Yellow Mustang Girl

47—The Importance and Reoccurrence of this Prime Number

As I have been re-watching the first two seasons of Alias on DVD, I began to notice a reoccurring use of the number 47. I wonder what the importance of this is....

Someone once mentioned to me that some director or writer of one of the Star Trek series always used some four or five digit number like 61850 in the episodes. It would appear as a start date, as a combination, as a port, etc. The number ended up being the writer or director's birthday.

I wonder what's so important about 47. Have you guys discussed this before?

Of course 47 is important to Alias because it becomes in episdoe Page 47 the page that the prophecy of whom we believe to be Sydney is discovered.

However, even back in the pilot episode, the number 47 appeared. Marshall had made a camera in the form of a lipstick tube that could take 40 pictures. He wanted to get it up to 47, because it's a prime number.

So I thought it's be fun to discuss this number, it's importance, it's reoccurrence.

If you have a theory or true knowledge of why 47 is important or used so often by the writer, then post. [img]smilies/biggrin.gif[/img] If you watch an old episode (either via DVD or via it's airing for the first time in your country) and you notice 47, post. [img]smilies/biggrin.gif[/img]

I'll have to go back and rewatch some episodes, but I remember 47 being a combination to something Will was opening, or maybe the locker he went to. There was also a dock that Sydney had a meeting at in one episode that ended in 47.