Lost Lover at Law: July 2008

Yawn! Wake up from your summer hybernation (ok, so, technically, hybernation means sleeping through the Winter, but cut me some slack)...The Powers That Be, as promised, surfaced from their media blackout at the San Diego Comic Con last weekend, and provided a bevy of Lost scoop, clarifications, and fun. And, as has been the case in the past, they used Comic Con to launch a new online game centered around reconstituting the DHARMA Initiative (more on that below).

(Don't worry - written spoilers will, as always, be placed on the spoiler blog, which you can access by clicking here.)

First off, a fun little preview of the flashforwards (in order) special feature on the Season 4 DVD/ Blu-ray release, coming later this year. The producers have a lot of fun with the idea of time travel here, so please watch this short clip and enjoy:

They also previewed a "True Hollywood Story" special about the Oceanic 6, showing the outside world trying to see behind the wacky story of their rescue:

(Thanks to "Watch With Kristen" from E! Online for both of those clips).

What follows is the entire live Comic Con panel. It's fun, but a little lengthy. Warning - these videos contain spoilers, which will be revealed if you watch. The major spoilery reveals are written as highlights over on the spoilers blog, or you can just sit back and watch. But if you don't want to watch all of these clips, at least scroll down and check out the last one - this year's special appearance of Dr. Marvin Candle (who reveals that his real name is Pierre Chang).

Online Videos by Veoh.com

Online Videos by Veoh.com

And finally, the new Easter-Egg-rich DHARMA film...

Online Videos by Veoh.com

This DHARMA film is pretty interesting for several reasons. First, Chang/Candle/Wickmund/Hollowax, through time travel (or time traveling consciousness, or transmission, or whatever is going on) has suddenly injected himself into the primary time period on Lost. In the past, we only knew about him/them through archived footage. So this is a change.

Second, we've learned that this recurring fan favorite did in fact die in the purge.

Third, we've learned that, scary as this sounds, he knew about his death from the purge. Not only that, but if you look at the way he paused to contemplate his left arm, he also apparently learned he would eventually lose it (the Candle persona).

Fourth, by learning that Chang has travelled through time in some capacity, we've learned how it was that "Wickmund" had two arms in the early-80s Pearl video, while "Candle" had only one arm in the mid-70s Swan film.

And finally, and this is truly subtle, but did you notice the voice of the camera man? To me (and to others online), it sure sounds like Daniel Farraday. We already know Farraday experimented with time travel and has an eerie awareness of things on the island (told to him through his own journal). Now there is evidence that he was on the island, interacting with DHARMA, more than 30 years before he arrived on the freighter... Very interesting.

Finally, a new alternate reality game has launched, in which the DHARMA Initiative is seeking recruits for a relaunch. So far, only the personality/ aptitude test are up and running, which you can access at the link below:

http://www.dharmawantsyou.com/site/index.php

That's all for now, Lostophiles. With no new episodes between now and February, I'm sure I'll have the chance to check in from time to time. Do bounce over to http://lllspoilers.blogspot.com/ for the highlights of the Comic Con panel. Until next time, Namaste.