Monday, September 15, 2008

HATCHING A ZONK

"I love drama.
Remember when Locke blew open the hatch finally?
"
Cappie
'GREEK'


Sometimes I wonder if a hit show is mentioned on another TV series just to help that show gain some cool cred. If so, then I'll be disabling Zonks about 'Lost' until I've gone on the Big Hiatus.

'Lost' Zonks are particularly difficult to deal with because of the show's content and structure. Even though it is now aligned with all the other shows in present day Toobworld on the timeline, the Oceanic Six created a cover story in which there is no mention of the Island. And without the Island, there's no Hatch. In fact, John Locke should have drowned when the plane crashed according to their story.

But with this quote by Cappie, there is no mention of 'Lost' itself. And Locke's first name is not mentioned either. Now, most folks would see the combination of "Locke" and "hatch" as a gimmee, that it definitely refers to 'Lost', I think we can work around that.

By the way, we may have heard the name as "Locke", because we're accustomed to that spelling due to 'Lost'. But what if it was spelled as "Lock"? Plenty of TV characters named Lock, mostly from the UK, spell their last name without the "E". So combined with other citizens of Toobworld named "Locke", we have quite a few options to avoid using John Locke from 'Lost'.

Now, as for the hatch being blown open......

What if Cappie was talking about a game show?

People have had to do a lot of things on game shows in order to win the competition - pick the right key to start a car's ignition, choose the right numbered briefcase, go for what's behind Door Number Three. Right now, people have to squeeze through odd shapes on 'Hole In The Wall'.

So what if a contestant had to complete the course in order to get the chance to "explode" a hatch, behind which would be, let's say, a million dollars. And if he didn't succeed the first time, he's back for the next installment of the game to play against new challengers. What if that contestant kept coming back again and again, to the point where he broke the record of appearances - in much the same way Ken Jennings did on 'Jeopardy'?

I'd say that would constitute as "drama" to the audience viewing at home. And the ratings would be so high that everybody could probably remember where they were when the contestant Lock(e) finally blew the hatch open.

I'm not sure this splainin could be used again the next time Locke and the hatch are mentioned, but at least for now that should disable the Zonk.

Like I said, it doesn't have to be totally plausible; it just has to provide an alternative to the obvious reference.

BCnU!
Toby O'B

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