The Bad Twin, Clues or Diversions?

Beginnings

The Widmore Clan

The Numbers

Settings

Literary References

The Hanso Connection

Purgatory

Magic Phrases

Foundations

Mythology

Final Notes

Beginnings

The Bad Twin is a novel that has been ingeniously marketed by Hyperion and Touchstone Television as the last work of author Gary Troup, a passenger on Oceanic Flight 815 from the fictional television series, Lost.  The manuscript for the novel first appeared in two episodes of the drama, first on 2/8/2006 in episode 2.11, The Long Con where Hurley comes across the manuscript. On 5/3/2006, Sawyer is seen reading it in episode 2.20, Two for the Road, in which Jack throws the draft into the fire to get Sawyer’s attention.  This manuscript, in book form, was released by Hyperion Books in July of 2006. 

The Bad Twin has been promoted as a piece of the puzzle that is Lost.  How the novel fits into the complicated scheme of the series and the summer long alternate reality game, “The Lost Experience” is yet to be seen.  The publicity has been quite clever, including various interview clips with “Book Talk”, most incomplete, hinting that the author was in possession of controversial knowledge of the Hanso Foundation and the elusive Valenzetti Equation (an equation designed to predict the number of years left before the extinction of the human race).  His non fiction text, The Valenzetti Equation, is out of print and impossible to find, presumably removed from public access by the Hanso Foundation.  Statements from The Hanso Foundation have denounced the novel, as in this newspaper release:

A quick peek at Amazon.com has a customer review credited to Peter Thompson (known from The Lost Experience Alternate Reality Game to be VP and General Counsel for the Hanso Foundation) that says:

Not as bad as they say , May 13, 2006

Reviewer: Peter Thompson

Some people are saying bad things about this book, and the author. It's not as bad as they say but the author does make some mistakes. It's kind of like an open sphere.
As with most books, you'll have to read it and make up your own mind. Namaste.

Astute readers familiar with The Lost Experience (TLE) will note that “open sphere” is an anagram for Persephone, the alter ego of hacker Rachel Blake, a one woman force of nature whose mission is to reveal the malevolent mysteries surrounding the Hanso Foundation.

Further embedding the book into the Lost mythology, Troup dedicates the book to “Cindy – my high flying angel”, an obvious reference to Stewardess Cindy from Lost, who also appears as a character in the novel.

The novel was actually penned by mystery writer, Lawrence Shames.  Shames has written several comic thrillers set in the Florida Keys.  He was also a ghostwriter of the bestselling Mafia expose, “Boss of Bosses”.

Controversy surrounded the release of The Bad Twin, and unfortunately fans may be the recipients of the fallout.  Rather than use certain elements of the television series that were approved by Lost scribes, Shames chose to follow his own vision for the novel.  Further accusations that Hyperion allowed use of copyrighted elements without network clearance may prove a difficult obstacle to later tie-ins with the show.  All of this leaves us with these questions:  Does The Bad Twin contain any items of significance to those who are seeking Lost enlightenment? Or has Lost chosen to pour its efforts into The Lost Experience (TLE) and abandon The Bad Twin?  Having rushed to purchase a copy the day of its release, I am thus far disappointed that there are no apparent revelations contained in its pages.

In hopes that the novel may still divulge clues, I have chosen to gather information, presenting points that may or may not be salient.

Spoiler Warning:

Please note that there are major plot points contained within the content of this essay.  I suggest that if you wish to read the novel without prior knowledge, you postpone reading further until you finish The Bad Twin.

 

The widmore clan

The story deals extensively with the Widmore family.  There have been several sightings of Widmore products on Lost (i.e. Sun’s pregnancy test) as well as the Widmore filled finale, where we find that Desmond has close ties with Penelope Widmore and an unsavory relationship with her father, Charles. Unfortunately there is no mention of Charles or Penelope Widmore in The Bad Twin.  

The Widmore family is, as stated in Lost, a very wealthy family.  They started as a real estate conglomerate, moved on to the financial district and then into various activities involving arcane construction, engineering projects both mainstream and fringe and investing in scientific ventures.  There are rumors of the Widmores being involved in questionable activities concerning defense contracts, private security work of dubious ethics and potentially illicit offshore projects.  A fictional Google search turned up Widmore construction in Singapore, new techniques for reinforcing concrete, a partnership with Paik Heavy Industry, as well as links the Hanso Foundation in unknown projects.

Arthur Widmore is the aging patriarch of the Widmore family.  He is in declining health and is obsessed with his Scottish heritage.  His trophy wife, Vivian, uses her femininity to manipulate men including her ex-husband, Monty Alban.  Arthur’s sons, Clifford (Cliff) and Alexander (Zander) are mirror twins. 

It is assumed that Cliff is the “good twin”.  He dies prior to the finish of the novel.  Cliff was married to Shannon Rogers, who committed suicide before the novel begins. 

Zander Widmore is the supposed “bad twin”.  He squanders his money for several years and when he returns home it is much like the story of The Prodigal Son.  He then suddenly disappears on the day of Shannon’s funeral.  It is later revealed that he was trying to get rid of his money as he believed it was causing misfortune.  The name “Zander” resurfaced in TLE as Rachel Blake spoke to mathematician Armand Zander in Iceland, though there is no apparent connection to Zander Widmore.

The main character in the book has only tenuous ties to Lost.  Paul Artisan is a private investigator hired by Arthur to find Zander.  Cindy, our familiar stewardess from Lost, serves Paul on an Oceanic Airlines flight.  At one point, Paul eats at Mr. Cluck’s and has a conversation about the philosopher, John Locke.

The following is a list of other characters that may or may not be relevant.

the numbers

A huge part of Lost has been the mysterious numbers: 4,6,15,16,23,42.  They have appeared in various circumstances on the show and are scattered throughout The Bad Twin as well.  The Hanso Foundation is located on the 42nd floor of the Widmore building in Manhattan. The code to enter the Widmore estate is 8-1-5-1-6.  Cliff and Zander Widmore were born on 8/15 and 8/16 respectively.  Cliff is older than Zander by 23 minutes.  Shannon Rogers Widmore’s funeral was held on 4/15, which is also the day that Zander disappears

settings

Interestingly, most of the book takes place on islands, whether real or fictional.  Settings include:  Manhattan, Long Island, Perconiquot, Key West, Cuba, Luna, and Lizard Island.  Escape Hatch is the name of Moth’s boat.  Are these veiled references to the Lost Island and to the Hatch?

literary references

There are numerous literary references in The Bad Twin.  Note the number of biblical references, Greek mythological names, and titles of books that we have glimpsed on Lost (these items are starred*).  The significance of the literature is as yet unknown.

the hanso connection

Paul Artisan, preoccupied on his way to the Widmore Corporation offices, misremembered the floor and disembarked the elevator on the 42nd rather than 47th floor.    He found himself at the entrance to The Hanso Foundation.  The 42nd floor is filled with cubicles behind a glass partition.  The people were dressed in white and mint green lab coats.  Both men and women wore their hair neat and short.  The receptionist’s smile is described as “robotic” as she informs Artisan that he is on the wrong floor and then “mechanical” as she indicates a plaque.  Sounds awfully sterile, doesn’t it?

The plaque mounted on the Hanso wall states:

The Hanso Foundation stands at the vanguard of social and scientific research for the advancement of the human race.  For forty years, the foundation has offered grants to worthy experiments designed to further the evolution of the human race and provide technological solutions to the most pressing problems of our time.  The Hanso Foundation:  a commitment to encouraging excellence in science and technology and furthering the cause of human development. 

Cliff Widmore has only one ally on the board of directors of the Widmore Corporation, Thomas Werner Mittelwerk from the Hanso Group.  The general consensus of the board was that Mittelwerk was dangerous, ambitious, and brilliantly two faced.  He was thought to have an agenda all his own.  If we listen to Rachel Blake from TLE, his agenda is reprehensible.

Arthur Widmore, in a discussion with Cliff, says, “I don’t trust [Mittelwerk]. I think he’s sneaky.  I much preferred having Alvar on the board.  Alvar is a gentleman… [Mittelwerk has] Everything but morals… Everything except a conscience.”

Thus ends mention of Alvar Hanso, the elusive founder of the Hanso Foundation and Thomas Werner Mittelwerk, the apparent force at the helm.  An interesting tidbit:  Mittelwerk is the name of the underground factory where Hitler had concentration camp laborers assembling rockets.

As I stated earlier, Widmore has dealings with Paik Heavy Industry. PHI is located in South Korea.  On Lost, Sun’s maiden name is Paik and we can hypothesize that her father is head of PHI.  On TLE, Paik Motors was mentioned in a letter to Thomas Mittelwerk from Hoo-Gon Choi, a minister from Korea.  Also part of TLE:  Paik Heavy Industries was commissioned to build a ship for Thomas Mittelwerk called “Helgus Antonius”.   My hope is that Mittelwerk’s contact with Paik will lead into dealings with the Widmores.  Based on the theory that Hanso continues with its Life Extension Project, it makes sense that they would continue to have ties to Widmore’s Pharmaceutical division.

purgatory

Much has been made of the anagram for Gary Troup’s name, and there are several references to purgatory scattered throughout The Bad Twin.

A morgue is described as purgatory.  A discussion between Manny Weissman and Paul Artisan references Dante’s views of purgatory.  Weisman says, “Purgatory is a second chance.  The last chance.  The hard road and the only road that can lead to redemp-“.  This statement sounds a lot like our Lost Island.

Zander was living in “… a self invented purgatory here in the middle of paradise”. 

Later Artisan says, “That’s the whole idea of purgatory, right? ... Like in Dante.  People suffer, but there’s a point to it, a purpose.  It’s a last chance to cleanse your sins, clear your conscience, so you can qualify for heaven.” Zander answers, “If there’s no afterlife, no eternal reward to shoot for, then purgatory is now.”

And at the novel’s end, after a description of Zander’s torment (being caught between being bad and wanting to be good), Manny Weissman says, “Sort of in his own private purgatory.”

All of these purgatorial references may simply be a distraction to keep us from discovering real truths about Lost.  If not, they may indicate that the Lost Island is some kind of purgatory, if not in the biblical sense, then as a weigh station to the next part of life. 

magic phrases

All through The Bad Twin, there are certain phrases and words that seem to stand out.  Whether these expressions prove significant in the scheme of either the show or the ARG remains to be seen.

“Doppelganger” This literally means double-goer.  The idea that everyone has a double and that there is always a longing to find that double, but if a person finds his or her doppelganger, they would be destroyed. (As explained by Manny Weissman)  Another definition of doppelganger is the ghostly double of a living person who stays with them and is seen only by its owner.  Doppelgangers may be hateful or cruel and plant ideas that may not be favorable in mind of the person they shadow.  The doppelganger casts no shadow nor reveals its reflection.

“In time for breakfast tomorrow at the Floridita” is a phrase coined by Artisan before departing for Cuba.

“It isn’t like a string of numbers, you add them up, there’s only one solution.  Any number of possible outcomes can emerge from a single set of facts.” Said by Manny Weissman, explaining why sometimes logic and sound deductions sometimes don’t match reality.  I believe this to be a nod to the Lost numbers and the tendency for them to surface in unexpected places.

“The wise man stays at home.” Emerson quoted by Weissman as Artisan returned home from Cuba.

“… and a view that was almost oceanic in its scale. “  This is said by Cliff Widmore describing the view from his CEO office, in a thinly veiled reference to Oceanic Air.

John Locke, a philosopher who argued that the highest goal of our intelligence is the careful and constant pursuit of true and solid happiness, was discussed by Artisan and Elio from the Helios Foundation.  Elio stated that Locke is saying “… the best use of our reason is in learning to be happy.” Sound like our Locke from the Island? 

“Redemption… the most beautiful word in the English language,” as declared by Zander Widmore.

“Our meeting with destiny was inevitable,” from a dissertation on destiny by the reverend at Cliff Widmore’s funeral.  John Locke has spoken of the Island as his destiny

foundations

Hanso is not the only foundation mentioned in The Bad Twin.  Other foundations include:  Helios, New Eden, Spirit Friends, and Noah’s Ark.

The names of the New Eden and Noah’s Ark foundations seem to hint at the evolution of the human race, as stated in the Hanso Foundation motto.  Spirit Friends could be a reference to some of the phenomena on the Island in Lost:  The black smoke or perhaps those who can appear where they are not, like Walt.  Helios will be addressed below.

mythology

Mythology is defined as: A body or collection of myths belonging to a people and addressing their origin, history, deities, ancestors, and heroes; or  A body of myths associated with an event, individual, or institution as in: “A new mythology, essential to Lost…”

I find it interesting that Lost, a show with a complex mythology designed to slap viewers from their couch potato stance and pull them headlong into an indescribably unique journey requiring intricate thought and dynamic involvement, seems to be pulling elements of several Greek myths or mythological figures into its orbit.   Is this a sly wink to the concept of a show having a “mythology” or will mythology actually play a part in the larger scheme?  Allow me to outline some of the Greek references contained within The Bad Twin.

Helios, one of the foundations mentioned above, is also the name of the God of the Sun in Greek mythology.  Some sources indicate that Helios is the son of Hyperion (a clever tie to the publisher?), the God of Observation.  Argos, Artisan’s dog, may be named after the dog that belonged to hero of Greek myths and central character of Homer’s The Odyssey, Odysseus. Argos waited for Odysseus’ return from the Trojan War for ten years (during which he led the invasion of Troy within the Trojan Horse) and was the first one to recognize him upon his homecoming.  Argos in The Bad Twin was left behind as Artisan sought answers to the Widmore mystery.  Another interesting coincidence is that Odysseus was married to Penelope, a name shared by Penelope Widmore in Lost.  Eros was the Greek god of lust, love, and sex, and was known as a god of fertility.  Thanatos was the personification of death, who unfortunately possessed a gullibility that made him easy to deceive.  Lost has only dabbled in love, but has been plagued by death.    Persephone, who shares a name with our Hanso hacker, was the daughter of Zeus and Demeter.  She was abducted by Hades, who made her the Queen of the Underworld.  (Note that Helios told Demeter of the abduction.) In Persephone’s absence, Demeter (Goddess of Harvest) withdrew and refused to make anything grow. The earth became barren and dark.  Zeus made a deal with Hades for Persephone’s return, but first Hades tricked her into eating 4 pomegranate seeds.  The seeds ensured that she would return to the Underworld for 4 months of each year (explaining our winter).  Each time Persephone returned from Hades, the earth would flourish, making her a symbol of rebirth and new beginnings.  What does that say about our hacker?  Could she have been a victim of the Hanso Foundation’s murky experiments?  Does she see herself as the person who will bring us past the darkness and back into the light?

Another Greek reference, albeit an oblique one, is PHI.  PHI, the acronym for Paik Heavy Industry, could also be an allusion to the Greek letter/symbol φ or Φ.  One meaning of Phi is as a symbol for the Golden Ratio of 1.618.  Of special interest, though, is upper case Phi [Φ] which is used as a symbol for the magnetic flux [The  group  of  magnetic  field  lines  emitted outward  from  the  north  pole  of  a  magnet] in physics.  This would certainly tie Paik Heavy Industry to the Island.  I postulate that PHI is responsible for the building the Dharma hatches and will figure heavily into the mythology as more Lost secrets are revealed.

One last Greek reference that I am compelled to mention is actually from the TLE: the “Helgus Antonius”.  The medical quarantine ship was apparently requisitioned by Thomas Werner Mittelwerk.  Antonius was the surname of an important, but not patrician, family of ancient Rome.  The Antonius family claimed to be descended from the Greek God, Hercules.  Helgus may be derived from Helgi, which I am only able to trace to a Nordic name meaning holy.  The name is still used in Iceland, where the intrepid Rachel Blake has traveled to find clues about Hanso.

Clue or Oversight?

Mistake or clue?  In The Bad Twin, it notes on page 204 that the Scottish feudal system was abolished on November 28, 2004.  If Oceanic flight 815 crashed in September of 2004, how could Gary Troup have included this date in his novel?  Either the editor got lazy or Gary Troup isn’t as dead and lost as we thought…

final notes

The Bad Twin is somewhat of a disappointment for Lost fans.  As a stand alone, it is a truly mediocre novel.  I was hoping for more active tie-ins to the show, whether background or foreshadowing.  While the advertising intimates that there is information to be gleaned from its pages, The Bad Twin has yet to yield any of these secrets.  I am hoping that over the remainder of the summer, Rachel Blake will read The Bad Twin and either point to the hidden information or utilize bits for her convoluted clues.

Dorothy Distefano

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