Lost Update – Walking Distance

Lost Update Season IV 04/10/2008

With two more weeks before a new Lost episode airs, I am going to delve into my alternate theory concerning Rod Serling’s Sci-Fi television series, The Twilight Zone. Here is the link to refresh your memory connecting Lost to the TZ. Lost In The Twilight Zone

Tonight’s update will center on a particular Twilight Zone Episode titled, Walking distance. It’s from season I, Episode #5, 1959.

Opening narration:
Martin Sloan, age thirty-six. Occupation: vice-president, ad agency, in charge of media. This is not just a Sunday drive for Martin Sloan. He perhaps doesn’t know it at the time, but it’s an exodus. Somewhere up the road he’s looking for sanity. And somewhere up the road, he’ll find something else.

Plot Summary:
Martin Sloan, while driving cross-country makes a stop in his old hometown. Amazed, it looks exactly the way id did when he was just a boy. He parks his car and sets out on foot to reminisce a bit and walks into the old corner drugstore. He buys a fountain soda and reflects back on his pleasant past memories. He tells the soda jerk he had fond memories about this place, especially about old man Wilson, who was always sleeping in his chair on the porch out front. He then says, “May he rest in peace.”

The soda jerk looks at him kind of funny like and when Martin leaves, he walks upstairs and and we see old man Wilson sleeping. He tells Wilson that he needs to buy more supplies for the store and Wilson says, “Sure, we’ll buy more tomorrow.”

Meanwhile, Martin is exploring the rest of the town where he grew up as a young lad. A moment later, he sees a boy running by and realizes it’s him, young again. He follows the boy, (Himself) home and introduces himself to his parents. His parents are afraid of him as he tries to convince them that he is Martin, their son, just from the future. The parents think he is crazy and warns him to stay away.

Martin leaves but again follows the young boy (Himself) to the park and tries to interact with himself, telling him to enjoy life, play, enjoy the summers, and be happy. The boy gets scared, and falls off the Merry-Go-Round and hurts his leg. The doctor says he’ll be OK but will probably have a limp.

The boys father meets Martin after this incident and seeing Martin’s license from his wallet believes it is his son from the future. But instead of receiving a warm welcome from his dad, he is told that his time has past, and it’s his young son’s time for life, time to be a boy. He tells Martin that he needs to go back to the future where he belongs.

The next day, Martin is back in his own time, but is now walking with a limp. From the injury he received falling off the Merry-Go-Round.

Closing narration:
Martin Sloan, age thirty-six, vice-president in charge of media. Successful in most things but not in the one effort that all men try at some time in their lives—trying to go home again. And also like all men perhaps there’ll be an occasion, maybe a summer night sometime, when he’ll look up from what he’s doing and listen to the distant music of a calliope, and hear the voices and the laughter of the people and places of his past. And perhaps across his mind there’ll flit a little errant wish, that a man might not have to become old, never outgrow the parks and the merry-go-rounds of his youth. And he’ll smile then too because he’ll know it is just an errant wish, some wisp of memory not too important really, some laughing ghosts that cross a man’s mind, that are a part of the Twilight Zone.

(Dramatic Pause)
Go head. I’ll wait while you catch your breath and let it all sink in.
Pretty amazing story isn’t it?
I am not going to spell out specific episodes, or events, or characters that this Twilight Zone elude to. Instead, I am going to leave you, the viewer, the chance to formulate your own opinion. Perhaps Desmond or Jack is Martin Sloan, or even Sawyer. Or all three. Or none of them. Perhaps it’s Kate, hoping to rectify a broken past. Or Claire, hoping to change the outcome of her future.

Read the intro, synopsis, and epilogue again. Now it is your duty to inject the characters you think belong there. Man or woman. Castaway or “Other.” I will leave you with the ending dialog between Martin and his father discussing the past and future to help further guide you in this journey. Please, as always, keep an open mind and do not rush to a conclusion until you let it all sink in.

Mr. Sloan: Martin, You have to leave here. There’s no room, there’s no place. Do you understand that?

Martin: I see that now, but I don’t understand. Why not?

Mr. Sloan: I guess because we only get one chance. Maybe there’s only one summer to every customer. That little boy, the one I know – the one who belongs here – this is his summer, just as it was yours once. Don’t make him share it.

Martin: Alright.

Mr. Sloan: Martin, is it so bad where you’re from?

Martin: I thought so, Pop. I’ve been living on a dead run and I was tired. And one day I knew I had to come back here. I had to get on the merry-go-round and listen to a band concert. I had to stop and breathe, and close my eyes and smell, and listen.

Mr. Sloan: I guess we all want that. Maybe when you go back, Martin, you’ll find that there are merry-go-rounds and band concerts where you are. Maybe you haven’t been looking in the right place. You’ve been looking behind you, Martin. Try looking ahead.

Until next week, GET LOST!

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