THE GROUNDHOG DAY CONSPIRACY!
Last week we discussed Lost's move to Tuesday nights, beginning with the season premiere on Feb. 2. Many of you jumped on me for not recognizing the provocative nature of the date, given how the season 5 cliffhanger left us wondering if the castaways will be re-living their lives, just like a certain classic Bill Murray comedy from 1993. Jordan Barnett writes:
What better day to initiate a time correction/repeat of previous events/déjà vu story than by starting on Groundhog Day? Also, one could equate [the ramifications of Jughead] signaling either a continuation of a dark time or a glimmer of hope of renewal much to a groundhog's response to seeing his shadow: Will it mean a longer winter or the coming of spring? Admittedly, this is a reach, but I think it might be the type of tweak the creators implement just to see who picks up on it.
The Groundhog Day/Groundhog Day connection is so delicious for so many of you — so I won't spoil it by telling you I think ABC didn't really give a flying Arzt about generating meaningful synchronicity with winter solstice folklore and/or thematically similar entertainment, but rather lucked into a cute coincidence via its dual interest in launching Lost (and airing as much of Lost as it can) during the crucial February sweeps period and preserving its new, so-far-successful block of Wednesday night comedies. So I'm not going to tell you any of that! Instead, I'm going to give you a multiple-choice response. Feel free to pick the one that best represents how you wish to view the world!
A. ABC and the Lost producers were totally going for a Groundhog Day resonance! The choice of date affirms Time Loop Theory: that the castaways have been participating in a cycle of events that's been repeating for who-knows-how-long. But did someone (Ben? Jacob? The Man In Black? One of the castaways?) finally break that loop by producing a meaningful deviation during the course of this last cycle dramatized by the past five seasons of Lost?
B. Actually, ABC and the producers were winking at ''Veja Diena,'' an annual Latvian festival also held on Feb. 2 honoring the god of wind. The significance: The castaways were blown through time via the Jughead and the cosmic gameplaying of gods Jacob and the Man In Black.
C. ''Veja Diena''? No way! Feb. 2 is a link to Yemaja, the ocean/fertility goddess of the Yoruba religion, who is celebrated in Brazil on Feb. 2. This makes total sense, because Rodrigo Santoro, the actor who played Paulo back in season three, is also from Brazil. See? Paulo really was massively important to the larger Lost saga!
D. The Feb. 2-Groundhog Day-Veja Diena-Yemaja connections really are just total coincidences — a rare exception to the larger rule that each episode of Lost is layered with hundreds of thousands of clues, references, and allusions. I mean, that's right, right? RIGHT?!
NEXT PAGE: The Letter of Truce
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