I was introduced to Lost last Spring, and got Season 1 from Netflix and devoured the season as fast as I could watch it, 8-12 episodes at a time. Then, season 2 came, and I got into it even more. I just rewatched the first 2 seasons, and like the rest of you have been obsessed with what the heck this show is about. I started doing some online research the other day about the show and was blown away by the depth of research many of you have put into the show and how many theories there are.

But, I wonder if all these things are just distractions? Just to pose the question, are all these supposed connections real or just red herrings to distract the viewers from figuring out the purpose of the show? Some of the theories and research are pretty whacked out, and I just think to myself how the heck anyone could put together such a complex puzzle of a show in as little time the producers had to make the show back in 2004. Are we thinking about this show too much? I think the viewers are getting as distracted as the characters and not looking at the real purpose behind the show (while the characters continually fail to recognize why they are there). I think the show is about facing personal inadequacies and coming to grips with them.

My theory so far is that the people on the island are basically in an unethical and lawless psychological experiment at the behest of The Others, but that the Dharma initiative failed and the Others are what is left. (Although who is still dropping food with Dharma labels?) "Henry Gale" was a masterful manipulator of the other characters, especially Locke. Ethan manipulated the blond pregnant woman to convince her to give up her baby. And, I am quite curious about Hurley's girlfriend, the psychiatrist. She faciliated a romance to start between her and Hurley. She was also in the mental hospital as a patient (or was she faking it and stalking Hurley like she stalked Desmond to give him the boat?). But...she also was the one to give Desmond the boat to get to the island. Is she a Dharma plant? And, are many of the things that happen actually guided dream imagery, and characters we think are dead aren't actually dead, but their role in the story ended, therefore they are taken out of the experiment.

I wonder if these characters were groomed to all be on the same flight. But then again, how do you pull something like that off? I just think that the solution to the 'why' behind this show is not going to be some hyper complex web of relationships, but one elegantly simple explanation that ties it all together. I think we aren't seeing the forest, we are just seeing lots and lots of trees.

You know, also, when I look at these theories, I don't see anything about the super-rich woman who loved Desmond, and why at the end of season 2 these two guys in some arctic place detect the signal from the island when the hatch implodes. Was her father one of the founders? Did the father make sure he ended up there because Desmond wouldn't leave his daughter alone? Is she still looking because she knows what her father did? (Ah, these distracting trees...)

I bet the producers and writers on the show are just yucking it up about all of us trying to figure this show out. I can see them surfing these forums and laughing about how they've got us all so wrapped up in this show. Perhaps WE are the experiment! But I sure do appreciate the mental workout it gives me and everyone else about what the show is actually all about.

What is the POINT of this show? I think when we know that, we will understand the unknowns.