THE POLYMORPHOUSLY PERPLEXING PUZZLE OF MARVIN CANDLE
http://www.ew.com/ew/article/0,,1550612_20245769_20253740_3,00.html (http://www.ew.com/ew/article/0,,1550612_20245769_20253740_3,00.html)
To further prepare you for tonight's premiere, I thought I'd recap the previous appearances of Pierre Chang, a.k.a. Dr. Marvin Candle, Dr. Mark Wickmund, Dr. Edgar Halliwax — the mercurial emcee/narrator of all the Dharma Initiative orientation films. You'll soon see Chang as you've never seen him before, although as usual, he brings with him a whole bunch of insight into (and bunches more questions about) the Island's mythology. I recently realized that Chang embodies the show's keen sense of self-awareness, and the subtext of his messages speak to the state of Lost itself. My analysis of his major appearances (extracurricular Comic-Con videos not included):
FIRST APPEARANCE: ''Orientation'' (Season 2, Episode 3)
LOCATION: Station 3: The Swan
ALIAS: Marvin Candle
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jk9At3txC4M&eurl=http://www.ew.com/ew/article/0,,1550612_20245769_20253740_3,00.html&feature=player_embedded (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jk9At3txC4M&eurl=http://www.ew.com/ew/article/0,,1550612_20245769_20253740_3,00.html&feature=player_embedded)
CHANG SAYS: Hatch occupants must routinely input a code every 108 seconds, without fail, or risk unspecified consequences.
SUBTEXT: ''Keep watching.'' Having just asked the audience to buy into its weird, open-to-interpretation Dharma Initiative mythology, Lost was no doubt sweating the prospect of taxing patience and losing audience. Faithful button pushing = a plea for patience and continued faithful viewing.
SECOND APPEARANCE: ''?'' (Season 2, Episode 21)
LOCATION: Station 5: The Pearl
ALIAS: Mark Wickmund
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=75MrmdYfOWc&eurl=http://www.ew.com/ew/article/0,,1550612_20245769_20253740_3,00.html&feature=player_embedded (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=75MrmdYfOWc&eurl=http://www.ew.com/ew/article/0,,1550612_20245769_20253740_3,00.html&feature=player_embedded)
CHANG SAYS: Hatch occupants must observe a psychological experiment taking place in another Hatch (presumably The Swan) and take careful notes. The implication: that button-pushing business is meaningless.
SUBTEXT: ''Do you trust us?'' Ditching the lab coat for a '70s-era car salesman/game show host suit and sporting a devilish grin, Wickmund embodied the possibility that Lost's many mysteries may not add up to anything, thus making fools of theory-mongers. Did the show truly deserve the obsessive scrutiny of its fans?
THIRD APPEARANCE: ''Enter 77'' (Season 3, Episode 11)
LOCATION: Station 4: The Flame
ALIAS: Unspecified.
CHANG SAYS: Those who manage this station, Dharma's telecommunications complex must execute certain protocols if the ''hostiles'' infiltrate the facility. One of them involves inputting a self-destruct code.
SUBTEXT: ''If the show is going to end, let's end it on our own terms.'' Chang's ominous appearance came during Lost's most troubled season. Critics turned on the show, ratings dropped, and everyone — fans, producers, and even the network — realized that to preserve the cool thing that was Lost, the show needed to move into its endgame story lines, which meant receiving permission to actually end the show.
TANGENTIAL ASIDE: Until this point, the trajectory of Chang's appearances mirrored the evolution of television: from film to video to computer file. Note also the introduction of interactivity: The Flame recording was an Easter egg hidden inside a computer chess game. I find it impishly ironic that this interactivity facilitates the destruction of a station that's basically... an old fashioned television broadcasting facility. Hmmm....
FOURTH APPEARANCE: ''There's No Place Like Home'' (Season 4, Episode 13)
LOCATION: Station 6: The Orchid
ALIAS: Dr. Edgar Halliwax
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PxoX214FHfI&eurl=http://www.ew.com/ew/article/0,,1550612_20245769_20253740_4,00.html&feature=player_embedded (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PxoX214FHfI&eurl=http://www.ew.com/ew/article/0,,1550612_20245769_20253740_4,00.html&feature=player_embedded)
CHANG SAYS: The Orchid is not what it appears to be. The botanical research unit above hides a secret subterranean lab below nestled against a ''highly volatile and potentially dangerous'' form of energy, a mass of ''negatively charged exotic matter'' which can be harnessed to power a time travel machine. Before he can spell out the implications, the video suddenly stops and rewinds itself.
SUBTEXT: ''It's Goober time.'' Lost boldly comes out of the closet and waves its genre show freak flag, but not without much nervousness. ''Negatively charged exotic matter'' + ''potentially dangerous'' = ''This is a sci-fi show. Here's hoping we don't scare everyone away.''
Does Dr. Chang have something to say about Lost in tonight's episode? Come back tomorrow morning for my interpretation.
Interesting! I always enjoy his appearances. ;)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YE5HC4gMw54&eurl=http://tenpercentofnuthin.com/forum/index.php?topic=2679.0&feature=player_embedded (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YE5HC4gMw54&eurl=http://tenpercentofnuthin.com/forum/index.php?topic=2679.0&feature=player_embedded)
something to read after the premiere:
http://tinyurl.com/c8g9zp (http://tinyurl.com/c8g9zp)
Secrets of Lost Revealed!
Everything you need to know happens in the first five minutes of the season premieres.
http://www.slate.com/id/2209281/ (http://www.slate.com/id/2209281/)
I Know What Happens on Lost This Season
Hint: Hurley's nothing but trouble.
http://www.slate.com/id/2209514 (http://www.slate.com/id/2209514)