Lost MarathonI've just finished watching episode 14 of my Lost marathon, which began yesterday morning (I took a break in the afternoon) so I can finish the episode guide for my upcoming season 3 book. (Yes, I know Juliet and Hurley are missing from the cover, and that will be rectified.) I'm watching these episodes completely differently now that we've seen both the finale and the Ben flashback, both which illuminated so much. I'd already seen every episode 3 or 4 times, but so much changes when you know where the writers are headed with something. Locke's behaviour, which was so strange mid-season, is now making a little more sense.
But one thing that struck me particularly was the early Locke episode, "Further Instructions." At the beginning of the ep, he can't speak. He creates a sweat lodge for himself, and Boone appears to him, taking him to a vision of being in the airport, where Hurley is a ticket agent, Desmond a pilot, Ben a security guard, etc. The thing that hit me, though, is the image at the 
end of the scene. Locke is suddenly sitting at the bottom of the escalators, with Boone at the top. The scene is clearly meant to evoke Jacob's ladder -- when Jacob was in the wilderness, he awoke in the night to see a ladder of angels leading up to Heaven, and realized he was sitting at the gates of Heaven. But now that we've seen Jacob, and there's been much speculation about who was sitting in that chair (see the screen caps and speculation here), I'm wondering if it really could be Locke. It's one of the possibilities we suggested, and now that we see him in the actual position of Jacob, it makes it stronger.
end of the scene. Locke is suddenly sitting at the bottom of the escalators, with Boone at the top. The scene is clearly meant to evoke Jacob's ladder -- when Jacob was in the wilderness, he awoke in the night to see a ladder of angels leading up to Heaven, and realized he was sitting at the gates of Heaven. But now that we've seen Jacob, and there's been much speculation about who was sitting in that chair (see the screen caps and speculation here), I'm wondering if it really could be Locke. It's one of the possibilities we suggested, and now that we see him in the actual position of Jacob, it makes it stronger. I've got a lot more to say, and I will, but on to episode 15...
The Jacob's ladder thing is genius. I never thought of it like that before. I can't believe we have to wait 'til feb for more Lost *sigh*
ReplyDeleteNikki,
ReplyDeleteJust love seeing Desmond on the cover of your new eppy guide.
He's our guy!
We post most, if not all, of your blog entries, interviews, book info, etc. on the HenryIanCusick Group board...thanks for all you do!
Mi
HIC fan webmaster
What more could one ask for? Emmm… Maybe writers that actually think on the plot before they shoot it, and not just present new complications they can never resolve?
ReplyDeleteSee Babylon 5 with its five years plot line planned even before the first episode was shot…
p.s. And how the hell are they going to explain the black smoke monster?
You mean Babylon 5 with its five year plot squashed into four years, and then one year of bleh?
ReplyDeleteThere's something to be said for the ability to make things up as one goes along.
Hey uri, I think that the truth probably lies somewhere in between. I don't think they were making it up as they go along, although I must admit, the first part of the season with the three main characters being tortured by the Others seemed like a long protracted (and somewhat unnecesary experience). But after that, the shows got progressively better and I've been watching a few episodes from season 2, and it does seem they are answering many of the important questions posed in that season.
ReplyDeletePerhaps many people felt that new questions were raised and many needed immediate gratification. I find that it is those people who gave up on Lost and its unfortunate. Lost is a complex, wonderfully written story overall, and in this era of procedurals like CSI where crimes are solved in 45 minutes, it may not be everyone's cup of tea...
October! we have to wait until October for your book?? What a rip! I got all excited!
ReplyDeletejust kidding! I'm one of the first in line to buy!
As for a Lost marathon. that is something I need to do, maybe on my four day weekend coming up. Forget the sun! I'll stay firmly affixed to the couch! :0)
I started a Veronica Mars marathon this morning... sigh
Carlie: There are so many more things I spotted! All those people who think the writers make this up as they go along are sorely mistaken. :)
ReplyDeleteMi: Thanks for linking! That's so nice... oh, how I love my Desmond. :-D
Uri: I think my post was proving the opposite -- that they've set up these clues months in advance of the reveal. They have 3 more seasons to go: What makes you think they won't be able to resolve things? I think you're writing them and the show off a little too quickly. So far for 3 seasons I've seen everything tying together, and if they were to answer everything right now, what good would the next 3 seasons be? ;)
Roland: Actually, it seems like the first 6 eps lasted forever, because we had those 6, and then 3 months of knowing only those 6, so they seemed to last forever. But when you watch the season back-to-back, with ep 7 immediately following ep 6, they don't seem to be in that Others camp for long. And I really liked those episodes. :)
I agree Nikki, that 3 month hiatus did a lot of damage to their fan base. I think the torture of our beloved castaways at the hands of the Others was quite intense, and it seemed that none of them were able to really get the upper hand until Jack cut into Ben's kidney sac at the end. I kept rooting for them to turn the tables on the Others, only to be continuously smacked down again.
ReplyDeleteI wonder in retrospect how they could have saved the 3 to 5 million viewers they lost after the hiatus. Seems that from Heroes, splitting it up into three parts didn't do much good either. The only thing I can think of is to split up the season 11 and 11, start it later in October, run til December and come back in February to February to May with a few repeats. I do wish they did two seasons of 24 episodes, February is an awfully long wait.
Among many other things, what I loved about the finale was that Ben got his comeuppance, at the hands of Jack and Rousseau...I totally cheered!
By the way, I think that Dominic Monohan is coming across as a bit of a spoiled sport about being written off, saying he was unhappy for a while being on the backburner story wise. What do you think? I think all of the cast have had to share screen time, not just him. Not a way to ingratiate himself with the producers. As we all know, he can totally show up in flashbacks of other characters, so he might get lots of screentime in the seasons to come!
Roland: I read something really interesting the other day in EW (in fact, I think I'll blog on the article because I have a lot to say about it) and it said that Lost lost (lost lost??) 2.2 million viewers over the season. What's interesting is that I heard media reports saying they'd lost half their fan base (!) and others saying it's too bad they didn't have the ratings of Heroes... but Heroes lost 2.6 million AND they started off with 3 million fewer viewers. So, uh... what? The media really blew the viewer loss out of proportion.
ReplyDeleteThat said, I agree with you that the hiatus hurt it. Let's hope people come back next February.
It is funny Nikki, because I've heard anywhere from loss of 2 million viewers to half of their viewers. I think those people were comparing the ratings to the peak when Lost was doing over 20 million viewers. The fact of the matter is that ever since daylight savings time shifted, most shows took a dive. I'd be interested in having some numbers on DVR added to the live viewers.
ReplyDeleteI have read so much animosity from Heroes fans, I love both shows but Lost has my heart. You'd think both shows would have the same viewers but it seems there are some Heroes vigilantes (alluded to in that funny Ben sketch) who have to do the anti-Lost thing and say Heroes gives answers blah blah blah...yes they give answers but they also have a lot of inconsistencies. Lost finale beat Heroes and they did it against American Idol (whereas Heroes didn't even have to go up against Dancing with the Stars like it usually did). And plus Lost is in their third year. I'll be interested to see what you think about this whole ratings business.
By the way Nikki and Lost fans, I just saw this on line regarding DVD Season 3 release...not until December 11 according to Amazon in the US! That is WAY too long to wait!
ReplyDeletehttp://www.tvshowsondvd.com/newsitem.cfm?NewsID=7400
NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO.... are you serious??? Argh. Angry blog coming soon...
ReplyDeleteThere's a very interesting interview in the June issue of Wizard magazine with Lindelof and Kring - who it turns out are very close friends and former writing partners. They're also fans of each other's shows.
ReplyDeleteI've decided that since the shows aren't on at the same time, I can like them both. (Okay, if I had to pick one it would be Lost, but no need to fight over them).
I didn't mean to imply that the Lost writers are making it all up as they go, but that they have flexibility to go with interesting stories in the small picture, while planning out the big one. I'm pretty sure they know what the smoke monster is.