The next and final season of Lost is a little more than a month away. With less than 20 episodes to go, there are a lot of unanswered questions that remain part of the show’s mythology. This series, “I Want Some Freakin’ Answers” will take a look at some of the lesser mysteries that I’d still like answered.
He was the bassist for Foghat.
He was also the Russian President for two seasons of 24.
And as an accomplished voice actor, he’s been a part of shows like The Critic and nearly every Star Wars video game until a few years ago.
Yet it’s Nick Jameson‘s role as Australian psychic Richard Malkin that interests Lost fans. He’s only appeared in two flashback episodes, and is potentially responsible for two characters getting on Flight 815, which brought them to the mysterious Island.
Or maybe not.
Claire visits Malkin, who appears spooked by some vision of Claire’s baby. After finding out that Claire intends to put her baby up for adoption, Malkin later implores Claire that she must not allow the “baby to be raised by another.” However, he later changes his tune, saying he knows of an acceptable couple in Los Angeles, but she has only one option for transportation: Oceanic 815. In fact, he’s quite adamant about it:
MALKIN: It has to be this flight. It can’t be any other. They’re already scheduled to meet you when you arrive. Flight 815. Flight 815.
We next meet Malkin in Season 2, during Eko’s flashback episode “?,” when his daughter has a near-death experience. Malkin tells Eko the near-death experience was mistake and that he’s a fraud as a psychic. Only, we later find out that Malkin’s daughter did experience something supernatural.
(And yes, there’s a deleted scene where Malkin admits to Eko that he was paid by the Los Angeles couple to convince Claire to give them her baby. But since it was deleted, it never happened).
So the question remains: is Richard Malkin for real or a fraud?
It would tie in well to Lost’s mythology if Malkin was able to see the future. Claire and Aaron are important players in the whole story. It’s hinted at the end of Raised by Another that Claire suspects Malkin knew all along that Flight 815 would crash and she would survive. This would ensure that Claire and no one else raised the baby.
But Malkin’s encounter with Eko (and the deleted scene) are evidence that Claire’s being on 815 was coincidental and he was perpetrating a ruse.
I’d like to think that Malkin was an important player. The biggest piece of evidence is his insistence on Flight 815. It’s likely though, that this mystery won’t be answered. There are other, bigger mysteries, and this might not fit in to the time left to tell the Lost story.
Still, as long as there isn’t a Foghat reunion going on this winter, maybe Malkin will reappear on Lost one last time.
The psychic was a creep to Claire, but with the “it must be this flight” line I think he was at one time important, like Abadon, someone who got people to places they needed to go. Maybe he worked for Widmore. Or maybe he got repurposed into someone like Hawking.
Cool fact about Jamison. With all the Dark Forces I’ve played, I’ve heard his voice thousands of times and have never realized it.
Cool idea about the “repurposing.” I’d like to know after all is said and done what all their alternate plans were that didn’t make it throughout the series. Like what would have happened with Eko had the actor not flaked out, and other plot/character items that never made the screen.
[…] better. And it’s unsure who Jack’s final target will be this year- whether it’s the former bassist of Foghat Russian President Suvarov or will end up being U.S. President Taylor (although every other time […]
What i know is that there are real pyschics and bogus pyschics that just wants your money.””-
somehow i believe in psychic ability, i know a few person who may demonstrate such ability’-.