Sayid takes it upon himself to ascertain the truth from Locke about what really happened to Boone, while Shannon vows revenge on the person she holds responsible for Boone’s death.

• Kate tracks down Jack in the jungle during his hunt for Locke, and convinces him to return for Boone’s funeral. Sayid attempts to offer Shannon consolation by speaking up at the funeral and speaking of Boone’s courage. But Locke suddenly appears and interrupts the funeral, his clothes still soaked in Boone’s blood, and comes clean about how Boone really died. Jack explodes in anger, attacking Locke because he holds him responsible for not only Boone’s death, but lying about how Boone was injured. (The implication being that had he known the truth about how Boone was hurt, he might have been able to better treat Boone and possibly even save his life.) He demands to know where Locke was, why he ran off after delivering Boone to him. In the midst of his tirade, Jack nearly passes out from exhaustion and blood loss (having transfused Boone with his own blood). Sayid, Kate, and Sun privately convince Jack to get some rest, suggesting that Jack’s emotions are raw because of his physical condition. When Jack tries to pacify Kate by pretending to rest, she forces the issue by crushing some sleeping pills and putting it into a drink for him. He passes out.
• Much like Jack, Claire isn’t interested in getting any rest, though Charlie is finally able to get her to hand over the baby and get some sleep. On his own, Charlie later has a hard time getting the baby to stop crying, so Hurley tries to help, but neither of them have much luck.
• Locke returns Boone’s knapsack to Shannon, and tries to help her sort out her feelings. He asks for her forgiveness, but instead of giving it to him, she goes to Sayid and asks him to kill Locke. Sayid considers her request and later approaches Locke, asking to see the beech craft so that he might salvage parts from the plane’s radio. The two of them head to the beech craft and find the broken stash of heroin-filled Virgin Mary statues. Locke becomes cagey when Sayid tries to find out why he lied about Boone’s accident, so Locke attempts to earn Locke’s trust by handing over the gun he took from the beech craft’s dead passenger. Sayid is unimpressed by this, so Locke offers to tell him something he doesn’t know: it was Locke that knocked Sayid out and destroyed the transceiver weeks ago, when Sayid was trying to triangulate the source of Danielle Rousseau’s transmission. Sayid furiously pulls the gun on Locke, who explains that he did it because he believed it was in everyone’s best interests. Sayid asks about the Hatch, which Jack mentioned to him earlier from Boone’s delirious ramblings. Sayid examines Locke carefully as Locke lies, suggesting that Boone may have been referring to one of the beech craft’s hatches.
• Sayid and Locke return to camp, and Sayid reports to Shannon that he believes Locke, that Boone’s death was an accident. But she still desires revenge, and doesn’t seem to hear his words.
• Walt, unnerved by Boone’s death, expresses fear to his dad that they could die on the raft, which is almost complete. Michael reassures him, but Charlie shows up asking for help with the baby. Charlie soon discovers that the one thing that seems to pacify the boy is the sound of Sawyer’s voice. Sawyer, for his part, isn’t interested in helping with the baby, but has no choice if the survivors want any peace and quiet. Sawyer feels quite ridiculous as he winds up reading out of a magazine just so the baby can hear the sound of his voice, and Claire is equally amused and confused when she finds Sawyer and Charlie tending to the baby in such an odd manner.
• Jack wakes up from his drug-induced slumber only to find that the key to the gun case, which he’s been wearing around his neck, is gone. Jack believes it was Locke, but Sayid intuits otherwise: it was Shannon, who means to kill Locke.
• It’s raining in the jungle when Shannon retrieves one of the guns from the metal case. Sayid, Jack, and Kate catch up to Shannon just as she has Locke held at gunpoint. Sayid rushes her, trying to divert the shot, but she manages to graze Locke on the side of his head. Jack throws a murderous look of his own at Locke, while Shannon runs into the jungle alone, away from Sayid.
• That night at camp, Shannon sits alone by a fire while Sayid watches from a distance. He tells Kate that he may have made a mistake in stopping Shannon from killing Locke.
• Sayid visits Locke and tells him he saved his life because he believes Locke might be their best chance of surviving on the island — but he hasn’t forgiven Locke for destroying the transceiver, and he still doesn’t trust him. Then he demands to be taken to the Hatch, but when Locke plays dumb, Sayid assures him that he knows that Locke is lying.

• Shortly before the flight of Oceanic 815, Sayid was coerced by the CIA and the ASIS into helping them track down some explosives in Australia by a group of Iraqi terrorists. He was chosen for the job because his college roommate, Essam Tasir, was one of the terrorists, and Sayid agreed to it because the CIA offered to help him find what he’s been searching for, for the last seven years: his long lost love, Nadia. So he infiltrated the terrorist group Essam was a member of and found out that he’d been selected to be a suicide bomber, though Essam didn’t want to go through with it. When the CIA and the ASIS wanted Sayid to convince his friend to do the deed so they could trace the explosives to their source, Sayid refused, until they threatened Nadia’s freedom. He had no choice but to convince Essam to go through with the suicide bombing, but once they had the explosives, he confessed the truth to Essam and told him to run. But instead, Essam shot himself in the head. Later, Sayid was given Nadia’s location: Irvine, California, where she was working as a lab tech at a medical testing company. The CIA even gave him his plane ticket to send him on his way to reunite with Nadia. But Sayid insisted that the flight be changed to the next day so that he could claim Essam’s body for a proper Muslim burial — putting himself on the fateful flight of Oceanic 815.
• Sayid’s past as an interrogator has given him a unique skill: he can always tell immediately when someone is lying to him.
• Thanks to the time they’ve spent together working on the raft, Michael and Jin seem to have finally become friends.

• It was Locke who knocked Sayid out and destroyed the transceiver.
  Who knocked Sayid out when he was trying to triangulate the source of the French woman’s transmission? 1.07
• Locke believed it was in everyone’s best interests to avoid the source of Danielle’s transmission, given the horrific things she described on it. And he believed that talking about it would have gotten them nowhere, so he chose to act instead.
  Why did this person knock Sayid out? 1.07
• Sayid finally found Nadia’s location and was on Oceanic 815 to go to her. But since the plane crashed, he was not able to reunite with Nadia.
  Did Sayid ever find Nadia, before the crash of Oceanic 815? 1.09

• “The Greater Good” is the second Sayid-centric episode of the series.
• Judging by the sound of his voice, actor Terry O’Quinn must have had a cold during the filming of this episode.
• Another dramatically-heavy moment, yet another rainstorm in the jungle. I did not remember how many times this particular plot device — underscoring tension with rain — was used in the first season.
• “The Greater Good” presented an interesting juxtaposition of what it means to do something bad in order to accomplish something good. Sayid lied in order to stop a terrorist bombing — an altruistic goal, and to find the woman he loved — a more selfish desire. Locke lied about destroying the transceiver because he felt it was in the best interests of the survivors. Later, he lied about Boone’s cause of death to protect the secret of the Hatch — a selfish motive. As Sayid said, “there is always a choice” — a theme that would recur throughout the show’s entire run.
• With this episode, we now know exactly why each and every major character on the show was on Oceanic 815 when it crashed:
  • Jack was on his way home to bury his father.
  • Kate was being extradited by a U.S. Marshall.
  • Locke was going back home in defeat, having been refused passage on his Australian Outback wilderness experience due to his wheelchair confinement.
  • Sawyer was returning home after being tricked into killing the wrong man.
  • Hurley was in Australia trying to find out more about the source of the cursed Numbers.
  • Charlie was going home having unsuccessfully tried to convince his brother to get the band back together.
  • Sayid was off to reunite with Nadia after seven years of searching for her.
  • Jin and Sun were each planning to escape their old lives and start over in America.
  • Claire was convinced to get on the plane by a psychic who knew what her fate would be.
  • Michael had just taken custody of his son and was taking him home.
  • Shannon and Boone were returning home after Shannon’s latest attempt to swindle money from Boone ended in defeat for both of them.

Image credits: “Rewatching Lost” logo by Robin Parrish. Season 1 cast promotional image and Oceanic Airlines logo: American Broadcasting Company.

Post from: Approaching Lost

Post from: Approaching Lost

But that hardly does it justice. Messages from the Island is a behind-the-scenes, “making of” junkie’s dream come true. The book has interviews with every member of the entire original cast — and several newcomers that joined in Season 2 — and many of the show’s production crew as well, all of whom talk about the origins of the show and reveal little-known secrets about how it first came together. As such, it makes a perfect companion to any Lost fan’s DVD or Blu-ray collection, since it bears the “official” Lost seal, so to speak.

I particularly enjoyed the separate interviews with Damon Lindelof and Carlton Cuse, who both detail their origins with the show, what a typical day is like for them, and their overall philosophies for how they make the show work. But my favorite parts of the book are the conceptual designs, floor plans, never-before-seen images, and storyboards that show just how much thought, planning, and details go into creating everything on Lost. One feature shows off pictures of the Swan station set, and the attention to detail inside that pivotal location is fascinating. Another shows off side-by-side comparisons of a high-tension moment that has storyboards on one side and stills from the final episode on the other. It’s probably the closest thing we’ll ever get to a true, fully illustrated production diary from the show.

The only caveat I can find is that all of the book’s content is drawn from magazine articles written about Seasons 1 and 2. (Presumably materials from the other four seasons’ worth of magazines is being saved for additional volumes.) Needless to say, all of the book’s content feels quite dated. On the other hand, it is pretty nifty to effectively have a “time capsule” look back at the show’s earliest days, when the cast and crew were excited and full of optimism about Lost’s popularity, yet had no idea where the story was going.

A must-have for all true Losties.

Image: Copyright 2009 ©Titan Books.

Post from: Approaching Lost

If you’re not a Twitter-er yet, you should consider jumping on board. Twitter is a fun service that allows you to post instant updates on anything and everything. It’s free to use, and you can follow all sorts of people and websites who “microblog” frequently about what’s new and interesting. You can even have updates delivered to your phone as text messages.

Post from: Approaching Lost

While Jack tries to save Boone’s life, Claire goes into labor.

• Picking up immediately after the events of “Deus Ex Machina,” Jack sets to work on the gravely wounded Boone. He gets plenty of help from Sun, Kate, and even Hurley. Boone’s condition quickly becomes increasingly dire, and Jack works hard to save the young man’s life, promising Boone he will save his life. He sends Kate to the beach to procure supplies from Sawyer.
• At the beach, Jin shows an unstoppable work ethic when it comes to finishing the raft. Claire stops by and asks how long until it will be finished, and Michael estimates a week or less. Kate suddenly runs up and asks Sawyer for all of his alcohol. Sawyer offers to go back with her and help and she appreciates the offer, but advises him to stay put, since there are already “too many cooks.” While running back through the jungle to the caves, Kate trips and breaks a few of the bottles of alcohol. She hears cries of pain nearby and finds Claire, who’s having contractions. The baby is coming! She can’t move Claire, who’s in too much pain, so she calls out for help. Back at the raft, Jin hears her shouting and runs to help. Kate manages to convey to Jin that they need Jack, and sends him running to the caves with the alcohol.
• At the caves, Jack works feverishly until he realizes Boone has lost too much blood and will soon require a transfusion. Sun doesn’t understand how they’ll make that happen, so she offers to watch Boone for a few minutes so Jack can get some air and clear his head. When Charlie badgers Jack with questions about Boone, Locke, and Shannon’s whereabouts, Jack’s frustrations boil over and he blows up at Charlie. Later, Sun manages to find out Boone’s blood type from him even though he’s delirious, so Jack sends her and Charlie on a hunt for anyone among the survivors who’s a match.
• Unaware of the drama back at camp, Sayid takes Shannon on a surprise date. He’s prepared a romantic, beachside picnic for them, and the spot he chose is at a different beach than the one the survivors inhabit, so they’re quite secluded from everyone else. As the evening unfolds and the two of them come closer to consummating their relationship, Shannon decides to confess to Sayid that Boone is really her step-brother, and is in love with her, though she doesn’t share his feelings. She asks that they take things slow.
• Charlie and Sun can’t find a match for Boone’s blood type, but Sun locates something Jack can use as a needle. Jack decides to donate his own blood, since he’s O-Negative, making him a universal donor. Jin shows up just as Jack has hooked himself up to Boone with some plastic tubing and Sun’s needles; he has no choice but to relay what he knows to Sun so she can translate to the others about Claire’s situation. Jack sends Charlie and Jin back to help Kate, who he says will have to deliver the baby in his place, because he can’t leave Boone.
• Night soon falls, and Claire’s contractions stop just before her water breaks. She’s in a total panic, frightened of having the baby this way, but Kate tries to reassure her. When Charlie and Jin get back to Claire, they report that Kate has to deliver the baby, and she resists until Charlie points out that someone has to do it, and right now, there is no one else. While Jin and Charlie watch from a short distance away, Kate coaches Claire, promising Claire that she’s not alone in this, that the baby will have all of the survivors as its family.
• Boone wakes up while Jack is watching over him, and tells Jack about the beech craft that fell, which is different than the story that Locke told everyone. He mumbles that “we found a Hatch,” but that Locke told him not to tell anyone. He passes out before he can tell Jack more. Sun returns later and finds Jack pale from the blood he’s given up, and the blood isn’t helping Boone anyway. Jack tells her that the problem is Boone’s fractured leg, which is pooling the blood, and that Boone didn’t get these injuries from falling off of a cliff — something had to have fallen on him. Sun pulls the needle out of Jack’s arm before he can protest. Jack sends Hurley to find Michael at the beach.
• Michael helps Jack put together a makeshift device using a damaged cargo container from the plane. As Sun watches in horror, they test it on a piece of firewood, slicing the wood in half. Jack says there’s no other choice, Boone’s leg is dead and he can’t be saved if it remains. As they prep Boone for the procedure, Boone starts coughing up blood — evidence of internal bleeding. Sun argues with Jack about amputating Boone’s leg, saying that since he’s bleeding internally, there’s no saving him now. But Jack won’t listen, and puts Boone into position. But before he can go through with it, Boone wakes up and tells Jack he’s off the hook regarding his promise. He convinces Jack that he has to give up the struggle, and Jack painfully, reluctantly agrees.
• Claire gives birth to a healthy baby boy.
• Boone dies.
• As the morning dawns, the survivors celebrate the arrival of their newest member, and Shannon and Sayid return from their date. Jack quietly tells them the sad news and takes Shannon to see her brother’s body in private. Back at the beach, Kate catches Jack putting together a backpack of supplies. Declaring that “Boone didn’t die — he was murdered,” he informs Kate that he’s going to find the man responsible: Locke.

• A considerable amount of time before the surgery where he took over for his drunk father, Jack married a woman named Sarah. They met when Sarah was brought to the hospital after a terrible car accident, and became Jack’s “miracle patient” when repaired the “irreparable” damage done to her spine. Sarah fully recovered and fell in love with her hero, and Jack with her, although just before the wedding, Jack wondered if he truly wanted to marry her, or if he merely felt responsible for her because he saved her life. After a pep talk from his father, Jack decided he really did want to be married to Sarah, and went through with the wedding.
• Jack has an almost obsessive sense of responsibility to fix things, and to make his patients better.
• Jack can play the piano.

• Did Jack and Sarah divorce? If so, why?

• “Do No Harm” is the third Jack-centric episode of the series.
• Boone is the fourth person to perish that was one of the original 48 survivors of Oceanic 815’s midsection. However, there is now a new survivor added to the group in the form of Claire’s baby boy. So the tally of 45 survivors remains accurate.
• Jack is the second character to say the phrase, “Don’t tell me what I can’t do.” The first, of course, was Locke. Methinks there’s no coincidence that the representatives of the two major opposing ideologies on the show — Jack and Locke — both used such a specific phrase.
• It had been hyped for months. Do you remember where you were and what you were doing when the first “Major Character Death” happened? Lost was a pop culture sensation at the time, and the thought of the show brazenly killing off one of its sprawling cast of main characters — and for story reasons, no less, and not because the actor wanted out of his contract — was a stunningly bold move. It set the tone for the show in future seasons, and communicated to the audience that no character is ever safe. You have to admit, looking back, that that sense of ever-present peril has added a lot to the stakes of the show over the years. Many others would follow in his footsteps, but Boone will forever be remembered as the first time Lost went there.
• This episode was the first time I remember thinking that flashbacks were included simply because they were part of the show’s expected formula, as if the audience wouldn’t know what to make of an episode without them. In hindsight, I think the hour would have benefited more from their absence. With all of the tension surrounding the Boone scenes and the Claire scenes, that tension could easily have carried the entire hour without needing flashbacks at all, and it would have been a much bolder and more interesting choice on the part of the producers. Don’t get me wrong — the failed marriage to Sarah storyline is a critical part of what makes the Jack we know tick. But the rather tame tale of their wedding paired up against the nail-biting drama of Boone’s struggle to live on the island was hopelessly unbalanced from the get-go. There was already a perfect balance created between the birth of baby Aaron and the death of Boone. We didn’t need another.
• A lot of the acting in this episode — particularly that of Matthew Fox, Evangeline Lilly, Yunjin Kim, and Emilie de Ravin — was some of the cast’s best work to date, in my opinion.

Image credits: “Rewatching Lost” logo by Robin Parrish. Season 1 cast promotional image and Oceanic Airlines logo: American Broadcasting Company.

Post from: Approaching Lost

You still have one more week to win one of three copies of Lost: Messages from the Island that are up for grabs! If you haven’t yet entered, click here for information on how to enter.

Lost: Messages from the Island is a compilation of the best behind-the-scenes features from Lost: The Official Magazinecontaining concept art, storyboards, set designs, commentary on key episodes, extensive interviews with cast and crew, and much more.

Image: Copyright 2009 Titan Books.

Post from: Approaching Lost

ABC has taken an increasingly unique approach to its Lost panel. Instead of simply screening footage and answering questions, the event is a carefully planned production that typically includes specifically shot footage and surprise guests.

“We’ve been working on the Lost panel for literally months,” said Mike Benson, executive vp marketing at ABC Entertainment. “We want the audience to experience Lost in a fully entertaining way.”

That sound you now hear is the roof breaking from my anticipation level skyrocketing through it.

Post from: Approaching Lost

A Bolivian news station forever soiled its credibility last week by airing screen captures from the pilot episode of Lost, and claiming it was “exclusive images” recovered from the digital camera of a dead passenger from the Air France flight that crashed on June 1st. (I tell ya, you couldn’t make up stuff like this.) The news agency in question is claiming to be victims of a hoax, and yet none of them seemed to notice that the Lost images depict a daytime plane crash, while the Air France tragedy occurred at night. Not to mention the very obvious presence of actress Evangeline Lilly in the forefront of the supposed “photographs.”

Watch the footage below, and then decide for yourself just how dumb one has to be to fall for such an obvious prank…

Post from: Approaching Lost

If you’re wondering (and of course you are) if this means that Jacob’s time on Lost is over, and Jacob may really be dead after all… EW points out that Pellegrino’s status on Supernatural is as a recurring character, not a regular. So he should still have free time on his schedule in case some trips to Hawaii are requested of him…

Image: INF.

Post from: Approaching Lost

Okay, so we know that Dominic Monaghan (Charlie), Maggie Grace (Shannon), and Ian Somerhalder (Boone) are all keen to return to Lost in its final season, and at least one of them has been in active talks with the show’s producers about that very possibility.

Now Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje, the actor who famously played Mr. Eko — and then asked to be released from his contract long before his planned character arc was finished — says he wouldn’t mind going back to Lost. “To be able to give that rich character some completion would be nice,” he told TV Guide Magazine. Quite a change of heart.

But as TVG points out, the actor burned a lot of bridges with the show’s producers when he left it prematurely, forcing them to compensate by ending their long-term plans for his character. What do you think? Could a full-on reunion with Lost’s dearly departed be in the cards for Season 6? Or would Lost’s producers even consider bringing the actor back, after their difficult first experience?

Image: Zuma Press.

Post from: Approaching Lost