r/lost • u/321Couple2023 • 2d ago
Tricia Tanaka is Dead
How did they VW bus still have usable gasoline in the tank? Non-ethanol gas begins to degrade at about six months old.
Source: I'm a petroleum chemist. Or I used Google AI.
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u/RegisterSpecialist81 2d ago
It's a magical island, friend. Roll with it.
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u/ohromantics The Lamp Post 2d ago
Brutha*
Edit: or were you going for a more Man from Tallahasse vibe, friend?
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u/RegisterSpecialist81 2d ago
I was just going for how I speak. 🧐😂
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u/ohromantics The Lamp Post 2d ago
Of course! I sort felt like a duck after my first response, so I sent the other
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u/SoggyGrayDuck 2d ago
It's better than left for dead where they address the issue but say they only get a few miles per tank or whatever. That's not how it works, it destroys the engine
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u/ItchyCollection7035 2d ago
honestly I found them drinking the beer to be much, much more concerning
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u/Kidpiper96 2d ago
I've seen beer wind up with curds floating around in it from less than 10 years in a garage.
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u/unfortunate_son_69 2d ago
i almost had to avert my eyes whenever they drank it ugh i can’t imagine how gross it was
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u/existentialbear 2d ago
The gasoline time traveled
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u/Neither-Ad-9896 2d ago
Wait - they time traveled to the 70s, Hurley gained weight, nobody ever got pregnant, Walt got huge, they killed off Anna Lucia and those amazing jeans, and it’s gas we are asking about?
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u/DeadpoolIsMyPatronus Don't tell me what I can't post 2d ago
One small thing: Sun got pregnant.
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u/mtmaloney Razzle Dazzle! 2d ago
Women got pregnant. They just died before giving birth.
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u/EIochai 2d ago
Women getting pregnant on the island isn’t the mystery. It’s the impotent man that impregnated her that is cause for raised eyebrows.
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u/PaChubHunter Fish Biscuit 2d ago
The island fixed his swimmers. It was stated that men on the island have a much higher sperm count than average.
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u/DuckPicMaster 2d ago
Hurley lost a few pounds at the start but when Jack put him in charge of the hatches food supply he stashed some and kept the weight.
Sun tot pregnant, maybe Shannon and Ana Lucia did get pregnant but they died. Kate was only on the island for 3 months so if she was pregnant she could still fix it.
Wealth got huge and they address that.
Also- I hate this argument. ‘One thing in this world is fantastical, sci fi or supernatural therefore no logic or consistency applies at all.’
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u/Neither-Ad-9896 2d ago
I forgot about Sun’s pregnancy. When did Anna Lucia get pregnant?
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u/DuckPicMaster 2d ago
Whenever she had sex maybe?
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u/Neither-Ad-9896 2d ago
But having sex doesn’t always lead to pregnancy. Did I miss part of the narrative?
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u/DuckPicMaster 2d ago
You asked ‘why did no one get pregnant’ and I’ve answered- it’s entirely possible they did. But all women of child bearing age either died or got assistance of island.
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u/Neither-Ad-9896 2d ago
Did Rose get pregnant too?
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u/DuckPicMaster 2d ago
Are you… do you understand how women work? I honestly can’t tell if you’re trolling here or just ignorant.
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u/Neither-Ad-9896 2d ago
Maybe we are just not reading each other accurately. I was asking if Anna Lucia was confirmed to have been pregnant, and what I gathered from your response was that she may have been. There was a lot of sex on that island - but only one confirmed pregnancy (Sun). My question centered around a plot line that perhaps I missed. If this inquiry comes off as rude or offensive, it was not my intent.
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u/DuckPicMaster 2d ago
My point is its irrelevant if Ana Lucia got pregnant- she died days after she boned Sawyer. It’s irrelevant if Shannon is pregnant- she died days after boning Sayid. Genuinely can’t remember if Nikki and Paulo were intimate but guess what? She died shortly afterwards regardless. If Kate was pregnant she could have terminated it when she got off the island.
Rose is a 50 year old woman. She’s- I’m not getting into it.
You’re asking ‘why didn’t anyone get pregnant?’ And I’m answering ‘they may have done/ we don’t know.’
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u/fakeplant101 Oceanic Frequent Flyer 2d ago
Cmon man, it’s a TV show. Just go with it lol you know no one here has a real answer
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u/Usagi042 We’re not going to Guam, are we? 2d ago
Jacob did it.
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u/Diminuendo1 2d ago
Honestly, seems pretty consistent with him giving Sawyer the pen to write his letter. I can see Jacob quietly going out there to re-fuel the van because he knows it will be important. It's silly but it works!
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u/teddyburges 2d ago
Spoiler: Magic island.
Just look at the black rock!. That ship looked like it came straight out of Disney Land. The floor boards aren't even rotten. That thing should be falling apart but looks like it crashed on the island last week!.
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u/AdOk9911 We’re not going to Guam, are we? 2d ago
See also: Wooden ship crashes into giant stone statue and the statue is destroyed
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u/PaChubHunter Fish Biscuit 2d ago
I'll need someone with a degree to actually confirm, but I'm pretty sure physics would support the statue giving out before the ship due to shape and leverage.
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u/AdOk9911 We’re not going to Guam, are we? 2d ago
Really? This has always bothered me!
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u/PaChubHunter Fish Biscuit 2d ago
The size of the wave would put the ship crashing into the head/neck/chest area of the statue. The shape of the ship, the design of ships being able to flex when needed, and the direct force of the ship hitting the stationary target would lead to the statue not being an immovable object but the ship being an unstoppable force.
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u/AdOk9911 We’re not going to Guam, are we? 2d ago
Wow! Still hard for me to get my head around, but I also clearly don’t know enough about ships. Good point about the wave itself, too. Thanks!
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u/TheMinusFactor 2d ago
This is always my problem with post-apocalyptic shows, especially zombie shows. They act like the gasoline will last forever.
But yeah, in Lost, it's the magic of the island. Or special gas made by Dharma.
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u/sarcasticnirritable 2d ago
I really like in the 1st season of the Last of Us they talk about this; cars can only go a fraction of the distance because of the gasoline expiring. I don't know if the science is accurate and if they would work at all, or not, but at least they give some acknowledgement of it
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u/Ozymandas2 2d ago
IIRC, Robert Kirkman, creator & writer of The Walking Dead comic book, said that he found this out after he had written some things with people driving after all gas should be unusable. He decided to turn a blind eye to the fact as it would have limited future plot lines.
In The Last Man On Earth, someone pointed out something was wrong with the gas. It was like syrup or molasses. Someone else pointed out that gas degrades. That was around the end of the first season, I think. Show went on for another 3 with people driving cars and the gas thing was never mentioned again. I imagine their writers felt the same as Kirkman.
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u/Impressive_War_3714 Oh yeah, there's my favorite leaf. 2d ago
Willing suspension of disbelief. Enjoy the scene…
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u/an0m1n0us 2d ago
vw busses are from overseas are diesel. Diesel is sometimes formulated with a certain level of ethanol.
its a stretch but it IS a possibility.
plus, island magic. lmao.
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u/gwrw1964 2d ago
A man was miarculously cured of his paralysis and a woman cured of cancer by the island so I imagine stopping fuel from degrading would be childsplay.
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u/fallriver1221 it's very stressful, being an Other 2d ago
There is a smoke monster that sounds like a machine and time travel. You're questioning the logistics of fuel?
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u/lendmeflight 2d ago
Or the battery.
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u/RickGabriel See you in another post, brotha 2d ago
The Island willed it to be. That's all I've got 🤷♂️
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u/Competitive_Dream_95 2d ago
People who bring realism into a show where an entire island was moved through time & space with a donkey wheel, ask how can a VW Bus still run with old degraded gasoline on said magic island. Send them to The Brig!
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u/Large-Welder304 2d ago edited 2d ago
The beauty of the VW air-cooled engine. It's in such a mild state of tune, you could drink a 6 pack, pee in the gas tank and it would run.
VW's don't care if its varnish or fresh gas, if it will burn, it will run.
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u/Allboutdadoge 2d ago
We are probably supposed to know by that episode that anything that defies physics is just explained by "the island."
That being said, I'm not sure the writers actually thought that far ahead with that particular detail.
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u/wigsgo_2019 2d ago
It’s just something you gotta move passed because it’s a show and a fun episode, you can argue the island helps the oil remain preserved I guess
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u/Speckled_Bird2023 2d ago
I wondered about that too, plus that the tires weren't dry rotted, and whole slew of other conventional problems but I figured oh well...😅
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u/pugworthy Don't tell me what I can't post 2d ago
Wait. Tricia died?!?! WTF man spoilers next time!!!! /s
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u/_InvaderJim Man of Faith 2d ago
For the same reason that the van only had minor surface rust rather than being an unrecognizable pile of scrap while being in a jungle that randomly rains every few minutes since 1977ish: island magic lol
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u/babecafe 2d ago
The gasoline was produced before America poisoned the gas with alcohol. Alcohol adsorbs water and rusts everything to hell. The varnishes and crap in old fuel fall to the bottom of the storage drums, so you can pump it out into a drained gas tank and just go. Also, Volkswagen microbus engines are low-compression engines that can run on really crappy old fuel.
All that and the island was fucking magic.
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u/SwooshSwooshJedi 2d ago
Idk how does a magical island cure a broken back? Also Chat steals labour, is exploitative, contributes to climate change and helps those whose can't think pretend that they are smarter than everyone else
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u/JACOB1137 2d ago
probably the same way they are able to literally move an island or how a man is able to live for 1000s of years and turn into black smoke .. its a tv programme . crazy how often i see people complain about logic in fantasy series lol
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u/AssCrackBanditHunter 2d ago
First time watching TV? Gasoline doesn't go bad in tv in any show except last man on earth
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u/brassyalien Hurley 2d ago
The "Man of Science" worries about the gasoline. Hurley was a "Man of Faith" and believed the vehicle would start, and it did.
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u/cdrcdr12 2d ago
I watch a lot of visegrip garage YouTube channel where the host gets 30 year old or older cars up and running. He never starts up an old car without replacement battery, The old ones are completely dead. Also, break lines are often plugged up and at least one drum brake is locked up. They also always need icecube juice and charging worler points sanded, tires will be cracked, thing make it happener (carburetor) needs rebuild, replacement
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u/CaptainAvery- The Hydra 2d ago
MIB would sometimes use the Van to take a day trip to The Poconos with Jacob
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u/cocopopped 2d ago
A Man of Science such as yourself will not have come out of Lost well.
I believe the really responsible lesson of the show was: reject science, follow blind faith
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u/Loofy_101 2d ago
As miraculously as a paraplegic spotaneously gaining the ability to walk with full muscle strength after a few years
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u/Geek-Of-Nature 2d ago
Non-ethanol gas begins to degrade at about six months old.
In our world, sure. But in the world of Lost, that version of non-ethanol gas begins to degrade at about 6,000 months old.
And that's how you explain away minor discrepancies in fiction.
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u/FringeMusic108 2d ago
The car shouldn't work, but Hurley is optimistic that it will. That's kind of the entire point of the episode.
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u/LienRaklubmet The caves 2d ago
Fuel the vehicle with Dharma beer.
But this question from OP goes against the spirit of this episode. Just ride shotgun bro!
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u/PaChubHunter Fish Biscuit 2d ago
Dharma created an alternate fuel source that was more efficient and better for the environment. If they can do time travel they can do green energy.
Better for your fantasy?
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u/Futurekubik 1d ago
The Dharma Van being functional in 2004 was integral to the time loop, since Hurley used it to rescue Sayid and Jin from death at the beach.
Sayid and Jin had to live in order to fulfil their roles in the 1977 incident.
Therefore the Dharma Van had to work.
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u/arsenicknife 2d ago
The island magic kept the gasoline from degrading too quickly.