US SPOILERS: time probelm 'messy' admit writers but....

stevejazzx

NB: Don't read unless you want to please, no sense in spoiler tags since the whole thing is a possible spoiler


THE PROBLEM:


To summarize:
The plane departed approx 14:15 Sydney time, and should have been heading generally westward.
Nations says they went down at 16:16.

Quote:
Ana Lucia: We were in the air for 2 hours and I didn't see him once.


Quote:
Airline Pilot: 6 hours in. Our radio went out, no one could see us. We turned back to land in Fiji, by the time we hit turbulence we were 1000 miles off course. They're looking for us in the wrong place.
14:15 + 6 hours = 20:15, 21:15, or 22:15, depending upon the time zone. That's 8:15 PM or 9:15 PM or 10:15 PM.
Doesn't work. Doesn't match the time Nations gave us OR the daylight crash.
The plane flying faster, or an in-air delay or wandering around doesn't change how long the flight lasted.

Quote:
Cindy:
Before the crash, the pilot said we'd lost communication, we were turning back. We were flying for 2 hours in the wrong direction. They don't know where to look.
Previously we thought this 2 hours might mean the time after they turned around. But as we've seen above that doesn't work.

So take Cindy at face value, they were only in the air for 2 hours (which Ana L. claimed, twice):
14:15 + 2 hours = 16:15, almost exactly the time the plane went down.
But it would mean they lost comms & turned back immediately upon take-off, then inexplicably continued to fly for 2 hours, rather than land. This makes no sense at all.
Again, the plane flying faster or delays enroute doesn't change the time they were in the air.

edited to add: I haven't yet come up with an out-and-back formula or route that would cross a time zone going and coming, allow 2 hours for the return (per Cindy) and land them somewhere where it's 4:16 PM. Working on it.
TEven if that's possible, it's still contradicted by the script.
Here's a good time-zone map of the area.

THE REPLY from Greg Nation one of the shows editers / writers:

gregg wrote:

Ironically enough, I just had this entire debate with a couple of the writers. Were you listening in? The one thing I can comment on and agree with is it's a mess.

There is one other element that no one has taken into consideration yet, and I'm certainly not going to tell you what it is. Good luck figuring out what it is.

Quote:
This is a mess. I don't know if you had a chance to read my answer on another question like this, but I just had this conversation with the writers. Funny how these things come up like this, huh?

This is what I'll comment on. I think you can safely say the plane crashed at 4:16 island time. But there is one other thing no one has taken into consideration yet. And like I said in the other posting, good luck figuring it out.

So whaddyas think?
There has to be

a: a major f**k on behalf of the writers or b: a very intersting new development. Anyways Gregg nations still maintains that we missed something very substanstial in the pilot episode so who knows?

Agamemnon

Hmmm. Sounds at first like a continuity error by the writers, but maybe not. Maybe the theory that time is moving at a different speed on the island has some weight after all.

We know that there is some reason that island is hidden from the outside world. One theory is that it is "cloaked" somehow. Maybe Flight 815 lost time when it passed through this cloak. To the crew, passengers and even the plane's instruments, it looked like only 2 hours had passed, but it was in fact 6.

Time on the island does seem to be moving at least at the same rate as the outside world - Ben was able to tell Jack about recent world events. Maybe time does move faster though: in the 70-odd days the Losties have been on the island, years could have gone by in the outside world. Some kind of time distortion might also explain Desmond's newfound ability to see the future.

stevejazzx

From fuselage.com

THE MASTER wrote:

The thing we havn't considered might be that although it was 4.15 island time, world time was still correct and running concurrently. So in fact the real time was 14:15 + 6 hours equalling 20:15, 21:15, or 22:15, depending upon the time zone. That's 8:15 PM or 9:15 PM or 10:15 PM.
So you're thinking why was it bright on the Island. Easy, the Island has it's own wheater systems.

explains it kind of i think

WhiteWashMan

its a dream and therefore everything that happens is sensical.

except for hurely. hes just ironic.

4Xcut

i think that was just a slip up on the writers' behalf. They've thrown some pretty weird stuff at us and expected us to swallow it but this is just a cock up, plain and simple.

*waits to be proved wrong by writers coming up with some brilliantly convienent reason for the time mess up thing*

stevejazzx

But there is still the something we are not taking into account according to Gregg Nations...

Anima

A wizard did it...

Stuxnet

stevejazzx wrote:

from Greg Nation one of the shows editers / writers

he's neither, he's a script coordinator !!

riddik

Oh lordy, calm down now! if it was a continuity mistake, just leave it! It just means its not going to hold any weight with how things turn out, they're not going to address it! If it does however turn out to be a part of the story, then don't try and figure it out because as said by greg, we're missing an important bit of info from the pilot ep. I'm as big a fan as the next guy and i like analysing and trying to understand whats happening, but I think people are just going in too deep from every possible angle these days. It could end much simpler and just leave anyone exploring these avenues feeling like it was a big anti climax. just enjoy the show?

TerrorFirmer

If it's a mistake, who gives a crap, seriously - referrng to it as a 'major **** up' is just silly. Honestly, some people have too much time on their hands.

riddik

HavoK wrote:

If it's a mistake, who gives a crap, seriously - referrng to it as a 'major **** up' is just silly. Honestly, some people have too much time on their hands.

exactly!!

stevejazzx

bobbyc wrote:

he's neither, he's a script coordinator !!

Oh I just copy and pasted this from the fuelage, anyways he's one of the VIP on there and does speak directly to the writers so... i saw your smiley but just thought i'd explain anywyas

stevejazzx

riddik wrote:

Oh lordy, calm down now! if it was a continuity mistake, just leave it! It just means its not going to hold any weight with how things turn out, they're not going to address it! If it does however turn out to be a part of the story, then don't try and figure it out because as said by greg, we're missing an important bit of info from the pilot ep. I'm as big a fan as the next guy and i like analysing and trying to understand whats happening, but I think people are just going in too deep from every possible angle these days. It could end much simpler and just leave anyone exploring these avenues feeling like it was a big anti climax. just enjoy the show?

You have Missed the point of what I was proposing to discuss. Gregg has said that it would be a continuity mistake where it not for the fact that there is one thing we have not taken into account. Obviously that is going to be a pretty big reveal when it comes so I thought it might interesting to see anyone has got ideas on it what might be.

HavoK wrote:

If it's a mistake, who gives a crap, seriously - referrng to it as a 'major **** up' is just silly. Honestly, some people have too much time on their hands.

Yes they do, but in your apparently in your case not enough. Read the thread properly and you'd see I'm not suggesting that we go mad about some small little continuity error. It's about how the timeline might be explained by something we've missed to date. That's interesting to me as lost fan and I thought I could talk about on the lost forum without people chiming in with useless pointless inacurate posts about this and that and everything that the post is not about. Noone has even addressed the question yet. Sorry for talking Lost on the Lost forum. BTW gregg has said that he has got into trouble for saying this much so obviously it's of some topical significance.

riddik

stevejazzx wrote:

Oh I just copy and pasted this from the fuelage, anyways he's one of the VIP on there and does speak directly to the writers so... i saw your smiley but just thought i'd explain anywyas

oh i didn mean it against u buddy, just in general reading into it too much is becoming annoying. at least ur postin something though! the lost forum has gone a bit cold while the series is off so kudos! im just against the idea

AnonoBoy

Anima wrote:

A wizard did it...

Thanks for that

bucks73

stevejazzx wrote:

From fuselage.com

THE MASTER wrote:

The thing we havn't considered might be that although it was 4.15 island time, world time was still correct and running concurrently. So in fact the real time was 14:15 + 6 hours equalling 20:15, 21:15, or 22:15, depending upon the time zone. That's 8:15 PM or 9:15 PM or 10:15 PM.
So you're thinking why was it bright on the Island. Easy, the Island has it's own wheater systems.

explains it kind of i think

Im not so sure he has his times correct there.

14.15 in Sydney would be 15.15 in Fiji or 16.15 in Auckland.

The same time in the US would be 22.15 in New York and 19.15 in LA. The night before. I dont what time zones the master is talking about.

Since their original heading should have been North East, had they flown for only 2 hours they must have crashed on a remote island off Oz which is in the same time zone.

If they had been flying for 6 hours then I havent a clue how they could have crashed at 4.16 pm anywhere in that region.

TerrorFirmer

stevejazzx wrote:

Yes they do, but in your apparently in your case not enough. Read the thread properly and you'd see I'm not suggesting that we go mad about some small little continuity error. It's about how the timeline might be explained by something we've missed to date. That's interesting to me as lost fan and I thought I could talk about on the lost forum without people chiming in with useless pointless inacurate posts about this and that and everything that the post is not about. Noone has even addressed the question yet. Sorry for talking Lost on the Lost forum. BTW gregg has said that he has got into trouble for saying this much so obviously it's of some topical significance.

I did read the thread, and I did consider the possibility of it being of significance to the plot. But in one of two scenarios, your description of it being a mere error was:

a: a major f**k on behalf of the writers

Hence me saying IF it was the former, then big deal, hardly a 'major **** up'.

stevejazzx

bucks73 wrote:

Im not so sure he has his times correct there.


If they had been flying for 6 hours then I havent a clue how they could have crashed at 4.16 pm anywhere in that region.

that is either the mystery or the mess up which according to gregg it would be a mess up were it not for one factor we don't yet know and yeah I agree with you i went over 'the masters' idea there and I'm not sure the weather system would really explain it.
one theory now is that headed in a different direction on take off and another theory is that they were unconscious for a while after the crash and the plane + the losties were interfred with in some way.

stevejazzx

HavoK wrote:

I did read the thread, and I did consider the possibility of it being of significance to the plot. But in one of two scenarios, your description of it being a mere error was:



Hence me saying IF it was the former, then big deal, hardly a 'major **** up'.

yeah fair enoguh I see what you were saying...

Wow, some people have way too much time on their hands.

Anyways - they probably have come up with a new storyline to cover themselves now.