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.

[PowerBook Pete, the Mad Mod]

Doctor Hmmm? said:

You've got an eye for noses?

Not necessarily, but there's definitely something about hers that draws my attention.

[Rich Steeves]

There IS a Geronimo Jackson single on iTunes, I think. "DHARMA Lady"...

Jeff of Earth-J said:

We went to B&N to buy the new Doctor Who releases and ended up taking advantage of the offer to "Buy the Sixth Season of Lost and get any other season for $9.99."

Tracy and I have been commenting on what cool soundtrack CDs Lost must have. We were excited to discover that soundtracks exist for each season, but disappointed that they contained only the instrumental music composed for the show. I also confirmed that "Geronimo Jones" is fictional as I had assumed, but our vinyl record store is so well-stocked I bet they woulod have had it if not. Hell, they're so well-stocked they might have it anyway!

Regarding the "wheels witjhing wheels," I was pretty well convinced that Juliette might have been telling the truth, but then, in the episode we watched last night, the flashback revealed the whole "left behind" ploy was cooked up in advance between her and Ben. I can't say I was really surprised, but it's an interesting twist nonetheless. Usually, when anything can happen I lose interest in what does, but that is not the case with Lost. I have pretty much given up trying to predict what's going to happen next, however.

[Jeff of Earth-J]

I’m very careful about the theories I post to this thread just in case someone inadvertently confirms or refutes a speculation in his response, but I guessed that Locke’s father would eventually be revealed to be “Sawyer” some time ago. (You’ll just have to take my word for that.) One of the theories bandied about in the old discussion of season one is that all of the passengers of #815 are dead and the island is some kind of purgatory. I had never considered that (and still don’t believe it), but now two separate sources from the “outside world” (ostensibly anyway), have reported that the wreckage of the flight was found with all bodies aboard. Curiouser and curiouser! I wonder if the writers of the show didn’t take that theory from the internet and work it into the show just to mess with people’s minds!

The episode I watched last night, too, contained one of those scenes I was talking about the other day in which the viewer can be reasonably sure of one of the Others’ motivations. It has already been revealed that Juliette is a mole, still working for the Others, but when she left the tape recorded message for Ben, she said “I hate you” after the tape was shut off and when she was alone with no one else in earshot. I wouldn’t say I trust her, but I believe she’s basically a good person working for Ben against her will.

Speaking of Ben, we’ve been shown a couple of times that, as manipulative as he is, he apparently keeps his word. He promised to take Jack off the island. The submarine was blown up, but the Others went somewhere. From that I conclude they must still be on the island. Or are we not supposed to think they’ve left at this point?

I am burning through this series more quickly than I have ever watched a DVD season before. That’s partly because I’m enjoying it so much, but it’s also so I can get through it and discuss the ending (whatever that may be) before it’s inadvertently spoiled for me. I’m not necessarily referring to anyone here, but my co-workers know I’m watching Lost, and most of them truly don’t understand the concept of spoilers. One girl does, however. All she’ll say to me regarding the show is, “Best. Show. Ever.” I expect to finish watching the third season over the weekend.

[The Baron]

For some reason, this reminds me of the words of Jamie MacCrimmon: "It's a plot."

[Jeff of Earth-J]

You shouldn't be reading this thread, Bob. I know you're not eager at this time to familiarize yourself with yet another fictional reality, but someday you will be and your reactions should be fresh. I wanna know what Baron Bizarre thanks about stuff!

[The Baron]

Jeff of Earth-J said:

You shouldn't be reading this thread, Bob. I know you're not eager at this time to familiarize yourself with yet another fictional reality, but someday you will be and your reactions should be fresh. I wanna know what Baron Bizarre thanks about stuff!

Don't worry - If ever I watch Lost, it's decades away, and I'll have forgotten it all by then. I'll probably be wondering where the Professor is.

[KSwolf]

You've got some tremendous television ahead of you this weekend, Jeff. The last half-dozen shows of season 3 make up my favorite string of episodes in the series' run.

[PowerBook Pete, the Mad Mod]

This is for Bob: Imagine Rex Racer from the movie spent his missing time on an island pretending to be a doctor with a bunch of other castaways after a plane crash.

[Rich Steeves]

It's too bad you started watching this a while ago. For my podcast, we are looking for people who have never seen the show before to watch it and call in with their initial reactions, which we'll then talk about before launching into a spoiler-laden discussion of the episodes in relation to the story as a whole.

[The Baron]

PowerBook Pete said:

This is for Bob: Imagine Rex Racer from the movie spent his missing time on an island pretending to be a doctor with a bunch of other castaways after a plane crash.

Yeah, but do people get "Huh? Ohhhh!" the way Speed did?

[PowerBook Pete, the Mad Mod]

The Baron said:

PowerBook Pete said:

This is for Bob: Imagine Rex Racer from the movie spent his missing time on an island pretending to be a doctor with a bunch of other castaways after a plane crash.

Yeah, but do people get "Huh? Ohhhh!" the way Speed did?

That I do not recall.

[Jeff of Earth-J]

I am now a few episodes into season four. Apparently we’ve left the flashbacks behind (the pre-crash ones, anyway… well, most of them) in favor of flashforwards. Something about those just doesn’t sit right with me. I’ve seen enough episodes of Dark Shadows to recognize parallel time when I see it! That’s not just meta-textual I’m drawing on, but my assumption that in this reality, Jack’s father, having been mentioned twice in the same episode, seems to be still alive. Given future-Jack’s state of mind, he might well try to bluff a drug store pharmacist that Dr. Christian Shephard is still alive, but to pull that same trick at the hospital where they both work? I don’t think so. We haven’t seen anyone rescued yet, and until we do, these “flashforwards” represent a mere potential future (unless I miss my guess).

When Michael showed up as “Kevin” I thought we were really venturing into “parallel time” territory, but it turns out he was just working undercover... for Ben!? Okay, okay… I’m still not sure he’s the one who slipped Sayied and Desmond that note about the captain, though. The new character I really like is Daniel Faraday. The little we’ve seen so far about his theories of “time tripping” (to use Kurt Vonnegut’s phrase now that Desmond has apparently become “unstuck” as Billy Pilgrim did) so far jibe with my own explanations of how time travel affected the Dark Shadows timeline, but more on that later. In any case, whether Lost comes to explain Dark Shadows or not, I have high hopes that Lost will (eventually) deliver more answers than Dark Shadows (which presented inconsistencies and never explained them, leaving fans to theorize) could have ever hoped to.