The Dolls

[DriftWood]

OK...so there are all these dolls out there, near part of a wrecked plane (and, of course, we don't even know if it was the rear part of the plane they crashed in).

I'm thinkin' these are more than just toys...someone has suggested that they represent the dead passengers but I don't buy it. I think the dolls may have been filled with drugs that our dear druggie was trying to get back to the States. Maybe Jack will find this out and be able to extract some beneficial medications from the drugs (if there are any).

[Aries7]

Driftwood, Interesting thought. The lost (or thought lost) cargo from the back of the plane could give the writiers a lot to think about in future episodes.

[luxe]

that is a very good idea considering on the promo for next week we see Charlie looking around the plane (the part Jack found? maybe?) and Locke says "I know who you are and I know what youre doing." Maybe he was digging thru that new wreckage looking for his stash.

[WhereRwe]

My thought on the doll in the water is that it represented the woman who drowned earlier in the show. She didn't die in the crash....she died in the water. It was done as a device for Jack to come to grips with the fact that, although he is the "hero figure" to all the survivors, he was unable to save that woman. People have free will and will go and do what they want (ex. the pilot climbing out of the cockpit to see the Beast, when good sense told Jack, Kate and Charlie to keep low in the cockpit to avoid being seen by the Beast....also the woman, a good swimmer who should know better about riptides, drowns), but Jack will not be able to control what happens to them. Jack had to shed the shadow of his father and his past in order to come to terms with the fact that he is the leader, whether he wants to be or not. Immediately after Jack woke up from the crash, his doctor training took hold of him and he responded to the crisis. However, after all was said and done, he was in a sort of delayed shock, not sleeping, hallucinating, depressed about the fact that he couldn't take his father home for burial, failing to do what his mother wanted of him. His finding the debris field with the coffin and dolls served to set him straight on his course and to clear his head about the crash, his past, his insecurities in his life with his father, the fact that while he can help some people, there will always be others that he can't. As Locke said, "A leader has to know where he's going in order to lead."

WhereRwe

[JacksGirlfriend]

For one split second in that scene, there's a jolt. Dolls are representative of children - we have a quick flash of the child who lost this particular doll and that child is dying. Then there's the fact that dolls look like human beings and a human being lying prone in a puddle of water is a scary thing. For one second we're wondering exactly what we're seeing. When we realize we're seeing a doll, we're relieved but we're also a bit on edge.

The dolls were put there because dolls are creepy - especially dolls like aren't exactly "baby dolls". Ask any little girl who's ever had one of these "collectible" dolls. We love them, but we're afraid not to love them. Once they're in your possession, they become yours, to have until the end of childhood (and sometimes beyond) because... here's the kicker... if you give them away or throw them away - they'll just come back.

You can put away childish things, but you can't always put away the fears of your childhood.

JacksGirl

[Aries7]

Hey WhereRwe,

Great Post. Everything you said makes a good point and I think the writers working on this show are good enough to write such things into the show. Being true to your point about the doll in the water and the girl drowning, I think the empty coffin represents the fact that Jack was not able to bring his father back home alive as his mother had asked him to do. Also to note is the fact that Locke saved jack from falling off the cliff, but the words of advice he later offered him about being a leader had the same effect....i.e. if he does not step up, not only him, but everyone might die a slow death....The group needs a leader to carry them through, or to maintain their existence

[WhereRwe]

Thanks Aries7.

Of course, Jack's smashing of the coffin was a venting of his frustrations, due to not being able to measure up to his father's expectations of him and also not being able to follow up on his mother's wishes.

[Aries7]

Good point

[drypelia]

The dolls were put there because dolls are creepy - especially dolls like aren't exactly "baby dolls".

I agree, sort of (see below). That was a very creepy moment, and it made me think of that awful "Chucky" doll.

I'm not sure how creepy dolls are in and of themselves, but they're definitely creepy when they're out of context (in a puddle, in a burned out building). This was weird because the dolls looked like they were meant to be displayed on shelves - antiques or collectibles. They're supposed to be kept in pristine condition, on display. These dolls were way out of place. It seemed to have some sort of significance, but I'm not sure what. Maybe it was to show that our lost friends are now way out of place.

dry

[Abraxas]

JG:
Where is that flash you are talking about? I didn't see a child anywhere in the episode.
Beginning to see funny things again?

[JacksGirlfriend]

Brax: For a minute I thought I was seeing things. When you said "flash" I had to go see what I'd written.

I meant an image of a child in your mind - just a quick flash of a picture through your head, not an actual picture on the TV. When you see a doll, you think of a little girl. So when you see a doll lying forgotten in the water, you wonder what happened to the girl. And considering everything laying around was on a crashing airplane, I got a quick flash of a child in panic. So the doll to me meant chaos and pain.

Maybe it's not the same if you don't have kids.

JacksGirl

[Dmcquickly]

Geez, you're creepin me out girl! lol

Great explanation...now I know why my daughters don't want those kinds of dolls.

Is this something girls intuitively know, or does this realization come later in life?

[JacksGirlfriend]

It's intuition and it may not be for all girls, but it got all three girls in my family and most of my friends.

My sister had a doll she was kind of afraid of. She was afraid to get rid of it and had it for years. One day, when we were both adults, I opened a package and guess what was in it... I gave it to Goodwill. I think the curse lifted because I'm the one who gave it away. If it ever turns up here again, I'm going to have myself committed. So far, so good.

JacksGirl

[Wynter Zera]

Dolls, like clowns, are creepy! :| Anyway I think they're part of some characters background story.... I think we haven't seen the last of them.

[Southernmapart]

Dolls are for voo doo hoo doo!

The doll underwater represents the drowned survivior. There were other dolls there in the cave. Was there a doll with a missing leg and another who could have been impaled through the chest in some form which might be representative of the marshall shot in the lung? 8)

[Southernmapart]

The best example I can give for dolls being representative of expression for thoughts/ideas is the Barbie Doll phenomenon. Barbie, then Ken, has been used to promote consumerism in young children. 8)

[JacksGirlfriend]

I still think the dolls were part of a drug smuggling ring. Rather cliche I know but we have to give Charlie some sort of temptation later on. We talked about the smuggling somewhere else... at this point, no idea where.

And later Charlie can say "Thank God for drug smugglers."

JacksGirl

[Wynter Zera]

JG you might be right about that. It's been awhile since we've seen anything about them, though with Claire missing, Charlie's gonna be bummed out.