"The Candidate" Discussion

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the JoshMeister and fellow LOST fans discuss Season 6 Episode 14, "The Candidate".

Season 6 Episode 14 "The Candidate":
2004 "flash-sideways":

• Locke wakes up from surgery and sees Jack
• Jack asks what caused Locke's original spinal injury that put him in a wheelchair
• Jack: "Because I think you're a candidate"
• Jack offers to fix Locke, but Locke refuses

2007 on the Island:

• Sayid to Jack: "Welcome to Hydra Island"
    
• Sawyer and Kate get put back in the cages
• Charles Widmore reveals that Kate isn't on his list, but Ford, Reyes, and the Kwons are
• Interesting... then why was Austen not crossed out in the lighthouse, as confirmed on an Official LOST Podcast?
• "i stopped taking damon and carlton seriously in season 3" -diesel929
• Widmore asks if the fence is live yet, and they say in about an hour
• Widmore says they haven't got an hour because "he's coming"

2004 "flash-sideways":

• Jack introduces himself to Bernard Nadler and asks about Locke's original injury
  Bernard gives Jack the name of the man who was with Locke: Anthony Cooper
• They realize that they were both on Flight 815

2007:

• Sayid to Jack: "Locke saved you."
• Sayid says "It's just the three of us now" because the rest of them scattered when the bomb was dropped
   
• The Man in Black asks Jack to help him convince his friends to trust him
    
• Sun puts Jin's wedding ring back on him
• The power goes out and the pylons stop working, and then the smoke monster appears and kills one of Widmore's men
• Jack shows up and takes the dead Widmore guy's keys and sets his friends free, explaining "I'm with him"
    
• Jack says that Sayid turned off the generators

2004 "flash-sideways":

• Anthony Cooper is in a nursing home
• Sawyer had been looking for Anthony Cooper
• "the james ford con may have been the last of his cons. he had been redeemed." -diesel929's theory
• Or perhaps Anthony Cooper was still in the middle of his long con of John Locke when the accident happened

2007:

• MIB finds a strange wire in the plane; is it rigged with explosives?
• MIB explains to the candidates that the plane was rigged with C4
• MIB says they need to take the submarine instead
• Sawyer pretends to be on the MIB's side, saying "Maybe I was wrong about you"
• Claire apologizes to MIB and he says it's all right
• Sawyer tells Jack to not let the MIB in the sub because he doesn't trust it

2004 "flash-sideways":

• Locke mutters in his sleep, "Push the button" and "I wish you had believed me"
• Lines from original timeline!  Explanation?
• Claire shows up and asks if she can talk with Jack
• Jack gets an Apollo bar from the machine
• Jack figures out that Claire was also on Flight 815; he's starting to figure out that something is weird
• Claire said she'd never even met "this man" presumably meaning her father
• In the original timeline, Claire remembered that Christian Shephard used to sing "Catch a Falling Star" to her when she was little.  Apparently in this timeline Christian didn't visit her and sing to her, or at least he stopped visiting her earlier in her life prior to the time she can remember
• Claire asks how Christian died; Jack gives the same cause of death as the original timeline
• Claire has a music box that Christian left for her that plays "Catch a Falling Star" and she doesn't know why
• Jack offers to let Claire stay with him instead of her hotel

2007:

• Sawyer and Frank Lapidus enter the sub and take control
• MIB tries again to convince Jack to board the sub, and says whoever told him he should stay didn't know what he was talking about
• Jack says that John Locke told him that, and Jack pushes the MIB into the water
• Jack made the point that he can't kill them, so the MIB couldn't directly get revenge on Jack
• Kate is shot
• MIB gets out of the water and begins taking out Widmore's men with gunfire along with Claire
  Sawyer chooses to leave Claire behind on the dock because the MIB begins to approach the sub
  Jack discovers that the MIB gave him a backpack with a bomb in it; it has less than 4 minutes left
• Sayid tries to defuse the bomb
• Jack says "Locke can't kill us" and tries to convince Sawyer not to pull the wires because they'll be killing themselves
• Sawyer pulls it anyway and it ticks down rapidly
• "when did Sawyer work for the bomb squad?" -baileybear
• Sawyer inadvertently killed Jin, Sun, and Sayid (and Frank?) if Jack is correct
• Sayid tells Jack about Desmond and then runs with the bomb to get it away from them, and sacrifices himself
• "Sayid was redeemed" -baileybear
• Here's confirmation that Desmond really is still alive; Sayid didn't kill him
• Jack, Jin, and Sawyer try to rescue Sun, who's trapped, but it's not enough to save her
• Sawyer gets knocked unconscious and Jack takes him to the surface
• Jin stays with Sun and they die together underwater
• Who will raise Ji-Yeon?  Why did neither of them think of their child?
• It's frustrating that Jin wouldn't save himself; this is similar to Charlie deciding to shut himself in rather than shut himself out with Desmond

2004 "flash-sideways":

• Locke explains how he got injured: "I was in a plane crash" and his father was his first passenger, and the accident was his fault, and now his father will never walk or talk again
• Jack: "What happened, happened.  And you can let it go."
• Jack: "I *can* help you, John.  I wish you believed me."

2007:

• Jack, Sawyer, Hurley, and Kate are all alive on the beach
    
• MIB: "It sunk."
• Claire: "What, they're all dead?"
• MIB: "Not all of them"
• Somehow he seems to have a connection with the candidates where he knows if they die
• MIB tells Claire he's going to go finish what he started

Other questions, comments, and theories from the chat:

• Question in chat: "do we think ajira plane isnt done yet?"
• I never thought it had a chance of working to leave the Island anyway
• "im telling you i could swear that wndshield busted. didnt a stick impale the copiloot? a stick that crashed through on impact of the olanding... lostpedia:  The co-pilot died when a tree branch came through the window and harpooned his chest, spraying blood over Frank Lapidus." -diesel929
• "Maybe MIB just used the excuse of the plane to get all the lostees together" -baileybear
• "that is the only thing that makes sense" -diesel929
   
• "interesting tidbit from lostpedia:  As of the end of this episode, Jack, Kate, Sawyer, Hurley, Claire, and Walt are the only main cast members from Season 1 who are still alive in the original timeline." -diesel929
    
• "the only candidates left are Jack, Sawyer and Hurley" -baileybear
• ...unless Ji-Yeon is the Kwon candidate!
• Maybe Widmore does know that Kate is still a candidate, but he was tricking Sawyer
    
• Theories: Will Kate die?
• "she can' die.  she has to resolve something with Claire first" -baileybear
• "someone needs to tell claire that her mom is out of the coma. i thnk kate should be that person. and that aaron is with his grandma" -diesel929
• "weird thing is Claire never asked where her son is" -baileybear
• ...unless that conversation happened off-camera, or was filmed but didn't make the cut to the show
• "the lost lowdown went into deep discussion about this on their podcast. the last recruit" -diesel929
   
• "what is desmond there for?" -baileybear
• Has he already fulfilled his purpose?  Widmore got him to consciousness-travel to the alternate timeline, and now in the alternate timeline Des is bringing together the Flight 815 people and getting them to have memories of the original timeline.  Perhaps that was Widmore's whole purpose in bringing Desmond back to the Island
   
• When Des ran into Locke he may have wanted to get Locke to have a near-death experience so he would remember the original timeline; we didn't get confirmation that Locke remembers it in this episode, other than his mutterings while asleep in the hospital being from the original timeline

LOST News:

• The series finale episode has been extended from 2 hours to 2.5 hours, as reported here and later confirmed on The Official LOST Podcast (thanks to KateJack for the tip)

Screenshots and Easter Eggs:

• There were once again reflections in the flash-sideways: a reflection of Jack and Claire was seen in the music box's mirror (screenshot)

SPOILERS:

Preview for next week's episode:

• Locke from Season 1: "Two players, two sides.  One is light, one is dark."
• Shots of the Man in Black and Jacob
• Looks like it may be a MIB/Jacob-centric episode about their origins
• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LyulYb5wUVA 

Geronimo Jack's Beard: (spoiler about characters in the finale)

• Hurley, Kate, and Ben are all in the series finale episode (listen here)

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Season 4 Predictions, Find 815 ARG, and Mobisodes 9-12

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We had a very fun live show on Thursday night! We discussed some predictions about Season 4, what's been going on in the Find 815 alternate reality game and how it might tie in with the main LOST storyline, and LOST: Missing Pieces (mobisodes) 9 through 12. You can listen to the show by clicking on the link above. Show notes follow.

Season 4 Predictions

• According to Desmond's flash, if Charlie went down into the hatch, enabled communications with the outside world, and then died, then Claire and Aaron would get off the island in a helicopter. This is probably one of the helicopters owned by Naomi's people. We don't know for sure, however, whether they will actually make it back home
• We know from the last scene of the Season 3 finale that Jack and Kate ultimately get off the island, although of course we don't know whether that will be thanks to Naomi's people
• Ben claimed that calling Naomi's people would cause every living person on the island to be killed, but it remains to be seen whether or not he was telling the truth
• Josh strongly suspects that we'll find out that Charles Widmore is behind Naomi's group, citing as evidence the unlikelihood of anyone else being able to gain access to a copy of the photograph that only Penny and Desmond had. Charles Widmore is obviously not a fan of Desmond, and he may be trying to make sure once and for all that Desmond dies and thus can never be with Charles' daughter Penny again.
  
• Curt Yanko from the Black Rock Podcast suggested that the Christiane I (the ship on which Sam Thomas is sailing in the Find 815 alternate reality game) may end up finding the island, and that the game's story line might intersect with Season 4

Find 815 Alternate Reality Game: Summary of What's Happened So Far

• Oceanic Airlines issued a press release in late December 2007 that indicated that the company would be resuming operations worldwide. Oceanic also had an advertisement that was seen on the Web site flyoceanicair.com and there were a few real-world TV spots as well as billboards.
• Shortly after the ads began airing, a man named Sam Thomas who used to work for Oceanic Airlines hacked the company's site and inserted his own video clip in place of the commercial. He said that his partner Sonya was on Flight 815, which up to this point in the game has apparently never been found. Sam felt that the search ended prematurely, and he set off on his own to discover what happened to the missing airplane.
• Sam received an e-mail from someone who claimed to know Sonya, and hidden in the message were some clue words including "Black Rock". With the help of his friend Tracey, Sam found out that the Black Rock was a slave ship that was returning from a gold mining expedition when it disappeared. Tracey also helped Sam get aboard a ship called the Christiane I that turned out to be looking for the Black Rock. Sam is currently on the ship.
• The person who sent Sam the e-mail with the hidden clues has continued to send Sam encoded messages, which have given Sam a pair of longitude and latitude coordinates. They give a location just off the coast of Bali, Indonesia.
  
• Josh suspects that these coordinates will lead to the fake Flight 815 crash site mentioned by Naomi
• Curt suggests that perhaps the coordinates are that of the real plane and/or the real location of the island
• Curt suggests that anything is possible considering the subtle references to faster-than-light travel, time travel, and wormholes on the show and in peripheral yet canonical parts of the LOST universe
  
• Josh argues that Naomi and Anthony Cooper independently confirmed in The Brig that they saw news reports about the complete wreckage of Flight 815 being found and all passengers deceased, but Curt points out that they both obtained this knowledge secondhand, and the information available to the press may have been incorrect.
• Josh also argues that there is a lot of evidence pointing to the LOST island being somewhere in the Pacific, northeast of Australia (probably somewhere near the flight path). For example, there have been connections between the island and Amelia Earhart, whose final flight path would have intersected with the path of Oceanic Flight 815. Another indication that the LOST island should be in the Pacific is that Desmond thought the island was due east of Fiji.
• Josh concedes that Curt's theory is definitely interesting and may prove true, and agrees that with the talk of Casimir effects, etc., then it's certainly possible that Amelia Earhart's plane and Flight 815 may have both wound up in an entirely different place via a wormhole. Curt also cites as additional evidence for his theory the fact that a short-distance aircraft from Nigeria inexplicably wound up on the LOST island.
• Sam's anonymous tipster works for a company called The Maxwell Group, a division of Widmore Industries. The Maxwell Group is responsible for the search for the Black Rock that the people aboard the Christiane I are undertaking.
• The Widmore connection also lends credence to Curt's theory that perhaps the Christiane I may be headed for the LOST island, especially assuming that Josh's theory of a Charles Widmore connection with Naomi's people turns out to be true. Either way, there have been lots of connections between Widmore and the island
  
• The timeline of events in the ARG is somewhat unclear. Although the press release clearly gave a date in December 2007, the events surrounding the search for Flight 815 and the finding of the plane's wreckage should have already happened a long time before the present day based on what we've seen on the show.
  

LOST: Missing Pieces (Mobisodes) 9 through 12:

• In the ninth mobisode, "Tropical Depression," Doctor Arzt admits to Michael that he doesn't really know anything about predicting the weather and tells his depressing story of how he ended up on Flight 815.
• In the tenth mobisode, "Jack, Meet Ethan. Ethan? Jack," Ethan meets Jack and brings him a suitcase full of drugs that he says he found in the jungle. They talk about the fact that rescue is unlikely and discuss delivering Claire's baby. There's an awkward moment after Jack says to Ethan, "Well, if she does go into labor at least I know I've got an assistant," meaning Ethan. As he is walking away, Ethan turns toward Jack and tells him that his wife and child both died during labor.
  
• In the eleventh mobisode, "Jin Has a Temper-Tantrum On the Golf Course," well... the title pretty much sums it up. Jin expresses his frustration about losing the golf game and about not being able to communicate with anyone.
  
• In the twelfth mobisode, "The Envelope," we see part of the scene from the Season 3 premiere when Juliet burns her hands on the muffin tray. When Amelia arrives, Juliet swears her to secrecy and pulls out an envelope, but Juliet doesn't have time to show Amelia what's inside because the doorbell rings. This appears to be the envelope containing the X-rays of Ben's spine that reveal that he had a tumor.
  

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.

Announcements and Hiatus Plans

Don't worry, LOST fans! I haven't forgotten about the Season 3 finale. I'm still in the process of editing the live post-show podcast, which was roughly 2 hours and 45 minutes long unedited! I intend to release it in a few smaller, more manageable segments over the next few weeks.

After I release the Season 3 finale podcast episodes, I intend to continue to post occasional updates during the hiatus. If there are any good new theories, producers' comments, official ABC press releases, or anything else that I think is worth mentioning, I'll blog and podcast about it to keep you informed. Here are some tips on staying up-to-date:

• You can get an e-mail whenever the blog is updated if you subscribe via RssFwd.
• If you prefer to listen to the podcast, you can subscribe via iTunes.
• To use another subscription service, you can use the links in the sidebar.
  

If you still find yourself bored during the hiatus (which is expected to last until February 2008), fret not—here are some suggestions:

1. There are a lot of references to books in LOST. Sawyer is always reading something. Casual references to books are frequently made on the show. Why not read some of those books to get a better understanding of their significance to the show, if any? Or why not read official LOST books like Bad Twin, which was a part of The LOST Experience? Or commentaries and guides by various authors? All of these and more can be found in a new LOST store that I'm opening this summer. You can catch a sneak peek now! Be sure to check out each of the item category links in the sidebar (DVDs, Books, Games and Toys, etc.) for a wider selection from those categories.
   
   
2. Subscribe to the LOST Theories Network or the Lost Podcasting Network to listen to LOST podcasts that are producing epsiodes during the hiatus. You can also catch up on older episodes of this podcast or The Official LOST Podcast, if you'd like.
   
   
3. Browse old articles on this blog or Lostpedia and bone up on your LOST knowledge. One study suggestion might be to read up on The LOST Experience if you didn't participate in it during the post-Season 2 hiatus. Although The LOST Experience is not expected to continue during the present hiatus, studying the previous Experience can be insightful since many of its revelations about the Dharma Initiative, the Hanso Foundation, and Alvar Hanso still haven't been explored on the show. Another idea is to participate in Lostpedia's "Lost Rewatch" (see the main page at Lostpedia for details) and go back and look for things you may have missed in previous episodes. Then, if you find something that hasn't been mentioned yet on Lostpedia, you can contribute to Lostpedia's articles.
   
   
4. Take a few minutes and fill out my podcast listener survey and digg this podcast! You can also digg the LOST Theories Network.
   
   
5. If you're into technology, I'm in the planning stages of starting a tech podcast during the hiatus. More details will be posted when the podcast becomes available. If you're interested in becoming a co-host, please read this! Also, if you enjoy studying religion, another podcast that might interest you is this one.
   

If you come across any good LOST theories, news, etc. during the hiatus, please e-mail me at thelostmeister at gmail dot com.

LIVE "The Man Behind the Curtain" Discussion - Part 2, LOST News, and "Greatest Hits" Spoilers

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Following are notes based on the second half of the live discussion of "The Man Behind the Curtain," followed by some LOST news and highlights from the latest Official LOST Podcast, and finally some spoilers for the upcoming episode, "Greatest Hits."

• Ben kills his father
• Ben showed his brutal, unforgiving side in doing so; his father showed signs of repentance, saying that he would do his best to remember Ben's birthday next year, but Ben murdered him anyway
  
• By contrast, Locke wasn't able to kill his father with his own hands, but didn't have any problem setting up a situation where someone else would murder him
  
• Kate also killed her real father, who she thought at the time was her stepfather
• Since Ben had access to the codes for the pylon fence, this could explain how the hostiles made it into the Dharma village
• Ben chose to leave his father's body in the van rather than putting him in the mass grave
• Ben shoots Locke once in the stomach and leaves him for dead
• Why didn't Ben just shoot Locke again to make sure he would die? Ben knew that the island could heal him!
• "OceanBeach"/Pam in the live podcast pointed out that Ben can be added to the long list of those on the island with "daddy issues"
• Pam also pointed out that there may be some parallels between Ben and Annie's relationship and Alex and Karl's
• Pam suggested that Rousseau might turn out to be Annie (which would mean that Danielle lied about how she originally got to the island, among other things)

I have a few notes that aren't specifically related to this episode, but they're worth mentioning. A blog reader named Rebecca asked me to detail the connection between Ruth and Naomi on the show since these names are connected in the Bible. On LOST, Ruth is the woman to whom Desmond was engaged before he became a monk, and Naomi is the woman whose helicopter crashed recently. In the Bible, Ruth was Naomi's mother-in-law, and the two women were very close (click the link for more information and related chapters). The only connection I can conceive that might exist between LOST's characters of the same names might be if Desmond's ex-fiancée Ruth found out about Penelope's plan to find Desmond, and then Ruth could have hired Naomi to double-cross Desmond rather than save him, but that seems really far-fetched and is completely speculative. Personally, I think Ruth will prove to be a very minor character on LOST, and I don't think she has anything to do with Naomi, but I agree with Rebecca that it's interesting that both of these names were introduced and associated with Desmond in the same episode.

On the Black Rock podcast, they recently brought up the Locke's sweat lodge dream sequence from the beginning of the season, and wondered how Desmond being the pilot ties in with what's going on right now. Is there any significance to Desmond being a pilot in the dream? Does this indicate that he will become a leader among the Flight 815 survivors? There are several other elements of the dream sequence that may also be worth reexamination since the executive producers told us that it would set up a lot of what would happen in Season 3. If you have any thoughts about the dream sequence, please post your comments here on the blog or e-mail me at thelostmeister at gmail dot com.

Another thought that I've mentioned briefly before on the blog: Is Juliet pregnant? She was with Goodwin, and with the five times higher sperm count on the island it wouldn't be surprising if Juliet is pregnant, too. If she is, she's probably keeping it secret so she doesn't become a test subject. Juliet being pregnant would be a very good explanation for why she wants to get off the island so badly: she doesn't want to die, and she hopes that by leaving the island she'll have a better chance of survival.

I didn't point this out in my live post-show discussion of Catch-22 because people started to figure it out later on, but in Desmond's flashes at the beginning of the episode, Charlie dies, and then there's another flash of him being alive when Desmond cuts Naomi down from the tree. Do Desmond's flashes follow different timelines? Does this mean that Desmond was destined to save Charlie after all? Or was this just a production error?

Could there possibly be any connection between Isaac of Uluru (the healer from Australia that Rose went to), Jacob, and Ben? In the Bible, Isaac was the father of Jacob (aka Israel), who was the father of Benjamin. It doesn't seem very reasonable that Isaac could be Jacob's father, and we know that Jacob is not Ben's father, so there's obviously not a direct correlation. I don't really have any good theories about how all three of them connect, but on the most recent Black Rock podcast, there's a lot of good discussion about how the characters Jacob, Ben, and Locke might be connected based on Biblical accounts of Israel, Benjamin, and Joseph.

The remainder of this post contains spoilers.

From the preview for next week:

• Desmond says to Charlie, "I'm sorry, Brother, but this time... this time you have to die."
• Will Charlie really die in this episode?
• Jack says, "We stop hiding. We stop running. We stop living in fear."
  
• Ben says, "If any of 'em get in your way, kill 'em."
• Jack says, "When they show up, we're gonna blow 'em all to hell" and we see an explosion as someone on the beach puts two wires together
• Some people practice shooting Dharma cans, and one of them looks like Rose's husband Bernard, who we haven't seen yet this season
• Charlie and Claire kiss
• Someone hands a gun to someone else, and the person receiving the gun has a bloody hand (it's a close-up shot of the gun exchanging hands, so we don't know who the people were)
  
• Karl comes running out of the jungle toward the beach saying, "My people... they're coming right now!" and Sayid grabs him
• In the live podcast, Amanda said that Charlie's Driveshaft ring can also be seen sitting on a blanket, perhaps in Aaron's bed, and someone is seen handling the dynamite (perhaps Charlie?)

The official ABC synopsis for this week's Charlie-centric episode, "Greatest Hits," is as follows:

While Jack devises a plan to do away with "The Others" once and for all, Sayid uncovers a flaw in "The Others'" system that could lead to everyone's rescue. But it requires Charlie to take on a dangerous task that may make Desmond's premonition come true.

In which "system" does Sayid find a flaw? Their means of hiding the island? Their tactical plan? Perhaps the system spoken of is their walkie-talkies, and the flaw is that The Others would probably speak freely over them since they don't know that the crash survivors have one.

The episode title certainly seems to be a hint that Charlie will die. Typically, "greatest hits" albums are released after a band is no longer together or a musician dies. My guess is that Charlie will sacrifice himself in a touching manner that will help the crash survivors beat The Others, and this act will demonstrate Charlie's selflessness and his love for Claire.

Also from ABC's episode synopsis press release, the guest characters listed for this episode are Alex, Karl, Richard Alpert, Danielle Rousseau, Ryan Pryce (an Other we've seen before), Mikhail, Naomi, Charlie's brother Liam Pace, a new character named Roderick, a Simon Pace (probably a relative of Charlie), young Charlie and young Liam, Rose and Bernard, Nadia from Sayid's flashbacks, and two new characters named Greta and Bonnie who will also appear in the Season 3 finale.

Danielle Rousseau being in this episode could tie in with the dynamite that she took from the Black Rock. Also, in an Official LOST Podcast the executive producers stated that when Rose and Bernard return this season, they will not merely come back as background characters. Rumor has it that the actors who play Rose and Bernard have been working on other projects this season, so there's surely a good reason for them to be back. I wouldn't be surprised if Rose protests Bernard's desire to help fight The Others; she seems like a generally peaceful person, while Bernard has already shown that he'll stop at nothing to keep Rose safe from harm (e.g. taking her to see a healer and donating a large sum of money to him, trying to get the survivors rescued so Rose wouldn't have to be trapped on a dangerous island, etc.).

This wouldn't be the first time that Nadia has shown up in someone else's flashback other than Sayid's. Nadia was also in a Locke flashback where he was an inspector, and she indicated to Locke that she was not married.

According to Kristin at E!Online, as of March 1st, actress Evangeline Lilly (who plays Kate and has been dating Dominic Monaghan who plays Charlie) said that Dominic didn't know at that point in time whether Charlie would die. On March 19th, however, Kristin reported that she had heard that Charlie would die. On April 3rd, Kristin reported that there would be a swimming pool scene (presumably in Charlie's flashback), and Kristin said she was worried that someone might drown.

Ryan Ozawa from The Transmission saw a flashback scene from the episode being filmed. He said that it seemed to be a continuation of the Desmond/Charlie flashback crossover from earlier this season. It's raining, and a woman is getting mugged in an alleyway. Ryan thought it was Naomi, but Amanda pointed out during the live podcast that it makes more sense for it to be Nadia since we know she appears in the episode. Charlie saves the woman from the mugger.

According to SpoilerFix.com, the episode was formerly known as "Truth About Lying."

Following are some notes from the May 11th Official LOST Podcast.

The executive producers confirmed a recent ABC press release starting that after this season there will be 48 more episodes of LOST, spread out over 3 seasons, which means 16 episodes per season. In total, there will be 6 seasons of LOST.

Carlton: "Jacob is more of a question for Season 4 than he is for Season 3."

Carlton said that more than one of the Dharma Initiative members survived. (While not explicitly stated on the official podcast, this leaves open the possibility that Annie could have survived the purge.)

They hinted that John Locke is not dead.

Carlton indicated that Ben took Locke out to see Jacob as a litmus test to see whether Locke was in fact "special"—to see whether Locke could see or hear Jacob—and when Locke was able to hear Jacob, Ben felt threatened "because he doesn't want his leadership of The Others challenged by John Locke."

Carlton: "When you watch the [Season 3] finale, you'll get a pretty good idea of what Season 4 is going to be about. You won't... necessarily know where it's going to go, but we do launch the story in the direction that will define what the bulk of Season 4 will be."

Damon: The part of the purge we saw in "The Man Behind the Curtain" was "only a taste of things to come."

Damon: "We will see how Dr. Candle lost his hand and we will find out how Montand lost his arm," hinting once again that there will be Rousseau flashbacks.

Carlton: "There's definitely going to be more about the history of the Dharma Initiative."

In response to a question about whether the powdery substance that Locke found on the ground keeps Jacob confined to his cabin, Carlton said, "I think that there's kind of a couple of possible explanations. One explanation is that yes, that substance combined with other things perhaps might be keeping Jacob confined. The other explanation is that the volcano that Annie was making spewed out a lot of ash, and that ash happened to fall in a nice symmetrical pattern around the cabin." While the comment about "the volcano that Annie was making" seems to have been an attempt at a joke, Carlton does have a good point that this episode introduced us to the fact that there's a volcano on the island.

Carlton: "[What happened to Annie] is a chapter of Ben's story that I think we very much would like to see in the show LOST."

Damon: We're going to see the Dharma shark again.

"Enter 77" Insights and "Par Avion" Spoilers

[Listen to this episode!] [Subscribe to the MP3 feed via iTunes]

Mikhail Bakunin (who has commonly been called "Patchy" by fans) claimed that he was "the last surviving member of the DHARMA Initiative," although he quickly conceded that he was lying when Sayid called his bluff. However, Mikhail later told Sayid that everything else that he said about the DHARMA Initiative was true. Could one of those truths be that there are no surviving members of the DHARMA Initiative? Or is it possible that any remaining members have been assimilated by The Others? (More speculation about this later.) Mikhail also said that the "hostiles" (who we can probably assume are The Others) were on the island for a very long time prior to the DHARMA Initiative—which jives with Ben's claim that he's been on the island his whole life—and he claimed that the two groups went to war against each another.

It is unknown whether the glass eye found in the Arrow Station belongs to Mikhail, although it wouldn't be surprising.

Some fans speculated that Mikhail's cat, Nadia, may have been the same cat seen in Sayid's flashback (or at least a mysterious manifestation of the same cat, much like "Kate's horse"). However, a closer examination of the cat's markings reveals that it is not the same cat. Nadia, by the way, means "hope" in Mikhail's native Russian language [source], while in Arabic (with which Sayid would be familiar) Nadia means "delicate" [source].

We finally learned in this episode what "the cable" that leads from the jungle into the ocean is for. According to Mikhail, it leads to an underwater sonar system used for submarine navigation.

In the Russian conversation between Ms. Klugh and Mikhail, she ordered him to shoot her. Among other things, she said: "You know what to do. We cannot risk it. You know the conditions. They captured us. We will not let them to get into the territory." I believe we'll soon find out about this "territory" that Ms. Bea Klugh died trying to protect.

According to Dr. Marvin Candle's instructions, entering 23 in the Flame Station computer would initiate a supply drop. Do the supply drops take place at regular intervals regardless of whether someone manually requests them? If there is not an automatic drop schedule, does this indicate that Mikhail manually initiated the supply drop in the episode "Lockdown"? If so, did he do it because he knew that Ben would use it to his advantage to gain Locke's trust? Did he do it to enable Ben to pretend that he didn't really push the button, thus causing Locke to lose faith in the button and cause the Swan Station to implode? Or are the supply drops mentioned on the Flame Station computer completely unrelated to the supply drops at the Swan Station? My own speculation is that the supply drops are one and the same, for two reasons. First, Mikhail's alcohol had the Swan Station logo on it. Second, in "Tricia Tanaka is Dead," the writers made a point to show Nikki and Paulo discussing the fact that they were starting to run low on food; I don't think they would have taken the time to make a point about this unless it was significant to the plot.

When Locke entered 77, the Flame Station exploded shortly thereafter. Why wouldn't Mikhail and Ms. Klugh have removed the explosives from the station? For their own safety and to ensure that The Others would continually have communication with the outside world, it seems like it would have been in their best interest to ensure that the station was kept intact. Some have speculated that The Others planted the explosives themselves. I wouldn't rule this out as a possibility, especially since Ben lied to Locke about whether he pushed the button during the lockdown in the Swan Station. What was Ben's motive for tricking Locke into thinking that he didn't need to push the button? Was it part of The Others' agenda to let the hatch get destroyed? If so, was it also part of their agenda to con Locke into destroying the Flame Station? While I certainly think it's possible, I can't imagine why The Others wouldn't have just destroyed the stations on their own.

So far there has not been any conclusive evidence to prove whether Dr. Marvin Candle (from the Swan and Flame Stations' video segments) and Dr. Mark Wickmund (from the Pearl Station's video) are the same person, although the real-life actor is the same. Since we've been told explicitly by the producers that we "will never, ever hear the word 'clone' on LOST," it's doubtful that they're clones, and with different last names, it seems questionable whether they could be twins. Additionally, while there were twin Others on the boat when Walt was stolen, Damon Lindelof has stated that "twins have nothing to do whatsoever with the mythology of the show." So what's the deal with Doctors Candle and Wickmund? The Pearl Station seems to have been an experiment on its inhabitants, based on the fact that the pneumatic tubes simply dropped all the logs into a pile that was exposed to the elements and was never actually collected by the DHARMA Initiative. Since we've now seen Dr. Candle's image in two different hatches, the first hatch having proven conclusively to have had a legitimate purpose in spite of what the Pearl video claimed, perhaps "Dr. Wickmund" is merely a fictitious identity used by Dr. Candle in the Pearl video.

A lot of fans are starting to suspect that Danielle Rousseau hasn't been completely truthful with the Flight 815 survivors. For example, Danielle claimed that the reason she was alive was that she avoided confrontations with The Others. In stark contrast with this claim, in Season 1 she went out of her way to capture Sayid thinking he was an Other, and in Season 2 she caught Ben Linus in a trap and confronted him. Why would she go out of her way to capture them if she didn't think it was safe to confront them? Also, Jack from the Jay and Jack podcast pointed out that when Danielle captured Sayid in Season 1, Sayid had been following the cable from the beach. We found out in this episode that the cable led to the Flame Station. Surely sometime within the 16 years Danielle has been on the island she would have followed the cable and found the Flame Station, but she told Sayid that she had never been there before. To give her the benefit of the doubt, maybe part of the cable was buried and thus she couldn't follow it all the way, or perhaps she was afraid it was a trap and stayed away from it. However, another indication that Danielle may be a liar is that she stole Aaron in Season 1 and took him to the black smoke, and we were left to wonder whether The Others really started the smoke and just never showed up to collect Aaron, or whether Danielle started the smoke and lied to the Flight 815 survivors about it. It's possible that all of these questions about Danielle's integrity are red herrings, and in the end Danielle may still prove to be a more or less faithful friend to the castaways.

In a recent interview with Damon and Carlton, several interesting pieces of information were revealed. (Some minor spoilers are ahead.) First, Damon said that the revelations about the Hanso Foundation that were uncovered by Rachel Blake in The LOST Experience are officially canon. Carlton explained that it's no coincidence that Hurley's imaginary friend and his absentee father, David, both had the same name. Carlton said that Dr. Marvin Candle from the Orientation films will not have his own storyline, although Damon stated that "we might be seeing Marvin Candle somewhere other than a DHARMA film at some point before all is said and done." (Perhaps he was recruited or assimilated by The Others?) They revealed that Season 4 of LOST will begin around the beginning of 2008, and that rather than splitting the season into two segments, the plan is to have each episode air a week apart with no breaks in between. When asked whether it would be possible for fans to figure out the overarching mysteries of the show at this point, Carlton said, "I don't think so," and Damon said that fans might be able to figure out some pieces at this point, citing that some fans have come "alarmingly close" to figuring out what the smoke monster's "origins were, how it functions, what its purpose is, but they weren't able to go to the next level... what does that mean in the grander scheme of what the island is?" Damon also revealed that "the real hardcore intel about the island is going to start to reveal itself toward the end of this season as we learn more about The Others."

The remainder of this post contains spoilers.

The official ABC synopsis for this week's Claire-centric episode, "Par Avion," is as follows:

Claire becomes suspicious of Charlie when he exhibits peculiar behavior after she comes up with an idea that could get everybody rescued. Meanwhile, tensions mount between Sayid and Locke as they continue their trek to rescue Jack.

This week, the list of guest characters may be spoilerific in and of itself; one guest appearance will be made by none other than Christian Shephard, Jack's father. Fans have speculated ever since the Season 2 episode "Two for the Road," when Christian confronted a blonde Australian woman about seeing his daughter, that he might be Claire's father. We'll find out for sure in this week's episode, in which we'll meet Claire's parents. When USA Today asked actress Emilie de Ravin whether Christian Shephard was Claire's father, de Ravin only smiled and said "You'll see." Order your "Christian Shephard is my Father" gear now! ;o)

Mikhail will return in this week's episode. However, since he is not listed in the credits for next week's episode (while Danielle Rousseau is), it's possible that Mikhail will either die or escape in "Par Avion."

There's a spectacular scene which appeared briefly in the preview trailer at the end of last week's episode. At some point in their journey, Sayid and the gang come to a series of mysterious obelisks, about twice the height of a human, that appear to be spread out in a line as far as can be seen. This might be the entry to "the territory" mentioned by Ms. Klugh in the Russian conversation.

Hiatus Spoilers Galore (and More!)

Tons of great LOST spoilers have surfaced during the mid-season hiatus. But first, let's recap the mid-season finale, "I Do," and get into some news.

In the mid-season finale, "I Do," Juliet tells Jack that she took Ben's blood tests and made all the notations. Is it remotely possible that Ben's tumor might be benign, and Juliet is just using her medical knowledge to trick Jack into putting his life in danger?

Later, there is a scene in which Alex breaches the compound where Kate and Sawyer are working, and begins to attack the guards with her slingshot. Alex demands of Pickett, "What did you do to him, Danny? Where is he?! I want to talk to Ben." Presumably, the "him" to which Alex refers is Karl, based on her next comment to Kate. This dialogue is also interesting because it seems to indicate that Alex trusts Ben. As Alex is dragged away, she yells to Kate, "Whatever they say, don't believe them! They're going to kill your boyfriend, just like they killed mine." Apparently Alex thinks that Karl has been killed, although this has not yet been confirmed on the show.

When Kate talks with Jack through the glass wall, Kate tells him that "They're making us work. I don't know what it is, but it's big." We've only seen Kate and Sawyer breaking and hauling rocks, but for some reason Kate seems to think that there's some greater purpose for their labor. When Jack asks Kate, "Did they hurt you?" she begins to sob, which might indicate that she was hurt after the beach breakfast with Ben before being taken to the cages, or she might simply have been crying because of her fear that they might kill Sawyer.

Before Ben's surgery, he asked Juliet, "Did Alex ask about me?" Juliet replied, "No, we took her home last night. I don't know where she is now." First, it seems from Ben's question that he cares about Alex and was concerned about her. Second, Juliet's response, assuming that it is trustworthy, leaves us to wonder about the timeline of events. If Alex had already been taken "home" (presumably to the main island) the night before, then did this take place before or after Alex opened the door to Jack's cell? While watching the episode, I assumed that Alex had already been taken home and had made her way back to the "Alcatraz" island before she released Jack. This certainly seems feasible if Alex has some way of her own to travel between the islands—and I believe she does—possibly the "subterranean conduit" mentioned on the blast door map. I have a strong hunch that Alex will come to Kate and Sawyer's rescue as they try to escape the island. Refer to the TheoryCast for more discussion of this topic, as well as the spoilers later in this post.

The producers of LOST have recently been in talks with ABC to officially decide how many seasons LOST will run. This will give them a target from which to figure out how to pace the story. The executive producers have previously said they're hopeful that LOST will last around 100 episodes, or 4-5 seasons.

The LOST "mobisodes" that were supposed to have run during the hiatus haven't happened. A source claims that the mobisodes are on hold indefinitely due to difficulties in negotiations with actors. In lieu of the mobisodes, there have been 13 "LOST Moments" on ABC's Web site, one for each week of the hiatus. Each one shows a scene from an upcoming episode in Season 3. Some of the most interesting moments include the following. (Please note, the remainder of this post contains several spoilers.)

• Charlie calls Desmond a coward and they get in a fight
  
  
• As Charlie and Hurley are about to ransack Sawyer's stash, Desmond appears and tells them to come with him
  
  
• Claire is lying face down in the ocean, and Desmond swims out to her. Meanwhile, Charlie sees Sun holding Aaron and asks where Claire is, and begins to run toward the water. The next thing we see is Desmond bringing Claire back to the shore
  
  
• Jack is in an outdoor cage (so obviously this is some time after Ben's surgery and Kate and Sawyer's attempted escape), and he awakens to find several people watching him—including flight attendant Cindy, who disappeared shortly before Ana Lucia shot Shannon. Jack asks "How did you end up with them?" to which she replies with a smile, "It's not as simple as that, Jack." This may be a hint that Cindy has been working with the Others all along (which would confirm a suspicion I've had since her mysterious disappearance). The manner in which Cindy speaks to Jack is very similar to the way Juliet has spoken to him: she clearly enunciates each word, and calls him by name frequently. She tells him, "We're here to watch, Jack."
  
  Interestingly, Cindy may not be the only survivor of the Flight 815 crash who is working with The Others. On the Generally Speaking Lost Podcast, it has previously been mentioned that an unnamed male character whom fans are calling "Mr. Squinty" and an unnamed female character I'll call "Ms. Dreadlocks" have been seen working with The Others, as shown in these episode screenshots (courtesy of GSPN):
  

  
  

• In another LOST Moment that's very clearly from Episode 7, which will air this week, Kate talks to Jack on the walkie-talkie she took from Danny and tells him that she and Sawyer need a boat to get off the "Alcatraz" island. Suddenly, a bullet hits her walkie-talkie and it breaks in pieces. Kate and Sawyer run for cover as Danny and a gang of Others pursue them. As Kate ducks behind a tree, an Other pops up and aims a gun at her. He is instantly taken out and falls to the side, but no gunshot is heard; was he was taken out with a slingshot? This would support my theory that Alex will save Kate and Sawyer.
  
  
• In another clip that's probably from this week's episode, Tom asks Jack whether Juliet really asked him to kill Ben. He threatens Jack, saying that he will die if he lets Ben die, and Jack responds that he's willing to take his chances.
  
  
• A scene from a Jack flashback seems to take place in Thailand (or so I assume because that's where Jack got his tattoo, and the executive producers have revealed that we'll learn the tattoo story this season). My theory is that Jack went to Thailand after his marriage failed, and he sought worldly pleasures in an attempt to dull the pain of losing his beloved Sarah.
  
  
• Hurley slaps Charlie and exhorts him to go with him on a mission in which "there's a very good chance that you will die."
  
  
• Vincent runs out of the jungle toward Charlie and Hurley with a skeletal arm in his mouth. In the mummified hand is a key and a rabbit's foot (apparently, the rabbit's foot didn't bring much luck to its owner). Vincent runs back into the jungle and Hurley follows, instructing Charlie to tell someone if he's not back in three hours.
  
  
• Sawyer and Jin are sitting in a Volkswagen van in the middle of the jungle. Sawyer is teaching Jin some English phrases, and they appear to be drinking DHARMA brand beers. A mummified skeleton is sitting on the ground, propped up against the van. (This clip begs the question: how in the world did this vehicle get on the island??)
  
  
• Sawyer and Kate are on a small boat, making their escape from the island. Kate tells Sawyer to go back because they can't leave Jack.
  
  
• An older white woman, presumably an Other, reads Jack's tattoo aloud in Chinese and tells him that its meaning is ironic.

In a hiatus episode of The Official LOST Podcast, the executive producers revealed that the writing that John Locke found on Mr. Eko's Jesus stick—"lift up your eyes and look north"—will propel Locke on a mission. They also revealed that we're going to find out what happened to Desmond the second or third episode back.

ABC's official synopsis of this week's Juliet-centric episode, Not In Portland, is as follows:

Jack is in command as the fate of Ben's life literally rests in his hands. Meanwhile, Kate and Sawyer find an ally in one of "The Others," and Juliet makes a shocking decision that could endanger her standing with her people.

Some of the characters that will appear in this episode include Mr. Friendly/Tom, Ethan, Alex (Danielle Rousseau's daughter), Karl (Alex's boyfriend), Danny Pickett, and "a morgue employee." According to actress Elizabeth Mitchell, we'll find out why Juliet chose to join The Others.

Spoilers from Ryan Ozawa include that some of Juliet's flashbacks will take place at Miami Central University's Medical Research Laboratory, and Ethan will appear there as well.

Prepare to be shocked! Two major twists are coming up during the second half of Season 3. In a TV Guide interview, Damon Lindelof revealed the following:

There are two bombs being dropped, one of which is a character bomb, and that will happen within the first three episodes after the break. And the other is a more significant story bomb, a game-changer, as it were, and that will happen shortly after.

Those LOST fans who dislike Paulo's character (who along with Nikki was thrown into this season with a rather weak introduction) may be interested to hear that Rodrigo Santoro reportedly said in an interview that he would no longer be on the show past this season. Other spoilerish rumors indicate that Paulo will have a significant role to play in the show's plot before he's gone, however.

In a recent podcast interview [MP3 link] with Michael Emerson, who plays Benjamin Linus, Emerson gave several opinions and possible spoilers that are rather interesting:

• He seems to believe that The Others really might have super strength, as some fans have speculated
  
  
• He thinks that Charlie might be the next to die (possibly because of something he knows about an upcoming episode)
  
  
• If Ben dies on the operating table, "it is going to create a sort of absence of power at the center of Other culture, a vacuum of power that others may step into, which characters you haven't met yet. Frightening characters." My own speculation about this is that perhaps the Chinese-speaking woman may be Ben's replacement.
  
  
• When asked whether The Others work directly for the Hanso Foundation or DHARMA, Emerson said "No. Not the Others that we know."
  
  
• He revealed that Ben has truly lived on the island his whole life.
  
  
• He believes that The Others will once again be able to communicate with the outside world
  
  
• He confirmed that there is indeed more than one group of Others, and said that it is not an offshoot of Ben's group.

LOST is scheduled to return this Wednesday at its new time, 10:00 PM Eastern and Pacific. A brand new episode is expected every week all the way through the Season 3 finale.

Also, check in this weekend for a special podcast with Christian Piatt, the author of LOST: A Search for Meaning. It will be a round table discussion about religious references in LOST, featuring Piatt, Big-O from Cranky Fanatic, and Cliff Ravenscraft from Generally Speaking. If you buy Christian's book through this link you can currently save 20% off the cover price!

No More Sporadic Episode Schedule in Season 3?

I know a lot of people who have complained about ABC's scheduling of LOST with a couple new episodes at a time with repeats in between. Well, at least according to this article, we can expect next season to be a lot better. It sounds like we'll have a couple of large blocks of repeat-free LOST instead of sporadic new episodes mixed with reruns.