The show's protagonist, Joe Miller, is searching for these objects to rescue his daughter, Anna, who has disappeared inside the Room.

One of the Objects, the undeveloped Polaroid picture, allows a person to view the tenth room as it was at the time of the Event by standing at its now vacant location at the Sunshine Motel ruins.

Martin Ruber purports that the Occupant confirmed this particular theory for him in a vision, making him the self-proclaimed "Prophet of the Objects", but his near-death state from dehydration and heat exhaustion at the time casts doubt on his claims.

The Deck of Cards, which gives one who is exposed to it a vision of the events during the Collectors' failed attempt to use the objects on Room 9 of the hotel, may be the source of their beliefs, as it is used in their rituals.

Another (though not necessarily contradictory) view of the phenomenon suggests that reality was somehow shattered at the location of the Room, thus separating it and everything in it from time and giving its contents metaphysical abilities.

The Objects are powerful artifacts and consist of roughly 100 everyday items one would expect to find in an occupied motel room in the 1960s.

The Objects include the Key, which opens any hinged door that has a lock and turns that door into a portal to the Lost Room; the Comb, which stops time for ten seconds; the Glass Eye, which can heal or destroy living things; the Pen, which microwaves living things and short-circuits electronics; and the Scissors, which rotate a target, such as a person, in three dimensions.

There are at least three cabals: The website Television Heaven explains the genesis: [T]he series came about from a combination of two ideas that Leone had been sitting on for years.

The site's critical consensus reads, "The Lost Room dazzles with its bold supernatural vision, even when its mythology becomes overwhelmingly convoluted.

"[9] Craig Ceramist wrote in 2012, "The show (as with most good sci-fi series) amassed a huge cult following [...] Today fans are still trying to track down copies of 'the objects' that appear in the programmes.

"[8] Mike Duffy of the Detroit Free Press called it "a terrific, six-hour miniseries, beautifully written and sharply directed."

David Hinckley of the New York Daily News called it "a very complex metaphysical mystery, the enjoyment of which comes, in no small part, from the surprises that spill out as it slowly unfurls."

"[10] Entertainment Weekly's Gillian Flynn writes, "The Lost Room is stark noir, pulpy fiction, spiritual thriller, hero's-quest fantasy, and brainy videogame all at once.

"[13] The website Interesting Engineering (which gives meticulous descriptions of the Objects and considers scientific aspects of the miniseries), calls it "brilliant" and "a mind-bending excursion.

"[3] Rob Buckley of website The Medium is Not Enough writes, "It alternates between dramatic, comedic, and intellectually exciting within minutes and keeps you engrossed the whole way through, avoiding most of the possible clichés that could have arisen.

"[14] Den of Geek, awarding it 5 stars out of 5, praises it as being full of twists with "a complexed, careful and utterly believable mythos.

Josie Kafka of Doux Reviews (who finds the miniseries "enchanting" and compares it with Primer) writes, "Krause brings a necessary deadpan incredulity to the proceedings," and declares Pollak and Jacobson to be standouts.

"[4] Moria, a website for fantastic-genre reviewing, in a 4-out-of-4-star review calls in several actors and actresses for attention, especially the "good comic support from Peter Jacobson as a homeless man with the bus ticket, while Ewen Bremner gives an exceedingly eccentric and strange, albeit by the end of the episode, also endearingly likeable performance as the man with the comb.