The Orchid Film, Mobisodes, and LOST News

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At long last, I'm posting the podcast episode I recorded in December! In this episode, I discuss some LOST news, The Orchid orientation film (and some related theories about faster-than-light travel via wormholes), and the first eight "mobisodes" (officially dubbed "LOST: Missing Pieces"). You can listen to the show by clicking on the link above. Full show notes follow.

Site / Personal News:

• Social networking sites: http://social.thejoshmeister.com
• I'm on Twitter, Facebook, MySpace, and a whole bunch of other sites
• My other podcasts: http://podcasts.thejoshmeister.com
  
• http://snipurl.com/lostbooks - Huge Amazon.com store featuring:
• the books and music featured on LOST
• DVD and Blu-ray editions of the show
• LOST magazines, toys, and games
• http://snipurl.com/lostshirts - LOST t-shirts, hats, stickers, etc. custom-designed by me
  

LOST News:

• LOST will return on Thursday, January 31st, at 9:00 PM EST
• The new schedule will be on Thursdays instead of Wednesdays!
• Due to the Writers Guild of America strike, it appears that there will only be 8 episodes this season
• The writers aren't asking much; they currently only make 4 cents on each $19.99 DVD sale, and they want a mere 4 more cents, and to make the same rate when their shows are viewed or downloaded on the Internet as when the shows are viewed on TV. See this YouTube video for further explanation
• Damon Lindelof also wrote an opinion-editorial piece for the New York Times about the strike
• I mentioned the new LOST Experience (Find 815), about which I've been blogging extensively on this site
  

Orchid Film and Mobisodes (LOST: Missing Pieces)

• The Orchid video was first seen at the end of the Comic-Con 2007 LOST panel
• Dr. Candle/Wickmund reveals that he truly is a scientist, not just an actor hired by the DHARMA Initiative
• He gives a new alias for himself: Dr. Edgar Halowax
• There's a rabbit with a 15 on its side - one of the Numbers (Ben had a rabbit with a number 8 on it)
• The video is apparently a randomly-cut recording of the orientation film for Station 6, The Orchid
• It is not a botanical research station
• Those who were asked to participate were required to deceive their family members and colleagues
• Dr. Halowax says that the unique properties of the island created a Casimir effect
• Further research reveals that Casimir effects could be used to stabilize a wormhole to allow for faster-than-light travel; this could explain how Anthony Cooper was brought to the island
• It appears that there are two rabbits with the number 15... or perhaps the same rabbit from alternate realities or different timelines
• In the first mobisode, "The Watch," Christian Shephard tells Jack that he's made the right choice by deciding to marry Sarah, and tells Jack that if he ever has a child to treat him better than Christian treated Jack. Christian gives Jack a watch that his father gave to him.
• In the second mobisode, "Hurley and Frogurt," we finally meet Neil Frogurt. He challenges Hurley about taking Bernard's wine, and he tells Hurley that he wants Libby for himself. A confident Hurley smiles and takes the wine back to where he was supposed to meet Libby after she retrieved the blankets from the hatch (which, of course, never happened thanks to Michael).
• In the third mobisode, "King of the Castle," Ben plays chess with Jack. Ben expresses his desire for Jack to stay, but confesses that if the island doesn't want Jack to leave then it won't let him. Ben tells Jack that if he leaves the island, a day may come when he will want to return. Jack doesn't believe him, but Ben tells Jack to remember this conversation.
• In the fourth mobisode, "The Deal," Juliet introduces herself to Michael while he's still in captivity. She tells Michael that he'll get his boat, and that she's met Walt, who is "an interesting kid," "very smart, very special," and "not an ordinary boy." She tells Michael that the man he's going to release is Ben, and he's the person capable of getting Michael off the island. She tells Michael about her sister in Miami, and rhetorically asks Michael if he would do anything to save Walt. Juliet then tells Michael, "You have your list. Good luck."
• In the fifth mobisode, "Operation: Sleeper," Juliet wakes up Jack and reveals to him that she's still working for Ben, and that she's there to find out which women are pregnant so The Others can take them. Juliet questions whether Locke blew up the submarine. She tells Jack that Sun and her baby will both die unless they're off the island within a month.
  
• In the sixth mobisode, "Room 23," we find out that Walt was being held in Room 23 (where Karl was brainwashed). Walt must have done something that set off an alarm, and people are running around inside the building. Juliet tells Ben that she and Beatrice (Ms. Klugh) would not go in to tell Walt to stop it, and Juliet told Ben that Tom was afraid to bring food to Walt. Ben reveals that Jacob wanted Walt there because Walt is "important" and "special." Juliet argues that Walt is "dangerous," and shows Ben that several birds had fallen dead outside a boarded up window where Walt was being held.
• In the seventh mobisode, "Arzt & Crafts," Jin and Sun discuss whether Boone and Shannon are lovers, and Sun tells him that they're brother and sister. Dr. Leslie Arzt tries to convince Hurley, Michael, Jin, and Sun not to move to the caves. There are several hints that Sun speaks English (which, of course, is now common knowledge). Arzt says he's going to stay on the beach, but then the monster is heard off in the distance, and Arzt quickly decides he's going to go to the caves with everyone else after all.
  
• In the eighth mobisode, "Buried Secrets," Sun hides and watches Jin fishing from a distance, then walks into the jungle, pulls out a California driver's license, and starts to bury it. Michael walks up and sees the half-buried driver's license and picks it up. Sun confesses to Michael that she was going to leave Jin and start a new life in America, but at the airport she chose to stay with Jin because she was afraid. Sun says she feels that the island is her punishment and her destiny, and says that Jin is not the man she fell in love with. Michael hugs her and wipes away her tear, and they almost kiss but are interrupted by Vincent.