Kate

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!

-According to the LA Times, Lost is officially one of the top ten finalists for the Best Drama Emmy, as submitted on the basis of “Through the Looking Glass”

-Although the Emmy nominations will not be officially announced until July 19th, the Teen Choice Awards nominations have been released, and Lost basically cleaned house:

-Top Drama Series

-Dramatic Actor (Matthew Fox)

-Dramatic Actress (Evangeline Lilly)

-Choice TV Sidekick (Jorge Garcia)

-Choice Villain (Michael Emerson)

*You can place your vote here!

-Kristin from E! Online is reporting that there will be at least one new character cast for Season 4 and that no official word has been released yet about Harold Perrineau coming back.

And finally, have a happy and safe July 4th to those Lost Blog readers in the US!

It has been a week now and the dust has settled (mostly) from the mind-blowing Season 3 finale. Though we are undoubtedly left with many questions to keep us occupied until next February, we were provided some closure as well. In summary:

Charlie is dead

There was a lot of commentary associated with the finale post related to how Charlie died and exactly why he did not try to escape from the control panel room as it filled with water. Ultimately Charlie believed that for the Losties to be rescued from the Island, specifically Claire and Aaron, he had to die in the way that Desmond envisioned. Bringing finality to season-long foreshadowing and in truly heroic fashion, he initiated the catalyst that will inevitably cause some of the Losties to get off the Island.

So are 12 Others, Naomi, and (possibly) Mikhail

The action and body count in this episode was unbelievable. We saw the Others’ rank and file decimated throughout the finale, Naomi literally stabbed in the back by Locke, and Mikhail detonate himself via hand grenade. However, I am not going to make the silly assumption that Mikhail is dead; after all, we have now seen him bounce back from the sensor pylons and a spear to the chest. We will probably see him wash ashore in Season 4 alive, but missing his right hand.

Though I generally agreed with it, I thought that Sawyer’s execution of Tom was the foreshadowing of an even darker descent for the character that we will see next season.

“Not Penny’s Boat”

During Charlie’s brief commune with Penny, we are told that Penny does not know of Naomi, which basically begs the question “Who is Naomi with?”. My first guess would be Dharma, or the corporate entity that financed the Dharma Initiative. She obviously has access to sophisticated technology and knows enough about Desmond’s back story to use that as the means to convince the Losties of her motives. Widmore anyone? Hopefully Desmond can get back in time to save the Losties from whomever is on their way to “rescue” them.

Future Jack is Depressing

As Jack is one of my personal favorite characters, I am hoping the flash forward we saw represents a “possible” future for Jack, and not the absolute. If it is Jack’s future, I would hope he finds a way back to the Island to right the wrong he feels needs to be addressed, and to find some greater meaning for his life. J. Wood, whose blog I have read frequently this season, discussed the flash forward in his TTLG post and it is definitely worth reading:

I’m planting a flag here — when Des saved Charlie, he changed that past and present as well as the future. Charlie couldn’t swim in the first season, and he’s all of a sudden a swimming champion who makes an impressive dive in “Greatest Hits,” a dive that Mikhail needed scuba gear for. Like Charlie’s newfound innate swimming ability, perhaps in the re-made past/present/future, Christian Shepherd didn’t die. And maybe that’s why Kate seems to be conspicuously lacking her trademark freckles.

The flash forward itself implies an even greater question for next season, and that is, did the Season 3 finale represent a change in the narrative angle for the entire series? Was the flash forward a one-time episodic plot device, or is this what we can expect moving forward?

Is Ben a bad guy, or a morally-challenged good guy?

Seeing Jack in his current state of depression made me think that Ben is really the only one who has this whole thing figured out, and is ultimately doing whatever is necessary to protect the location of the Island from the people looking to exploit it. There was obviously some merit to his comments about the company that Naomi was keeping, and his dialogue related to Jack’s need to get back to civilization, though stinging, was the truth. Nevertheless, it was somewhat cathartic to see Jack pummel Ben. For those that haven’t seen it yet, there are some pretty good transcriptions of Ben’s diary out there.

Who was in the casket?

There has been a lot of speculation about this; it could be Locke, Sawyer, or Ben, or anyone else under the guise of a different name. In my opinion, it is probably either Ben or someone we have yet to meet on the series. Jack commented that the person was neither friend nor relative, and the reaction evoked from Kate would indicate it was somebody that there was a general level of contempt for.

Season 4 cannot get here quick enough, and I am excited to learn more about everything referenced above, as well as where Locke has migrated off to, where exactly is this temple that Ben has sent the remaining Others to, and did we really see Walt, or was that a reincarnation of Smokey? Could Walt have some tie to Jacob?

We will continue to try and keep things interesting on this blog, following any information released about the series, the actors, and making some changes along the way to prepare for a better Season 4 Lost Blog experience. We are working on initiating a theory-focused contest and will have more information on that in the coming weeks.

Until then, stay Lost.

New York Magazine posted an interesting, albeit brief, interview on their Vulture Entertainment Blog with Michael Emerson today related to the finale and his thoughts about next season. This is funny on the heels of the self-imposed radio silence from Damon Lindelof and Carlton Cuse. Someone obviously forgot to tell Benry.

Now that the finale has aired, do you have any freaking clue what’s going to happen when you start shooting again?

No, because I didn’t know what the end of the episode was until I watched it. That was a secret scene with Jack and Kate — only Matthew [Fox] and Evangeline [Lilly] were given that text and it was shot in secret.

He also comments about Naomi and his feelings about his character on the show.

Here’s some news surrounding the world of Lost this week.

Lost Ratings Climb

As Season 3 is approaching the finale, viewers and ratings are climbing. The traffic on this site soared Thursday morning causing an outage. We are actively working on preventing that again.

At 10 p.m., CBS’ “CSI: NY” led in households with a 7.7/13, but a new “Lost,” 7.2/12, had about 450,000 more total viewers. “Medium” posted a 4.8/8 for NBC

Even the 9pm repeat took 4th place (via Zap2it)

Reuters is reporting the DVR recordings of Lost are adding 2.5 million viewers.

Actor News

In other ratings jumps, Evangeline Lilly saw a jump in FHM from last year’s #73 spot to #35.

It has been confirmed Matthew Fox will play Racer X in the Wachowski brother’s adaptation of Speed Racer. There’s been lots of chatter around the web about this, including this site. He joins Kick Gurry, Emile Hirsch, Christina Ricci, Susan Sarandon and John Goodman in the cast.

Finally, a small interview with Henry Ian Cusick regarding his alter ego Desmond, and his life prior to joining Lost.

I have been very busy the last few days so unfortunately I haven’t had time to write any news. Here is what has been happening in the world of Lost during the last few days:

• Lost star Evangeline Lilly will star in her first feature film alongside John Malkovich and Romain Duris.
• Nathan Fillion of Firefly and Serenity fame who played Kate’s husband Kevin says that he would love to appear on Lost again.
• Daniel Dae Kim will appear at The American Red Cross Hawaii’s “Tea at Halekulani” fundraiser event on April 22.
• Lost has been nominated for a BAFTA Award.

E!Online’s Kristin managed to sneak onto the Lost set in Hawaii to ask the actors about what we can expect from the upcoming episodes. There are some minor spoilers but nothing significant.

Featured in the video are Lost actors Terry O’Quinn, Michael Emerson, Yunjin Kim, Daniel Dae Kim, Jorge Garcia, Josh Holloway, Dominic Monaghan and Evangeline Lilly.

Thanks to Lost-media we now have a clip of Evangeline’s appearance on Punk’d. Evie arrives to a party at what appears to be Harold Perrineau’s house. Soon thereafter two very valuable art prints are delivered…

As usual, no one is safe when Ashton Kutcher is around!

Last week’s Lost episode “Exposé” was a nice little departure from the drama at Othersville, but tonight we’re getting back to the action.

Spoiler warning

Kate and Juliet will get to know each other a bit better and back at the beach Sawyer discovers that he might not be as popular as he is with fans of the show…

This is the official description of tonight’s new Lost episode “Left Behind”:

Left Behind” - After discovering that one of her own has betrayed her to “The Others,” Kate is left to fend for herself in the jungle with Juliet. Meanwhile, Hurley warns Sawyer to change his selfish ways and make amends with his fellow survivors or he may face a vote of banishment, on “Lost,” WEDNESDAY, APRIL 4 (10:00-11:00 p.m., ET), on the ABC Television Network.

Feel free to discuss your thoughts and theories on the Lost episode in the comments!

There is a little interview with Evangeline Lilly over at Esquire. Besides talking about the possibility of playing Wonder Woman, Evie talks a bit about her life and answers a few questions about Lost:

ESQ: The show isn’t afraid to kill off major characters. Worried you might be next?

Evangeline: I feel like where they’ve taken the story, I don’t think they’re finished with Kate yet.

ESQ: You realize you just painted a target on your forehead.

Evangeline: I know! No one’s above it. Got that? Nobody. [Laughs.]

ESQ: So I’m told that the series will end with a scientist informing the survivors that they’re part of a government experiment.

Evangeline: I don’t think so.

ESQ: Wait, you’re saying the Internet is wrong?

Evangeline: I think that would be so unfair to our viewers. They’ve invested in this idea, and to cop out and make it something as stupid and simple as we’re all dead in purgatory or something, I think I’d get up and kick a hole through my television I’d be so pissed off.

ESQ: Admit it, the writers have no idea where this thing is going.

Evangeline: They do! I remember when we were filming the pilot, [cocreator] J.J. Abrams was talking about the idea of a hatch. They told us they had roughly mapped out the first six seasons.

Read the interview at Esquire