Latest News

This final season is suppose to one that provides answers and begins wrapping up the many mysteries of the mythological universe of LOST. Indeed, we have been getting some answers, albeit some new questions as well - and, in that spirit of resolution, I think it is long past time to revisit an unsolved mystery from the blurry line of alternate reality media that emerged during Season Two as the mythology of LOST exploded on screen and off. In particular, I'd like to look back and address the issue of the Dharma Procedure Film for the Goblet Station, which surfaced in late March of 2006. More after the jump!

The latest episode of The Coconut Telegraphy, a LOST fan podcast led by SWLS members JB, Jackii and Adam, that takes a second look at "Lighthouse" was recently released. This episode features yours truly as a special guest, for what its worth. I'm also happy to announce the The Coconut Telegraphy is now the official podcast of SWLS - you can access it using the PODCAST link at the top of the page in the navigation bar. Check it out and let us know what you think in the comments below.

The official description for this episode follows:

In this episode we discuss the 4th episode of season 6 of Lost, "The Substitute" with Jen, a.k.a. Nejsitsol on Sledgeweb. We go over the list of legible names on the cave ceiling, why Richard ran away like a little girl, and Taller Ghost Aaron/The Little Apparition Boy. Also, there's quite a bit of rambling. Shout-outs to certain SW members abound! Listen and find out if you caught our attention as much as The Substitute.

ABC just confirmed that Lost will kick off its sixth and final season with a two-hour premiere on Tuesday, Feb. 2 from 8-10 central. The night will start off with its annual recap episode at 7:00 pm central. It will then settle into its regular spot at 8:00 central on Tuesday nights.After the jump find out who will be regulars on the show and who is coming back in limited roles. Some of you may consider this information as spoilers. You have been warned!

.

ABC is starting a new online experience to get us through the long hiatus. Lost University will open on September 22nd. (anniversary of 815 crash) The website is up and running and you can sign up for e-mail updates. There is not alot of information on the site yet. You can see the course listings that include Ancient Writing On The Wall, I'm Lost Therefore I Am, I'm Right You're Wrong The Us vs Them Mentality and Advanced Physics of Time Travel. Of course the store is open for business. This is basically an elaborate advertisement for the Season 5 DVD sale, but that does not mean we can not have fun with this activity. Check back for any updates. We will be discussing Lost University here. Join in on the fun.

Note: The following story was an April Fools joke. However, regardless of its lack of truth, it is very entertaining and funny. Enjoy.

In a bizarre series of events, not unlike many of the plot-lines in the veteran island mystery drama, LOST co-creator, executive producer, showrunner and writer, Damon Lindelof, has abruptly broken all ties with ABC and quit the show, just a few weeks before the hit series' fifth season finale. The unexpected departure has left ABC executives and LOST producers scrambling to quiet concerns over the series future. Lindelof has largely been regarded as the driving force behind LOST, and the main source and inspiration for the shows overall direction. His premature exit has many industry insiders questioning whether or not the sci-fi pop-phenom will even return for it's sixth and final season next year. More after the jump.

Our beloved and venerable island drama returns tonight with the fifth season opener, "Because You Left". Today also marks a return of sorts for myself. The last few months have been tasking... losing two grandparents, and dealing with other serious real-world family dramas and sickness has made spare time precious as of late. Fortunately, Astro, Jugdish, Cayley, Thlay and Versed have done an outstanding job here during my absence, and I'm extremely grateful to them once again. And, of course, I'm continually grateful to all of you who continue to visit the site and support the great community we have grown here. I apologize that the HUNT was forced into delay, but there simply wasn't a way to make it happen with all the unexpected distractions during the hiatus. The HUNT will continue in due time, though - but, for now, let me wish you all a belated Happy New Year, and more importantly - a Happy LOST New Season. Investigations will be going up tonight, and I promise more postings from me moving forward. Have a happy LOST day, and don't forget to join me in the live chat tonight for discussion and segment rating!

Preview and details on how to participate tonight after the jump!

Damon and Carlton have sent one more sneak peek to the participants of the Dharma Initiative online game. This one is from Season 5 episode 2 titled "The Lie" From the title it appears that this episode will focus on the lie told by the Oceanic 6. The sneak peek takes place after the Oceanic 6 are rescued by Penny, but before they leave to be "discovered". The are discussing the reason for "The Lie" and Hurley states that he wants to tell the truth. After all, the island is gone! The lie is also a major part of an earlier sneak peek that shows Kate being ordered to give a paternity test for Aaron. The Oceanic 6 lie must be a major part of season 5.

I was originally going to title this article, "The Many Faces Of Marvin Candle..uh, I mean Mark Wickmund, crap, I mean Edgar Halliwax, or is it Pierre Chang. Oh hell, you get the idea" but that seemed like an awefully long title for such a short article. I think you all get the idea. Actor Francois Chau (that's his real life name!) has had the unique fortune of being the only character in the entire show 4 names (to date).

Thanks to a new video released this past summer at Comic con, it seems that we've finally discovered that our favorite Dharma scientists real name is Pierre Chang. I saw what's being called The Barracks video for the first time yesterday, and found it astounding. I'd heard about it last summer, of course, but in my lazy, Lost hiatus mood chose not to watch it at the time. But it got me wondering who else hadn't seen it yet. And for that matter, who else out there has forgotten about the other fantastic videos we've seen from this Dharma Scientist. So follow the jump and refresh yourself on the many faces of....oh hell, you know who I mean.

We are now only 7 short days away from the season 5 premiere of Lost, and our little Lost-empty hearts are beating so fast many of us can barely keep up with our daily routines. So, if you're feeling a bit like an addict who hasn't scored hit for far too long, I'm posting a list of episodes you may want to watch over the next 7 days in order to get yourself adequately caught up on some of the themes and storylines that its seems will be prevalent during season 5 on Lost. This list is coming from several sources across the web, including the producers of Lost as well as from Doc Jensen over at EW.com. Please be aware that some of you may consider the mentioning of these episodes to be minor spoilers.

I just received this, and its on very short notice, but E!'s Kristin will be interviewing Michael Emerson this afternoon. E! has put out the call for fans that might have questions for Emerson to email them to tvdiva@eonline.com. Questions must be received by noon today (pacific standard time). So you have less than 3 hours to get your questions in, but if you've got one, send it over! Oh, and be sure to tell them Sledgeweb sent you!

I'd love to be sitting here, telling you all my review of the first episodes of season 5 of Lost, but I am not among the lucky (or not so lucky) screeners who get to see the episode early in order to write about it. Lucky for us, we know someone who does have that privilege. If you follow the link below you can read DocArzt's review of episode 5.01 "Because You Left" & 5.02 "The Lie". Doc doesn't reveal any major plot points of the episode or spoilers, however if you are someone who avoids all spoilers no matter what, you might want to skip this article. Otherwise, give it a read. If you're like me, it'll just make you watch your clock even more over the next 22 days.

Lost 5.01 "Because You Left" & 5.02 "The Lie" - My Review by DocArzt

Damon and Carlton have sent another video to the participants of the Dharma Initiative game. This one has Damon and Carlton answering some fan questions. During the video a Dharma Initiative statement is flashed on the screen a couple of times. I could not make out the wording. Hopefully one of our readers can find the message for us. At the end of the video another commercial for Ajira Airways was broadcast. The website does have some new links. It is pushing the tagline "destiny" just like season 5. There were a couple of interesting topics discussed. Damon and Carlton stated that we will find out this season why Christian was buried with white shoes and a dark suit. We will also see more of the 4 toed statue this year and it will be a bigger part of season 6. The reason Alex was killed was to create some sympathy for Ben. There had also been a lot of hostage holding on the show so they wanted to shock us by actually having one of the hostages killed. It did create a dramatic scene, one that will not be forgotten any time soon. Click on the video and enter the password emal. So let us know what you find on the video and on Ajira Airways website.

In another move to continue building up the anticipation for the season 5 release of Lost (as if they could build it up any further), another promo trailer has been released online. You can see the video by following the jump below. I, for one, can not wait!!

Okay folks, ABC is being really good to us this year, so we're obviously on their "nice" list.  Yet another promo video has been released.  Unlike the last one, this is not a sneak peak of a scene in the premiere episode, it is simply a teaser promo video with lots of really fast, really blurry, and really mysterious imagery.  Check it out and let us know what you think.  I got chills after watching it.  Be warned, though, it does feature glimpses from Season 5 of Lost!

Video is just after the jump.

The following video is a sneak peak clip released today featuring a short scene with Jack and Ben discussing Locke. This is a scene from the upcoming premiere episode of Lost and therefore should be considered a spoiler. I didn't feel that it revealed anything significant, and was more of a teaser, but view at your own discretion.

View the video after the jump.

For those of you not aware, the most recent Lost ARG ended with those who participated getting a chance to be sent special emails from Damon Lindelof and Carlton Cuse, with access to season 5 secrets from Lost, 48 hours before the information is released openly. Tonight the third such email appeared, and with it, 3 slightly spoilerish pieces of information including: the name of a new book featured in season 5, episode 7; the name of that episode; and finally, there is one last image that is provided, which I won't reveal on the front page out of respect to those who want to avoid such information.

See images and get more information after the jump. The items in this article should be considered spoilers and viewed at your discretion.

Just a few days ago Damon Lindelof and Carlton Cuse hosted a round table to discuss the release of the new Season 4 DVD (available December 9). However, the discussion centered mostly around the new season of Lost, with some very interesting, though cryptic, things mentioned.

You can read the entire transcript of the questions and answers at DocArzt Blog. Please be aware that this may constitute moderate spoilers. Then be sure and let us know what your thoughts and comments are.

For those of you who don't know DocArzt, have you been living in a cave? Many Lost fans became aware of DocArzt on the popular Lost site, TheTailSection.com, to which he no longer contributes (his new site is www.docarzt.com). He is also someone that Sledge and myself would call a friend, and he's certainly been a friend to Sledgeweb's Lost...stuff, providing us with some great breaking news on occasion, and crediting SWLS as the first Lost site he visited regularly, as well as what inspired him to do his own site.

Just before Thanksgiving, ABC released the new promo poster for Lost, season 5. It is an interesting image with the group that got off the island on one side, with a backdrop of a city, and those who remained on the island on the otherside. It should be noted that Claire is missing from the image entirely, as is Jin (which should be expected since we saw him blow up on the boat).

You can see a larger view by clicking on the image above. Follow the jump for a few minor spoilers.

The Fray is taking another stab at mixing up their music with tv with a new deal with ABC television. The Fray, who jumped on the scene with a huge hit two years ago, after their song was featured on Grey's Anatomy, are releasing their new song, You Found Me, in a music video that features a Lost season 5 promo. The promo video, which features new scenes from season 5 mixed in with past scenes from the show can be viewed by following the Read More link in this article.

It has been one of the longest, slowest moving hiatuses in history...at least for me! But in a little over 47 days the best show to ever grace the small screen will return to us once again. As previsously mentioned here, January 21 is the date, with a 1 hour recap special (I'm starting to love these!) followed by the first two episodes, back to back, of season 5.

It is no doubt that most of you probably noticed that as Lost took a hiatus, so did many of the familiar faces at SWLS. In fact, apparently only Juggy didn't have enough accumulated vacation time to escape for a few months (or perhaps he pissed off Sledge). Juggy has been the glue of our contributors here and has definitely held the site together, without any other help, for the entire hiatus. Thanks Juggy! Everyone else be sure to let Juggy know how much you appreciate his time, energy, and excitement.

But with SWLS back in action, and Lost soon to follow, its time to make this site one of your everyday stops. So add us back to your bookmarks, send all of your friends an email, subscribe to the RSS feed to stay in the loop on new articles. The Island commands this of you! And stay tuned for all of the latest and greatest Lost updates.

A sneak peek of season 5 has been released to the members of the newest online game. The sneak peek is focused on Kate and Aaron. In the season 5 promo we see Kate packing and leaving her house with Aaron. In the sneak peek we find out that Kate is served with a search warrant for a sample of her and Aaron's blood. It is not stated who is behind the lawsuit. Of course Kate runs, because she always runs. The sneak peak can be seen here . You need to enter the password qilak. There is also a behind the scene extra from Season 4 DVD and an interview with Rebecca Mader. You can see our discussion in this topic

Season 5 of Lost is set to premiere with a three-hour event on Wednesday Jan. 21, 2009, at 8 p.m. According to Kristin on ew.com, the first two episodes "Because You Left" and "The Lie" will air back-to-back, following a recap of the first four seasons. Episodes three through six are as follows: "Jughead," "The Little Prince," "The Place Is Death" and "The Life and Death of Jeremy Bentham." This means that Lost will be returning to its original day-of-the-week slot. the latest word is that the show will occupy the 9:00 time slot. This would mean one less week of lost this year but still have the expected 17 episodes. In additional casting news, the hot Reiko Aylesworth, of 24 fame (and former real-life Kiefer flame), is currently in negotiations to join Lost, according to sources. Word is, she will stick around for at least four episodes in the upcoming fifth season of ABC's award-winning drama. Let us know your thoughts below, we are also discussing this news here.

There has been some Lost news making its way out from the current filming in Hawaii. Reliable information is few and far between but sources at tvguide.com and ew.com have come across a few new items.
-A second new character has been cast. Said Taghimaoui, a Frenchman seen in traitor, will play Caesar. Not much is known about Caesar except that he is mysterious and will be associated with Llana, a new character played by Zuleikha Robinson. Carlton Cuse stated that Caesar will play "an important part of the setup for the final act of the show in season 6".
-Michelle Rodriquez will appear in the second episode along with Cheech Marin. It appears that Hurley will be seeing dead people again.
-Desmond has filmed a scene with Ben.
-Hurley has filmed a scene in a jail.
-Sawyer, Juliet, Daniel, Miles, Charlotte and some one else will learn of Jin's fate at the precise moment we do during episode 4.
-Claire will not be in season 5 but will be back for season 6.
Please post your thoughts about these tidbits. SWLS would like to hear your thoughts and prediction for season 5.

Many of us are waiting with great anticipation for tonight's premiere of the new J.J. Abrams series, FRINGE. It won't be another Lost, and hopefully none of us have expectations quite that high, but coming from Abrams and company it should be a solid series full of great suprises. Afterall, with shows like Alias and Lost under their belt, these guys should be getting pretty good at this stuff. The first few episodes over the coming weeks should give us an indication of what to expect from this new show, but the reviews are already positive.

Ew.com's insider, Micheal Ausiello, reports that Lost has hired Zuleikha Robinson to fill the role of an important new character. Zuleikha will be playing the role of llana, an Euorpean female who is as dangerous as she is smart. She's alluring and apparently used to getting her own way. Jeff Jensen speculates that llana "sounds exactly like the kind of lethal lady Sayid would fall for. So I'm wondering if the dashing Iraqi is due for a new love interest, yet another lady whose true motivations will be in question."

Zuleikha Robinson has been seen in Fox's short lived show called New Amsterdam. She has also been seen in Rome and the x-files spin off The Lone Gunman.

ABC is running a new game at this website It is set up as a recruiting tool for a revived Dharma Initiative. You are asked to sign up as a new recruit. Currently there have been 3 tests given that are fairly easy to complete. There are also hints or tricks available to help you complete the tests. This week a new twist has been added with a video announcement delivered by designer of the tests, Hans VanHagen. Hans warns of us a mystery person called the Black Swan who is trying to sabotage the testing process and The Dharma Initiative. Join us in this thread,, as we work together to solve the mysterious of this new game.

This came in today...

Multiple sources have confirmed to Entertainment Weekly's Michael Ausiello exclusively that Michelle Rodriguez (a.k.a. Ana Lucia) is returning to Lost for one episode in the new season.

Details of her comeback are, not surprisingly, shrouded in secrecy, but here's what Entertainment Weekly can tell you:

• Rodriguez is back for one episode, most likely this season's second. As a result, the risk to Hawaii's roadways is said to be minimal.

• Given that Ana Lucia's bullet-riddled body is probably entering the final stage of rigor mortis, conventional Lost wisdom (if there is such a thing) suggests she'll be appear in someone's flashback or via hallucination. The fact that Cheech Marin is also on the guest list for eppy 2, suggests that it's most likely the latter and the person seeing dead people is Hurley. There's also this theory, put forth by EW's own Doc Jensen: "Maybe Ana Lucia busted L.A.-based Ghost Hustler Miles during her pre-crash LAPD days, and now the freighter folkster is seeing visions of the late Tailie on the Island!"

• Rodriguez' return follows last season's "resurrection" of fellow doomed tailie Cynthia Watros (Libby), who appeared in a vision to Michael. Could Mr. Eko next, thus completing, as Jensen jests, the Busted Tailie Storyline Redemption Tour?"

Thanks to EW for the alert.

Damon Lindelof and Carlton Cuse participated in ComicCon panel discussion and an interview with the cable station G4. Ew.com gave the following report on the Lost panel discussion. Lost executive producers Damon Lindelof and Carlton Cuse weren't expected to reveal much of anything about the upcoming season at their Comic-Con panel Saturday; production on the drama won't begin for another three weeks in Hawaii and the writers are typically loathe to give spoilers away, anyway. Still, the duo didn't disappoint. They immediately took questions from the audience and gave Lost memorabilia to anyone who made it up to the microphone. Besides handing out nifty prizes like an autographed life jacket and a T-shirt that read, "I asked a question about Richard Alpert and all I got was this lousy T-shirt," the producers did offer up a few tidbits about the coming year. Jin and Locke will appear in one form or another, Rousseau's story will finally be told, and Walt's dog Vincent will stage a comeback (some fan, in fact, actually inquired about the dog's status). Oh, and Lindelof insisted that the Island did not move in the finale. Matthew Fox (pictured) showed up, too, mostly to glad-hand a fan and smile pretty for the room

Early reports from Comic Con 2008 are trickling in with some information on JJ Abram's two TV shows. Carlton Cuse and Damon Lindeloff participated in a panel discussion and gave a few insights into Lost. We are not to expect too much on screen explanations for what appears on the show. The producers believe that "We need to keep you in awe. If you talk about it, it's not so much fun." Cuse explains that the show "would be stripped of its power if he and Lindelof tried to incorporate more exposition about, say, the origin of the smoke monster -- which is why we'll probably never hear Jack and Kate talk in great detail about it." He went on to explain "Cake is the character in the show while the mythology is the frosting."

By James Hibberd Fri May 9, 1:34 AM ET
LOS ANGELES (Hollywood Reporter) - ABC has found more hours for the final two seasons of "Lost." The 2009 and 2010 editions of the hit drama will be 17 hours each -- not 16, as previously planned.

ABC has added two hours to the show's production plan because the Writers Guild of America strike knocked three hours out of the current season. To partly compensate, the network recently added an additional hour to Part 2 of the season finale that airs May 29.

All told, the changes will wrap up the show with the same number of episodes that producers and ABC negotiated last year.

"We were supposed to do 16-16-16," "Lost" co-creator Damon Lindelof said. "But we ended up doing 14 this season, so we owe two."

Lindelof, however, ruled out the idea that the show might extend beyond the remaining 34-episode order.

According to Ask Ausiello, Team Dalton is in negotiations with ABC to produce an additional hour of Lost this season. This is not close to a done deal, but the possibility is very exciting!! There are plenty of scheduling conflicts that could sideline this proposal before it gets off the ground. The schedule is set for Lost to start on April 24th and end with a night of finales of Ugly Betty and Grey's Anatomy. So would this postpone the season finale one week or do the put it on a different night. Could we get two hours in one week!! This could get us closer to the original idea they had for this season and give us a more complete season 4. We will update you here at SWLS as this story develops.

Go, Joe!  Fresh on the heels of the very popular Transformers movie and with Iron Man poised at the gate, it would seem that our old toys and comic books have become the new breeding ground for big special effects and even bigger budgets.  Although, when Strawberry Shortcake versus Rainbow Brite hits the big screen I am sure it will be a sign of the coming apocalypse!

The latest Lost alum to find his way into the limelight, our very own Nigerian drug lord turned fake priest, Adewale Akinnouye-Agbaje, has landed a role in the new G.I. Joe motion picture set to open in August of 2009.  The film also stars Dennis Quaid as General Hawk; Channing Tatum, fresh from the current film Stop Loss, as GI Joe team leader, Duke; Rachel Nichols, from Alias and the new Star Trek movie, as Shana "Scarlett" O'Hara and Marlon Wayans as Ripcord.

On May 9, Matthew Fox will star in the cartoon classic Speed Racer. Larry and Andy Wachowski, of The Matrix trilogy fame, direct the story of Speed Racer and the mysterious Racer X. This promises to be a stylistic and revolutionary visual live action movie. Speed Racer must team with Racer X to win the difficult cross-country race called The Crucible. This is the same race the killed Speed Racer's older brother, Rex Racer. Matthew Fox (Racer X) is joined in the movie by Emile Hirsch (Speed Racer), Susan Sarandon (Mom Racer), John Goodman (Pops Racer) and Christina Ricci (Trixie). You can see the trailer at www.speedracerthemovie.warnerbros.com.

The only good thing about the upcoming hiatus, is that we have March Madness to fill the void! We're inviting all SWLS members to join us once again this year in a friendly brackets competition. Pick your teams, fill out the online bracket manager, and see how you do against other SWLS members. The winner takes home bragging rights, but mostly, it's all about having a lot of fun and enjoying the games with other friends for SWLS. If you'd like to participate, instructions on how to sign up can be found here. Good luck to everyone! The deadline for submitting your brackets is 11 AM EST on Thursday prior to the start of Round 1 games.

"Eggtown" turned in the lowest numbers of the season in SWLS episode ratings, and segment ratings. Does this mean we're getting tired of Kate and her story? Or were viewers just wanting a little more Lostian action and mystery? "Eggtown" (not my favorite episode title), was had a fairly strong story, but was also pretty straightforward. Of course, that is because they were trying their hardest to set us up at the end, when we thought we'd see mini-Sawyer in the crib, only to find out it was devil-baby, Aaron. Other than that, there weren't a lot of twists, hidden eggs, or mysteries for us to consider.

I'm betting ratings will improve with tonight's "The Constant". A lot of people are wondering what happened to Lawnmower Man, Desmond and Sayid when they coptered off the island, and hopefully, tonight we get that answer. The Desmond-centric episodes usually deliver, so lets hope that trend continues with episode 4x05, "The Constant". Given the apparent time-distortion phenomena we've seen in this season already, what can we expect from a Desmond McFly centric episode? I can't wait!

Last week on Lost we learned that Sayid was one of the Oceanic 6, but since being rescued and returned to normal life, he's taken on quite a new and interesting career choice...as Ben Linus' henchmen, apparently hunting down and killing people who Ben claims are a danger to the others. Whether he meant the other Oceanic 5, the rest of the 815 survivors still on the island, or both is still unknown. Or is Ben, once again, lying and bending the truth in order to meet his own needs? This probably has us all wondering what could possibly have convinced Sayid to trust Ben.

Ratings for last week's episode were down slightly, although it still finished in 4th place for the week with 13.8 million viewers. The episode did air on Valentine's Day, which could have accounted for a loss of some viewers.

The remainder of this article may include some mild spoilers. More after the jump.

LOST certainly gave us a few answers in last weeks "Confirmed Dead", but not without raising a heck of a lot of new questions. Like the Dharma polar bear in the Tunisian desert. Or why the not-penny's-boat people want Ben. And, who exactly are these people, and how do they know so much about the truth of Flight 815 and the island? One thing is certain, tonight's episode, "The Economist", is sure to give us more mysteries to ponder (or maybe even a few answers). The fourth season of LOST has been off to a great start, and we hope the trend continues tonight in Sayid's centric episode.

The remainder of this article may include some mild spoilers. More after the jump.

Executive producer Carlton Cuse has revealed the plans for extending Season 4 of LOST past the eight completed episodes now that the writers' strike has ended. In an interview with Michael Ausiello at TV Guide, Cuse explains:

Damon [Lindelof] and I are going to try to make five more episodes before the end of May, which is ambitious. But we've found ourselves in a situation where we had eight episodes of story planned, and we're going to try to fit that into five hours of the show. Even though it's going to be very hard to execute, we felt like any less would be doing a disservice to the story we had planned. We really want to give the fans the best possible experience and ending... to Season 4.

That leaves three missing episodes that will be... lost. Although those three Season 4 episodes will be gone forever, Cuse says they remain committed to delivering the number of episodes planned. That means we'll likely see those three episodes (no longer Season 4 storyline) added to Seasons 5 and 6. Cuse also says there will be a four week break this season (rumored to be after episode 8, but some say it may come after episode 7, and lump 8 in with the five new episodes). There is also a rumor out there that the second half of the season will see LOST move to a 10PM slot on ABC, after Grey's Anatomy.

As reported earlier this week by Juggy, the strike has officially ended (See the WGA letter here). I was talking to my buddy, DocArzt, today about how the end of the strike will effect the current season of LOST. Inside sources are telling him we will get 3-6 new episodes, but not the full eight the season is currently lacking. To accommodate this, it is likely the fall TV season will be pushed back to the end of June, meaning there will be a short hiatus of a month or less. No news yet on what will happen with Season 4 episodes that won't be produced for this season. With the fifth season scheduled to begin production in July, there has not been any word on whether or not will see an expanded fifth and/or sixth season, or if the missing episodes will be dropped (or rolled into some other medium). You can read more from DocArzt himself right here.

SWLS browser, Steve Weintraub, sends in the following: I interviewed Matthew Fox today and he reveals:

I think they're in negotiations about [how many additional episodes will be completed for Season 4] right now, the studio and Damon, and I think it's possible that we do 4 or 6 of the 8 that we were supposed to be doing right now. I think we would pick back up and maybe shoot another four this spring, which would give this season a grand total of 12.

To read the rest of the interview, click here.

On "Fast Money" Michael Eisner annouced that the strike is over. "They've made a deal, they shook hands on a deal. The deal is going on Saturday to the constituents (for a vote)...I think it's impossible that they turn it down. A deal has been made and (the writers) will be back to work reasonably soon!" At this point we do not know how this will effect the current sesaon of Lost. Keep your fingers crossed for a full 16 episode season.

PC World has an exclusive interview up with LOST video game, "Via Domus", producer Gadi Pollack. Pollack answers questions concerning the involvement of LOST producers in the game, how the show and game will tie together, when in the LOST timeline the game story fits in, as well as questions related to game play and user experience. You can read the interview for yourself here.

Jon Lachonis has an interesting article at UGO this week that explores the possible connections bewtween LOST the show and the LOST ARG (alternate reality game) Find815.

"The number one question I've been getting lately is this: how does the find815 game interface with Lost Season 4. The promise of the game was that it was a piece of canon directly related to the story. Rumors are swirling that this may not be the case. Is it? Or isn't it? Read on for the answers and mild spoilers. "

Read the rest of the article here.

Last week LOST returned with the first episode of season 4, and as is typical of LOST, neatly wrapped up the season 3 finale for us. So for all intents and purposes, season 4 of LOST truly begins tonight with episode 2, titled Confirmed Dead. However, unlike past seasons of lost (specifically the slow start with the Others in season 3) word on the street is that Confirmed Dead jumps quickly into the action and back-story that brought the freighter people to the island. This is LOST, so we can certainly assume that we'll have some fresh new mysteries to digest and figure out, but the previews appear to show great potential that some of our questions about these newbies are going to be answered.

The remainder of this article may include some mild spoilers. More after the jump.

Hey LOST fans! Are you ready for tonight's episode, "Confirmed Dead"? I know I am! Wouldn't it be great to watch the episode together with other LOST fans? The CHAT area of the page is being retooled as a new LIVE GROUP WATCH feature. Tonight, you can watch the episode live, and chat with other SWLS users during the breaks! We're also launching a new feature that lets you rate each segment of the episode after it airs! If you hate a certain flashback segment, but love an on island segment, now you can let us know! Afterwards, we'll be able to present a graph showing which segments of "Confirmed Dead" scored strongest with SWLS members. During each commercial break, be sure to let us know what you thought of the previous segment in the LIVE GROUP WATCH area! We hope to see you there tonight, and we also plan on adding more interactive features to this area soon! Of course, you can still use the CHAT feature on the Live Group Watch page at any time.

Season 4 of LOST finally arrived last Thursday with an excellent premier episode. We discovered that Hurley makes it off the island alive and is one of the "Oceanic 6". But who are the six? It appears that Hurley, Kate and Jack make up three of the six survivors who become celebrities after being rescued and returned to reality. But, why is everything about the island kept secret? And how do they actually get off the island? Do they take the Not-Penny's-Boat? Who is really on that boat? This week, we might get some answers in Episode 2 of Season 4, "Confirmed Dead". The official ABC description states "The survivors begin to question the intentions of their supposed rescuers when four strangers arrive on the island." What a major disappointment it would be to find out your rescuers aren't there to rescue you!

Don't get too excited, but several sources (Vareity, NYT, LA Times, industry blogs, etc) are reporting that huge steps forward have been made in the ongoing writers' strike. Some insiders are now predicting that the strike may end by the end of this week! That might be really, really good news for LOST fans. If the strike ends soon, we are almost certainly guaranteed to receive additional episodes for Season 4 beyond the eight that have already been completed. Exactly how many may depend on what kind of production decisions are made by the higher ups. It would also depend on exactly what ABC wants to do in terms of scheduling, and any kind of break that may be needed during the season. Of course, at this point, the strike is not officially over, so cautious optimism is definitely called for. Keep your fingers crossed!

Did you know you can watch episodes of LOST online? In HD? For free? Legally? Well, if you didn't, now you do. This is a great way to take a second look at your favorite LOST episodes. Or maybe you missed something in last night's show and don't have it TIVO'd? Don't fret, you can check it out on the internets! That's right, Al Gore has hooked us up once again! Thanks to ABC and AOL, you can view episodes of LOST from the current season and past seasons right HERE. It's not the most user-friendly system I've seen, but the SEARCH works pretty good. Just type in the season or episode title you are looking for (example: "lost season 3" will return all season 3 episodes). Of course, you can still find LOST episodes in Itunes and XBOX Live as well.

There's a new trailer out today for the upcoming LOST video game, Via Domus. You can view the trailer here or here. In Via Domus, "you play the part of a passenger of Oceanic flight 815. You survived the crash and find yourself on an uncharted island somewhere in the Pacific Ocean. As you begin to unravel mysteries of the island, you begin to discover secrets of your own. You will have to understand your past mistakes in order to survive and find your way home...". Via Domus will be available at the end of this month on PC, XBOX 360, and Playstation 3. Are you going to check it out? Let us know in the comments.

As expected, with little competition (due to the writer's strike) ABC won the ratings battle at the 9pm slot with LOST in the key 18-49 demographic. Roughly 16 million viewers tuned it too see who was on the boat. A strong showing, certainly, but not nearly as strong as LOST's glory days or other series' premieres this season (American Idol, Moment of Truth). The good news, however, is that the ratings are up a bit from LOST's average, but the big question, of course, is will viewers stick around? "The Beginning of the End" was certainly a strong episode, but perhaps a little repetitive. Much of the episode consisted of other people on the island learning what we already knew. And, the cliffhanger was something we've already seen before: a person from the non-penny's-boat parachuting onto the island. However, we were given plenty of new information to think about in the flash forwards, and it now seems we may finally get some answers about the people on that boat! SWLS user votes so far rate the episode at 8.66. If you haven't voted yet, be sure to do so here.

Hello LOST fans! It's been a long, long, long wait, but LOST returns tonight with Season 4 Episode 1, "The Beginning of the End". To celebrate the return of LOST, SWLS is debuting a new look. Things are still in a bit of a transition as old features and articles are moved over to the new Movable Type backend. So there are a few sections missing, or still in the Season 3 layout, while other pages may be a little incomplete or in need of additional CSS styling. You'll notice things start to firm up in the following days. During this transition period, you can still access the Season 3 layout here.

With the new look comes some usability changes that you need to be aware of.

We have waited patiently.  We have watched the all of the Mobisodes.  We have played along with ‘Find 815’.  We have watched Season 3 again on DVD. Hell, we got so bored we even helped save the show ‘Jericho’.  But finally on Thursday January 31, 2008, the wait is over.  Lost is back. 

Wednesday’s episode “The Beginning of the End” will be the first time a new episode of Lost has aired since May of 2007.  When we learned that new episodes wouldn’t come until 2008, I remember thinking that the day would never come.  Well our patience has finally paid off.  Sorry if I sound repetitive, but Lost is back, and I couldn’t be happier. 

The season 4 preview (posted below) looks awesome.  All of our favorites are back and they look better than ever.  Locke is still scary looking and he has dire warnings about the new arrivals on the island.  Kate is still hot.  Jack is still hairy and he looks like he may have cried recently.  Hurley is still fat and Charlie is still dead (I think).

Even though the writer’s strike still threatens to shorten the season, I don’t care.  Tomorrow is they day we have all waited for and the critics seem to think that we have good reason to be excited.  E Television says the new episodes are ‘crazy good’.  TV guide has already said that the new episodes are ‘worth the wait’.  New cast additions include Jeff Fahey and Lance Reddick from HBO’s ‘The Wire’.  What does all of this mean for the upcoming season?  I have no idea, but it doesn’t matter.  TV’s most patient fans are about to be paid back in full.  Lost is back.  Get your popcorn ready. 

We now know that Season 4 will start this Thursday, January 31, but will we see a full season of 16 episodes? The news is mixed at best. TV Guide is reporting on its website that hopes are high for a settlement. The writers guild has removed the demands that the writers for reality and animated series become part of the union. This has brought on a new round of informal talks that hopefully will lead to formal negotiations. The parties involved have agreed to a complete news black out during these talks.

We have waited a long time for our favorite show to return. It is officially time for the countdown to season 4 to begin. One week from tonight we will be watching the continuing story of the Oceanic 815 survivors, the Others and a new group of "rescuers". The previews have up pumped, the mobisodes have filled some lonely moments and find815 has given us some glimpses into what may come. But now it is time for the real deal. So tell us how you plan to watch the premier of season 4. Do you watch it alone or have a party? No matter what your preference is, make sure you come to SWLS to see all of the easter eggs and to discuss the developments. We want your theories and your predictions!!

Matthew Fox has had a busy year in 2007. In addition to filming the much anticipated season 4 of Lost he has completed two films coming out this winter and spring. Hopefully he will be busy again filming the remainder of the Lost season 4. (Still holding out hope for that to happen)

On February 22, Matthew will star in the ensemble drama “Vantage Point”. This is a political thriller involving the assassination of the President. It is a look at how different people see the same event depending on their vantage point. The movie’s tag line states “8 strangers, each with a different vantage point, each with a different piece of the puzzle.” William Hurt plays the president with Dennis Quaid and Matthew Fox as secret service agents and Forest Whitaker as a citizen who filmed the assassination attempt. It also stars Sigourney Weaver. The preview shows a promising taught political thriller with twists and turns throughout.

I hope everyone is having a good holiday season. Another year is Behind us, and a new one around the corner. I can't wait for LOST Season 4 (I just hope we get a full season), and I know many of you share that eagerness. It's not long now! It's time to brush up on your LOST to prepare for the new season, so perhaps we'll do a series over the next few weeks to help us all refresh ourselves on Season 3, and the information released over the break.

Also, the HUNT is taking this week off. We'll resume next week and find out exactly what "the star of bethlehem" is all about. Have a happy new year's!

Fears that the LOST Season 4 beginning might be delayed indefinitely due the writers' strike can now be put aside. LOST will return Thursday, January 31, at 9PM on ABC in Grey's time slot. As it stands right now, there will be little competition for the much anticipated return of LOST. There are currently eight episodes completed that will run in the 9PM slot as long as Grey's Anatomy is still in re-runs. Of course, what happens after that is still all up in the air depending on the length of the strike. At this point, it sounds like LOST could still find itself in the 10PM slot if the strike ends earlier rather than later.

So, all LOST fans, start your count downs. After a long break, the return of LOST is finally on the horizon. Well, at least eight episodes. The irony, of course, is that the whole point of scheduling the episodes to start in the January / February time frame was to avoid a mid-season break. It's now starting to look like that is going to be unavoidable, and just like last year, we may get a short first half season, followed by a longer second half season (hopefully not too far apart). The other concern is that there won't be enough time to fit a full season in within the remaining TV season, so just like other shows out there, LOST is facing the possibility of a very short number of episodes for the season. Does that mean we might see a 30 episode season 5? Who knows.

Just in time to promote the Ho, Ho Holiday Season 3 DVD sales, a brand new, LOST Season 4 Trailer has turned up in theaters nationwide.  Given the current climate of the writers strike combined with the already shortened LOST season, it is no wonder why they are choosing now to build up even more antici……..pation. 

For those of you who may have looked at the solution to Hunt 3-3 within the first 20 minutes after it was posted, the incorrect coordinates were posted.  This is corrected now, so please take note at the correct coordinates.  Thanks!

Just a quick not to let you hunters know that Hunt 3-3 will begin at 9PM due to the results of the voting poll. Good luck, and have fun.

I will also post the results from Hunt 3-2 between 9 and 10 pm.

All times eastern.

Sorry guys, tried to post this earlier, but was having internet troubles. Since I'm busy with Thanksgiving, I figure a lot of you might be traveling or otherwise occupied as well. To get the most people involved, I decided to take this week off. I will be posting results from HUNT 1 this Saturday. Have a good Thanksgiving everyone.

Sigh....sometimes I wish I had more answers, but I don't.  I have no idea what happened to the Hunt tonite.  I wish I did.  Please come back next week and we promise not to crap on you quite as much. 

I’m having my own flash forward.  It’s going like this.  A boat lands on Lostie Island.  The real world is coming to intrude on the serene peace of the island.  Ben in his megalomaniacal fashion has been harnessing the power of the island for his own use.  He’s been the controller, but he’s going down.  Now he has to scramble to get people to agree with him that he has been a faithful guardian of the island’s power.  He tries to recruit Losties with an unequal success.  They become split into two groups:  those who interpret the boat rescue as a good thing and those who see it as a bad thing.  Civil war is coming.  The leaders for the factions will have to rise.  What is at stake are the lives of the Losties, the lives of the remaining Others, the lives of those who have come to the island, and most importantly, the life of the island.

The second Lost mobisode episode has hit the internet. Thanks to DirtyMaggieMae for finding the newest mobisode. Episode #2 features Hurley and the never before seen Neil Frogurt. The producers have mentioned Neil in their podcast and he was also mentioned by Bernard in S.O.S. The quality is not great, but it is the best I can find at this time. http://spoilerslost.blogspot.com/ This mobisode will officially debut on abc.com on Monday.

Just a quick reminder, HUNT 3 begins tonight! We'll kick things off at 10PM Eastern (although the time slot may be moved up for future HUNTS if there is demand for it, let me know in the comments below). You will find HUNT 3 in the main navigation menu, which links HERE.

Good luck to everyone! Don't forget, after the each week's solution has been provided, you can discuss that particular HUNT in the forums HERE.

The first of 13 expected Lost Mobisodes can be found on the internet today. This episode titled "The Watch" features Jack and Christian talking before Jack's wedding to Sarah. Here is the official statement from ABC about the Lost mobisodes and what we can expect. "Lost: Missing Pieces are 13 two-to three-minute stories of compelling, new, never-before-seen moments from LOST. These newly-created scenes (not deleted scenes from previous episodes) reveal answers and new details about your favorite characters. For each story, we leave it up to the you, the fans, to figure out where these pieces fit into the overall mythology. Watch new episodes on ABC.com" The mobisodes will debut on abc.com on Monday, November 12 with a new episode every Monday. You can see the video here at abc.com. http://abc.go.com/primetime/lost/missingpieces/index?pn=index

The writers strike that started on November 5th, could disrupt the upcoming Lost season. Executive Producer Carlton Cuse stated Monday that Lost will soon have 8 episodes completed for season 4. If the strike stretches into the new year then Lost may be facing a split season. Cuse states "There is a cliffhanger at the end of the eighth episode. It will only be frustrating (for viewers) to have to step away from the show and not see the second half of the season. The first half of the season, like a good novel, sets all the events of the show in motion and the second half deals with the consequences.We are very proud of the first eight but it feels weird to have to stop literally mid-stream."


Carlton Cuse and Damon Lindelof were seen on the picket line Monday. Hopefully the writers and the studios can come to a quick settlement and the production of our favorite show will continue. The date of the new season still has not been officially decided. A February start is still considered most likely.

OK guys, it has been a long time coming, but we will launch the new hunt in two weeks. This will hopefully provide enough time to get the word out. To keep tradition, we'll start the Hunt on Wednesday, the 14th of November. Spread the word. And be prepared!

I remember when I first watched season one of LOST.  I was just starting to get to know the characters, and it was easy for the writers of the show to mislead me.  Sometimes it appeared as though one character had been the culprit of a dastardly deed, but then it was revealed that another character had actually committed the crime.  For example, it seemed that Kate was the one who had poisoned Michael’s water so she could get on the raft, but later, we found out that it was Sun who had tried to poison Jin’s water to get him to stay on the island.

The writers also portrayed a character one way, and then they’d reveal something tricky about them in another episode.  For me, the best example of this deception was Jin.  I hated Jin at the beginning of the first season.  I thought he was prickly, anti-social, paranoid, and possibly extremely violent.

[html] [/html]

My first exposure to Jin wasn’t very flattering for him.  He secluded himself (with Sun) away from the others, to somewhat selfishly provide for Sun and himself.  Jin also told Sun to cover up and behaved jealously toward Michael.  There was even a point when Jin blamed the rest of the survivors for the attacks that the Others were making on their camp.  I disliked Jin the most during Sun’s flashback when he came home and had blood on his hands.  What can I say?  I bought the writers’ deception.

Towards the end of season one the writers began to fill in some gaps.  Specifically, in episode 17, it appeared that Jin had been the one who had set fire to Michael’s raft.  That was also the episode that explained the reason that Jin had gone home with blood on his hands.  Jin had beaten up Mr. Han to save him from being killed by one of Mr. Paik’s men.  It was also revealed that Jin was not the person who had set fire to the raft.

That episode was the turning point for me regarding Jin.  I began to like his character because the writers had shown me flashbacks from his life.  I understood him a little better than I had previously.  I didn’t necessarily think that it was good that he had beat up Mr. Han, but the writers had shown why he had done it.  In a way, the writers had permitted me to see what it was like to be in Jin’s proverbial moccasins.  In addition, Jin began to change his attitude towards the other survivors.  He began to help Michael build the raft, and was the one who ran and got help when Claire started having contractions prior to the delivery of Aaron.

I submit that Jin is a type of the Others.  The writers have been painting the Others (especially Ben) as people who are ruthless, barbaric, cunning, and evil.  Just as our exposure to Jin wasn’t very positive at the beginning of season one, our exposure to the Others isn’t a positive exposure at this point.  My belief is that the end of season three was a turning point (or the beginning of one) for me with regard to the Others.  I don’t expect to suddenly think that all of the killing that has transpired is good, but I may begin to understand the Others a little better if I am able to see more of their flashbacks, or in some cases, flash-forwards.

I’m also hoping that, just like Jin’s attitude changed, the Others’ attitudes will change.  Perhaps the Others will begin to behave in more socially acceptable ways in season four.  I bet that Richard could tell some pretty good ghost stories (about Jacob) around the campfire.  Or maybe Ben could mention to Danielle that her pants don’t make her look fat.  It could happen…

Michelle Rodriquez was ordered to serve 180 days in jail for probation violations. Michelle played Ana Lucia during season 2 of LOST. Michelle failed to complete her community service requirements from a 2003 drunken driving arrest. Michelle did submit documentation that she completed her community service, but it was later determined that she was out of town during that time. Michelle was also found to have drank alcohol on three occasions while wearing an alcohol monitoring device. In addition to her 2003 arrest, Michelle was also arrested for dunken driving in 2005 in Hawaii. Michelle was told to report to jail on Christmas Eve.

Terry O'Quinn, who plays John Locke on LOST, won an Emmy Award for the Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series on Sunday, September 16 at the 59th Primetime Emmy Awards.  In that category he beat out Michael Emerson who plays Benjamin Linus on LOST, William Shatner from "Boston Legal," T.R. Knight from "Grey's Anatomy," Masi Oka from "Heroes," and Michael Imperioli from "The Sopranos."

LOST didn't win any additional Emmy Awards, but the show received nominations in four other categories: Outstanding Writing for a Drama Series, Outstanding Single-Camera Picture Editing for a Drama Series, Outstanding Directing for a Drama Series, and Outstanding Sound Editing for a Series.

A complete list of the winners can be found at http://www.emmys.org.

Congratulations, Terry O'Quinn!

Damon and Carlton have a new podcast up, sort of. The new podcast isn't officially up, yet, but DocArzt found a hidden link while we were chatting over IM. This "3rd Anniversary of the Crash of Flight 815" podcast features an interesting twist on the format: the dynamic duo actually call LOST fans on the phone to answer their questions! Here are some of the highlights.

Unfortunately, the big question, "When will LOST air?, was not answered. Rumors have it the show might be moving to Mondays at 8PM, starting the first week of February. Damon allows that he is pulling for 4PM on Saturdays. How awesome would that be?

The Jack - Kate - Sawyer triangle is not necessarily resolved. Although they do agree who Kate ends up with at the end, the "flash forward" we saw is NOT THE END of LOST! There is more story to tell beyond that flash. Will Jack and Kate go back to the island? Who knows? It was also clarified that there are not different timelines, or parallel universes. The future is fixed, and the "rules" of time travel will basically adhere to Mrs. Hawking's explanation to Desmond in "Flashes Before Your Eyes".

Some potentially bad news concerning Richard Alpert was also revealed. Basically, don't watch "CANE" if you want to see Alpert's role fleshed out more. Nestor Carbonell is on board a new show airing this season called "CANE". If that goes well, Nestor will have less time to work on LOST, and may only be featured in one or two episodes this season. This would sort of side-track LOST Producers' plans, who have been building Alpert up into a bigger and more significant character in the series.

Also confirmed again, Nikki and Paulo are definitely dead (and are compared to left-over food).

We will find out within the first 6 episode (perhaps epi 4), if Kate is pregnant with Sawyer's baby. And, unfortunately, they confirm that Mikhail is dead. Sounds like he will be back in flashbacks though.

That's it for now. Take a listen and let us know what you think!

I’ve really done it now: I disagreed with Jugdish! 

In his terrific character study "Kate: Character Lost" (below) he says that our beloved Kate Austen is losing her character strengths.  In his words, "The real Kate needs to be done with the jealousy, the poor decisions and the meek personality and return to the tough talking, take charge leader that she was." Yes, jealousy is undesirable, no one wants to make poor decisions and fewer want to be called meek.

However, I contend that Kate’s earlier tough-talking, take-charge attitude, while fine in and of itself, served as a defense mechanism. Her uncanny ability to defend and protect herself should not be read as healthy independence.  She has always fought and run -- not just out of force of character but out of desperation. Or as Sawyer summed up in season two, "I con, you run." 

[html] [/html]

Over the course of events in three seasons of Lost, Kate has stopped running.  Rather than that spelling the end of her powers, it marks the beginning of hope and real freedom for her.

Six episodes of Lost have been concerned with this character’s growth on the island compared to her tragic past.  "Tabula Rasa" 1x3 introduced us to Kate as the fugitive handcuffed to the U.S. marshal.  At the end of that poignant episode Jack told her, "It doesn’t matter, Kate, who we were, what we did before the crash.  Three days ago we all died.  We should all be able to start over."  Kate agreed to this and started down a road of redemption.

Her first reaction was typical.  She emotionally isolated herself from Jack, Sawyer and the camp during "Whatever the Case May Be" 1x12.  That back story saw her in New Mexico using people to get her way, and on the island doing the same thing.  There’s no doubt that she’s an incredibly intelligent, resourceful, strong, and courageous person.  But only one person has benefited from those character strengths: Kate Austen. 

The fearful self-protection she has always practiced has proven destructive for the people in her life.   This was on display in the heart-breaking "Born to Run" 1x22. We saw her back in Iowa willing to sacrifice everything including her former sweetheart, Dr. Tom Brennan, in order to stay safe.

However, on the island before a group of Losties, Kate admitted that she was indeed on the run and going to jail. She found that confession is good for the soul. Rather than the group rejecting her, she continued as a leader, friend, confidante and love interest.

We discovered her crime in Season Two’s superior "What Kate Did" 2x9.  She always seemed to me to respond to murdering her abusive father with ambivalence at best and devastation at worst.  At the time, it certainly seemed expedient for her to kill Wayne to save her mother.

But by the time she saw the black horse on the island she was terrified that earlier murderous decision would disconnect her from any desirable relationships. Miraculously Sawyer shared her vision, and they were knit together.  Our own moderator Versed referenced it in this terrific post:  "I think the whole episode where she nursed Sawyer back to health and had to face her demons about her feelings toward her stepfather/father brought her about as close to redemption as she is going to get." I couldn’t agree more.

Evangeline Lilly says of this relationship: "Sawyer’s always seen through the persona she’s presented to the group and he’s gotten right to the nitty-gritty of who she really is. There are no secrets or pretenses between these two people.  The fact that he loves her knowing all of her crap is one of the main reasons why she loves him."

When Kate and Sawyer discovered themselves in a life-or-death, no-escape situation in the Others’ cages, they "found and clung to each other in a period of despair and were able to gain strength and comfort from doing so" (thanks again to Versed). The episode "I Do" 3x6 showed her incapable of staying with her husband, but able to run to Sawyer.  No, Juggy, Kate has done more than just choose "between the quarterback and the starting point guard." She has connected with a significant person who unlike any other person in her life understands and accepts her. 

What comes of their love relationship is yet to be seen.  Certainly there is the issue of Jack and his admission of love for her. Regardless of how that story progresses, Kate’s character development reached its most significant milestone in "Left Behind" 3x15.   In her back story she was unable to forgive her mother for turning her in.  However, on the island, she meaningfully apologized for misunderstanding Jack’s intentions and needs when she came back to Othersville for him.  Let’s face it, that return journey was less about rescuing him and more about her making right what she had left undone.

The scene in which she cried for forgiveness was not an example of weakness or meekness in its worst sense.  I considered in that moment that Kate Austen grew up. She took account for her actions and saw them come up short.  Instead of running, she stayed and took the consequences.  This was a first. She did the right thing in spite of how it worked out for her.  Jack has taken lots of lumps from viewers for being so cold and removed to her.  But his reaction was the perfect contrast for Kate’s warmness and openness.  The spinal surgeon from LA has a lot to learn from the working class girl from Iowa.

The end of the season certainly showed that Kate is done manipulating circumstances for her own good.  Instead of making her weaker, this makes her stronger. She is more able to help her friends and followers for their good and not just her own. We don’t need to worry about Kate’s wings getting clipped.  Her intelligence, power, beauty and courage have a chance to take flight as she finds herself forgiven and forgiving.  I’ll give the last word to Evangeline Lilly.  "I was hoping in season three she would 'man up,' grow, change and be motivated.  She did and they really exercised my character this season.  I feel like it’s just the beginning and there is so much to tell."  (Lilly’s quotes are respectfully taken from Lost The Magazine issues #10 and 12.)

Naveen Andrews has an prominent role in the new Jodie Foster movie "The Brave One". Naveen plays David Kiramani who is Jodie Foster's fiance. In the movie Jodie Foster's characters life is turned upside down due to a violent crime. She responds by becoming a feared vigilante. Naveen also has two movies planned for 2008. "Fallen Hero" is in pre-production and "Animals" is currently in post-production.

There are many reasons for Kate Austen (Evangeline Lilly) to be a favorite character on Lost.  Kate has a natural and athletic beauty that is very believable in the Lost island setting. She has the beauty to catch the eye of the men on the island, but is also very capable of climbing mountains, out running smoke monsters and taking on the Others.  Most important for the story line of Lost, Kate is a very interesting character. During season 1 and 2 she was sexy, secretive, a leader and tough as nails. Disappointingly these characteristics were not consistently displayed during season 3.  During her visit to the Others camp, Kate turned into a high school cheerleader deciding between the quarterback and the starting point guard.

Carlton Cuse and Damon Lindelof have announced that there will be five new cast members during season 4 of Lost. The show has just started filming the new season when word of the new members was announced.  Joining the outstanding cast will be: Jeff Fahey (The Lawnmower Man and The Grindhouse) ,Jeremy Davies (Saving Private Ryan), Lance Reddick (The Wire), Ken Leung (The Sopranos) and British actress Rebecca Mader (The Devil Wears Prada, Love Monkey). The producers are most excited about Jeff Fahey joining the cast. Carlton Cuse states the Fahey “has the most intense eyes of any guy out there”. Lindelof adds “Fahey is one of those actors that feels like he fits into the Lost model”. “He’s enormously talented and will be vaguely recognizable to some people, but he will be able to land on our island without most people going, “Oh I know who that guy is. And especially for the part we cast him for, he has exactly the right sensibilities.” Did Damon just give a clue away about were we will see Fahey. Sounds like he will be on the island. We might have just been introduced to Jacob!

In case you were wondering, there are only 124 shopping days left until Christmas!  Wait, did I just hear a collective groan?  As I am sure you have been tossing and turning; searching in vain to find something to stuff in the stocking of your favorite Lost fan, allow me to end your misery.  ABC/Disney has decided it is going to give birth to the Lost Season 3 DVD set on December 11, 2007, which happens to be just in time for Christmahanakwanzaka pleasure! 

[html] [/html]

The DVD set, which is pre-orderable on Amazon.com, is a 7 disc set and according to the Hollywood Reporter, includes bonus features such as a “selection of never before seen flashbacks,” a one on one interview with Matthew Fox, behind the scenes looks at 10 episodes, deleted scenes and bloopers.  The cost for the DVD set is running around $40.00.  It is 38.99 at Amazon.com.

It is my pleasure to announce that for the first time the Lost season will be available on a high definition format.  ABC/Disney has chosen to release the Lost Season 3 on Blu-Ray!  This set is also pre-orderable from Amazon.com.  However, the cost is substantially more.  At $86.95, this set is a little more than a simple stocking stuffer! 

The biggest argument with this news is the release date itself.  With fans by the droves suffering from withdrawal symptoms, it seems a little heartless to force us to wait until December rather than the previous September release dates.  However, as the new season does not being until February, the winter release of Season 3 will whet the appetite of hundreds of thousands of jittery Lost fans.   

[B] by Nancy Drew |[/b] Of all the characters on Lost to be the hardest to figure out, Danielle Rousseau tops the Dharma cake, frosting and all!!  We first met Danielle when she captured Sayid and tortured him, thinking he was one of the mysterious "Others" who stole her daughter from her 16 years prior.  From there, she has popped in and out of story lines, being both the villain and the hero, and has befriended many of the Oceanic crash survivors by giving information about the island and its inhabitants.  Everything we have learned about Danielle has come from stories told by her to the Losties and not in flashback form, which, in my opinion, would make for a great episode.

[html] [/html]

Since the detective part of me is dying to investigate the story behind Danielle, we should start with what we do know about her.  Based on what Danielle has revealed, she became stranded on the island sixteen years ago when her science team was on an expedition, heading out of Tahiti.  They picked up a radio signal, one repeating the infamous number sequence, and followed it until they lost control of their ship and crashed into the island.  At this time, Danielle was seven months pregnant, and accompanied by five other members of the team, one of which being her lover, Robert.  The next part of the story is a little sketchy, but what we do know is that the five other members of this science team, while on their way back from the Black Rock, became sick with an unknown illness and one of the members, a man called Montand, lost his arm.  Fearing that Robert was beginning to show signs of the illness, Danielle shot and killed him, leaving her the only surviving member of this team and alone on, what she thought, was an uninhabited island in the Pacific.  With many holes in her story, we are then fast-forwarded to the days before Alex's birth when she replaced the numbers broadcast with a distress signal, repeatedly playing on a loop.  This distress call was spoken in French and later interpreted by Shannon when it was picked up by Sayid.  Days after, Alex was born, and two weeks after that, Alex was taken by the Others.  After this occurrence, nothing more is stated about Danielle's life on the island, other than gathering that she is skillful at setting traps, shooting a gun, handling dynamite, and being able to survive on her own.

As a detective, the first piece of evidence I would look into would be the distress call that Danielle made.  According to Lostpedia, the English translation of the message is as follows:

Iteration 17294530 : "If anybody can hear this, they are dead. Please help us. I'll try to make it to the Black Rock. It or he] killed them. It [or he] killed them all."

Iteration 17294531 : "It [or he] is outside. It [or he] is outside and Brennan took the keys. Please help us. They are dead. They are all dead. Help us. They are dead."

Iteration 17294532 : "It [or he] is outside. It [or he] is outside and Brennan took the keys. Please help us. They are dead. They are all dead. Help us. They are dead."

Iteration 17294533 : "They are all dead. Help us. They are dead. If anybody can hear this --"

Iteration 17294534 : "It [or he] is outside. Please help us. Please help us !"

Iteration 17294535 : "If anybody can hear this, I'll try to make it to the Black Rock. Please help us ! They are all dead. They are dead. It [or he] killed them. It [or he] killed them all. I'll try to make it to the Black Rock."

Right away when reading this, I recognize the name “Brennan”.  Tom Brennan was Kate’s childhood sweetheart that was killed after helping her to see her mother in the hospital he worked for.  Coincidence?  I’m not buying that.  There has to be a connection between Danielle’s Brennan and Kate’s leaving me to think something bigger than our Losties is definitely going on here!  According to the message, someone or something is outside and Brennan has the keys.  What kind of keys do you need when you are shipwrecked on an island?  Did they commandeer a Dharma Van?  I suppose she could be referring to keys of a map, since we know that either herself or her team made one, but I can’t help feeling like this is part of the answer we are seeking with Danielle.  But the one thing I can’t seem to put my finger on is the translation of the “it” or “he” in the message.  If it is “it”, then I would guess that maybe Smokie or the Polar Bears were after her.  Possibly even Joop.  But if it is a “he” that is after her, then we are talking about one of the Others.  Was this a first attempt at getting the baby Danielle carried within her?  I would venture to guess this was the case.

Based on what we know of Danielle, and what we’ve learned about the island in the three Seasons of the show, I believe that Danielle and her science team are either with Dharma or Naomi’s group.  We have yet to see the wreckage of Danielle’s ship, which makes me think that the invisible barrier that destroyed Naomi’s helicopter also destroyed Danielle’s means of transportation.  Danielle was very quick to shut Ben up when he was begging Jack not to call Naomi’s boat for rescue.  She also used specific names and locations of her team on the island in her distress call.  Instead of giving coordinates that were last detected on her ship and planning to meet the rescue team on a shoreline, she uses the name of a specific team member and a meeting point that was inland.  How would any other rescue team know who she was and where she was meeting them if it wasn’t Dharma?  I don’t think they could.

The next item I would be looking into is the scientist named Montand, the one who lost his arm.  Many times I have pictured a guy who literally had the arm removed from his body, thinking maybe a Polar Bear attack or some testy dynamite.  But then I thought back to Artz and how the dynamite not only removed his arm, but the rest of his body, as well.  To me, that rules out a dynamite accident.  Then I started thinking about a scientist who still had his arm, but just lost the function of it.  Hmmmm………………sounds kinda like a character we already know, doesn’t it?  Only instead of knowing him by Montand, we know him as Mark Wickmund or Marvin Candle, the guy who does the orientation films for the various hatches on the island.  And instead of thinking he lost the use of his arm, I am led to believe that Danielle was referring to a prosthetic limb. Looking further into the name “Montand”, I found out that a man named Yves Montand, who was an actor, played a psychiatrist in On a Clear Day You Can See Forever.  He played Dr. Marc Chabot, having the same initials as Dr. Marvin Candle.  In a Podcast, TPTB admitted that the name was in reference to the actor, but for a different part he played in The Wages of Fear.  The plot of this play/movie is the same as when the Losties had to move the very fragile dynamite through rough terrain.

With all of the unanswered questions that Danielle‘s story leaves us with, and nine months without a new episode, we are left to try to put the pieces of the Danielle-puzzle together.  I believe that Danielle is from the island of Tahiti.  This would explain her French accent because Tahiti is part of the French Polynesian Islands.  I believe that Danielle and her team are Dharma or Dharma affiliated and this is why they followed the signal of the numbers.  I think her team was transporting a virus headed for Zanzibar, Tanzania, where Dharma had an experimental station and where the spread of a transgenic virus to local villagers began.  When Danielle’s ship wrecked, the crew became infected with this virus and the timing of the symptoms showing just so happened to be when the crew was coming back from the Black Rock.  I don’t believe Danielle was susceptible to the virus, either because of her pregnancy or because she wasn‘t with the team when they may have been considered contagious.   

With all the questions and all the theories, where can Danielle go from here in Season 4?  We know that she is reunited with Alex and has a good working relationship with the Losties.  It would be very nice if TPTB would answer some of these questions by showing us a few flashback episodes of Danielle.  Some key points of interest would be of her arrival on the island, the day Alex was taken, and her relationship with the Others, if there is one.  The Others obviously know she exists, so I think we need some answers as to why they have let her live all this time.  We were made aware of the issues with fertility and pregnancy on the island this last season, which gives us reason to question why they took an interest in only Alex and not Danielle.  It would also be very interesting to see a flashback of the night that John Locke blew up the submarine that the Others were using.  It was obvious that her and Locke had an unspoken trust for each other that day she came to the Black Rock for dynamite (when Locke had Anthony Cooper hostage there) and it may have lead viewers to believe that there was something missed or unseen in their contact with each other.

No matter where Season 4 takes us, we know we will begin Season 5 with more questions and theories.  Hopefully, though, we will also have some resolutions as to who Danielle is and what has made her the survivor she is at present time on the island.  It will be interesting to see if we get flashbacks describing her past and if she is really as unstable as Sayid was lead to believe of her on their first encounter.  If we've learned anything at all of this show, it is that anything is possible.

Hello all,

As you may have noticed, I've been away from the site for a while. Fortunately, the mods are doing a great job running the show during my absence. I've been deep in pre-production for a short film that I'm shooting two weeks from today titled "Take-A-Penny". As my film production partner and I like to say, "Making movies is hard!", and as such, this project has been consuming every minute of my spare time (and then some) over the last several weeks. Once the shoot is complete at the end of August, I'll be back to work on the site and getting it ready for Season 4. If you've heard the latest on S4, you know the show is somewhat changing formats, which seems to me a risky move - but I'm looking forward to it nonetheless. (And why couldn't they go with Chuck Waxly?)

I'd also like to take this time to introduce a new mod, Cayley. I meant to make this announcement quite a while ago, but have just been too crazy busy. Cayley will be helping out with forum moderation in addition to contributing to content and articles for the site. Please join me in welcoming Cayley on board with SWLS!

As for HUNT 3, I'm now planning to launch it in September, when LOST would normally air. I will also be transitioning the NEWS, INVESTIGATIONS and other "data" sections of the sites to Movable Type, a blog system which generates static pages - thereby cutting down on server demand and database hits for those sections. Hopefully, that means we won't have the slow loading or server crashes we've experienced on Wednesday nights in the past once S4 starts up.

That's it for now. I hope everyone is doing well and enjoying the summer. If you want to keep up with my short film production, visit www.cubit.net and join the mailing list.

ABC has announced that Harold Perrineau will be rejoining the cast of LOST for season 4. Harold Perrineau played Michael Dawson for the first two seasons of the show. We last saw Michael sailing away with his son Walt on a boat provided to them by Ben. The immediate question that needs to be asked is "Where has Michael been?" Is Michael going to appear in flashbacks or flashforwards? Was he captured by the Others shortly after he left? Did Naomi's people pick him up? Or has he simply been sailing in circles for all of this time? Only seven more months to wait.

Nominations for the 59th Primetime Emmy Awards were announced earlier this morning with LOST receiving nominations in five categories.

Michael Emerson and Terry O'Quinn, who play Benjamin Linus and John Locke respectively, were both nominated for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series.  They will be competing against William Shatner from "Boston Legal," T.R. Knight from "Grey's Anatomy," Masi Oka from "Heroes," and Michael Imperioli from "The Sopranos."

There are many reasons to be drawn towards the character of James “Sawyer” Ford. He’s funny, he’s multi-dimensional, and he’s hot. As Sawyer boards Oceanic Flight 815, he is being deported from Australia for head butting the Minister of Finance (I can’t wait to see that flashback!) Throughout the years previous he conned, lied and swindled his way through life. 24 hours before being deported he also killed an innocent man. This is the Sawyer that landed on the beach on Craphole Island. When last we saw him at the end of Season 3, he had also just killed a man. But the Sawyer who killed Tom was not the same Sawyer that killed Duckett. In the three months between, Sawyer had grown from a man out for only himself to a man ready to be a strong leader to our Losties.

[html] [/html]

A con man needs to be clever, a quick thinker that can adapt to any situation and make it benefit him. He is purely greedy and completely self-centered. So it is no surprise that Sawyer started his first day on the island scavenging through the luggage of the dead, even before knowing that rescue was not imminent. He gave nothing readily or generously, not even information of what he didn’t have, such as the asthma medicine Shannon so desperately needed. Why not just say, “I don’t have what you need”? He even withstood torture to make them believe he had the inhaler. In return for what they wanted he demanded a kiss from Kate. This was no romantic notion or noble gesture, it was a slimy move designed to gain the upper hand; to humiliate Kate and show everyone who was really in control, at least as far as he was concerned. He had no problem using a confused Charlie to fake a kidnapping, terrify the camp and injure Sun as long as he got his way. Not even tree frogs stood a chance around this creep.

But no man is an island, even on, you know, an island. Hurley says to him later in the season; “You may want to ask yourself about all the good stuff that comes from being a part of this …society.” The Losties working together and depending on each other was a matter of life and death, and Sawyer learned that not only did they need him, but he also sure as heck needed them. I’m sure he was thinking “no good deed goes unpunished” after getting shot trying to protect Walt on the raft, but this rare selfless act would later provide life saving karma and a darn good lesson to himself. The gunshot wound became infected and after setting off from one end of the island to the other with the newly found Tailies, he becomes quite sick, and collapses. For someone who had treated his fellow survivors so egregiously, it would be fairly understandable if Michael and Jin had followed Ana’s instructions and left him to die, but instead his friends didn’t think twice about building him a stretcher and then they put themselves at risk to carry him to safety. He was delivered “home” to the hatch thanks to the kindness of a stranger, Mr. Eko, and the two of the people he had butted heads with the most, Kate and Jack, nursed him back to health.

Following Michael across the island in another attempt to save Walt brought him to another new struggle. Captured and placed in a cage, he no longer just thought of himself.  The quick thinking con man in him assessed the physical threat the Others posed to himself and Kate. His new protector side kept Kate in the dark about the crushing knowledge of there being two miles of ocean between them and their beach. Sawyer was so clever and resourceful that Ben had to resort to a con to keep him in line. Once Sawyer learned the truth about his “pacemaker” he also learned a little humility. When he returned to the beach, other humility lessons came quickly: a slap from Sun for her abduction, an awesome con job by Hurley to trick him into being nice, getting his butt whooped in ping-pong, and the loss of his arsenal of nicknames. In Left Behind, Hurley tells him that the Losties had looked to Sawyer to be their leader in the absence of Jack, Locke, Kate and Sayid. His transformation sped along when, with a fortune in diamonds clutched in his fist, his old greedy, hoarding days came to a close as he threw the diamonds into a grave. A day or two later, when Claire needed aspirin, Sawyer doesn’t think about what she should give him for it, but instead doesn’t hesitate to say, “I’ll get it”. The Leader Sawyer is almost born.

A last demon remained in Sawyer’s psyche and finally he conquered it. He avenged the deaths of his parents when he strung up Cooper, and his past was officially behind him. What walked out of that brig was a new man. He went back to his beach home equipped with evidence against the others and began getting ready to bring direction to the Losties, this time with no hidden agenda, and with no doubts about him lingering among his co-survivors like there were surrounding Jack. Later, while leading the small, ragtag team of rescuers in a blue Dharma microbus he saved the day, his friends, and his family.

I predict Sawyers leadership role will skyrocket in the coming seasons. Jack has led the Losties for quite some time, but people are wary of him. As long as people think twice about sharing information with Jack, they will look instead to Sawyer, especially if Jack has now made a huge mistake by calling Naomi’s ship. I also predict he will start to be called James more often, eventually phasing out the name Sawyer, both because it’s symbolic of the previous life he is getting beyond, and because the name change has already slowly been started by Kate and Locke. What the immediate future holds for his relationship with Kate, I’m not sure. But whatever happens, I predict he will be exciting, and intriguing and, probably most likely, hot.

After reading JB’s touchingly heartfelt article about Charlie Pace, I felt the need to offer up an article dedicated to my favorite Lostie.  Although I am not sure he needs my devotion as he already has some of the best and most famous lines in the production of this series.  For me, Hugo "Hurley" Reyes is a large part of what makes Lost the fantastic program that it is.  While Hurley’s character is both wonderfully conceived and written, Jorge Garcia’s portrayal of this soft spoken but incredibly complex young man has been nothing less than phenomenal.

In JBRam's recent article, he wonders if Ben is telling the truth and are the Others really the good guys. This has been a pet theory of JB for a long time and we have had a spirited discussion on this topic on SWLS. My basic contention is that there is no way the Others can be considered the "good guys". Even if Dharma, the Widmores or the Paks turn out to be more evil than the Others, it will not make the Others "good guys". You can not call a group of people "good guys" when they exterminate whole communities, kidnap children and adults, infiltrate airplane crash survivors, brainwash teenagers, lie and kill their own people and do everything possible to manipulate a group of strangers.

JB attempts to point out some of the bad things that the Losties have done. I concede that the Losties are not innocent people and have done some terrible things.  Most of the key characters lived less than ideal lives before the crash and have responded to the situation in many dubious ways; that fact alone does not make the Others the "good guys".  In real life, things are not as concrete as good or bad, black or white.  More often, there are subtle shades of gray.  However, in some instances there is a distinct sway toward the 'dark side.' 

[html] [/html]

In JB's article he states, "their first instinct was to shoot now and ask questions later". This did happen during the season 2 finale when Kate and Sawyer kill an Other who was following them. JB fails to mention that this happened after Ethan had infiltrated their group and taken Charlie and Claire. Ethan also hung Charlie, was going to steal Claire's baby and killed Steve (or Scott??) in attempt to get Claire back. By the time they decided to "shoot first" the Others had taken Walt off the raft, shot Sawyer, and left him, Jin, and Michael to die. They had taken twelve of the tail section survivors and killed Nathan. Ben had infiltrated their camp and lied about his identity. Ben set up a plan to have Michael bring Kate, Hurley, Sawyer and Jack along to retrieve Walt. By this time I would have been shooting first also. From their experiences on the island, it was the smart choice not to trust a stranger who was following them through the jungle.

JB's second major point was the killing of 13 Others in the season 3 finale. Once again he failed to give the whole story. Through Juliet and Karl, the Losties knew that the Others were coming to take any suspected pregnant woman and kill anyone stupid enough to get in the way. The Losties were protecting themselves from an attack by the Others. JB portrays it as an offensive attack by the Losties on the Others as they were attempting to cure cancer. It was either protect themselves or die. Once again, the Losties made the best choice possible considering the circumstances.

I could go on and create a more complete list of the Others numerous horrible acts they have done to the Losties and to their own people. It all points to the obvious fact that they are not the "good guys". I believe that we are going to see another group of people coming to the island that is going to threaten the Losties survival. The Losties and The Others may even have to join forces to defeat them, but in the end the Others will still be "bad guys".

I've seen a lot of theories posted in the eleven months I've been a member of this site. I've even written a few of those theories. Most of my theories expounded on what has been shown in the show. However, I have had one crackpot theory since just before Season Three began.

What if the OTHERS were actually good? We have seen how the OTHERS kidnapped, killed, stole from, and lied to the Losties since Day One. Everyone assumed that they are the show's "bad guys." But then we heard a curious phrase:

"We're the good guys."

I, like most people, brushed this off as a comment that we always heard from the dark side. Even Darth Vader thought he was doing good. But after a few months of waiting for Lost to come back, I began to think about it. What if the fake Henry Gale wasn't lying?

I decided to go through the episodes to see if my theory had any basis whatsoever. I saw that our "heroes" weren't really as good as we thought they were. From the beginning of the Series, our Losties have always been hostile toward each other, and through the flashbacks, we saw why. Each person had something to hide, a "dark side" if you will. Jack had a drunken father that he ended up imitating, Kate murdered her father, Charlie had his drugs, Sawyer was a conman, and the list goes on. Each person had their flaws, and none of them were people that we would generally call "good."

There have been numerous examples of how the Losties have been hostile. The most obvious example was how Sawyer hoarded his loot from the plane, which he continued to do even in the third season. Back in Season One, he pretended to have Shannon's asthma medication. He humiliated Kate, and both Sayid and Jack had to resort to torture to get him to relent. Sawyer even convinced Charlie to kidnap Sun just to make Jack angry.

We also saw how Claire deserted Charlie right when he needed her the most. While desperately trying to win her back, he ended up angering the entire camp, especially John Locke, who pummeled Charlie in the surf.

Locke also had an enemy in Michael Dawson who forced Walt to stay away from Locke. Michael had many enemies throughout his two seasons, shown mostly in his early fight with Jin over Jin's watch. Michael's animosity climaxed in the dramatic betrayal at the end of Season Two.

[html] [/html]

The Losties have also been very hostile towards the OTHERS. When the Losties met one of the OTHERS, their first instinct was to shoot now and ask questions later. All of the information they gathered about the OTHERS came from a crazy French chick named Danielle who said that the OTHERS were evil. In my opinion, it was the Losties' hostility towards the OTHERS that caused the OTHERS to be hostile toward them. Also, consider that the Losties have decimated the OTHERS populace. How many OTHERS died at the hands of our "heroes"? In the Season Three Finale, we saw thirteen OTHERS die, and at least three were in a position of power: Tom, Mikhail, and Ryan Pryce. The Losties killed ten of those thirteen directly.

Even in light of all this evidence, the question still remains: are the OTHERS good? Now that I look on it, I see it is an unfair question. There are a lot of bad OTHERS and there are a lot of possibly good OTHERS. Jugdish once said, "If kidnapping children is considered good, then I don't want to see what bad is." And he has a point. So do we have any proof that the OTHERS are good? Well, technically, no. No one ever has proof for their crackpot theories until we see it in the show, but I do have some support that suggests my theory may be true.

First of all, Ben said that they are good. Now, obviously, I don't really trust Ben, but he wasn't the only one to infer that the OTHERS are good. Colleen, Juliet, Richard, and Tom have all agreed with Ben on this statement at one time or another. They had to at least believe that they were the good guys. If they were telling the truth, then there has to be someone worse than them.

The OTHERS have done some rather despicable things under Ben's leadership. I think we can all safely say that Ben is a messed-up psychopath and therefore, bad. It can be argued that the people who blindly followed Ben are loyal, which is usually a good characteristic, but loyalty can only go so far. If someone is forced to lie and murder to be loyal, is that person good or bad? Perhaps if we look at each of the characters individually, we can determine which characters are good, bad, or ambiguous.

We were introduced to some new "good" characters, including Pryce, Juliet, Karl, and Richard Alpert. All of these four have at one point or another gone against Ben's will and fought to help some of the Losties: Juliet defied Ben and set up the ambush, Karl helped Sawyer and Kate escape the Hydra Station Island, Alpert showed Locke his destiny and allowed Sawyer to avenge his parents, and Pryce refused to kill Jin, Sayid, and Bernard at the end of the finale.

We also saw some more "bad" OTHERS, such as Mikhail and Pickett. Mikhail followed Ben's every word, killing Charlie and the two Looking Glass guards when ordered. Pickett didn't exactly follow what Ben ordered; rather, he tried to kill Sawyer with little reason even though Ben's life was at stake.

On top of it all, we saw some morally-ambiguous characters, such as Tom and Colleen. Tom always seemed to me that he was a "good" OTHER, at least until he argued that they should have gone against Ben's orders and killed Sayid, Bernard, and Jin at the beach. We barely got to know Colleen before Sun shot her, but I believed her when she said she wasn't the enemy.

Even the "bad" characters have had some good points. As far as we know, none of the kidnapped people, including Cindy and the children, have been killed. Ben had a chance to murder Locke in cold blood beside the Dharma grave pit, and he didn't. He also told Tom and Pryce to shoot into the sand instead of killing the trio. Sometimes, Ben's advice has helped our Losties instead of hurting them. Everything that Ben has done was for the preservation of the island, or so he says.

So from whom are the OTHERS protecting the island? As I stated before, at least five of the OTHERS have said at one point that they are not the enemy. Then who is?

The show suggests a few major groups that may be the enemy. We have seen glimpses into Ben's past that suggest the enemy might be the Dharma Initiative. There are also theories that the Hanso Foundation might have something to do with it. Maybe Widmore or Paik are involved somehow? Or it might be a group of people that we have yet to meet.

So what happens next? Jack probably just radioed Ben's real enemy their location. It's possible that Jack has accidentally contributed to the end of whatever the OTHERS are trying to protect on the island. Have all of Ben's efforts gone down the drain?

So now I ask: can the OTHERS actually be good?

Be sure to check back on Saturday, for Jugdish's rebuttal article, "You Bet Your @#$% The Others Are Bad"

Everyone who watched 3x22 “Through the Looking Glass” had a gasp moment.  For some of you it may have been the Flash Forward.  For others it may have been Charlie going the way of all men.  Your moment may even have been Penny admitting to not knowing Naomi, or Locke getting out of the Dharma Pit Inn.  My gasp was at the screencap for this article.  I’ve been waiting for this moment since Season One—for Dr. Jack Shepherd to come to the end of himself.

I’m sure that this rear-view mirror glance was meaningfully included by director Jack Bender as an ode to Matthew Fox’s favorite movie Francis Ford Coppola’s Apocalypse Now and Marlon Brando’s Col. Kurtz’s famous line “the horror, the horror.”  Fittingly horror is now what Jack Shepherd seems to be experiencing.  Jack’s eye was the first to open on the island, but now it is filled with darkness.  What’s happened to the hero of the Lost?  He has acted bravely, behaved well and tried to keep himself on task in order to get himself and his people off the mysterious island.  Episode 3x22 ended with what should have been Jack’s final triumph.  With a subdued Ben in tow and the Others safely secured on the beach, we watched as Jack finally makes the call on the SAT phone to the rescue ship.  With his beloved Kate at his side, and his people gathered around him cheering and exalting Jack has conquered it all.  Not even an attempt on his life by his personal nemesis Locke could ruin his moment in the sun.  Jack had the desired chalice, the reward of his adventure in his hand and drank from it...but it was poisoned.  How do we know?  Because at the same time he was foreseeing his future off the island…and there is nothing.  No Kate.  No relief in saving the lady on the bridge.  No father in his upstairs office.  No one in his home.  No emergency contact.  No one at the funeral home.  No one willing to go with him anywhere.  No one in the rear view mirror.

[html] [/html]

How did Jack come to this after his great success on the island?  Someone knew and saw this coming for Jack.  I’m referring back to the much reviled episode 3x8 in which Jack met Akara, his one-time lover from his sojourn to Thailand.  Her function to the mythology of Lost has been underrated.  She was beyond a doubt Jack the Hero’s very own Oracle.  Every good classic hero who sets out on an adventure needs a worthy goal, some human and supernatural help, a formidable enemy, a chance at love and someone to proclaim over him his destiny.  If Jack is our hero, then we know that his adventure has been to get off the island, his help has come from his fellow survivors and even from the island itself, his enemy is Ben and his Others, and Kate is his potential true love.  When he met Akara in Thailand he was apparently trying recover from his divorce to wife Sarah.  In episode 3x1 Sarah had diagnosed him with a Messiah complex as she left him. “You will always need someone to fix.”  His vacation to Thailand was an attempt to stop trying to find his identity in his job (can you spell workaholic?).  As I watched Jack interact with Akara I felt like I was watching Odysseus get tangled up with the goddess Circe.  The director even showed Jack lying in the canopied bed waiting for his lover as though he were one of the Lotus Eaters caught under Circe’s spell.  It appeared that when Jack stopped fixing people he had nothing.  So much so that when he found out Akara might not just be good in bed but might be able to define him differently than Sarah had, he followed her through back streets and threatened her unless she told his prophecy.  She gave it to him all right.  He might have pinned her to a wall for a minute, but he is still pinned against the wall she put him up against.  “You are a great man, a leader.  But this makes you angry, sad and lonely.”

By the time he had his Flash Forward in 3x22 he could finally see what Akara had meant.  But why?  Didn’t he do the right thing all along?  Why is his life unraveled?  Why the Oxycodon?  He’s become the old Charlie.  Why is he running around the globe?  He’s become the old Kate.  Why is he saving people to stave off suicide?  He’s become the old Locke.  Why is he using the Losties for his own glorification?  He’s become the old Sawyer.  The only difference between him and all of these characters is that they have grown morally on the island.  And he hasn’t.  Walt said it to Locke, but I’ll say it to Jack, “Get up.  You’ve got work to do.”

I’ll act like an oracle now and make my own prediction.  In the upcoming seasons Jack’s story arc is going to include finding the things he missed the first time on the island.  His course correction needs to include three things.  He needs to risk actively loving Kate by moving toward her unconditional love with the same.  The reward will be a love like neither he nor she has yet known.  Secondly, Jack the Man of Science needs to catch some of Locke the Man of Faith’s belief in the island.  The reward of this will be faith, of which Jack is in desperately low supply.  Thirdly, he needs to help Locke free Jacob by enduring the inevitable visit to the cabin in the woods or face-to-face encounter with Smokey.  This reward, I suspect, will free the island’s healing powers.  Is it even possible for Jack to achieve these things and gain these ultimate prizes?  If the answer is no, then this story will turn out as a classic tragedy.  At the end of season 6 everything Jack could have redeemed will be lost forever.  But if the answer is yes, the ending will be classic comedy.  Not Hurley doing stand-up!  No, I mean comedy in the sense that Dante’s Divine Comedy is called such – everything will turn out better than possibly expected.  Paradise will be obtained, freedom will be won, enemies will be vanquished.  Can I tell you what’s going to happen?  No, but I can tell you that whatever happens, even his own physical death, will not be a more terrible moment in Jack’s life than that rear-view mirror glance.

Thankfully he won't be in Rambo 8, but Lost’s own Matthew Fox will star with Dennis Quaid in Columbia Pictures' political thriller Vantage Point.  Academy Award winners William Hurt and Forest Whitaker and Academy Award Nominee Sigourney Weaver round out the strong supporting cast. 

[html] [/html]

Fox and Quaid play Secret Service agents Kent Taylor and Thomas Barnes respectively.  Both are assigned to protect the President, played by Hurt, at a summit on global terrorism.  After an assignation attempt on the President’s life, the movie is told from the point of view of five different characters. 

Forest Whitaker plays Howard Lewis, an American tourist who witnesses the event.  Sigourney Weaver plays Rex, an American TV news producer who is reporting on the conference. 

Vantage Point is set to open February 15, 2008.  Watch the trailer here:

[html]

At the electronic-media professionals at the annual Promax/BDA conference LOST Producers/writers Damon Lindelof and Carlton Cuse made two major announcements concerning LOST. First we got some promising words about the ending and also found out about some LOST material during the eight-month hiatus.

Damon Lindelof and Carlton Cuse promised that LOST would not end like the “Sopranos” did. “We will not be ending with a blackout”, stated Cuse. He also added “I am not sure if there is an ending that will satisfy everyone, our hope is that the ending will be the logical conclusion of the story.” The next 48 episodes have already begun to be planned out. The show has to start moving towards a more of an answering phase. Lindelof explains, “Obviously, we can't wait to the 48th hour to say, 'Here are all the mysteries of the show."

They also announced the creation of a series of mobisodes this fall featuring the entire cast. They will first be seen on Verizon Wireless and then most likely on ABC.com. (I am assuming the word mobisodes refers to mobile episodes?) They will be about 90 seconds long and give hardcore fans information that they would not get on the show. They will not be mini LOST episodes. "It needs to be interesting enough and well produced enough that people feel they're getting enough bang for their buck, even if it's free, the bang for their time," Lindelof said.

Appears that we will have a conclusion to the story that will answer most of our questions and we will not have to wait for 8 months for some new LOST material. Both announcements make me very happy!

 

Wow, I am amazed at all the positive feedback for the “Mods Eye View” series of articles up to this point.  Unfortunately, due to a scheduling error, we weren’t able to post a new article last night and for that I am sorry.  Versed was supposed to write tonight’s article, but due to work she was unable to complete it.  (I hope she will still finish it so I can add it to a supplemental series later in the summer.)

Tonight’s article comes from long time user Cardacct.  I don’t know Cardi very well personally, but she came through for me by writing this article on such short notice and for that I would like to thank her.  Cardi’s article is an interesting take on the Lost phenomenon and I know you will like it.  I did.  Happy reading all and see you soon for the next installment.   

Lost: The E-Bay of Television by Cardacct|

I have some confessions to make.  I don’t own any season of “Lost” on DVD.  I don’t own an Apollo Bar or a poster of Sawyer.  I have never given any “Lost” episode a rating of 10 out of 10.  I rarely watch “Lost” at the time that it airs.  I can’t tell you the name of the episode when we first saw Ben.  I don’t know what color of eyes Terry O’Quinn has.  I have no idea what Maggie Grace is doing now.

But I’m still a Lostoholic.  Why?  I’m a Lostoholic for the same reasons you are. (And if you’re reading this, you are a Lostoholic.  Admit it.)  I like the story, the characters, and the details -- especially the details.  The details are what help me relate to the show.  They are what cause members of this site to wonder: Are there any “Lost” writers lurking around here for plot ideas?  Details are what cause us to think of “Lost” when we check into hotel room number 1516 or when the checker in the grocery store is named “Dharma.”



“Lost” is for everyone.  The writers have weaved so many pop culture references into the episodes, one can hardly go more than an episode without finding one.  Even during the most painful Hydra episodes early in Season 3, the viewers could find some sort of detail that referred to the outside world, our world.  Do you like baseball?  How about a reference to the World Series win by the Red Sox?  Are you a Star Wars geek, and were you dumb enough to fall for the old Wookiee prisoner gag?  Do you read comic books, Stephen King, “The Bible,” or Harry Potter?

Are you married and do you fight with your spouse but still love each other like Bernard and Rose?  Have you ever told ghost stories around a campfire?  Are you a teenager and full of angst like Alex and Karl?  Are you a child that has just undergone a tremendous growth spurt like Walt?  Have you ever been in a love triangle?  Have you ever dealt with the death of anyone you’ve loved?  Have you ever felt unlucky like Hurley?

The details go far and wide to include the viewers.  There are references to different religions, mythologies, languages, movies, books, sports, games, music, historical eras, automobiles, countries, and more.  The episodes and even sometimes the scripts are juxtaposed to include moments of science fiction, mystery, romance, action, comedy, tragedy, and history.  “Lost” is like the E-Bay of television.  If you like it, they have it.

In spite of the rumored decline in viewership, I will continue to enjoy the details that “Lost” provides: the passing mention of “Little House,” the reference to “The Lord of the Rings,” or the appearance of the gold Pontiac.  And if the writers continue to weave these details into a main, interesting storyline, the show will continue to appeal to the masses.

 

“A Mods Eye View”?  Most of you are probably wondering why if this is a “Mods Eye View” series of articles then why the hell aren’t the mods writing them?  When I started this idea I wanted do to a 7 part series.  One problem with that idea though.  We only have 5 mods.  What to do, what to do?  So I asked Cayley and JB to help, and then Jug brought on Laklost and all 3 articles were so good that we went with them all.  Juggy is up next and again this is a man that needs no introduction, but I like to see my writing published so I did one anyway. 

I hope you all have enjoyed the series so far, and I hope you continue to do so.


It's the Characters!  by JUGDISH | Season 3 of ABC LOST is completed and what a long strange trip it’s been. We have been stuck on the Hydra station for months (it was months with the long break). We had a partial reunion on the beach and then another journey to Othersville. Then we got a full reunion of our beloved Oceanic survivors, only to have one of THEM join the beach camp.  Finally a war between the survivors and the Others. It sure was a long journey from September until the May 23rd finale. A very strange thing happened to me after I the fantastic finale was over; I had very little to say. Was it LOST burnout?  “Through the Looking Glass” had plenty of theories to discuss and mysteries to solve. Who was in the coffin? Kate and Jack made it off the island!!! Plenty of ideas to get the creative energy flowing, but I had nothing. Then it dawned on me; the main story of LOST is not about the mysteries, it is about the characters.

 

JB your 15 minutes of fame are up!!  Just kidding.  I want to thank JB and Laklost again for making the "Mods Eye View" series so successful up to this point.  Next up in the series is my favorite Mod Lite, CastawayCayley.  Many of you may know that Cayley and I have been a writing team for a while now, so it was only natural for me to ask her to help out in this instance.  Having said that, no further intro is needed because you know this will be good.  Thank you all for your response to the series and I hope you continue to enjoy it. 


One Season, Two Beginnings.  By CastawayCayley|  Season 2 of Lost found many frustrated viewers complaining about multiple weeks of repeat episodes. To avoid more of this in Season 3, The Powers That Be broke the schedule in two. They gave us a six-episode mini-season in the fall, and a longer, more intricate and intense second part starting just in time for February sweeps. To compare these unequal halves, lets start at the beginning. Or beginnings, I should say.

Hello again.  Judging by the overwhelmingly positive response to Laklost's review article, I would say this series is off to a good start, and for those of you who are now die hard Laklost fans, fear not.  Jug and I scooped her up for a new project that will be coming soon.  Next up in the "Mods Eye View" series is an article from another non moderator, JBRam (yes the mods will actually write one soon).  JB is a long time poster that many of you already know.  What you may not know is that JBRam has a borderline creepy obsession with Charlie Pace.  For his article JB discusses how Charlie went from useless druggie to selfless hero.  Enjoy.   

From Zero to Hero: Charlie's Struggle in Season Three
By JBRam|When we met Charlie Pace, he was little more than a washed up rock star with a drug problem who was snorting his way across the Pacific and through life.  During the first season, little effort was made to portray him as more than that. Charlie was a kidnapper, liar, heroin addict, and cold-blooded murderer.

So the question is, how did this "Rock God" punk change so drastically as to go from zero to hero?



As many of you know, Charlie has been one of my favorite characters in Lost. His struggles have paralleled some of mine, and his character is one in particular that I have watched grow throughout the series.

Despite all his bad times, Charlie has had many hero moments throughout Lost. His first moment was when he conquered his drug lust with Locke's help in one of my favorite episodes, "The Moth." Charlie then saved his beautiful island girl, Claire, from Ethan and ended up killing him. He escaped the clutches of heroin once again in Season Two. However, his greatest victory was not in battling his habits, but in the Season Three Finale.

The first time we see Charlie in Season Three, it appeared as though the producers just had him there as filler. He did absolutely nothing except to stand around and make jokes. Once again, he started the season as a veritable loser.

However, he did seem to gain a new friend in Desmond, the time-jumping Scotsman. Desmond was suddenly always close by to save Claire. He once built a lightning rod to save Claire and Aaron and saved Claire from drowning. Charlie began to suspect something. He approached Desmond with an enticing bottle of McCutcheon, and forced drunken Des to tell him, and the rest of us, the truth. It isn't Claire that he was saving, but Charlie.

"No matter what I do, you're going to die, Charlie."

Desmond's words changed my life. You can bet I was screaming back at my TV set, "No, he isn't! You can't make him! He is NOT going to die!" I spent countless hours trying to figure out how to get around Charlie's death. Des could take his place, or maybe they have to complete some goal before Desmond stops receiving his flashes.

In my grief, I knew one thing: if Charlie died, he would go out as a hero. The producers had been setting it up from the beginning. We saw in Season Two that Charlie dreamed that he was supposed to save Claire and Aaron. Charlie cared about nothing on the island more than his "family." He will save them, and he will die trying if he must.

Of course, my theory was seemingly shot to hell and back in the opening sequence of "Catch-22." All of a sudden, an arrow pierces Charlie in the neck. Anyone who was in the Chat Room that night knew exactly what my reaction was. For the first time in three seasons, I was seriously considering leaving Lost altogether because if they can't get Charlie's death right, they are no longer worthy of my time. Then I had a huge sigh of relief when I found that it was just a flash of Des's.

During that episode, I went through many emotions and levels of anger at Desmond. No, you can't kill him! Tell Charlie the truth, brotha! Desmond finally sealed my loyalty when he saved Charlie from Rousseau's trap, and our future hero from death.

All of this was in preparation for Charlie's greatest challenge. Soon enough, Desmond gets another flash that reveals Charlie's death. To true Charlie fans, we knew that this would be the end to an era. It appeared that "Greatest Hits" would be the final episode in which we would see Charlie. He had an amazing eulogy-type flashback and storyline throughout the episode. Charlie thought back on the greatest points in his life, his "greatest hits," his number one hit being "the day I met you," talking about Claire. For those of us who have been following the relationship between Claire and Charlie, this letter to Claire was one of the best moments in Charlie's life. He handed the note to Desmond to give to Claire.

The next thing that happened gave me hope for about thirty seconds. Desmond said that maybe he is the one who should go down and turn the switch off. Finally, one of my theories might actually come to pass! Desmond would go down there and take the place of Charlie! Regrettable, yes, but at the very least, we'd still have Charlie! But no, Charlie is too much of a hero. He doesn't want to take the chance that Desmond might fail. If Des saw Charlie pull that lever, then Charlie must pull that lever. It was a bittersweet moment for me when, at the end of the episode, Charlie was still breathing.

Then came the most spectacular two hours in the history of television.

We find Charlie tied up by a couple of good-looking gals, but unlike the ones from the Helsinki concert, these girls seem to want to hit him more than talk to him. Charlie lets out some of his greatest comebacks while tied to that chair, including his message to Ben over the radio, "It's Charlie! Tell him I said hi!" Charlie's confidence comes from the knowledge that he's going to pull that lever and save Claire and Aaron. Mikhail enters and kills one of the guards while shooting the other in the back. Before Patchy can kill Charlie, Desmond comes to the rescue and shoots a spear gun at Mikhail, seemingly killing him. Charlie gets Bonnie, the remaining guard, to tell him the code. Amazingly, the code is a sequence from a Beach Boys song. Out of all the people on the island, only Charlie could figure out the Beach Boys code and enter it into the computer.

As Charlie turns to leave, Penny Widmore shows up on the computer trying to get in contact with Desmond. She tells Charlie that she hasn't heard of Naomi's rescue boat. While Charlie stands there shocked, Mikhail appears outside the porthole with a grenade in his hand.

In the next two minutes, we see the most stunning death on screen. Mikhail blows the window in the hatch, letting water in. Charlie closes the door to the control room, locking himself in and keeping the rest of the station from flooding. The last heroic thing he does is send the message to Desmond that it isn't Penny's boat. He then crosses himself in a final sign of redemption.

I watched this scene three times. No, I haven't cried. Yet. But couldn't Charlie have survived? Would the room actually have filled with water? Couldn't he have swum out the porthole? Couldn't he have gone through the door and closed it behind him?

Probably, but he didn't. Charlie is gone, and LOST has lost Dominic Monaghan, possibly its greatest actor, and one of its most intriguing characters. We will always miss you, Charles Hieronymous Pace. Rest in Peace.

One of the things I like the most about SledgeWeb's Lost Stuff is the diversity of the members.  We have members of every age group, from every country and each has opinions about Lost as various as their backgrounds.  So, when the season was winding down, I had an idea.  I knew how I felt about the season, and who or what was most important, but what I didn't know was how everyone else felt about it.  I wanted to know what other users were thinking and feeling.  What I came up with was a series of articles reviewing the season, each to be written by a different moderator.  One problem though.  The site only has 5 moderators.  So, with the help of Jug and some other members, I tasked the other mods to write their own personal review of the season and got a few special users to lend a hand.  Tonight begins the first in a series of the "Mods Eye View" articles.  Expect one every other day or so until the series is over.  For the first article in the series, we have Laklost's article.  I can tell you that it is so good that I am re-writing my article.  I hope that this will be an entertaining look on how others view the show. 

Who Ya Gonna Trust? A SWLS Reader’s Review of Season Three of Lost
by Laklost | Close-up on Tom (aka Mr. Friendly), kneeling on the ground in front of dark, angry Sawyer.  He's been beaten; so he says, "Okay, I give up."  To which Sawyer answers with a bullet to the chest.  Mr. Friendly expires, falls back flat.  Hurley, questioning, says,  "Dude, it was over.  He surrendered."  To which Sawyer snarls, "I didn't believe him."

Yeah, there's been a lot of that going on around here in the land of Lost.  As a SWLS reader and poster, I'll tell you what I thought of Season Three of Lost:  it was the year to find your loyalties.  Mine is with the writers.

The much anticipated season finale of ABC’s Lost aired on Wednesday, May 23, 2007 bringing an abrupt and somewhat confusing end to what could arguably be the best grouping of episodes that we have seen in this series thus far.  At its conclusion, the two hour long Episode 3x22 (and/or 23), "Through the Looking Glass", left me staring at my television with my mouth open and sounding very much like Keanu Reeves, "Whoa!"

As part of our recent merger with The Black Rock Lost Site, SWLS now has a partnership with the Black Rock Podcast, hosted by Curt Yanko.  If you've never listened to one of the Black Rock Podcasts, then you're truly missing out.  These weekly shows focus on the theories and speculation surrounding Lost with very little rehash, unlike many podcasts out there.  Curt also often uses the SWLS forums to get fan reactions and theories for his shows.

Go HERE to check out the latest podcast, released yesterday and focusing on the season finale "Through The Looking Glass."

You can always find a link to the Black Rock Podcasts by visiting the podcasts page here at SWLS.

Many LOST fans are still reeling from last week's "Greatest Hits": a Charlie-centric episode that was actually pretty good. After screwing around with Charlie and Sawyer's characters brief and unnatural flirt with the "dark side" last season, it seems the writers have come around and have actually figured these characters out a bit. "Hits" also gave us something new with the flashbacks. Rather than the typical "flashback story mirrors on-island story" routine, the flashbacks in 3x21 served as Charlie's recollections of the greatest moments in his life (his greatest hits), which he pondered while facing his ever nigh rendezvous with the Reaper. The question is, can Charlie get such a brilliant swan song episode, and not die? Can Jack's plan to Arzts The Others really work? Someone remind me, how did their genius plan to attack The Others work out in Season 2? However, there was one rare and uncanny display of common sense and lucidity from our veteran plane crash survivors: after a few months on the island, they finally decide to take a look at that radio tower on the island (the one that broadcast a signal to both Danielle and Sam).

Tonight, we hope to get some answers in "Through the Looking Glass", the twenty second (and twenty third) episode of the third season of LOST. This Jack centric two hour season finale airs at 9PM EST on ABC. Will we discover Charlie's fate? Will Jack's plan work? Will the radio tower get a message to Naomi's boat? Will a helicopter rescue Claire and Aaron? Will we ever see Michael and Walt again or get any closure on their story? Will Locke tame and ride Smokey to the rescue like Atreyu on that bizarre offspring between a dog and dragon, Falkor? Probably. Get ready to get your LOST on tonight, and take it all in slowly, because it will be eight months before we get another new episode.

As the season 3 finale of Lost quickly approaches (tonight at 8pm CST) lets take a look at the ratings and rankings of episode 3x21, "Greatest Hits", as well as the top threads in the forums here at SWLS this past week.  The twenty-first episode of the season came in at 20th place in the weekly television ratings, a place Lost has remained close to all season.  The total number of viewers tuning in to the show this week was 12,322,000.  This total includes viewers who watched the episode live, as well as same day DVR totals.  "Greatest Hits" gained an additional 210,000 viewers over last week's Ben-centric episode and set up the season finale perfectly.

SWLS members seemed to enjoy this episode quite a bit giving it an average rating of 8.00 out of 10 with 65 total votes.  You can give us your rating of each week's episode in the Official Polls area of the forum.

[html] [/html]

SWLS posted 5 investigations for this episode, which can be seen HERE.  The most popular investigation this week was The Girls of the Looking Glass Hatch with 2140 views as of Wednesday.  The most commented on investigation was The Looking Glass Hatch with 91 comments.

In the forums this week, the most viewed and commented topic in the episode discussions area was titled Is Naomi Lying?, started by Puff6962.  In this topic Puff6962 speculated that Naomi must be lying about being part of a rescue mission since the boat that she claims to be off the coast has yet to send a rescue party.  Lou was quick to point out that The Looking Glass could be jamming the radar and sonar from the ship, and therefore they might not know what happened to her.  Take a look at the topic for yourself to see what others had to say.  This topic was viewed 1990 times and had 246 responses from users as of Wednesday.

On the front page this week, I personally enjoyed Versed's article called Lost: "The_Answers" Recap which recapped the Lost special meant to catch the viewers up on the show.  I attempted to watch this special, but missed much of it and was glad to see some of the interesting comments that the Producers made.  In addition there was some great comments and discussion afterwards by SWLS users.  This article was viewed 350 times and had 44 responses.

That wraps up this week's look at the ratings and rankings here at SWLS.  Be sure to let us know what you think of Lost's ratings over the past few weeks and your favorite forum topics on "Greatest Hits."  Next week we will have the final Ratings and Rankings for Season 3, with the overall season rankings and a comparison to the first 2 seasons of Lost.  We'll also let you know what shows are ranking higher and lower than Lost.  You might actually be surprised by some of the results.

The last ABC LOST podcast of season 3 was mostly spent on humor and not giving away any hints on the season finale. Carlton Cuse and Damon Linderoff  believe that the finale "speaks for itself, but it also doesn’t speak for itself", whatever that means. They do want us to use our "own imagination to decide what happened". They did give us two small teases by stating that "it would suck if Locke was not in the finale" and that "we will get a definite answer about Des's prognostication". It will not be a cliffhanger, "Charlie will live or die by the end of this show". The rest of the interesting material centered on episode 3x21 "Greatest Hits".

We all have our weekly Lost routines.  Mine starts immediately after a new episode.  I usually spend from 1 to 4 hours posting in our Episode Discussion forums while at the same time doing any necessary research on clues from the show.  Thursday and Friday I continue to post in the Episode Discussion topics.  I usually take the weekends off, and then by Monday morning I'm greatly anticipating the new episode, and spend at least a day or two reading the spoiler sites to get all the goods for the coming show.  But this week was a little different.  This week, there was no anticipation.  I didn't read a single spoiler, or talk to anybody about the upcoming Charlie-centric episode.  The reason, mostly, is because I just don't like Charlie.

I know, I know, many of you are fans, while others loathe him.  I used to like him, but now the only thing I find any interest in is his friendship with Hurley.  His on-island romance with Claire has become boring.  His drug-induced rockstar flashbacks have become monotonous and trite.  Basically, like many of you, I'm just ready to see him die already!

So I'm a little confused right now why I liked this episode so darned much, and why, for a VERY brief second at the end, I actually didn't want Charlie to die.

[html] [/html]

The episode started off with Jack giving the group a visual demonstration of why they should trust him, and what exactly he's been doing with the information that Juliet gave him a few days ago.  Low and behold Danielle has been bringing him dynamite so that they can blow up the Others when they attack (nice foreshadowing with Danielle getting the dynamite 2 episodes ago!).  Shortly after this, Naomi tells Charlie that the media made a big deal about his apparent death in the plane crash, and that Drive Shaft had even released a Greatest Hits album in memory.  For the rest of the episode, Charlie's flashbacks were his personal Greatest Hits, or the greatest moments in his life.  I really liked this about the flashbacks.  I realize that there wasn't really anything substantial that we learned from his flashbacks, but it was nice to see a change from his normal flashbacks to these.

Back on the island, Desmond tells Charlie of his most recent future flash.  In it, he sees Claire and Aaron boarding a helicopter and being rescued from the island.  But the shocker (or not so much a shocker actually) is that Charlie has to die to save them.  No big surprise here, since the universe has been trying to kill Charlie for weeks.

Everyone seems on board with Jack's plan to blow up the Others as they go to the marked tents, but Sayid wants to take the plan a step further.  Sayid wants to lead a group of people to the radio tower transmitting Danielle's distress call and turn it off so that they can use the satellite phone to contact Naomi's friends and get rescued.  Juliet then reveals the news that many lost have been speculating about since last season, there is an underwater hatch and Ben uses it to ensure no signals leave the island but his own.  Sayid immediately suggests that they must swim down to this station, which he believes is at the end of the cable he found on the beach in season 1.  He shows blueprints of The Looking Glass he appears to have gotten from The Flame, and we get a brief glimpse of our underwater station's logo, the dharma symbol and a rabbit head (so I guess this is the Playboy Bunny Station?).  Charlie volunteers to go but Jack nixes the plan citing that it's too complicated and they need to focus on the attack with the Others and nothing else.  Am I the only one that's getting more and more annoyed by Jack these days?  He used to be one of my favorites, but now, I'm not sure what he is.  He spent so much time bitching about not wanting to be a leader, but all he seems to do is boss people around and attempt to lead them.

Sayid ends up getting his way after Carl shows up on the beach to warn them that the Other's are coming to take their women, and they're coming tonight, a day sooner than expected.  Carl had been sent to warn them by Alex after she overheard her father, Ben, moving the attack up and giving some of his men permission to kill anyone that got in their way.  While Alex is telling Carl what's going on she even makes a comment suggesting that she's not sure if Ben is her real father.  I'm really curious what's going on between Alex and Ben and hope that we get more information on this in the future.  She was definitely against him when we first met her, but when her father was undergoing and recovering from surgery she seemed more sympathetic towards him.  Then, in the past few episodes she's seemed to return back to her angry and defiant attitude toward him.

After realizing that their explosives won't be wired in time, Jack authorizes the alternate plan of Sayid's and they find three shooters to shoot the explosives as the Others approach.  Desmond and Charlie set off on their journey to The Looking Glass dharma station while Jack rounds up everyone else to head toward the radio tower. 

As Desmond and Charlie reach the spot, just off the beach in Carl's boat, Desmond sees the pain in Charlie's eyes about his eminent death.  Desmond tells Charlie that he'll go instead, and for Charlie to just hang tight in the boat.  For a moment it seems as though Charlie is going to take Desmond up on his offer, but just as Desmond turns his head, Charlie smack's him in the head with an ore and says that he can't allow him to do that.  Charlie dives in the water and begins his trek below.  I have to admit that I saw Desmond's offer to take Charlie's place and die instead coming.  But I never thought that Charlie would be the stand up guy and insist on playing his part, and dying to save Claire and Aaron.  This just might be the one and only redeeming thing Charlie has done in his entire life. 

After a long swim (a bit too long to be honest, but hey, this is TV remember) Charlie surfaces in the moon pool of The Looking Glass, gasping loudly and trying to catch his breath.  I couldn't help myself at this point in the show and screamed to the television set, "shut you idiot!"  My wife, a casual Lost watcher, looked at me as though I'd lost my mind, to which I reminded her, "do you think Ben would leave a station that important empty?"  I barely finished uttering those words when two very angry looking women came bursting into the room with guns pointed on Charlie.  For a brief moment I thought the blond girl was going to shoot him right then, but I remembered that Desmond saw him shutting off the stations jamming before he was overcome with water and drowned.  Guess we have to wait until next week to see if that's indeed what happens.  The final thought I had when watching this scene was about the second woman in this scene, towards the back.  Was that Sawyer's ex-girl and baby's momma Cassidy?

Obviously, 3x21 "Greatest Hits" didn't even compare to last week's episode that revolved around Ben's history on the island as well as his power struggle with John Locke.  But this Charlie-centric episode was a very good and solid episode and very perfectly sets us up for the 2 hour season finale this coming Wednesday.  I feel that this was probably the best Charlie episode that we've seen since season 1.  For a brief moment at the end of the episode, I actually hoped that Charlie would live to see one more day…but only one more.

On Thursday night, the producers of ABC’s Lost, Damon Lindelof and Carlton Cuse decided to trade in their podcast forum for a televised one and provide a basic type of "catch-up" episode for average viewer who is still scratching his head and wondering why Flight 815 really did crash.  How would you even attempt to explain the mysteries of Lost now that we are nearing its zenith?  Lindelof and Cuse chose to begin, well, at the beginning, where they proceed to "shed some light and provide the final word" on some of Lost’s biggest mysteries.  Welcome to Lost: The_Answers!

Last week's bombshell episode of LOST, "The Man Behind the Curtain", still has people talking. Is Locke going to die in a pile of Dharma bones? What's the deal with Ben's imaginary friend, who turned out to be not so imaginary? And what, exactly (other than some interior decorating advice), did Jacob need help with? Maybe something to do with that powder surrounding his house? And, of course, many are wondering if younger Richard's appearance was just bad makeup (like teenage Ben), or whether he ages more slowly than the non-natives. Could all these questions possibly be answered in the three hours of LOST we have remaining this season? Probably not. I mean, it is LOST, y'know.

Perhaps, though, we'll get some answers tonight. Will Charlie survive his centric episode titled "Greatest Hits"? What do you think? Is the feisty hobbit running out of second chances? Let us know in the comments below. The twenty-first episode of the third season of LOST airs tonight, at 10PM EST on ABC. The official word from the network is:

This weeks ABC podcast contained an interview with Dominic Monaghan, a discussion on the decision to go to three 16-episode seasons, rehashing "Man Behind the Curtain" and answering listener questions. I found the review of "The Man Behind the Curtain" as  the most straightforward and concise to date. 

Carlton Cuse and Damon Linderoff expanded on their desire to go to the three season 16-episode format. They look at every season as its own book and compared it to JK Rowling and the Harry Potter series. They feel that they have three more stories to tell to complete the story. Season 1 was the story of the survivors getting to know the island and each other. Season 2 was the story of the Swan Hatch with season 3 focused on the Others. This season finale will follow the pattern of the previous ones by giving us a good indication of which story season 4 will tell.

[html] [/html]

Episode 3x20 "Man Behind the Curtain" review began cryptically but ended with a very specific statement. Cuse and Linderoff started by stating some of the theories of what we saw in Jacobs home. There was a glimpse of a eyeball, a guy, was that Locke in a bad wig or even Christian. Sadly, they wouldn't give us any insight stating, "more detail on Jacob would ruin future episodes". In response to "Is Jacob an alien or non human intelligence used for human purpose?" Cuse said, he would have to dodge that question, but added, Jacob is not an alien.  Does this give credence to the "non human intelligence"? They did keep one theory alive when they allowed for the possibility that the substance around Jacob's cottage may be keeping him hostage.

They were very clear that we did see a purge of Dharma, "basically the Others wiped out Dharma". They also clarified that Ben did let us know that he was not the only Dharma member who was "smart enough" to not end up in the pit. We will see more of the story of the purge and the history of Dharma including how Dr. Candle lost his arm and more of Annie. (My theory: Annie survived the purge, got pregnant with Ben's child and died) They ended with an uncharacteristically straightforward summary. "Ben took John Locke out to see Jacob as kind of a litmus test. He wanted to find out if in fact John Locke really was special and if John Locke could see or hear Jacob, that would indicate that Locke was special. So when Locke did hear Jacob, Ben freaked out because Locke was now a threat to Ben and his leadership. In essence, Ben lead Locke to the pit and shot him because he did not want his leadership of the Others challenged." This is nothing earth shattering, but it does (once again) confirm that what we see in the show is truthful. What was unique was their frankness in dealing with the subject. The usual routine would be to provide the information with jokes and goofing around. It was strange how forcefully the statement was delivered.  It made it seem that it was important that we understood the scene.

Every Wednesday I sit patiently, or rather impatiently, in front of my television set waiting to hear the words, "Previously on Lost."  This past Wednesday was no exception.  ABC's Lost, Episode 3x20, "The Man Behind the Curtain" begins with a young woman named Emily surrounded by trees in the throes of labor being coached by a young man by the name of Roger.  When something goes horribly wrong during Emily's au naturel delivery of the little boy, Roger carries them both out of the jungle just in time for us to see a truck passing swiftly by on a paved two lane road.  The highway sign reads Portland 32 miles and somewhere in the world a group of writers say, "Gotcha!"  Emily dies during her delivery of little Benjamin Linus and this plays a huge role in the rest of Ben's life.  Roger will always blame Ben for his mother's death, a fact that becomes evident later in the episode, and that is a very hard thing for anyone to handle.  This also means that Ben is a liar; which at this point should be news to no one. 

[html] [/html]

Approximately 10 years after Emily's death, Roger and Ben, who now more than slightly resembles Harry Potter, travel by submarine to an island where he has gotten work from the very 1960's looking Horace Goodspeed.  Horace and his female companion, Olivia, met Roger when they stopped on the side of the road to help Roger and Emily on the day of Ben's birth.  As Roger and Ben make their way onto dry land, they are lei'd by June the ‘Technologist' and Casey the ‘Gemologist'.  (Gemologist?  Yes, Gemologist.  Why a Gemologist?  Good question!)  While young Potter, I mean Ben, looks around the dock at the lovely scenery, Roger greets Horace, whose label reads ‘Mathematician', and thanks him for opportunity to be part of the Dharma Initiative – Namaste. 

Upon entering what appears to be an orientation center, Marvin Candle, aka, Mark Wickmund, drones on via video about a high frequency sonic barrier that is to protect them from the island's "abundant and diverse wildlife."  What an interesting phrase!  Just as young Ben begins to look less than thrilled to be there, we meet Annie.  In her Dharma issued Garanimals, and toting an Apollo bar, she is the first person in his age group that Ben sees on the island.  I was almost surprised that she didn't have a label reading ‘Kid'.  Roger is insulted that a group which he states is doing experiments that will change the world has deemed the label on his khaki coveralls to be ‘Work Man'.  Opal the ‘Nurse', a woman after my own heart, tells him here's your jumper - be happy.  Ok, I am paraphrasing a tiny bit but none of this seems to sit too well with Roger.

Back in real time, Sawyer shows Sayid the tape recorder that Locke gave him.  Things are about to get interesting!  Later, after they find Juliet's tent empty, Kate tells Sayid not only that Juliet has gone with Jack but also that that she told both Jack and Juliet about Naomi.  Sayid asks the question that I have been pondering for a week, "And why would you do that, Kate?"  "Yeah," I say out loud to no one, "Why did you do that?"  Kate's answer that Naomi was hurt and that Jack had the right to know didn't include the small tidbit that she was angry, hurt and jealous and wanted to hurt Jack by making him aware that his friends no longer trust him.  But I digress. 

Meanwhile, Mikhail, who seems to be a marathon runner of some sort, sprints into Camp Otherville screaming for Ben.  Ben, in his characteristic manner, blithely states, "I thought you were dead."  It must have been a short mourning period.  When Mikhail tries to talk Ben into attacking the Losties immediately, Locke steps in tells them all that is not the plan.  Apparently a dinner meeting with Jacob is on the agenda for today.  Richard and Tom look stunned by that announcement.  When Ben tries to back out of his promise, Locke beats the living daylights out of Mikhail because apparently Mikhail did not get that memo.  The most interesting thing about that whole scene is not that Locke beat Mikhail like Mike Tyson on crack, but that no one raised a finger to stop him.  As a matter of fact, both Tom and Richard just sat there, with Tom calmly drinking his coffee, and watched the smack down.  I guess they did get the memo – dinner with Jacob it is.  Enter Alex with a pistol.  Now, why on Earth would Locke need a pistol and how does Alex know that he does?

We return to young Ben in class with Olivia the Teacher, who was the female passenger in the car that stopped to help the day of his birth.  She has built a baking soda volcano, which was my 6th grade science project by the way, and just as we find out that there is a dormant volcano on the island the whole room begins to shake.  Eruption?  I asked my TV.  Nope.  Seconds later we hear a sound that is eerily familiar – like the alarms when the blast doors came down for a food drop, and then gunshots.  Olivia retrieves her rifle from a cabinet, instructs Annie to lock the chain on the door and lines all the children up against the wall in what looks like a 1950's nuclear bomb drill.  I half expected to hear Olivia say, "Duck and Cover."  Annie tells a very confused looking Ben not to worry, it is just the Hostiles.  He watches other gun carrying women run by the grated window.  I was wondering why those windows had grates!

Later that night Ben and an unnumbered bunny lie awake and listens to Roger argue with Horace about getting caught out in the middle of the firefight.  Roger slings a beer can for effect, says that he doesn't give a damn about Ben's education and demands hazard pay.  This is the first real indicator of Roger's mistreatment of Ben.  Immediately after this altercation, Ben turns and sees his mother at his window.  Startled, he falls backwards, hitting the door and getting the attention of his father who is not pleased that he is awake.  When Ben looks back to the window she is gone.  Maybe there is something to that wishing box after all!

As Locke and Ben make their preparations to go see Jacob, whom Locke seems to think does not exist any more than the Great and Powerful Oz,  Ben tells Locke that Jacob is not a man you just go and see.  Ben says that Jacob is a man who summons you.  Locke replies with his recently rediscovered bravado, "I guess there is a first time for everything."  Off they go down the yellow brick road, I mean leaf strewn pathway, to see Jacob; leaving Richard, Tom and Alex watching in wonderment. 

Young Ben and Annie sit side by side on a swing and Annie gives him a box wrapped with blue ribbon.  Inside are 2 hand carved dolls, one male and one female.  Annie says that it is so they will never have to be apart.  She takes the male doll and he takes the female one and returns home.  His now drunk and belligerent father informs him that it is his fault that his mother is dead – how is that for a birthday present.  With tears streaming down his face, Ben runs from the house.  As he approaches the fence, we can hear the whispers over head and it appears as though Ben can as well.  Ben sees his mother on the other side of the fence.  She tells him that it is not yet time for him to cross the barrier. 

Returning to the present, Locke and Ben are making their way to see Jacob when they come across what appears to be a circle of ash.  Ben is shown making an effort to step over it rather than through.  Locke illuminates the gray line that extends as far as he is able to see in both directions.  Maybe this is some ancient version of "ash" fence or maybe it is just a ring of salt.  Either way, it definitely looks man made and purposeful.  The questions remains are they keeping something in or out?

Back at the beach camp, they are having a town meeting of sorts to introduce the newest member of the group, Naomi, to the rest after having kept her a secret supposedly from Jack and Juliet.  Sun doesn't seem to think that Juliet is such a bad person until Sawyer plays the tape for them all.  Just as it is finished, Jack and Juliet appear.  In what, to me, was one of Juliet's strongest statements thus far, she tells Sawyer if he wants to crucify her to go ahead, but first turn over the tape.  Ben's voice booms to life and tells them all exactly what his plans are for the extraction.  Apparently Juliet has already told Jack about Ben's plan.  Maybe that is what Juliet was referring to when she told Jack they should tell Kate … something.  With this information the Losties have just over a day to find someway to stop the Others from taking Sun and anyone else who might be in the family way.

Returning to young Ben, he has packed his bags and his bunny and appears to be running away from home.  After turning off the power to the sonic fence, he sends the rabbit over first – smart boy.  While in the jungle, he once again hears the whispers, but this time it is not his mother that he meets, but an unbelievably unchanged looking Richard Alpert, minus the black eyeliner.  Ben tells Richard that he has seen his dead mother out in the jungle.  Richard does not seem surprised.  He tells Ben that if he really wants to go with them he is going to have to be very, very patient. 

Ben and Locke approach a very old, run down shack in the middle of the woods.  Ben instructs Locke to turn off his flashlight because Jacob doesn't appreciate technology.  They enter the shack and find an empty chair with which Ben proceeds to carry on a conversation.  Locke accuses Ben of being crazy, a charlatan, lying to them all.  Just as Locke leaves, he hears a voice saying "Help me." 

Some people have speculated that it was Locke turning on the flashlight that brought on the wrath of Jacob.  But I do not believe that is the case.  The flashlight was already on when Locke raised it towards Ben.  The onslaught did not start until Locke began telling Ben what it was that he heard.  Could it be that Jacob did not want Ben to know that Locke heard him let alone what it was that he said?  It is during this scene that we get a glimpse of the most anticipated character on Lost.  For a split second, thank God for the DVR, Jacob's figure is visible still sitting in the same chair that Ben said he was in all along!  Shocked, Locke ran from the shack and I sat here with my mouth agape and said, "Screencap!"  The next morning, while on the way back to Camp Otherville, Locke has decided that Ben was just putting on a show for him.  I guess it is easier that way.  Ben admits that he is a liar and tells Locke that he wants to show him how he really got to the island.

Next we see a younger looking Ben, back in Otherville as an adult.  This time, he is wearing his own version of khakis interestingly missing the Dharma insignia.  He is labeled ‘Work Man' just like his now much older father.  Once again, it is Ben's birthday and his father has forgotten.  In what seemed to be an effort to make amends, Roger offers to spend some time with Ben after they make a supply run to the Pearl Station in a blue Dharma VW van.  Does this sound familiar to anyone?

After they arrive at the mesa, and Roger pops the top on a Dharma beer, Ben asks his father if he really believes that it is his fault that his mother died.  I guess it is not just the Losties that have 'daddy issues'.  At 4 pm it becomes apparent that Ben has come to the end of his patience.  He tells his father goodbye, dons a gas mask, opens the tab on a canister and calmly stares into space as his father dies.  After sacrificing his father, Ben returns to Otherville. The Purge has obviously occurred.  The place resembles Pompeii without the ashes.  People have just dropped and died wherever they stood.  This is an interesting concept considering that it would have taken massive amounts of gas to kill these people outdoors, but they don't look as though they were aware that anything was happening at all.  In what could be described as a sign of respect, Ben closes the eyes of Horace's corpse.  A still un-aged Richard Alpert and the other Hostiles enter Otherville.  Did anyone else notice that although the "hostiles" were bare foot and wearing tattered clothes, Richard is obviously wearing a nice gold watch?  Just how long have the hostiles been wearing disguises?

Ben shows Locke the mass grave of all those who were killed that day – the day of the Purge.  Once again Locke turns his back on someone that he should not trust.  Ben shoots Locke in the stomach and he falls into the pit, on top of the rest of the corpses that Ben has been responsible for.  When Locke asks why, Ben replies that it is because Locke heard Jacob.  Obviously, Ben can not let that happen.  In my opinion, Ben has attained his position of power in the Others because of his ability to communicate with Jacob.  Given the fact that the rest of Ben's group already feel that Locke is very special because of the healing of Locke's paralysis, the fact that he could also hear Jacob makes Locke a substantial threat to Ben's power.  This is why Locke must live.  Locke is Ben's antagonist, his rival.  I can't wait to see the look on Ben's face when a very much alive John Locke walks back in to Camp Otherville.  How do you think he would explain that?  I, for one, hope we all get to find out.

In episode 3x20 "The Man Behind the Curtain" we finally get to meet the mysterious Jacob. Well...we sort of get to meet Jacob. In the second part of the review of this episode, we are going to follow the journey of John Locke and his hunt for the secrets of the island.

Ben had challenged John to return to the Others camp only with the body of his father. John triumphantly arrives at the Other's new camp with the thump of Anthony Cooper's body thrown at the feet of Ben. John demands the answers he was promised and is as focused as we have ever seen. Ben attempts to derail John's plan are all out-played by Locke. Ben states that only Jacob knows the answer, to which Locke responds, let's go see him. You only go to Jacob when summoned, but John counters with there is the first time for everything. Even when Mikhail makes it back to camp to warn Ben about Naomi's appearance, Locke will not be deterred. Ben and Mikhail both argue that this is a problem that must be dealt with instantly; so Locke steps up and beats Mikhail into unconsciousness, an aggressiveness we haven't seen from John since he gave Charlie his beating on the beach last season. John even goes as far as announcing to the Others that Ben is taking him to meet Jacob. You can see the distrust that Tom and Richard have for Ben. He is losing his hold on his people.

[html] [/html]

Locke and Ben make their way through the jungle to an old battered shack. Surrounding Jacob's home is a circle of what appears to be ashes. Ben tells John to ignore them, but it appears to be a major clue.  Before entering the house, Ben warns John that Jacob hates all technology including flashlights. Inside, Ben indicates that Jacob is sitting in a chair. Neither Locke nor the audience can see anything but an empty chair. Ben holds a conversation with Jacob as Locke's distrust and anger grows. Fed up with Ben's apparent insanity or games, Locke heads for the door. Just before he leaves a tired and haggard voice asks John to "Help Me'. This surprises John and shocks Ben. Did Locke hear Jacob when Ben could not? In attempt to solve the mystery Locke turns on his flashlight, which upsets Jacob. The house shakes, the windows shatter and Ben gets tossed against the wall. For a brief moment the figure of Jacob can be seen. Locke runs from the house with Ben calmly following.

Ben has one more trip to share with Locke. He takes him to the mass grave holding all of the Dharma victims from the Ben lead Purge. Ben explains that this is where he really came from, the start of who he is today. Locke is astonished by the revelation and soon joins the grave when Ben suprisingly shoots him. This appears to be a drastic attempt by Ben at holding on to power of his people. While John is laying helplessly in the mass grave, Ben demands to know what Jacob said to him.  This seems to be the proof that Ben, in fact, can not hear Jacob anymore, or at the very least didn't hear what he said to John Locke.  Locke tells him what Jacob said, and Ben leaves Locke to die in the grave.

Will Jacob, or the island, save John? In turn will John save Jacob? I believe John has to survive the gunshot wound to further the storyline of the island. He is the only survivor who is interested in the history of the island. In addition Locke appears to have a special connection to the island and the interest of some of the Others as a possible leader.  To continue the storyline of the island and the fractioning of the Others, Locke needs to live.

So who is Jacob? Some people think the flash of his face is familiar to Christian or maybe Locke himself. Is Jacob reincarnated into someone special to take his place? AstroJones suggested that Jacob might be a prisoner of Ben who is trying to use Jacob's powers to maintain his leadership of the Others. One clue to this is the circle of ashes around Jacob's house. Some ritualistic magic or religions believe that a magic circle can contain a spirit. Is Ben holding Jacob prisoner, or has Ben lost his connection to Jacob. Either way Ben appears to be in a downward spiral and desperately trying to hang on to his position of power.

What do you think?  Will Locke Live?  And just who might Jacob be?

The lasting impression of LOST may be the outstanding opening scenes. 3x20 "Man Behind the Curtain" begins with a child being born in the jungle. Is this Ben being born?  Ben did tell Jack that he spent his entire life on the island. But how can a baby be born on the island? We know that all pregnant women die by the end of their second trimester.  The baby is born, a healthy boy, but the mother, Emily, is complaining about pain. She tells the father Roger that it hurts and he scoops Emily and the baby up in his arms and runs through the jungle right onto a highway. What is going on?  We see a sign, we are not in the jungle on the island, but 32 miles outside of Portland. Roger stops a car (driven by Horace Goodspeed) for help. He frantically puts Emily in the back seat, but it is too late for her. Emily has one final request…call him Benjamin.  This is yet another classic opening to an outstanding episode that gave us the history of The Dharma Initiative and how Ben would become the leader he is today.

[html] [/html]

Roger Linus had two life changing events on the fateful day that Ben was born. First his wife tragically dies giving birth and secondly the car he pulls over for help just happens to be someone associated with the Dharma Initiative. Some 10 years after his wife's death, Roger and Ben end up on the island by the invitation of Horace Goodspeed. During the registration process we get another orientation film featuring Dr. Marvin Candle (with two working arms). Dr. Candle summarizes The Dharma Initiative mission "There are properties on this island that exists nowhere else on earth. Our mission is to study the properties for the betterment of mankind and the advancement of world peace." A very noble cause and for most people the Dharma life appears to be idyllic.  The island has everything; all you can eat Apollo Bars, schools, friends, nice houses, jobs, plus you get a chance to help save the world. The only negative part appears to be those nasty hostiles and the fact that they don't seem to like the Dharma residents too much. Roger's depression over losing his wife was deepened by his manual labor Work Man status and being "prisoner" on the island. Roger passed his time by partaking in the never-ending supply of Dharma beer and taking his anger out on Ben, blaming him for Emily's death.

Ben came to the island as a very shy and introspective boy. His mother's death and his fathers drinking made Ben a sad boy, but Ben got his spark when he has a vision of his mother outside his bedroom window. Ben searches for the vision of his mother and eventually finds her on the other side of the sonic fence. Even though Emily tells Ben that "it is not time yet" he continues his search for her. It is not long before Ben crosses the sonic fence and ventures into the jungle, only to hear whispering voices.  Ben runs into island native Richard Alpert and Richard is very interested in Ben's story about talking to his mother. It appears that Richard knows that having visions make the person special. 

Richard tells Ben that he has to be patient if he wants to join the "hostiles".  Richard meant really patient. It appears that Ben waits around 10 years before finally betrayomg Dharma. On his birthday, a twenty something Ben goes on a delivery run with his dad in his VW Bus. They stop for a father and son moment at the mesa and as Roger sips his beer, Ben pulls out a gas mask and a canister of poison. With his father dead, Ben makes his way back to the village where he finds a similar fate has fallen all of the Dharma residents. Ben and an seemingly ageless Richard have successfully purged Dharma.  In the words of Sawyer, "There is a new sheriff in town".

It was insightful to get the history of Dharma and Ben's journey to where he is today. It is clear now why Ben is so intent on solving the pregnancy issues on the island. His mother died in the seventh month of pregnancy, similar to the time frame of the Other's woman (end of the second trimester). His guilt of his mother death and his father's blame makes solving this issue a priority for Ben. Richard dismissed Ben's obsession in last week's episode, so solving the pregnancy issue is not a priority of many of the Others. Equally as insightful was finding out that Ben was a member of Dharma. We were lead to believe that Ben was an Island Native.  Not only was he a member of Dharma his betrayal lead to their death. Finding out that the purge was lead by an insider increases the level of despicable behavior that the Others have brought to island visitors.  Ben went to extraordinary means to leave his past life behind.

Questions persist. How much contact did Ben have with Richard during the planning years? Why did the Others wait so long before conducting the purge? Richard is an original member of the Others, why is he taking a backseat to Ben in the groups leadership?  I did not see any canisters of poison in the village, how did they poison so many people out in the open air? Who supplies the Others with chemical weapons and guns? Who is supporting these people? It does not appear that the Others are continuing any of the island research. What purpose do they serve? Did they allow Dharma members to man the hatches?

So many answers and still many questions remain. Return tomorrow for a summary of John Locke's journey to island answers.

LOST delivered again last week with another strong episode, "The Brig". The writers even gave us another long sought after confirmation. Just as the suspected Jack-Claire connection was confirmed earlier this season, the writers threw us another bone and confirmed the suspected connection between Locke and Sawyer. We also got a subtle hint that the show might soon be heading in a direction that will explain the four toe statue seen in the Season 2 finale. In "The Brig", we learn the Others have temporarily located to an "old" place which contains some ancient ruins. It looks like these ruins might be from the same era that the four-toe-clan was working in. We also received some more tantalizing information about Flight 815, but it isn't yet clear exactly what is going on - though many of us suspect a large scale coverup. With Locke now in position to challenge Ben for power, the end of the season is looking very exciting.

It all continues tonight, at 10PM EST on ABC, when "The Man Behind the Curtain" airs. It should be exciting, as this is a BEN-CENTRIC episode. The title obviously borrows from The Wizard of Oz, but who is the Wizard? Ben? Jacob? Tonight's show is the 20th episode of the third season of LOST. And with the announcement earlier this week concerning the end of Lost , we only have 52 more episodes to enjoy. Let's hope they continue to get better and better. The official tease from ABC is:

Within the past few months there has been a great deal of speculation and discussion in the media concerning when, exactly, Lost will end.  Based on the nature of the show, the producers stated some time ago that they were in discussions with ABC, attempting to set a definitive end date for our favorite castaways time on the island.  ABC Entertainment president Stephen McPherson said, "Due to the unique nature of 'Lost,' we knew it would require an end date to keep the integrity and strength of the show consistent throughout and to give the audience the payoff they deserve.

[html] [/html]

Although none of us want to see Lost come to an end, this is really great news.  This will allow us, as fans, to know that the writers are building this overall story to a specific point in time, which we will be given the answers we've so patiently waited for.  In addition, this gives the writers and creators of the show the ability to totally map out the remainder of the series.  Carlton Cuse had this to say, "What we didn't know was how long we had to play the story out. By defining the endpoint we can now really map out the rest of the series in confidence."

So what are the juicy details?  Three more seasons of Lost!  This means that lost will end at the completion of season 6.  Each of the next 3 seasons will be 16 episodes long, and run from January to May with no repeats.  This means that we will get 48 more episodes of Lost after season 3, bringing the total number of episodes to 120 for the entire series.  Also as a part of this deal Damon Lindelhof and Carlton Cuse have agreed to stay on with the show until the end.

I say this is great news for the Lost fan community!  But what do you think??

To read the entire article, click HERE.

After spending half the night reading, theorizing and discussing the latest episode of ABC's LOST 3x19, "The Brig", I have developed a new appreciation for two things:  coffee and Tylenol.  With last week's return of Mikhail and this week's pronouncement by Anthony Cooper that he is in hell, the shouts of, "They are dead! They are in Purgatory! They are in Hell!" and the subsequent debate have rocked the internet.  Still, I get the distinct impression that somewhere on this green Earth, Damon Lindelof and Carlton Cuse are staring at a computer screen and laughing.  Most of the people who watch this show are not as – shall we say, motivated as we are.  They don't belong to a half dozen Lost internet sites.  Post count and spoiler forums are foreign concepts.  They have no clue what the Hanso Foundation website looked like or even who Joop is for that matter.   So I wondered, exactly what would I be thinking about LOST at this point, if I had never heard a podcast?  Well, maybe 'never' is a strong word.