Mikhail thought Bonnie and Greta were on assignment in Canada? Were they staking out Hurley's shoe factory? :)

Seriously, what would they be doing in Canada?

Mmmm recruiting fertility doctors...oh no they did that...mmm looking for a spinal surgeon, oh no they have one of those...uh....trying to find pregnant women - no they have those on the island...ok I'm out....

Duping more people into coming to the island?
Ben clearly made that excuse up, so it could've been anything, but it is certainly irrelevant.

Maybe they were building the landing strip for Canadians. ;)

That's just the cover story Ben fed the others to hide the fact that the Looking Glass station was opporational...& they were all being jammed.

Mmmm recruiting fertility doctors...oh no they did that...mmm looking for a spinal surgeon, oh no they have one of those...uh....trying to find pregnant women - no they have those on the island...ok I'm out....

That was hilarious.

ethan and canada now the glass ferries...what is it about canada and the others?

maybe something like the Coneheads being from France, lol:biggrin:

That was hilarious.

Thanks, I'm ususally too late for the funny bits...:biggrin:

Honestly though, I understand what silveranswer is asking...yes it was a cover story but why would the other others believe it?? What was the reason proposed by Ben for being in Canada...

They needed some Canadians to help them survive in the wilderness??

We need more polar bears!

Richard and Ethan obviously were "on assignment" at one point while recruiting Juliet. So it's completely believable for the Others to believe Ben when he says that those women are also on assignment.

I think the OP might be asking why Canada?? If so, why not... we also have scientists and doctors.

That I would like to know is if everyone thought they were in Canada then they must have another method of getting back to the island?? If the sub is in fact blown up or at least the rest of the others believe it is then how are these two expected to come back??

Certainly recruiting some of those Mounted Canadian policeman to replace the Other's Army

When Mikhail showed up in the Looking Glass, he said he thought Bonnie and Greta were "on assignment in Canada."

What did that mean, do you think? Why would any of the Others be "On assignment" anywhere other than the Island? Did they leave, like Richard, to bring back new people or collect reports on the Losties? Are they working for someone other than Ben?

Thoughts?

I personally always thought it was hilarious that Ethan in season 1 said he was from Canada when asked by Hurley where he was from.

Canada seems to be the place that is used by the others when lies are being committed.

blame canada

Didn't Ethan origninally tell them he was from Canada, when he was pretending to be a crash survivor?

I think Ethan actually said he was from Ontario. We all (Hurley included) assumed Canada.

Richard and Ethan obviously were "on assignment" at one point while recruiting Juliet. So it's completely believable for the Others to believe Ben when he says that those women are also on assignment.

I think this is spot on. To the Others, the expectation is they can come and go from the Island as they please (or at least with Ben's blessing). That was part of the ruse Ben used to placate his people and keep them invested in their "work" on the Island.

I'm posting this again because everyone seems to have ignored it...

That I would like to know is if everyone thought they were in Canada then they must have another method of getting back to the island?? If the sub is in fact blown up or at least the rest of the others believe it is then how are these two expected to come back??

That's just the cover story Ben fed the others to hide the fact that the Looking Glass station was opporational...& they were all being jammed.

I agree that it was a cover story, but I think the important question is: "Why did people believe it?"

Mikhail bought the story. He believed it... why did this story seem plausible enough to believe? Furthermore, I think it's safe to say everyone believed this story as Ben must keep the lie consistent to everyone. So, how come everyone else so easily believed these women were on assignment in Canada? What could be the reason for the assignment?

Canadia is a strange, bizzaro world. Enough said.

This from Lostpedia:

http://lostpedia.com/wiki/Helgus_Antonius

If the ship offshore is the Helgus Antonius (from Lost Experience but more or less blessed as canon by producers), there's also a tie-in to Canada. Here's something from the above link:

"Rachel discovers that Mittlewerk is researching Danish shipping lanes used by an old company called the Allied Copenhagen Marine Merchants. This company was linked to Magnus Hanso the owner of the late 19th century slaving vessel the Black Rock.

... Rachel says, "Best I can tell, they’re taking a new ship on an old route, but why, to find what? And what is it about this ship’s design that makes it so special?" She suggests, therefore, that the Helgus Antonius is being used by Mittlewerk to follow the route of Magnus Hanso's Black Rock, which now rests on the Island.

While investigating its activities in Europe, Rachel Blake had managed to uncover information about the Hanso Foundation's interest in a number of geographical locations. Whilst Blake believed them to be islands, one was found to be Edward Island, a southern port on Lake Superior which separates Canada from the USA.
Rachel believed the true destination of the Helgus Antonius was Sri Lanka. "


Ben seemed to know something about who was on the ship and the implications of contact. Maybe he knew the bad guys were getting closer and "on assignment in Canada" could refer to an Other's black op to track the trackers.

At this point who frackin' knows?

ps, You can find Edward Island on Google Earth. It's about 40 miles due east of Thunder Bay.

You must be American...er somethin

I heard a funny quote on the Daily Show - sorry for the OT but it struck me that I should post it here. "Everyone loves Canada, we are like the world's gay friend" btw, that is not meant in any non politically correct way...just that every woman loves to have a gay friend. I'm sure someone will take offense though...
100%
That's interesting judd...thanks for that

I am Canadian as a matter of fact.

Regarding Canada being the world's gay friend, I'll leave you to field the comments on that. Except to say that my daughter has a gay friend and she seems very proud of him.

Sorry judd, I am Canadian too and I was referring to siaft's comment about a bizarre world - my original post was before you posted....sorry about the confusion...

I love my gay friends...I am always so happy to have new ones too. :biggrin:

All cool, Linerk.

Back to topic at hand, I should mention that it was J. Wood's excellent review of this episode that led me down the Canada trail.

Skipping over the gay friend theory for a moment ...

There are a couple of stereotypes I think the writers are using just for the fun of it in regards to Canada. We are, for instance, considered to be mild mannered and trustworthy - in comparison to American -by most of the world and many Americans themselves. Ethan Rom's cover story of being a Canadian would help allay any suspicions.

We Canadians can understand the last reference in one way too. Canada is suspected by the US of being one of the places from which terrorists (or other secret affiliates) can come and infiltrate or terrorize the US. Witness the now exacting and severe border regulations. So assignment in Canada could also refer to the Others infiltrating Canadian society, faking some passports, etc., in order to enter the U.S.

Or - new Canadian castaways could be joining the Fusees next year! Yay!

Kate also uses Canada as one of her lies , when she is pretending to be Annie in Australia.

The farmer asks if she's American and she says 'No, Canadian'.

What are they hiding up there? :)

Kate also uses Canada as one of her lies

Beat me to it.

Canada = lies is a running gag. Not just used by the Others.

Ethan and Kate lie about being from Canada. Nathan also says he's from Canada... it's not confirmed, but the way the actor plays it, and Goodwin's subsequent assertion that Nathan's a bad person, leads me to believe that Nathan was lying, too. And now the lie that Bonnie and Greta were in Canada.
100%
OT for a bit... As for the "Canada is the world's gay friend" bit, Maddy seems to be spot on.... The person who said that is just playing with the stereotypes often attributed to both (friendly, harmless, etc). Not always true, of course... but playing with stereotypes (often for shock value) is pretty much universal with today's generation of American comedians.

OT for a bit... As for the "Canada is the world's gay friend" bit, Maddy seems to be spot on.... The person who said that is just playing with the stereotypes often attributed to both (friendly, harmless, etc). Not always true, of course... but playing with stereotypes (often for shock value) is pretty much universal with today's generation of American comedians.

Yes I got that, I just thought it was funny. It's to lighten the mood a bit...a joke...I guess you don't watch the Daily Show?? It's a funny news spoof type show and it's quite amusing in this world of serious politics and sometimes there are some great culture jokes - you can call it shock value, I call it humour because everyone should learn to lighten up and laugh at themselves. :)

Yes I got that, I just thought it was funny. It's to lighten the mood a bit...a joke...I guess you don't watch the Daily Show?? It's a funny news spoof type show and it's quite amusing in this world of serious politics and sometimes there are some great culture jokes - you can call it shock value, I call it humour because everyone should learn to lighten up and laugh at themselves. :)

I didn't say it wasn't funny... just got the impression people seemed to be tip-toeing around it a bit. Figured I'd explain... or something.

I didn't say it wasn't funny... just got the impression people seemed to be tip-toeing around it a bit. Figured I'd explain... or something.

ah ok, gotcha...hmmm maybe I shouldn't have said anything about political correctness and then they wouldn't have thought of it. :biggrin: