Water theme

Daniel carries Alex to the ocean

Fans note that references abound relating water, in particular swimming, boating, and the ocean, with danger. It is not clear whether or how this motif will affect future plot developments.

This page details the known linkages between the motif of water and danger.

Jonas and the Sea

The most concrete associations between water and danger come from Jonas' blogs.

• First, the name Jonas is etymologically related to the Biblical Jonah, who was lost at sea (as were Jonas's parents) and swallowed by a fish because of his unwillingness to perform his religious duties. See LGPedia entry for Biblical references in LG15

• Jonas is an avid sailor and, as he implies in Trust Issues, is attracted to sailing precisely because of his thrill-seeking love of the dangers involved. He describes a dangerous day's sail during a small craft advisory, "This thing was...like the most badass roller coaster you can imagine."

• One of the clearest links between the water motif and danger is demonstrated by the fate of Jonas's parents. In Happy Thanksgiving, Jonas reveals that his parents were lost at sea while sailing along Longitude 140. Presumably, they drowned.

• General Firstsayer speculated that because Jonas is associated with the sea, associations with the water motif may apply to him as well, "When calm, the sea is beautiful, enticing, and full of opportunity. But when storms hit, the ocean becomes dangerous, unpredictable, and offers doom." Such speculation might conclude that Jonas is a potentially volatile and dangerous character.

Motel Pool

A Watcher at the Motel Pool.

• In Motel Pool, Bree, Daniel, and Bree's stuffed animals all refuse to go swimming. Bree also mentions that Owen really should be willing to swim because of his previous exploits in the Alaskan Olympics for cold water swimming. This reference plausibly suggests that the water motif, and hence the danger linkage, may be associated with the location given for Adak Island, AK.

Exploring The Motel

• Fans suggest that it may be no coincidence that the first time a Watcher was spotted in the series, it occurred by the motel pool.

• In the final Las Vegas video, Bree, Daniel and Jonas are at a water show when the Order finds them.

Gemma and Water

• Gemma's flat contains a picture over her bed depicting waves crashing violently against a rocky shore.

• Gemma, in Don't Trust the Authorities, relates her account of her favorite former Olympic sport, Plunge for the Distance:

It was featured in the 1904 Olympics. It requires participants to dive into the pool,
remain rigid, and float as far as they could. And they could not draw a single breath. 
I have this visual in my head of these logs just bobbing about like bumper cars.

Outside of the context of water and danger as linked motifs, Gemma's remark seems highly irrelevant. Given this context, her account of Plunge for the Distance takes on a more sinister air, conjuring up the image of floating dead bodies. It is possible, though highly speculative, that this is foreshadowing of an LG15 disaster at sea.

• Gemma also mentions The Miller's Tale, by Chaucer, in Someone's Following You. The principal plot development of The Miller's Tale is that a character is deceived through phoney prophecy of an impending flood of Biblical proportions.

Tachyon and Water

• In the Description attached to They Are Watching, Tachyon writes:

The ocean is frightening, if only because you simply cannot see all that 
lurks in the vast depths below. Who knows what lies beneath the surface?

• Also in They Are Watching, Tachyon says:

so far. so good.
but I felt the tide shift yesterday
[they are watching]