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Our apologies for being away so long, but now that Lost-related news is heating back up in preparation for Comic Con, you will be seeing more frequent updates. Most of you that signed up to the Octagon Global Recruiting website after the finale of Season 4 probably have already received, or will receive this email sometime this morning:

Octagon Global Recruiting, on behalf of the Dharma Initiative, is pleased to announce that Dharma’s Head of Recruiting, Mr. Hans Van Eeghen, has confirmed his availability for the launch of our latest recruiting drive at Comic-Con 2008.

“My colleagues at Octagon Global Recruiting assure me that Comic-con hosts some of the brightest minds in the country,” said Mr. Van Eeghen. “As Head of Recruiting it is my intention to personally assess the very best of this talent in the hope that they may join us.”

The Dharma Initiative will be conducting eligibility assessments at Booth 3529 at Comic-Con, San Diego between July 24th - 27th.

If you are attending Comic-Con and would like to submit your name for a randomly selected drawing to secure one of ten (10) pre-release appointments with one of our recruiting officers, please click here.

The volunteer eligibility assessment will be available online from July 28th for a limited time at www.dharmawantsyou.com

The Dharma Initiative hopes you will spread the word. Invite your friends to join the team at www.octagonglobalrecruiting.com

Looks like things will be pretty interesting at Comic Con - a description of the Lost-related panels are below:

Friday, July 25th: 1:45-2:45 Entertainment Weekly’s The Visionaries: Showrunners— Carlton Cuse (Lost), Damon Lindelof (Lost), Josh Schwartz (Chuck, Gossip Girl), Bryan Fuller (Pushing Daisies), and Josh Friedman (Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles) are the television producers who are changing the face of television with deeply immersive entertainments marked by distinctive, cutting edge storytelling. They have also been at the forefront of bringing “genre programming” or “cult TV” to the mainstream. Prepare for a candid conversation about creative integrity in a commercial medium and the future of broadcast TV in an increasingly digital world. Spoiler Alert! Upcoming plot developments may be teased. Moderated by Entertainment Weekly senior writer Jeff Jensen.

Saturday, July 26th: 12:00-1:00 Lost— If the most recent season finale was any indication of things to come, you will not want to miss this panel. Co-creator/executive producer Damon Lindelof and executive producer Carlton Cuse will discuss season 4 of Lost, leading up to the season finale. They will answer your questions and maybe even offer up some surprises of their own.

There has also been a little news that is a derivative of the recent ABC press tour, which included Cuse and Lindelof - most notably the following excerpt, taken from The Star - Ledger:

In terms of actual “Lost” news, the session was pretty light, though Carlton did say Daniel Dae Kim would appear on the show in the future “in some form” — which prompted Damon to add, “In human form!” And when someone asked Carlton how they planned to use next season to set up the final year, he called it “a tricky year for us; like ‘Two Towers.’ It’s the year that links us from the past to the final season… We’ve known a lot of what we wanted to do there for a long time. The challenge we have now is how to make this season exciting and engaging.”

So, let the Jin speculation continue!

Okay, now that we’ve had a couple weeks to digest and decompress from the quite fantastic season 4 finale - it is time to get back to the work of deciphering just what exactly is going on. In that vein, we have received two very cool pieces from our contributors that I thought I would reference in this post.

In an update to the Fallon Theory, which we posted last year, reader Aonghus Fallon sent us the following diagram (he’s also updated the comment thread, which I would recommend reading):

Also, a pretty cool timeline sketch from reader “Rick” - which depicts three known timeline changes in the Lost world.

What do you think?

Enjoy!

At least D&C make some effort to keep the spoilerites honest!

Just prior to the big reveal last night, a commercial aired for Octagon Global Recruiting - http://www.octagonglobalrecruiting.com (you can view the commercial and register via email). The dates for this DHARMA job fair align with that of Comic Con in San Diego this year - perhaps where they will announce the new ARG leading into Season 5.

I will do my best today (and tomorrow in the pre-EP post) to avoid the elephant in the room (i.e. the ridiculous number of significant plot spoilers already leaked for tomorrow’s finale) and stick to what I consider to be interesting analysis and rumor heading into tomorrow’s finale:

Doc Jensen’s “Who Is in the Coffin?” Odds-On Favorite is… Ben!

Ben
Jack said he was neither ”friend nor family” to the deceased: Lost’s biggest baddie fits. While it’s unlikely Ben’s passing would inspire Jack’s suicidal thoughts, the über-Other does represent McBeardy’s best shot at his dream of getting back to the Island. Sayid — Ben’s hitman for hire — would stay away lest the funeral might be a trap designed to kill him, too. 4 coffins

The big question that has been on everyone’s mind for an entire year - though Ben and Michael are probably the most plausible, I would probably lean towards Michael at this point - would definitely like to get your thoughts!

Death & Destruction - There is speculation that at least 1 and possibly 3 original characters will reach their demise tomorrow night - that is a relatively high body count even by Lost Season Finale standards - aside from Jin and the casket cadaver I am not really sure who these could be, nor do I care to speculate further. The real question is - if it were up to you, what 3 characters would you get rid of tomorrow night? Dark humor is appreciated!

Spectacular Smooches

Soooooooooo, if nothing else, tomorrow night you will see not only one, but two spectacular kisses during the finale! Who cares about smoke monsters, moving Islands and time travel anyway!

*Doc Arzt posted the audio from a press conference call with Lindelof and Cuse yesterday, and there is some really good information about what we can expect in the future:

-The title of the finale is “There’s No Place like Home”, part one on May 15th and part two on May 29th.
-They are planning an online prologue for Season 5, similar to ‘Find 815.’
-The story’s that were dropped because of the writer’s strike will be picked up in later season’s
-Season 5 should be launching in the last week of January
-They will not comment on the fate of Rousseau, but they can confirm that she was indeed shot with bullets
-The Orchid video will pay off in a major way by the end of Season 4
-The rattlesnake in the mail box (i.e. gamechanger in the season finale) is officially called “The Frozen Donkey Wheel” - according to Darlton this is going to be something that will absolutely make sense to all of us ;) The best allusion to this came from Lindelof during the call:

“There might come a time in the show where the word ‘flash’ becomes irrelevant,” Lindelof says. “If you stop and think about what we’ve done this year, there’s the story on the island which we perceive to be the present, then there’s the story of the Oceanic 6, which is happening off the island in the future.

“But if you were to switch perspectives and were off the island, focusing on the Oceanic 6 trying to get back, that would be the present, and what happened back on the island would be either a parallel present, a possible future a possible past, who knows. When you hear the ‘whoosh’ noise, the question becomes, Where does it take you?”

Wow - exciting things to come and it’s great to know that we will definitely be getting another ARG-like shot in the arm for the off season hiatus!

*The Extra Hour is Confirmed: Basically, we are going to get an hour on May 15th, and then two additional hours on May 29th - a 3 hour season finale that spans over two distinct episodes

Thankfully Season 4 resumes in two weeks - here is some info to keep you thinking until then:

*As many of you have noted in previous post commentary, there is current speculation that we may get an additional hour of programming this season, as reported by Michael Ausiello of TVGuide.com - but it has not yet been confirmed if that will take the shape of another episode, or the more likely scenario of a two-hour season finale.

• If the dream becomes a reality, how would it work? As it stands, Lost’s Season 4 climax is slated to air on May 22 on a season-finale-themed night that also includes the cappers of Ugly Betty and Grey’s Anatomy. So would the additional Lost hour be broadcast the following Thursday? Or would it perhaps run on another night?

• What does this do to the finale that was going to air on May 22? Would elements of it be incorporated into the new finale? Would this 14th hour come before that episode? And since we were originally supposed to get 16 eppies this season before the strike cut that number back to 13, does this mean we would now be getting a season finale that is more in line with what Darlton intended? Or more exposition that they ran out of time to include? The mind boggles.

I would prefer a two-hour finale vs. an additional episode that’s mashed into the mix somewhere - what do you think?

*Kristin Dos Santos of E! Online is also confirming this news, as noted in this post from yesterday afternoon:

It is looking “highly likely” (yay!) that there will be an additional hour of Lost for season four, for a total of six hours coming up in the spring run, starting April 24.
Producers pitched the idea of a two-hour finale to ABC, and if they end up getting an extra hour but it is not to extend the finale, well…that could be messy.

The sense among insiders is that ABC execs very much want to make this happen, but like I said, they have not yet had a chance to respond. Fingers crossed they will soon and it’ll be the right (i.e. “yes”) decision!

She also referenced that ABC and the producers were at a point in the discussion where this was “much too early to report”…

The hiatus blues have seriously kicked in after 8 fantastic episodes of Lost so far this season - now the wait starts again… Here are some interesting things happening in the Lost-world to keep your mind occupied (24 more days until Season 4 resumes!):

*Find815.com Part II - The Find815.com homepage was updated with the following message from Sam Thomas:

Not sleeping again.
Something’s still not right.

The reporters have stopped calling. Everyone is moving on. Flight 815 is a closed book for them. They think they have all the answers they need.

But I don’t…
S.T.

This could be an indication of a restart in the ARG - or a prelude to something we can expect at the conclusion of Season 4…

*The title of Episode 9 has been released by ABC - “The Shape of Things To Come”; there is also an episode description circulating out there that is a bit spoiler-esque, so I will leave it off of the blog until the EP preview in a few weeks - needless to say it looks to be awesome!

*Article in The Age about Season 4 - This article provides a pretty good recap of Season 4 thus far. I find the comment about Ben/Michael Emerson to be spot-on:

The greatest transformation, however, is happening with the nominal villain, Ben Linus (Michael Emerson). Lonely child, patricidal killer, manipulator and instigator of abduction and mass murder, he’s slowly evolving into the most important character on Lost. He creates confusion within confusion, but it’s increasingly unclear whether he’s a true believer or a malignant force.

Take “Meet Kevin Johnson” as the most recent example - where Ben once again flexes his truly unique manipulative powers - what a head case Michael must be now after that end-around!?!

Also, I would be interested in your thoughts about whether or not Ben was responsible for setting up Rousseau and Karl - and if not, then who do you think will ultimately be responsible for their (attempted) murders? There were some comments about this in the MKJ post - but I think it’s worth discussing a bit further.

DocH pointed out, rightfully so, the most subscribed to theory thus far:

Guess we won’t get the Rousseau FB after all (or Karl). Bet the target practice on the boat had the same shooters that dropped Danielle and Karl. HMMMMM? Karl and Danielle were the two that stood between Ben and Alex. How much do you want to bet that Ben is behind their deaths? You know… to get closer to Alex.

It’s possible Rousseau is still breathing - she has continued to find a way to survive on the Island for sometime (not quite as spectacularly as Patchy, but close). However, I’m not exactly sold on who the shooters were. Ben sent them off together, and I doubt he was crazy enough to do that had he not absolutely known Alex would be safe and the other two would be eliminated. So, what possibilities does that leave for the “who dunnit” in terms of trigger-pulling?

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!

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!