I WILL Post About the Scoop from Comic-Con...

... just not yet.

As always, I'm trying to scour the various Lost sites and message boards and compile all of the theories out there about the Season Five crumbs that were tossed out in San Diego this past weekend.

I hope to get a post up about that information, as well as a few other Lost-related tidbits, within the next week or so.

Everyone having a good summer?

- e

"The Daily Show" does LOST - UPDATED

Hello my dear friends -

I didn't get started with the finale write-up until yesterday, so I still have a ways to go until I'm finished. I truly hope I am done by the weekend.

Until then, here is a little something you may have missed from The Daily Show earlier this week. Just trust me, the longer it goes, the more it is about Lost.

For those of you not in the United States, The Daily Show is a "fake news" show hosted by comedian Jon Stewart. At least watch until 3:40, after that the Lost stuff is over with.

UPDATED: The Man has already pulled down the video. You know, I just don't get it... why would they want to stop clips like this from being on YouTube... all it could do it potentially attract new viewers, grrrrrrr.

The video was basically Jon Stewart asking their newest "correspondent," Wyatt Cenac, what he thought about the presidential primaries. Wyatt said that he thought they needed to be more exciting, like Lost. He wondered which candidate "would help get Jack and Kate back together." At one point he said that Bill Clinton needed to be like Michael when Michael decided to help the Others... Bill needed to help Obama's campaign and protect them from "Hillary Widmore." It was pretty good.

During the hiatus I think I'm going to have to keep reminding myself, "A polar bear on a tropical island?!?! There are SO MANY reasons why that's amazing!"

More soon,
- e

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!

Even Laptops Go to the Doctor

Hello my dear friends -

My beloved laptop is in the shop for a "tune-up," so tonight I write this from my husband's old computer (the screen appears to be pulsing and I'm sure I'm going to get a migraine at any moment). It is t-minus 1 hour and 15 minutes before "The Constant," and I wanted to make you all aware of yet another change in Lost's schedule for the rest of Season Four. They are now going to put the show on hiatus after episode eight (rather than seven, as previously planned). And then, the balance of the season will start up again one week earlier than originally communicated, on April 24th.

So here are the air dates of the remaining episodes... this is the "official word" from ABC:

Episode 6: March 6
Episode 7: March 13
Episode 8: March 20

HIATUS

Episode 9: April 24
Episode 10: May 1
Episode 11: May 8
Episode 12: May 15
Episode 13: May 22 (Season Finale)

We'll see if they stick with this schedule...

Because of my laptop issues and another packed weekend, I expect to get my post for "The Constant" up by Monday night, March 3rd.

T-minus 1 hour and 7 minutes!
- e

Before The Kate Hate Train Rolls Again...

Hello my dear friends -

There are two things I wanted to write about before tonight's episode:

1) LOST MUSIC

I FINALLY downloaded the Lost Season One soundtrack, which has been out for a while now. I don't know what took me so long, because it rocks. If you have the chance to check it out, my two favorite tracks are "Life and Death" and "Parting Words." The latter is the score used during the final scene in the Season One finale where the raft launches and Vincent runs into the water and Sun and Jin say good-bye and I was bawling my ass off. It is an incredible score and I am happy I now own it (among 26 other tracks, which have crazy names like "Booneral" and "Locke'd Out Again."

It was hard to find in iTunes (entering "Lost" did NOT bring it up). If you want to check it out, type "Giacchino" (the composer) in the search bar and then click on "Albums" next to his name which should come up on the left. There is a Season Two soundtrack as well, which I will probably download shortly. My favorite title on that one is "I Crashed Your Plane, Brotha." (I am not making up these track titles, even though it sounds like I could've!)

2) LOST PODCAST DEBRIEF

The first official podcast of the season has been released, and I just listened to it. Previously this year Lost had run a few video podcasts, but the usual (longer) audio-only podcasts with Cuse and Lindelof were put on hold because of the WGA strike. It was good to hear their witty and sleep-deprived comments once again, I must admit. Here is what they said that I deemed to be of importance, while leaving out any slightly spoilerish information:

- Jack, Kate, Hurley and Sayid are confirmed to be four of the Oceanic Six. Kate isn't going to be hiding in the future under some assumed identity. She is definitely one of The Six. They said the other two will be revealed soon, but that they "may be a bit more tricky." Whatever that means! (And don't tell me if you do know what it means.)

- Future Sayid was compared to Jason Bourne and James Bond. They said that they thought the fact that he was "famous" for being one of the Oceanic Six provided the perfect cover for him to be an international assassin - no one would suspect it because he is such a well-known person by that time.

- The time difference on the clocks in Daniel's experiment is important. "Some sort of time fluctuation occurred." DUH!

- Lindelof said he would've gone with Locke when the groups split, because if he was in the Lostaways' shoes at that time, when they didn't know that Jack would indeed get off the Island, he would've thought that Locke had a more salient argument because of Charlie's warning. "It wouldn't be as much that I was going with Locke as it would be that I would want to be away from Jack." Cuse said he would've gone with Jack because Rose did (he loves Rose).

- Hurley said dude 73 times in Season One. In Season Two he said it 44 times. In Season Three he said it 72 times. They then figured out the "DPEs" (Dudes Per Episode) since Hurley wasn't in all episodes in those seasons. Finally, they claimed that the number of DPEs are in Jorge Garcia's contract and they can't go above a certain number, but they are trying to raise the quota. Are you understanding the level of silliness in these podcasts now?

- In the Q&A session, someone asked how the polar bear with the Dharma collar ended up in the desert in Tunisia. They explained a few theories, one of which was: "There may be properties of the Island that are potentially capable of transporting things from the Island off of the Island." They then recommended that people view The Orchid Station video, because it is important. "We rarely include things outside of the show that are important to the story, but in this case, the video is." Can't remember it? It was shown at the Comic-Con convention last summer. See it here.

- Someone else asked if the cow Frank saw was Patchy's cow. They confirmed that it was. There goes my Armageddon theory! Apparently the cow's name is Svetlana. Season Six will be all about this cow and will be called: "The Adventures of Svetlana."

- They intentionally named Charlotte "Charlotte Staples Lewis" as a shout-out to C.S. Lewis. Additionally, "There are themes in the Narnia chronicles that are very relevant for Lost." They went on to say that, like Narnia, The Wizard of Oz and Alice in Wonderland are all stories that "are on the other side of Earth. They are not fantasy realms like in Star Wars...Narnia is actually connected to the world that we know, as is Oz, as is Wonderland. As is our Island."

I think that sheds a lot of light on where the story is going... which gives me hope.

Enjoy tonight,
- e

Do You Hear That Singing?

Need I tell you it's the fat lady?

As I'm sure you've heard by now, the writers' strike is over. Aaaahhhh, I haven't gotten through all of the magazines and books I wanted to read!

What the end of the strike means for Lost is the following:
- After tonight's episode, we will get four more back-to-back episodes, ending with the seventh installment on March 13th. They consulted with me about this schedule, and they picked March 13th because I will be out of the country and will need extra time for my mini-finale write-up. So considerate of them, don't you agree?
- Then there will be a six-week break.
- Season Four will conclude with a six-episode run beginning on April 24th. On that date, the show will still air at 9 PM EST.
- However, the following week (May 1), the show will move one hour later, to take the 10 PM EST time slot following Grey's Anatomy.
- The Season Four finale will be on May 29th, and it looks like it will only be one hour.

While I am of course happy that we will get more of our favorite show this spring, I'm kind of freaking out because I am going to be traveling a lot during May. But I'll worry about that when the time comes.

As you may remember, there were eight episodes that had been produced before the strike. The Powers That Be determined that the seventh episode (which I hear rocks) would make a good "mini-cliffhanger" for the first part of the show's run, and the eighth episode would therefore make an appropriate "mini-premiere" for the second. Now they are feverishly working to fit everything that was supposed to happen in the remaining eight episodes of the season into only five hours.

Executive Producer Damon Lindelof was interviewed by Kristin from E! Online, and he had this to say about the new schedule: "We are going to execute our full story plan for Season Four... this simply requires a shift from high-octane storytelling to super-high-octane storytelling. It requires no cramming, only a slightly heavier foot on the gas pedal...so, hold on to your hats. Those of you waiting for the long-anticipated Jin and Hurley Ping-Pong tournament, however, will be very disappointed."

I love Damon.

As far as tonight's episode goes, I am rejoicing about my complete and utter in-the-dark-ness. It seems hard to believe that the pace could be as quick as that of "Confirmed Dead," but you never know. And you will be glad to hear that I have spoken to my family about their possible plans for an intervention after they arrive tonight, and they assured me that when they get to Chicago, all they want to do is watch Lost. Now that, I can deal with. But I still won't get my write-up done until some time next week.

Enjoy tonight,
- e

Super Thursday

Hello my dear friends -

It's already Thursday again, yay! The best thing about writing Lost recaps might just be that the next episode always seems to come very quickly.

I know nothing about tonight's episode except its title (which I'm still not telling you, in case you haven't heard it already) and what was in the previews. I'm so much more excited for tonight than I was for the premiere, for that very reason. Spoilers are evil!

Since I'm truly staying away from pretty much anything having to do with Lost except the show itself, I don't have much new to report. Except for one thing... some readers have me convinced that when Naomi said "Tell my sister I love her," that was actually a code phrase to warn her crew about the Lostaways. Meaning that she has no sister that we're ever going to meet, and her arriving crew now has reason to be suspicious of our gang. Since we know that at least one of the rescuers has already landed on the Island, we shall soon see if this theory turns out to be true...

Enjoy the show tonight, and if you hear a strange wailing sound outside, it may just be me, howling all the way from Chicago because the bad weather has affected my satellite feed (like it did last night...),
- e

This Honestly, Truly Was The Result

Shout-out to Glen, who made me aware of this new online quiz: "Which Lost character are you?" It is different than one I did a few years ago.

And I swear to you, it said I was closest to Locke. Nothing bad has happened to me in my life, so I don't know where it came up with that part of it, but I do agree that I wouldn't look as good as he does bald.

Find out Which Lost Character Are You at LiquidGeneration.com!

Today is The Day

Hello my dear friends -

We have finally arrived at January 31. It's only been TWO HUNDRED AND FIFTY-THREE DAYS since the Season Three finale... but hey, who's counting?

Actually, you know what? I think I'm just going to Tivo the show for the next eight weeks and wait a little bit longer before I start watching it again. Because, really, it seems like only yesterday when we first saw The Mad Doctor sporting his glorious hillbilly beard and screaming and man-crying, "We HAVE to go back, Kate!!!! WE HAVE TO GO BACK!"

OK, who am I kidding... I will be holding my breath, teetering on the edge of my recliner tonight, waiting for the show to begin. It is bittersweet, because a little over an hour later, 1/8th of the season will be over.

Or will it? Rumors are circulating wildly, my dear friends, that the strike is nearing an end. It may still be too late for the Lost crew to pull off the remaining 8 episodes that had previously been scheduled for this season, but if the strike ended soon (meaning, REALLY soon) they could definitely write and film at least a few more installments for us. That's the latest word on the strike... keep your fingers crossed.

But for now, we have to assume we will only see 8 episodes in 2008, so we need to cherish every moment we have with the Lostaways. I'm sounding like Madonna: "Cherish! Cherish!" Or perhaps it's more like Kool and the Gang, "Let's cherish every moment... we have been given, for time is passing by." Cherish the love! Cherish the life! Cherish the love... ENOUGH.

This is what happens when I get overly excited about something...I go insane. Be thankful that you are not my husband or my dog, who have to put up with me during these mental crack-ups.

Back to Lost... so did you re-watch the finale last night?

If not, here was BY FAR the best part of it (assuming you had already seen the finale):

I was LOVING that promo. They need to make one of those for every major character--brilliant.

They also had one for my man Locke, too. But, ummm.... it kind of made me mad.



Are they saying HE is CRAZY? Or are they saying that anyone who loves him (uh, me) is crazy? I take offense!!!!

(Sorry if the videos above have already been pulled down by the time you look at this post... The Man is watching--always.)

Regarding the rest of the "enhanced" replay of the Season Three finale... um, I think we're really seeing the effects of the strike now. They totally had some intern make those captions at the bottom of the screen!?! Either that, or they went and got some barista from the closest coffee shop and were like, "Hey, do you watch Lost? Will you type up some stuff about the finale? We'll make you famous--promise!"

It was awful. When the Lostaways were walking to the radio tower, the caption would say: "The gang is now headed to the radio tower." WHAT?!?! Are you SERIOUS?!?! It was just like a running commentary of what was happening on-screen and it was totally stupid. Tell me something I don't know, for the love of God. I was mad.

The worst was that here in Chicago, there was a huge winter storm, so across the TOP of the screen there was an extremely large weather advisory scrolling to the left, on top of the stuff that kept popping up at the bottom of the screen. I thought I was going to have a nervous breakdown. There's a reason why I only read CNN.com rather than watch CNN, and it's because of all that damn scrolling--I can't take it.

Anyway, it's over with and I survived. The only other complaint I had was that they really were stretching when they said that Charlie's mission to turn off the jamming equipment was a nod to Return of the Jedi. What? I just so happened to be watching the show with a huge Star Wars fan (shout-out to LR), and I'm no slouch on that stuff, either. We paused the show and debated how Charlie's mission could be compared to ROTJ for about 10 minutes. My brother is also a big fan of the SW series and agreed that it was a weak connection. All we could come up with was that Charlie's mission to turn off the jamming equipment was like how they needed to shut down the force field around the Death Star in ROTJ. Or that Luke kept talking about "his destiny," like Charlie did. Like I said, they were stretching. Now, if an Ewok popped out of the closet in the Looking Glass station, THEN maybe I could see the comparison. I think the intern writing the captions was just trying to seem cool. He or she probably wasn't even born yet when ROTJ came out. Don't mess with Star Wars fans, little intern! We will destroy you!

Alright, I'm done complaining. Now on to something that really got me worked up yesterday. How 'bout that CRAAAA-ZY "Missing Pieces" video that I attempted to post? They took it down, but I found it again... it's the latest "Missing Pieces" 2-minute video entitled "So It Begins."




So now we know how our beloved series REALLY kicked off... in case you forgot, the very first episode of Lost began with Jack opening his eyes in the jungle (what we saw near the end of the above video). Now we know what happened in the minute before that... spooky.

When I first watched this, I was shouting, "Holy Bejeezus! HOLY BEJEEZUS! Zombie Dad is REAL!!!" My dog lifted his head up from his bed and shot me an annoyed look and then went back to sleep. A few seconds later, I calmed down. No, it's just the monster parading as Zombie Dad, I thought.

But after pondering this subject for the past day, I am now not so sure that it was simply Smokey that Vincent saw. In fact, I think there are three possibilities as to what was up with Zombie Dad:

1) It really was Christian Shephard.

How could that be? Well, think about this: Vincent had never laid eyes on Christian Shephard previously. I was under the impression that Smokey could only disguise itself as someone its victims had actually seen before, and that it could only do so after it took a "mindscan" of those victims. Remember that Mr. Eko got a mindscan from Smokey and then started seeing his brother reappear. But... Jack never encountered Smokey up-close and had seen his dad sneaking around on the island from the beginning. And then you have Benry's ominous words to The Mad Doctor in Season Three's finale: "Every living person on this Island will be killed." Everyone always thought it was strange that he inserted the word "living"... and maybe that's because Benry knew there were some undead running amok on the Island!

So... work with me here: Let's say that if you ARRIVE on the Island dead, like Christian Shephard did, the Island's powers might bring you back to life. Just like it can turn sterile men into baby-making machines (enter Jin) and eradicate cancer (enter Rose) and make paralyzed men walk again (enter Locke). But if you came to the Island alive and were killed during your stay, you remain dead (sorry Boone, Dr. Artz, Shannon, Ana-Lucia, Libby, Mr. Eko, Nikki, Paulo, Charlie... you get the picture). Similarly, if the Island doesn't like you while you're on it, it can choose to inflict disease upon you (enter Benry).

Now, regarding Zombie Dad... What if he was dead on arrival, brought back to life once he hit the Island, but is kind of a shadow of his former self, which is why he doesn't just attempt to come live with the Lostaways after inevitably freaking them out with his presence. In the video, he says, "He has work to do," which leads me to believe he's now kind of an Island Zombie, under its powers or something, and knows that Jack has a major role to play. So, if you believe this theory, then Christian Shephard IS either completely alive or at least kind-of-alive (or to quote The Princess Bride, "Mostly dead is slightly alive!"). And if you remember, in Jack's future-flash, he talked as if his father were still alive on two different occasions. Maybe Zombie Dad is going to show up again in Season Four and bust back to the real world with The Mad Doctor? That would be INSANE. I hope it happens! Then Will Smith would come on the show and be like, "I AM LEGEND!!!!" and have to kill him.

2) Or Zombie Dad could just be Smokey.

If you believe this, then you must believe that Smokey can somehow take the form of dead people on the Island (which would get around Vincent never seeing Christian before and therefore not needing a mindscan). Or maybe Smokey can mindscan people from afar? The bottom line is, if you're still watching the show, then you have accepted that there is a smoke monster. So you might as well just also accept that it can do whatever it wants. Who are we to know what Smokey can and cannot do? We are but mere mortals.

Also, remember that Walt told Locke in the skeleton pit that he had "work to do," which were the exact same words Zombie Dad said in the video above. This supports the theory that both Walt and Zombie Dad were just Smokey appearances. That would be much less cool.

3) Or, Christian Shephard could be Jacob.

We saw a flash of Jacob as an old dude in the chair in the Creepy Cabin. Maybe Jacob can possess bodies--both dead and alive? Maybe Jacob was possessing both Christian and Walt and that's why they used the same words?

I'm out of practice. My head already feels like it's going to explode and this was just a two-minute clip! I better have the EMS on high alert nearby tonight.

So to sum up, as it stands right now, we have three options for Zombie Dad. He is either: 1) really a zombie, 2) Smokey, or 3) Jacob. At least we know we'll find out by 2010!

Finally, for those of you planning to watch the premiere of the new series Eli Stone that will air immediately after Lost, be sure to watch for a special announcement from Oceanic Airlines at some point. I am sure that I will still be in shock that I just saw a new hour of Lost, so I'll find out what the Oceanic thing was all about on the message boards Friday.

See you back here in 5 or 6 days for my first post of the season... I've been stretching my wrists and fingers and shoulders all week to prepare.

ENJOY TONIGHT,
- e


LOST: Locke's Badass Journey by =Buuya on deviantART

One More Thing for Tivo/DVR-Users

The HORROR!

I just checked my TV downstairs and it was NOT going to record the premiere?!?! The first hour recap show was set to tape, but the premiere itself, "The Beginning of the End," was NOT (they are two separate entries in Tivo... not one two-hour show). D'OH! So you all better check your To Do lists on your machines. My upstairs Tivo had it right. It makes no sense.

- e

HO-LY CRAP!

UPDATE 1:04 PM CST: Yep, "The Walt Disney Company" has already removed the video from YouTube (Disney owns ABC). Damn you, Mickey!!!! Sorry, guys. I have a feeling that it will be posted on ABC's Missing Pieces homepage soon, though. I'll let you know tomorrow and will still post my analysis of the video tomorrow.

Hello my dear friends -

Surprise! Shout-out to Ernie for alerting me to the latest "Missing Piece" video which is not yet on ABC--it is significant enough to warrant its own post today. I found it on YouTube but it may be taken down soon... I never know how strict ABC is with that sort of thing. Anyway, check it out... I don't consider it a spoiler as ABC has posted all the others and will eventually post this one.

This one is called "So It Begins." You'll figure out the huge meaning of this shortly...

DAH!!!!!!!


I will write my thoughts on this video in my Premiere Day post tomorrow morning...

- e

Are you ready? ARE YOU READY?!?!?! Ten Things to Do to Prepare for the Lost Premiere

Hello my dear friends -

It has finally hit me.

Lost is back. LOST IS BACK!!!!

Its return is only 3.25 days away as I write this... Good God, I need to prepare. And it is my duty to prepare you all as well.

So here's what you must do before the premiere this Thursday at 8 PM EST (for those of us in the U.S.):

1) Re-watch the Season Three finale. ABC is playing this two-hour episode again on Wednesday night at 9 PM EST (so as to not overlap with American Idol). However, in the bottom third of the screen there will supposedly be random information about the episode, the cast members and the production of the show--kind of like Pop-Up Video back in the day on VH1. I just watched the finale again two weekends ago with Miss M, who commented afterward, "I wouldn't have remembered 90% of that." It's been eight months, people! Refresh your memories! I will indeed watch it a fourth time this Wednesday because I'm so curious about this "enhanced version," as ABC is calling it. If you don't want to watch it with all that crap at the bottom or can't catch the finale airing on Wednesday, you can also see it online here on ABC.com (they have several HD streaming episodes online for free right now, by the way).

2) Re-read my original Season Three finale write-up, and my Things I Noticed Upon Second Viewing post. Remember the nerds who blew up the newspaper clipping that The Mad Doctor was reading in the finale? Yeah, I didn't think you did. There are things in my posts that were impossible to catch by simply watching the show on TV like a normal person, so make sure that you have fully reengaged yourself before the premiere.

3) Get yourself hyped up by watching the trailer for "The Beginning of the End" (S4Ep1's title). Yeah, there are minor spoilers, but it's worth it.

I'm seriously tearing up... oh, Locke--I will come with you! I will stay on the Island! (Oh, right. I'm not on the Island. I'm sitting here in my condo under ten layers of clothing, in a place that's much colder and more boring than the Island. Details.)

4) Watch the Orchid Station video that was shown at the Comic-Con convention this past summer. It's not a spoiler--in fact, I think it contains some pretty critical clues as to what in the heck is happening on the Island:



5) Now read the analysis of that video.


I think that's all a completely sane fan of the show would need to do to prepare for the premiere. However, if you are like me and need to take your fandom to the next level, here are a few more things for you:

6) Read this article in USA Today... click on the pictures at the top of the page to refresh your memory about where each character stands. There are no spoilers in that feature; I have clicked through all of the profiles. The article that is slightly lower on that same page does have one minor spoiler near the end, so if you really don't want to know anything, don't read it. It was something I already knew.

7) Check out some, if not all, of the "Missing Pieces" videos on ABC.com. These are never-before-seen short clips that, in some cases, add depth to the story line. Three of them stood out to me: 1) "King of the Castle" is especially interesting, and confirms my belief that it could be Benry in the casket in "Through the Looking Glass" (S3 finale). 2) "Room 23" reveals that the Others did indeed have Waaaaaaalt in the techno-rave-Clockwork-Orange room, and that he has freaky powers. 3) "The Envelope" makes me really wonder what is in, uh, the envelope.

8) Try to play the Find815.com game. Or, cheat, and read what it took everyone playing the game a really long time to figure out (that's the route I chose). Damn, that game is intense!

9) Check out the crazy map of all locations related to Lost. The guy that did that (apparently his name is "Dudu") is my freaking hero.

10) Be extra nerdy and write in the Lost font!

(Shout-out to FC for providing me with the map and font links)


And finally, let me remind you all once again to be vigilant about staying away from most articles and web sites that cover the show. There are spoilers everywhere, and I unfortunately already learned some things that I would've rather had be a surprise. I was even reading about the freaking video game and there was a slight spoiler in that article?!? So, you can never be too careful. We've only got eight episodes to enjoy, and as you know, I learned the hard way in Season Two that it really sucks when you know what's going to happen beforehand.

Remember that the first hour of the premiere is a recap of all three seasons, and that the premiere also lasts a few minutes longer than 10 PM EST, so set your Tivos/VCRs accordingly.

Now, on to the most important thing--when can you expect my first write-up of Season Four? Hmmm, that's a good question. Now that I'm a full-time writer, you might think that I could get my humongous posts done a bit earlier than I did in years past. However, all the free time in the world wouldn't change the fact that some of the things I depend on for my posts (transcripts, analysis of screencaps, message board posts) don't hit the web immediately... and it still takes me 12-14 hours to do one write-up... and I still need to do things like eat, sleep, walk my dog and go to the gym and whatnot. So I can't make any promises except to vow that, as in the past, my write-ups will always definitely be done the morning before a new episode airs... meaning Wednesday mornings for the next seven or eight weeks (not sure what I'll do about the last episode before the effects of the strike kick in). However, if you want to know exactly when I post, you can pull in my RSS feed or sign up for emailed posts in the column to the right, and that way you will be notified when a new message goes up.

With that, I'll leave you for now. I'll probably write a mini-message on Thursday morning... but otherwise, I'll see you back here after the premiere...

It feels good to be "officially" back! As the ad says below, the wait is over.

- e

On The Flip Side

Notice anything strange about the new promo picture for Season Four?


As blog reader Lula caught at the end of the promo spots running on ABC, there is indeed a city skyline reflecting up from the water. This obviously ties in to the theme of the Season Three finale, "Through the Looking Glass," where we saw what had happened to a few of the Lostaways on "the other side" of their time on the Island--meaning, we saw a glimpse into their futures. All I have to say is, "Damn, girl! Good eyes, Lula!" The skyline was not obvious in the TV spots!

A few other important things to note as we head into the final two weeks before the premiere...

- The premiere is NOT, I repeat not, two hours, despite what ABC's Promo Monkeys are claiming. There is a one-hour recap of all three seasons that will run from 8-9 EST, and then the premiere itself is from 9-10:02. So of the eight new hours they filmed before the writers' strike began, we will just see one on January 31st. You really didn't think they wouldn't stretch out those eight hours as long as they could, did you? Two words: advertising dollars.
- Did you notice above how the premiere goes until 10:02 EST? Those of you recording the show, take heed.
- I mentioned this a while back, but in case you forgot, the premiere is entitled, "The Beginning of the End." So ominous! (On top of being part of Benry's speech to the Mad Doctor in the Season Three finale: "Making that call is the beginning of the end.")
- I accidentally read the second episode's title, which is a little bit of a spoiler. So I thought I would reiterate that there are a ton of information leaks out there, and if you want to remain in the dark, don't go trolling on any show-related message boards.
- Don't remember what in the hell happened in the last episode, oh so many months ago? Re-read my original Season Three finale write-up, and my Things I Noticed Upon Second Viewing post.
- Finally, for those of you needing a J.J. Abrams (creator of Lost) fix before January 31st, may I remind you that his new movie, Cloverfield, comes out this weekend, and has earned rave reviews. I will be seeing it Friday night and then posting a review over on According to e this Saturday. There are apparently a few different tongue-in-cheek Lost references in it, so keep your eyes and ears open if you go see it. But fear not, J.J. swears that no Lost references in Cloverfield are any "clues" for obsessed fans. The question is, can we believe him?

Even though I am anti-spoiler, I couldn't help but take a look at a 1.5-minute clip that seg brought to my attention over on my boy DarkUFO's site. I think that it is safe viewing for all, but if you want the entire premiere to remain unspoiled, then obviously do not press play below.

After seeing it, all I can say is, "Them's fightin' words, Jack!"

Grrrrr.

I'm not anticipating that there's too much more I can/will post on before the premiere arrives, but definitely check back once again before January 31st (or sign up for the RSS feed or emails to the right), because I'm sure that as it finally truly sinks in to me that LOST IS STARTING AGAIN, I will work myself up into a tizzy and will have a few comments before the premiere.

In the meantime, I will be doing some hand and finger exercises to get myself back into shape for writing my long-ass posts...

- e

Oh, Happy Day!

I don't even care that the new Entertainment Weekly cover features the Mad Doctor rather than Locke, I was just happy to see Lost back in the spotlight when I got my mail a few minutes ago!



I haven't read the article yet, but if you want to (there WILL be spoilers... do you really want to ruin anything for yourself after this long wait?), it is here.

Also, I have learned that the first hour of the two-hour premiere on the 31st is just a recap of everything, so it will not cut into our "new" eight hours of episodes that have already been filmed.

I'm going to try to lay low with new news until the premiere because I honestly don't want to know any more than I already know about Season Four. It is so close now--I can taste it! Or perhaps that's just the ranch dressing I had during lunch in Hurley's honor...

- e

Absence Makes the Heart Grow Fonder

Happy New Year!

It's been a long, hard wait, my dear friends... but we've finally reached the month of Lost's return. The ABC Promo Monkeys are cranking the hype-o-meter up to eleven and have released a few new commercials, as well as this incredible eight minute, fifteen second recap of all three seasons. If you didn't catch the 815 reference in the previous sentence, you need to get yourself back into Lost Mode ASAP! Remember "the numbers"? Remember the Island? Remember Smokey? I know, I know, it has been a long time... but luckily this video will help bring everything back. And it's funny, to boot.





Lost wouldn't be Lost without giving its fans something new to obsess over now that the premiere is just four weeks away, so the latest twist from the marketing geniuses behind the show is a web site packed with clues about what exactly went wrong on that fateful flight from Sydney to LA. First there was Fly Oceanic Air, which introduced a character named "Sam" whose girlfriend was a stewardess on Flight 815. The Oceanic site lead to another site entitled Find 815, which is essentially an Alternate Reality Game (ARG) in which you can search Sam's apartment and watch a series of videos that reveal progressively more information about what happened to our beloved Lostaways. Or... you could just let other nerds do the work. Even a Lost-crazed freak like me with no job doesn't have time to figure out this extremely detailed online game, so I'm cheating! If I hear of anything important that is revealed via Find 815, I will let you know. For those of you who do attempt to play the game or look at the site I linked to above that posts clues for us lazy peeps, beware that both may contain spoilers about the upcoming season. And shout-outs to my brother and Zoë who made sure I knew about the ARG!

In the meantime, be sure your calendars are marked for the TWO-HOUR (yay!) Season Premiere of Lost on January 31st at 8 EST/7 CST. I am praying that the second hour of the premiere doesn't count as one of the eight episodes they already had filmed before the writers' strike...

- e

It's Official... (and 6 days earlier than we thought!)

Lost is moving to Thursdays at 9 PM ET/8 PM CST... starting January 31st! Even though the premiere date is only a week earlier than had previously been expected, the fact that it technically starts in January rather than February makes it seem so much closer to me.

The title of the first episode is rumored to be "The Beginning of the End," though nothing is listed on ABC's web site other than a countdown clock (45 days, 14 hours as of this post) and the following episode description: "The band of friends, family, enemies and strangers must continue to work together against the cruel weather and harsh terrain if they want to stay alive. But as they have discovered during their 70-plus days on the island, danger and mystery loom behind every corner, and those they thought could be trusted may turn against them. Even heroes have secrets..."

Ummmmm, yeah--that synopsis could pretty much be applied to any episode of the past three seasons. But this girl's not complaining--the sweet reunion is almost here!

(PS - The ABC web site is screwed up and is currently listing the premiere at 11 PM ET, but their official press release confirms the times I listed above. Which only means that their countdown clock is wrong and we have even less time before the show returns - yay!)

(PPS - If you pay attention to the Season Four trailer I posted previously, you can probably figure out which character the premiere showcases... but will it be a flashback or a flash-forward?)

- e

Clear Version of the Season Four Trailer...

HUGE props to "seg" who left a comment alerting me that this had been uploaded--it's perfect!

Upon repeated viewing (and pausing), I saw the following things (in addition to the stuff I mentioned in the last post)(if I'm right, then these scenes could be considered slight spoilers--you've been forewarned not to continue reading if you want to be totally surprised by everything!).

What I saw included:
- A room with tattered cloth blowing over a window and a bright light shining in, and then the same flash of JACOB in the chair that we saw before!
- Someone with blond curly hair crashing into Benry and knocking him to the ground (this person was dressed exactly like Benry, as well)
- A control panel on a wall with three round buttons (or perhaps they were lights)
- Hurley, running through the jungle or somewhere dark
- Sawyer pointing a gun at Benry with most of the group (Kate, Locke, Hurley) in the background (meaning that the two groups must reunite--remember that Sawyer, Sayid, Hurley and a few others are on the beach and Jack/Kate/Locke are at the radio tower at the end of Season Three. What, you don't remember all this???),
- Hurley peeking through what appeared to be the same window in the initial flash (listed above) and then an eye peeking back out at him! Could Hurley possibly meet Jacob? That would rock! He'd be like, "Dude, why are you so shifty?"
- Kate looking like she's in pain,
- Jack shooting a gun and looking pissed off (what's new),
- A very bizarre small hill of what looks like either yellow, round rocks or tennis balls (who knows with this show?) that gets blown up,
- Hurley, definitely underwater,
- A knife sticking out of someone's back (but I'm fairly positive that's Naomi, as she was left at the end of the finale)
- A shot from above of Kate looking in shock (but she doesn't have on a clear mask like I thought before, she is just be really, really shiny, and it's STILL scary upon multiple viewings! It makes me think she's being experimented upon or something)
- Someone looking at a brown cow (looks like it could be Desmond's hair, but I'm not sure)
- Locke on the ground looking at a woman who appeared to be dead who I did NOT recognize, but who could've been the same person who knocked Benry over,
- A skull that looks to be that of a small dinosaur or something with fangs (?!?!),
- The number "6" flashing quickly,
- Blood dripping on someone's battered limb,
- What looked to be one of the "rescue" guys with goggles and a helmet on, but the view seemed to be from underwater,
- The Hydra station logo on a metal coin or medallion that seemed like it was attached to perhaps a sword that someone finds on the ground,
- and... Charlie is clearly seen at the end (and it looks like he's talking to Hurley in a room with yellow paint - reminded me of the mental institution).

I needed to pause it ten million times to see all of this stuff. And I'm still not sure about some of it.

If any of you find other flashes that I totally missed, please post them! But remember to stick to things from this video and not other spoilers... I still don't know any of the new cast members and I really want to keep it that way for as long as possible.




There has been some discussion in the chat rooms about the fact that the Lost producers would only like the first SIX episodes to run in 2008 because there is a natural cliffhanger at the end of that grouping. Whereas, ABC wants all eight episodes that have been filmed to air in 2008 because they are so desperate for new shows as the strike isn't going to be over any time soon. Could the "6" in the trailer be the producers' attempt at a subliminal message to TPTB at ABC? I'm not sure... I think I remember other people seeing that number in other clips during Season Three, so it may mean something that's actually plot-related.

Oh, and no Golden Globe nominations for Lost. Where's the love?

- e

The REAL Countdown Begins

Do you know what today is, my dear friends?

It is the "only two more months!" point until Lost returns! While the premiere hasn't officially been announced, I read an article recently in which the producers mentioned February 6th as the air date of Season Four's first episode. As the writers' strike continues, there have been no changes to the plan of only airing the first eight episodes (half of the season) before going on another hiatus. Rest assured that as soon as the date is set in stone, I will post! But for now I'd like to believe that in early February we will be reunited with the Lostaways.

The very encouraging news is that the ABC peeps are feeling extraordinarily happy with how awesome Season Four is looking so far. So much so that they've gone all out to promote it in front of movies at certain theaters! Throughout the month of December, the trailer will run "at all Screenvision and NCM employed theater chains across the country in front of all movies with a PG rating or higher." DAH!!!! NCM and Screenvision are the companies behind the commercials (not movie trailers, but commercials) that have started to grace theaters more and more. Those companies are not theater chains in and of themselves. So I don't know how to ensure that any one given theater uses either of these specific companies' services. I am going to The Golden Compass at some point this weekend, and so help me Lord if the trailer isn't before that one. I will jump out of my seat and scream in protest. And then I'll get kicked out and not get to see TGC (which I'm a little worried about in the first place as the reviews have been mixed).

So... If anyone DOES SEE or HAS SEEN the Lost Season Four promo before a movie, you must write me right away and give me the scoop! I haven't seen anything uploaded online yet (that is the real thing, that is--there are many fake Season Four promos out there).

What is online, however, are five "missing pieces"--short video clips of never-before-seen scenes. None of them are that great, but it was nice to see some of the ol' crew in action again. I may have to break down and watch the Season Three finale one more time very soon- life without Locke is wearing me down!

In other show news, you probably heard that a few months ago, Daniel Dae Kim (Jin) was arrested for drunk driving. There's something in the water out there in Hawaii, I tell you! If Jin kicks the bucket in Season Four, we really shouldn't be surprised. Rumor also has it that Evangeline Lilly (Kate) and Dominic Monaghan (Dead Charlie) have broken up (they'd been dating for three years). He sacrifices himself for the rest of the gang and this is the thanks he gets? COLD!

In these remaining two months, remember to check out According to e..., or else you will miss all of my posts about my recent trip to Antarctica where I was on one of the rescue ships for the boat that crashed into an iceberg and sank!

Finally, don't forget that the Lost Season Three DVD set comes out in the U.S. (finally) on December 11th - next week!

- e

Better than nothing?

Thank you to the anonymous commenter who just sent me the following link... Lost will definitely run its first eight episodes starting in February 2008 as previously planned, but then will go on hiatus once again until it can recover from the writers' strike.

I do think that if I had to be the one making the decision as to how to handle Season Four, that's probably the course I would've taken, too. Let's face it--we all love our Lostaways, but 1.5 years in between seasons is a bit much for any fan.

I'll keep you posted if I hear any more (and please do the same by sending me a note if any of you get any scoop!).

And don't forget to check out the mobisode link in the previous post...

- e

Start Praying NOW!

Thanks to Nerdy P for ruining my day with this bit of news from TV Guide about how the strike in Hollywood could adversely affect Lost:

"If the strike extends into the new year and beyond, there is a chance ABC may opt to delay the new season until the fall. Or worse yet, February 2009. Another scenario has the network simply airing the eight episodes already in the can this February as originally planned — something Team Darlton would not be in favor of. Says Lost co-creator Carlton Cuse, "Damon [Lindelof] and my concern about running the [eight] episodes we will have made is that it will feel a little like reading half a Harry Potter novel, then having to put it down. There is a mini-cliff-hanger at the end of Episode 8, but it's like the end of an exciting book chapter; it's not the end of the novel. Damon and I didn't write [the ending of Episode 8] differently [with the looming strike in mind]. We wrote it to be the ending of Episode 8." In any case, he concedes that the decision to hold or air the episodes isn't ultimately theirs. "It's really [ABC honcho Steve MacPherson's] call," Cuse notes, adding, "No one was happy with the six-episode run last season.""

D'ahhhhh!!!!! Seriously, I'm going to contact the producers and offer up my writing services for free. In return, I will ask for a guest spot on the show, opposite Locke, of course. Do you think they would go for it?

For the love of all that is holy, please start praying, sending vibes, burning incense, building shrines, meditating, and doing whatever else you can think of so that the above scenario does NOT become a reality!

I just can't take it.

Here's something to tide us over a bit, though... the first "mobisode" has been released - check it out at DarkUFO's site. When a few more of these have been released I will post my analysis of them.

Until then I need to get going on my prayers.

- e