EVIL PUPPET MASTERS

I have surfed around the interwebs today reading the various fanatical and critical reactions to the announcement from ABC that LOST will end in 2010. Most critics are happy with this plan for 3 more seasons, 16 episodes each, aired non-stop with no repeats, while the majority of fan reactions have been LESS than thrilled with this plan, preferring 2 more 24-ep seasons.

What the fans are probably not grasping from this (and that the critics probably ARE very aware of) is that this deal has all of the tell-tale signs of a compromise. Damon and Carlton have been inexplicably vocal about wanting the show to only go 5 seasons/100 episodes TOTAL. They know that this show, designed the way it is, NEEDS a definitive ending point, but definitive endings are not typical of prime-time television shows — especially ones as popular and endorsement heavy as LOST. Darlton made their wishes PUBLIC, so that the ball would be in ABC’s court. In exchange for a definitive ending — announced a full THREE YEARS before it would come, which is totally unheard of — Darlton gave ABC an extra year of commitment, which means an extra year of advertising dollars, etc. Both sides win.

To me, the biggest winners will be the FANS. The last thing this fandom needs is unhappy writers and/or greedy network execs. You love LOST? Then you need to support this — because THIS will give us all the answers we want and the ending that we deserve.

So why three seasons of 16 instead of two seasons of 24? Well, you can thank THIS season for that. The 6-episode mini-season TANKED with critics and fans alike. But the Feb-May run of 16 or 17 episodes (whatever the total ended up being) has been chugging right along with consistent live numbers, tons of DVR recordings, tons of streaming downloads from ABC.com and tons of iTunes downloads. If the fans are upset about the prospect of having to wait until NEXT January/February before we get Season 4, then they only have themselves to blame. Because YES, ABC WAS LISTENING when you were all complaining about the repeats. And honestly, I think 16 is a more manageable number for the LOST production team to commit to per season for the next three years.

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hijinx and speaker discuss LOST Episode D.O.C., theorize about the parachutist and whether or not Sperm Island is trapped in some kind of alternate universe. WARNING! Spoilers regarding centricity of remaining LOST episodes discussed!

Click on the cut to read ABC’s press release for next Wednesday’s episode (which I hear, is a DOOZY):

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The most indepth article on Locke you’ve ever read (which includes heavy doses of quotes from TOQ, Damon and Carlton, as well).

**Still playing catch up, but you CAN’T miss this article!**

This interview with JJ Abrams by WIRED is over a month old, and I apologize. I’m weeding through my inbox to try and make sure I post the interviews and articles that shouldn’t be missed. Bear with me

In this interview, JJ talks a tiny bit about Trek, his kids, his influences (Rod Sterling and Aristotle, if you’re curious), LOST, and The Dark Tower.

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hijinx and speaker discuss LOST Episode 3.15 Left Behind and tell tales of LOST Weekend 2007

The summary for Lost episode 3.11 is up. Click below to read it:

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I wasn’t going to link this blog review of last Wednesday’s SPECTACULAR episode of Lost. Maybe it’s because I’m a bit of a Lost snob. Oh wait, that is exactly what it is To steal a comment that The Nomad left on The Fuselage a while ago — there are people who “get” this show, and those that don’t. This guy…doesn’t.

But, thankfully, a number of those who commented on his review…do. And their comments defending the show and, in particular, this episode, are very much worth the read.

You can read the full cover story by Entertainment Weekly on Lost, including pics from the mag, by going HERE. Being the spoiler-phobe that I am, I haven’t read the whole article, but I am going to assume that there are basic plot spoilers.

For a while there, I thought maybe Damon had forgotten the site address, but lo and behold…all the mind ’splodey on The Fuselage’s Linear Board last night brought out the pretty green-colored font. Seriously, Nomad…don’t be a stranger!

Here’s a snippet of his posts (for the full messages, go to The Fuse):

TheNomad says:
(Thu Feb 15 07:27:02 2007) [Edit/Delete]

Fuselagers!!!

….

This was an ep I am particularly proud of —
One that reps all the stuff on LOST that
makes it what it is… Faith, Destiny, Free
Will…

And lots and lots of DESMOND.

Big shout outs to Drew Goddard (a true
genius) and Henry Ian Cusick, who is nothing
short of astonishing.

….

Big Hugs,

Damon

His second post is actually spoilery, so I’m putting the SPOILER bit behind the cut:
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According to this SciFiWire article, ABC.com will be adding a whole lotta stuff to its Lost site. Things to look forward to? SIXTY backstory vids related to the “four main characters” (defined to be Jack, Kate, Sawyer and Locke), though don’t get too excited — they do not appear to contain any new content, but are snips from previously aired episodes. Which makes the kind of sense that…doesn’t. Other stuff that is actually new includes clips of some of the S3 DVD features and something called “Writer’s Rotation” which is not, as I first thought, a study of the writers who have been rotated through Lost Labs, but a look at the music that said writers listen to when they are being their wacky creative selves. Check the article for other LOST-goodness.

Entertainment Weekly asked for readers to send in questions for the Lost producers, in anticipation of the return of the show tonight. Go here to read the questions posed and the answers given. SPOILER WARNING!

Kristin Veitch absolutely raves about tomorrow night’s Lost return, and shares some spoilers that she rustled up as well. There are some vid clip interviews with Josh, Evie and others on the same page.

…by Matthew Fox

The Time magazine article (of the same name) is a cool breakdown of Foxy’s acting talents and how he engages people he is speaking with. I like this little bit from the interviewer:

That’s Fox’s great skill: he’s the homecoming king who’s somehow interested in you. Dawson is planning a fishing trip with him. I, for one, am convinced that Fox cares deeply about what music I listen to, even though I own every Billy Joel album and he’s good friends with Billie Joe Armstrong from Green Day.

USA Today’s Bill Keveney is one of the better reporter’s out there. Whenever he is writing an article on Lost, he makes a sincere effort to get quotes from various sites — including posting on The Fuselage asking for LOST fans to contact him.

His latest LOST article quotes a couple of my fellow ‘Lagers (way to go TMitH and LBM!!) and sets us up for the rest of the season.