Get Ready: A Tale of Two Cities

Finally, season 3 of LOST is here! Last night, we got a great season premiere, A Tale of Two Cities. We've got plenty to talk about, and will be releasing our first podcast of season 3 this weekend on Sunday.

As always, get us your comments and questions for the podcast by posting them here, sending us an email or calling our automated audio comment voicemail at: 206-666-CAST (2278).

Comments

[Kris H]

Last night's show was pretty good, but my biggest gripe was: "Too many effing commercials!!!" Most of the other series/season premieres I've seen this fall have had limited commercials and now I know why, they were all shoved into Lost's timeslot.
I did enjoy seeing the plane break apart, "Benry" sending Goodwin and Ethan to their respective duties, and seeing a slightly more human dynamic amongst the others, not to mention seeing their village. I don't have a good read on them yet as to how good or evil they really are, but it shows that they're capable of being pretty normal people.
The show, for me, really didn't pick up until the end where "Julia" had Jack's file and was going over it. That was cool, but most of the show seemed a little too slow-paced for a season premiere. Maybe my expectations were too high, I don't know. I'm still absolutely stoked about the upcoming episodes and I'm sure that we won't be let down!

Stay Lost!
Kris

[Fish Biscuit]

Where is everybody?! I came here expecting to see 100+ posts. The episode ended 12 hours ago and I'm #2?!!!

[ursinha]

yeah, didn't love the show. i wanted to and i tried, but couldn't. maybe it was that i actually developed some hobbies over the summer when lost was off the air. :-)

really though, the slow roll-out just didn't do it for me last night. and i found myself thinking...why da bleep don't the others just get to it. so, anyway, i am sure i won't be a hater for long. stay losttttttttttttt.

[Fish Biscuit]

In the preview that came out last week with Sawyer in the cage, after he pressed the food button for the 2nd time the guy in the other cage said " I wouldn't do that" To which Sawyer replied " If I want your advice I'll ask for it, Carl".

In last nights episode they cut out the name CARL.
Just wondered why.

[bebopscat]

they did say his name, only later on when he was captured

[kitten]

Some of us posted in the previous thread because this one wasn't up yet. :)

[Robert]

Great show, I was very pleased with the episode. I loved the opening with a CD player, I'm guessing next season is an MP3 player.

I like the style of this group of others. The village was like an island Pleasantville. I wonder why the "earthquake" effect in the house though. I've never had a plane break apart above my house, but I doubt it would shake like that. Maybe it passed through some barrier or was a result of Desmond not pushing the button?

The manner in which they treated each individual was interesting. Jack gets an interrogator who looks like his ex, a grilled cheese and an ocean side room. Sawyer get's a man-sized skinner box and a fish biscuit. Kate get's a shower, new dress and a sneak peek into how her next two weeks are going to go. The only thing I'm confidant about is this is to break them down mentally and Benry doesn’t like Stephen King.

Also, why in the world do Sarah, Penny and Juliet have to look so much alike? I know some of the forums have been abuzz about their identity and if they are the same person, but there has to be something to them looking so much alike.

Anyway, hopefully we’ll get some great thoughts and comments to talk about on Sunday.

Stay lost!

[MeMissAnaLucia]

I thought last night's episode was a 3 out of 4 stars.

I LOVED the fact that they showed the opening from the Others perspective. I've always wanted to see this.

After Season #1, we had seen the crash from the Fuselage group's perspective.

Then in Season #2, we saw the opening scence from Desmonds perspective (explosion of the hatch at the end of Season #1) and then an entire episode from the Taily's perspective.

Now in Season #3, we the plane crash PARTIALLY from the Others perspective. It's hard to gain an understanding of "what" their motivations are since the rest of the show was really shot from Jack, Sawyer and Kate's perspective.

No shots of Hurley running through the jungle? No shots of Michael on the boat?

The backstory was great too, with Jack's dad. We finally got to see how Jack drove him his drinking binge death with his own "obsessive" traits. Jack wasn't an alcholic, but he's been obsessive all his life, thinking he has to fix everything.

I always wondered if it was realistic that, being the only doctor, if it was okay for him to be running around with guns risking his life and everyone elses if he got killed. I guess it's his nature.

[Carl, UK]

The cutting of 'Carl' could just be they where trying to shave time off the show, i dont know just a thought

[Gruss vom Krampus]

Wow I loved this one. Probably my favorite episode, but each new one is my favorite episode. I really liked the slow pace and how disorienting the sets were. Every scene was a complete surprise to me and I couldn't wait to see what would happen next. I loved the zoo-ish cages and the underwater hatch (was it really under the sea?) It seems like more water would come pouring through that door if it were really under the ocean. And Jack must have been near Sawyer's cage, because Juliette was in both places. I wonder what Juliette was doing with Jack to prepare him for Benry. What is Benry going to do with Jack now!? Overall the pacing, the detail in the sets, the oldschool twilight zone-like music, the subtlty is amazing. This show is a pilar of excellence. I can't believe they pulled it off again. Can't wait for the podcast!!

[biolite]

Yeah it wasn't bad. Not as shocking as last season finale, but defiantly gave us a lot to think about. It seems we confirmed the existence of the underwater hatch (The Hydra), and disproved the Jack's dad/Sarah theory.

It was interesting to see the perspective of the others and to see their creepy creepy village. I mean...there's something really off about that. Maybe it's just me, but the forced sub-urban American environment in this clearing on a tropical island seemed.... really creepy.

I'm sure the next few episodes should yield some interesting information. Can't wait to see what's been going on with the rest of the losties.

And good for Sawyer, he got a fish biscuit.

[I_Love_Sayid]

How awesome was that!?

The first 5 minutes alone was worth the wait. Can't wait to get home tonight and watch it again. Juliet getting Jack to do what she asked twice and then not giving him any food or water made me hate her. lol. That alone would make me nuts. It's like she's deliberately mocking his pain to make him psychotic. Kind of like what he does to Locke.

Was it me or did the pan-out of Othersville (great coin Kitten and definitely a creepy Pleasantville Robert) look like a Sims screenshot, lol.

So that was allot of commercials, huh? I usually wait a day and download but I had to see the premier… so I got out the old TV set. I guess we didn't notice the long message breaks 'cause we were to busy talking about what we had just seen. What’s this about AmEx?

How touching was the scene where Sawyer gives Kate his biscuit? I guess she didn’t eat the fresh nova lox brunch she was served. Of course when she got to the cave she kind of looked a bit roughed up though, didn’t she?

[Aurora]

I think they cut the Carl because there was a deleted scene before it where Sawyer learned Carl's name. Without that scene, it wouldn't make sense for him to say it.

SO is Carl a plant? He seemed to get out of that cage awfully easily, and to direct Sawyer to run right into where Juliet was standing. I think at the very least he was hoping they would be trying so hard to get Sawyer back they might lose him.

[Anyolina]

I wonder why they have someone like Desmond who apparently crashed into the island push a very 'important' button, and not one of the others who seem to be living a normal life in the middle of nowhere. Not to mention that since the hatch 'blew up'..there is no more button pressing..or is there?

[Symbha]

@Robert, I think the earthquake is related to the incident in the The Swan, and magnetism, not the plane crashing. Plane crash is a side effect of the incident (which I still don't get, why an aluminum plane is broken apart by magnetism, but I digress.)

In general, I enjoyed the episode, though I think it would have done them justice to have a 2 hour premier. In many ways they just introduced a few things.

I thought the Pleasantville village was a little bit hokey, though there could be some interesting detail to come later. I don't get why building such an out of place (architecturally) village would be a good idea to them. But it's a nit for sure.

I agree that it's interesting to see the contrasting treatment of the prisoners. I think Sawyer as rat in the cage is hilarious though.

Questions/thoughts I have:
- What happened to Carl? Was he a plant? (I tend to think so.)
- Do we presume the 2 hour bears are the Polar Bears?
- I wonder why 2 weeks? Kate is going to experience 2 weeks of 'unpleasant' I wonder why that long... couldn't it take longer?
- Did we actually see 2 new hatches? The Hydra is where Jack is, is Saywer in the same complex?
- Was Juliette trying to break Jack into trusting her? or break him into eating (drugs?)
- What was Benry leaving Juliette for dead, or turning her back on her during the flooding, what was that all about?

I think the whole thing is a setup for Jack having to choose to end Kate and Sawyer's suffering by performing some service for the others. But we shall see.

More if I can think of it... gonna watch it again tonight for details.

[Cassie]

@Symbha

"I don't get why building such an out of place (architecturally) village would be a good idea to them. But it's a nit for sure."
I'm not sure whether you mean them (the Others) or them (the producers). But first, i mean, if the island is uninhabited, how can something be architecturally out of place? Because it's not grass shacks?
As to the producers- they did'nt built that. It was shot in a bunch of cabins on Oahu where people go for vacations. Although ti's not really in a valley like that....
Oh, and I said this in the other thread, but Saywer, Jack and Kate are all at the Hydra hatch- the symbol behind Sawyer's cage is the same one on the door that Jack opens.
I think Jack is being held underwater for sure, but that can be interpreted different ways. Either he's really under the ocean, and those pipes behind sawyer lead to the entrace (and that's what Juliette came out of). Or he's more literally "under water", as in, he's being held under the main tank of the aquarium. The room he's in is a holding chamber, so they have a door that goes up into the main tank so they can go in and bring animals down into Jack's little cage to observe them in isolation.

[rachel_in_sg]

Hi, I haven't watched the show haha but heard a podcast recap, which sounds great. Anyway, they mentioned Juliet giving Jack a trippy drug to invoke memories? Sounds like Locke, anyone?

[Preston]

Man this is cool! But I am confused as hell... I wanted to see Locke, Desmond and Eko too but why do they have Jacks life story? The plane crash at the start was amazing, the whole episode I was like WTF! Can't wait for your podcast! :O)

[smokem]

I thought this season premeire was much faster and WAY BETTER than last seasons taillies premeire...

It was interesting when Julie played that song at the beginning, she almost got emotional... I dont remember, but if that was one of the songs that got played in the swan, maybe she was stationed at the swan.

And WOW, Julie has some MAD strength to, with ONE right hook, knock Jack out long enough to drain the hatch, drag him back into his holding room, and go get his file and dry off...

and now I know who Fenry truely is... he is Ben KENOBI, which also means we know where they are, a galaxy far far away... mystery solved everyone stop watching the show.

[Nick]

Going back to Robert's comment, mainly the house shaking...Anyone think it had to do with the "System Failure" that was going on in the Swan? I figured the shaking was related directly to the Swan, especially due to the fact that as everyone ran out of the house, the plane was still in tact. I know a plane just simply flying by overhead does not cause that kind of disturbance...Just my thoughts.

I agree that there were way too many commercials, I guess it was nice that they were shorter breaks.

I was hoping for more, but the peek into the Others' world was awesome and from the sounds of it, this first 6 week arc is going to be very exciting. I am ready to see how the rest of the losties are doing and see what they have planned for getting their friends back. I REALLY want to see the remnants of the Swan, I was hopeful to at least get a glimpse. Looking forward to the podcast this weekend and next week's episode.

Stay Lost,
Nick

[Andrew]

I really liked the opening segment, especially the shots that moved to a wider and wider perspective showing the others' weird little village and the plane parts trailing smoke down to the island.

The door: someone questioned the amount of water coming in. I agree. My knowledge of underwater engineering is limited to what I've picked up from TV but if that door was ever supposed to be usable wouldn't they have to have two doors with an airlock between them that they could fill and drain the water?

I thought the part about Jack obsessed with finding out Sarah's boyfriend's name was a bit weird. I thought Sarah was tormenting him (inadvertently maybe) by not just telling him if Jack thought it was such a big deal. Not such a big secret ("his name's Dave, he works for Bank of America"). I guess she could have been afraid Jack would find him and attack but if he was really motivated he could easily find out. Jack could have hired someone to find out who Sarah's boyfriend was and the private detective would have done a better job, although maybe the whole father thing was too embarrassing. Maybe he's just got to do everything himself, as someone mentioned above.

Potential concerns for the season: too many fan inside references like the skinner box?; how the imprisonment/interrogation suggestions of guantanamo/detainees will work out

mc gainey referred to bears solving the box faster than sawyer although the box looked a bit small for a polar bear.

i thought it was interesting how quickly jack fell apart while imprisoned while sawyer and kate seemed to remain closer to normal (for them). Maybe because kate and sawyer are used to incarceration while jack only spent a couple hours in jail for punching his dad or maybe jack can't hand le the loss of control?

Generally a good episode shifting to keep things new. Looking forward to the podcast.

[Kathy aka Fangirl]

I generally liked the episode. I don't think Jack is underwater. I think he's in the basement of that building next to where Sawyer was being kept. I think it was a set up/trap to see what he would do.

If I were Jack, I would have opened the door. If I were Kate, I would not have stripped and taken a shower. If I were Sawyer, I wouldn't have bothered playing their mind games until I was hungry.

[Fish Biscuit]

FYI - ABC has posted a new VIDEO PODCAST from
Damon Lindelof and Carlton Cuse.

http://abc.go.com/fsp/index.html?channel=Lost&clip=114441

[Mike in the Box]

I had posted these comments on the previous topic thread because there was not a new one up yet, but here are my thoughts:

some thoughts:

1) confirmation that Dharma is not operational
2) something happened to kate between her breakfast meeting with Ben and her trip to the cage.
3) confirmation of an underwater hatch.
4) two bears have better problem solving skills than sawyer.

two things i noticed.

1) juliet and ben were at one point a couple. there is a tension between them and this will be exacerbated when she eventually falls for jack.
2) the scene when sawyer pushed the button and got shocked was not the same as the one that leaked. I wonder why they changed it.

one more thing:

what is up with special web stuff for american express holders? hope to see that on youtube later.

Gonna sit down and watch it again.
------
RE: the leaked Sawyer getting shocked scene...

I actually thought that after juliet zapped sawyer he would wake up and go through the motions again and this time for some reason say that guys name (Carl). Then Zeke (Tom) would say something like, ah now he's starting to get it...
--------

I cannot claim any of this as my own, but found these while searching the forums.

RE: the book club.

Bea, the woman from the season finale is at the book club. Not only that, but the book that Juliet so passionately described as her "favorite" book is "Carrie" by Stephen King.

Remember when Locke gives Benry a copy of Bros. Karamazov and Benry says "you don't have any king?"

Here is a link to the pic:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v36/mmbox7/bookclub.jpg

Why is "Carrie" significant? it is about a girl with telekinetic powers. Maybe (and this is just speculation) maybe she is reading Jack's mind.

Ok, here is another find:

A screencap of the village.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v36/mmbox7/village.jpg

A screencap of the Hydra logo as seen from Sawyer's cage.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v36/mmbox7/hydra.jpg

And this one is mine:
RE: The location of Kate, Sawyer and Jack in relation to each other.

Obviously Kate and Sawyer were not very far from each other, could be possible that the locker room where she showered was in the building Sawyer was looking at. Could also be that Jack's "aquarium" was in that building. When Sawyer "escaped" he ran right into Juliet who was leaving Jack's underwater dungeon.

[I_Love_Sayid]

woohoo! video podcast from dl & cc