My brother, who never watches serial TV but whom I've indoctrinated into the ways of Lost during his visit here over Christmas, phoned me yesterday just to talk about the show. If you knew my brother, you'd know how damn uncharacterisitic it is for him to do something like this. He was all, "I had a theory that Walt with his creepy superpower subconsciously engineered everything that happened on the island, but then, I realized that he couldn't have known about Locke's leg! Hey, do you think it's some big governement conspiracy and there's a big-ass laboratory under the steel hatch? Huh?" and so on and so forth for half an hour. He declared the show "maddeningly frustrating and kind of annoyig" but felt he was unable to stop watching. Then he yelled at me for getting him hooked on a stupid TV show. Heh.

Do we get an extra-special toaster when we convert a non-fannish person?

I think that ought to at least call for a toaster oven, Vonnie. Good job.

I had a theory that Walt with his creepy superpower subconsciously engineered everything that happened on the island, but then, I realized that he couldn't have known about Locke's leg!

Except he could have -- he might have noticed Locke in his wheelchair at the airport, and (in the Walt-is-Bill-Mumy theory) thought somethng like, "That man looks sad. I bet he wouldn't be sad if he wasn't in the wheelchair." And boom, Locke can walk!

(Okay, maybe not.)

But the toaster oven will be made out of coconuts.

he might have noticed Locke in his wheelchair at the airport

This is actually something that has been bugging me a lot. Why hasn't anyone recognized Locke as the guy in the wheelchair? Assuming the airline practiced standard boarding procedures, Locke would have been one of the first people to board the plane, and he would have quite probably passed many people who were already lined up as he boarded. Given what we know of him, it is possible that he was even making noise that he didn't need help or special treatment.

I meant to bring this up last week, when people were wondering if Boone recognized Sawyer from the police station. I understand why he wouldn't. You see some total stranger for a moment in one situation, you won't necessarily recognize that person in a whole different situation a day or two later.

But why doens't anyone remember the guy in the wheerchair, who boarded the plane before they did? Even after seeing the wheelchair in the wreckage and using it to move stuff, why were there no questions about its owner?

It seems very strange.

But why doens't anyone remember the guy in the wheerchair, who boarded the plane before they did?

My real world answer to this would be that a lot of people don't tend to see a person in a wheelchair, they see the wheelchair.

(Hi Kim! How's Florida? You are so glad you're not up here still this week. It's extra winter-y!)

I don't think I've ever paid enough attention during boarding to recognize anyone afterwards who wasn't sitting right next to me. And I never stand up before my row is called, so the pre-boarders are always complete faceless strangers.

I can understand them not recognizing him. I don't think I am alone in being in my own space in airports, and not paying attention to most of the people around me. People in wheelchairs are no exception. Also, everyone we've seen so far was dealing with personal trauma. Jack had his father's body with him; Boone was reliving sleeping with snickerbitch; Kate was manacled to the marshall, etc.

But why doens't anyone remember the guy in the wheerchair, who boarded the plane before they did?

I know that I don't pay much attention to who is preboarding. I'm more likely to have my selective hearing set for my row number while I kill the time reading. I do think it's odd that at least one person didn't notice Locke, but I think that the chances of him really standing out in anyone's memory are a bit dim. Also, if they saw him and thought he was the guy who pre-boarded in the wheelchair, their first inclination may have been to think "nah, must've been mistaken."

It's possible that someone may revise that "mistaken" assumption once they twig to the oddness going on.

Even after seeing the wheelchair in the wreckage and using it to move stuff, why were there no questions about its owner?

They may have assumed that the owner was among the dead.

The other answer might be, pre-boarding is often done quietly and a lot of people don't notice it's happening. And once he's in the seat and the wheelchair is all folded up and stored someplace, who's to know?

The real question is, why does he get to be called by his last name, when everybody but the crazy Frenchwoman has to go by first name? Clearly this is a marker of insanity rather than coolness. Let us all give a moment of thanks that this is fiction, and thus there are not five people all named Rob, two of whose last names are Polish.