Lost (Spoilers)

[Jeff of Earth-J]

Now that I am completely caught up with Doctor Who, I FINALLY started watching Lost (for the first time, so no “spoilers”!) over the weekend. Three episodes in, I must admit I find myself caught up in the intrigue. It reminds me a bit of Marvel’s Skull the Slayer, but less super-heroey. I’m paying very close attention (or trying to) to all the hints and details. One of the “mysteries” on which I speculated in part one of the pilot has already been resolved in part two, so it’s a moot point.

I expect this is going to be a bit like a 1940s movie serial (but slicker) in that some bits are going to left out only to be revealed later. The hero’s car goes over the cliff at the end of one installment, but we’re not shown him jumping out until the beginning of the next. I’ve already seen that to some extent. For example, Kate is left alone with the US marshal, and shortly thereafter, the other guy shoots him in the chest with the gun Kate was holding. There’s a scene missing!

I like Kate, though. I think I’m supposed to at this point, but I also think I’ve made the right decision. She saved the farmer’s life at the risk of being captured in the flashback, but even more telling, she affixed the oxygen mask to the marshal’s face when he was unconscious.

I do think watching shows on DVD is the way to go. Based on a strong opening season, I watched Heroes for three years only to have it cancelled out from under me with no resolution (rumors of a TV movie to tie up loose ends notwithstanding). What a waste of my time! At least I know going in I won’t have that problem with Lost.

[Jeff of Earth-J]

PowerBook Pete said:

Jeff, you may come to sympathize with Sawyer and find moments you're hating Jack.

Oh, I expect a few reversals in this type of show. We both really like Locke (at this point).

Chris Fluit said:

I have a couple of other series lined up for the DVD experience.

In conjunction with Lost we're also watching Mad About You (something light, something serious). Tracy introduced me to this show shortly after we were married. We watched the first three seasons, then some sort of rights dispute tied up the release of season four for several years. Season four was released a couple of weeks ago, and we're making our way through the first three seasons a second time before we watch it. I remember the generaly plots but I had forgotten many of the details.

Tracy loved Locke's critique of Captain Kirk in one of the episodes we watched over the weekend.

Those French song lyrics... is that "Beyond the Sea"? The translation doesn't sound like it, but the melody does. I can see a woman being shipwrecked on an island for 16 years being obsessed with a song that says, "never again I'll go sailin', no more sailin'," :P

[Doctor Hmmm?]

Jeff of Earth-J said:

In conjunction with Lost we're also watching Mad About You (something light, something serious). Tracy introduced me to this show shortly after we were married. We watched the first three seasons, then some sort of rights dispute tied up the release of season four for several years. Season four was released a couple of weeks ago, and we're making our way through the first three seasons a second time before we watch it. I remember the generaly plots but I had forgotten many of the details.

Although I have no evidence to back me up -- when did I ever let that stop me? -- I suspect the delayed release may have had less to do with rights issues than with the fact that Season Four marked the beginning of the period that had many us us asking "When did they change the name of the show to "Mad At You"?" I don't know that there are a lot of people interested in re-living that period.

[Jeff of Earth-J]

Actually, I think it has something to do with a character that appeared on both Mad About You and Seinfeld. I know something about their upcoming marital difficulties because I once borrowed my wife's Mad About You soundtrack CD. It has little snatches of dialogue between the songs and she got so mad when she found out I "spoiled" it for myself. There are a lot people eager to see the remaining seasons, though, based on what's being said on the TV message boards.

[Jeff of Earth-J]

I guess I'll be avoiding KS's new discussion "Random Thoughts on the Lost Finale" for a while! :P

I think I've now got a pretty good idea where that polar bear came from. (Or is that too, too obvious?)

I don't attach any particular significance to the bird crashing into a window of Walt's house just as he's looking at that species of bird in a bird watcher's guide, though, I must say. Tracy and I feed the birds; we have multiple feeders and use a variety of feed to attrach a variety of birds. Not a day goes by when one bird or another doesn't smack into the window or the sliding glass door, occasionally hard enough to knock itself out. We also have a bird guide which we consult frequently to help us identify unfamiliar species. If a bird smacked into the glass at the same time Tracy happened to be reading about it, I'd call that a coincidence. Unless...

[Jeff of Earth-J]

I have had Marvel’s Skull the Slayer series pulled out of its box and sitting on a shelf awaiting discussion for… oh, about four or five years now, I guess. Lost has really put me in the mood to re-read it again, so that might be coming up sooner rather than later. I see in the credits that Paul Dini is story editor. I wouldn’t be too surprised to discover Skull to be among the Lost’s inspirations. (The scene of the tail section of the plane breaking off as seen from inside the plane is right out of the comic book!) I’ve seen the Whedonverse’s David Fury in the credits, too.

[Philip Portelli]

As for Locke's Captain Kirk comment, Terry O'Quinn was in the Star Trek: The Next Generation episode, "The Pegasus" as Admiral Pressman, Riker's first commanding officier. Apparently he, too, was a piss-poor captain!

And Daniel Dae Kim was on a few episodes of Enterprise.

[Alan M.]

Jeff of Earth-J said:

I think I've now got a pretty good idea where that polar bear came from. (Or is that too, too obvious?)

There's a lot of foreshadowing in this show....and also a lot of misdirection and false leads.

Which doesn't answer your question at all, of course. And I'm sure you wouldn't have it any other way. :)

[Jeff of Earth-J]

Right you are, Alan. Right you are.

If Shakespeare had written Lost:

CHARLIE: “O, yet I do repent me of my fury that I did kill [him]!”

CASTAWAYS: “Wherefore did you so?”

That’s not to say I think Charlie is in any way complicit in Claire’s abduction, only that his actions should be seen in a very suspicious light from the points of view of the others.

So, Sawyer met Jack’s father in a roadside bar in Australia.

Q: What are the odds?

A: Pretty good, actually. This is a TV show. :P

[Rob Staeger (Grodd Mod)]

Arrgh -- that's the one episode in the whole of Lost that I missed! Gonna have to go back and see it sometime.

[Doctor Hmmm?]

I should stop reading this thread. Biting my tongue is really hard and painful.

[Jeff of Earth-J]

Just remember, a different set of rules applies to me than to you lot within this thread! [roll eyes]

Fun Factette: When we were watching Buffy/Angel, Tracy would insist on watching the credits through to the end so she could hear "Grr! Argh!" But with Lost we have to stop the recording early or mute it so she doesn't have to hear "Bad Robot."

Weird, I know.

[Alan M.]

But the real question is, in a fight between the Mutant Enemy and the Bad Robot, who wins?