Lost in Lost – Groundhog Day

Last week I talked about the start date of Lost’s final season: February 2, 2010. I failed to notice (shame on me) that this date also holds some additional meaning. Yes, it’s Groundhog Day. At first I didn’t even realize that the two dates coincided, but even if I had, I’m not sure that I would have realized that there might be a deeper meaning there. This week, however, I was perusing E!’s spoiler chat column (do I really have to warn you that there are spoilers if you follow the link?) and someone asked if the scheduling was purposeful or not, in reference to the history-repeating-itself Bill Murray movie Groundhog Day.

Interesting….

Kristin Dos Santos from E! confirmed that the scheduling of the premiere on Groundhog Day was not an accident, though I would guess that it is more likely a happy coincidence than any purposeful programming move. In any case, it makes for an interesting conversation. For those of you unfamiliar with the movie (go see it!), it is about a curmudgeonly weather man who is forced to live out Groundhog Day over and over again until he gets it right, completely changing his attitude and life in the process.

What can we glean about the final season of Lost from this little tip of the hat? Take everything with a grain of salt, but is this another hint that season six is going to find us revisiting the history of our favorite characters because the past has been changed? That seems like the obvious choice, but perhaps there is more.

At the end of last season, it certainly seemed like Jacob and his enemy were referring to a “time loop”-like element that had been occurring on the island. It appeared, to me, that there was a sort of cycle that existed: whenever people came to the island, something bad happened (“They come. They fight. They destroy. They corrupt.”). Jacob claims that all the attempts are simply “progress.” It seems like a very similar concept to Groundhog Day. As Phil, the main character, relives the day over and over he improves himself and becomes a better person; he makes progress with every failed day until he completes a perfect Groundhog Day.

Of course, this is Lost, so never discount the possibility that this could all just be a big red herring.

Clacked by Bob Degon
on Nov 30, 2009 @ 10:00 EST5EDT