Why does Jack launch a hiking expedition to show them something he could have easily explained in about 5 minutes on the beach, wasting not only time but the dynamite?

Also - why risk the noise of the explosion? How could they be sure that the Others were far enough away that they wouldn't hear that and be tipped off somehow that something was going on?

I guess it could be for TV effect, but to me it seemed a bit pointless. Grandstanding (again) by Jack.

My son and I said the same thing last night. It's not like the Losties didn't know there was dynamite, and that it would indeed explode. (Even the redshirts have to have wondered where Artz went, and you know they were told.)

They could easily have alerted the Others to their plans by Jack's little demonstration. Of course, Jack was annoying the crap out of me last night anyway, with his attitude.

But Jack knows the Losties don't entirely trust him all that much right now. Maybe he felt the need to actually show them, to try to get them to trust him, and show that he actually did have a plan and he wasn't lying.

So why not just SHOW them the dynamite? No need to blow it up... some of them were there when Artz went boom. They know it works.

All this little demo did was waste some of the dynamite, and give the possibility for an Other to see/hear the explosion.

That is a good point ILE. He's just stupid enough to think trust should be earned by some big production too. *sigh*

I think it was just meant to be cool for tv.

Admit it, you all liked the explosion LOL. I'd prefer to see an explosion while watching than just, "Here, see this dynamite? We're gonna use it later."

I think it was just meant to be a cool tv moment. Much more interesting to see the explosion than some sticks of dynamite.

Yes it did make for great TV, and that's likely the reason they showed it. Doesn't make it seem like any less of a stupid thing to do if this were real life, but it does make for a great special effect.

Yeah, but even if the Others heard it, would it really matter? They know where the Losties are, and they are still coming to get them. Sure, they'd know they had some explosive thing happen, but what could they get from it? What could they do?

Question - how long did Ryan say it would take to get there when Ben asked? Or did he?

Was it something like 6 hours? That's sticking in my mind right now. I'm pretty sure that he said before nightfall as well. And Alex told Karl that if he used the outrigger he could get there "a few hours" quicker.

And the only way for Jack's plan to have worked is if the Others have no clue that there is dynamite in the tents. So if they knew the Losties had dynamite, they'd be much more leery of walking into a trap. It might cause them to change their plans to something Juliet wouldn't have known about.

Regardless, it was a chance for the special effects guys to blow something up, and to make an exciting scene, and you are right, that's probably the main reason they included it.

If they were 6 hours away, would they have noticed the explosion?

I'm a 2 hour walk from my high school... if I blew up a tree in my yard, there's no chance in hell someone would be able to notice it if they were at the school.

No, not likely. But you never know who is lurking where, so it's still not smart. For all Jack knows, Ben could have not trusted Juliet entirely, and sent someone to hide nearby and keep an eye on things.

Not to mention, have they all forgotten Smokey? I wouldn't want to call my attention to him if I didn't need to.

Was the tree explosion scene right before the Others camp scene? The bottom of the screen said it was "six hours ago". Trying to formulate a timeline...

Oh that's why I remember six hours, Borky. Thanks. I think then that he just said they could be there before nightfall, and Alex said Karl could get there a few hours faster.

I'd have to rewatch to be sure of the timeline, Borky.

6 hours away? Geesh the island is huge

I was wondering that too, why use the dynamite and make everyone go on a hike, just to blow up a tree? LOL

But I agree, it was probably to make a cool TV moment.

I think Jack wanted a visual aid so the Losties wuld trust him again.  But I still don't trust him.

Quote :

ILovedEko wrote : But Jack knows the Losties don't entirely trust him all that much right now. Maybe he felt the need to actually show them, to try to get them to trust him, and show that he actually did have a plan and he wasn't lying.

Yup

And as a bonus, he got to give the people who not only trusted him - but launched a crappy rescue mission when he told them not to & blew up his way off the island - a good scare ...

The test explosion was wasteful of time and resources, I agree.  But I think Jack felt the need to show strength to the Losties.

On a side note, the sounds of an explosion can travel incredible distances.  When working in the wilderness in California, we heard explosions every day around 3pm (faint booms).  We finally learned they were from 150 miles away at a military base where they were disposing of old munitions.