This is the big one... the whole enchilada... the end of an empire of weird...

If it even gets started:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/01/06/AR2010010604578.html

I know... it's shallow of me to get all uppity when we're talking about a fictional TV show versus health care reform, but in this climate of political divisiveness, it doesn't even matter what the POTUS says, so I don't see the point in pre-empting a little bit of escapist entertainment during these times-are-tough-times for the sake of an empty ritual. The pundits that armchair quarterback the speech decide what was really said, and that's all the majority cares about. They should have an hour, say, at 7pm, to tell everyone what Obama's going to say at 9pm and how it's either going to save us all or result in the mass slaughter of infants and the elderly, and then CSPAN, CNN, MSNBC, and FOX can run the speech (if they so choose, but it's probably more profitable to run a repeat of Glen Beck or Oberman instead). The 7pm thing may pre-empt TMZ, but I really don't think anyone will be able to tell the difference.

[puts the rage machine on idle]

My actual concern is that they won't reschedule Lost to start a week later and will instead wager on the landmark, sweeping policy-changing speech and the ensuing commentary fitting neatly in the time allotted. If I hear, "Now we join our regularly scheduled programming in progress" I'm moving to Canada.

Yeah I heard about the possible delay on Twitter. If only we were indeed going to get the health care reform we deserve, it might actually be worth it. But instead, we're getting mandatory health care with no public option, the only benefit being that insurance can't deny treatment. Millions of Americans don't have health care because they can't afford the high premiums, and millions more go bankrupt because they've received treatment and can't afford to pay the deductibles. This so-called reform completely misses the point. And with millions unable to afford health insurance now having to shell out the extra money every month (as opposed to say, buying retail or for many others, eating food) our economy is now set to take another major hit.

Back on topic though, I really appreciate how tight-lipped the entire network has manage to stay about Lost. Not one leak, not one "on-set rumor." Not even one preview scene aired on TV. Not one shot of Lost Season 6 has been shown to the public before it airs. And that's great, since doing so would basically spoil the answer to the question posed by the Season 5 finale.

We're worried about what they consider "Cadillac plans" because it's hard to get an answer on the value of our plans. If either is, what does that mean in the long term? Union workers are not rich people. A big part of their compensation comes in the form of their benefit package, but instead of taxing that top 1 or 4% of the richest of people in the country (which was a campaign promise, I recall) they get to keep their money, which they can use to fly to Switzerland for experimental life-saving treatment, while union workers will net even less than they do now, and probably have their coverage reduced even more. Basically, they're proposing to whack the middle guys more to cover the uninsured, instead of asking those who have way more than enough to contribute what constitutes an insignificant amount to them, but a life-saving sum to someone who has nothing. Paint me red and call me a commie, but I really don't see what's wrong with asking those who have so much to help out in proportion to their wealth in this regard. It's health we're talking about, not luxuries.

I'm not even going to get into the cost-of-living aspect, which is something Congress can't wrap it's fool brains around. "Cadillac" in Kansas is a Yugo in New York, and while I like cows, no way in hell am I moving to Kansas.

Done digressing--

What was the question posed by the end of last season? In the time since the season finale, my brain has been crammed with new memories formed by all 3 seasons of Arrested Development, Season 1 of True Blood, Burn Notice, Chuck, and Dexter, not to mention all the games and movies I've seen. My Lost memories were over-written sometime in October, I think. Help!

Government is and always will be the burden of the middle class, no doubt about it. In most countries the governments are scared of the people, and that's why everyone pays roughly the same exorbitant taxes. But in this country both the middle class and the government fear the rich, and that's reflected in this health care bill. Although I'm a Nevadan I think Harry Reid should step down; not because his vocabulary's outdated or because he's a racist, but because of his backsliding and pandering to the rich and to the Republicans on this health care bill. He has screwed us all for decades to come. This is the problem with government by white old man; they die and leave us sorting out the mess they created for a generation.

But I digress too. The question we were left with at the end of Season 5 was did detonating the nuclear bomb core destroy the electromagnetic pocket below the Swan station, and if so what kind of changes/paradoxes would this create in the present? Who will survive? Personally my guess is that it will have changed the future so badly that not a single frame from Season 6 could be shown to the public for fear of spoilers. Let's face it, the Season 5 finale was just so over-the-top crazy with action and character deaths, it was nearly uncharacteristic of the show. It literally could have been the last episode of the show, in itself. I'm betting that the actions of Jack's people in the past will change the present enough that none of what we saw in the finale will have happened. Both Jacob and Smokie will get one more shot at each other. And as we saw in the finale, Jacob touched seven people (Jack, Kate, Sawyer, Sayid, Hurley, Locke, Elana). I think this touch will somehow draw these people to the island regardless of how the present changes; that even if flight 815 never crashes, these people will still come to the island by some other means (maybe by sub?) to do Jacob's bidding and fight on Jacob's side against Smokie in their eternal showdown.

The only fairly plausible news I've heard about Season 6 regards casting new characters. Actors Hiroyuki Sanada (Speed Racer, Sunshine, The Last Samurai) and John Hawkes (Deadwood, Perfect Storm, From Dusk 'Til Dawn) are joining the cast as new recurring characters. Only Hawkes' role has been named, his character is called "Lennon." People have tried to infer things from the character descriptions on the casting sheets, but the Lost producers have made these descriptions purposely misleading in the past. For example, you would have never guessed the true nature of Miles, Daniel and Charlotte from their casting sheet descriptions. Also, the name "Lennon" may be more misdirection.

According to IMDB, the first episode will be titled "LA X" with the space between the A and X as typed. Several sites have said repeatedly that old cast members are rejoining the show. IMDB's cast list includes some of these, such as Boone, Shannon, Artz, and Claire. The cast list also includes new actors Jenni Blong as "Lindsey Baskum" and David H. Lawrence XVII (from Heroes) as an unknown character. Also listed is an "Oceanic Rep" played by Troy Vincent. So the casting list would have us believe that the first episode will probably center around changes to Flight 815 caused by the paradox created by the characters who went to the past.

No sooner do I speak than today comes this bit of info from ew.com:


So, it's kinda like they're indicating that Season 6 will tie in to Season 1 directly, changing a lot of what we experienced in that first year. It also makes me feel like somewhat of a heel for watching seasons 2-5 and keeping track of what appears to be useless Lost trivia.

Oh no.. this sounds like they're ending the series with the equivalent of a "Bobby in the shower" snowglobe on the nightstand next to Bob Newhart's bed!

I remember back when Season 1 went on DVD, there was some consternation regarding deleted scenes, as one of these scenes, between Walt and Locke, effectively "gave away" the whole story and laid out how it would end. I never heard any more about it, and actually forgot about it until now. Regardless of the specific details, it appears that going back to Season 1 is in keeping with the original gameplan. Something to be said for that.

Along those lines, I've often wondered if the whole raison d'etre of the series is to explore what would happen if what's supposed to happen doesn't happen. That they're going back to Season 1 in many ways hints at this, but I'm not sure what the thing that wasn't supposed to happen was, as Flight 815's crash is just one event in a cascading chain of events that began maybe during Ben's childhood, but probably before that.

And really, what did we learn in Seasons 2-5 that's really so fundamental? It all comes down to a crashed plane, an island, a few previously wrecked vessels (Black Rock, smuggler's plane), smokey, and the hatch. I think you can connect all the big issues to one of these things. The rest is filler. Tasty, modified corn-starch and high-fructose corn syrup filler, but filler nonetheless.

Can't wait!

Oh, I suppose I shouldn't have made it sound like I would mind so much. It's the last season we're ever going to see of this great show, and I'm still looking forward to it. What will be great is if the people Jacob touched all retained their memories of this alternate universe we've been watching for five years. So that when they land at LAX, they all know about the Island and Dharma and everything. And together, they work to get back there and fulfill whatever job Jacob had planned for them all along, hopefully finally proving to Smokie that bringing men to the island doesn't always end in violence. The only thing I'm really hoping does not happen is that we find out that the title "Lost" isn't really about being lost on an island or left out of society, but about a lost book of the Bible. Which I've been worried about throughout the summer following Jacob's murder by FLocke.

As for deleted scenes from the Pilot, you piqued my curiosity. Are you talking about this one where Locke tells Walt that to bluff someone you have to know something about them?: http://lostpedia.wikia.com/wiki/Season_ ... g_the_Tell Cause Cause I really don't see that giving away the series as much as it gave clues about Season 1.

I don't know. I never saw it and don't own the DVDs, but it got me interested for a while, then I had to buy new shoes or feed the cats and I forgot about it.

I wasn't fearing a lost book of the Bible, but a Stargate-inspired thing where the gods are aliens who helped build the pyramids (hence all the Egyptian stuff) and touched survivors are really gods themselves and don't remember it, or somesuch nonsense. Jack is a healer and the good shepherd, after all. Makes me shudder.

This video making fun of Lost fans really is too hilarious!

Final Season Of 'Lost' Promises To Make Fans More Annoying Than Ever: http://danbirlew.com/c2sl0em2

So, a week to go, give or take, and all I'm hearing out of the creators is the kind of "oh the fans are gonna be MAD!!!" stuff that just fires off all my alarm bells to translate as: we know what we're doing is a cop-out, but if we call it ahead of time, you can't say we didn't know it!

I've seen those as well, and they don't make me happy. But we just have to hope that the show is still about the island, and that we get all the answers to all the stupid questions this show has raised and left unanswered over the years.

Something to check out:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MKcKtjrL5bc

LOST: 24. Very entertaining!

Here's a simultaneous dialog on Lost:

http://www.slate.com/id/2242745/entry/2242746/

But I need help!!! I forget most of what happened last season, and I totally missed the replay of the season finale last week. I had a migraine and couldn't keep my eyes open.

Dan-- can you give us a rundown of the key points? I'm so totally confused about Locke not being Locke. And Ben killed Jacob? Jebus... I forgot everything!

Jeez! Just give me jobs, why don't ya? Well, here's the short and sweet just to jog the memory nodes, not necessarily to explain:

1. After Ben moved the Island in S4, the frozen donkey wheel was left unstuck. Shifting back and forth, it caused the Island to move forward and backward in time. The castaways started dying from the effects of time travel. Charlotte died, causing Faraday to become despondent and distracted for several years.

2. While moving through time, the castaways saw the full version of the giant four-toed statue that Sayid and Sun previously saw in season 2. It is the Egyptian goddess Tauret.

3. The castaways went to 1956 and some of them met the ageless Richard Alpert. Locke walked into camp, spoke to Richard and told him "You said I'm your leader". He gives Richard the compass, which Richard originally gave to him, meaning that the compass becomes an object with no origin. This also sets in motion the idea that John Locke is "special," an idea which Alpert must have later shared with Ben at some point.

4. While in 1956, Faraday determined that the Others had a leaking atom bomb called Jughead. He told them to bury it beneath cement. To convince a young Eloise Hawking that he wasn't lying, he admitted he was from the future.

5. After a few more time shifts. Locke took the castaways to the Orchid. Instead of the Orchid, he found an old well that Charlotte mentioned. Climbing down the well, he found the frozen donkey wheel jerking back and forth. He moved it fully into place. The Island moved one last time, and John went to Tunisia in 2007.

6. The rest of the castaways went to 1974. They pretended to be shipwrecked on the Island and infiltrated the Dharma Initiative.

7. Following the advice he got from "Christian Shepherd" just before he moved the Island, Locke uses Charles Whitmore's help to track down the Oceanic 6 and try to convince them to return with him to the Island. He fails.

8. Ben follows Locke and kills his driver, Abaddon. He later finds Locke in his hotel room, despondent, about to commit suicide. Wondering why Locke is trying to convince them all to go back, he gets Locke to admit that "Christian" told him to convince the O6 to come back, and that in order to do so they all had to go together, and that Eloise Hawking would help them. After learning what Locke knows, Ben murders Locke and stages a suicide.

9. Locke's suicide changes Jack's mind. He joins with Ben in trying to convince everyone that they had to go back to the Island to save everyone they left behind. Jack and Ben took Sun to meet Eloise Hawking at a Dharma station in LA called the Lamppost. She explained that they all had to get on a certain flight and fly through a certain window at a certain time. Ajira Airline flight 316 was following the route.

10. Jack, Kate, Hurley, Sun, Ben, Sayid and a woman who's taken him prisoner, Elana, all board Ajira flight 316. By coincidence the pilot is Frank Lapidus. When the plane hits the window to the Island, a bright light fills the plane. Jack, Kate, Hurley and Sayid vanish.

11. Jack, Kate and Hurley find themselves back on the Island. They are discovered by Jin, who takes them to meet Sawyer. Sawyer explains that it's 1977 and that he, Juliet, Jin, Miles, and Faraday are part of the Dharma Initiative. He needs to figure out a way to sneak them into the program to avoid blowing his own cover.

12. In 2007, Ajira 316 crashes on Hydra Island. Ben plans to return to the main island by outrigger. Sun and Frank follow him. Sun knocks out Ben, and she and Frank take the outrigger to the main Island. At Dharmaville, they encounter Christian Shepherd, who tells them that Jin is in 1977 and that Sun needs to wait for... John Locke.

13. Ben wakes up in the infirmary to find John Locke is alive again. Locke is surprisingly easy to make amends with, and he agrees with Ben that they need to return to the main island.

14. A group led by Elana piques Ben's interest because they are preparing a large cargo container for travel.

15. Locke and Ben take an outrigger over to Dharmaville. There they encounter Frank and Sun. Frank returns to Hydra island. Ben summons the Smoke Monster, then travels with Locke and Sun to the Temple to atone for his sins.

16. Returning to Hydra island, Frank learns that Elana's group has taken over and are preparing to row to the main island with their large cargo container. When Frank interferes, Elana asks him "What lies in the shadow of the statue?" When he cannot answer, she knocks him out. She tells her cohorts to put Frank in the boat, and that he may be a "candidate."

17. At the Temple, Locke and Ben go beneath the outer wall, where we've previously seen the Smoke Monster emerge from. Deep beneath the wall, Ben falls through the floor to an ancient chamber. While Locke runs off to find some rope, Ben encounters the Smoke Monster. The Smoke Monster forces Ben to remember all the terrible things he's done, especially to Alex. The Smoke Monster then appears as Alex, and tells Ben that if he wants forgiveness he must do everything Locke says. Alex vanishes and Locke reappears, having found a rope.

18. In 1977, Sawyer successfully brings Jack, Kate, and Hurley into the Dharma Initiative in the guise of new recruits. However, Sayid is caught running through the jungle and imprisoned as a Hostile (what Dharma calls the Others).

19. While imprisoned, Sayid is visited by a young Ben Linus. Ben wants to leave Dharma and join the Others, and thinks that Sayid can help him. After setting a van on fire and sending it into Dharmaville, Ben releases Sayid and the two escape into the jungle. Encountering Jin on the road, Sayid knocks him out, steals his gun, and shoots Ben Linus in the heart.

20. The next morning Jin finds Ben, except the bullet wound is really on the other side of his chest, where it's not fatal. He takes Ben back to camp and Juliet tries to save him. However, she's losing him. She tells Kate to take Ben to the Others, that they can save him.

21. Kate and Sawyer take Ben into the jungle and find Richard Alpert. Richard takes Ben and says that he can heal him, but that he'll never be innocent again, he'll always be an Other. Kate starts to realize that they are setting in motion everything that happens in the future on the island.

22. Returning from the Others, Sawyer is confronted by a Dharma employee named Phil who saw him go into the jungle with Ben. Sawyer knocks out Phil and locks him in the closet.

23. Daniel Faraday returns to the Island convinced that they must prevent the Incident that caused the Swan Station to be built. Finding out that Sawyer's cover is crumbling, he convinces Kate and Jack to go out into the jungle with him to find his mother, Eloise Hawking, an Other, who will know where the hydrogen bomb is.

24. Faraday storms into the Others camp, waving a gun in Richard's face, demanding to speak to Eloise. Eloise shoots and kills him. She recognizes her own handwriting in Faraday's journal and realizes that not only is he the man who told him to bury the bomb in the 50s, he's also her son.

25. Jack tells Eloise everything that's going on. He convinces her and Richard to take him and Kate to the bomb. While they travel, they are ambushed by Sayid, who later joins them. They swim into a chamber of the Temple where the bomb is stored. Sayid follows Faraday's instructions in his journal which explain how to remove the atom bomb's core.

26. Caught by Dharma, Sawyer, Juliet and Kate are put on the sub. Juliet commandeers the sub and makes them surface. The three use a raft to return to the Island.

27. The tunnels lead Jack and Sayid back to Dharmaville. They try to sneak through with the bomb core. However, Sayid is recognized by Ben's father, who begins a shootout. Sayid is gutshot. They are rescued by Hurley, Jin and Miles in a Dharma van.

28. Jack's group encounters Sawyer, Juliet and Kate on the road to the Swan. Sawyer tries to stop Jack, and the two have a fistfight, partly over Jack's plan and partly over Kate. Sawyer determines that he cannot stop Jack.

29. Jack tries to sneak into the Swan construction site but is spotted. Dharma starts firing. Sawyer drives the Dharma van into the site with Juliet and Kate onboard. Jack makes it to the drill silo and drops the bomb core inside.

30. The Incident begins. Electromagnetism radiating from the core below begins to pull every metallic object into the hole. Juliet is pulled inside. Sawyer catches her, but the magnetism is too strong. He lets her go. At the bottom of the silo, Juliet bangs on the bomb core until it detonates.

31. In 2007, Locke, Ben and Sun join the Others. As the new leader, Locke tells Richard to take him to Jacob. During the trip, Locke tells Ben that he must kill Jacob. Richard leads them to the giant statue of Tauret, which is now nothing more than a big foot.

32. Elana's group treks through the jungle to the cabin. Finding that it has been defiled, they burn it to the ground. When Frank wonders what is in the cargo container, they show him. It's not good.

33. Elana's group reaches Richard's at the beach. She calls him "Ricardus" and asks "What lies in the shadow of the statue?" He replies in Latin something along the lines of "He who saves us all." She opens the cargo container for Richard and Sun to show them that it contains the body of John Locke, still dead all this time.

34. Inside the foot, Jacob recognizes Locke as really being his ancient adversary in disguise, possibly the Smoke Monster. He says "I guess you found your loophole." Locke goads Ben into confronting Jacob. When Ben asks why Jacob never acknowledged him, Jacob indicates that Ben is insignificant. Ben stabs him to death, and the false Locke kicks him into the fire.