Lost TV Series News and Theories

Tonight’s Desmond-centric episode will mostly focus on Sayid and Desmond’s trip with Frank Lapidus back to the freighter – and accordingly we will see the introduction of a number of new characters. Hopefully we get much more insight into how cohesive a group the freighties are (or not) and additional information on who might be Ben’s man on the boat. I would expect to see a strange sequence related to Desmond’s flash – and we’ll probably have a difficult time determining if we are seeing past or future – should be a great episode.

Spoiler Warning

ABC’s Official Show Description

Sayid and Desmond run into turbulence on their way to the freighter, causing Desmond to suffer unusual side effects.

Episode Preview

As always here are a few sneak peeks of The Constant:
Sneak Peek 1 | Sneak Peek 2 | Sneak Peek 3

I have to say that the first four episodes of Season 4 have definitely delivered – we may not be getting all the answers we are looking for, but you can definitely feel that the storytelling is moving forward at a much more rapid pace than in past seasons. There was a lot of really great commentary associated with the episode post, and here are a few things that caught my eye:

*Could Miles Be Ben’s Man on the Boat?

-This is something I did not initially consider, but thanks to reader adriennez for bringing this to light. The exchange between Ben and Miles was extremely peculiar, as many of you noted in regards to the precise amount of money that Miles is looking for – $3.2 million:

Miles was the one who talked about using a secret code with Naomi when we first saw him…the whole “tell my sister I love her” thing. I think when Ben said “why $3.2 million, why not $3.3 or $3.4?”, that he was confirming whatever message Miles was trying to tell him. Mile also said that Ben had 3 days and Ben said that he needed a week, which Miles agreed to. I think this was more code talk.

I still think it is more likely that Michael is Ben’s man on the boat – but perhaps that is a unlikely scenario given that the freighties are probably well aware of the identities of those people who were on Flight 815. Something to consider…

*Is that really Claire’s Aaron?

-I am kind of torn on this one – Lindelof and Cuse typically chide the fandom for over thinking some of the stuff they blatantly put out there for us, but I am not 100% sold that the Aaron we saw in the future is Claire’s son. I’ll give you two scenarios I think are within the realm of possibility:

1) My too much time to think Scenario: Something bad happens to Claire and Aaron – Kate is pregnant with Sawyer’s child and ultimately names him Aaron in some weird homage to her Lost-mates. This could also explain why Jack has such a hard time seeing the child – because it is Sawyer’s and because in the future he knows that Claire/Aaron were related to him and he is having a hard time dealing with whatever happened to them. I know this is a bit far reaching…

2) My more plausible Scenario: Something bad happens to Claire and it ultimately has something to do with a decision that Jack made – or, Claire has to give Aaron up for some reason (either she is compelled to stay on the Island, or Aaron is taken from her for some reason). Jack laters finds out Claire was his sister and it makes things even worse. Kate takes custody of Aaron and Jack cannot get over what happened to Claire – hence his unwillingness to see the child.

*The Oceanic 6 (of 8)

-Many of you, like myself, found Jack’s testimony at Kate’s trial extremely interesting, partially because of his fabricated recollection of what happened, but more specifically that the the Oceanic 6 were the Oceanic 8 at some point – it will be interesting to see which characters they position as the two who did not make it (and, are these characters already gone, or will we see two major characters perish in the near term?).

Also, I do not think Aaron or Ben will be or should be considered one of the 6. Aaron was still in utero when the plane crashed (or conceived on the Island depending on which theory you subscribe to), but either way he would not have been listed on the manifest and therefore should be removed from consideration IMHO. We now know that Ben has the wherewithal to come and go as he pleases – and I am sure he finds a way to stay on his beloved Island.

*Kate’s Deal

-Stuck in California for 10 years? Sounds like foreshadowing to me, and at least we can fully understand why Kate was dismissive of Jack’s pleas to return to the Island at the end of Season 3. I imagine Kate will have a big decision to make at some point in the next couple of seasons – related to whether she will jeopardize her freedom to make an attempt to return to the Island.

Finally, I wanted to reiterate the need to be congenial in the comment section associated with the posts. Given the level of post-show activity we see, it can be difficult to thoroughly follow and read through hundreds of comments – the problem is further exacerbated by the timing delays that can be seen when a ton of people are trying to post at once. We have a lot of loyal readers who contribute and I would hate to see anyone alienated. Please try to follow the rules we have set forth:

*Read all comments before commenting. If something has already been said, there is no need to say it again.
*Stay on topic. If your comment is about last week’s episode it belongs in that comment thread. Search and find the right post.
*Be constructive, don’t complain about Lost unless you want to discuss your complaint.
*No spoilers or discussion of episode previews.
*Be kind and helpful.

I am looking forward to Thursday night!

I am not sure that “The Economist” can be topped (I am still haunted by Sayid saying “The day I trust this man is the day I sell my soul”), but as the show goes on tonight’s episode centers around Kate – so hopefully we will get more information about what her Oceanic 6 life looks like (perhaps why she is not in jail and who the “he” is she was referring to in the Season 3 Finale).

Spoiler Warning

ABC’s Official Show Description

Kate’s need to get information out of the hostage may jeopardize her standing with Locke – as well as with Sawyer.

Episode Preview

Here a few Eggtown sneak peeks also: Sneak Peek 1 | Sneak Peek 2

See you all in the comments tonight. Have Fun.

Lots going on in the Lost world this week heading into Episode 4 tomorrow night:

*Lost Podcast Returns – A link to the official Podcast is below, and in an effort to not push any spoilers out there I would suggest you listen and pay attention to the conversation about how a DHARMA polar bear can end up in the desert… Pretty cool stuff.

http://abc.go.com/primetime/lost/index?pn=podcast#t=3421

*Doc Jensen’s Interview with Damon Lindelof & Carlton Cuse – This is a great read, but is also riddled with spoiler-esque information, so be warned before you read the entirety of the article:

On Naomi’s bracelet:

DAMON LINDELOF: Naomi’s bracelet in the Sayid episode is a key point here. I got some e-mails from people who wondered if there was a connection between Naomi’s bracelet and the bracelet worn by the woman Sayid killed in his flash-forward. There is no connective tissue. Sometimes a bracelet is just a bracelet. We just thought it would be a cool emotional touchstone for Sayid; Elsa’s bracelet reminds him of Naomi. But some people interpreted that, ”Is there something more there?” We might need to address that.

On the concept of alternate realities:

CARLTON CUSE: We want people to believe in the stakes of the show. The problem with alternative realities is that you never know when the rug is going to be pulled out from under you. We want the audience to believe that the jeopardy is real. Postulating alternative realities would be an escape valve that would be damaging that as a narrative value.

Enjoy!

Tonight’s episode will focus on Sayid, and for those of you who watched the promo at the end of last week I am sure you can put two and two together related to what this means… We should get more detail related to exactly what the Freighties (ers, tots, whatever you want to call them) want with Ben and it will be interesting to see how that plays out. From what I have read, there should be a few eye-poppers tonight and there will be no let down coming off the momentum from last week.

ABC’s official show description:

Spoiler Warning

“Sayid and Kate go in search of Locke to negotiate a peaceful deal when they discover that his hostage may be the key to getting off the Island.”

Episode Preview

There are a few sneak peeks available also: Sneak Peek 1 | Sneak Peek 2

As many of you know, the WGA strike is officially over and it is now clear what that means for Lost:

• We will get through Episode 7 of Season 4 and then there will be a five week (roughly) hiatus after which we will then get 6 or 7 more episodes to conclude this season
• Once “Grey’s Anatomy” returns, Lost will get bumped to the 10 PM EST slot on Thursday night – not a bad thing considering that Grey’s is such a huge show ratings-wise
• The 2 or 3 episodes (or hours of programming) we do not get this season will be made up for in the future – so says Carlton Cuse

It’s pretty crazy to think there was a contention of people out there who thought that this particular episode was a let down after the season premiere – I could not disagree more. This episode rocked, and I cannot remember a better infusion of new characters into any show I have ever watched. I thought the acting was incredible, especially by Jeremy Davies as the character “Daniel Faraday” (is he really that awkward/goofy or is that just manipulation?) and Ken Leung as “Miles” (ghost whispering kicks ass, as long as it does not involve Jennifer Love-Hewitt). There is a ton to digest from this episode, but here are a few things I found interesting:

*A Little Lost Fandom Love: Lindelof/Cuse winked at us twice during this episode and most of you caught it – Locke asking “What is the Smoke Monster ?!?” when Ben was in secret-revealing mode and Locke again referring to Walt as “different, taller” – then getting sarcastically ridiculed by Sawyer

*Find815.com Tie-In: The beginning of the episode was a total overlay of what happened at the conclusion of Find815, with the discovery of the plane and the corresponding news coverage

*The New Characters: It is a bit premature to pinpoint exactly what is happening, but I picked up on two streams of thought coming from the excellent commentary that accompanied the post from yesterday:

A) Ben really does hate these people, and Michael could be his “man on their boat” – Makes sense because we have seen Walt but not Michael and it would be just like Ben to force Michael to continue carrying out his evil deeds to ultimately release he and Walt from the Island

B) We are in for a major twist and these people are on the Island to help Ben regain control (or at least Charlotte is) – Another distinct possibility given the all too convenient placement of Charlotte’s bullet proof vest and Ben’s thorough knowledge of who she was. And how about the DHARMA Polar Bear fossil? More theories on that?

Michael Abaddon is EVIL: So, now we know that Naomi was hired by Abaddon as the mercenary to lead all the misfits we met this week – but this episode takes me back to the conversation between The Dark Destroyer and Hurley from last week, when he asked “Are they still alive?” I initially thought he was referring to other survivors of Flight 815, but perhaps he was asking about his crew. I think it is becoming increasingly likely that the Oceanic 6 get off the Island without these new characters, given all the info we are getting fed about the helicopter and its inability to carry much weight.

That’s it for now – the only way this episode could have been any better is if Miles would have parachuted directly into Jacob’s cabin!

Tonight’s episode will focus on the introduction of four new characters from the Freighter (including actor Jeremy Davies who we saw at the conclusion of last week’s episode), and hopefully their true intentions as it relates to the Island. Based on the title of the episode, I also believe we will get more information about what the real world was told happened to Flight 815, which Naomi alluded to last season prior to her demise…

Spoiler Warning

ABC’s official show description:

The survivors begin to question the intentions of their supposed rescuers when four strangers arrive on the island.

Episode Preview

Sneak Peeks

There are 2 sneak peeks available also: Sneak Peek 1 | Sneak Peek 2

I would not expect the fast-paced nature of “Beginning of the End”, but I do expect we will get some critical back story. Further, it will be interesting to see which faction discovers each of these new characters – and the different reactions from the groups to them… Should definitely make for compelling drama!

What a week for Lost. Seriously, I think that the season was kicked off with an urgency we have yet to see from the show, and definitely lived up to the hype (if that is even possible with the ABC hype-machine in full effect). Everywhere you turned this week, there was something about the show, and this episode in particular. Here is an overview of some of the more interesting occurrences:

*Christian Shepherd was definitely in Jacob’s chair – To make things even better, when that scene was originally shot, Hurley was the one in the chair and then Cuse/Lindelof changed it after the fact; read Jorge Garcia’s interview with Kristin from E! Online for more

*Abaddon – Not sure if you caught his name, but the corporate guy (originally posing as an Oceanic employee) that visited Hurley in the mental institution is CREEPY and his name literally means “destroyer, or place of destruction” – I am sure we have not seen the last of him

*Jack’s Downward Spiral – Being a serious fan of the good doctor, I think it is going to be compelling and difficult to watch how future Jack gets from where we saw him this week (to Hurley “WE’RE NEVER GOING BACK!”) to where we saw him at the end of last season (to Kate “WE HAVE TO GO BACK!”). I think we are going to see the Oceanic 6 tormented by the people they left behind in visions throughout these flash forwards, much like what we saw with the dialogue between Hurley and Charlie.

*Two Factions – At the end of last season I was seriously doubting Jack’s leadership after seeing his sad state of existence. But, I think we were thrown for somewhat of a loop this week when we see Hurley apologize to Jack in the flash forward for going/siding with Locke. I cannot imagine what happens to the group that ends up following Locke back to the DHARMA barracks

This episode would dictate that Hurley will play a much larger role this season and moving forward (Garcia’s acting in this episode was top notch!). On Thursday we should get some better indication of who the people are that show up to the Island and just how nefarious they may or may not be. I still believe there are two distinct groups looking to get to the Island – both for different reasons (one to exploit, one to protect), and that the people legitimately with Naomi are perhaps not “bad guys” at all. The six that get off the Island (Jack, Kate and Hurley are 3 confirmed) become part of some much larger conspiracy to either protect the identity of the Island or perhaps what happened to the people left behind.

As I write this post, there is extremely positive news breaking that the end of the writer’s strike is imminent. My basic understanding is that it’s likely we will get the entire 16 episode season this year based on the strike being resolved in the next few days – great for us and the show!

In case you missed this last night, or could not bear the thought of watching “Eli Stone”…

This obviously coincides with the conclusion of the Find815.com story arch, but it will be interesting to see where they take this over the next few weeks.