Lost

[JoeinAR 1,949]

One more episode till The End, will Sawyer be reunited with Juliet in the side timeline? Will Hugo get his girl. If someone doesn't get the girl what is the point?

[BLUMENKOHL 1,068]

Damon and Carlton have repeatedly said what big fans of BSG they are.

The more this show goes on the more I realize "All this has happened before, and will happen again."

[Datameister 2,047]

Next week's episode is pretty good, guys.

[Koray Savas 2,251]

You saw it?!

[Datameister 2,047]

I'll post my thoughts - of which there are many - on the episode and the whole event as soon as I can. It was totally worth all of the uncertainty beforehand, not to mention the $80 I ultimately paid for the ticket. (Which was not from a scalper, mind you. I got it legitimately.)

[Koray Savas 2,251]

Oh yeah I forgot about that whole thing

$80 is worth it, IMO. I would have loved to be there.

[Datameister 2,047]

Just a word of warning: this is gonna be long. I'll try to put the important points in bold in case you want to skim. But I'm only writing a lot because a lot happened this evening! =D

Oooookay...where to begin? Well, background information for those who missed it: I'm a UCLA student, and this very thread alerted me to an upcoming LOST event on campus. I soon learned that it was not only a concert, but a screening of next week's episode with appearances from a few cast members. But of course, it turned out to be even more amazing than that, as you'll see. The only problem is that the tickets sold out before I even knew about the event. After that, I never found anything near a reasonable price online, so I figured I'd just do what UCLA had recommended: go to the box office before the show and see if extra tickets become available. (And if all else failed, I could put myself at the mercy of the scalpers...)

Fast forward to today - er, yesterday, technically, May 13th. I now had two friends who wanted to go with me, one who wanted to actually get in and another who just wanted to catch a glimpse of the stars outside. We were figuring on meeting at Royce Hall (the location for the event) around 6, a half-hour before the box office was supposed to open. But one of my friends was walking through just before 5, saw someone already in line, and gave me a call. So I hurried up and headed down there; the other friend arrived a little while later. Chatting with the other fans was fun - there turned out to be only three people in front of us in line. (One of them was an incredibly gorgeous girl, but she was taken, and probably out of my league anyway. ) And best of all, not one but TWO employees came along and told us they had about 40 tickets available! Our gamble was paying off!

With 20 minutes or so left before the box office opened, my friends decided to head around back to see if they could spot any stars. I followed shortly thereafter. (The aforementioned hot girl's boyfriend watched our stuff.) Although we couldn't go down to where the VIPs were arriving, there was a walkway perhaps three stories above where we were free to roam. Slightly visible across the way was an area set up for a red carpet or something, where we could see Lance Reddick (Matthew Abaddon) being interviewed! At the loading dock down below, other stars were arriving - we saw Michael Emerson and Henry Ian Cusick show up, both of whom waved (with just a hint of annoyance) when other people on the walkway shouted down at them. A few other actors were also barely visible up on the terrace where Lance Reddick was being interviewed. This was already shaping up to be a much bigger event than I'd anticipated!

But the box office was about to open, so we headed back. The place was really happening now, with people in DHARMA shirts and everything. A few minutes later, the curtains opened...and they said they had two tickets. WHAT?! We kept our cool, but we were not amused. The man at the front of the line got his ticket, and the hot couple got the other ticket, and we were all still waiting there, trying to figure it all out. (They wanted different tickets, so they were hoping we'd be able to get ours and then trade.) Anyway, we kept waiting, and although a few scalpers came by and nearly got my business, we stayed the course. Eventually, another employee came by and told us they were now totally out of tickets. No more whatsoever. If we left right then, we could still get our parking refunded.

But I had walked there, so what did I care? =P Considering how much confusion there'd already been, we weren't sure whether we should trust this new information. Some folks behind us left, but we decided to stick around just in case. As I pointed out, it had to be just a test - we just needed to show some faith, as LOST has demonstrated time and time again. Ultimately, five or ten minutes before the show started...

...they got more tickets. We. Were. IN.

$80 later, I had an incredibly classy Oceanic Airlines ticket in my hand and proceeded to the airline security stations at the entrance. Because they didn't allow backpacks through the (fake) metal detectors, I threw my backpack (containing a binder and some chips) into the bushes where it wouldn't be spotted. I also had to forfeit my cell phone to one of the employees until the end of the event.

Inside the concert hall, various LOST DVD menu backgrounds (sans actual menu options) were playing silently on a large screen while people found their seats. My friends and I had separate seats in the balcony...far enough to make me regret forgetting my binoculars, but at least we were in! Then...the lights dimmed.

__________________________________________________

THE CONCERT

The event began with an executive from ABC or something. He briefly praised the show before introducing none other than Messrs. Cuse and Lindelof! I had no idea they were going to be there, though I'd hoped they would. They actually acted as hosts for the rest of the evening. After some words about the show in general, they proceeded to introduce the full roster of 20 actors from the show who were present! Let's see if I can remember them all, VERY roughly in the order they were presented, just using their character names:

little Ben

Cassidy

Rose

Boone

Charlotte

Faraday

Ethan

the MIB

Michael

Walt

Pierre Chang

Richard

Ben

Penny

Dr. Arzt

Matthew Abaddon

Desmond

Jin

Hurley

Sawyer

Wow, I can't believe I did it! Anyway, they were all very gracious, and Darlton's introductions were equally hilarious and touching. But then it was time for...the concert. The orchestra was revealed behind where the actors had been standing. It was an impressive setup, with advanced lighting and a screen for showing images from the show.

Giacchino came onstage in a suit and sneakers, acting just a little goofy and clearly having a good time. He immediately launched into conducting the first piece, "LOST Main Theme." This was a pretty straightforward adaptation of "Credit Where Credit is Due", and the orchestra sounded GREAT. Very similar to the sound heard in the actual scores for the show, and the amplification sounded pretty natural.

"Hollywood and Vines" came next, which featured variations on that particular traveling theme, as well as several others. Again, a wonderful performance.

"Oceanic 6" indeed presented that gorgeous theme, using bits and pieces from both "There's No Place Like Home" and "Landing Party", as I recall. The piano was mic'ed perfectly - you could hear it very clearly over the orchestra, but not in a way that sounded TOO unnatural.

"The Temple of Boom" was an action music suite with a lot of energetic variations on the S6 temple theme. Loved getting to hear this live...I think this is when we finally got the characteristic trombone falloff at the end.

"Life and Death" used a lot of material from "Oceanic 815", I believe, presenting touching variations on the titular theme. Good stuff.

"The Tangled Web" started with Jacob's theme, of course...but it got even better. This was my favorite of the new arrangements because it seamlessly incorporated both MIB themes and Locke's main theme, even creating a brilliant counterpoint between Jacob's theme and the Locke-ish MIB theme. I hope this is from the finale or something...it was a really great arrangement.

Then...of course..."Parting Words." Sniff. This was a gorgeous rendition, just a hair shy of the inspiring heights reached for the actual recording. The still images on the screen turned to moving images so that the last half or so actually synched up with the scene from "Exodus." Great, great stuff. And then, as a lovely encore (after Giacchino changed into a DHARMA jumpsuit in about five seconds offstage!), we got a new arrangement of the theme from Up! That received a lot of applause.

Again, I want to stress that the orchestra was VERY good. I wasn't expecting it to sound this close to what we hear in the show. Apparently, some of the musicians were the same, which I'm sure helped, but it even had that claustrophobic, stereotypically Giacchino-y sound quality to it. It was brilliant all around.

After this, they began setting up for the showing of the second-to-last episode of the show while Darlton introduced some of the other major behind-the-scenes players - Jack Bender, Elizabeth Sarnoff, etc. They also told us that the episode we were about to see was a tad funnier, joking about how they decided to kill off Sun and Jin a second time. And then...it was time for the show itself.

__________________________________________________

THE EPISODE

The lights went down, a big screen was revealed, and the episode began. Now...as per Darlton's very nice request, I'm not going to give a full review of the episode. They asked us to please try to limit our spoiler-sharing, and considering what these men have given us, I'm going to comply by being vague. But I will give you my thoughts on the episode - which basically boil down to "I liked it" - and give you some general ideas of what to expect.

"What They Died For" is sort of Ben-centric, which turns out to be a great deal of fun because he gets to sort of be a bad guy again! Ironically, though, it's indeed a funnier episode, despite the somber circumstances and the impending climax. I'm sure having a huge audience to laugh with made it seem funnier, but still, there were a lot of good one-liners and character interactions. And the pacing was pretty good.

So, what to expect from the episode in terms of real developments? Well...the characters in the alternate timeline continue to converge in weird ways, with Desmond running the whole show. Ben gets a chance to be sort of a bad guy again, as I said. There's a sort of FAQ session with Jacob, during which the answers are about as specific as those in "Across the Sea"...and Jacob's replacement is then chosen in a scene that I found very satisfying. Rather unexpectedly, several characters of varying importance die in one of the timelines due to a variety of circumstances. And finally...the MIB reveals an additional aspect of his agenda that y'all don't know about yet, one that should have some impact on the events of the finale.

So there you have it! Sorry I can't be more specific...I just hope you guys enjoy the episode as much as I did. It wasn't the best, but it was pretty good. And seeing it in a huge theater with ridiculously loud subwoofers and a supremely enthusiastic audience didn't hurt. =P Seriously...there was applause at every commercial break! (No actual commercials, of course.)

The whole thing ended pretty abruptly after that. My cell phone and hidden backpack were both fine, so I headed back to the dorms with my friends and we chattered on and on about how awesome it was. Of course, my happy daze was slightly diminished by the discovery that the cute girl and her boyfriend got to go to the after party and meet some of the actors, as well as Mr. Giacchino...but that's life, eh?

[Jay 37,404]

AWESOME JOE! I'm so glad you got in!

Though it was technically this thread that alerted you to it

[Incanus 5,722]

Awesome indeed Joe! I am glad you got a ticket. And thanks for the report! Sounds like the concert was as awesome as expected. I am particularly excited that Giacchino did exactly what I hoped he would, create a suite for Jacob's and MiBs themes. Only downside is that I did not get to hear it. I really hope this stuff gets released one day on album. Also it was cool to hear how so many of the cast and crew were there.

[Datameister 2,047]

AWESOME JOE! I'm so glad you got in!

Though it was technically this thread that alerted you to it

Haha, right you are. And technically it wasn't the thread, it was YOU! So thank you very much for posting it in the first place. I don't know if I would have found out otherwise.

[Red 75]

Wow, that sounds like it was an awesome event. Thanks for the coverage!

I'd love to hear that arrangement of "The Tangled Web", hopefully it will show up in the show or somewhere else. Heck, Giacchino could do other concerts after LOST is over and feature that piece as well as other music from the show.

[BLUMENKOHL 1,068]

Sounds like another body count episode.

[Jay 37,404]

100 pages yay!

[Datameister 2,047]

Sounds like another body count episode.

It's...different. The tone is not like the episode in which Sun and Jin die.

Oh, I forgot to mention, if you don't want to be spoiled on this, don't look at the "guest star" credits in the first few minutes after the LOST logo. I accidentally did right as the one surprise guest's name showed up. That actor's appearance was still a lot of fun - and received considerable applause - and it's not too unexpected in the context of the scene when it happens, but still.

[Olivier 5]

That was a wonderful event, and I'm glad you were able to attend it against all odds; thanks for the report!

(I didn't read the spoilers)

[Datameister 2,047]

By the way, I think I forgot to mention that William Mapother (Ethan) was another actor who we saw down in the loading dock. I think he waved at us, too. I kinda felt bad, though...these other fans were just shouting down at the actors, trying to get their attention, while they were in the midst of arriving and getting ready and everything. I mean, it does come with the territory when you become part of a phenomenon like this, but still.

[Richard Penna 3,699]

Just saw episode 15 (Jacob/MIB as kids) and to be honest we were a bit disappointed. While the motivation kind of makes sense, it has too much of a fairytale feel. I really hope that the last 3 1/2 hours reveal truckloads of stuff.

[TownerFan 4,990]

I'm with Incanus on this--I've enjoyed this episode a lot, even though it was less emotional than last week's episode. I don't understand all the harsh criticism Darlton are getting. I think this episode will have a greater appreciation at the end of the game, because I think they clearly showed us what's really at stake for the final hours of the series.

I think we should appreciate the guts that it took to have an entire episode without any appearances of the main characters (if you exclude the recycled footage from S1 at the end, of course). This was a pure LOST mythology episode and the narration followed the path of legendary tall tales and myths. From the dialogues to the settings, here we have LOST at its most radical mythological, Campbell-ian setting ever. Yes, it's extreme, but I found it completely right in tone with what LOST is. The Island is a mythic place that has lot in common with the worlds we've read and seen in books and movies. Be it the Worlds of Oz, Narnia or Hogwarts, be it Wonderland or the Middle-Earth, be it the Matrix or a galaxy far far away, the mythic journey always has a backdrop where legend and history crosses and intertwines to create a deeper and bigger meaning.

"Across the Sea" played like like a poem where the power of the symbols and the meanings of the metaphors were completely left open to interpretation... much like the myths themselves always do, be it the stories of Siddharta, Ulysses, Jesus Christ or Luke Skywalker. And Darlton are saying to us that LOST is, in its essence, a myth.

I have other thoughts to share, but I'll write them later.

[Olivier 5]

I have other thoughts to share, but I'll write them later.

I'd like you to develop what you just said or anything of that kind.

- - - - - - - - - - - - -

What made Jacob special? He even felt "Mother" preferred his brother.

We know for sure his brother is special and has some sort of intuitive knowledge of things.

We also know that Hurley can see ghosts.

But makes the others special? Jack? Sawyer? Kate? Sun & Jin? Not special enough to survive, but to have been selected.

Is it a potential for unbounded goodness, albeit after a pretty shady past for some?

Does the brothers' story mean that a great many people are "special", and that most anyone (a con man, a torturer, ...) could become a paragon of virtue and guardian of the Island's "Light", provided the opportunity to let go of their darker streak and make the right choices?

As I said, I really love the idea that it did not start with Jacob and his brother, and that their story is much simpler-- their origin, their conflict. Unlike what Season 5's finale suggested (a battle between two mighty entities representing Good and Evil or locked in a debate on good and Evil), it's a tragic story as common as those of the passengers of Oceanic 815: parents & children, lies, siblings that love each other yet hate each other to some degree, ...

Jacob truly is "The Man Behind the Curtain": however powerful he may be, he is no god nor semi-god.

[Koray Savas 2,251]

Quick question: Whatever happened to Cindy and the children? If I remember correctly, they were on the beach with Locke when Widmore bombed it, leaving just him and Jack alive. So does that mean they were blown to smithereens?

Also... "Across The Sea" explains the whole reason behind Jacob's list. They took children, because they were still innocent, they weren't corrupted by man yet, the perfect candidates for protecting the island.

[Jay 37,404]

But it was the MIB who thought man was evil and corruptive, not Jacob. He things everyone has potential to be good. Anyone who fails along the way is just progress

[Koray Savas 2,251]

Everyone has the potential to be good yes, but everyone also has the potential to be bad. Why else would he want children? Because, like I said, they're innocent, not yet corrupted by adults. That's also why Mother killed Claudia, so she could raise Jacob and his brother in a purely good way. She finally found her replacements and had to take action.

[Jay 37,404]

Press release for Tuesday's episode

LOCKE DEVISES A NEW STRATEGY, AND JACK'S GROUP SEARCHES FOR DESMOND, ON ABC'S "LOST"

Michelle Rodriguez Guest Stars as Ana Lucia

Mira Furlan Guest Stars as Danielle Rousseau

"What They Died For" - While Locke devises a new strategy, Jack's group searches for Desmond, on "Lost," TUESDAY, MAY 18 (9:00-10:02 p.m., ET) on the ABC Television Network.

"Lost" stars Naveen Andrews as Sayid, Nestor Carbonell as Richard Alpert, Emilie de Ravin as Claire, Michael Emerson as Ben, Jeff Fahey as Frank Lapidus, Matthew Fox as Jack, Jorge Garcia as Hurley, Josh Holloway as Sawyer, Daniel Dae Kim as Jin, Yunjin Kim as Sun, Ken Leung as Miles, Evangeline Lilly as Kate, Terry O'Quinn as Locke and Zuleikha Robinson as Ilana.

Guest starring are Henry Ian Cusick as Desmond, Michelle Rodriguez as Ana Lucia, Mira Furlan as Danielle Rousseau, Alan Dale as Charles Widmore, Tania Raymonde as Alex, Mark Pellegrino as Jacob, Dylan Minnette as David, Sheila Kelley as Zoe, Kenton Duty as teenage boy, Wendy Pearson as Nurse Kondracki, Ashlee Kyker as student and Ernesto Lopez as LAPD cop.

"What They Died For" was written by Edward Kitsis & Adam Horowitz & Elizabeth Sarnoff and directed by Paul Edwards.

Clip #1:

Clip #2: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5n1BKsNVBoE

[Docteur Qui 1,544]

Hilarious skit from last week's Jimmy Kimmel. Warning: spoilers for the last episode "Across the Sea".

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_8JBYlNTf-Q&feature=player_embedded#!

I want to play it now!

[Koray Savas 2,251]

[Jay 37,404]

Little article I found with the guys who play Jacob and MIB

http://tvwatch.people.com/2010/05/12/lost-jacob-man-in-black-final-season/

Says the episode took place in 43AD, maybe he was mistaken? I think the script said 23AD. 43AD would be cool because that would mean they were born in year 1.

[Red 75]

Good, if long, article on Darlton about LOST:

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/05/16/arts/television/16weblost.html?pagewanted=1&ref=television

Since this is the week leading up to the finale, the last week of the show, there will probably be a lot of interviews with the cast and creators.

[Jay 37,404]

That was a really cool article, thanks for that!

[Koray Savas 2,251]

Great article. I laughed at the "Surface" bit.

[Olivier 5]

Thanks for the link! very interesting.

I'll listen to the sound clips (on the left side) later.

[Datameister 2,047]

Both are excellent interviews. Thanks for posting 'em!

[Koray Savas 2,251]

Some potential Lost spin-offs.

Mildly amusing, but Tikrit Vice got me laughing. Best one of the lot.

[Datameister 2,047]

Oh goodness...MUCH funnier than that is this:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_8JBYlNTf-Q

I think I'll watch it again. Apologies if this has already been posted - if so, I missed it.

[Koray Savas 2,251]

Haha, yeah, Magical_Me posted it towards the middle of the page.

[Datameister 2,047]

Hahahaha...fail.

[Koray Savas 2,251]

George Lucas wrote a letter to Lindelof and Cuse congratulating them on an amazing show (WARNING: Last lines of the article contain the title for tonight's episode). In the process, he revealed some things about the Star Wars saga.

Congratulations on pulling off an amazing show. Don't tell anyone … but when 'Star Wars' first came out, I didn't know where it was going either. The trick is to pretend you've planned the whole thing out in advance. Throw in some father issues and references to other stories — let's call them homages — and you've got a series. In six seasons, you've managed to span both time and space, and I don't think I'm alone in saying that I never saw what was around the corner. Now that it's all coming to an end, it's impressive to see how much was planned out in advance and how neatly you've wrapped up everything. You've created something really special. I'm sad that the series is ending, but I look forward to seeing what you two are going to do next.

[Datameister 2,047]

Haha, yeah, it was pretty funny hearing that read at the event. The "didn't know where it was going" comments got a lot of laughs from the audience, including me.

EDIT: Dude. I just remembered something. Locke described seeing a "bright light" that was "beautiful" when he was talking with Eko about the monster. Sound familiar, in light of recent happenings? Is this an indication of just how much Darlton had already planned out the mythology at that point? An instance of them developing new mythology so it fits with things previously said? A coincidence? A total red herring?

[Koray Savas 2,251]

HOLY SHIT! Nice catch.

[Datameister 2,047]

Another thought: Locke's dream about Horace Goodspeed in S4 MUST have been induced by the MIB. The dream told him exactly where to find the blueprints for Jacob's cabin, which the MIB was of course using in his plan to kill Jacob. Yet another power afforded to clouds of black smoke, I suppose...

[Koray Savas 2,251]

I remember that dream he had, but I don't remember any blueprints. I really need to rewatch the show. As for your earlier observation, after giving it some thought, I believe it was "I've looked into the heart of this island, and what I saw... was beautiful." I do remember there was something about a bright light, but I think he was referring to Desmond in the hatch. Remember: the Smoke doesn't know where the light is.

[crocodile 8,022]

I remember that dream he had, but I don't remember any blueprints. I really need to rewatch the show. As for your earlier observation, after giving it some thought, I believe it was "I've looked into the heart of this island, and what I saw... was beautiful." I do remember there was something about a bright light, but I think he was referring to Desmond in the hatch. Remember: the Smoke doesn't know where the light is.

He said that to Jack in the episode 5 of the first season. The bright light (about the smoke monster) bit was from the conversation with Mr. Eko (season 3, episode 5) to which he replied: "This is not what I saw". Or something like that.

Speaking of which, what's up with all this judging of characters by smoke monster? Mr. Eko's killing is still a bit baffling to me.

Karol

[Jay 37,404]

The writers had to quickly come up with a way to kill him off when the actor playing Mr. Eko decided to quit the show

[crocodile 8,022]

Yes, I know. But I mean from the storyline point of view.

Karol

[Koray Savas 2,251]

The Smoke was going to use Eko as his way to kill Jacob, because of his faith to the island. But he turned out to not be so easy to manipulate, so it killed him and chose Locke. On his "death bed," he did say to Locke "you're next."

[Jay 37,404]

Actually, Locke's line was "he said we're next"

[Koray Savas 2,251]

I doubt Eko said "You guys are next." I'd imagine it was "You're next" and Locke thought he meant everyone. Either way, that's how I'm gonna interpret it because there is no way of knowing what Eko said. I just think it fits better that way with the overall show.

[Jay 37,404]

Hehe, yea I like that interpretation

[Datameister 2,047]

Eko definitely said "You're next." There was a debate among the Losties about whether that "you" was plural or singular.

[Red 75]

Eko definitely said "You're next." There was a debate among the Losties about whether that "you" was plural or singular.

Locke probably thought it was plural but Eko meant it singularly.

[Jay 37,404]

That's certainly a nice to tie things together in retrospect

At the time, I'm sure the writers thought it would mean something else

I really hope at some point down the road, Darlton let us know what their original intentions were for Eko before the actor decided to quit. And also if they could let us know who shot at them on the outrigger that'd be cool too