Lost - Zap2it's Guide to Lost

The final season of 'Lost' starts February 2, 2010: What does this mean for the show?

2009-11-20T03:57:07Z

The news that "Lost" fans have been waiting to hear finally arrived today: Season 6 has a starting date. But, as with all things "Lost," the news isn't without some confusion, misdirection, slight of hand, and above all, drama. But after five seasons of the show, do you really expect anything else? Of course not. Let's try to break down what this all means.

The start date

As reported earlier today here on Zap2it, the starting date will be February 2, 2010 at 9 pm EST. Three things about this date: 1) it's not in January, 2) it's on a Tuesday, and 3) it's on Groundhog Day. Now, the first factoid is slightly depressing, in that we want Season 6 to start, well, tomorrow if possible. But if pushing off the show from its expected starting date of January means we'll get an uninterrupted run of new "Lost" episodes, I fail to see how waiting an extra week or two is a bad thing.

Yes, this means that "Lost" will air new episodes against The Olympic Winter Games on NBC. But if NBC continues its current trend of programming, then we'll be seeing Jay Leno bobsledding anyways. Scarier than the smoke monster? You betcha. But not in a good way. "Lost" will be fine.

The time slot

The Tuesday timeslot indicates that ABC's pretty happy with its current comedic line-up on that night. While "Hank" has already been canceled, "The Middle," "Modern Family," and "Cougar Town" have all performed admirably thus far in their inaugural year. Tossing in "Eastwick" in the 10 pm slot after that comedy block didn't make much sense, and throwing "Lost" on after those shows makes even less sense. Keeping it away from the already killer Thursday night line-up seems smart, even if it puts "Lost" directly against "American Idol." ABC's clearly going to try and pair "Lost" up with "V" and do a little bit of counter-programming here for the crowd more interested in Michael Emerson and Elizabeth Mitchell than Simon Cowell and Kara Dioguardi.

But does a timeslot really and truly matter at this point? After five seasons, "Lost" has its audience. For better or worse, it is what it is. Or, as Daniel Faraday might say, whatever happens, happens. Just as the show established an end date, it also established a ceiling for its audience. While millions upon millions may yet enjoy this show throughout the upcoming years via DVD, Hulu, or whatever future means of digital distribution come along, there isn't a huge new market for this show come February. Luckily, the core audience isn't going anywhere, either. "Lost" fans would probably watch the show it if aired at 2 a.m. on Fridays. I'm not sure Patricia Heaton's fans are so loyal.

The calendar day

The "Groundhog Day" aspect of the show's return is probably unintentional, but nevertheless excites this particular "Lost" brain in terms of its relation to the seminal Bill Murray movie of the same name. In light of the events of "The Incident," coupled with those crazy Comic-Con videos, coupled with the now insanely intriguing ending to the much maligned "Lost" video game "Via Domus," we're looking at a Season 6 that is all about reliving the same moments again with the chances of doing it better the next time around.

Lending credence to this "Groundhog Day" theory? The ever-increasing number of supposedly dead characters that seem to be returning to the show for Season 6. (We're keeping things spoiler-free here, but be sure to check out here and here if you want to learn of at least two characters that should be pushing daisies but will be pushing the plot forward come this final season.) Clearly, Damon Lindelof and Carlton Cuse at least want the slightly-more-than-casual "Lost" fan to think we're about to see the single biggest reboot of a storyline this side of "Run, Lola, Run."

Adding more fuel to this fire is the title of the season's first episode. It's a delicious title, one that fires off those conspiracy synapses in all of us, wondering not only "What does it mean?" but also, quite frankly, "How in the name of Jacob are they going to pull this off?" Again, in the name of not spoiling anyone, I'm keeping the title a secret here, but if you want to read my take on the title, by all means, check it out in full here. In short: if you thought Season 5 was confusing, you're going to get some serious nose bleeds from Season 6.

In closing

Let's face it: learning the starting date of Season 6 is bittersweet. That momentary feeling of elation at finally learning when the show is returning is almost instantly mitigated by the reality that February 2, 2010, truly marks the beginning of the end. We'll start ticking off things like, "the last nickname Sawyer ever gives," "the last time Hurley makes me laugh, and "the last time Kate tells someone she's coming with them." Along the way mysteries will finally be solved, certain characters will meet their ultimate fate, and eventually, the curtain will close on one of the most ambitious shows ever put on television.

In the humble beginnings of the show, John Locke explained to Walt Lloyd the rules of backgammon. "Two players. Two sides. One is light ... one is dark." In "The Incident," the show paid off Locke's seemingly innocuous comments by pulling back the virtual camera enough to finally see the two players potentially responsible for setting in motion the events that led to Oceanic 815's arrival on the Island. In Jacob and The Man in Black, "Lost" revealed the leaders of the two sides of Locke's backgammon board. Starting in February 2010, the two will play the final, all-or-nothing game to decide the fate of the Island.

And it looks like the whole gang will be back to wage war.

Are you in? Leave your thoughts below!

Ryan invites you to join the hundreds already in Zap2It's Guide to Lost Facebook group. He also encourages you to subscribe to the Zap2It's Guide to Lost Twitter feed and Zap2it's main feed for all the latest TV, movie and celebrity news.

Don't get 'Lost' in all the 'Twilight' buzz

2009-11-19T00:59:24Z

Let's face it, "Lost" fans: sometimes it's easy to focus solely on this show and forget there's anything else out there in the pop culture landscape. I'm personally guilty of this on many occasions, even though this is Zap2it's Guide to Lost, not Zap2it's Guide to Lost and Anything Else Out There in the Pop Culture Landscape. (That was my proposed title for this space, incidentally. Got shot down. Can't imagine why.)

So, in order to do proper penance and shine a light on another corner of the entertainment world, I thought it best to highlight this little indy flick coming out this weekend called "Twilight: New Moon." Don't feel bad if you've never heard of this tiny, arthouse film: not everyone can have my subtle, discerning eye for cinema.

In all seriousness, trying to escape the hype surrounding this movie is a little bit like trying to outwit Ben Linus: unless you are Jacob's archenemy and have a few centuries on hand to hone the perfect long con, you're just not gonna do it. And rather than fight the tide, I'm swimming with the current. Forget Freckles; I'm brushing up on Bella. I'm trading in Edward Mars for Edward Cullen. I'm putting aside Vincent and replacing him with the Volturi.

With that in mind, I've come up with ten ways in which "Lost" would be quite a different show if it took place in the "Twilight" universe. Here we go.

10) Island ghosts (such as Yemi and Christian Shephard) would appear to "sparkle" in the sun.

9) Kate Austen would still be in a love triangle, but bite her lip approximately 200x more often while trying to decide between Jack and Sawyer.

8) Instead of "The Others," we would refer to the mysterious Island natives as "Team Jacob."

7) Where would Mittelos Biosciences' office be located? "Not in Forks," naturally.

6) Survivors of Oceanic 815 could only hear the Whispers when engaging in thrill-seeking activities on the Island.

5) Charlie Pace would have dubbed Aaron "Immortal Child," not "Turnip Head."

4) Station 42, or "The Pecs," would study the effects of the lunar cycle on human behavior, as well as the work-out methods employed by actors worried that their part might be recast.

3) Sawyer's version of "the cold ones" would concern the stash of beer in Roger Linus' van.

2) Much less Michael Giacchino, much more Paramore.

1) The first season probably wouldn't have involved Locke's sweaty attempts to get into the Swan. Ahem.

What other differences would there be if we combined "Lost" and "Twilight" into a proverbial pop-culture peanut butter cup? Leave your thoughts below!

Related
The Dish Rag's "Twilight" news and notes
Zap2it's "Twilight" complete coverage

Ryan invites you to join the Zap2It's Guide to Lost Facebook group. He also encourages you to subscribe to the Zap2It's Guide to Lost Twitter feed and Zap2it's main feed for all the latest TV, movie and celebrity news.

Underappreciated 'Lost' Theatre: Do No Harm

2009-11-18T01:13:26Z

In all the craziness that is my life this Fall, I straight up forgot all about one of my favorite ongoing series: Underappreciated "Lost" Theatre. And methinks it's high time to reintroduce it as we hit the midpoint this week. I have a pretty long article planned for Thursday, so consider this the appetizer before the main course.

Past entries in this series have included:

Tricia Tanaka is Dead

S.O.S.

Live Together, Die Alone

Outlaws

Today, we're going back to Season 1 with "Do No Harm," a Jack-centric ep that saw the show's first major death as well as the birth of Turnip Head himself, Aaron. Should be a no-brainer in terms of canonical eps, and yet barely gets mentioned even when discussing Top 10 Season 1 episodes. So let's break down why that might be, and why it deserves a second look.

Why it's overlooked

Jack's flashback, in which we see the events leading up to his wedding, could possibly be used in sleep wards to cure insomnia. While later flashbacks involving his wife Sarah add shading to their unique relationship, at this point little is added to Jack's character. We already knew that he was Mr. Fix-It to a fault. Ironically, Christian's warning to his son in this episode ("Commitment is what makes you tick, Jack. The problem is that you're just not good at letting go.") rings even truer considering the dude just dropped a hydrogen bomb on the off chance he might score with Kate in another life, brutha.

As for Boone's death: I know only a few that truly loathed his character, but even fewer that truly liked him, either. His death was perhaps shocking at the time, but currently sits buried beneath the cavalcade of corpses that followed.

Why it's underappreciated

Boone's death might not be unique in terms of its importance, but it's incredibly unique in terms of its circumstances. Go ahead, watch the excruciating, ultra-realistic way in which Jack and Sun work to keep Boone alive. The show simply doesn't approach this level of specificity anymore, thanks to the discovery of hatches, arrival of pallet drops, and overall interaction with the outside world providing more and more creature comforts to the show's characters. But in "Do No Harm," Jack and Sun use their wits, what the Island provides, and make impossible choice after impossible choice. Boone's death ultimately matters through the effort made to keep him alive.

Of course, no discussion of this episode could be complete without mentioning the parallel plot involving Aaron's birth. Aaron's birth achieves about sixteen things at once. It solidifies the bond between Kate and Claire that drives Ms. Austen to return to the Island years later. It solidifies Charlie's desire to protect Claire, ending with his death two seasons later in the Looking Glass station. It instills a sense of paternity in Jin, leading to his drive to get Sun off the Island three seasons later. And let's not forget the complete recontextualization of this scene four seasons later in "The Little Prince," in which Sawyer witnesses the scene that sticks in his brain during the three years spent under the name "LaFleur" in New Otherton.

What's your favorite part of "Do No Harm"? Leave it below!

Ryan invites you to join the hundreds already in Zap2It's Guide to Lost Facebook group. He also encourages you to subscribe to the Zap2It's Guide to Lost Twitter feed and Zap2it's main feed for all the latest TV, movie and celebrity news.

What role will Juliet Burke have in the final season of 'Lost'?

2009-11-16T21:28:26Z

Being an actor on "Lost" has its perks. You're on a show with a devoted following, you get to spend your time filming in Hawaii, and even when your character dies, you've still got a pretty good shot at continuing to play the character at some point again. Heck, I'd wager that William Mapother's character Ethan Rom has appeared onscreen about 12 times more AFTER he died than before.

The events at the end of "The Incident," coupled with the Season 6 promotional poster, indicate that we're about to see a lot of characters that on most shows would stay six feet under.

Today, we're going to look at one of those characters: Juliet Burke. Elizabeth Mitchell might be currently trying to make me care about an alien lizard invasion over on "V," but she's also due back for more than one appearance in the finale season of "Lost." I'll provide the link to the full article, but note that it definitively answers the question of whether or not Juliet died when she detonated Jughead. The quote below doesn't directly address that. We good? Good.

According to Entertainment Weekly:

"...[the producers] note that she's scheduled to appear in multiple episodes this season ("There's still something very significant that we have not yet learned about the character," hints Cuse)."

Something very significant. Hmm. It's probably something a bit bigger than learning that she likes piÃ±a coladas, in addition to getting caught in the rain. I won't even try to speculate on what that very significant something is at this point in the game. But I will try and suss out the ways in which Juliet Burke could fulfill a multiple-episode arc when it looks like she just took a face full of hydrogen bomb at the end of Season 5. To me, there are three ways in which the show could do this.

Put her in an alternative history/reality. If you know the title of the first episode of the season (go here if you don't and wish to know), coupled with the cryptic videos at Comic-Con, then you know the showrunners have been heavily hinting that Jack's plan worked, the Swan was never finished, and Oceanic 815 never crashed on the Island. Don't put it past the show to confuse the living hell out of all "Lost" fans in the first part of the season and show a "What If?" scenario involve all major characters off-Island, including Juliet.

Put her in Island apparitions. We've seen plenty of people appear on the Island that shouldn't be, including the ghosts/visions/facsimiles of those that have died. Argue all you want about the reasons such people appear, and who is pulling their strings, but it's possible that Juliet will be a guide for a major character in the fallout of Jughead's detonation and Jacob's "death." Course, would we be able to rely on her as actually helping said character? C'mon, it's "Lost"! It's Juliet! Course not. Just how we like it.

Put her in a series of flashbacks. While the show all but abandoned its traditional use of flashbacks in Season 5, there's no reason to think they are lost and gone forever. They are like Juliet, that way. Given how much backstory is still left to be filled in, is it really past the realm of possibility that she interacted with crucial players at crucial times? Figures such as Charles Widmore and Eloise Hawking come to mind. With the nature of the Island's fertility problems still unsolved, it's likely she's still at the center of either its cause or its ultimate solution.

Those are my three thoughts on Juliet's reappearance. What makes the most sense to you? Vote below, and leave your expanded thoughts in the comments!

Ryan invites you to join the hundreds already in Zap2It's Guide to Lost Facebook group. He also encourages you to subscribe to the Zap2It's Guide to Lost Twitter feed and Zap2it's main feed for all the latest TV, movie and celebrity news.

'Light vs. Dark' in 'Lost': Hurley's cluckety cluck-cluck dream

2009-11-15T23:06:08Z

It's been a while since I've brought the "Light vs. Dark" series back to the "Lost" blog. But with our two-week look at The Others drawing to its conclusion, it's high time to bring the series back. After all, while it may not feel like it, we're getting fairly close to Season 6, and we've got a lot of ground to cover in this series.

As a reminder, "Light vs. Dark" concerns moments in "Lost" history in which either Jacob or The Man in Black may have had a hand in shaping major as well as minor moments. These are especially interesting when revisiting the show's early days, long before we'd ever heard Jacob's name. Not every moment in the series may ultimately be the result of the show's two apparent puppet masters, but it's nevertheless interesting for me to look back and see just how much the show's writers might have had the master plan in mind all long.

In today's edition, we're going to look at a very peculiar dream in the head of one of the show's most beloved characters, Hurley.

The Episode: "Everybody Hates Hugo"

The Sequence: After falling asleep during button pushing duty, Hurley dreams of pigging out inside the Swan's pantry. He suddenly sees Jin in the room, aside the man who sold Hurley his fateful lottery ticket. For extra funsies, that man is wearing a chicken suit. Like ya do. Hurley's surprised to learn that Jin speaks fluent English, although Jin insists that in fact Hurley is speaking Korean. Jin warns Hurley that everything's going to change, wishes Hurley a "cluckety cluck-cluck day" as the man in the chicken suit blinks in time with the beeps of the Swan's countdown alarm.

The Case for Jacob: Everything hinges on how you interpret things changing. People like me hate change. I like being able to find my way in the dark to the fridge if I need a glass of water in the middle of the night. So I tend to not move after learning that pattern if I can help it. Jacob sees change as an opportunity, not a liability. As such, he's presenting Hurley with insider info about his upcoming responsibility in the hopes that Hurley will learn that what happened after the inheritance of his fortune need not repeat itself on the Island.

The Case for The Man in Black: TMiB is all about exploiting weaknesses. What better way to exploit Hurley's emotions pre-Libby's arrival than remind him of all the problems that come with material possession? For Hurley, controlling the food is no better than having over $160 million in cursed lottery winnings. Mo' canned goods, mo' problems. With Hurley apparently a key cog in Jacob's master plan, TMiB is keen to strike whenever possible at this key figure.

The Zap2it Opinion: While Jacob offers choice as his standard operating procedure, he usually doesn't involve negative associations while doing so. If this theory is correct and Hurley's as central to Jacob's plan as many of us think, then it stands to reason that had Hurley actually gone through with his plan to blow up the pantry, people would have actually hated Hugo. Isolated from the group, he would have less of a chance to influence events to come and eventually take his place as a central player in the War of the Island. Thus, The Man in Black is more likely to have sent Hugo that cluckety cluck-cluck dream.

What do YOU think?

Ryan invites you to join the hundreds already in Zap2It's Guide to Lost Facebook group. He also encourages you to subscribe to the Zap2It's Guide to Lost Twitter feed and Zap2it's main feed for all the latest TV, movie and celebrity news.

'Six in Six': Questions about the Others I hope aren't 'Lost' in Season 6

2009-11-13T03:48:51Z

We're coming to the end of our two-week look at The Others, a group that will no doubt help shape the ultimate fate of "Lost." Since we've covered so much territory, I thought I'd give a handy run-down of everything we've discussed up until this point.

Overview of the structure of The Others

A proposed timeline for The Others' history

Are The Others the "good guys" of "Lost"?

The evolution of The Others' isolationist tendencies

The Others and the lists

The issue of Charles Widmore's mysterious fortune

Analyzing the quality of The Others' leaders over the years

Whew. I got exhausted just coding all those links. But looking over those entries once again, I thought it best to do another installment of one of my off-season series, "Six in Six," in order to sum up this fortnight's worth of entries. Today's topic? The six mysteries surrounding The Others that I insist, nay, DEMAND get answered in the final season of "Lost." And if they don't, well, um, I'll pout. A lot. Take THAT, Darlton.

Why doesn't Richard Alpert age?

A no-brainer pick, really. Of all the questions I have, this one has the greatest chance of actually being answered next year. And by "greatest chance," I mean 100%. It's the closest thing to a sure bet other than Kate at some point declaring that she's coming with you.

What is so important about The Temple?

Other than Ben's journey inside in "Dead is Dead," (the events there revealed to be a big ol' con by season's end), we know almost nothing about this central place in Others' life. We know that going in there can turn you into something else than when you entered (see Danielle's baby daddy, young Ben Linus), but we've also heard it called "the last safe place on the Island." Is it the precursor to Room 23? Smokey's homebase? The Island's version of the Tower of Babylon? Enquiring minds want to know.

Wherefore kidnap, Others?

The recruitment process for the Others pre-Purge is sketchy at best. But in the time since the Purge, we've seen active recruitment off-Island (Mikhail, Juliet) as well the as forceful abduction of several of Oceanic 815's members. They seem particularly interested in children, no doubt due to the fertility issues that plague their society. Did The Others always have to resort to coercion and kidnapping, or is this a recent phenomenon?

What are "the rules?"

More than once, Ben Linus and Charles Widmore have referred to "the rules," a code of conduct that extends not merely towards mere morality but extend beyond as well, even so far as preventing the two from ever killing the other. Are the rules established by the Island? Jacob? The universe preventing time travel paradox? The answers may lie in the nightmares of an off-Island Charles Widmore.

Annie, are you OK? Are you OK, Annie?

I have not overtly addressed this topic in the last two weeks, since it's more of a Ben issue than an Others' issue. On the other hand, her influence over Ben shapes his overall ethos, and therefore is still related to the last two questions. Annie, alongside Emily Linus, are the two most influential people in Ben's lives. Harper mentioned during a therapy session with Juliet that she "looked like her," referring to either Annie or Emily. Annie's absence casts a long, long shadow, one as invisible and almost as wide as that cast by Jacob or The Man in Black. Speaking of those two...

Do the Others truly serve Jacob or The Man in Black?

Jacob's hands-off approach might be intentional, but it's allowed for a tremendous degree of misinterpretation, corruption, and overall chaos as his potential chosen people keep getting his message and meaning wrong. As such, we may learn that everything that The Others thought they were doing in honor of their unseen leader may in fact have been aiding the enemy. It will be interesting to see the veil lifted from their eyes as Ben emerges from the statue with Jacob's blood on his hands. Perhaps only through his death could Jacob truly set them free to perform the tasks they were always destined to achieve.

Those are my burning questions about The Others for next year. What are yours?

Ryan invites you to join the hundreds already in Zap2It's Guide to Lost Facebook group. He also encourages you to subscribe to the Zap2It's Guide to Lost Twitter feed and Zap2it's main feed for all the latest TV, movie and celebrity news.

'Lost': Following the leaders of The Others

2009-11-11T17:39:26Z

Honestly, I think I could spend the rest of the weeks leading up to the final season of "Lost" talking about nothing but The Others. Don't worry, that's not my plan -- but the past week and a half has shown just how seemingly inexhaustible this topic truly is. My cursory look at some of the major mysteries surrounding these people has yielded even more, equally interesting conundrums from you, the readers.

Here's a question that I've attempted to address before, but it's worth looking at again. Courtesy of reader DCMeads, in regard to Charles Widmore's time as leader of The Others:

But did Widdy ever really rule the Island?

Clearly '54 Widdy acted like he was in charge but supplicated to [Alpert]'s final authority in "Jughead". Renaissance Widdy showed his muscle while taking down Kate and Jack in "The Variable" while Ellie, still in control, used her brain. Finally Ben one-ups him in "Dead is Dead" and the so-called leader is soon on the midnight sub to England. He may have been the quarterback after Ellie went mainland but he always seemed second string on the Island.

Charles Widmore as the Matt Cassel of the Island? Sure, works for me!

But let's actually separate "Others' leader" from "Island ruler" off the top, here. The latter is not only different from the former, but a false title that is fool's gold. One cannot ever rule the Island. Trying to rule it means you've failed in understanding what the Island's purpose actually is. It's not a place to own; it's a place to share. This is why I theorized that Hurley's so important to the show's endgame: that guys gives away everything. Possession's not his bag, baby.

Around the time that "Jughead" originally aired, I questioned if there always had to be, by necessity/rule, a true leader of the Others. In other words, Richard Alpert was DCMeads' version of an interim leader in the absence of a "true" one selected through the still very mysterious, very long process. In that episode, Richard responds to Locke's claim that he's the leader of The Others by saying, "Look, I... certainly don't want to contradict myself, but... we have a very specific process for selecting our leadership, and it starts at a very, very young age."

If so, perhaps Eloise and Charles still qualify. After all, we don't know how they came to the Island, how long they had been there, and if indeed they were born there. Maybe there's a maternity ward in The Temple and Richard stares at them all the way he stared at a newborn baby Locke. (If so, can we start calling him McEyeliner, in honor of "Grey's Anatomy?") But given the fact that every iteration of Others consists of another stage of Jacob's so-called "progress," perhaps we have to move past the idea of an ideal Others leader and realize that, in fact, all of them have been inherently flawed.

We can safely call them flawed for one primary reason: Richard Alpert is still alive. As I posited in these two entries, Richard's purpose is to find the person that can satisfy Jacob's end goal. Until he finds him or her, he's doomed to stay ageless. As such, since he's still alive, he's not yet found the true Island heir. By extension, none of the Others' leaders have been their heir, and what logically follows is that all of the leaders throughout Other's history have come up short in one way or another.

So rather than judge Eloise, Charles, and Ben in terms of each other, perhaps we should be comparing them to what the ideal leader would be. All three have shown attachments that compromise their leadership (Eloise to Daniel, Ben to Annie/Alex, Charles to the Island and perhaps Scrooge McDuck-esque levels of cash). Season 6 may be less about what the primary players hold onto, and more about what they are willing to let go. Only then can progress end, Richard die, and the Others finally find a leader worth having. The leader won't rule them; that leader will set them free.

Ryan invites you to join the hundreds already in Zap2It's Guide to Lost Facebook group. He also encourages you to subscribe to the Zap2It's Guide to Lost Twitter feed and Zap2it's main feed for all the latest TV, movie and celebrity news.

'Lost': Mo' money, mo' problems for Charles Widmore

2009-11-10T01:10:46Z

Let's face it, "Lost" fans: correctly predicting future events on the show is a tricky business. At best, you're making an educated guess. At worst, you're flailing about in the dark, screaming out conspiracies like so many crazy people on the subway. Back in Season 3, I correctly predicted that Charles Widmore sent Naomi and Co. to the Island unbeknownst to his daughter, Penelope. For realz. Not a bad guess, and hey, given how many guesses I make, at least a few have to be correct, statistically speaking.

But what I did not even fathom at the time was that Charles Widmore himself was himself not only on the Island, but Ben Linus' predecessor as leader of the Others. Such a thought didn't enter my mind (or the minds of many) until "The Shape of Things to Come," the post-strike episode that stuck a stake firmly in the ground to denote the start of the show's endgame. And the reason why I didn't think Widmore could possibly have come from the Island is both extremely silly, but also extremely perplexing in light of everything we've learned about him in the interim.

That reason? The dude's stinkin' rich.

Now, it's a given in most "Lost" circles that Widmore's wealth and power allowed him to make a claim for the Island. But I've never seen an extensive look at just how Widmore managed to create such a conglomerate when he ostensibly spent the majority of his life through at least the Purge. There are vague mentions in "Dead is Dead" of frequent off-shore trips, including one that sired Penelope with her mystery mother at some point, but even if you want to assume that Widmore spent a lifetime ascending the ranks of The Others only to use that power to build an economic powerhouse specializing in pregnancy tests and hot-air balloons, you have to ask the most basic of questions: Why?

While not as omnipresent as it once was, The Hanso Foundation might offer a clue as to Widmore's intentions, as well as the vast, interconnected network of Others currently living and existing off the Island on a full-time basis. Whereas the U.S. military were asked to leave before being slaughtered in the 1950's, the Dharma Initiative were curiously allowed to co-exist with the Others on the Island. The exact nature of their agreement never truly surfaced in Season 5; all we had to go on were various hints of conditions, parameters, and punishments. Nevertheless, Horace, Pierre, Amy, and the rest of the DI were nevertheless permitted to conduct experiments on the Island.

This naturally begs the question: what did The Others get in return? Given the clout of the Widmore Corporation, one can easily imagine a quid pro quo in which the financial arm backing the research also used their know how to set up a not-so-small kitty for The Others. Or perhaps The Others recognized that the work being done by the DI was both a) beyond their own skill and b) potentially profitable. Now, it's curious to think of The Others as having materialistic ambitions, but it's not impossible to assume a young man like Charles Widmore having worldly as well as Island-based ambitions lodged deep in the cockles of his crooked heart.

In either case, insight into the power wielded by the financial backing of the Hanso Foundation might have sparked an interest within Widmore to not better the world, but exploit it for his own ambition. Scarcity of product drives up the price of the commodity, and Lord knows The Island is unique in terms of its potential output. Think of Charles as Jed Clampett times ten thousand. (Hell, no wonder The Others like to dress as hillbillies.)

All kidding aside, even if The Others accepted Hanso's help in this scenario, it takes a long time to build up the type of company that The Widmore Corporation is without it seeming straight-up ridiculous to swallow for "Lost" fans. It's not like Charles Widmore started the company after seeing a late-night infomercial in the early '90's post-banishment. But none of this gets to the heart of the issue: why do it at all? Why not consolidate power on the Island, ascend to the throne, and rule without distraction? Why consistently leave the Island to create an interconnected series of companies, contacts, and networks under the very nose of the so-called civilized world?

The most likely reason is The Man in Black, a man who would mark someone like Charles down in the "easily corruptible" column. In the aftermath of Ben's defiance concerning Danielle Rousseau, Widmore suffered a body blow to his ability to effectively lead the group. Couple that with his historically wary attitude towards Ben, and you had a man ripe for the picking in TMiB's eyes. What if The Man in Black opened Charles' eyes at that point of the real shape of things to come: Ben's ascension and Charles' banishment? What if The Man in Black suggested that the creation of a corporation might fund a possible return? What if he pointed out that the son conceived with also-exiled Eloise might hold the key to his return, if only Charles had the funds?

In this light, The Widmore Corporation looks like one of the greatest, most elaborate back-up plans in the history of humanity. Its sole purpose was to devise ways to allow its founder to reclaim what he felt was properly his. All facets of business, all employee directives, all research and development were geared towards the single purpose of dislodging the Island from Ben Linus' grasp.

While Widmore worked in public towards private goals, the original network created under his initial watch fell under Ben Linus' control. The off-Island war into which Ben conscripted Sayid? It had been going on as long as Widmore's banishment. Lawyers, businessmen, and butchers alike coexist in "normal" society, with the latter unaware of the secret war going on just below the surface. Now, it's the associates of the Widmore Corporation squaring off against The Others (aka, Mittelos Biosciences), both nominally respectable organizations with an agenda no one can truly detect. Just as the aliens from "V" use technology and the media to gain power, so too do Charles Widmore and Ben Linus wield economic clout in order to fuel a war on an island that has no concept of currency.

Where has this all led? For Ben Linus, Jacob's blood on his hands; and for Charles, nightmare-filled dreams in his head. Doesn't sound like a very good return on investment for either of them.

Ryan invites you to join the hundreds already in Zap2It's Guide to Lost Facebook group. He also encourages you to subscribe to the Zap2It's Guide to Lost Twitter feed and Zap2it's main feed for all the latest TV, movie and celebrity news.

'Lost' in translation: The Others and the lists

2009-11-08T22:47:26Z

If there's a single topic that you have been clamoring for over the last week of "Lost" entries, it's been "the lists." Some of you thought I forgot about them, others accused me of ignoring them, and at least one of threatened to put me on one if I didn't start producing some insight into their derivation. But since one mere week of Others'-centric entries couldn't begin to cover the gamut of interesting mysteries still surrounding the group, I'm happy to spill the series over into a second week. Never let it be said that I don't give you people what you want.

It's actually a good time to bring up the lists, in that my last entry talked about the gradual circling of the wagons that took place in Others' culture over the course of the 20th century. I suggested that perhaps Jacob's original plan was to systematically gather the proper people to The Island in a painstakingly precise and long manner: not unlike his tapestry underneath the statue. But each passing generation lost Jacob's original message, like a sociological game of telephone in which each successive iteration dulls the message that much more.

By the time Locke and Company run into the 1954 version of The Others, they view any and all outsiders as inherent threats. Instead of accepting and embedding the best elements from the outsiders, they instead shunned them entirely, leading to a type of cultural entropy seen in incestuous cultures. But there's a problem above and beyond the type of breeding made famous by the British royal family: in cutting off the outside world, they not only cut off potential people to aid in their attempts to be Jacob's hopes for human progress, they also cut off any and all different/dissenting opinions on life itself.

In other words, instead of a democratic spread of information coming from the bottom up, everything spread in an autocratic way from the top down. Now, even when such information is viable, it doesn't suit the way many people want to live their lives. But when said information is compromised or in fact created, then the capacity and opportunity for corruption is not only easy, it's almost inevitable. Movies as varied as "Wanted" and "The Invention of Lying" explore this topic in great detail, and it's high time to apply it to "Lost" as well.

In terms of the various lists seen on the show, we can no longer trust that any of them truly came from Jacob. There are simply too many variables at play: Jacob's hands-off nature, Richard's mysterious alliances, Ben's shifty, manipulative disposition...you could split off the "if...then" statements in a dozen, equally viable ways when it comes to these three. Assume Jacob wrote all those lists out: well, what did he actually want these people for, and were they incorporated in the manner he meant? Did Richard correctly disseminate the lists from Jacob? Did he make them up? Did he take marching orders from The Man in Black either consciously or unconsciously? Did Ben actually receive any lists at all, or did he simply take Mikhail's background info and disguise his motives under the guise of "Jacob's will?"

The latter case fascinates me, since it's a classic, "From you, alright! I learned it by watching you!" moment in "Lost" history. In "Dead is Dead," we see Ben Linus attempt to kill Danielle Rousseau on behalf of Charles Wdimore's order. Widmore, in turn, doesn't directly say he's acting on Jacob's behalf, but does say, "You might find this difficult to understand, Benjamin... every decision I've made has been about protecting this Island." Ben's defiance of the order is dangerous to Widmore in that the decision throws into peril the delicate power structure in place amongst The Others.

The delicate nature of this structure is something on Ben's mind at the end of Season 3, in which John Locke's actions threaten to tear asunder the power structure he's held onto since Widmore's banishment from the Island. It's a structure that seems indestructible on the surface, but rotten to the core once you look under the hood. To see just how delicate it is, let's go down to the Looking Glass and see:

Mikhail: What would happen if this station were to be flooded?

Greta: Nothing. The casing for the equipment is waterproof, it'll keep going forever.

Mikhail: Then why do you need to be here?

Bonnie: Because Ben told us to. We were following orders.

Mikhail: And you never asked why?

Bonnie: No. Because I trust him. And I trust Jacob. And the minute I start questioning orders, this whole thing, everything that we're doing here falls apart.

In Others' society, Jacob doesn't equal Others' Leader, but in terms of sacrilege, loss of faith in the latter is tantamount to lack of faith in the former. This arrangement is man-made, not Jacob-made, a decision inherent with man's seeming inability to resist grabbing power for one's own gain. Widmore used his time after Eloise's departure to consolidate power in Jacob's name but for the good of himself, not the Island or the Others.

Next time out, I'll look closer at that consolidation of power through exploitation of Jacob's name, how it related to his economic powerhouse in the real world, and the nightmares that plague his sleep since his exile.

Ryan invites you to join the hundreds already in Zap2It's Guide to Lost Facebook group. He also encourages you to subscribe to the Zap2It's Guide to Lost Twitter feed and Zap2it's main feed for all the latest TV, movie and celebrity news.

'Lost': Progression and regression for The Others

2009-11-06T02:28:19Z

We're winding down our week-long look at The Others today, and if you're feeling more "Lost" than ever about this group, I can't say I blame you. Every time you approach an answer about this collective, the questions multiply.

Yesterday, I suggested that the original purpose of the society was to establish a small control group of humans possessing inherent psychological characteristics that, if properly seeded, could blossom into a collective capable of pushing humanity as a whole towards the next plateau of its existence. But the Island's isolatory nature, combined with Jacob's "observe, not interfere" approach, led to an eventual degradation of the group's purpose. Instead of gradually incorporating those that found their way to the Island's shores, they decided to treat everything "foreign" as "antagonistic."

Did everyone that came to the Island deserve the red-carpet treatment? Certainly not. But it's one thing to treat outsiders with suspicion and a whole other thing to infiltrate, antagonize, kidnap, and kill as four of your default options. The Island's unique nature tends to inspire a level of fanaticism in certain individuals, fanaticism that can lead to a covetous nature. And much like Buffalo Bill, Charles Widmore covets.

One topic I've barely mentioned all week concerns the turnover and maintenance of a continuous group of people related to the entity known now as The Others. I postulated a few potential start dates for this society earlier in the week, but I really didn't deal with the mechanism by which they could sustain itself over the long haul. The iterations we've seen have not been terribly small, but they haven't exactly been legion, either. Did they once boast numbers that would make the Persian army in "300" wet themselves, only to dwindle to the few dozen in New Otherton? Hard to say. But aside from Richard Alpert, it appears they age. And if they age, they die. And if they die, well, they need new members.

In "The Incident," it's implied that fresh recruits were historically brought to the Island by Jacob whenever the perpetual War of the Island threatened to reduce the population to zero. Let's look at the dialogue between Jacob and The Man in Black for clues.

Jacob: I take it you're here 'cause of the ship.

The Man in Black: I am. How did they find the Island?

Jacob: You'll have to ask 'em when they get here.

The Man in Black: I don't have to ask. You brought them here. Still trying to prove me wrong, aren't you?

Jacob: You are wrong.

The Man in Black: Am I? They come. They fight. They destroy. They corrupt. It always ends the same.

Jacob: It only ends once. Anything that happens before that is just progress.

Ostensibly, Oceanic 815 was brought to the Island by the same mechanism as The Black Rock: through Jacob's will. However, what we've seen in terms of the origins of many of the modern-day Others speaks not to Jacob's will but manual, active intervention on behalf of the leader of the Others. People like Juliet and Mikhail were actively recruited to come to the Island, not magically transported there through a combination of Island movement and ill-timed travel.

Post-Purge, people stopped arriving on the Island, save for the odd balloonist, without the direct intervention of The Others. In other words, they had to start actively recruiting people to their cause. They couldn't rely on a steady stream of outsiders to mysteriously find themselves upon their shores. Ensconced in modern comfort, they were no longer living in tents but also no longer living with purpose. Life in The Barracks was tantamount to tourists visiting a distant land but only experiencing it from within the confines of an all-inclusive resort. Yes, you're technically living abroad, but you're cutting yourself off from the experience of the locale.

Next week, I'll start looking at how life in The Barracks marked the beginning of the end for Charles Widmore's time on the Island, and how his interactions with the outside world marked a turning point in the War of the Island. Should have known The Others couldn't be contained by a mere week's worth of entries.

Ryan invites you to join the hundreds already in Zap2It's Guide to Lost Facebook group. He also encourages you to subscribe to the Zap2It's Guide to Lost Twitter feed and Zap2it's main feed for all the latest TV, movie and celebrity news.

'Lost': The (de)evolution of The Others' morality

2009-11-05T01:38:30Z

"Lost" fans know that it's generally not a good idea to trust Ben Linus. He'll probably fry your brain through twisted logic and emotionally manipulate you to do his bidding, but you'll never actually trust him even while performing acts that go against everything in which you believe. But today, as a thought exercise, we're going to try and take Ben at his word for once.

This solitary time? At the Pala Ferry, bidding Michael and Walt goodbye:

Michael: My friends--I was promised you wouldn't hurt them.

Ben: A deal's a deal.

Michael: Who are you people?

Ben: We're the good guys, Michael.

So let's assume NOT that The Others are in fact the good guys, as he states. Rather, let's assume that when he tells Michael this, he believes that he is telling the truth. "Good" and "bad" are of course in the eye of the beholder. The actions taken by The Others against the survivors of Oceanic 815 certainly don't cry out that they, not the survivors, are the heroes of this particular piece. But then again, you know what they say about the road to hell. Or, for instance, the runway for an airplane.

In trying to figure out the purpose of The Others, we must carefully consider the code of conduct under which they govern themselves. This being "Lost," we have at best a small glimpse into the workings of their society. Think of the full view being a clear front window of a car. Our current perspective is that of a driver trying to navigate traffic with a mud-covered window offers a mere sliver by which to view the traffic ahead. We've only seen the group in a few, relatively recent time periods, and often through the eyes of a person outside their culture. But solider on we will, because seeking these answers will take up a lot of Season 6.

Codes of conduct derive from a society's purpose. In other words, rules, regulations, and senses of right/wrong derive from that group's particular notion of utopia. A democratic society has its own complex set; totalitarian regimes have another. Trying to ascertain a sense of "right" and "wrong" for The Others presupposes we know the end goal of the group. The reason I framed today's assumption (that Ben believes himself to be leading the good guys) as such is due to the fact that while the current iteration thinks they are maintaining the path to utopia, they have in fact systematically charted a course towards their own demise.

So much of the actions taken by The Others over the course of the show derive from a need to protect The Island. For them, threats come from the outside world, staining the pristine land with their greed and need. In 1954, they killed a group of U.S. soldiers attempting to conduct hydrogen bomb tests. In the late part of the century, they waged war on The Dharma Initiative. In the early part of the 21st-century, they fought those from Oceanic 815 and The Kahana. It would be easy to paint these people based on these few actions as survivalists worshipping the local god known as Jacob, content to let the rest of the world be so long as they could live on their own small piece of paradise.

But Jacob's actions seem to contradict this notion. He's not for isolationism; he encourages outsiders to come to the shores. Why? "Progress," is the word he chooses when speaking to his nemesis in "The Incident," a word that calls to mind a Darwinian approach to the social structure of the Island. Seclusion isn't part of the equation in Jacob's mind. Think of his work as evolution, but not necessarily on a genetic level. He's aiming to change the very nature of humanity, to be sure. But he's also looking to increase man's capacity not to use tools, but to use their hearts and minds in a way that propels them to the next stage of existence.

Heady stuff. (Pretty pretentious as well, I know.) But science fiction consistently deals with humanity at the crossroads of its own history. Yesterday, I intentionally referenced Stanley Kubrick's "2001," a movie in which encounters with giant, black monoliths propel humanity to the next stage of its existence. Likewise, "Star Trek: First Contact" shows man's first warp drive flight raising their status in the eyes of other alien races. These are moments in which man's inherent capacity suddenly expands, revealing a larger reservoir than was previously considered. These are the moments Jacob seeks. And these are the moments that The Others have prevented through their misconception of their leader's wishes.

Jacob's "hands-off" approach might be the only way to guarantee that mankind lifts itself up on its own, but leaves a whole lot of room for misinterpretation. Maybe Jacob views the Island as the perfect place in which to mold humanity into better shape, but somewhere along the way those he brought there decided that Jacob wanted his chosen ones to stay there forever. Seen in that light, outsiders were largely seen as threats, foes, contaminants. The social, psychological, and humanistic evolution suffered by large of diversity in the gene pool.

Maybe that's why it suddenly became so damn hard to have children.
Tomorrow, I'll look at the issue of childbirth, and the most famous baby daddy in Others' history: Charles Widmore. Until then, what's your take on The Others? Good or bad? Vote and discuss below!

Ryan invites you to join the hundreds already in Zap2It's Guide to Lost Facebook group. He also encourages you to subscribe to the Zap2It's Guide to Lost Twitter feed and Zap2it's main feed for all the latest TV, movie and celebrity news.

How The Others got 'Lost' along the way

2009-11-03T00:50:39Z

As promised, we're kicking off Others Week here on the "Lost" blog with an examination of the culture surrounding this mysterious group. Now, donning our Charlotte Staples Lewis-esque cultural anthropologist hats to analyze this group will only get us so far: up to this point, the majority of the social ecosystem is as blurry and confused as Lindsay Lohan on a typical Tuesday night. But soldier forth we will, trying to isolate and analyze a few aspects of what makes The Others the group they are.

When typically discussing a culture of a particular group, it's helpful to look at their origins. Naturally, this being "Lost," said origins are shrouded in mystery. Calling this group "The Others" doesn't help our case, since it doesn't really tell us who they are. It merely tells us what they are not. "The Others" implies difference from those that they encounter, but doesn't really illuminate what exactly makes them act differently than those that find their way to the Island.

Trying to pinpoint the start of this culture is a bit of a fool's errand, but hey, I've made enough foolish assertions on this blog to numb even the most optimistic of readers. If I had to start a timeline for them, I'd go with one of the four following points:

1) With the start of homo sapiens. In other words, as long as men have had thumbs, used weapons, and thrown bones in the air that turned into spaceships, there have been a group of individuals that found their way to the shores of the Island to further what Jacob calls "progress."

2) 2500 B.C. Given that historians pinpoint the first use of hieroglyphics around 3000 B.C., let's just give those Egyptians a few hundred years to row their way up the Nile and into the path of an Island that moves through time and space. Under this assumption, one could carbon-date the four-toed statue and determine an accurate assessment of when the group known as The Others actually began to protect the Island.

3) 1845. Under this configuration, the Black Rock marks the point at which The Others first formed on the Island. Sure, other civilizations might have taken the right turn at Albuquerque and ended up attacking by smoke monsters, but the idea of a native group bonded together in protecting the Island didn't come about until Jacob made sure that ship found its way to the Island.

Given the artifacts found on the Island, these are the safest guesses. I suppose you could argue that Faraday and Co. time-warped into a nascent form of the group in 1954, but Alpert's agelessness is much less interesting without at least a century or more of backstory. To me, you could construct a compelling, plausible faux history of The Others starting from any one of the three points listed above. Given the nature of Jacob and The Man in Black, you can stretch things back as far as you like and still hold water.

What I find curious, as do many of you given your comments yesterday, is trying to square The Others' nominally defensible goal (protect the Island) with their immoral, horrific, violent acts over the years. It's one thing to want to protect a sacred ground for spiritual or eco-centric reasons. It's quite another to kill U.S. soldiers, kidnap children, and use toxic gases to wipe out an entire cadre of scientists and free thinkers.

Part of the problem stems from Jacob's style of leadership. As one who is hands-off for the most part, he leaves a lot of things to chance. At best, he provides lists, a type of Ten Commandments that can be easily misinterpreted if not outright ignored. Jacob may not believe that every person is good, but he does little in the way of directly manipulating people to do a moral or immoral action. He allows people personal agency in order that they might fulfill a series of life events that can be defined after the fact as something like "destiny." Sometimes achieving that destiny required a little push, but Jacob's infrequent interventions aren't cheats: they are the bare minimum inserted at crucial moments.

But since these actions are so slight, they can often go awry. In leaving people to their own devices, Jacob often leaves them exposed to their worst intentions. Keeping with the Biblical theme above, one could view the occupation of The Barracks as The Others' erection of the Tower of Babel, something likewise constructed to glorify man, not God/The Island. Whereas people used to be recruited to the cause organically, now Ben employs a modified Room 23 to speed up the process a smidge. Locke himself mocks Ben's refrigerator in "The Man from Tallahassee," viewing the existence of the Barracks as nothing less than an abomination.

And perhaps Jacob views it as such also, but doesn't take the form of a burning bush or a great flood in order to make his displeasure clear. Perhaps he forfeits the ability of his followers to have children. Or gives their leader cancer. Or refuses to clearly identify The Island's heir to an ageless man who is increasingly frustrated with trying to guess his leader's intentions. But most of all, he "punishes" them with silence. I put "punishes" in quotes because while it might feel that way to those that act in his name, to him it's a necessary part of the progress he seeks.

Maybe, just maybe, Jacob's methods are to not inspire worship in himself, but rather reliance on themselves as individuals. Looking at things that way, Jacob's seeming self-sacrifice makes a ton of sense, not only for his own goals but his goals for The Others as well. Shackled by his existence, he needed to remove himself from the equation so they might stand on their own two feet for the first time in...well, whatever time period you chose earlier, fair reader.

Sure, the whole thing reeks of "The Others are doin' it for themselves," on a basic level, but this is a show in which "Two sides: one light, one dark," essentially sums up everything you need to know about the show. It's hard for a guy that writes about the show four times a week to admit, but sometimes the simpler answers are the more correct ones. If this tactic is good enough for Obi-Wan Kenobi, it's good enough for Jacob, I say.

Coming tomorrow, we'll take a closer look at whether or not The Others are truly the "good guys" in "Lost." But for now, do you think they have been faithfully executing Jacob's plan? At what point might they have "lost" their way? Leave your thoughts below!

Ryan invites you to join the hundreds already in Zap2It's Guide to Lost Facebook group. He also encourages you to subscribe to the Zap2It's Guide to Lost Twitter feed and Zap2it's main feed for all the latest TV, movie and celebrity news.

'Lost': One way or The Others

2009-11-01T19:23:32Z

We're turning over the entire week of "Lost" entries to a group that's maddeningly stayed in the relative shadows over the years: The Others. Perhaps no aspect of the show has been as omnipresent and yet still shrouded in mystery as this group. While we've seen snippets of the strange energy at the core of the Island and the possible "home" for the monster, we know almost next to nothing concrete about The Others.

So, this week will be less about uncovering truths than about defining what it is we still don't know. Trying to make assertive claims about a group this enigmatic seems a fair recipe for making myself look like a fool. And while I'm fine making myself look like a fool, I'd rather deploy that skill in order to stop my nephew from crying versus trying to impress you all. I hope you understand.

I'm going to deal with three topics in three articles later this week. Here they are:

1) Culture

When did the social structure colloquially known as The Others start? What defines membership in this society? And what do their actions toward the members of Oceanic 815 indicate about the decay of that society?

2) Morality

In short: Are The Others actually the "good guys," as stated by Ben Linus at the Pala Ferry?

3) Corruption

This article will focus exclusively on Charles Widmore. I will try to draw as accurate a line as possible between the young man seen in "Jughead" and the man outside the hospital in which Desmond Hume lies badly injured. So, you know, not a difficult job at all there. Cough.

So those are the broad topics, but I want to include as many of your questions as possible in order to inform the writing of these particular essays. If there's anything you'd like to see in any of these essays, by all means, leave them in the comments below! Your questions will help me have a better sense of what you want answered when it comes to The Others.

Ryan invites you to join the hundreds already in Zap2It's Guide to Lost Facebook group. He also encourages you to subscribe to the Zap2It's Guide to Lost Twitter feed and Zap2it's main feed for all the latest TV, movie and celebrity news.

Trick or treat: 13 scary moments in 'Lost' history

2009-10-30T01:07:24Z

Well, we're approaching the witching hour, "Lost" fans: not in terms of the show, but in terms of Halloween. Now, me myself and I? Not the biggest Halloween fan. Last time I dressed up, it was as possibly the most terrifying version of Avril Lavigne in the history of mankind. (I had no money. Wife beater + tie = Avril. You're welcome for that mental image.)

And since we're on the topic of the truly scary, I thought it appropriate to look at some of the scariest moments in "Lost" history. Now, "Lost" specializes more in the "shock and awe" department versus the "soil your drawers" department, but there's definitely been a fair share of creepy moments. This isn't a definitive list by any measure, but here are thirteen of the most terrifying things "Lost" has ever put onscreen. Why thirteen? Well, pretty scary number, no? And under no circumstances was I going to drop 666 moments. Even for me, that's a touch lengthy.

In no particular order...

Tom Friendly orders The Others to "Light 'em up!" in "The Hunting Party."

Long before we knew them as khaki-wearing book-club members, The Others consisted of a bearded man and a series of torches that seemingly appeared out of nowhere. While I have my problems with "The Hunting Party" as an episode, the stand-off near the ep's end is outstanding. The moment in which the torches light up sends chills up my spine every time, illuminating the nature of the threat they pose while refusing to shine light on their actual bodies.

The monster attacks Seth Norris in the "Pilot" episode.

A claustrophobic cockpit. The knowledge that the plane was a thousand miles off course. The faceless, enormous threat that reached and plucked our poor pilot our before filleting him to be served with a nice chianti in the treetops nearby. In terms of establishing a terrifying monster, you could do infinitely worse than this.

Claire dreams a little dream in "Raised by Another."

A little David Lynch found its way into "Lost" in this sequence. I'm not sure what's scarier: Locke's eyes (one white, one black) or the baby carriage filled with blood. I just know I want to move on before I have to think about either any more.

Charlie is found hung by his neck in "All the Best Cowboys Have Daddy Issues."

In terms of composition, the shot is stunning: Charlie, head covered, impossibly dangling from an impossibly tall set of trees. The upwards angle of the camera makes it look as if these trees stretch literally into the heavens. It's an unsparing shot. Bonus points for Jack's attempts to save him, coupled with Kate's frantic reactions, which add up to one of the show's most tense moments.

Walt kills a bird with his freakin' mind in "Special."

"You're not paying attention" is one of the single creepiest lines utter by anyone, and this is a show that's got Ben Linus in it, people. Maybe we'll never really learn what made Walt so "Special," but we know from this moment that this is a boy to be feared. Just ask Ben himself, who seemed awfully relieved to send him on a bearing of 325 way the hell away from The Island.

A single eye pops into view from the cabin in "The Beginning of the End."

Generally speaking, creepy stuff goes down in the cabin. But in terms of selecting just one, I'm going for this moment. Sure, it's a bit of a cheap gag, with the eye appearing just as Hurley leans in close to the window from the outside. But admit it: you jumped a bit after placing yourself six inches in front of the TV asking yourself what in God's name Christian Shephard was doing in there. OK, maybe you jumped more than a bit. Maybe there was girlish screaming involved. It's OK. I still like you.

"Henry Gale" asks Jack and Locke for some milk in "The Whole Truth."

If the dairy industry ever wanted to make sure no one ever drank milk again, all they'd have to do is air this scene. I mean, come on. Perhaps aside from him sharing an Apollo Bar with Hurley in "Cabin Fever," this might be my favorite Ben moment of all time.

Karl watches an instructional video in "Not in Portland."

Look, me and mind control don't get along. I don't like hypnotism, I don't like The Borg, and I really don't like Room 23. Gives me both the heebies AND the jeebies, and neither in small amounts.

Bai Ling in "Stranger in a Strange Land."

I mean, seriously.

Jin and Eko watch The Others silently walk past them in "...And Found."

Just when the freakiness of their silence threatens to make your spine literally pop out of your back, along comes the teddy bear. And then you realize you haven't taken a breath for about a minute.

Ben Linus surveys The Barracks in the wake of The Purge in "The Man Behind the Curtain."

It's one of the show's signature moments: Ben Linus returns from killing his father to find the majority of the Dharma Initiative dead. There's something both beautiful and horrifying in watching the camera slowly pan over the carnage.

Montand loses his arm in "This Place is Death."

The ultimate Sam Raimi-esque moment for "Lost." I squealed! I giggled! It was better than "Cats!" And way bloodier, too.

Jack tells Kate they have to go back in "Through the Looking Glass."

Not scary in the way the other moments are. It was scary in terms of realizing that what we thought "Lost" was about (getting off the Island) and we no longer had any bearings whatsoever as viewers. In other words, we were lost. Hopelessly lost. Just how we like it.

Those are my suggestions. What are some of yours?

Ryan invites you to join the hundreds already in Zap2It's Guide to Lost Facebook group. He also encourages you to subscribe to the Zap2It's Guide to Lost Twitter feed and Zap2it's main feed for all the latest TV, movie and celebrity news.

'Lost': Making two characters special again in Season 6

2009-10-28T23:45:59Z

Earlier in the week, I asked you to list your burning "Lost" mysteries. I didn't care for the obvious ones; rather, I wanted to know the vital if not A-level conundrums that were splinters in your brain. And while reading through your suggestions, two figures kept popping out to me: Walt and Desmond. They are two people that have never actually crossed paths, but share one important characteristic: they have both been termed "special." And folks? That's one heckuva trait to share.

Let's let Shirley Manson of Garbage sum up a prevailing thought when it comes to these two characters, courtesy of a song from their "Version 2.0" record:

Do you have an opinion
A mind of your own
I thought you were special
I thought you should know
But I've run out of patience
I couldn't care less

And that pains me, people. Going into Season 5, Desmond was my single favorite character on the show. And Walt? I figured the clever flash forward techniques meant "Lost" could pay off his story in a believable way without hiding the fact that Malcolm David Kelley is now taller than Lebron James. But the treatment both characters received in Season 5 left me more than cold: it left me a bit angry.

Regarding Desmond: I think it was a mistake to unite him with Penny at the end of Season 4 while insisting he stay in the story. Theirs was a love story so epic it threatened to overshadow those of the nominally "major" players in the "Lost" universe, yet devolved into something almost pedestrian. Yes, naming their child "Charlie" was a beautiful touch, but is THIS how you foresaw their life after the emotional sweep of their story? Couple that with the first episode of Season 5 declaring him to be "uniquely special" only to have the show almost abandon him thereafter just reeked of poor planning.

As for Walt: he stood alone in the "Lost" universe during his time on the show, a child that not only existed on a unique island but was unique unto himself. "Raised by Another" introduced the notion that odd things were happening off-Island as well as on-Island, but "Special" took that a step further and suggested that Walt himself was potentially positioned as an important part of the show's endgame. Flash ahead to Season 5, and he's merely given a short scene with his former Island friend during which lies are exchanged, important information withheld, and Walt apparently leaves the story once and for all. (This article, sent to me by regular reader Shaggysteve, doesn't exactly give one hope Walt will ever return, either to the Island or the show.)

So, um, yea, not too special then, huh?

Now, yes, I took a bit of a Debbie Downer approach in those last two paragraphs, but I did it to prove a point: I, like millions of others, LOVE these two characters and were tantalized to learn exactly what made them so special. Faraday had this to say about Desmond in "Because You Left": "You're the only person who can help us because, Desmond... the rules... the rules don't apply to you. You're special. You're uniquely and miraculously special." In the mobisode "Room 23," Ben tells Juliet regarding Walt, "Jacob wanted him here. He's important. He's special." They are apparently SO special that...they are either lying in a hospital bed or doing algebra homework. Neither are on the Island. Neither appear particularly special right now.

Season 6 should pay off their special natures. Make their status off-Island vital in the war between Jacob and The Man in Black. How?

1) Desmond: Make his unique nature the loophole by which Widmore returns to the Island. We all know he's been trying to get back for decades: amassing funds, sending balloonists, organizing races around the world, and all it's landed him are a series of ever-growing nightmares. If Desmond is indeed special, than perhaps he can bypass whatever rule that keeps Widmore away and land Ben's arch-enemy back on familiar shores. Funny how Ben can unite enemies, eh? And hey, maybe Penny can see this crazy Island for herself. Bring the kids along. All of 'em: Charlie, Aaron, Ji Yeon, heck even Clementine for good measure. It'll be fun!

2) Walt: He doesn't have to return to the Island to have his presence felt on the Island. Either he can continue to use Vincent as a type of psychic proxy, or perhaps just come into his innate abilities with greater confidence and power as he ages. He could be the "Lost" version of Neo: singularly unique among his peers and meant to serve as the tipping point in a war with no possible winners. If Jacob truly did want Walt taken, then he's got a part yet to play in the events to come.

Desmond and Walt are not the only people with major roles to play in Season 6. Everyone's got something to do that will inform the show's endgame, for good and bad. But "Lost" has gone out of its way to demonstrate that while many characters are ordinary people in extraordinary conditions, Desmond and Walt are extraordinary in and of themselves. I just hope Season 6 shows them as such.

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