Last Pre-Premiere Post

Well, folks, Lost's four-hour, two-night extravaganza begins this evening. As I mentioned in an earlier post, tonight ABC is airing an "enhanced" version of the third season finale, in which clues and observations like the one depicted here will pop up on screen. (Special thanks to Steve from New York who pointed me to the NY Times article from which I snagged the pic).



Also wrapping up this week is Lost's second online alternate reality game ("ARG"), entitled Find 815. Now in its fifth and final chapter, Find 815 tells the story of former Oceanic IT worker Sam Thomas who, despondent over the loss of girlfriend Sonya (a flight attendant on 815), continues his private search for the missing aircraft after Oceanic announces it has called off the search. Sam is aided by a series of mysterious, coded emails that appear to have been sent by an organization called "The Maxwell Group," which may be a reference to theoterical physicist James Clerk Maxwell. The first message, a photo of Sonya, contained four hidden text messages, "Christiane I," "Sunda Trench," "Black Rock," and "Tell No One." Sam followed these clues to Christiane I, a salvage freighter about to leave Jakarta, Indonesia, to search the Sunda Trench for the wreckage of our favorite long-lost slave ship, Black Rock. Christiane I and its captain, Mr. Ockham, were hired by the mysterious Oscar Talbot, who installed all sorts of strange electronic equipment. Talbot, it turns out, is employed by the Maxwell Group (which, it turns out, is a division of Widmore Industries), but has never heard of Sam. Sam earned a place on the ship when he repaired Talbot's chart plotter just as the ship was about to leave port. While at sea, Sam tried to tune in a portable radio, and picked up a live broadcast about the disappearance of Amelia Earhart. He then spotted a strange green aurora that lasted about a minute over an otherwise empty piece of ocean. Following coordinates he obtained through more decoded messages from the Maxwell Group, Sam commandeered the ship and, in the last clip to be released thus far, apparently found Black Rock.



The game is scheduled to end just prior to the season premiere tomorrow night. Meanwhile, the website for the Maxwell Group is currently nothing but a login screen that, if you try to get through it, tells you the authentication protocols are disabled until this Friday. Finally, it looks as though the login and password will be revealed during a fake Oceanic commercial that will air on ABC Thursday night during the premiere of its new series, "Eli Stone," which airs after Lost's premiere.



Finally, a number of minor spoilers have come out through the press this week. None of them are actual answers (heaven forbid), but rather teases for the new season. You can read about these teases on my secondary blog, by clicking here.

How to Watch Lost; Mind-Blowing "Missing Piece"

Two quick tidbits, Lostophiles, as we're only 3 days and change from "The Beginning of the End."

First of all, for anyone who ever wanted to learn the "correct" way to watch Lost, ABC will be running an "enhanced" version of the Season 3 finale, "Through the Looking Glass," on Wednesday night at 9 Eastern/ Pacific, 8 Central/ Mountain. According to press notes, the "enhancements" are not previously unaired footage, but rather pop-up text that will point you to the more subtle clues contained in the episode.

I have not watched this enhanced version, so I can't endorse it, per se, but I'm letting you know it's out there.

But much bigger than that is the last of the Verizon Wireless/ ABC.com "Missing Pieces." If you click on the title to this post, you will be taken to Doc Arzt's blog, where he posted this fairly surprising little nugget, entitled "so it begins." Seriously, you have to watch this clip! Its "star" is Vincent, Walt's golden retriever, and the clip takes place moments after the crash but before the iconic first shot of the pilot episode. Vincent, traipsing through the jungle, is given instructions by...Christian Shepherd!

Now, this does nothing to the legitimacy of my prior post, in which I emphatically proved that the elder Dr. Shepherd no longer walks this mortal coil. Visions on the island are not limited to those whose lives they're linked to (see John Locke's conversation with Eko's deceased brother, Yemi). Moreover, the gist of the message, that Jack has "work to do," recalls what the vision of Walt told Locke at the end of last season.

So check this (and the other Missing Pieces, some of which are quite interesting) out for yourself. These are not spoilers, because they will not be part of any future episode. (For the rest of the Missing Pieces, go to http://abc.go.com/primetime/lost/missingpieces/index?pn=index).

Responding to Comments - Christian Shepherd is Dead

This post is a response to a comment posted recently by my pal Gret, one of the fantastic people you'll meet at http://www.lostusers.com/. Specifically, Gret questions whether or not Christian Shepherd, father of both Jack and Claire, is somehow alive in the future. Well, lostophiles, let me be clear on this one - the man is dead.

This question, which has been a popular one that developed once viewers began unpacking the dialog of the flash-forwards in "Through the Looking Glass," came from three primary pieces of evidence:

1. The visions/ empty casket. Since way back in Season 1, we found Christian's empty casket (and no sign of his body), and Jack has, from time to time, seen visions of Christian walking through the jungle.


2. In flashforward, Jack told the pharmacist that he had a pain pill prescription written by Christian Shepherd before angrily stomping out of the pharmacy.


3. Also in flashforward, when confronting the new chief of surgery in the hospital, Jack snapped, "you get my father down here, and if he's less drunk than I am, you can fire me."

All compelling evidence. (Gret adds a fourth point - that the pharamacist was strangely unaware of the death of such a prominent local neurosurgeon). Here's why I say Christian is still dead.

1. The producers have said so. They did in the April 20, 2007 abc.com podcast, and, if I'm not mistaken, did so again at the 2007 San Diego ComicCon. Frankly, before Damon and Carlton went dark due to the WGA strike, I believe they reaffirmed this on several occasions.


2. Matthew Fox said so. Now, we all know that the cast of Lost is generally as in the dark as the rest of us about what's going on (other than their having read/ shot 8 more scripts than we've seen). But in the recent EW interview, Matt Fox said he confronted Damon Lindelof with this question when he read the script for "Through the Looking Glass." The explanation he got from Damon was logical enough that it gets its own point here....


3. Future Jack is a drunk and an addict. He lied at the pharmacy to try to score pills. That's it. Flat out lied. As for his rant with the chieft of surgery, per Lindelof (through Fox), it is thoroughly common for people under the influence to conflate time and speak of the dead as though they were still living. Moreover, Jack's point at the time, that he was less drunk than his father, was simply that the hospital knowingly turned a blind eye to Christian's drinking on duty, not that Christian was inebriated (but breathing) at that very moment.


4. Christian's death predated the flash-forward by three years. This is but one reason why the pharmacist may not have reacted with suspicion at the naming of a dead surgeon. After three years had passed, would anyone not closely associated with the Shepherds make the connection between the famous dead guy and the name on the prescription pad? For that matter, just how famous are neurosurgeons, even in their local areas? I've lived in L.A. for nearly 12 years now, and have read the L.A. Times almost every day since I've lived here, and I have never known the name of a single neurosurgeon in this town. Granted, pharmacists may be more in touch with the medical community than video editors turned lawyer are, but again, three years have passed. The pharmacist may not have even been local when Christian was at the peak of his career. Indeed, if you were a drug seeker trying to fill an illicit prescription, wouldn't you pick a pharmacy nowhere near the office of the doctor on whose pad you forged the scrip?


5. Lots of cargo got tossed around by the crash, and I can't imagine coffin clasps are designed to withstand being dropped from a crashing airplane. It's a jungle, full of boars and bears and lord knows what else, so any number of things could have happened to the body. And as for Jack's following Christian around the island...well, Kate saw a horse that saved her from capture in Iowa, and Eko saw his brother, Yemi (whose rotted corpse he also found). For whatever the reason, people see s__t on the island that ain't there!

So there you have it. Sure, some mystery on the topic has been built into the show, but at the end of the day, Christian Shepherd is dead.

Season 4 Preview - "Previously on Lost..."

Well, it's been 8 months (or thereabouts) since "Through the Looking Glass" blew our collective minds. In all that time, I'm sure some of you may have forgotten some details of where we left off. So, at the urging of loyal reader Todd, I've put together the following recap of where each of our characters found him or herself at the end of Season 3.

The Others
Juliet Burke triple-crossed Ben, choosing to join the lostaways rather than fake-infiltrate their camp just to mark off the pregnant women's tents for some late night kidnapping action. She left the beach with Jack's party headed towards to radio tower, but when it became obvious the ambush was not a complete success, she joined Sawyer in heading back to the beach, where we'll find her when the series resumes.

Karl and Alex, the star-crossed teenage lovers, decided Ben had gone too far in keeping them apart. When Alex learned Ben was stepping up the kidnap raid, she dispatched Karl to get to the beach first and warn the lostaways. Karl accompanied Jack's crew to the radio tower. En route they ran into Ben and Alex (Ben had brought Alex with him because, feeling his relationship with her slipping, he planned to dump her on Jack's people). Alex was finally reunited with her mother, Danielle Rousseau, who she helped to tie up "dad."

Ben Linus seemed to honestly believe he could talk Jack out of calling Naomi's freighter for rescue. Having realized the beach raid was a failure, he took Alex to head off Jack's party before they reached the radio tower. Jack beat Ben bloody when Ben tricked him into thinking he had the ambush party executed. Ben was tied to a tree outside the radio tower begging Jack not to call Naomi's people, when he was knocked unconcious. Jack told Kate he planned to kill Ben after Ben saw them all get rescued.

Tom, Ryan, Aldo, Isabelle and five additional nameless Others were killed on the beach, some by Sayid, Jin and Bernard's ambush, Ryan by getting run over by Hurley's Dharma bus, a nameless extra by Sayid's bad-ass neck-snapping move, and Tom by Sawyerific execution.

Bonnie and Greta, on Ben's orders, were killed by Mikhail to prevent the rest of their people from learning Ben was having them jam the Looking Glass transmissions.

Mikhail blew up with the grenade he used to flood the control room of the Looking Glass to try to prevent the jamming signal from being deactivated.

Jacob is still a sometimes-visible telekinetic hermit who appears to have been trapped in a unabomber shack by a ring of white ash. He asked John Locke to help him, prompting Ben to gun Locke down at the Dharma mass grave.

Richard Alpert, Cindy, the Kids, and all other Others continued on their pilgrimage to what Ben called "The Temple."

Desmond and Charlie - At the Looking Glass
Charlie died heroically, per Desmond's vision. He deactivated the Looking Glass jamming signal and spoke briefly over Dharma video phone with Penny, of all people, before he sacrificed himself closing the door to save Desmond from drowning after Mikhail blew out the porthole. Charlie's last living act before making the sign of the cross and floating away, lifelessly, was warning Desmond that the freighter that had dispatched Naomi was "not Penny's boat."

Desmond, having witnessed Charlie's sacrifice, was still underwater in the interior of the Looking Glass station. Many sets of scuba gear were available for him use to swim back to the beach.

On the Beach
Sawyer, still reeling after he finally fulfilled his life's goal and killed Mr. Sawyer himself, Anthony Cooper, thought he'd sacrifice himself trying to save the ambush party. Joined by Juliet, we last saw him standing over Tom, whom he executed "for taking the boy."

Jin, Sayid and Bernard, held captive by the survivors of the Others' raiding party, were freed by Sawyer, Juliet, and...

Hurley, who, stung by Charlie's refusal to let him help at the Looking Glass and Sawyer's insistence he'd only get in the way at the beach, once again revived the Dharma bus and used it to mow down Ryan, turning the tide on the beach and saving his friends. We left him talking to Jack via walkie-talkie. Jack told Hurley they should stay put, and rescue was on its way.

At the Radio Tower
John Locke, left for dead by Ben in the Dharma Initiative mass grave, was inspired to save himself by the unexpected appearance of Walt, who was clearly older than we last saw him. Walt told John he had work to do. Jack staggered to the radio tower, where he killed Naomi with a throwing knife to prevent her from calling her ship. But he could not bring himself to kill Jack, and, pleading that Jack was "not supposed to do this," John slinked off into the jungle.

Danielle Rousseau turned off her 16-year-old transmission, and helped tie up Ben, but told Jack she did not plan to leave, since there was nothing for her off the island anymore.

Sun, still pregnant with Jin's baby, faces certain death if she does not leave the island soon.

Kate, Claire, Rose, Aaron and the rest of the 815 survivors, having hauled their gear all the way to the radio tower with Jack, now wait for their return to the beach, where they expect to find rescue.

Other Characters
Michael Dawson was last seen at the end of Season 2, piloting an Others boat away from the Pala Ferry dock with Walt.

Walt was last seen leaving with his dad, until he appeared (older) to Locke by the Dharma grave.

Anothony Cooper, inexplicably brought to the island, was killed by Sawyer at Locke's urging.

Sarah was with another man after leaving Jack, and will be pregnant in about three years' time.

Christian Shepherd, Ana-Lucia, Libby, Mr. Eko, Boone, Shannon, Nikki and Paulo are all still dead.

Arctic Researchers have not been seen since the Season 2 finale.

Penny could be anywhere, but does not appear to be on the freighter, and does appear to have direct communications with Dharma facilities.

And, finally, in the future....

In 2007, Jack and Kate, we know, will have left the island. Jack, who flies across the Pacific and back every weekend, is a wreck of a human who wants desperately to return to the island, even if it means he needs to go down in another plane crash. When he reads an obituary for an as-yet unidentified person, he contemplates suicide, only to once again heroically pull people from burning wreckage on the 6th Street bridge in Los Angeles.

So that's where we left off. We've got two weeks to go before "The Beginning of the End." While you wait, here's a little snack for you. ABC has put together this cute recap of the first three seasons, titled "Lost in 8:15." The double-entendre of the title should be apparent. So please enjoy this toungue-in-cheek look back at where we've been.

What do you think this means?

A quick tease for the new season. Can any of you guess what this frame, buried in the now ubiquitous Season 4 promo that's run in movie theatres and on ABC for weeks could mean?

Lost certainly has its fair share of significant numbers. But this ain't 4, 8, 15, 16, 23 or 42. Post a comment, or email me with your thoughts.

My answer to this question introduces you to my new secondary blog...Lost Loving Lawyer: The Spoilers. Click the title of this post to see that answer, and to be taken to the new address.

I set up this secondary blog because so many of you have indicated trepidation that reading this blog will spoil the show. Since that's not my intention, I've now moved all spoilers elsewhere.

Don't worry, you won't need to know the URL for another webiste (though it happens to be http://lllspoilers.blogspot.com/). I'll always give you a link to follow on this page when there's someting new on that one!

Curse My Lack of Resolve...I'm Back!

Boy, I stink. The Writers' strike continues, and yet, here I am. So much for sticking to my guns.

Despite my earlier pledge to stand firm with the writers and not support the corporate masters by contributing to the buzz around their product until the strike is over, there are a few reasons why I've returned to my posting ways.

1. My blog's hits, on a good week, are in the low three figures. Realistically, Disney does not notice any benefit from the "buzz" I generate (which is about the same as a fruit fly not flapping its wings).

2. As Carlton Cuse's sign displayed in my previous post points out, love of Lost is love of the writers.

3. My seven-week old daughter Sarah is such a good sleeper, I'm not nearly as tired as I thought I would be when I came up with a good excuse not to blog.

4. There's just so much cool new Lost content out in the weeks before the Season 4 premiere, I just couldn't contain myself!


First off, there have actually been a number of new scenes released online. This brand new content, called "Missing Pieces," debuts each week on Verizon Wireless Vcast phones before showing up on ABC.com the following Monday. All in all, 13 of these "Missing Pieces" were written and shot with the show's regular writing and directing staffs and main cast members. You can see these scenes, in reverse order of release, by clicking on the title of this post. Amazingly, the deal that was struck between Disney and the creative folks behind Lost is almost identical to the deal the WGA is seeking in the strike, except for the clause that states the "Missing Pieces" deal is not to be used as a negotiating point with the unions.


So, what are these Missing Pieces? Think of them as deleted scenes from the first three seasons. But, unlike DVD special features, these scenes were written after those seasons were completed (and, indeed, if they had been included in the "normal" sequence, they may have shaded the story unduly). A brief set of highlights of what you'll encounter in these vignettes:

• An eerie bit of foreshadowing, in which patient Ben, playing chess with Dr. Jack in Othersville, suggests there may come a time after Jack leaves the island where he finds he wishes he never left.


• A fairly clear indication that "the Room" to which Ms. Clugh threatened to return Walt was, in fact, the psychadelic Room 23 on Hydra Island.


• A near-kiss between Sun and Michael before Sun reconciled with Jin in Season 1.


• A conversation between Juliet and then-captive Michael, tying her character into the story earlier than her first appearance on the show.


• Juliet's coming clean to Jack about her double-agent status.


• ...and much much more.

Also, a new "alternate reality game" akin to The Lost Experience from Summer 2006 has sprung up. It began with the announcement that Oceanic Airlines has resumed operations (Doc Jensen at ew.com notes there is a continuity error here - apparently, the flash-forwards in the Season 3 finale were set in April 2007. They featured Jack regularly flying Oceanic Airlines. This game suggests Oceanic was not flying until December, 2007. Hey, nobody's perfect!)

If you go to the airline's new website, flyoceanicair.com, you will find the carrier's re-introduction video was hacked by technician Sam Thomas, who directs you to another site, find815.com. The Lost Experience, with all its herculean labors, was incredibly cumbersome, relying on multiple websites, hidden messages in magazine, TV and online ads for various sponsors, and posters and flyers that were left in plain sight in locations all over the world. In contrast, find815.com exists entirely on the one site (it occasionally forwards you to hidden parts of Lost's site on abc.com, but it does so directly). In the new game, you'll get to know Sam Thomas, an Oceanic IT worker whose girlfriend, Sonya, was a flight attendant on 815. When Oceanic announces it has abandoned the search for our lostaways, Sam takes it upon himself to keep the hunt alive, particularly after he receives a mysterious email from the Maxwell Group that contains clues about a cargo ship, a geographic location and the familiar-to-lostophiles name, "Black Rock."

This game is pretty easy to plow through (particularly compared to its predecessor, which required advanced codebreaking skills and friends around the world to solve), and has been produced with an amazing degree of production value. It's not a major time-suck, and, given that it is scheduled to end just hours before the January 31 premiere of Season 4, may even provide some hints of what's to come. The first such clue may indeed be this mysterious Maxwell Group. Given that the Maxwell Group website will only go live the day after the season premiere (click on the login button on the home page to get this information), Doc Jensen surmizes we will hear more about these guys in the coming episodes. Could they be the people who sent the freighter that put Naomi and her satellite phone on the island?

In any case, I suggest you peruse this game (or, if you don't want to take the time to solve the little clues, check out http://www.docarzt.com/, where the good doc reveals each new piece of the puzzle as it debuts).

Well, that's that, lostophiles. Only 20 days until Season 4 begins with the ominously titled episode, "Beginning of the End."