So Bakunin is thrust through the electric fence, and as his brain is exploding he calmly says "Thank You."

That blew my mind. Awesome.

i'm confused by his injuries....he had all that blood on his neck..yet no visible injuries....did it come out of his ears/mouth? i'm confused.

My first thought was that he truly was thankful to have it all end.

I think the better part about Bakunin speaking was when he referred to locke when he was talking about them being weak...he referred to locke and I don't quite remember what he said but the last word he started to say before he was interrupted was "para..." and I think he was going to refer to him being paralyzed, which means that whatever group bakunin was a part of knew these people before the island...or Ben and co. did some dang good research when that plane crashed...that's what blew my mind...

Did anyone notice something really strange? If I'm not mistaken, "Patchy" suffered MASSIVE injuries yet he didn't scream at all! Something's not right...Was Patchy a cyborg or something?

Clearly the Others would rather die than give away any information to the Losties or anyone not an Other. I'm going to take it a bit further and suggest the captured Others would rather die at the hands someone other than their own people.

His death was so gruesum. Sadly, we'll never get the answers from him that we all wished for. But it was a good move by Locke to test it out on him rather than believe him and have one of our own get killed.

The barrier used sound waves and they were at such a pitch that they caused his brain to hemorrhage.

Cardie

I believe what Bakunin was going to say was "paraplegic", referring to Locke's previous disability.

And Locke knew it too. Something tells me they shared a moment while Kate and Sayid were having their little brawl with Klugh.

i'm confused by his injuries....he had all that blood on his neck..yet no visible injuries....did it come out of his ears/mouth? i'm confused.

Locke had it right, Mikhail died from massive internal injuries from a sonic burst.

Clearly the Others would rather die than give away any information to the Losties or anyone not an Other. I'm going to take it a bit further and suggest the captured Others would rather die at the hands someone other than their own people.

So, Bakunin said 'thank you' because he was dying a 'noble' death at the hand of an enemy rather than face the justice system of The Others?

Apparently death is better than what lied ahead for him... Torture? Or is it the honor of not assisting the enemy...

Sonic weaponry (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sonic_weaponry)from wikipedia....

Extremely high-power sound waves can break the eardrums of a target and cause severe pain or disorientation. This is usually sufficient to incapacitate a person. At higher energy levels, a subsonic shock wave is powerful enough to do damage.[citation needed] The possible effects have been the subject of much speculation.

Was Patchy a cyborg or something?

:D That's what I was thinking when he said "Thank you!", because his voice sounded really strange. But then I saw the blood......

So, Bakunin said 'thank you' because he was dying a 'noble' death at the hand of an enemy rather than face the justice system of The Others?

That's a possibility. I wonder though if Patchy truly was an outcast? Initially, I thought he was just one of the Others who had a fairly important job away from the main compound, but now I'm not so sure. It's very possible that he did something along the line that, while didn't warrant death, caused him to be exiled from the main group and limited to a small part of the Island, destined to live out his days alone. Now that he is completely without purpose, he wanted to die to ease his pain.

I think the better part about Bakunin speaking was when he referred to locke when he was talking about them being weak...he referred to locke and I don't quite remember what he said but the last word he started to say before he was interrupted was "para..." and I think he was going to refer to him being paralyzed, which means that whatever group bakunin was a part of knew these people before the island...or Ben and co. did some dang good research when that plane crashed...that's what blew my mind...

are you sure about him starting paralyzed, I yelled at my tv "danielle damnit"
I think bakunin know's locke from before, could locke have already been on the island at an earlier time

When the secret(s) that both he and Klugh did NOT want to reveal are revealed (toward the end of the series' run), I think we're supposed to understand WHY death was a preferable option.

They're gonna have to go a long way to convince ME of it, though.

So, Bakunin said 'thank you' because he was dying a 'noble' death at the hand of an enemy rather than face the justice system of The Others?

Yes, that's basically what I meant. He failed his mission AND brought people that aren't supposed to be there. He really would've gotten it. :biggrin:

I laughed

It was a great scene. There was a shot of him from behind and the blood was kind of spurting out of his right ear for a few seconds. Really cool stuff.

How were Sayid, Locke, Kate, and Rousseau not affected by it though? What kind of barrier could stop the sonic waves from reaching them?
I half expected him to not be dead when Kate turned him over.

Thank you for cooking my BrainPan

Farewell my friends...farewell....ohhhhhhhhhhhh crap this hurts.:)

it kinda looked like his spine was bulging out

I concur with whoever asked why the others in the group didn't die... I don't know if it would be possible to localize sound waves to that small an area.

And would earplugs save your life? Seems kinda stupid to cut down trees if you could just stick leaves in your ears.

PS: I think the reason he said thank you is because of what he said when he was at gunpoint outside The Flame. He had just tried to off himself and when Sayid had the gun on him, he begged him to "Do it! End it!" I think 'End what?' is the relevant question.

This is pretty simple. As someone said earlier, he wanted to die because he had failed his mission, and didn't want to be a liability to his people by being a hostage. He tried to kill himself last episode; he was simply thanking Locke for giving him what he wanted.

This is pretty simple. As someone said earlier, he wanted to die because he had failed his mission, and didn't want to be a liability to his people by being a hostage. He tried to kill himself last episode; he was simply thanking Locke for giving him what he wanted.

Why didn't he just walk across the barrier himself then?

I presume he didn't walk straight across is because he wanted to take as many of them with him as he could. He was telling them it didn't work because he wanted them to walk through it.

In the preview it looked like he just ran into the sonic waves, but in the ep it was Locke who pushed him. I'm sure he said thank you because he wanted to die instead of either being punished by the Others or betraying them further by helping the Losties.

It seems as though all of the others smile at death, but only when it is at the hands of the "enemy" as if dying for their cause is their true purpose, but only if done in a non-suicidal manner.

he said thank you before he started to die, He knew exactly what was going to happen therefore he knew his death was right around the corner.Wasn't his death gross?!!
Ewwww!

I got the feeling he said "thank you " because his role in this whole farce was finally done. If he had ben there 14 years or whatever maybe he was just as much a prisoner as Juliet. Maybe this was his only escape. And if this is a time loop scenario maybe he was relieved to be done with it.

So many questions and too few answers.:mad:

Apparently death is better than what lied ahead for him... Torture? Or is it the honor of not assisting the enemy...

Sonic weaponry (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sonic_weaponry)from wikipedia....

Extremely high-power sound waves can break the eardrums of a target and cause severe pain or disorientation. This is usually sufficient to incapacitate a person. At higher energy levels, a subsonic shock wave is powerful enough to do damage.[citation needed] The possible effects have been the subject of much speculation.


I smile when I read wiki stuff on this message board. Was this entry written prior to the episode, by a sonic wave expert using authentic scientific experiment results to explain the effects? Or was it written last night by someone who watched the episode and got their "information" from what happened on the episode? :reading: :bash:

Yes, that's basically what I meant. He failed his mission AND brought people that aren't supposed to be there. He really would've gotten it. :biggrin:

Completely agree - we know that 'he' is a great man... but not a forgiving man.

When the secret(s) that both he and Klugh did NOT want to reveal are revealed (toward the end of the series' run), I think we're supposed to understand WHY death was a preferable option.

They're gonna have to go a long way to convince ME of it, though.
HA! I had the SAME thought! They better come up with a really good reason as to why someone would prefer to die like that! REALLY GOOD!

I got the feeling he said "thank you " because his role in this whole farce was finally done. If he had ben there 14 years or whatever maybe he was just as much a prisoner as Juliet. Maybe this was his only escape. And if this is a time loop scenario maybe he was relieved to be done with it.

So many questions and too few answers.:mad:

That was my first thought too. The thank you was genuine and heartfelt (in the split second before his brain exploded :) ) . It's finally over.

Wow apparently its better to have your brain explode than fail a mission.

Oh, mikhail. I will miss you. You WERE awesome. :frown:

Oh, and he died because the sonic burst caused his brain to hemorrhage.

I don't think his death wish came from a fear of the Others' justice. I got the sense that life had become a burden for him, and without his work (and his home) at the Flame station, he had no reason to go on living. He may have had some kind of relationship with Miss Klugh as well. After he was forced to shoot her is when he first attempted suicide, and really got nasty. ("I'll kill you all if I get the chance")

How were Sayid, Locke, Kate, and Rousseau not affected by it though? What kind of barrier could stop the sonic waves from reaching them?
I half expected him to not be dead when Kate turned him over.

Also, does is the system able to determine the size of something passing through? I mean, will a rat or bird going through set it off? What about a board or bear? I dont recall seeing anything dead around it. :confused:

I think it wasn't so much sound waves as the wave's vibration that killed him. There was an episode of Mythbusters where they investigated a myth about a certain musical note that if you hear it, makes you crap your pants. It turned out to be a myth, but Jamie got pretty sick from the vibrations. That's why the spit coming out of his mouth was so foamy. Maybe the pylons just sent out a really concentrated form of microwave and cooked his brain.

Wow apparently its better to have your brain explode than fail a mission.

I used to be a computer programmer; I can vouch that your statement is true. ;)

Has Locke killed anyone yet? Maybe Mikhail's last assignment was to cause John to commit murder so that he would be eliminated from THE LIST, if he was ever on it. Seeing as how Ben is bringing Jack into the inner sanctum, and Jack wasn't on THE LIST, perhaps he and Jacob don't always see eye to eye.

What if the Others had some kind of bomb implanted in their heads that was set to go off if they crossed that line? (Escape from New York style!)

But the Losties don't have the implants so they are actually free to walk through?

If it's not something like that, then that fence is some seriously alien technology! Something we haven't really seen yet, if anything the tech we've seen on the island looks kind of old. Leftover from Dharma heydays in the 80s. But the fence seems both futuristic and ancient at the same time. Like it's from another time or intelligence.

Or maybe it's exactly what the characters told us it is, "sonic death fence" or whatever Locke says. hahah.

There are weapons in existance that make very focused beams of sound, like a sound laser. I suppose the death fence isn't unimaginable, but it still seems pretty far-out.

Far out or not (which may well be the case) I still thought that was a great moment. Gruesome, but effective. :)

For all its power, though, it was so easy for Kate and company to just climb over it. It's far from fail-safe, so what's the point?

How were Sayid, Locke, Kate, and Rousseau not affected by it though? What kind of barrier could stop the sonic waves from reaching them?
I half expected him to not be dead when Kate turned him over.

Waves are directional, so the sound waves would have traveled between the columns. Without any real reflection points to bounce off of, anyone outside of the waves would have been fine.