Darlton Live!!

OK, I’m going to try to make this quick because I was supposed to get writing done today and I STILL haven’t seemed to crack it. It hasn’t been a good week for writing (I took the week off to work on Finding Lost: Season 6) and see, I’m used to taking a week off work and returning having written somewhere between 50,000 and 60,000 words (I type quickly). This week... not so much. I won’t say HOW pathetic (my editor might be reading and it’ll give her heart failure) but trust me, it’s pathetic. Every time I finally get deeply involved in something, the phone rings. Argh. But this book will happen, I promise.

SO. Last night (instead of writing) I was out at the LOST Live Talk with the NYT that was broadcast into movie theatres everywhere. (And I ran into redeem147, SenexMacDonald, and Question Mark!! It was totally awesome.) I sat with Mark Askwith at Space, and at one point we both whipped out notebooks at the same time, looked at each other and said, “GEEK.” I might ultimately post the full transcript (how do I have a full transcript? You might ask... good question. Ahem.) but for now, I’ll just post highlights (DL is Damon, CC is Carlton)...

• When asked how they come up with new ideas, Carlton said they just roll the dice. Damon added, “A TWENTY-SIDED DICE!!” and when the audience laughed he nodded approvingly, saying these were definitely his people.
• When working on the ending they said, if we were fans of the show, what would we want to see... and then they also decided they wouldn’t shy away from big emotion, and those two things were what helped form the finale.
• They said they needed to acknowledge just how BIG the finale was for the fans, that this was almost a spiritual thing, with anticipation and excitement and jitters, and treat the finale like the holy thing the fans think it is.
• Damon said the #1 question they get is, “Am I going to be really disappointed in the finale?” And he said, “Talk about performance anxiety!!” Haha!! He said they came up with an ending that satisfied THEM. One that also made the 425 people working on the show happy, and they knew if they could make them happy, they’d make the audience happy, too.
• Darlton went down to Hawaii for the shooting of the final scene, and said to the actors, “If you want any illumination of the final pages of the script, we’ll be right here to explain it to you,” and the actors were like, “Um... why would we start NOW?” They said for years the actors just get the scripts piecemeal, and just as in life, they don’t know what’s coming next, and they just go with it and never ask questions.
• CC said that the finale became real to them when they went and saw Giacchino recording the live music over the scenes for the score, and Damon got kicked out of the room because he was crying so hard. :::sniff:::
• They said the community that’s formed around Lost has become so important to them (yay!).
• They showed the clip from “Orientation” where Locke is about to push the Execute button for the first time, but doesn’t, telling Jack he needs to do it. There’s the whole, “Why is it so hard for you to believe?” “Why is it so easy for you?!” debate, followed by Locke appealing to Jack that this is a two-person job and he can’t do it alone. This made me really think a LOT about the finale, thinking that maybe Jack WON’T be the lone candidate, and that they’ll all realize he was right when he said if they don’t live together, they’ll die alone. I don’t think anyone is going to be doing that job alone.
• CC said one of the ideas going into the series was to explore the costs and consequences of faith, and that’s something they’ve explored throughout the 6 seasons.
• There was a question about the mirroring of the seasons, and they said that was deliberate (obvs) and that in this last season it’s about getting to know the character again but in a slightly different way, it’s like going back to S1 but we’re getting slightly different backstories for them.
• DL said the scenes of the mirrors are to give a sense of displacement. This idea of fans not liking new characters because they’re different is an attempt to make audiences have that who am I, how am I, where am I displacement that you sometimes get when looking in the mirror.
• At the end of season 1/beginning of season 2 they really knew where the show was going to go and they constructed the series’ overall mythology. Then before every season they would put together the detailed architecture of that particular season. CC said “We’re not JK Rowling; we collaborated with 425 people so it was obviously going to evolve as we went.”
• DL said they look at the show like it’s an organic entity, and they often let the show tell them what it wants it to be. (I loved here that they were talking about the show like it was the island!)
• DL said sometimes we make mistakes, and Nikki and Paulo was one of them (HAHAHAHAHA!!!!) They went on about N&P for a long time, and I loved EVERY MINUTE OF IT. They said Exposé was a polarizing episode because the fans who didn’t realize they were even there in the first place hated that they brought them to the fore for no reason, whereas the haters (like me!!) loved this episode because they just enjoyed the horrible death they gave them. They wanted Sawyer to be the voice of those haters, the “who the hell is Nikki?” line echoing what we were saying. Haha! They introduced N&P at a time when they didn’t have the end date, so they were sort of biding their time bringing things forward. He said, “We packed our fridge with food, some of which we never want to eat.” HAHAHA!!! DL said it’s obvious they’re going to make these mistakes, and he compared it to things like going to see a tightrope walker, where sometimes we enjoy the mistakes and seeing it happen... he said you sit in the audience at the circus going, “Wow, it would be HORRIBLE if he fell... but I’d still kinda like to see it!”
• Damon then made some sports joke about how even if you don’t know where the ball is going to go, you’ll swing the bat. Then he said, “At least I think that’s what you do in sports... I know nothing. Is that true, Carlton?” Carlton said, “Yes. In baseball you swing a bat.” Damon said, “Sorry, that metaphor just wouldn’t work with Orcs.” HAHAHA!!! Oh Damon I ♥ you!!
• DL said there will be a prominent Star Wars reference in the first 7 minutes of the finale. CC threw his hands up in the air like he’d just given a huge spoiler and then they bickered about what a spoiler was. ;)
• Question: What TV show made you go, “I want to do that.” CC said he watched tons of reruns when he came home from school, sitcoms and westerns mostly like Gunsmoke and Petticoat Junction. DL said it was watching Twin Peaks with his dad, where, when it was over they’d sit and talk about it for 2 hours and he said his dad said we should go rent David Lynch films, and he realized there was a creator hiding behind this show making it week after week and he wanted to be that person. He loved that there was a creator making this stuff that you’d want to discuss beyond the hour it was on.
• They talked about Eddie Kitsis being the guy who brought background characters to the fore, like Frogurt and Lapidus (getting the flaming arrow in Frogurt was Eddie’s favourite moment). He said Kitsis and Horowitz are the soul of Hurley. They have a very collaborative writing environment in the writers’ room. He said they never argue; it’s more like jury deliberation. You know the guy is guilty, you just have to convince everyone in the room to be on the same page.
• CC said “The greatest blessing of this show has been our partnership,” referring to Damon. Awwwwww....
• They said usually an ep takes a week and a half to break, and The Constant took 5 weeks. They showed the phone call from that episode, and when they came back DL looked really choked up. They said this was this mindbending episode that really challenged people and they realized the only way to keep the audience on board with the whole thing was to turn it into a love story at the end.
• They talked about how the premise of the show was that the characters were all solo acts and they needed each other to get over their stuff. AGAIN, it was reinforcing this idea of living together so you don’t die alone, which made me think differently about what is coming in the finale.
• What was your hardest plot choice? Killing Charlie. They said they tried to justify it (they even joked that they were like, “Um... Desmond’s actually been telling you that you were going to die for a LONG time, like, weren’t you listening??” but then they watched the episode and were absolutely in tears and realized that was a jerk thing to have done. ;)
• When asked about how fans seem to glom onto certain questions, they said they thought they’d explained or debunked certain things along the way but the fans don’t accept the explanation. For example, Aaron = special. The only person who ever said he was special was Richard Malkin, the psychic, and in the Eko episode they debunked him as a hoax, thereby removing the possibility that Aaron was special. He said the fans don’t accept that, and continue to think Aaron is special and that Malkin really meant it when he wanted Claire on that plane even though they’ve shown him up. This one really resonated with me, actually, because I’m sorry, but I’m in that fan camp simply because... what did Malkin have to gain by getting her on that plane? HE BOUGHT THE TICKET, for goodness’ sake. Why did he want her on that plane? Why did he give her money back? Why keep calling her in the middle of the night? There’s a difference between a hoax and a crazy person, and if he didn’t actually mean any of that then he’s a complete loon. Or it’s just really bad storytelling to deflect it, and I don’t think they’re bad storytellers. SO that was a little odd to me.
• They get asked “So... what’s up with Walt?” DL said, “Malcolm David Kelly is now 39 years old and six foot five!! By the end of the season you could hear that Peter Brady twitch of puberty in his voice and we were saying, ‘We gotta get that kid on a raft STAT!’” LOL!!!! As to whether or not Walt will appear in the finale? CC did give the answer. If you want to see it, just highlight the next line and you’ll see it, and otherwise you can move to the next question.
• YES. To which DL said, “Oh come ON, I say we’ll make a joke about Star Wars and it’s a spoiler, and you think THAT wasn’t?! Oh it is ON.”
• They showed the clip of the Miles/Hurley time travel argument, and said it was a re-enactment of the discussion they had in the writer’s room.
• When asked if they cast the parts for particular actors ever, DL said when writing the part of Ben, they said, “Who do we know who could convincingly play someone who was deceitful, untruthful...” and then a scream went up from the NYT audience because Michael Emerson walked onto the stage.
• Emerson was asked who his favourite person to act scenes with was, and he said recently he’s really enjoyed being paired with Jorge Garcia, because they’re polar opposites and it’s really interesting to have that... and this one delicious scene was... and then Jorge walked in. He joked, “I was standing backstage saying, ‘Do I go now? How about now?’ and the girl was shrugging and I was worried if I didn’t move soon Michael would start talking about working with someone else and I’d miss my window of opportunity.” HA!
• The next question was from a fan from Guelph, Ontario, and CC laughed and looked into the camera and said, “Hello all you fans out in Guelph! I hope there wasn’t too long a line!” Oh you JEST, CC, but I bet there was just as long a line in Guelph as anywhere else! GO GUELPH!!
• Now it moved to open mike questions (which always worry me... they should have been vetted.) They were asked, is a rule breakable? In S1 it looked like Smokey was going to kill John Locke by pulling him into the hole but Jack saved him. DL said he might not have killed him, and they talked around it and got past that one.
• They were asked a long-winded question about faith, and CC said the show has allowed them to illuminate their thoughts on faith, and the whole live together, die alone thing is where they went with it, that people form a community and find strength in that sense of common spirituality. On the show they lifted each other up (ooh, Desmond reference!!) To them that’s what’s important... finding the people to lift you up in this world.
• Re: Widmore: Coming on the freight he was going to do bad things because he felt remorse and anger at having to lose his son, but this past week he explained that Jacob visited him and he saw the error of his ways. DL said the way they wrote that was for the audience: We’ve given you all these clues over the years that Widmore is not to be trusted. Now we’re going to put this line in his mouth: Do you believe him? How are you going to use the stuff that you know to be true in this scene? So they’re leaving that up to us to see if we believe it or not. (Interestingly, I took it to be true because they played the Jacob music in the background, but now they’re suggesting maybe I shouldn’t have followed that musical cue; and also, DL referred to this as the scene of Widmore’s “demise,” where I was starting to wonder if the guy had been wearing a bullet-proof vest and wasn’t actually dead. Hm.)
• A fan asked specifically, “During the Tour de Stade scene (he’s referring to the scene where Desmond and Jack first met in the stadium) Desmond said, “You’ve got to lift it up, bruthah,” and he was hoping that would be a line that comes back in the finale. Again, for spoilerphobes, you have to highlight the next point to see Damon’s response.
• DL simply said, “You will not walk away from the finale disappointed.”
• Someone asked why they give away big surprises of guest stars in the opening credits (I’ll admit I was disappointed this week to see “Mira Furlan” in the credits because I would have LOVED the surprise of seeing Rousseau jump out of the car). He simply said, “If I were you guys, I’d hold up your hand to the bottom of the screen during the finale because it’s ALL going to be given away...” They said the obvious, that they’re contractually bound to put the actors’ names at the beginning, and they can’t tell an agent, “Oh, and by the way, we won’t be crediting your client in the show because we don’t want to ruin the surprise.” ;)
• Emerson said the best part of season 6 was getting to play two entirely different characters.
• Someone asked, “Why must there be a human presence on the island?” Damon said, “Wow. A softball.” Ha!! He said “Because the non-human presence would be boring.” He said in the Garden of Eden everything was lovely until humans screwed it up and they’re going with that. Jorge joked that there’s only one bird on the entire island, and then added, “He was special and killed off all the other birds.” HAHAHA!!!
• DL looked at Jorge and said, “You’re not just an actor on the show, but you’re a fan of the show. Why didn’t you want to ask us any questions after getting the full script?” Jorge thought about it for a second and said, “As a fan... I think I got it.” Big applause in the room.
• Jorge added, “Next fall, when you find that show you love, and you watch it, go into work the next day... and talk about Lost.” HAHAHAHA!!!
• I was annoyed by some of the questions, I’ll admit. Someone asked CC what his faith leanings were, and frankly I found that too personal and it had no bearing on the show. He handled it with grace. Someone else posited a theory about how the two timelines would come together and sort of put everyone on the spot, because if they say yes you NAILED it, then, um. Well. But if it’s wrong, they’ve eliminated a possible theory. I just thought these questions were STUPID.
• Someone asked what will ultimately be the significance of Eloise (like SERIOUSLY you can’t wait 3 more friggin’ days??) and they said when a character is inserted in the scene to catch people up really quickly on something, they call that the “Johnny the Explainer” character, and Eloise has been that for a few episodes.

And those for me were the main highlights. There was a lot more (best parts were all of DL’s geeky references, and them talking about how the two of them just sit and chat together in CC’s office over breakfast every morning) and it was SO much fun. You know, one of the things I’ll miss the most about Lost is these two. They’ve said that after the finale they will not be out there talking about it and doing interviews, and they want the audience to come to those conclusions. They’re not going to do the explaining for them. It was a great night. Thank you, Darlton!!

UPDATE: OMG, I can't believe I completely forgot to mention they showed us a clip from the FINALE!!!! For spoilerphobes, once again it's in white:

So Sawyer's hiding behind these bushes looking at Smokey by the well, and Ben comes up behind him and basically says, "Don't lurk, if you're here to join us, then join us." Sawyer rolls his eyes and wanders over with his hands up, and Smokey is his usual aloof self and asks Sawyer what he's doing. Sawyer said he heard Des was in the well so he was here to help him out. He leans over and says, "Looks like someone beat me to the punch. Oh well." Nice pun! So then Ben makes some caustic comment and Sawyer clocks him in the mouth with his elbow and it looks like Ben might have lost a few teeth or something, and then Locke says, "Do you know what I wanted with Desmond?" Sawyer says, "Sure, you probably wanted him to help you destroy the island." Smokey stands there, pause... as if, "Um... actually that was EXACTLY why. You totally ruined my Dum dum DUM!!! moment)" and then he says, "Exactly." And Sawyer says he's not that interested, and steps back, and Smokey looks at the shocked Ben, who's all, "Wait, WHAT? I didn't think you literally meant destroy the island, I thought that was figurative" and Smokey's all, "Oh, sorry... you mean because I promised to give you the island? Yeah... I forgot to mention it would be at the bottom of the ocean when you presumed ownership over it." and Ben looks pissed, and then someone (can't remember who) looks down at the base of the well in the dirt and says, "Hey, are those dog pawprints?" and they ARE and the whole audience just freaked out. I yelled out, "VINCENT!!!!" YAY!!! And that's where it ended.

CanadaAM Gets Lost

Here I am from this morning with Teddy and Ajay from Innerspace, talking about the end of Lost on CanadaAM. Go here to see the clip!

MediaBistro Interview

Hey all: I did an interview with GalleyCat at MediaBistro about an hour ago, and here's the podcast. We're going to do a second one on Monday morning to recap the show.

Lost Tribute Song

Hey y'all... just a heads up that I'm going to be on Canada AM tomorrow morning at 8:40, with Teddy and Ajay from Space. Tune in!!

And on Monday, Jesse David Weeks is going to be on the show, talking about his Lost tribute video. Jesse wrote and performed a song about Lost called "Answers," and the video is now up, directed by Jesse Hammond. Go here to watch the video. It's quite a lovely song... (Thanks for sending the link to me, Jesse!)

"I'll Never Be Lost Again"

Thanks to JS for this link... This is a rap laid over Michael Giacchino's score for Lost... I thought this would be kind of amusing, but it's a blend of funny, sad, nostalgic, and a deep love for our favourite show. This is brilliant, from the LOLs at 2:30 (seriously, I laughed out loud) to the sadness I felt when I realized they were pretty much explaining exactly how I felt: "Just like Sawyer loved Juliet but had to let her go/ Man that’s sorta how I feel when I think about this show..."



A beautiful, beautiful job by njusticeleague.

Me on Thursday

I'm going to be on CBC Radio's Q tomorrow at 10 (I have to be at the studio at 10, so it'll probably be a little after that). You can tune in to CBC Radio to hear, or go here and look for Q in the programming and listen live. The podcast will probably be posted in a day or two, so I can post it when it's ready. We'll be discussing the end of Lost, 24, and Law & Order (only one of those truly matters to me!)

Also, an article appeared in the Waterloo Chronicle today that featured me, which was so cool! I did the interview a few weeks ago, and it was fun to see it. You can go here to read the article.

And on Friday morning I'll be on CTV's Canada AM talking about Lost. Again, there will probably be a video segment put up online, but you can watch Canada AM and catch it. We'll be filming around 7:40, so it'll probably be around 8 or so.

And finally, I was filmed (while doing the Globe chat!) for CBC's The National for a segment about the end of Lost and the impact it's had, and that will air on Friday's edition of the show.

More to come! :)

Oh No... I'm Gonna Cry!

Thanks to Danielle for the link! :::sniffle:::

Lost 6.16 What They Died For

“That was where I was told I could summon the monster. That’s before I realized that it was the one summoning me.”

“We’re very close to the end, Hugo.” (Lost fans at home: "WAAAAAAH!!")

“Did you say there were some OTHER people to kill?”

“Maybe this is happening for a reason. Maybe you’re supposed to fix me.”

“I’ll do it. This is why I’m here. This is what I’m supposed to do.”

“I like to feel my feet on the ground. It reminds me that... I was human.”

Wow... the penultimate episode. SO close to the end... going into this episode, I’ve been doing a lot of media interviews this week and many of the interviewers are saying, “They have a LOT of ground to cover off in that finale, don’t you think??” But after this week’s episode, where many of the sideways people are coming together, where Jack has become Jacob’s official successor, where Ben has stepped up his game, where we now know what Smokey is up to... I think they’ve set the stage PERFECTLY for that finale. Wow... less than a week away and it’s all over. Thank god they made it count. I am now even more psyched for that finale than I was before. I didn’t think that was possible!!

Answers:
• Widmore works on Jacob’s side. Jacob recruited him off-island the same way he recruited Ilana.
• Jacob: “You were all flawed. I chose you because you were like me. You were all alone. You were all looking for something that you couldn’t find out there. I chose you because you needed this place as much as it needed you.”
• Kate’s name was crossed off because she was a mother.
• The cave names WERE Jacob’s, and he was the one crossing them off, even though we thought it was Smokey.
• Widmore brought Desmond to the island because he was immune to the electromagnetism. Still not clear why he needed that.
• Smokey wants to destroy the island.

Highlights:
• Manipulative, bad American accent Desmond!!!
• “We have to kill him Jack.” “I know.” Both my husband and I went, “OOOOH!!” loudly. Finally! ACTION!!
• Kate, Sawyer, Hurley, and Jack all standing on the beach looking out at the wreckage. There was something so melancholy about that scene, like you could see on all their faces the looks of what they’ve gone through over the past three years.
• Desmond beating the crap out of Ben and Ben seeing the other world. Holy CRAP, Desmond!!! I didn’t know he had it in him.
• Miles: “Well I lived in these houses 30 years before you did... otherwise known as last week.” LOL!
• Richard buried Alex. :::sniffle:::
• Miles, seeing the ancient door in Ben’s back room, “And what is that, a secreter room?”
• Ben and Widmore!! IN THE SAME ROOM!!
• The look on Desmond’s face when he ends up in the jail cell with Sayid, next to Kate.
• I was so excited when morose Sawyer referred to Locke as “Flocke,” but upon rewatch I think he said, “If Locke wanted...” and it just sounded like “Flocke.” False alarm.
• Petit Jacob!
• “Give me your walkie-talkies.” “Why?” “Because I asked.” HA!! (Actually, that would have been even better if Widmore had said, “Um... technically you DIDN’T ask. You demanded.”
• Holy Richard Alpert Smokey tackle!!! WTF was that?! Is he OK??
• Alex: “Why would someone want to hurt you? You’re like the nicest guy ever!” I LOVE how different Ben is in this world!!
• Rousseau!!! And she cleans up well! :)
• “Zoe... my name is Zoe, I’m...” SLICE!!!! YES!!!!!!!!!!!! Earlier in this episode when Richard and Ben had their guns pointed at her, I was yelling, “SHOOT. HER. WHAT are you WAITING for???” But this scene was so much better. I now find myself on Team Man in Black!!!
• Ben turning away in mock “I’m not listening” when Widmore says he doesn’t want him in the room.
• Ben shooting Widmore!!! “He doesn’t get to save his daughter.” Ben is BACK!!
• “Ben... you never cease to amaze me.”
• Jacob saying he crossed Kate off because she was a mother. I actually welled up when he said that, as if to suggest that motherhood is as important a job as protecting that island. Quite a thing to say, considering his mother. That was like the perfect Mother’s Day card from Darlton.
• “I thought that guy had a God Complex before.” Ha! Poor Sawyer, trying to make light of a difficult situation.
• I loved Jack agreeing to the job, bringing his character full circle from Christian telling Vincent, “My son has work to do” in the thirteenth mobisode. This moment had a real finality to it.
• Sayid referring to Desmond as the crazy person in the van. “I ran over a guy in a wheelchair.” “See what I mean?” LOL!
• Ana Lucia!!! She’s even more hardass in this world than the other one!!

Did You Notice?:
• OK, first of all, that previously on bit? PAINFUL. Did they really need to show me everything that broke my heart two weeks ago? Like I was going to forget it or something. Wah. Pain.
• Did anyone else notice that at breakfast they were all eating a cereal called “Super Bran”? Did anyone else laugh as hard as I did at that revelation? It’s weird, because this is the first season where I didn’t think Jack had something up his butt. :::snicker:::
• Claire’s pregnancy belly is SO fake. The season 1 belly looked real. This one does NOT.
• Jack stitching up Kate is reminiscent of Kate stitching up Jack in the pilot episode.
• Sawyer stares out at the water the way Locke and the Man in Black always did.
• That high school seriously needs 24-hour surveillance. (One nitpick: I doubt the students would be welcoming back a substitute teacher like he was some long-term prof who has shaped them for years.)
• Ben’s safe has a fridge light in it that comes on when he opens the door! ;)
• Widmore must have run that water a LONG time before taking a sip. Who exactly has been on the island to keep the plumbing working and the water clean??
• When Widmore talks about Jacob, you can hear the Jacob music playing in the background, as if to suggest Widmore is telling the truth.
• Ben’s injuries, from his facial lacerations right down to the broken left arm, are almost identical to the ones Desmond inflicted on the dock.
• When Ben looks in the mirror (mirror!) he has this weird sneer on his face and looks like some bully in a Norman Rockwell painting.
• I said in “Everybody Loves Hugo” that I wondered if the museum would end up being the place they’d all end up gathering at, and I was right!! It’s where the concert is being held. Jack and his kiddo, now Hurley, Sayid, Kate, Desmond... Miles and Charlotte, Pierre Chang (they’re going to get Sawyer’s butt there somehow... probably following Kate’s butt), and I can hope Eloise and Daniel and Penneh are among the guests. And... Jack’s wife. Watch... after all this speculation it’ll probably end up being Sarah. Ha!! Cannot WAIT!!!! Maybe the dinosaur bones will all come to life and will eat them all. And Hank Azaria will get into a battle of wits with Steve Coogan.
• Des asks Kate how she’s doing, and she mutters, “Terrific.” That was a word Charlie used in the pilot episode, and Frank Lapidus said it again when he realized the plane wasn’t going to Guam.
• Sawyer accepting responsibility for the deaths, and Jack telling him it wasn’t his fault. That was a lovely bromance scene.
• Jacob is sitting next to the fire, and those red flowers are next to him (they usually appear in a scene that’s particularly foreboding and often ends in death).
• “You’ve got one hand. You look like Napoleon.” That line would have been funny if they hadn’t already beaten home the BEN IS NAPOLEON idea in “Dr. Linus,” where he had the entire classroom lecture on how Napoleon got the island but he didn’t have any power and so it was useless, yadda yadda.
• “We insist!! Even if we have to kidnap you.” LOL sideways world role reversal!!
• OMG could you imagine Rousseau and Ben hooking up???
• Ben has always felt close to Alex, but the fact he tears up when Rousseau talks about him being a father figure suggests that maybe the emotions from the other world are shifting over into that one, even if the actual circumstances surrounding them haven’t broken through yet. He definitely looks at Rousseau differently when she’s up close, like he knows her somehow.
• “You don’t need to see this.” “I wanna see this.”
• Smokey to Widmore on Zoe: “You told her not to talk to me. That made her pointless.” Sorry to break it to you Smokey, but she was pointless LONG before you cut her throat.
• Jacob says he only has until the fire burns out, and I turned to my husband and said, “It would really suck if there was suddenly a flash rainshower right now!!” ;)
• The cuts on Locke’s face when he goes to see Jack are in the same spots as the ones he had in “The Life and Death of Jeremy Bentham” when he was hit by the car.
• Locke says he was hit by a car, and “of all of the doctors in Los Angeles I ended up with you.” This is what he says to Jack in “Bentham,” but Jack, who’s strung out and high and hates Locke, freaks out and says that’s crazy talk and refuses to listen to him. In this scene you can tell Jack’s not completely on board, but he tolerates what Locke says. Then Locke keeps on talking, and when he says, “Maybe this is happening for a reason,” a line he said over and over in the other world, the line that made Jack go NUTS, Jack simply says here, “Maybe you’re mistaking coincidence for fate.” In “What Kate Did,” Locke marvels at the fact that Eko brought the missing piece of orientation film, and Eko says, “Don’t mistake coincidence for fate.” In “The Cost of Living,” Desmond remarks that a plane crashing on the top of the Pearl station was quite a coincidence, and Locke, whose faith was shaken when the hatch exploded, responds, “Don’t mistake coincidence for fate.” Jack saying it to Locke in this world doesn’t actually make Locke rise to the fight... he simply says, “Call it what you will” and they continue to have their conversation. It’s interesting that they’re not at each other’s throats in this world.
• I loved Jacob’s blunt, “No you weren’t” when Sawyer said he was just fine before Jacob bugged him.
• Jacob says he wants to give all of them the choice, because he didn’t have one. Kate says but what if none of us chooses it. He says it’ll end badly. So... it’s not really a choice, is it? SOMEONE has to do it, and all four can’t walk away.
• I ♥ Jack.
• “Now you’re like me.” This is what Mommie Dearest said to Jacob last week.
• You know what? If the only world I had to go on was the sideways world, I’d be a Skater all the way. LOVE the flirtation between them in this world!!
• Smokey refers to Desmond as Widmore’s “failsafe”... the reason Desmond is the way he is, is because he turned the failsafe key in the Swan station.

So Many Questions...
• What does that red gash on the side of Jack’s neck signify? He saw it in the mirror on the airplane in “LA X,” and now he sees it again, like it’s fresh and gaping again. It doesn’t look like he cut himself shaving... could it be some indication of the two worlds opening to each other?
• The sideways world opens on Jack’s eye... is it possible that now that he’s the new Jacob, he actually creates this world somehow? Could this entire world be something that exists in his head? Or something he gave the world as a gift?
• Holy crap, was Desmond planning on running over Locke AGAIN?! How many times does he have to mow the guy down to make him see the light? Why is it so hard to get Locke to see the other side?
• Did Miles get any message or a feeling from Alex when he stepped over her? He says to Ben, “I don’t think...” but never finishes.
• Is Desmond’s hair darker in this world?
• Any police officers out there reading this? Would men and women be in cells where they could see each other in lockup? What if one had to go to the bathroom?
• Why does little Jacob appear to Hurley? Why not just appear as his older self? Is there a reason to use the child version?
• Does Ben really want the island all to himself? Or is he also working on ulterior motives aligning himself with Smokey?
• Does anyone know what the Latin incantation is that Jacob says?
• What happens when someone drinks the water? Does Jack end up having some longterm island memory, like he’s now aware of everything that’s ever happened?
• What is Desmond going to ask Sayid and Kate to do?
• Why is Ana Lucia not ready yet? Is this just a convenient device not to involve her?
• Why are there different degrees of visions? Ben has the vision of being hit but nothing else, yet Hurley totally knows Ana Lucia.
• How is Smokey going to use Desmond to destroy the island? And... doesn’t that kind of cancel off the promise he made to Ben that if Ben helps him he’ll let him have the island??

Me tomorrow:
I’m on Facebook! I will be doing a lot of media in the coming days, and I’ll be posting the updates here on my Facebook page, so tune in!

I’m also on Twitter. I’m bad at tweeting, though. I twit infrequently. ;)

Tomorrow listen in to Marshall and Forbes on The Ocean 98.5 in Victoria, BC at 7:10 a.m. local time, 10:10 a.m. EST. Go here and click on the Listen Now button if you’re out of the listening area.

And tomorrow at noon I will once again be participating in the Globe and Mail Lost chat from noon to 1pm EST. Go here to ask questions and comment. See you there!

And finally, listen to KEX 1190 at 6:20 p.m. PST, 9:20 p.m. EST where I’ll be on the Mark & Dave show (and they’re big Lost fans so it’s always fun). Go here and click the Listen Now button:


Next week:
My brother emailed me to say, “Why did they get E.T.’s mom to do the voiceover on the commercial at the end?” HAHAHAHA!!!!! I would post the YouTube clip, but the entire site appears to be down. I’ll try posting it tomorrow.

While You Wait for Lost...

I wasn't going to do one of these today, and then it occurred to me that it will probably be the last one that I do... :::sniffle::: (I'm having one of those days, where the end of Lost is actually hitting me like a baseball bat to the stomach). So... it's time for T-shirt mania!!




Threadless has some awesome new Lost-themed shirts... you can get the new smoke monster-themed one, or the 108 Objects on Flight 815 (I already ordered that one). Go here to see what they've got, and pick one up... they're super cheap!





TeeFury, the shop where they only offer one $9 shirt per day, has a great one up today (yeah, I ordered it too...) featuring Daniel, Desmond, and a DeLorean. Delightful, Delicious, De-Lovely!! (OK, I'll stop.) You have until midnight tonight to order one, and then they're gone forever.


And finally, Damon tweeted on the weekend that there are limited edition shirts available at DamonCarltonandapolarbear.com. I immediately went on, found one I loved, and got all the way to the final page to order it... only to find out they're charging $22 to ship to Canada. Twenty-two dollars?! It's not a freakin' desk, it's a shirt. I wanted that $25 shirt, but I didn't want to spend double that on it. So I decided I wouldn't even post on it because Canadians were being discriminated against. And now I have a change of heart only because I know most of my readers are Americans, and I'd love for all of you to know about it. Buy one, wear it, and think of me. ;)

And now, off to brace myself for the final LOST Tuesday. :::bottom lip quivering:::

Lost Haiku: Across the Sea

I would first like to wish a happy birthday to Josh Winstead, a regular commenter here and the guy who sent me those awesome CDs I talked about a few months back!! Happy birthday, Josh! :)

It's that time again! Time to haiku it up on a Tuesday. Tonight's episode, based on the non-spoilery response from fans who got to see it at the LOST Live event last week, should be awesome. And then... there's just a finale this Sunday. Wow. Amazing that this season flew by so quickly!!

Two babies. Two sides.
One in light clothes, one in dark.
They’re screwed from the start.

“You have given birth
To two beautiful new sons!
I’m so sorry.” WHAM!

“I love you. You were
My favourite. You’re special.
I’m so sorry.” WHAM!

So.... Jacob. You’re not...
special, per se. But you’re here.
Do you want a job?

“Is the light good, Mom?
Or bad?” “It’s good AND bad. Both.”
“Thanks for the vagueness.”

My life after LOST:
Curled up, fetal position,
Crying and unable to properly come up with the right number of syllables for haiku.

New True Blood Book and Trailer!

First, I'd love to direct you to a new companion guide (with a seriously divine cover), formatted much like mine are (in other words, it's awesome, heehee) by new writer Becca Wilcott. I love this book, LOVE it, and it's made me look at the show in an entirely new way. It's called Truly, Madly, Deadly: The Unofficial True Blood Companion and you can click the name of it to go and order it. It is seriously fantastic, featuring interviews with Charlaine Harris and PAM (!!), the Twitter True Blood players, various True Blood bloggers, and the episode guide is amazing. Plus, it's filled with many photos taken on the sets. I can't recommend this book highly enough.

AND... if you're in the Toronto area, the launch of the book is going to be on June 1 from 7-11pm at Czehoski (678 Queen Street West). It's an alter-ego party, so you show up, write your alter-ego onto a Hello My Name Is sticker, and that's who you are for the rest of the night. Always wanted to be Buffy? Go ahead and write her down!! But don't be surprised if the vampire alter-egos stay far far away from you. (But please do me a favour and stake all the Edwards. Thanks.)

I'm going to be there (I won't tell you yet who my alter-ego is going to be!) so I hope you can come, too!

And now that I've got your attention, it's time for the new True Blood trailer! I know where I'm gonna be on June 13...

Across the Sea Drawing...

Hey guys! I just got this from Kevie, who's a regular poster here (and one of the people who showed up to the NYC Nik at Nite meetup!) and I thought it was amazing.



Go to his blog to see more of his artwork. I hope you're inspired after tomorrow night's ep and the finale again, Kevie!!

"Recon" Revisited

Starting today and going through to May 25, I'll be working from home, trying to make a dent in my Finding Lost: Season 6 guide (now available for pre-order!!) So over the next week, either the blog will be really quiet, or, more likely, I'll be procrastinating so much I'll be putting up new posts every 3 minutes.

Today I was watching some of the episodes again and making my extensive notes. I'm just watching "Recon" now and I've come to the scene where Smokey is on the beach talking to Kate. And in light of "Across the Sea," I found his comments to her even more intriguing now than I did then. Here is what he said:

“You referred to me as a dead man. I am not a dead man. I know what you’re feeling, I know what you’re going through. Because my mother was crazy. Long time ago, before I looked like this, I had a mother just like everyone, she was a very disturbed woman, and as a result of that, I had some growing pains. Problems that I’m still tyring to work my way through. Problems that could have been avoided, had things been different.”

When Kate asks Smokey why he's telling her all of this, he says, "Because now, Aaron? He has a crazy mother, too."

We now know that yes, he had a mother who was disturbed enough, in his mind, to kill his real mother, to raise two boys under a supernatural influence, to deny him a name, and to thwart every effort he made to allow him to leave the island. We saw how torn up he was when he killed his mother, and by killing her he suffered the consequences at the hand of Jacob.

But he clearly states he's not dead. We saw the Man in Black's body, and when Jacob laid it in the caves it looked quite dead, but Smokey doesn't think so. I've commented before that Smokey definitely has a lot of John's personality. And on the beach in "The Incident," he has the brother's personality. So the question is, did the Man in Black actually die? Or is his soul alive in the smoke monster, and if his soul is still alive, can he truly be dead? Is John Locke still alive?

Week after week, we flip flop on who is good, who is evil. But neither one of them is truly good or truly evil. They're both. They're like all of us -- we might have a lot of good in us, but we also make mistakes. We love people, we hurt people. Inadvertently or on purpose. Smokey has killed and he's vengeful, a much larger and more powerful version of Sawyer, but he's also hurting. He lives with the guilt of having killed his mother, and the knowledge of what his brother did to him. He feels hurt and betrayed, and here he says he wishes things had been different.

What do you make of this scene in light of what we find out in "Across the Sea"?

Jacob and His Bro Play Connect Four... Million

Here It Comes...

Get your tissues ready, and prepare for the goosebumps. It's theblackbox's trailer for the series finale. Amazing, amazing, work... thank you so much for sending it to me!!!

People Making a Difference

We're in the final stretch of Lost, but I'm hoping you'll let me talk about something non-Lost for a minute... something very important, actually.

A couple of years ago I wrote a blog post about the extraordinary son of a friend of mine, James Brooks. At the age of 10 he was eschewing birthday gifts and organizing fundraisers to raise money for the endangered bonobo ape in Africa. From there he developed the Ape Aware website, devoted to saving the apes from being hunted to eventual extinction. He then expanded his efforts when he learned about what was happening in Eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo, and he founded 1000Classrooms , where he goes to classrooms and tries to get children to raise funds so the widows of slain park rangers can buy eggs to sell so they can support their families. To date, he has raised enough money for 25,000 eggs, has educated people on ape preservation, and has met with Jane Goodall. He is one incredible kid.

And now the Me to We organization is offering awards for young people raising social awareness, and I'm asking you, gentle readers, to take a couple of minutes and go vote for James. The winner will get $5000 to be given to the charity of their choice, and that will buy an AWFUL lot of eggs for those widows and allow James to spread the word of ape preservation far and wide.

Please take a minute to go here and vote before May 27. James is in the 13-17 age category. Be sure, while you're there, to read what people have done in the other categories and cast your votes all around (it will really put a smile on your face to see the extraordinary efforts of these people!). Once you've cast your vote, you simply write your name and email address. An email will be sent to you, you'll confirm your vote by clicking the button, and voila, you're done.

Here is the appeal directly from James. I hope you can find the time to do this for him. Thank you!!

I am James and I am 13 years old and I really hope you can vote for me for the 2010 “Youth in Action ME to WE Award.” I am one of three finalists in my category and the winner will be decided by an online vote from May 13-27, 2010.

I have done all I can to help apes and the people who live near them. My 1000classrooms project gives an income to widows of Park Rangers who have been killed protecting gorillas in the Democratic Republic of the Congo; feeds hungry children; protects endangered gorillas; and saves their rain forest habitat. Also, it educates 1000’s of Canadian kids about the threats to people, animals, and the environment in Africa. You can read more if you visit www.1000classrooms.org.

I really want to win this award because there will be a $5000 donation to a charity of my choice and the widows, kids, and gorillas REALLY need our help. Also, it will get more attention to the horrors in the Congo and raise even more money. Your vote could save lives! Also, I think ME to WE is a great organization.

Thank you for considering voting for me. PLEASE PASS THIS ON TO ALL YOUR FRIENDS WHO MIGHT VOTE!

USA Today... Today!

I was quoted in today's issue of USA Today, apparently off the front. Go Lost! Go here to read the full story about what fans will do now that Lost is coming to an end (I'm the lead quote, yay!!! And then I'm quoted again right at the end).

The Lost Finale: After the Show

Yes, I know many of you will be tuning into the Jimmy Kimmel Live show immediately following the Lost finale, where the cast and writers will be on it, but I'm now going to boldly suggest that you PVR that puppy and instead come and discuss your immediate reaction to the Lost finale with me and two others!

Yes, folks, despite having a giant black X on my calendar over the hours following the finale for, oh, about 6 years (to hold the spot for crying, screaming, mourning, and general curling-up-in-a-ball-in-a-fetal-positioning), CTV.ca, the official website for the Canadian broadcaster of Lost, has talked me into participating in a live online chat where myself, Andrew Ryan (the TV critic extraordinaire who does the Globe live chats with me) and always entertaining Lainey Liu will be trying to form coherent thoughts and helping to guide you through your Post-Finale-Stress-Disorder. I hope you'll be able to come and check it out! (And yes, I'll be posting reminders leading up to it... with shaking, sweating hands as the clock begins to count down to the finale...)

Thursday Morning Smile

My work colleague just looked up at me and said,

Knock, knock.
Who's there?
Every question I answer will lead to more questions...

HAHAHA! Now we're both giggling like loons. (This is one of the many #Lostjokes on Twitter right now... go check it out!)

Lost 6.15 "Across the Sea"

“Every question I answer will lead to another.”

“What’s dead?” “Something you will never have to worry about.”

“We are here for a reason.”

“Life... death... rebirth... it’s the source. The heart of the island.”

Whoa... uh... whoa. Um. Hm. How do I find words for that episode??

My husband and I just had a brief chat following the ep about whether an episode like this one, that reveals a lot of answers, is something I write more about or less? Or is it something where I just state the answers and say, “Cool, speculation on THAT one is over” slap hands together “looking forward to next week!”

I really enjoyed this episode. I didn’t find it to be quite the epic story that “Ab Aeterno” was, and there were actually a couple of scenes I thought dragged a wee bit, but we saw SO much of the island origins in this one... this is the one where, if you were to show a non-Lost fan, you’d pretty much ruin the entire series for them. Let’s not make this one the one we try to recruit new fans with, OK?

I’ve said it since season 1: The dominant theme of this show is black and white. And when you mix the two, you get grey. I think this episode finally showed us sympathy for the Man in Black, but also for Jacob. Neither one is good, neither is evil.

Answers:
• Jacob and “Jacob’s Brother” are... brothers.
• Smokey wasn't lying when he told Kate his mom was crazy.
• The kids we saw in the jungle really were the two boys as kids (EVERYONE told me that second one was just an older Jacob when I said it was probably the Boy in Black).
• The Frozen Donkey Wheel was somehow constructed by Smokey (since he didn’t actually make it before Brother died) as a way of getting off the island, but he couldn’t use it for some reason.
• The source of immortality seems to be in the wine that Mom gives to Jacob, the same wine that he gives to Richard Alpert. The same wine bottle that Smokey smashed.
• Smokey was created when Jacob actually killed his brother and turned him into some sort of smokey essence, forever trapped on the island and having an existence worse than death.
• Adam and Eve are Brother and Mom.
• The Man in Black has actually been dead in every scene we’ve seen him in so far... didn’t see THAT coming.

Highlights:
• “Every question I answer will lead to another.” Anyone else feel like that was Damon and Carlton addressing us directly??
• I loved Brother referring to spots on the island where “metal behaves strangely.”
• The Frozen Thawed-Out, Newly Carved Donkey Wheel!!
• Mom pulling out the two stones!! I yelled out loud, “OH MY GOD, SHE’S EVE!!” Husband: “Who’s Eve?” Me: “Sigh.”
• The birth of Smokey was pretty frakkin’ awesome.
• Adam and Eve!!! Thankyouthankyouthankyou... though it wasn’t Adam and Eve after all... more Eve and Cain.

Did You Notice?:
• Seeing a pregnant woman crawling out of the ocean immediately brought to mind Rousseau, and made me wonder about any possible connections. Just as this woman comes to the island and gives birth, Rousseau comes to the island and does the same. Smokey kills the rest of her team, but she is preserved (though driven mad by the circumstances). The baby goes over to the Others, and is ultimately killed. You’d think Smokey would do anything he could to preserve the one baby who arrived on the island – from across the sea, like him.
• The woman was wearing a red dress. Is that some old-fashioned, female version of a red ensign shirt? Same end result.
• And then CJ from The West Wing comes running out!!! I half-expected her to hold a press conference about the ship crash, carefully averting questions that might hurt her reputation in important political circles.
• When Island CJ first shows up, you can hear the whispers.
• The mother’s name is “Claudia,” which actually means lame or disabled in Latin.
• The other brother (who remains UNNAMED, like Claudia only had one name and Island CJ didn’t know what “names” were so she went with “Jacob” as the one name and “your brother” as the other) was hairy, compared to Jacob. At that moment I was convinced they were going to say his name was Esau.
• There was a subtle nod to history repeating itself. Island CJ delivers Claudia’s babies, and then takes them from her. Kate delivers Claire’s baby, and then raises him. CJ uses herbs and plants a garden the same way Sun did.
• Right from the beginning, the distinction between the brothers seems to be that Jacob is content with his lot in life, where the Bruthah in Black is the guy who believes there’s something else out there and longs to see it. He’s the ambitious one.
• Anyone else think “Two players, two sides, one white, one black” when the boys began playing their game?? It also made me wonder if my season 6 cover should be a black stone and a white stone instead...
• The "So... do you want to play or don't you, Jacob?" certainly set up the idea of the island as a colossal game between two big players. Later, the "One day you can make up your own game and everyone else will have to follow your rules" was pretty awesome, too. The number of times they showed these two playing a game certainly made our poor Oceanic survivors look like nothing more than pawns.
• The boy wants to know if there’s somewhere else across the sea. The term “Across the Sea” was repeated throughout (and not just to drive home the title) which immediately brought to mind that season 1 episode where Shannon sat on the beach and sang “La Mer,” the French version of the song “Beyond the Sea” that she always heard in Finding Nemo. The song has been referenced a couple of times, but that was the most obvious one. Did she become a target when she sang that?
• “You are special.” So the Bruthah in Black is referred to the same way as John Locke and Walt. Smokey originally looked like Bruthah, then John Locke, but Walt is also tied into both of them through Shannon (who sang “La Mer”) and appearing to John Locke.
• Anyone else have Xena flashbacks when they saw the getups of the men killing the boar?
• Island Mama says, “They come, they fight, they destroy, they corrupt, and it always ends the same,” which is what the Man in Black said in “The Incident” when sitting on the beach with Jacob. Interesting that he would quote the woman who destroyed his life, in a sense.
• Brother can see dead people... which now links him to Hurley. Is Hurley special, too? Would Miles count in that category? (He doesn’t see them, but talks to them.)
• Brother leaves Mom and Jacob chooses to stay with her. Being on the island seems to always be about choosing sides, whether, in season 1, you stayed with Sayid on the beach or went to the caves with Jack, or followed Jack in season 4 or Locke, or choose to do Jacob’s bidding or the Man in Black’s in season 6... it’s always about sides. Alpert was torn between the two sides when he first came, too. Again, it pulls in the metaphor of this show of black and white, good and evil, and the choices we make on a daily basis to do good or succumb to temptations.
• Island CJ tells Jacob, “I needed you to stay good.” She convinces him in this scene that he’s the good guy... does that make him the good guy? Contrast this scene on a log on the beach with the previous one with the Brother in Black... in that scene she tells him how special he is. Allison Janney plays the role beautifully... you can really see the contrast in the way she looks at the two boys, and can tell that she really does have a preference for the Brother.
• I often heard the whispers whenever the camera would flash by the mother.
• The dagger that Brother throws is the same one Dogen had, and the same one he asked Alpert to kill Jacob with.
• Brother seems angry after spending 30 years with the people (who are distinguished from themselves as being greedy and manipulative and selfish, as if Jacob and Brother don’t possess those faults as well) and Jacob seems to inhabit goodness, but only in his naivety.
• When I saw Brother stoking the charcoal in the fire, I was a little worried there would be a Peter Parker-type of incident where he’d be thrown in the fire and emerge a... smoke monster. (Nope, that was to come a little later!!)
• When Mama and Jacob go to the light in the cave at night, it seems much dimmer than it had been in the day, as if the light is going out because of her becoming tired.
• Jacob had used the wine bottle as the metaphor of the island... in the scene where he drinks from it, she uncorks the wine bottle, giving us the insinuation she’s actually doing something bad here, and not good, in the context of Jacob’s speech in “Ab Aeterno.”
• Jacob wants to stay on the island, and Brother wants to leave. What a strange island that the smokey essence of Brother now looks like Locke, the one person who did not want to leave the island.
• “There’s a storm coming.” “Yes there is.” And the award for Line with Most Obvious Use of Foreshadowey Symbolism goes to...
• Did anyone else think, when Brother stood among the burning huts gritting his teeth, “And THAT, kids, is how Anakin became Darth Vader!”
• I thought the dying tilt of Mom’s head was a little forced. “Thank you...” YOINK to the immediate right. It seemed like a death scene I’d watch in a high school play.
• Seeing Brother lying in the water reminded me of when Boone found Shannon in the water in “Hearts and Minds.”
• So I remember back when Jack found the bodies in the cave, he said by the state of decomposition the bodies had been dead for 50 or 60 years. Um... either he TOTALLY sucked in autopsy class or the bodies decomposed at such a slow rate because of the healing properties of the island, or because she was ageless. But HE wasn’t ageless, so...
• I think I’m kind of in love with Titus Welliver.

So Many Questions...
• Jacob only calls him “Brother,” making him sound an awful lot like a certain Scot on the island. Could that be a link to Desmond?
• At this point I’m assuming this section won’t be answered if it’s minor... but what happened to Island CJ’s mother? She said, “She’s dead” and I wonder if she killed her somehow? Does the cycle just continue? Was she ageless like CJ and Jacob?
• How did the boys possibly not notice another tribe on the island for 13 years? Not sure I buy that one.
• So what exactly is the light in the cave? It looks beautiful, she says it’s the warmest, brightest light you’ve ever seen, but no one must ever find it. She says a little bit of that light is inside every man, but they always want more. So what is it? Goodness? Evil? Testosterone? It sounds like it’s good, but then look what it does at the end? And how would it be able to get them off the island via the Frozen Donkey Wheel Express? Mom says if the light goes out here, it goes out everywhere, and they have to preserve it, which would suggest it’s a good thing...? Will it be explained, or will it be like the glow in the briefcase that Vincent Vega opens in Pulp Fiction? Or in the trunk in Repo Man?
• How old is the mother? She doesn’t age physically, but I wonder how many years? -- decades? centuries? -- she was there before the boys arrived?
• OK, gaming experts: Is that a real game that Jacob and his brother are playing? Is it a primitive form of chess? Checkers? Go?
• If being near the light does something to you worse than death, then when Brother lets the beam of light into the room, why doesn’t anything happen? How did having that light travel through Ben and Locke change them in some way when they jumped off the island via FDW Express?
• How did the donkey wheel end up frozen?
• So... did Smokey then take the form of the dead Brother and that’s what we saw in “The Incident” talking to Jacob and “Ab Aeterno” talking to Richard? If he’s dead, why is he still longing to leave the island? In what form could he do that?
• The synopsis for this episode on my PVR was, “John Locke’s motives are finally revealed.” Really? That makes it sound obvious. So... his motives for killing all those people is to get off the island and... wait, we already knew that LAST week. How did this episode clarify any of that?


Me tomorrow:
I’m on Facebook! Come and find me. I am here. :)

Tomorrow listen in to Marshall and Forbes on The Ocean 98.5 in Victoria, BC at 7:10 a.m. local time, 10:10 a.m. EST. Go here and click on the Listen Now button if you’re out of the listening area.

And tomorrow at noon I will once again be participating in the Globe and Mail Lost chat from noon to 1pm EST. Go here to ask questions and comment. See you there!

And finally, listen to KEX 1190 at 6:20 p.m. PST, 9:20 p.m. EST where I’ll be on the Mark & Dave show (and they’re big Lost fans so it’s always fun). Go here and click the Listen Now button.

Next week:
I joked when they announced “The End” would be the title of the finale, “How long before they start using the Doors’ song in previews?” Apparently... right about now. ;)

While You Wait for Lost...

I haven't been posting on my readers' blogs much lately, and I really should. This will be the "Nik at Nite NYC Meetup" edition!

Sonshine Music's blog

Blam's blog (he thought I didn't read it... I actually read it all the time but I'm totally crap at leaving comments, and really need to do that!)

AchingHope's blog

Kevin's blog (I've posted one of his Locke pics here... his drawings are extraordinary)

Jeff Heimbuch's blog

TV Writer's blog (and seriously, listen to her and watch Friday Night Lights... BEST SEASON EVER is happening RIGHT NOW)

***
Now, this next segment is thanks to Blam, who wrote something on the haiku post that made me laugh and laugh and laugh. And then I continued laughing. So now, here is my attempt at rewriting the opening of Yellow Submarine in light of last week's episode. I invite you to add your own verses to follow!!

On the isle where he was born,
Lived a man, all dressed in black.
And he tried to win us all
In the land of HOLY FRAK.

So we ran, like bloody freaks
Till we found the pier of green,
And as bullets flew o’er our heads
We were “safe” in a submarine.

We all died in a shallow submarine
Shallow submarine, shallow submarine.
We all died in a shallow submarine
Shallow submarine, shallow submarine.

***

And finally, I want to share with you my new little desk companion... when I got to the restaurant for the meetup, Rebecca "Sonshine Music" told me she had a little gift for me. I opened the little package, and THIS was waiting for me!!!



That's right... it's my own little Desmond!!! HEEHEE!! He's crocheted and... oh, I wish I were craftier but I'm not and I have no idea how she made it (maybe she'll help me out with how she made it) but he even has his little blue shirt undone at the top!!! Oh my GOD I love it, thank you so much Rebecca!!! Big hugs. (But I have to tell you my daughter's reaction when I showed her... "Is that supposed to be YOU, Mommy??" HAHAHAHA!!)

Lost Haiku: The Candidate

So, I have some interesting news for y'all! (Thanks to Josh for pointing me in the direction of it.) Jimmy Kimmel tweeted the other day that the post-Lost finale show is completely sold out, BUT they have three pairs of tickets to whomever can come up with the best Lost-themed haiku!!!! Um, first of all... copying us much? And second of all... isn't that hella awesome??!! As Josh said, Nik at Niters have WAY more experience and practice in the way of Lost-themed haiku, and I think you should all enter and enter vigorously. Other than tweeting about it, the contest is not yet up on ABC.com, so you'll just have to wait (Jimmy offered it through Twitter, and then immediately followed up saying the suits at ABC were now putting together strict rules and regulations for the contest and to stay tuned). So keep your eyes peeled for that going up... I'm assuming it's only open to people in the US, but fingers crossed that everyone can enter!!

And now without further ado, my own lame haikus here as placeholders for the vastly superior ones you guys will offer up!!

I don’t remember
A thing that happened before
The sub just went boom.

OMG, SAYID!!
And...Lapidus? No... NO NO!!
SUN AND JIN?! Sobbing...

Sob, sniffle sniffle.
I’m OK. Is Hurley crying???
SOB... cry weep tears mess.

I’d rather Ji Yeon
Be raised by Ben or Widmore
Than be raised by Paik.

The NYC Nik at Nite Meetup!!

I had a blast tonight finally getting to meet some of my readers. SonshineMusic had joked recently that maybe we'd all get together and everyone would stare at their plates and not say anything, but it wasn't that way at all. It was a fantastic group of people. We met at 7, but Jeff and Blam got held up in traffic (I made a joke that Blam spent more time in the Lincoln Tunnel than Larry Underwood did, but I don't think anyone got it). So at 8:15 we asked to be seated... at 8:23 Jeff and his girlfriend showed up, and at 8:42 Blam arrived. At least I think those were the times. Hmm... Something seems important there but I'm just not getting it.

Here's the gang!!



They are, from right to left: Jeff Heimbuch; some interloper who insisted on being in the picture; Sonshine Music; AchingHope; TV Writer, Blam, JoanieG, and Kevie.

It's 12:30 now and I'll have a lot more to write later, but I just wanted to say thank you to everyone who came out... we had a blast!!

Now Available for Pre-Order!

My Finding Lost: Season 6 book (due out in November) is now available for pre-order from Amazon.com. This is the last one, guys, the one I'm working on right now. Aside from the ep guides it will (so far) have chapters in The Stand, Paradise Lost, Haroun & the Sea of Stories, and Dostoevsky's Notes from the Underground. Probably some Faust and Chopin thrown in for good measure. ;) And much, much more... but I usually finalize the table of contents after the finale, so I'll keep ya posted.

Click here to pre-order, or click on the link on the lefthand side of the page that I've put up. I hope you like it!

UPDATE: Hello everyone! I'm just responding to the questions in the comment section: Yes, I will be offering signed copies of the book from the copies that I get. The shipping is higher, so I always warn everyone to take that into consideration, but it'll be cost of book plus mailing costs (depending on shipping prices at the time, about $3 in Canada, $7 in the U.S. and $14 to anywhere else). Or you could buy a copy through Amazon and try to find me somewhere in the world when I'm traveling! :) So yes, I'll be doing the signed copy thing for anyone interested in that. Thanks for asking!

6.14 The Candidate

“You saved John’s life. Why can’t that be enough?”
“Because it’s not.”

“Because it’s going to be you, Jack.”

“I won’t leave you. I will never leave you again.”

OK, a few weeks ago I wrote a blubbery and passionate response to “Ab Aeterno,” because it was one of the most epic hours of television I’d ever seen. A friend of mine emailed me right before tonight’s episode and said, “Make sure you have Kleenex handy” (he works at the TV station and gets to see the ep a few hours early) and I thought, “Uh oh...” But then it opened with John Locke in a hospital bed and Jack standing over him grinning and I thought, Oh! Maybe he meant tears of joy!!

NO. He most certainly did NOT mean tears of joy. The writers took out not one, not two, but FOUR major characters in one fell swoop. Sayid, like Titus in Edward Gorey’s “Gashlycrumb Tinies” poem, flew into bits. (WAAAAAH!!) And like a certain major character in the series finale of Buffy who’s sort of cut in half with a sword in the midst of battle and it happens so fast we have no time to mourn, it HAPPENED SO FAST WE HAD NO TIME TO MOURN!! There was no sad music, no montage of Sayidness, no characters saying, “Poor Sayid,” no tears, no tearful goodbyes, no body... NOTHING. Oh, Sayid. Let’s pause for a moment before dwelling on the major death scene and say goodbye to this character (and also lend our condolences to redeem147 and Joan...). This is a man who was a torturer, but he tortured himself more than he ever did anyone else. He loved with his whole being, and he hated what he did for a living. He died, and then came back an empty shell of his former self (perhaps THAT was his true death back then?) and only when Desmond talked to him did we see the tiniest shaft of light shine out of his eyes once again. He remembered who he used to be, he remembered that he loved, and he loved mightily, and he spared Desmond, and his final act is a heroic one, jumping on the grenade, so to speak, to save everyone else. Yes, the old Sayid was in there, knowing how a bomb worked, knowing he couldn’t do anything about it, and putting himself before the others. From the moment they arrived on that island, Sayid did everything in his power to get them off. And now, in his final act, he ensured that some of them would live to maybe see their way off the island some day.

And then, Lapidus was conked unconscious and we can probably presume he died, unless he washes up on shore next week. Don’t count him out yet, because he certainly didn’t get any final heroic scenes, but on the other hand, he was peripheral compared to everyone else on that sub, so it wouldn’t surprise me if he were dead.

But... that scene. Oh, that scene. For me, the most painful death has always been Charlie’s. We watched his final act, we saw the water pour in around him, we saw him cross himself and say goodbye to Desmond, and then float upwards in quiet death. The piano, the mournful violin, it all came together in a spectacular feat of sadness that I was gutted. But this? This topped it. OK, maybe, as I wrote in my notes (and then my brother immediately emailed me after) it was a little too Titanic, with Rose letting go of Jack’s hand. But I don’t care. It was beautiful. And YES I kept thinking, “Oh my GOD if you both die, then Ji Yeon will grow up an orphan and she will be raised by the Paiks. THE PAIKS!!!” But were they really ever going to get off that island anyway? Probably not. The beauty in that moment was how they died. I was really unhappy when they were reunited and spoke English (??!!) instead of their native Korean, a language that Jin would still be thinking in, and one that Sun has used almost exclusively for the past three years. So when it was clear she was trapped, I was alarmed, and then when they started speaking in Korean, I knew it was all over, and I started sobbing. SOBBING. I was whipping Kleenexes out of the box and really LOUDLY crying, with my husband chuckling on the couch (he has NO HEART. NONE. See, if a character on The Wire died, he’d have been in tears... but he’s never had that attachment to people on Lost. He said, and I quote, “Poor Nikki and her attachment to fictional characters.” Oh yeah, buddy? Let’s see how you handle it if anything ever happens to Coach Taylor on Friday Night Lights... you will be a ball of goo on the floor). Anyway... And then they vowed they’d never be apart, and then the camera pulled back on the sub... the piano music, and then... the hands. Oh my GOD they had to show the hands. What a beautiful, beautiful image, but when the hands pulled away from each other I cried and cried some more. I wanted them to somehow be entwined for eternity. So I cried even harder. And when I finally got my sobs under control, HURLEY started sobbing and I was a mess all over again. Oh, Lost... four major characters in one go.

Why was I crying so much? I was crying for Sayid, for Jin and Sun, for Ji Yeon, a tiny bit for Frank (love the character, but it wasn’t tear-inducing, really)... but also for the end. This show only has 4 hours left (well, as of tonight, don’t know if you hear this, the finale has been extended by a full half hour, so we have four and a half hours left!) and I don’t know if I can handle these goodbyes. I don’t want to say goodbye to the characters, to the story, to the fine writing week after week... I don’t want to see the island for one last time, and know there’s no more Lost. The speculation will be over... but I LOVE the speculation!! I have to say goodbye to the questions, the mysteries, the clues, the hints. To Damon and Carlton’s skilled crafting of this series, to the collection of writers, to everything that Lost is about. I’m so excited to see it end, yet I don’t want to say goodbye.

And tonight’s episode was a forced goodbye, as if a trial run for the finale. Oh god... can I make it there?!

Highlights:
• Jack saying to Locke, “I think you’re a candidate.”
• Sawyer grabbing the gun away from “Doughboy.” HAHA!!! That was AWESOME.
• Bernard again!! We may never see them on the island again, but I’m so happy to see them in the sideways world.
• “Memory serves you were flirting with my wife Rose when I was in the bathroom.” LOL!
• Sun putting the ring back on Jin’s finger. Aw...
• Hurley when he hears Smokey: “And we’re dead.”
• Jack unlocking the cages and saying, “I’m with him.” WICKED line.
• Smokey taking out the two guys by the plane without even batting an eyelash. Oh my god that was epic.
• Kate shot!! ZOMG!

The Numbers:
Did I mention 4 major people died in this episode?? Wah.

Did You Notice?:
• So in this episode Jack seems to be putting together that something odd is happening. He hasn’t been hit by true love or a near-death experience, but he’s just using his own powers of deduction and, methinks, a faith he has in this world that he doesn’t have in the original timeline. In that one he’d think it was coincidence, but in this world he’s starting to think maybe they were on the plane for a reason. The new Jack on the island seems to have faith and a belief that things happen for a reason, and that hard-fought idea is something that the SW Jack seems to already possess. Can he put it together without falling in love or getting mowed down by Desmond?
• Sawyer gets the upper hand, but gives it up for Kate, exactly the same way he did when they were breaking rocks and he gave it because Juliet threatened to hurt Kate.
• Bernie’s still a dentist in this reality!
• There’s something odd about the way Bernard remembers Anthony Cooper, writes down the name, and when Jack says, “It was three years ago... you remember that?” he says, “Of course I do, Jack.”
• “I hope you find what you’re looking for.” Again, Bernard seems to know something more here. (OK, and I also really wanted Bono to jump out of one of those doors and start singing!)
• As Smokey is talking to Jack, you see the smoke from the campfire billowing behind him.
• Smokey is lying to Jack: We already know he can’t actually kill anyone, and he tells Jack that he spared them when he could have killed them.
• The scene of Jin and Sun chatting in the cages is so sweet. The reunion just didn’t get to me the way I wanted it to (mostly because I thought they were about to be zapped by that fence!!) and so this episode fulfilled the reunion fantasy I really wanted for so long.
• As soon as Chip is killed by Smokey, I started yelling, “Zoe!! RUN OUTSIDE!!! YOU ARE NEEDED BY THE CAGES.” ;)
• Jack being in the nursing home seemed to be him forcing Locke to be fixed... the other timeline Jack was coming through in this scene.
• When Helen went to get Anthony I said to my husband, “So is he going to be senile and drooling?” And then... he was. To which my husband replied, “Oh YEAH! In the sideways world, Anthony gets his!!” Only to find out he’s some sweet beloved man here.
• Ah, the old C4. You know, if I were Kate on the island, I’d take one look at that and say, “Oh for god’s sakes, if I see ONE more packet of that stuff, SERIOUSLY...”
• When Locke is explaining to everyone what could happen with the C4, he says, “Boom,” the same way Desmond says it while explaining the bomb in the freighter to Jin and Michael in S4.
• I’m sure it was obvious to most of us the moment Sawyer said, “I’m sorry for not trusting you” that he didn’t trust Smokey as far as he could throw him.
• OK, and right at this commercial break they had a CTV station ID with Josh Holloway looking into the camera and smirking that I’ve NEVER seen before and it made me melt. Holy freakin’ wow.
• Locke saying, “Push the button” and “I wish you had believed me” made me squeal. The first is obvious, the second was John Locke’s suicide note to Jack.
• Jack gets an Apollo bar out of the vending machine similar to the one Jacob got one from when he gave it to Jack.
• Christian died exactly the same way in both worlds. Significant?
• That rosewood box that Claire and Jack look at had a mirror in it, and notice at first it showed both of them, and then the camera turns so Claire disappeared and it was only Jack. A foreshadowing of something happening to Claire Bear?
• The first ones who run to the sub are the four Listies and Lapidus.
• The guy on the sub looked like Radzinsky! For a second I forgot we were in the same timeline and thought maybe it was him.
• Smokey said earlier that he couldn’t travel over water... I think he meant in his smoke monster form, but Jack and Sawyer seem to think he’s like the Wicked Witch of the West.
• Aw... my heart broke when they abandoned poor Claire AGAIN.
• OK, I know that technically, Jack was right and Sawyer was wrong and by Sawyer pulling the wires when he did, without consulting anyone, at least four people died. BUT... considering the last time Jack gave a big speech and was SO sure that he was right, Juliet died as a result, you can’t blame Sawyer for doing his own thing in this scene.
• “THERE IS NO SAYID!” Oh, SADNESS!!!
• John Locke is momentarily distracted as Jin walks by, as if he knows him.
• Like in the other world, Locke has an African-American male nurse.
• When Jack talks to Locke in the hallway, there’s a “Caution: Oxygen” sign behind them, right after the scene where everyone needed oxygen.
• When Jack tells Locke that he went to see his father, I just thought, “GOD, Jack, you have totally overstepped your bounds here...” I know he wants to fix him, but he has to understand that Locke has free will, and should be allowed to exercise it, even if he is punishing himself for what he did to his father.
• What was with Jack using all the catchphrases there? “What happened, happened. And... you can let it go. Come on, John, if we don’t live together, we’ll die alone. I mean, son of a BITCH! This is the beginning of the end for you. I’m a man of science, but also a man of faith... fine, if you’re leaving, fine. I’ll see you in another life, bruthah.”
• I am NOT choosing sides here, but simply pointing out that... did you notice when Hurley and Kate hit the shore, she immediately ran to Jack, grabbing him and upset that she couldn’t find him, but doesn’t seem to notice Sawyer bleeding out on the beach?

So Many Questions...
• Widmore’s list has Ford, the Kwons, and Reyes. What is his list? Considering two of the people on it are dead... does this mean bad news for Hurley and Sawyer?? NO NO NO NO!!!!
• “He’s coming.” Who is he? Is Widmore preparing for The Rapture or something? Is Jacob returning the same way Jesus returned?
• Seriously, WHY are Jin and Sun speaking English??!! It’s really bugging me. But I must admit, having them speak Korean was more powerful at the end because they spoke English up to that point, BUT then it comes off as contrived, since there’s no logical reason why they would speak in English when both of them are more at ease in that language.
• What is the significance of the rosewood box that Christian left to Claire?
• How is Claire staying at a motel if she gave Kate her credit card? (Assuming she had a second one?)
• How many people did Widmore bring with him? Every time you turn around there’s another dozen shooting at everyone.
• I don’t know anything about submarines, but why do they dive for only 30 seconds and it’ll take 5 minutes to go back up?
• “Because it’s going to be you, Jack.” What the WHAT?! Did Sayid just reveal who the candidate actually is? Because my money is on YES. I think most people have been torn between Jack and Desmond, and I’ve thought it would be Jack from the beginning of the season (though I’d be equally happy if it were a surprise).
• Locke says he’s off to finish what he started. What does that mean? He’s going to drive the rest of them to kill each other? He’s going to kill Desmond? (NOOOO!!!)


Me tomorrow:
I’m on Facebook! Come and find me. I am here. :)

Tomorrow listen in to Marshall and Forbes on The Ocean 98.5 in Victoria, BC at 7:10 a.m. local time, 10:10 a.m. EST. Go here and click on the Listen Now button if you’re out of the listening area.

And tomorrow at noon I will NOT be participating in the Globe and Mail Lost chat from noon to 1pm EST (I will be on a plane to NYC... I’m also missing an opportunity to guest-host Innerspace, ARGH) but it will still be happening! Go here to ask questions and comment.

And finally, listen to KEX 1190 at 6:20 p.m. PST, 9:20 p.m. EST where I’ll be on the Mark & Dave show (and they’re big Lost fans so it’s always fun). Go here and click the Listen Now button.

Next week:
A preview that didn’t actually reveal a THING (all old material) but I know what it’s going to focus on. Let’s just say it might be THE episode we’ve been waiting for. (Please don’t kill off anyone, please don’t kill off anyone...)

Attn: Canadian Lost Fans!!

CTV, the Canadian broadcaster of Lost, is running a contest that ends at midnight this Thursday, open to Canadians, to win a pair of tickets to see the Michael Giacchino Lost night that I recently mentioned!! These tickets are super hard to come by, and even fans who tried buying the moment they went on sale were disappointed about 20 seconds later when they were already sold out. The only caveat is, you have to take me as your guest if you win. (Don't look in the fine print, just TRUST ME that that is written there...) ;)

OK, fine, but at least you have to send us a play-by-play of the show after it's over!! Good luck to all of you!

***

Calling all LOST fans! With only three episodes to go before the series finale on May 23, CTV is celebrating with the ultimate contest for LOST fanatics. CTV announced today it is sending one lucky fan and a guest to Los Angeles , California to attend the official LOST series finale event, LOST LIVE: The Final Celebration, on May 13. Sold out in minutes, the live concert will feature appearances by series stars including Jorge Garcia, Nestor Campbell, Michael Emerson and more, and an exclusive teaser of the series’ second last episode. The winner will also receive a VIP prize package including collector’s edition custom fine art prints featuring the island’s six remaining candidates. To enter, viewers must visit lost.CTV.ca and play the Get LOST in LA: The Final Celebration contest for a chance to win. The contest is open to all Canadians beginning now and ending Thursday, May 6 at 11:59 p.m. PT.

As Our Obsession Comes to an End...

Check out these fan videos about how all Lost fans are part of a worldwide sadness as we embark on the final month of new Lost episodes (thanks to Patrick for the links!):

Reason #40,678: Why I Love Joss Whedon

(Thanks to Elizabeth R. for the link!)