LOST Fan

“Best seat I’ve ever had on an airplane! There’s more room in here than in Coach!”

Here we are half-way through the week, with a new episode coming up soon!

As usual, the “enhanced” version (the one with the pop-up hints) of the previous week’s episode will be rerun at 8:00, and the new episode will start at 9:00 and will run a few minutes long.

The new episode is called “LaFleur.” Darlton, on their February 26 audio podcast, give some deliberately vague hints about the significance of the episode name. Maybe it’s the name, they say, of someone we are going to meet.

They do promise that we will find out more, in “LaFleur,” about what time period Locke’s group on Hydra Island is in, compared to the time period of Jack’s group in the lagoon.

Wednesday, March 4, 2009

8:00 Rerun of 5×07 The Life and Death of Jeremy Bentham
9:00 New Episode 5×08 LaFleur (runs until 10:02)

Everything runs an hour earlier in Central Time. All episodes are available to watch for free at ABC.com.

Picture of Locke enjoying Flight 316 (c) ABC

After the last episode, The Life and Death of Jeremy Bentham, which was centered around the character of John Locke, I thought it would be fun to look at some clips of the actor in real life and in other roles.

Here is he accepting the Emmy in 2007 (he was up against Michael Emerson — and they both deserved to win!). I like his acceptance speech, which was both funny and sincere:

Here he is in an obscure 1988 horror movie called Pin: A Plastic Nightmare, where he plays a doctor who talks to his anatomy dummy:

Here he is, in a less ridiculous role, as a guest star on Law & Order:Criminal Intent in 2004:

And here he is, singing! He may not be as good as singer as Jorge Garcia, but he’s not bad! This was filmed in 1989:

It’s funny that he’s singing about being a homicidal “bad daddy” — little did he know that 20 years later, he would be starring in a show that had bad daddies as one of its major themes!

I liked this episode of Lost Untangled a lot better than the ones from the last couple of weeks. The part where Locke kept on croaking “Let’s … go … back … to … the … island” made me laugh out loud:

When Locke mentioned in last night’s episode that he had been in love once, that was a bittersweet moment.

It made me wish that I could remember more about the story of Locke and Helen. I did remember, vaguely, that things had ended badly between them, but I couldn’t remember much more than that.

Luckily, YouTube is our friend.

Here is the scene where Locke and Helen first met. It’s from 2×03 Orientation.

Terry O’Quinn gives a great performance in this scene, I think one of his best.

In addition to seeing how Locke and Helen met, something else in this clip struck me, because it seemed to foreshadow a scene in the most recent episode. In the clip, Locke says that his birth mother told him he was special. There was a strong echo of that last night in Jeremy Bentham, when Locke said he was special, and Jack mocked him and said that he wasn’t.

Notice the way that Locke says that line, early in the clip — how important it is to him to have been called “special”:

The banter between Locke and Helen at the end makes their relationship seem so promising, at this point.

And then, what happened? I haven’t been able to find any clips (yet) on YouTube for the rest of their story, but it takes place in Episode 2×17 Lockdown, which you can see in the full episode viewer on ABC.com, or you can read a pretty good summary on Wikipedia. Short answer: Locke’s futile pursuit of his father’s love messed things up for him again.

The real Jeremy Bentham, 1748-1832

Blogging during commercials:

9:02 The man and woman from the plane! I knew they weren’t just redshirts — I knew they would have a bigger role. But where are they? Oh, they’re on the Island. This isn’t a flashback after all.

Locke’s alive! The only way we could have been unspoiled for that revelation is if we had been on remote tropical islands ourselves, ones without television or internet.

9:16 Very quick shot of the pick-up truck’s license plate — couldn’t see the numbers — were they “the” numbers?

Ow! No anesthesia in the desert! That looked very painful.

Did I just see Abaddon peeking out of the corner?

Widmore! This is one crazy desert hospital!

Widmore wants the Lost-ies to go back, presumably to help him in his war against Ben. But Ben wants the Lost-ies to go back too. Why?

9:28 Locke to Widmore, referring to Widmore’s killer-and-dynamite-laden freighter: “That doesn’t exactly scream trust.”

Now there’s Abaddon, for real!

Walt! Or should I say Waaaaaaaaalt! He looks like he’s about 17 years old and six feet tall. Even considering that it’s now three years in the future, that still calls for a healthy dose of suspension of disbelief.

Locke to Abaddon: “I thought you were my driver.” Oh, how mistaken you were!

9:39 I loved Hurley’s reaction to Locke, how he was so blase, at first — just another dead guy that he was going to ignore — and how he then freaked out when he realized Locke really was there.

Kate looks so pretty. I’m loving the pace of this episode, how it’s jumping quickly from one place to another, fast enough to be exciting, but not too fast to follow.

Locke: “I loved somebody once.” So sad.

Abaddon dead! I didn’t see that coming. The car chase sequence was very exciting.

9:55 Wow. Double-fake out. First Locke didn’t die when I was sure he would, and then he did die when I was sure he wouldn’t.

Backtracking: Locke wakes up and sees Jack! “What are you doing here?” They have their usual destiny versus free will argument, but I don’t think that Jack’s heart is really in it this time, and when he calls Locke delusional, I don’t think he really believes it.

Locke’s suicide, foreshadowed (or would that be backshadowed?) by the suicide note last week.

But wait, there’s Ben! Emerson is in top form — very good at conveying two meanings with a single line.

Locke knows of Eloise Hawking. How? Ben freaks out, kills Locke! Wow. Did NOT see that coming!

Ben is truly evil.

10:06 Locke’s shadow looming on the wall, like something out of a Hitchcock movie.

Ben: “I’ll miss you John.”

Back on the Island. Locke to Caesar: “The timing would just confuse you.” Ha ha ha, that’s the understatement of the century!

Locke: “I think I might know how I came to be here.” Well, that makes one of us!

Ben on the bed. Locke: “He’s the man who killed me.” Great line to end the episode.

That was amazing. Loved it. Best episode of the season.

****

I have an announcement: I’ve started a second LOST blog, to supplement this one. I’m just setting it up now — the paint’s still wet and the furniture is all outside in the van — but I’d love for you to take a sneak peek: For a Reason blog

Picture of the real Jeremy Bentham from detail of an oil painting by H.W. Pickersgill, 1829, via Wikipedia, in the public domain

Damon and Carlton give five little hints about tonight’s episode in this video from EW.

Technically, I guess these teasers are spoilers (that’s what it says in the video’s title!), but I think they are too vague to give anything important away.

Frequent commenter Laneerg, who writes, on her Single Frugalton blog, about how to enrich your life with kind deeds and pancakes, honored me with a Life is Grand award. Thanks, Laneerg!

The award is intended to prompt people to count their blessings by writing posts that give five reasons why life is grand.

Being the nerd that I am, I opted to do a nerd version and write five reasons why LOST is grand.

1. It rewards patience. Most TV shows dole out their rewards after 30 minutes or an hour. LOST makes us wait for six years. The best part of anything is the anticipation, and LOST, which has the longest build-up of any show ever, gives us that in spades.

2. It gives us pretty things to look at. While horrific things happen in LOST — you never know who will get a flaming arrow through the chest or an arm torn off by a CGI monster — the scenery is so gorgeous, and the actors so much better-looking than any real-life planeload of passengers, that the show is able to function, among many other things, as a pleasant form of escapism.

3. Many of the actors are amazing. Has any other show, ever, had a better character actor than Michael Emerson (Ben)? It’s thrilling to hear what character actors Emerson, Ken Leung (Miles), and now also Fionnula Flanagan (Eloise Hawking) can do with their lines. Among the more rounded characters, Jorge Garcia (Hurley) and Josh Holloway (Sawyer) also put a distinctive spin on what they say — Dude! Yunjin Kim (Sun) gives a more subtle performance that doesn’t draw attention to itself, but is convincing in its portrayal of a woman who changes from a meek abused wife to a revenge-seeking mogul. I also give credit to the directors here, because when there are so many performances from so many actors that are this good, it’s not a coincidence.

3 (a). The overall quality and attention to detail are outstanding — the writing, the music, the cinematography all are wonderful. It’s the kind of quality I expect from a top-notch movie, not from a TV show.

4. Carlton Cuse and Damon Lindelof, the producer-writers who are often the public face of LOST, are funny and smart. The first time I heard them do a DVD commentary (which was only recently, as my hard-core LOST nerdism didn’t start until after I began writing this blog), I knew I was in good hands.

5. The show is like a novel on steroids. It packs in almost any big literary theme you could think of — faith versus science, free will versus destiny, redemption, family, love, betrayal, the nature of time, the meaning of death. It has a cast of characters worthy of a sprawling Russian novel. It has more time to develop the characters than even the fattest book. And then it lightens it all up with monsters and shirtless stars.

The Fine Brothers, who were making popular LOST parodies using shaking action figures long before ABC started its “Lost Untangled” series, have released a new video in honor of last night’s Academy Awards. Here’s a clip:

You can see the full video at just for laughs, and read up on the controversy at the Fine Bros. blog.

Speaking of the Academy Awards — and this has nothing to do with LOST, I’m just going off on a tangent — I thought they did a great job last night of revitalizing the show. I loved Hugh Jackson, and I loved the musical numbers:

This is so spoiler-ish, I’m not even going to say who it is. I’m not even going to slot this post into the character’s category until after the next episode airs. Watch the video (starting at 1:03), if you want to know. (I’ll just say I’m very excited about this!):

Here’s a bit more, on the same subject, in another video which was made earlier. I’m not embedding the video, because the title gives it away — you can watch it through this link.

On this video podcast from TV Guide, Michael Emerson said Ben has not forgotten what Widmore did to him. He said Ben was going to try (and he seemed to emphasize the word “try”) to take care of that at the same time that he took care of his “larger mission.”

This video was made before “316″ aired, and I wonder if that makes a difference. If (knock on wood) Ben did kill, or try to kill Penny, before he got on Flight 316, could that be the revenge Emerson was referring to? Or is Ben’s planned revenge still off in the future?

Also on this video, the ubiquitous “Darlton” appear to tell us that this season has something for everyone.

And then — this is exciting! — next up is Harold Perrineau, who plays Michael. Remember Michael? It’s been a while since we’ve seen him. The interviewer asked him if Michael was dead or alive and … well, I’ll let you watch it yourself.

I enjoyed the video, which packed a lot of good stuff into a mere 3:14 minutes:

Isn’t she beautiful in this picture?

Fionnula Flanagan, who plays Eloise Hawking, gave a scene-stealing performance in “316.” She’s such a wonderful actress, and a big asset to the show.

I hadn’t heard of her before LOST, but it didn’t surprise me to find out that she was trained in the theater, and has a very long resume of roles on stage and in movies and TV.

What I found most interesting to learn was that she is best known for her award-winning performance in James Joyce’s Women, a stage play which she wrote, adapated, and produced — and starred in, playing six different roles. She did it all over again when it was later made into a movie.

Before that, she had worked on many other projects based on James Joyce’s work. Wikipedia calls her one of the foremost interpreters of Joyce, starting with her very first movie role — in the 1967 film Ulysses.

And what was Ben reading on the airplane in “316″?

That’s right. James Joyce’s Ulysses.

****************************************************

Photo of young Fionnula Flanagan from this YouTube tribute.

On this official LOST video podcast, ABC does some cross-promotion for another one of its shows, Dancing With the Stars. Steve Wozniak, the most famous celebrity contestant on DWtS this season, appears on the video in a shiny pink dancing shirt, plugs the show, and also raves a bit about LOST to keep it on topic.

The second segment of the podcast starts at 2:26 (in case you want to skip the Woz and go straight to that). Here, the interviewer talks to LOST Propmaster Rob Kyker, who shows us the bows and arrows used by the Others.

Then he shows us not just one, but two detached French-guy’s arms. The first is the fresh one, used right after the smoke monster tore it off, and the other is the partly rotting one that Jin saw after the flash.

I bet the Propmaster is in great demand on Halloween.

There’s nothing on this podcast about upcoming shows, and there are no hints about the themes or the lingering questions. Unlike last week’s fascinating podcast about Daniel Faraday and time travel, this one is just okay. It is fun, though, to see what the prop room looks like.

Official podcast, and screenshot of Steve Wozniak and his dancing partner (c) ABC

“How come no one’s asking me why my face is a mess?”

On Wednesday, 316 will be rerun, followed by the new episode, The Life and Death of Jeremy Bentham.

I listened to last week’s official audio podcast by producer/writers Carlton Cuse and Damon Lindelof (aka “Darlton” in LOST geek-speak), and they said that originally, the Jeremy Bentham episode was supposed to come first. It was after the episodes were written that they decided to reverse the order. Maybe we’ll be able to figure out why, after we’ve seen them both.

Schedule

Wednesday, February 25, 2009

8:00 PM Rerun of episode 5×06 316, with pop-up hints
9:00 PM New episode 5×07 The Life and Death of Jeremy Bentham, probably running a minute or two past 10:00

Everything runs an hour earlier in Central time.

316 will be up for free online viewing on ABC.com starting sometime today. There should be versions available with and without the pop-up hints.

Picture of Jack, Hurley, a bloody-faced Ben, and a flight attendant from 5×06 (c) ABC

Here’s the latest installment of the official ABC episode recap with cut outs and action figures.

I did laugh at the part where the plane was going down and the action figures started shaking. Other than that — eh.

I think this “Untangled” series still has its fans, though, so your mileage may vary. (Not to be confused with your airline mileage, which you would have a lot of, if you were one of the Oceanic 6.)

Blogging during commercials …

9:06 They’re back on the Island. I hope Jack is happy now! That looked a lot like a dream sequence, but apparently it wasn’t.

I like the Lamppost Dharma station in the church basement. I wonder if it doubles as an AA meeting place.

9:14 Now THAT was exciting! Now we’re getting somewhere! Explanations of what the Island does! Specific plans to go back! Flight 316 — so that’s what the title means!

I loved Fionnula Flanagan in this scene. She has such great presence. She got the best lines too. In response to Jack’s asking if Ben was telling the truth: “Probably not.” And then to Jack, “Let’s pay attention, yes?” And to Desmond, “But I am helping, dear.” All delivered in that wonderful accent.

9:29 A lot happened! Again, it had the quality of a dream sequence, but I think it was all meant to be real.

Locke’s suicide note. Locke as proxy for Jack’s dad-in-a-box on the original flight. Eloise Hawking: “That’s why it’s called a leap of faith, Jack.” But leaps of faith are exactly what Jack most resists. Ben’s relating the story of the Apostle.

Jack drinking in an (airport?) bar — deja vu. A rabbit! Jack’s grandfather! (He looks too young, though.) “The pretty one with the freckles.”

What’s the significance of the shoes? Must relate to the internet chatter about why Jack’s father wears white sneakers on the Island.

Kate without Aaron — what happened to him? Kiss!

9:38 The shoes explained. Ben’s bloody face. Jack in the butcher shop, in the room with the carcasses — creepy. The coffin! Creepier still. Jack opens it. Anyone else think that Locke was going to jump up and grab Jack? Ewww, he put the shoes on Locke. Jack: “This is even crazier than you are.”

9:51 Ajira Airways! Hurley! With a guitar case — that explains why he had one in the first scene. But what is he doing there? Wasn’t he in jail? Didn’t he want to have nothing to do with going back? Nice of him, though, to buy out a whole block of seats to save the lives of all those potential passengers.

And Sayid! I thought he didn’t want to come either. Who is that with him?

Ben, with his face all messed up, and no one even seems to notice.

Why didn’t Kate and Jack go to the airport together?

Frank: “We’re not going to Guam, are we?”

10:01 “How can you read?” “My mother taught me.”

The note … “I wish you had believed me.” Even after death, Locke is still nagging Jack for not being a believer. Hurley blindfolded! Good idea.

The flash took them down! Well, I’m glad for that. Didn’t relish having to watch another plane crash.

Now we’ve come full circle. The lagoon (wow, it’s so beautiful in Hawaii!). Hurley. Kate.

The Dharma van! All nice and shiny! That means they’re back in the past … Dharma guy with a gun …it’s Jin!

Wow, that was exciting. Great episode. My favorite so far this season by a mile. Well, except maybe for “The Lie,” just because the acting in that one was so good. But this was definitely the best as far as the story goes.

The LOST I knew and loved is back.

Just a reminder that I will be “almost live” blogging about tonight’s show (”316″), and I should have it posted by 10:30 pm West Coast time tonight, at the latest. Hope to see you then, if you’re still awake!

This podcast focuses on Jeremy Davies and his character Daniel Faraday, with a few additional comments from Jorge Garcia (Hurley) and Elizabeth Mitchell (Juliet). They all talk about time travel, and the podcast also shows short clips from earlier in this season, and from last season’s The Constant, that give a quick review of what’s been said in the show about time travel so far.

These official podcasts are essentially promos for the upcoming episodes, so “316,” the next episode, will almost certainly be about time travel. Maybe the episode will even give us some hints as to how time travel works. They can’t tell us everything though. It’s too early for that — there’s still more than a season and a half left to go, and I’m sure they want to keep us mystified for as long as possible.

On the podcast, Davies talks about “rogue physicists” who go beyond Newtonian physics. He says,

You get into areas that demand a language that is closer to the territories of emotion and spirituality and God.

Clear as mud?

As fuzzy as that statement may be, I still have a feeling that it’s pointing to something that is central to what the show is about. After all, one of the show’s major themes is the conflict between faith and science (usually personified by Locke and Jack, respectively). Will the show’s overall resolution hinge on resolving that conflict by bringing faith and science together?

If you want to see any of the previous podcasts, go to the archive on ABC.com, which has video podcasts (and also audio podcasts, which have different material) going back to February 2008.

Screenshot, from the podcast, of Faraday in the past with long hair (but still wearing a tie!), is from The Constant, Episode 4×05 (c) ABC

Ow! My head hurts! Who’s got the Dharma Aspirin?

Here’s this week’s schedule — pretty much the same as the previous weeks.

The last episode, This Place is Death, will be rerun at 8:00, and the new episode will be at 9:00.

The new episode has the cryptic title “316.” Hmmm … that doesn’t mean anything to me. Could it be the bearing they use to get to or from the Island?

Wednesday, February 18, 2009

8:00 This Place is Death (Episode 5×05)
9:00 316 (Episode 5×06 — new). May run a minute or two past 10.

As always, everything runs an hour earlier in Central Time, and you can watch episodes online for free on ABC.com.

Screenshot of LOST-ies holding their heads, as they go through yet another time-travel flash, is from 5×05 This Place is Death (c) ABC

ABC made another episode of Lost Untangled:

I think this episode has a few funny moments, but I don’t find it nearly as funny as I did last week’s.

It starts off in exactly the same way, which seems too repetitive for a series that is only on its second episode. Plus the novelty of the concept itself may already be starting to wear thin. And ABC’s not giving a credit to the Fine Brothers, the original creators of action-figure videos spoofing LOST, also took off some of the luster.

What do you think? Funny or not?

Screenshot of action-figure Sun pointing a gun in the general direction of Ben is from Lost Untangled 5×05 This Place is Death (c) ABC

9:08 Hi! Here we go again! I’m almost-live blogging LOST by writing during the commercial breaks. ABC generously supplies many such breaks for my convenience ;-).

So far, we’ve seen Sun talk on the phone to her adorable daughter, pull a gun on Ben, and then change her mind when he says Jin is still alive. Cut to Jin and the French Woman and the French Guys. They decide to go traipsing through the jungle up to the tower. Doesn’t Jin remember there are scary things in the jungle? Oops! Monster!

9:19 Dead body falls from a tall tree. “RUN!” Wow, it’s like Season 1 all over again.

Therrrre’s Smoky! I’m sorry, but Smoky is the least scary-looking movie/TV monster ever.

I remember when Locke was dragged down into this hole and seemed to emerge better for the experience. Ewww — is that the French Guy’s arm?

Saved by the flash. But it’s only — what? — a few days into the future? Must be the shortest time-jump ever. Rousseau looks so different. Did they switch to the other actress, or just change her make-up? Bang bang, Robert’s dead. Oh, look, it’s Sawyer. Hugs. Awww.

9:28 “Don’t let them bring her back. This place is death!” Well, there’s the title.

Uh oh, lots of nosebleeds now.

Backtracking a bit — Did Jin say how he got off the boat? Did I miss that? Also, we did get our explanation, of sorts, of the smoke monster — it’s guarding some kind of temple, presumably that crumbling building with the hieroglyphics. And it turns Frenchmen into its servants by dragging them into its lair.

Miles: “He’s Korean. I’m from Encino.” I love Miles! So funny.

9:39 “Daniel, I think that man was you!” Oooh, I got chills! I didn’t see that coming. I was thinking it was going to be Ben or maybe Widmore.

Backtracking: Ben, in the car: “If you knew what I’d done for you, you’d never stop thanking me.” Ha ha, Ben as the put-upon martyr. That’s a new one.

The Orchard. Now you see it, now you don’t.

Wonderful scene with Daniel and Charlotte — that whole scene, ending in the “I think that man was you” line, had me on the edge of my seat. Loved it! That was vintage quality LOST!

9:49. Locke always seems to be lowering himself down some long cylindrical passage — first the hatch, now the well. Freud might have something to say about that.

And then he always seems to be falling from a great height and landing with a big thud.

Flash to a time when the well is solid ground — oh, that’s creepy. But we already know Locke will be ok.

Oh no! Charlotte died! Poor Daniel! That was very sad, but I am consoling myself by remembering that dying, on LOST, doesn’t necessarily mean leaving the show.

10:01 Uh oh. Did Locke hurt his leg again? Hey, it’s Jacob! (Is he Christian Shephard? I’ll have to look that up.) Jacob disses Ben — ha ha!

Locke: “Can you help me up?” Jacob: “No.” He’s a cold, cold apparition.

Oh, the donkey wheel is off its track. Is that why they were time-flashing so much?

Off to see Eloise Hawking. Oh, look, Desmond recognizes her!

Eloise: “Let’s get started.” Cool! Does that mean they will be going back next episode?

Okay, I just looked it up — that was Christian Shephard!

All in all, I’d say that was a good episode. One outstanding scene — the one with Daniel and Charlotte — and a good bit of forward movement, as the Oceanic 6 (plus Desmond and minus Hurley and Sayid?) now appear poised to actually return to the Island.

Not sure what to make of the Jacob/Christian Shephard revelation. That whole scene was strange. Why couldn’t he help Locke? Is it because he doesn’t really exist, at least in a physical sense? And why was he such a control freak, wreaking all this havoc just because he told Locke to turn the wheel, but Ben turned it instead?

Editing to add: That was definitely Christian Shephard, but apparently not necessarily Jacob. I had just assumed it was Jacob, while I was watching, since it was someone who said he had been giving Locke orders. But after taking a quick peek at the Television Without Pity forums (the font of all wisdom), it seems that’s not necessarily the case. Now I’m really confused!