Another good mobisode, in my opinion. If you have not yet seen “The Deal”, you can view it here.
The premise of “The Deal” centers around a discussion between Michael and Juliet, and the title is an obvious reference to what Michael had to do to save Walt. The dynamic of their conversation is interesting, specifically after Juliet reveals some information about the deal she had to cut with Ben to save her sister’s life. We, again, see Michael’s somewhat self-centered perception of reality come out, in the following dialogue:
Juliet – I guess you are. I made a deal with him too.
Michael – Then why are you still here?
Juliet – Because he saved my sister’s life.
Michael – And where is she?
Juliet – Miami.
Michael – But you had to stay? What’s the point saving her life if you can’t be with her?
Juliet – Wouldn’t you do anything to save Walt?
Michael then just blankly stares at Juliet… I find this interesting because we know Michael’s past, specifically his initial reluctance in which he accepted Walt into his life. This definitely has me even more intrigued with how Michael will be injected back into the storyline during Season 4.
And by the way, this also means ABC thinks the new season of Lost is so good, it warrants such play. I’ve heard from Alphabet-net insiders that the upcoming eight episodes filmed so far are “crazy good” and will “even satisfy the haters.”
Not that any of us expected less, but this obviously bodes well for what we will get starting in February.
Though it has not yet been posted on ABC.com, the third mobisode can be found here. In my opinion, this is the most interesting thus far, given the characters involved (Jack and Ben), the setting (a chess match), and the dialogue, as noted below:
Ben - It’s been a long time since I had anybody with a little skill to play against. I don’t suppose there’s anything I could do to convince you to stick around. Relax Jack. Just an idle question. We have a deal. I fully intend to honor it.
Jack - Intend to, or you will?
Ben - It’s not entirely up to me. If the island doesn’t want you to leave, it won’t let you.
Jack - What the, the island’s going to sink the sub?
Ben - No. No. I promise you I won’t do anything to prevent you from getting home. But if you do leave this place, the day may come when you want to return.
Jack - Never.
Ben - I’ve learned never to say never. And if that day comes, I hope you remember this conversation.
Ben - Was a nice try though.
Obviously, this conversation turns out to be prophetic in two very obvious ways. One, though the Island does not physically sink the ship, Locke does, and we all know that Locke has some mysterious bond with the Island itself. Further, at the end of Season 3 we all remember Jack in his miserable, addicted state-of-mind, constantly jumping on flights hoping for another crash, and then finally, desperately pleading with Kate that they had to go back to the Island.
*Also, here is an interesting article from the New York Times that depicts why these particular mobisodes (if that is what you call them) might be a good case study in how Hollywood should deal with the WGA.
In an interview Mr. Cuse said that while it took five months to reach an agreement, he believes the “Missing Pieces” deal could serve as a template for resolving at least some of the dispute over payment for online use of material.
“I think it is a pretty good model,” he said last week. “What it shows is that there is basically room for a partnership between writers and the studios in a new medium. It’s where I wish we were headed instead of being stuck in this standoff.”
As most all of you know, you can now find the first two Missing Pieces episodes on ABC.com. I would recommend watching them, if for no other reason than it’s new content and we are still a few months away from the premiere. You can find a brief summary below, along with my thoughts:
“The Watch” - This takes place just before Jack & Sarah’s wedding, and we actually get to see Jack and Christian having a functional, somewhat emotional, father and son moment. It’s interesting to see this dynamic between the two, given that the vast majority of what we have seen to date is turbulent at best. Christian gives Jack a watch that his father passed down to him on his wedding day, and unlike his father, Christian believes Jack is making “the absolute best decision” by marrying Sarah.
“The Adventures of Hurley & Frogurt” - This basically takes a 180 from the first episode. A funny, satirical exchange takes place between Hurley and Neil, referred to as “Frogurt”, a character that has been mentioned before, but until this episode never actually appeared on Lost. Nothing earth shattering here, but again, an interesting, condescending exchange. After seeing Hurley take some DHARMA Cabernet from Bernard & Rose’s tent for his picnic with Libby, Frogurt basically tells Hurley he needs to take the next step in his pursuit of her, or move out of the way so he can have his shot. Hurley let’s Frogurt know that he is well beyond “doing laundry” with Libby.
I’m not sure you can read into these too much other than for the sake of character development, but at this point I am interested in ANYTHING new related to Lost. We will continue to get one of these per week, leading up to the premiere for Season 4 in February.
Kristin Dos Santos, of E!Online, posted an interview with Damon Lindelof yesterday about the strike and its potential effect on the arc of the remainder of the series. Pretty compelling stuff, specifically related to the idea that Episode 8 may end up being a huge cliff-hanger for fans of Lost.
Lindelof on the Strike:
It looks like Lost will air eight episodes and then go dark. Does it sadden you that you’re not able to deliver those 16 in a row that were promised to the fans?
Yes, it does. I feel like the worst thing we could have done was to plan for a strike and plan accordingly. Everybody had to be optimistic, because then it would have felt like why does episode eight feel like such a conclusion? We learned last year that the show moves at a certain pace, and you can’t build up critical momentum in the first six episodes. In fact, when you are doing 24 straight episodes of a show, the first six episodes are a lot of tap dancing and some writers are able to tap-dance very effectively. Cable writers don’t have to tap-dance at all, which is why all their shows are so great.
Lindelof on Season 4 Ending after Episode 8:
At the end of the eighth episode, is there any sense of conclusion whatsoever?
It’s as much of a conclusion as, say, Ana-Lucia and Libby getting shot.
Wow. Really?
Yes. And you’d be, like, oh my god, I can’t believe I have to wait another year and two months for episode nine of this season.
So, it’s a cliffhanger?
Yes. And that’s the thing, we really planned out the three seasons of 16, 16 and 16…so the idea of having to come back and maybe do a 24-episode season, and that would be season five is just…I can’t look the fans in the eye and tell them that we’re executing the original plan anymore.
Obviously, this whole strike is unfortunate for a number of reasons, but I believe the writers are just in what they are doing and ultimately deserve a piece of the action related to any distribution channel their creation is available through. And honestly, Big Business in Hollywood could have resolved this entire issue with a little more forethought related to their online and mobile distribution strategies. We are talking about the writers asking for pennies on the dollar… Could that not have been a cost of business thought out beforehand?
This happened with DVD’s, and history repeats itself everytime a new method of distribution breaks through to the masses. Benjamin Franklin said, quite appropriately, that the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results. That the PGA and studio executives expected the writers to bury their collective heads in the sand while huge rewards were reaped through new media is short-sighted at best.
*The Lost Mobisodes will be titled Lost: Missing Pieces, and here is ABC’s official description:
Lost: Missing Pieces are 13 two-to three-minute stories of compelling, new, never-before-seen moments from LOST. These newly-created scenes (not deleted scenes from previous episodes) reveal answers and new details about your favorite characters. For each story, we leave it up to the you, the fans, to figure out where these pieces fit into the overall mythology. Watch new episodes on ABC.com
Mondays beginning 11/12.
So, if you cannot access these on your mobile phone, I am assuming high quality versions will be accessible beginning with the first episode this Monday on ABC.com.
*At some point yesterday ABC.com posted the following note on their official Lost page. Nice work by DarkUFO for catching this premiere description.
Lost
Thu Feb 14 -6/-7c
Stay tuned on February 2008!
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…
The date has subsequently been changed to TBD, so this was either a mistake or someone pulling the proverbial trigger a little early.
Not sure to what degree of interest this is for most of you, but it would seem that last night it was all but confirmed that the WGA has moved to strike. Kristin from E!Online wrote an interesting post about it in her blog last night, having heard about it during a benefit for the Children’s Defense Fund:
Funny enough, I heard this news tonight while sitting at a table at a Children’s Defense Fund dinner with Lost producer Damon Lindelof and Heroes producer Tim Kring, whose Blackberries (along with other writers, producers and directors in the room) simultaneous buzzed about 7:30 with the news that “It’s on.”
The mention related to what effect this has on Lost is also worth noting:
From all appearances, Lost may have the best advantage of all series, given that it has been stockpiling new scripts since June and not a single episode has yet aired. At this point, 14 of 16 episodes have been written. And if the strike does last long enough to really affect other series, Lost could very well be the only quality scripted dramas on television in February (along with perhaps 24, though it’s far more behind in its scripts due to a major overhaul of location and storyline).
There is also some coverage in the WSJ, basically indicating that the specifics of the walkout are still unclear. The length of the strike will determine to what degree programming suffers, but if there ever was a reason to appreciate the agonizing wait for Season 4 of Lost, this would be it!
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