4 8 15 16 23 42 - Official Lost Season 3 Thread

various | 8/30/06 | elc

[elc]

Elections? What elections? It's a Lost night. And it's the last one for 13 Weeks!




To prepare us for tonight and the coming 13 long weeks, here is an interview with TPTB (the powers that be). Apologies for not just putting in the link, I was having problems accessing it. It's from TV guide.

Thank you! We have limited time, so I'm going to cut right to the chase. More than anything, AA readers wanna know if Michael and/or Walt will appear this season. Carlton: We have a very clear plan for this season, and I don't think we'll get back to Michael and Walt's story this season.

With Eko gone, you no longer have any African-American men in the cast.

Carlton: Harold Perrineau's story is not finished. He is not on the show currently, but I think everybody is very curious to know what happened to Michael and Walt, and we hope to get back to that story. That character is still out there in the Lost universe.

One frustration I'm hearing is that viewers don't understand why you would bring in new characters like Paolo (Rodrigo Santoro) and Nikki (Kiele Sanchez) when it seems like you're already having trouble servicing the original characters.

Damon: That's a legitimate concern, and I wouldn't say that we have difficulty servicing the initial cast. I do think that we acknowledge that the franchise of Lost — if there was one since we don't have bodies on gurneys or clients coming into law firms — is the introduction of new characters. We basically get two criticisms: One is that we're not with our main people enough, and the other is [that people are] sick and tired of seeing redundant flashback stories. You can't have your cake and eat it, too. And another criticism we've been getting since the very beginning of the show is, "How come we never hear from, or incorporate into the story, the other passengers, the ones who are sort of carrying logs around in the background?" Obviously we knew it'd be tricky starting to fold Rodrigo and Kiele into the show as if they'd been there all along. But it was an effort on our part to sort of deal with two out of those three criticisms. Although the inevitable, “Why aren't we spending more time with Claire instead of spending time with people we don't know yet?" was going to come up. We suffer the slings and arrows of criticisms at almost every creative turn, and again, it's all in the service of the uber-story that is Lost.

Personally, I'd be happy if the show just featured Matthew Fox, Michael Emerson and Elizabeth Mitchell every week.

Damon: We're going to spin them off. It's going to be called "Ben & Friends."

One other complaint I'm hearing this season is that new mysteries are being presented before old ones are solved. Can you say anything about that?

Carlton: We're always in this sort of balancing act. [We want] to keep the audience engaged by the underlying mysteries of the show, but we also want to try to answer questions and give people some satisfaction. And I think maybe the pendulum has swung a little too much into the “Well, we need more answers” category, and we try to be attentive to that. I think there are some upcoming episodes — after the break in the spring — that will answer a number of the open questions. We certainly plan to tell the audience this year how Locke got in the wheelchair.

Damon: We'll be getting a lot more detailed about what happened to Locke, Eko and Desmond following the immediate aftermath of the hatch exploding, imploding or potentially doing something else.

Carlton: We're doing a flashback story where you'll find out how Jack got his tattoos.

Damon: And we'll begin peeling back layers of who the Others are, how long they've been on the island, what their origins are. That's really the sort of uber-plot of Season 3. And here's the thing: At the end of season 2, we downloaded a hell of a lot of mythology in those last couple episodes. We explained why the plane crashed and whether or not the button was the real deal. But at the same time, every time we close one door we have to open up another or else we risk falling victim to the Twin Peaks curse, which is that once they told you who killed Laura Palmer, there was no reason to watch the show anymore.

Carlton: What you might also be feeling is that kind of sense that we're basically working on Episode 60, so that's a lot of hours to not know, “What's the nature of this island? Where is this island?" The overarching mysteries of Lost remain unanswered. But those questions have to remain unanswered until the show ends. That's something we don't know and we're not in control of when it is going to end. We will attempt to answer some of the transitory questions, but obviously, the big ones have to stay unanswered.

Will Adewale be back for that flashback episode you just referred to?

Damon: It might not necessarily be a flashback episode.

But you said we're going to go back and find out what happened right after the hatch imploded or whatever.

Damon: Yes, we are. It might be a flashback, but we're not going to tell you how that information gets relayed.

Carlton: It might be a flash-forward or a flash-sideways.

Damon: It will certainly be a flash-something.

Carlton: It could be a flash in the pan.

Damon: Look, here's the thing, Michael. We believe audiences aren't really asking, “When are we going to get our answers?” They're asking, "Are we going to get our answers?" And that's a very savvy question for them to be asking, because of the nature of the television business, it's sort of like, "Are they just stringing us along?" And all Carlton and I can say is that we are absolutely committed to giving you those answers. We know what the answers are, and we're telling them in the most creatively satisfying way for us as storytellers.

A reader named Denise sent in what I think is a really good question. When the plane crashed, Ben told Goodwin that if he ran he could be at the crash site in an hour. Now if they're on two different islands, how could he possibly do that? Walk on water?

Carlton: That island isn't necessarily where they live. It's not necessarily the same place where we saw those guys in the beginning of the teaser of the season premiere this year. I think that would be a very reasonable explanation as to how Goodwin and Ethan could run from the Others' home camp to the crash site.

OK. Another reader, Baude, wants to know when we're going to find out what happened to those kids who were abducted.

Damon: I think you'll begin to get a real sense of the answer to that question in about the second episode back after the break — a very real sense.

Does it tie in at all to the fact that Juliet's a fertility doctor? Damon: I think that's a reasonable connection.

Is the guy with the eye patch going to figure prominently this season?

Carlton: Oh yeah.

Damon: Prominently.

And what about the outside world? Damon: Obviously, this is the big sort of dangler from Season 2. We broke perspective off the island for the first time — at least that's what we're leading everybody to believe — and, certainly, that ball is in motion and rolling down the hill at a very fast rate. That is pretty much what begins to dominate Season 3 once we come back from the break. It takes a couple of episodes to get up to speed, but the fact that the island may have been seen is pretty much the entire story arc of the second half of the year.

Is it too soon to talk about what this season's "challah" will be?

Carlton: Yes.

Damon: We've already gone on record as saying we're going to call it the "matzo" this year.

Carlton: Our biggest concern on the show is that we're going to run out of Jewish bread products.

Damon: There aren't that many.

Is there going to be a sort of "challah"-type thing at the end of tonight's episode?

Carlton: No.

Damon: It's not a game-changer.

Carlton: But there's a good cliff-hanger.

Damon: It's a much more conventional cliff-hanger in the vein of Jack Bauer going on a slow boat to China.

Carlton: We believe it's a cliff-hanger that will make the audience want to come back and watch the show when it picks up in February.

Damon: It will hopefully be good enough to incur major frustration from the audience as to "How dare we go off the air for 13 weeks and leave them hanging in that fashion!"

Carlton: The angrier we make them the better the cliff-hanger is, I guess.

You guys have been quoted as saying you're going to drop a "bomb" during the second half of the season.

Damon: There are two bombs being dropped, one of which is a character bomb, and that will happen within the first three episodes after the break. And the other is a more significant story bomb, a game-changer, as it were, and that will happen shortly after.

[ChocChipCookie]

thanks for the post! Now I really can't wait until tonight.

[Bloody Sam Roberts]

Lost Ping!

[Ragtop]

IF YOU HAVEN'T SEEN LAST NIGHT'S EPISODE DON'T READ, AS THIS POST MAY CONTAIN SPOILERS!
Great episode last night. It was contructed very well, especially following Eko's death, you get the sense of dreaqd that they may kill off any character at any time, hence I really thought Sawyer was goign to buy the farm and the first half of the season would end with the gun shot and Sawyer's limp body falling to the ground.
Jack used his "power" perfectly. Using Ben as collateral, he was able to buy time for his friends to escape. Now the real question is: Was Ben conning Sawyer when we showed him the second island? Was he only making Sawyer believe he was on a seperate island in order to keep him and Kate from escaping? What a mind screw that would be, having the means to escape to nowhere, or at least believe that is the case. I think they're still on the same island.
Overall, great episode last night. Can't wait for February.

[elc]

I always read about so many people hating the character of Jack. I've always loved him (though not as much as Sawyer), and last night just proved why.

I went into the episode thinking they better make this good so I come back to it in February, and although it wasn't a big a cliff hanger as I expected, I am still intrigued and will come back.

[Lucky9teen]

My Serious Logical Thoughts on 'I Do'

[elc]

I was trying to get to that earlier, but our firewall must be blocking it. Must remember to check when I get home.

[Lucky9teen]

I know it's off for a while, but I saw this and had to post it...

Top Ten Signs You're Obsessed With "Lost"

10.After each episode, you do an all-kitty reenactment in your basement
9. You refer to your in-laws as "The Others"
8. While visiting New York, you stood over every manhole and screamed, "Good God - a secret hatch"
7. You're halfway to your goal of licking every cast member
6. Your friend phoned during "Lost." Next day you beat him to death with a hot poker
5. You pitched NBC a show about 12 people stranded backstage at "Saturday Night Live"
4. Co-workers affectionately refer to you as "That loser who's obsessed with 'Lost'"
3. Renamed dental practice "Flost"
2. Your wife is getting sick of playing the bedroom game "Find the castaway"
1. You sat through all ten of these lame jokes

[Michael Barnes]

1. You sat through all ten of these lame jokes

yeah, well there's that..

[elc]

Hat tip to girlscout for sending me this story. I don't find the talk of the series ending the most important part of the story, as we're probably talking several years down the line.

But the best part of it refers to the scheduling. Finally some sense!

--------
'Lost' Producers Discuss Series' End
Jan 15, 1:42 AM EST
http://tv.msn.com/tv/article.aspx?news=247697&GT1=7703

Makers of the tropical island drama "Lost" say they're talking with ABC executives about setting an end date for the series.

There's no sense the finale is coming anytime soon. But knowing they have a deadline will help writers of the convoluted drama lay out how they want the story to end, producers said Sunday in a meeting with TV critics here.

"Once we figure out when that will be, a lot of the questions will go away," said Carlton Cuse, an executive producer. "Lost" is in its third season.

The producers, citing Fox's "The X-Files," said they didn't want to wear out their welcome. "That was a great show that probably ran two seasons too long," Cuse said. "That is a cautionary tale for us."

"Lost" is due back on ABC's schedule next month following an extended hiatus after the season's first six episodes and will air uninterrupted through May. The schedule was a direct result of fans' complaints about reruns disrupting their concentration in past seasons, producers said.

It's likely next year that all 22 episodes will run consecutively, much like Fox is doing with "24."

One prominent critic — ABC Entertainment President Stephen McPherson — said he thought the first six episodes this season concentrated too heavily on the stories of Jack, Kate and Sawyer at the expense of other members of the large cast.

The producers said that will be rectified right away for the season's second half as "Lost" goes back to the beach.

"Lost," which is shifting back an hour to 10 p.m. Eastern time, Wednesdays, on ABC's schedule, has seen a 14 percent drop in its audience this year, according to Nielsen Media Research. Producers contend the numbers are deceptive because of a comparison with the second season, when "Lost" was a cultural sensation.

The producers concede that it's a demanding story for viewers to keep up with, and not one that people can join in the middle.

"We want them back," executive producer Damon Lindelof said of the lost fans. "We really believe in the show and the audience we're getting. But if we write towards getting them back, we may alienate the audience that we already have."

FYI - Lost is back Feb. 7th (10pm)

[elc]

I almost forgot to add you to the list...but you're added now.

[Hatteras]

4 8 15 16 23 42

When IS the next PowerBall Drawing?....

[girlscout]

In case you didn't see this last week here's an article about Matthew Fox aka Dr. Jack Shephard.

Matthew Fox talks about his dark side ... Matthew Fox, who plays the heroic Dr. Jack Shephard on ABC's castaway drama Lost, has a dark side.

[elc]

I caught that on what of the gossip shows. Looking at this:

"I'm a liar and a cheat and a thief and the ultimate manipulator. ... I tell lies every day, man," the 40-year-old actor says in the February issue of Men's Journal magazine. "And when I say I'm phenomenally manipulative, I am."

It was reported recently that he had said in an interview that he was done filming because his character was killed off.

Now other people are saying, no it's not him that is being killed off. It's someone else.

So was he just outright lying when he said he was killed off. Or was he having a little fun, messing with people's minds, knowing they would debate it for weeks, and he really is being killed off? Ooh, the mind is running in circles.

We'll have to start a poll to see who we think the goner is...

[girlscout]

I think Evangeline Lily is also paving the way to remove herself from acting. I believe I read when Lost first came out that she was not a professional actress; that someone "found" her and thus began her acting career. Or maybe she did bits and pieces but never had professional training. It's been so long I can't remember which it was. Then there is also the preview that shows Claire floating face down in the ocean but being rescued by someone. What the commercial didn't show was whether she was alive or dead. So many possibilities!!

[elc]

It's even better about Evangeline - after signing with Ford modeling agency, she did commercials for Chatlines in Canada (ie, for meeting singles).

[mom4kittys]

Thanks!
By the way, I just watched the episode where Ana Lucia and Libby got shot--didn't see that coming! Even after all the accidental spoilers I've seen on some of the Lost websites.
Almost caught up to join you guys for season 3.

[zlala]

Bump

[Michael Barnes]

tsol

[elc]

2/7/07 - The Wait is Over



Lost Returns tomorrow night!

Episode Title: Not in Portland (Juliet centric)

TV Guide Description: On the operating table, Ben's life is in Jack's hands, but the doc's gamble to free Kate and Sawyer hits a geographical snag. Still, the runaways elude Danny and the other guards, with the help of unlikely allies. Flashbacks follow Juliet's medical career, which has a very personal component to it. Rachel: Robin Weigert. Ethan: William Mapother. Edmund: Zeljko Ivanek. Alpert: Nestor Carbonell.

And according to a podcast with the writers/producers/whatever - look out for an anagram that will be a major clue about what is going on.