Fans have waited long enough for the season opener, but it may not answer all their questions
Oct. 4, 2006, 8:39AM
By MIKE MCDANIEL
Copyright 2006 Houston Chronicle
Editor's note: The following story contains spoilers about the new season of Lost
As cliffhangers go, the May season finale of Lost hardly belongs in the same class as "Who Shot J.R.?" But the 15 million diehard fans of the most dissected series on television couldn't care less. They want more.
If producers Carlton Cuse, Damon Lindelof and J.J. Abrams are doing their jobs right, they'll give viewers answers to questions that have mystified and enthralled since the smart, Emmy-winning series was last seen in May. Of course, they'll also need to leave some questions unanswered and introduce new ones when Lost returns tonight at 8.
• What will happen to Jack (Matthew Fox), Kate (Evangeline Lilly) and Sawyer (Josh Holloway) now that they are prisoners of The Others? And who will Kate settle with, Jack or Sawyer?
• Are The Others - as leader Henry Gale (Michael Emerson) said in May - the "good guys"? How do they figure in the DHARMA Initiative? Will we see their backstories, too?
• When we last saw Michael (Harold Perrineau), he had found Walt (Malcolm David Kelley) and fled the scene at Jack, Kate and Sawyer's expense. Will either of them return?
• What happened to Locke (Terry O'Quinn), Mr. Eko (Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje) and Desmond (Henry Ian Cusick), who appeared to be blown up with the hatch? Have we seen the last of the hatch?
• Who's the father of Sun's (Yunjin Kim) baby, and how will Jin (Daniel Dae Kim) react?
• What's the deal with that giant statue of the four-toed foot?
"Not everything is going to be answered in the first episode," says Cuse. "But the captivity story will definitely be addressed."
Cuse is not so forthcoming in addressing some of the larger myths of the series.
"This season they need to show the much deeper conflict that's going on, psychologically," says Nikki Stafford, author of Finding Lost (ECW Press), an unauthorized exploration into the show's mythology. "What did Sawyer do for years? There's more to learn about Kate. And there's a lot more to be said about Jack and his wife and why that fell apart."
Other pressing questions, says Stafford: Why was Locke in a wheelchair? Why is Jack so deeply linked with so many of the characters? And why have all these characters interacted unknowingly before?
"I think someone or something has been watching this particular group of people for a long time, and it wasn't a coincidence they all got on the same plane," says Stafford. "The question is why and who.
"There are so many theories, and mine will change as soon as I see the first episode. But I think this DHARMA thing has something to do with the end of the world, an experimental organization trying to figure out how to stop the end of civilization. (The castaways) are guinea pigs, with everything thrown at them on the island to see how they handle things."
Cuse says that The Others will figure prominently in the season's first six episodes. This dovetails nicely with ABC's rollout strategy: In hopes of placating fans frustrated by the series' pre-emptions and repeats last season, Lost will be around for only six episodes, then go away in mid-November. It returns in late January or early February with 17 episodes that will run consecutively.
That so-called "24 strategy" has the support of the producers, some of whom are calling the six-week stretch Season 2.5.
Tonight, in an episode co-written by Abrams and Lindelof, viewers will learn more about what happened between Jack and his father (it involves Jack's ex-wife Sarah), and Desmond will emerge from the hatch.
"It was an absolute joy to be inside the head of those characters again," Abrams said Tuesday.
The prolific producer, who's also running the shows What About Brian and Six Degrees, said he also is looking forward to directing a future episode of Lost, maybe even the season finale.
"It's such an exciting and unbelievable conclusion," he said. "I'd love to be able to work on it."
Abrams believes the series' success is that "it's not a puzzle before it's a character piece, and it's not a sci-fi series before it's a character drama," he said. "The essence of the show is all about who these people are. You will discover this season a whole group of people who will add to the mix in a pretty thrilling way."
In future episodes, a plot to rescue the captured Losties, led by Sayid (Naveen Andrews), will place Sun and Jin in jeopardy. We'll learn about Desmond spending time in prison. Boone (Ian Somerhalder) will make another appearance in flashback. So will Libby (Cynthia Watros).
Jack will find love, but not necessarily with Kate. Charlie (Dominic Monaghan) will continue to pursue Claire (Emilie de Ravin), but Claire may turn to someone new. Hurley (Jorge Garcia) is not done with his numbers curse.
Also of note: The actors who play Michael (Perrineau) and Walt (Kelley) aren't on the cast list this season.
Does that mean they're off the show?
Have they been pursued and killed by The Others?
Will they come back, becoming the ultimate rescuers?
No one is saying, of course.
"I wish I could promise you the series won't make you crazy," says Abrams.
Too late.
source
By MIKE MCDANIEL
Copyright 2006 Houston Chronicle
Editor's note: The following story contains spoilers about the new season of Lost
As cliffhangers go, the May season finale of Lost hardly belongs in the same class as "Who Shot J.R.?" But the 15 million diehard fans of the most dissected series on television couldn't care less. They want more.
If producers Carlton Cuse, Damon Lindelof and J.J. Abrams are doing their jobs right, they'll give viewers answers to questions that have mystified and enthralled since the smart, Emmy-winning series was last seen in May. Of course, they'll also need to leave some questions unanswered and introduce new ones when Lost returns tonight at 8.
• What will happen to Jack (Matthew Fox), Kate (Evangeline Lilly) and Sawyer (Josh Holloway) now that they are prisoners of The Others? And who will Kate settle with, Jack or Sawyer?
• Are The Others - as leader Henry Gale (Michael Emerson) said in May - the "good guys"? How do they figure in the DHARMA Initiative? Will we see their backstories, too?
• When we last saw Michael (Harold Perrineau), he had found Walt (Malcolm David Kelley) and fled the scene at Jack, Kate and Sawyer's expense. Will either of them return?
• What happened to Locke (Terry O'Quinn), Mr. Eko (Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje) and Desmond (Henry Ian Cusick), who appeared to be blown up with the hatch? Have we seen the last of the hatch?
• Who's the father of Sun's (Yunjin Kim) baby, and how will Jin (Daniel Dae Kim) react?
• What's the deal with that giant statue of the four-toed foot?
"Not everything is going to be answered in the first episode," says Cuse. "But the captivity story will definitely be addressed."
Cuse is not so forthcoming in addressing some of the larger myths of the series.
"This season they need to show the much deeper conflict that's going on, psychologically," says Nikki Stafford, author of Finding Lost (ECW Press), an unauthorized exploration into the show's mythology. "What did Sawyer do for years? There's more to learn about Kate. And there's a lot more to be said about Jack and his wife and why that fell apart."
Other pressing questions, says Stafford: Why was Locke in a wheelchair? Why is Jack so deeply linked with so many of the characters? And why have all these characters interacted unknowingly before?
"I think someone or something has been watching this particular group of people for a long time, and it wasn't a coincidence they all got on the same plane," says Stafford. "The question is why and who.
"There are so many theories, and mine will change as soon as I see the first episode. But I think this DHARMA thing has something to do with the end of the world, an experimental organization trying to figure out how to stop the end of civilization. (The castaways) are guinea pigs, with everything thrown at them on the island to see how they handle things."
Cuse says that The Others will figure prominently in the season's first six episodes. This dovetails nicely with ABC's rollout strategy: In hopes of placating fans frustrated by the series' pre-emptions and repeats last season, Lost will be around for only six episodes, then go away in mid-November. It returns in late January or early February with 17 episodes that will run consecutively.
That so-called "24 strategy" has the support of the producers, some of whom are calling the six-week stretch Season 2.5.
Tonight, in an episode co-written by Abrams and Lindelof, viewers will learn more about what happened between Jack and his father (it involves Jack's ex-wife Sarah), and Desmond will emerge from the hatch.
"It was an absolute joy to be inside the head of those characters again," Abrams said Tuesday.
The prolific producer, who's also running the shows What About Brian and Six Degrees, said he also is looking forward to directing a future episode of Lost, maybe even the season finale.
"It's such an exciting and unbelievable conclusion," he said. "I'd love to be able to work on it."
Abrams believes the series' success is that "it's not a puzzle before it's a character piece, and it's not a sci-fi series before it's a character drama," he said. "The essence of the show is all about who these people are. You will discover this season a whole group of people who will add to the mix in a pretty thrilling way."
In future episodes, a plot to rescue the captured Losties, led by Sayid (Naveen Andrews), will place Sun and Jin in jeopardy. We'll learn about Desmond spending time in prison. Boone (Ian Somerhalder) will make another appearance in flashback. So will Libby (Cynthia Watros).
Jack will find love, but not necessarily with Kate. Charlie (Dominic Monaghan) will continue to pursue Claire (Emilie de Ravin), but Claire may turn to someone new. Hurley (Jorge Garcia) is not done with his numbers curse.
Also of note: The actors who play Michael (Perrineau) and Walt (Kelley) aren't on the cast list this season.
Does that mean they're off the show?
Have they been pursued and killed by The Others?
Will they come back, becoming the ultimate rescuers?
No one is saying, of course.
"I wish I could promise you the series won't make you crazy," says Abrams.
Too late.
source