Daniel Faraday, Physicist, Empathetic
Miles Straume, Ghost Buster, Clairvoyant
Charlotte Lewis, Archaeologist, Not sure of her power...

Ok, first of all... Daniele, Miles and Charlotte all seem to be right around the same age. And while I can't quite get a fix on Charlottes' ability, the other two seem to have them... and I wonder if perhaps these people haven't been 'chosen' for this mission because they were all on the Island together as children, being studied and/or trained to develop or to harness their special abilities. Special abilities not unlike Walt's, Ben's, and the ever developing powers of Locke.

As far as Frank goes, he is the only one who gave an explanation as to why he was there essentially... he explained that he was supposed to be the pilot of 815. So, this is why I'm not considering him in this thought.

Didn't they say Charlotte was an anthropologist and not archeologist? Frank seems to be one of the people obsessed with the conspiracy of flight 815 that I imagined has developed since the crash. He obviously has a stake in things, and was likely contracted after he phoned that hotline, which I assume routes to some kind of company that Abanddon uses to find information on that flight. He is obsessed with this fight for reasons that are unknown right now. It could be purely money, or he could be connected to DI. The clarivoyant seems to be in it for the cash, and I assume he has been sent to contact whatever the whispery supernatural forces are on this island.
Sorry to ramble, but there is really a lot of speculation to be done about these new characters.

Daniel Faraday, Physicist, Empathetic
Miles, Ghost Buster, Clairvoyant
Charlotte Lewis, Archaeologist, Not sure of her power...

Ok, first of all... Daniele, Miles and Charlotte all seem to be right around the same age. And while I can't quite get a fix on Charlottes' ability, the other two seem to have them... and I wonder if perhaps these people haven't been 'chosen' for this mission because they were all on the Island together as children, being studied and/or trained to develop or to harness their special abilities. Special abilities not unlike Walt's, Ben's, and the ever developing powers of Locke.

As far as Frank goes, he is the only one who gave an explanation as to why he was there essentially... he explained that he was supposed to be the pilot of 815. So, this is why I'm not considering him in this thought.

I absolutely love the idea of all of these people having been on the island as children. It would explain their abilities. It would also explain Charlotte's not exactly being surprised of a polar bear in the desert, having been to the hydra station as a kid. It could also explain why Faraday seems so attached to the airplane, I guess. It could also explain why you'd send a Physicist, an Archaeologist and a Ghostbuster to kidnap someone. Only those with an abilities unique to the island could compete with Ben who has lived on the island himself from early childhood

I hope they were on the island before somehow. The whole ghostbuster thing has me bummed. It has me thinking that the show is going to cop out just explain somethings as unexplainable supernatural events.

If Miles was part of an experiment on the island and he is seeing through different dimensions then I could accept that, but I am concerned that the big mysteries of the show like Jacob and the smoke will just fall under the non-answer of GHOSTS.

We're following clues and trying to use some particle of logic to come to a conclusion. A cheap answer like ghosts would just ruin it.

I doubt that they were on the island as children. Except for Charlotte, none seem to have a connect with the island. I believe what they know of the place they learned through their scary boss. They obviously have special abilities that make them essential for this mission, otherwise Abbadon would not have chosen them. I think we've only scratched the surface of this. That includes Frank. There is more to him than it seems. For a middle-aged guy who seems to have annihilated quite a few brain cells with booze, he sure knew the names on 815's 300+ passenger manifest.

As for the writers/producers, I doubt that they would go with such an easy out as plain old ghosts. They pepper the storyline with literary/cultural/scientific references, ideas, and themes. They'll want to go out with a really big OMG bang, one that cements their legacy in 21st-century pop culture.

I hope they were on the island before somehow. The whole ghostbuster thing has me bummed. It has me thinking that the show is going to cop out just explain somethings as unexplainable supernatural events.

If Miles was part of an experiment on the island and he is seeing through different dimensions then I could accept that, but I am concerned that the big mysteries of the show like Jacob and the smoke will just fall under the non-answer of GHOSTS.

We're following clues and trying to use some particle of logic to come to a conclusion. A cheap answer like ghosts would just ruin it.

c'mon Nathaniel, have some faith! I'm sure there will be a good explanation eventually. Even if there are ghosts, which I also feel would be a easy way out of explaining things, I bet it's more than just that.

I absolutely love the idea of all of these people having been on the island as children. It would explain their abilities. It would also explain Charlotte's not exactly being surprised of a polar bear in the desert, having been to the hydra station as a kid. It could also explain why Faraday seems so attached to the airplane, I guess. It could also explain why you'd send a Physicist, an Archaeologist and a Ghostbuster to kidnap someone. Only those with an abilities unique to the island could compete with Ben who has lived on the island himself from early childhood

How does this explain Faraday's attachment to the plane?

Charlotte, I think it's possible that she was on The Island as a child (her name alone is suggestive of this), to me she seemed pleased to be back when she landed in that water rather than just pleased to have survived the jump out of a helicopter. If she was on The Island as a child and she knows roughly where it is then O815 going missing where it did would probably make her wonder if it hadn't ended up on craphole, it'd also give some explanation as to why she believes the O815 that was found in the Sunda Trench is a fake...

WOMAN: How many different languages do you have to read that in before you believe its true?

CHARLOTTE: How many different languages are there?

Frank, well it's obvious why Frank doesn't believe that it's really O815 at the bottom of the Indian Ocean...

FRANK: Look I'm staring at the television right now, you're broadcasting footage of the wreckage and saying that that's the pilot Seth Norris.

FEMALE OPERATOR: Yes, sir?

FRANK: Well that's not him.

FEMALE OPERATOR: [Pauses] Please hold.

MALE VOICE: Who am I speaking with?

FRANK: Doesn't matter who I am, you're showing footage of Seth Norris and that's not him, listen, this guy married his high school sweetheart at nineteen, he always wore his wedding ring and I'm telling you there's no ring on that body.

MALE VOICE: Sir it's likely the ring fell off...

FRANK: I'm telling you, that is not him.

MALE VOICE: How exactly is it that you know all about Captain Norris?

FRANK: Because I was supposed to be flying Oceanic 815 on that day.

...and perhaps as a pilot he's even suspicious of where it was found? His being the original pilot could be why the monster killed Seth Norris, The Island didn't want Seth, it wanted Frank?

Miles. I'm wondering if someone who thought that they'd lost a loved one on O815 hired Miles to come and get in contact with their "dead" relative only to have Miles drop the bombshell that, wherever they were, they weren't dead. He's the only freightie so far to have clearly displayed anything that you could call a power.

Daniels' reaction is the one thing I can't figure, it could have been empathy, I just don't know, neither did Dan...

WOMAN: Dan? Dan? Dan, why are you so upset?

DAN: I don't know.

It seems one of the things that could have led to them being hired by Abaddon (and who does he work for?) is that none of them seems to buy the story that O815 has been found and that all 324 passengers and crew are dead, although if Dan didn't believe that it was really O815 then what was he crying for, I keep going round and round with that!

The fact that four such specifically skilled individuals were hired does suggest that whoever sent them had some idea those skills would be needed to complete the mission succesfully but as for them all having powers, I can only really look at MIles in that light at the moment, I don't think the other three were selected for the same reasons he was, he seems to be the only one with a definite power so far.

That's a whole lot of speculation though, we know next to nothing about these people.

I did read a rumour that the people on the boat would be seen...

...testing each other for psychic powers so maybe everyone has a different degree of power? Miles didn't need his gadget to speak with the dead on The Island so maybe when you get there your powers get a bit of a boost?

If the whispers are really the voices of the dead (big if) then Miles wouldn't be the only one on The Island that was capable of hearing them (The Island boosting peoples latent psychic ability?), he may however be the only one capable of deciphering their meaning, Miles Straume may be able to make some sense of the maelstrom.

ETA: I just thought of something else...

DAN: The light, is strange out here isn't it? It's kinda like, it doesn't scatter quite right.

When I first watched this episode I thought Daniel was holding a light-meter or something like that but he's not, he has the satellite phone in one hand and his gun in the other, so it would seem he just "notices" that the light doesn't scatter quite right, he can see it, which is pretty odd?

Now, maybe it's because this just happens to be his field of expertise and he's the first person we've seen on The Island who could be expected to make such an observation. Or maybe Dan can literally see things that others can't, he sees The Island in a different light?

How does this explain Faraday's attachment to the plane?1st of all -- I'm betting he is an empath.

2nd and most importantly --

Miles showed a lot of anger towards Ben. A lot more than just some hired bounty hunter type should have. There is something personal going on here. Each of the three (not including Frank - I think he is much different than the other three) responded in different ways to the wreckage and the island itself. Miles=anger. Charlotte=excitement/disbelief. Daniel=a deeply rooted emotional release.

All three are around the same age (which by the way is around the same age as most of our lead Losties) - lets just say between 27-35 (random)... If they were on the Island just before The Purge, assuming The Purge happened some point in the mid-80's, that would place them between 5-13 years old at the time -- which would be just about right in terms of children on the Island.

If their parents had still been on the Island at the time of the Purge, that would certainly give the three of them much more of a personally motivating reason to come after Ben.

I think that this could explain each of their varied responses to the Island and the wreckage.

If their parents had still been on the Island at the time of the Purge, that would certainly give the three of them much more of a personally motivating reason to come after Ben.


I agree.

I think that this could explain each of their varied responses to the Island and the wreckage.

I disagree here about their reactions to the wreckage, because they would not have known about 815 (beside's Frank).


"dude, you got some Arzt on you"

It seems one of the things that could have led to them being hired by Abaddon (and who does he work for?) is that none of them seems to buy the story that O815 has been found and that all 324 passengers and crew are dead, although if Dan didn't believe that it was really O815 then what was he crying for, I keep going round and round with that!


Dan is an odd one. He seems sympathetic, overly thoughtful, and indecisive. Very willing to be manipulated by Miles. Also he seems to have an entirely different reason to be on the island than anyone else.

The idea that he'd been there as a child is a cool thought. I like it alot. But there is nothing from the episode to corroborate this. His comment about the light (scatters differently) almost seemed reflective. As if someone had told him about the island and its differences and that he was paying attention to the island and did note the difference from a scientific interest. But this comment also led me to think he had not been there before. (maybe he doesn't remember or was trained to not remember the island).

Now about the crying. I think we are to believe this cry was an unexpected, uncontrolable cry. He didn't know why, and we probable think him not to be a liar. Although if he were the father of Anna-Lucia's dead baby maybe he'd have a legit reason to lie.

So why cry if he knows the plane finding is a fraud?

Number one idea is he doesn't know. This is uncontrolable emotion that overtakes him which even he doesn't understand.

Or...

He's now convinced that a conspiracy exists regarding 815. Prior to this he may have thought it, but now he is convinced of it and knows that the power that exists behind this fraud he is helpless to fight.

Or...

He was secretly connected to someone on 815 and now believe them dead. (I know then he doesn't know the fraud, but believe the news reports).

Or...

Even though he convinced of the fraud it reveals that he now knows the death of an intimate. He knows of the death for reasons that we are not yet aware.

Or...

He knows that the existence of such a fraud is an omen or trigger of some series of events that will cause a huge catastrophe.

Or...

He's an uncontrolable cryer and is imagining repeats of Three's Company and the devastating performances of Don Knotts.

Just trying to help!