DHARMA Invades Disney World... and Other Tidbits While U Wait

Hello my dear friends -

I hope you have all had a nice 5-week hiatus from Lost. But now, it's time to get serious again... the show returns this Thursday (April 24th), an hour later than it aired before: 10 PM EST.

Those of you who have been keeping up with me via According to e know that I recently went to Orlando, and while I was on the "It's a Small World" ride in Disney World, I snapped the picture above. They have a ton of signs for common greetings from all over the globe, and the one for "Namasté" caught my eye. Dr. Marvin Candle/Mark Wickmund/Edgar Hallowax would always say this in the myriad of DHARMA films we've seen over the course of the series. I'm pretty sure that means that DHARMA has infiltrated the Magic Kingdom! Further proof: I was told that in Disney's Hollywood Studios, there is a "Down the Hatch" fish sandwich on the menu. Alas, I did not see Locke at any of the theme parks.

RANDOM STUFF ABOUT THE SHOW

I wrote a recap of the latest podcast with the producers below, but I thought I would put some other news about the show first, for those of you who want to avoid even the very teeny spoilers contained in the next section. So here are a few noteworthy things I've come across over the past month.

- Charlie's not dead! (To Kate, at least. In real life.) Dominic Monaghan and Evangeline Lilly are back together after breaking up for a while. Previously they had dated for three years and there had even been engagement rumors flying around. I always thought they seemed like a strange couple... so I am surprised they are back together. But hey, whatever works--at least we know that in real life, Kate doesn't go for guys who are anything like Jack or Sawyer!

- ABC.com has launched an online game of sorts called LOSTscape. I clicked around in it for a few minutes but haven't spent enough time on it to say much else... it looked pretty cool, though. Supposedly there are 34 "objects" from the show you are supposed to collect and there are hidden sneak peek videos for upcoming episodes as well.

- The remainder of the Season Four schedule has now been set in stone:

Episode 9 - The Shape of Things to Come - 4/24

Episode 10 -5/1

Episode 11 - 5/8

Episode 12 - The first hour of a three-hour finale - 5/15

ONE WEEK BREAK (which is good, because then I can go see Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull on opening night, May 22!)

Episodes 13 and 14 - Parts 2 and 3 of the 3-hour finale - 5/29

When I saw this schedule, my reaction was "D'AHHHH!" I am traveling on both 5/15 AND 5/29. I guess ABC didn't feel it necessary to consult me before finalizing these air dates. But the good news is that we are actually getting back one of the three hours that the producers had dropped from the schedule this season because of the writers' strike (the two remaining hours will be added to Seasons Five and Six).

- Here is a new video released by ABC entitled "Everything you need to know about Lost in 4:24." (4/24... the date the show comes back on the air... get it?) This video includes clips from Season Four... they are especially funny, and start around the 3-minute mark. The best is: "Flash-forward to an unspecified time in the future: Jack has a beard."

- And finally, here's the preview for Thursday's mini-premiere, also known as Episode 9: "The Shape of Things to Come." It's the same clip that played at the end of "Meet Kevin Johnson" five weeks ago, but I tell ya, when Aaron scream-cries, I still get chills.


The podcast below does not contain any information that I would consider to be a spoiler. All they do is say whether or not we will learn certain things in the coming episodes--they give no specific details. But if you don't want to know even the smallest bit of intel, then bid this post adieu and check back next week for my Episode 9 write-up.


OFFICIAL LOST AUDIO PODCAST DEBRIEF

This podcast was actually in video form, and fans taped themselves asking the producers questions. It was about half of the length of the typical audio-only podcasts.

Q. Is the Smoke Monster (aka: Smokey) controlled by the Island, or are the Others controlling it?
A. We are not going to directly answer your question, because you will learn something about Smokey, and about the control of Smokey, in the next episode. It probably won't totally satisfy you, but you'll learn more.

Q. Did Ben intentionally send Alex, Karl and Rousseau to the sanctuary because he knew there were people waiting out in the jungle who would ambush them?
A. That's the $64,000 question... were they caught by the Others, or was someone else? You will know who shot at them by the end of the next episode. [e: Notice they didn't address whether or not Ben knew he was setting them up... which was the girl's actual question.][e: p.s., don't watch any previews for the next episode (other than the one I posted) or you will be spoiled on this topic... I am mad that I watched another clip online and ruined it for myself.]

Q. Now that Danielle is "allegedly dead," are we ever going to get the promised flashback on her? Will we ever find out if her last name is even really Rousseau or if she just swiped some guy's jacket? And are we ever going to find out what happened with Montand and his arm?!?
A. You will know definitively Rousseau's fate in the next episode. But no matter whether she is alive or dead, you will learn more of her character's back-story at some point. It doesn't matter whether you're dead on Lost, there are always flashbacks you could pop up in. We've talked way too much about "the sickness" and Montand's arm that it would be cheating not to directly address how it all went down at some point.

Q. I would like to know which of the camps (Jack's or Locke's) some of the lesser-known survivors went to... such as Scott/Steve (whichever one is still alive) and Neil Frogurt. Also, given the chance, which camp would Ezra James Sharkington (aka: the Dharma Shark) and Joop the Orangutan (from the original Lost Experience game) go with?
A. Those are some hard-hitting questions! Frogurt stayed with Jack, he's a very loyal Jack supporter. Frogurt hates Hurley, so he stayed with Jack. Steve is dead, Scott is alive, and he went with Locke. [e: Even Carlton mixed them up! Steve is the one who is still alive.] The shark would stay at the beach with Jack... he's a shark! (They didn't completely clarify where Joop would go, sorry... but I think they also thought he would stay at the beach with Jack.)

Q. I would like to know more about Mrs. Hawking. She freaked me out when she told Desmond that he couldn't buy the ring [e: she was the lady in the store in "Flashes Before Your Eyes"] and then we saw her again in a picture with the monk at Desmond's monastery. Will we see her again?
A. It is Ms. Hawking, not Mrs. Hawking. She is unmarried. [e: To me, this means the monk guy is definitely her brother] Anyway, she's kind of a "Doc Brown" character (from Back to the Future)... you need characters like that to explain complicated things, like with Desmond's time-travel-like episodes. In "The Constant," Faraday kind of played that same role. We will probably see her again.


There you have it, my friends. If you need to refresh your memory as to where the show left off, my "Meet Kevin Johnson" analysis is here.

Here's to hoping the rest of this season blows our minds...

- e

PS - Shout-out to my dad, whose birthday is today!