way the Swan used the filmstrip rather than a videotape?

Just a random comment on this: I'm still mystified by the System Failures and failsafe. Pull a plane out of the sky, but the Beechcraft and Dharmamobile remain in decent condition?

A question because I don't know: Would the Shambhala 8-track in the van have been affected by the EM, especially if it followed the road to where it lead at the Swan? I know its partially to help give some time frame for the van, but could the 8-track have been chosen in the same way the Swan used the filmstrip rather than a videotape?

Heh, I hadn't thought about that yet! Yeah, no kidding, any magnetically stored information anywhere on that island should have been scrambled and at least partly erased by the two major magnetic discharges that occurred within the past 75 days since the incident occurred with Desmond's failure to punch the code into the computer on time yanked Flight 815 out of the sky. So anything stored on a cassette tape, 8-track, or computer floppy or hard disk would almost assuredly have been erased as a result of enough magnetic flux in the area to turn the sky purple and yank a jumbo jet out of the sky...

Oh well, just another one of those mysteries. Heh. :)

They'll still get some mileage out of the van. We'll eventually get answers, perhaps next season.

Roger and the beer are interesting, but just they way Sawyer talked about the "recycling" thing leads me to believe that the real issue will be the paper in the van. Someone, most likely Sayid, the inquisitive one, will start through that stuff and even more questions will arise.

Roger could have been a run-away Other and loved beer. I wonder if we'll be able to buy some Dharma beer? To me the crumpled up paper made it seem that Rog was in a hurry. I guess I really don't understand why I thought that. Anyone else get that feeling or was Rog just messy and didn't keep a clean van.

They'll still get some mileage out of the van. We'll eventually get answers, perhaps next season.

Roger and the beer are interesting, but just they way Sawyer talked about the "recycling" thing leads me to believe that the real issue will be the paper in the van. Someone, most likely Sayid, the inquisitive one, will start through that stuff and even more questions will arise.

Roger could have been a run-away Other and loved beer. I wonder if we'll be able to buy some Dharma beer? To me the crumpled up paper made it seem that Rog was in a hurry. I guess I really don't understand why I thought that. Anyone else get that feeling or was Rog just messy and didn't keep a clean van.

Well, I think you're onto something there, Cal. Hey, I love calling you Cal, BTW! LOL! (and yes, I know who Caliban in Shakespeare was - that's what makes it so funny!)

ANyway, the reason I think you're onto something is due to the message we got from Gregg Nations about the letter in the van, and how we weren't really supposed to see anything written on it. What he said was that it was there to make the van look Iin his words): "cluttered". So, perhaps Gregg let a little slip out about something on accident there - why would TPTB want the van to look cluttered? What message does that convey?

could there be a road/bridge?