LOSTCasts 40: The Cost of Living

This latest podcast focuses on season 3 episode 5 of LOST, The Cost of Living. As always, we start off the podcast with some listener comments, and then check in with The Fuselage for general reactions to the episode. We discuss Eko's backstory, changes to life on the beach, Jack's interactions with Ben's group including the funeral and Juliet's proposition. We also revisit the pearl station, and talk about the black smoke. We also have a surprise, contributed by a few of our female listeners in reaction to the audio comment we got last week about needing a feminine touch on the podcast. As always, we round things off with LOST links, and what we can expect next week.

Download podcast #40 here

Links related to the podcast:
The Fuselage - general reactions
Wikipedia entry - To Kill a Mockingbird

LOST links:
LOST comic - Penny Arcade
Brian McFadden LOST music video

Episode 6 this week will be the last before the HUGE break in the 3rd season of LOST... such a long time to wait!

Stay LOST.

Comments

[Taylor]

Woohoo, first again! :D NOthing really to say...just downloading the cast now! Can't wait to hear your thoughts.

[John]

A little later than usual... but it's ready!

[Nash]

No! Keep the comments! Damn democracy :)

[Lost1]

Please vote here on my "new" weekly Lost survey!

http://www.surveymonkey.com/Users/13652181/Surveys/254542818397/D80380EA-5956-42AE-9FDB-CFBD5B31345F.asp?U=254542818397&DO_NOT_COPY_THIS_LINK

:)

[Art_Vandelei]

Downloading, this conection isn't fast enough

[Bryan from the Dena]

I posted this in the other comments section, but it was right at the end of it, so here it goes again...

This is the truth behind everything that is going on. If you don't want to be surprised I am warning you ahead of time. The truth is just shocking

http://homepage.mac.com/bscheidler/Personal22.html

[desmundo]

everyone keeps saying, "oh well this episode wasn't that good because it didn't reveal anything to us." "It didn't reveal the secrets to us!"

I know we are all excited to figure out what is going on, but the show isn't always going to reveal something. IT IS FOR ENTERTAINMENT! I loved this last episode because it was entertaining. It may have only revealed a few things about the island's mystery and plot, but it was exciting and entertaining. People need to stop being so harsh when judging Lost. Watch it, love it, live it. Don't hate it because you didn't get the reveal you wanted or someone died. It is a story, you are along for the ride, be entertained.

[Roxanne]

How does Eko dying by the monster relate to in Season 1 when the pilot died by the monster?

[static]

You guys never ever fail to make me laugh. :D

Great podcast as usual.

I hope we see Danielle again sometime soon. She's such a great character, I'd love more of her and maybe flashbacks too. Oh I'm asking too much haha. The mysteriousness she gave off I absolutely loved though.

[Drynn_03]

Sorry guys, I know that you generally do a great job, but this podcast was a little lacking. You hit on a couple things but it seemed you just kinda blew through the episode. I love the podcast, so looking forward to nextweeks.

Drynn_03

[Joop]

Worth the wait.
I gotta admit though, I coulda used some more smoke monster.
I like the new segment. It was interesting to get the womens point of view. Next time could we have them on video in bikinis or maybe wet T-shirts.
Thank you
p.s. loved the shocking reveal at the end.

[Cassie]

@Roxanne

Because this shows how the monster killed the pilot. (i.e., why he was bloody and up in a tree)

@Joop

Can we refrain from the sexist comments? Jeez. Women can be entertaining without jumping around half naked.

[sam]

This is kinda a joke....
but LOST IS RACIST!!
You only got 3 minority people left that are actually shown this season. Jin, Sun and Sayid. Rose hasn't been shown, and neither has Ms. Klew or however you spell it. Yeah, just sayin.

and p.s. I love your crappy jokes!!!

[Joop]

@ Cassie
sorry, it was a joke. A bad joke but a joke.

[Lost in Ottawa]

Avid listener, first time poster. Sorry if this was covered in the cast as I am only half way through (a colicky new baby rudely interrupted my listening).

I can’t help but comment on the ‘island has healing powers’ idea, as it was brought up by on the cast in relation to Ben’s possible tumor. I think it’s a bit of a speculative leap to relate all medical problems to the healing properties of the [big] island. We must remember that the island could not heal many of those that have been killed and injured. Also we have been told via the healer in Australia that not all healing places work on all people (i.e. Australia did not cure Rose). The only 2 confirmed cases of island healing are Rose (according to her) and Locke. It is interesting to note that both Rose and Locke seem to share a strong faith. Locke has the island (and seemed to lose its curative properties when he strayed in his faith) and Rose had faith that Barnard was alive when they were separated (despite the improbability of this).

There is also the wild card of the hatch explosion. If the island did have healing powers, do they still exist?

I think the more interesting question is if Ben actually has a tumor or if this is some sort of con. What better way to engage the interests of a spinal surgeon than to produce an interesting medical problem.

Can the island heal, maybe. Is there a manipulative aspect to Ben’s possible condition and request of Jack, definitely. I think this is the more interesting aspect to Ben’s possible cancer.

[rubycalaber]

If I was "lost" I would follow Hurley and sit around the beach eating mangos.

[Kane]

@sam

Racist? That's why they're called "minority", because there's less that kind of ppl than the other kinda ppl. Jeez.

[Kane]

I forgot to put any commenct in! :D
I love the podcast but I haven't listened this one yet.
Is there going to be a break on the podcasts too?
I'm really waiting for the next podcast and the next lost episode. Sneak peek of ep 6 looked awesome.

Keep up the good work! Stay LOST!

[Mick Glasgow]

Hi, like listening to some of your theories in the podcasts, I wanted to know if you had read Prey by Michael Chrichton, maybe you could go through it for some of your listeners if you do another bookcast.

[Cihan]

1] I've been thinking, and I dont think Jack will kill Ben. Everything that we've seen of him...I would just be very surprised if he goes with Juliet's plan.

2] I think the writers have been winging it with Locke and the monster. The first time he sees it in season 1, in the scene we hear the mechanical sounds which we now associate with black Smokey. Yet now we're supposed to believe he saw a white light. Unless there is a white Smokey out there then it all sounds very convoluted.

3] I'm feeling a Solaris vibe alot these days. Maybe a thousand years ago an alien entity descended on the island and from then on whoever came across the island had their dreams and memories manifested to them, either to good or bad effects. Mostly bad. Civilisations with a fetish for four-toed statues fell, Dharma projects with Smokey security systems failed, planes fell out of the sky, etc, etc.

4] LOL@Michael & Walt in Eko's flashback. The only cross-over I saw was the logo on the vaccines which was identical to the medical hatch.

[Carl in the uk]

The new offical podcast of Lost is up at ABC.com, still think Lostcasts is the best podcast show out there.

This week on the abc podcast they talk about that we will see Cidy and the kids again around episode 8 also they let slip that Eko told John "he was next" guess John took it the wrong way.

Anyway thanks for the podcasts guys
Carl

[Mark B]

@Cihan : I've been thinking the writers have been "winging" it all along this season. They seem to have conviently forgotten a number of incidents and now I assume becuase Eko is dead we'll never find out how the heck the Beechcraft got from Nigeria to the island which we believe to be somewhere in the Pacific. Has anyone else on the island even mentioned that ? It troubles me that as TPTB kill of the characters it's going to be easier for them to forget those unanswered questions.

@Joop : was the stunning reveal at the end of the cast that Mrs Matt Jones finds Sawyer attractive or the Mr Matt Jones does ? 8-) There is no way that Jack would mistake Ben for Sawyer or vice versa. I'd guess Ben is a less than trim about 5' 8" whereas Sawyer must be 6'. I'm sure Matt Jones knows Sawyers vital stats by heart 8-)

As I've said before I think Jack will operate on Ben and will not kill him. I'm really not sure what the heck Juilet is up to other than trying to get control from Ben. She's not offered Jack anything whereas Ben has promised to take Jack home. But then both Danielle and Juilet have warned Ben is a liar but then Danielle is as nutty as a fruit cake and Juilet has her own motives. Ben did apparently let Micheal/Walt go. Ah hell I'd not like to be Jack right now, but I'd prefer to be him than Sawyer !

Mark B

[Mark B]

Has anyone else seen the SNEAK PEAK on ABC.com ?

Holy toledo batman !

[Sarah]

Hey, guys... Loved the podcast! Here are some things I wrote down while listening to it...

-Anonymous is crazy--you guys are HILARIOUS! I don't know if you've ever seen Gilmore Girls, but Lorelai and Rory have these conversations where no laughs but they're both extremely sarcastic and it's HYSTERICAL! That probably isn't the best way to explain it, but trust me--you guys are funny.
-While I love the fact that I can listen to the podcast and keep up while trying on new shoes my mom bought me, I think it'd be cool if yall did a video podcast once in a while. You know, we could, like, see you guys in action.
-On Blue and Leia's audio comment about the women of LOST, no one mentioned Claire or Libby! Are they against curly-haired blonde chicks? lol no jk I highly doubt that.
-Thanks for the reference in the spoiler section--sorry about my call, I don't know what happened. I'm pretty sure my cell phone had 4 or 5 bars, and I was just walking around in my room... Oh well.

Soo... love the podcast! Stay LOST.

[Sarah]

@ Mark B., yeah I saw it. You can soooo tell Jack is in love with Kate.

[Eric]

That last audio comment was a joke. "Harlan Pepper" is Christopher Guest's character in the movie Best in Show. If he was saying that was his real name, he's lying, and if it was a user name, well... I doubt a Christopher Guest movie fan would be serious about that theory. Haha!

Or it could just be a real dude with the name Harlan Pepper. Who knows!

[Matt Jones]

Eric,

Harlan Pepper! Waiting For Guffman! (Slaps Forehead)

[Matt Jones]

I mean - Best In Show! (Slaps Forehead Again)

[Frank Morris]

**** JOKE ALERT ****

I agree that women don't have to jump around half naked to be entertaining. It's much better if their fully naked.

**** END JOKE ALERT ****

[Katerina]

Official Lost podcast - new episode is up on official Lost website.

[MusselsFromBrussels]

@Drynn_03

I agree they breezed through the episode in this cast, but cut the guys some slack, it's still the best Lost podcast around.

@ the Lostcasts

Regarding "Girls gone Lost", keep it coming. I couldn't sit through a hole episode of the Lostchicks, but a little dose of a different point of view does add to the discussion ;)

And please don't cut the jokes, those awkward silences always crack me up (being of British descent, I have a similar "too intellectual to be laugh-out funny" sense of humour)

[TTD]

Just finished listening to the cast, one main thing to say!

DON'T cut the jokes! I find you guys funny and it's not like the aim is to be funny, it just adds a lighter less heavy discussion side to the cast :)

Was just thinking, have you guys got much planned for tthe winter hiatus? Any chance of a theories podcast? One just talking about things like the hatches/blast door map/radio tower/power cable/food drops that may not have been answered but our perspective has been altered due to this new season? Then saying that a lot of it is covered frequently in theories so.. lol

Looking forward to the mini finalé!

Stay Lost,
Pete

[longhairedrocker13]

about the brian mcfadden video thing.
he's an irish singer, used to be in a boyband called westlife, got married, left the band, had an affair, got divorced, and now he does solo stuff.

hes such a pretentious bastard. i dont think anyone actually likes him other than sqealing little girls and older women who liked him in the band westlife.
so yea he's really bad and i cant believe lost have got him on board to the whole thing XD

very disappointing

[Rob C.]

***SPOILER ALERT***

This is in all seriousness...

Kate is a lesbian. Damon L. alluded that there might be a gay character on the show. Given what we know about Kate's personality and backstory, couldn't it fit?? Kate could have been married (once) and realized that it wasn't for her, or she could have been in a same sex marriage, which was dissolved by the state.

[Mark B]

******* SPOILER ALERT ******

@Rob C. : Assuming you were serious ....

1. In the promo for next week Kate looks to be 'getting it on' with Sawyer.

2. A previous spoiler posted said the a bloke from Firefly plays Kates husband.

3. If anyone is gay it'll be, oh hell who have we seen who could be gay. Every main has been seen in some kind of long-term straight relationship. It would have to be Charlie who we've never actually seen off island with a girl (perhaps the island cured his homosexuality --- that was a joke) or Nikki or Paulo. But then if the cut scene spoiler was to be beleived it's not them.

********* END SPOILER *********

[Rob C.]

I guess I shouldn't have called it a spoiler, but I was serious. I thought it might make for a good twist. I could not think of anyone else on the show that hasn't been seen in a straight relationship (except maybe the Others). I knew about #2 (with next week's episode), but gay people do sometimes end up in straight marriages.

Charlie seems to attracted to Claire for me to believe it would be him. It may have been a throw-away comment by Damon that wasn't intended to be serious or in the immediate future.

[Mark B]

I think the gay character will be a truly new character or perhaps one of the Others. Zeke, Bea, Ben, Juliet ?

[Kathy aka Fangirl]

"the bloke from Firefly" is *sigh* Nathan Fillion *swoon*

I can't wait.

[I_Love_Sayid...&_Lostcasts]

woohoo!! Nathan Fillion

[I_Love_Sayid...&_Lostcasts]

Happy 40th cast guys! Good job.

[Joop]

Kathy aka fangirl & I love Sayid,

Can we refrain from the sexist swooning & woohooing please. ;p

[Joop]

:)

[Nash]

***** SPOILER ***** -

In the Official Lost Podcast, the producers mention that Cindy and the children "Emma and Zack" are still alive from the tail section. Have we heard the children referred to by name before? Later on, they mention that we'll learn what the Others are doing with the children in episode 8. I can't wait...

About the manifestations we saw last episode, CC says that Yemi "might be a manifestation that the Island has generated." I thought it was interesting that he chose those words and didn't say "that the monster has generated." I think it speaks to the fact that the Island and Cerberus are intertwined and that Cerberus isn't being controlled by a person (like Patchy). Any thoughts?

I thought another interesting quote was "Does it mean that everyone on this island is destined to be judged?" That could just be a shout-out to similar suggestions found here and on the other forums, but I thought it was interesting that they mentioned it.

I know you can't put too much faith into the official podcast, but I thought this episode was actually filled with a lot of interesting info.

As for the mini-series cliff-hanger, according to IMDb,
"Jack makes a decision regarding Ben's offer, Kate feels helpless when it looks like an angry Pickett is going to make good on his threat to kill Sawyer, and Locke discovers a hidden message that may guide him through the next steps of his journey to unlocking the secrets of the island." You can pretty much see the first two coming, but I wonder what hidden message Locke is going to discover. Will it be the other hatch, something in it, or something entirely different?

***** END SPOILER *****

[Nash]

The missing cue card. I had no idea there even was one, but apparently before "Ben is a liar," Juliet flipped through a card that probably said "Read these and stay focused." Not all that interesting, but a good easter egg nonetheless. See for yourself:
http://losteastereggs.blogspot.com/search/label/The%20Cost%20of%20Living

[Matt Lafferty]

Wait... now, granted I haven't done an IMDB search, being anti-spoiler and whatnot.. but are you telling me that Patch is Nathan Fillion?! (Hhhmm, a hiatus-related Firefly cast... I'm just saying.) Or are we just saying there's a resemblance? Come to think of it... Jayne, Sawyer? Similar blokes. Don't know if y'all caught Wash on CSI, but they need to sign him up as a creepy Other!

About, you know, the podcast, nice job guys! Concerning humor, I always get a kick out of John reading something that he knows will be funny... he sounds like he's barely containing himself. I was surprised more wasn't made of Jack's powerplay concerning the tumor... but maybe it's just part of a general Jack malaise.

Lastly, Matt Jones, I already knew you were cool beans, but knowing the Christopher Guest movies? Nice! "There's a mighty wind a-blowin! It's blowin' you and me!" 0:-)

[G/rail]

whats up with sayid, jin, and sun teleporting to the beach so fast....it must be those new dharma rocket boots

[Cameron]

Great podcast, as always. Re the jokes point, I would just say that one of the superb things about the podcast is that the podcasters will chime in with whatever they want, and John still manages the flow of the program really smoothly.

So sometimes something is said (be it a joke or a general point) that no one responds to and the program flows on to the next point, instead of taking time to chase every random thread of discussion.

This general progression means that even if there is a section of the podcasts that maybe I don't find interesting (and sometimes that is true for me of some topics that are discussed, because like everyone, I have my favorite areas) things move along at a nice pace. They don't get bogged down for too long.

The discipline of not reacting back and forth to every single comment, joke etc is what makes this work so well. I wish John would come along and chair some of the meetings that I have to attend at work. These just go round and round without ever getting anywhere.

The jokes that we like, we laugh at to ourselves when we are listening.

For the record: my favorite joke of all time has to be the Matt Jones' Sayid impression in the pre-finale podcast last season. He said of the fact that John had read some spoiler info on-line and should therefore not call a prediction on what would happen: 'I believe John has been compromised'.

Now when I heard that, I spat out a mouthful of soft drink in a waiting lounge at Sydney airport, and made myself look like a complete idiot. But damn it was funny. Still, that's an experience that I think is best confined to the listener side of the podcast.

[Mark B]

*************** SPOLIER **************

@Matt Lafferty : No no the bloke out of Firefly is Kates husband in her flashback. Or at least the man she is due to marry. Not Mr Patchy. But that would be a neat twist. Kates ex-husband (who she still loves) is on the island and works for Dharma. And Kate is then trust into a four way love square !

******** END SPOILER ***********

[Kathy aka Fangirl]

@ Joop

No. Nathan Fillion aka Captain Tightpants *swoon*

@ Lafferty
No, my boy Nathan Fillion *swoon* is in Kate's backstory.

@ G/rail
Also Sayid, Jin and Sun took the same amount of time to get back as Hurley did.

[Matt Jones]

Cameron,

Thanks. Nice to know I have a talent for making people spit up.

Wait. That came out wrong.

[Nash]

@Matt Lafferty,

Patchy could be Andrew Divoff:
http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger2/6380/3581/1600/divoff.jpg
http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger2/6380/3581/1600/patch2.jpg

@Kathy aka Fangirl,

You might want to get that swooning thing looked at :)

[Kathy aka Fangirl]

@ Nash - The links are broken.

[Matt Lafferty]

Mark B,
I see you made a comment to me in spoiler territory... darnit that I don't read spoilers! I apologize!

Kathy,
Nice to hear Nathan Fillion really will be on Lost! Though my goodness... with all that swooning, there are websites to help... :-P

Nash,
The links didn't work (it says I need to be logged in), but I'll look up the gent you mentioned!

[Nash]

Wow, that's bizarre. They worked literally 5 mins ago. I'll try to see if I have them in my cache.

[Nash]

Andrew Divoff take 2:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/ilagentesegreto/291017719/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/ilagentesegreto/291017720/

[Kathy aka Fangirl]

Links work. Wow.

[Drynn_03]

SOILER ALERT

The nrw official video podcast is also out. After it is over there is an awsome jack benry/juliette confrontation. Jack kicks @$$. This is why Jacks the leader.

BE WARNED it will spoil the rnjoyment of seeing it next week, but damn it was good.

Drynn_03

[Spencer]

Ok, two things:

1) Anyone notice, from the very beginning, Rose believed that Bernard was alive, and now he is the only tailie still alive? He was the only one that anyone believed was still alive (or had not gotten a DUI)

2)My mom noticed that it seemed Locke saw Heaven (the beautiful white light) and Eko saw hell (the opposite of what Locke saw).

[Mark B]

@Matt Lafferty : Well as everyone else wrote it in an un-spoiled way, here it is again for your own personal enjoyment ..... with some edits .....

No no the bloke out of Firefly (swoon here)is Kates (swoon here if Kate is your bag) husband in her flashback. Or at least the man she is due to marry. Not Mr Patchy (guess you could swoon here too if pirates is your thing). But that would be a neat twist. Kates ex-husband, who she still loves, is on the island and works for Dharma. And Kate (more Katesque swooning) is then trust (ooo errr) into a four way love square with Jack (swon if you want to) and Sawyer (Mr and Mrs Matt Jones swoon here 8-)) are the other corners.

Mark B (err no lets not go there)

[Drynn_03]

@ the girl on girl cast

You left out type no. 3 (and my personal favorite)
The scantilly clad HOT type (added bonus if they don't say much)

@ sexist stereotypes

As best I have seen, there has been much more topless and naked guys than girls on this show, time to even the score.

Drynn_03

[Nash]

@Drynn,

"SOILER ALERT!" I can't stop laughing... :)

[Matt Lafferty]

Drynn,
Wait, there have been "naked guys" on the show?! Not to my memory... I doubt the Mouse House would allow a hint of hiney!

[Sarah]

@ Rob C and Mark B and anyone else talking about the gay character, It's Zeke. Remember the shower scene in 3x01? Kate: "I'm not going to shower in front of you." Zeke: (laughing) "Kate, you're not my type."

[Mark B]

@Sarah : Yes Zeke said that but then he could have been refering to the fact that he prefers blondes or big women or Amazonians or Others or whatever. Or the fact Kate is not a good person.

Got to go Heroes just started .....

[Drynn_03]

Save the Cheerleader, Save the World

Drynn_03

[Drynn_03]

So I am thinking that the younger brother can't really fly. His powers are like Rouges though it is proximity based and not touch. Will be funny when he jumps off a building and splats, but it will probably be when the cheerleader is around so he mends himself.

So the big question is will Walt show up on this show as a cross-over since the consenus is we have jumped the shark hehehe.

Drynn_03

[Nash]

@Drynn_03,

I totally agree with the Rogue analogy. Why does he still think he can fly on his own after his "failed suicide attempt" when his brother wasn't with him and being to paint the future in the vicinity of the artist?

What is Micah's power? Fixing broken telephones? Or can he do anything he wants with electromagnetics?

[Drynn_03]

@Matt L

I am going to assume you are kidding and just made me spend 5 min lookinh for a mans butt. But you definatly see Desmonds in Episode 3 at about 2:22 into the episode. (while he is running thru the jungle naked when Locke wakes up). And is a pretty risque' shot at about 27:28 (when hurly meets him in the jungle by the beach when he ask for some clothes. partial frontal as he covers himself with his hands.)(***Times are based on the Itunes download of the episode)

Drynn_03

[popcornsamurai.com]

Have you people seen THIS: http://www.suncoast.com/Movies/Movie.aspx?v_id=V++++36710&From=NewReleases&week=10/17/2006&media=0&prodid=FOX2236762DVD

[Drynn_03]

@popcornsauri

Wow, nice catch.

The Director Robert Mulligan of To Kill a Mockingbird released in 1962, directed another movie in 1972 called The Other.

I am glad you discovered this, that means instead of sitting through To Kill a Mockingbird again 40 years later to determine what relevence it has to Lost, I can surmize that the writers found a movie called The Other then searched the other work the Director did and just serendipitously came up with To Kill a Mockingbird.

Thankyou, you just saved me hours of trying to rationalize how Boo Radley is Benry....

Drynn_03

[Lost in Ottawa]

Just a thought about Locke’s description to Eko of the ‘bright white light'. We never see what Locke actually saw (due to stellar direction and camera angles). We do know the following: Whatever Locke saw made the same noise as the black smoke monster. Locke has seen the black smoke, or at least we can assume he did when the smoke tried to pull him under ground, so he know it exists in the ‘black form’.

In the Lost world deception and subterfuge are the norm. Information is power. Could it be that Locke did not see a ‘white light’ but only veiled his question to Eko like this to keep information of the exact nature of his experience to himself. Could Locke have seen the billowing black smoke and just not wanted to let Eko know this. If Eko had not seen the black smoke monster but some other oddity, like a Hurley-bird, Daniel, etc, Locke would look a bit crazy and be giving up his currency of information if he came out and said ‘I saw a crazy ass black cloud of smoke that could read my mind’.

One of my beefs with the Lost world is the lack of information flow. I understand that the viewers don’t see all that happens, but the Losties have the bad habit of not telling each other important info (Kate not telling Jack about the Medical hatch and what she found there right until days later). Maybe Locke is just falling into this trap. More interestingly he may have some other motive.

In any event, If I am wrong about the above, I am not sure I buy the two monsters theory. Good and evil monsters is an interesting concept. More interesting may be a monster that is both good and evil, black and white.

[Neil]

Just wanted to fill you in on Brian McFadden,I'm sure you all losing sleep wondering who the hell he is !

Well,he's a ex member of an Irish boy band called Westlife who are huge to a particlar age group in Ireland and in the UK(possibly also in Asia),whom you may or may not have heard of.Anyway,he now fancies himself as a "singer" / songwriter,I'll let you form your own opinions on wheather he qualifies as either !

I've no idea what his connection is to Lost or why his video is what it is.

My advice to you is to just forget about him again,unless of course you happen to be a thirteen year old girl,in which case you doing a spot on job of disguising you voice in the podcast.I don't expect you'll be hearing to much about him stateside,we pretty much ignore him here in Ireland.

Keep up the good work and stay Lost.

Neil

[Mark B]

**** END OF MINI-SEASON PREDICTION MAY CONTAIN SPOILER ****

Ok just for the hell of it here is my prediction for the end of mini season ....

Sawyer is going to be shot execution style by a now vengence crazed Danny who for the entire episode has been gunning for Sawyer. We pan to an close-up of Kates face, sound of gun shot, Kate jumps, and boom cut to LOST.

Rumour (or spoiler) has it 7th Feb is a Juilet-centic episode including a flashback. Initally we'll get said flashback. When this ends we cut to commercials and then back to the island.....

The now de rigeur close up of Juliets eye, she is holding a rifle and ........... Sawyer is alive and Danny is dead. Danny was going to shoot Sawyer but Juliet shot Danny first thus saving Sawyer. Sawyer, Kate and Jack will now be in her debt. And so to the operation on Ben.....

The flashback and on-island stuff could be reversed.

Now, given, my current prediction record I'll be way off mark and the scene from the promo with Sawyer about to be shot will actually be before the "The only reason you are alive" moment.

**** END PREDICTION/POSSIBLE SPOILER, END OF MY CREDIBILITY ****

[Cihan]

Although I said the Locke/monster storyline looks like its being 'winged', thinking about it more, it does mirror Eko's experiences. In that the first time Locke saw the monster it probably scanned his memory, then the second time it tried to kill him.

[Fletch]

Love your podcast. I agree with Drynn, you guys did kinda blow thru this episode. I can't blame ya though, I have a life too and I'm sure you guys take a lot of your free time to do this every week.

Eko's intentions: I agree with Matt Jones regarding Eko put the vaccines on the black market in order to set a trap, draw the bad guys in. If he was just about trying to get money for himself for when he went to London, why keep being a priest once he got there? Why give the vaccines back to the community after he had killed those guys? No, Eko was doing what was right, in his way.

[ebonX]

I was thinking about the smoke monster and how it ties into the island mythology and after hearing your podcast, I came up with a theory on what Smokey is ... Smokey is a god (in a mythological sense, not a biblical one) ... In Greek Mythology, gods change to whatever form suits them in order to interact with the hero, such as animals (swan, bull, etc.) or even other people. Then at some point in any classic mythological tale, the hero faces the god and at that point faces judgement (either good or bad). Also, remember the gods in Greek mythology are not "good people". They are vindictive, egotistical, and self-centered/serving ... Sounds like Smokey to me.

[ebonX]

**** END OF MINI-SEASON PREDICTION MAY CONTAIN SPOILER ****

I got a crazy theory for how this 6-ep mini-series will end ... Ep.6 cliffhanger will be Jack having to make a choice between saving Ben's life or killing him, while on the operating table.

Now we have this long hiatus and during that time TPTB will let the fans decide Ben's fate (ala "Batman: A Death in the Family" circa late-80's).

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Batman:_A_Death_in_the_Family

I know this will probably not happen, but how cool would it be if it did. I got the idea after hearing all the Heroes/LOST cross-over talk.

**** END PREDICTION/POSSIBLE SPOILER **********************

Stay LOST brothas!

[unidentified female]

Great podcast though I was surprised not to hear more theories on the smoke monster. I don't think it was a coincidence that when patchy saw the losties in the pearl hatch that the smoke monster drew Eko away. It had been following him the whole time. The mechanical noise made me believe this is controlled by a person and is used as a security system for a specific part of the island. Does the smoke cause hallucinations? And is the smoke literally a "smoke screen" used to draw people to the actual mechanism? Is this the second group of others protecting something? Just a thought!

[Shma]

:: Stupid predictions , no need to stop reading.. no spoilers::

Cliffhanger : Kate have to choose to either die or get sawyer killed.... or.. well im not giving up on my Michael Jackson and one eyed willy's (aka patchy) smokey daycare center.

Kate's choise of partner: My hopes and dreams is offcourse juliette, however to be more realistic she will chose sawyer. Why? Becouse i really dont want her to ruin sawyers badass character and i never get these sort of things right.

Rose and Bernards fate : Who knows, apparently they are making out in the bushes...

The Brazillian duo : I dont know there either, one thing is for sure. They are as good actors as sayid are a good commando. Sylvester stallone are a better actor... and that is scary.

Charlie and Aaron (spelling?) and clair (thats her name right?) : Charlie will hook up his guitar to the power line from the sea. Btw is that the longest/fattest extention chord u ever seen. Wouldnt it been easier to build a power station at alcatraz.

Alex and her mom : Will meet next season, and shortly there after roussou will die for her daughter.

The kids : Stuck in the smokey daycare center.. reading playboy and drinking jesusjuice.

Smokie : Tries to mate with sayids masterplan fire at the beach and will give birth to small smokies that are only capable to bring down parachutes and small helicopters. They are however able to manifest them as smaller objects like coconuts to lure the lostaways... they wont see what is about to hit them

The second group of others : Will remain as a myth. They are the sorta backup plan if lost loose to much viewers... Bring in the dirty looking children that can kick anyones asses.

Sun and Jin : Will die atlast, Jack is able to save the baby and Ben and Julie will adopt it, and peace will come to othersville. The sound of childrens voices will make the others realize that its not only the parapsycical children that matters, and its not neccesery to steal children there are other way of getting them. so now...
a)The hanso adoption agancy site will make more sence or...
b)Othersville will be a more hippievillage then ever and everyone bangs everyone. Hurly will move in there.

Polarbear : Will eat its computer artist that made him.

Windmore and Desmond : Windmore come to island, Desmond break up with her and try to get the brazillian chick.

So there that was my idiot ramblings. Please keep these in mind. They sound really silly i know, but some might have some truth in them.

Cheers

p.s. Yes i listen to heavy metal. The music made me do it. Kirk out.

[Sarah]

@ Mark B, yes he could have meant that but if one of the characters IS gay it's probably him, not Kate or somebody else who has shown not even the slightest hint of being gay.

@ Nash & Drynn_03, lol it's hilarious how we can talk about Heroes on a LOST comment section. btw i missed the first 20 mins of Heroes last night did anything happen that I need to know about?

[Frank Morris]

@ Shma
2 questions:
1) What are you smoking?
2) Where can I get some?
I came across this theory. This guys either a genius or a friend of yours.
http://www.lostreview.com/2006/6/the-theory-behind-abcs-lost.cfm

[ebonX]

I just read thru the LOST theory that Frank Morris posted and found an interesting piece of info ...

Check out BF Skinner's book "Walden Two", whose utopian/dystopian society seems to mirror the Others ...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Walden_Two

[Kathy aka Fangirl]

Lost toys are out: http://www.playthings.com/article/CA6389053.html

[Rob C.]

Tired of being lost in conversations about Lost? Losticil may be right for you.

http://www.collegehumor.com/video:1723243

Sorry if that was old.

[Joop]

@ ebonx
I recently saw M. Night Shamalans 'The village' which seems to be in the same vein as Walden Two. In this movie there is a cult like community & 'monsters' that, through fear, keep the village isolated & protected from outside influences.
I wonder how the others view the black smoke. Is it something they are afraid of or is it something they control? Was it man made & now out of any ones control or is it a sentient being? Is it as ancient as the four toed statue seems to be? Just some thoughts.
@ Rob C.
I need to give my friends at the office some Losticil.

[Joni]

So glad to hear that message boards are in the works!

I just thought of something and I can't read through all the comments to see if anyone else has mentioned it.

Any chance Kate was shown the other island? Ben had her out on the coast of the hydra island. She has absolutely no fight in her, no scheming to escape. She lets Sawyer plot escaptes. Maybe they threatened her in some way. "There is no escape from this island. We are monitoring every move and every word. Don't tell Sawyer or he dies."

They 'should' know Kate's need for freedom and to show her there is absolutely no escape would be the ultimate cage, more so than the actual bear cage.

I know she crawled out of her cage, but I think that was because Sawyer was scaring her. I think if she was in Normal-Kate-Escape mode. .spotting the wider bars would have happened within the first hour and she'd be gone. Unless she knew there was no point . . .

Just a thought. We still don't know what happened when Ben and Kate were talking. Something definitely changed her will to fight.

[Nash]

Great article about why many people are down on Lost this season and even some recommendations on how to fix it...

http://www.terminally-incoherent.com/blog/2006/11/03/lost-focus/

"The characters are no longer in control of what is happening to them. They became pawns in a mysterious game of the faceless, personality deficient “Others”. This is a huge change. When the castaways betrayed their friends, double crossed each other and did crazy things we were able to empathize with them. We understood their motives, even if we didn’t agree with their actions. But we can’t really empathize with the “Others” because their personalities are paper thin. They are some mysterious wraiths - ghostly beings that lurk in the shadows only to torment the castaways. We don’t know what do they do. We do not know who they are. We do not know what motivates them."

[Mark B]

@Nash : "The characters are no longer in control of what is happening to them. They became pawns in a mysterious game of the faceless, personality deficient “Others”". "They [the Others] are some mysterious wraiths - ghostly beings that lurk in the shadows only to torment the castaways. We don’t know what do they do. We do not know who they are. We do not know what motivates them."

Is why I like this season so much....

[LostatHeart]

Reference to M. Night Shamalan.The "red" flowers in the field where Eko met Yemmi. Was Eko already dead but did not know it?

There was a lot of "white" light when Eko was wondering around in the jungle before seeing "the smoke" across the water.

[Drynn_03]

@Nash
I would agree with that article. Specifically these 2 paragraphs.

" The whole season is one long waiting session. We wait for the “Others” to make a move, but they are taking their sweet time. They became the primary movers and shakers of the Lost universe. What other characters do is relatively meaningless in the grand scheme of things. Everything seems like a filler.

Even the deaths are less dramatic in Season 3. When Anna Maria and Libby got shot in S2 I actually jumped and yelled “Holly Shit!”. When Ecko died last week, the only thing I could say was “Why?” Why did he die? What was the purpose of his death? Where was the drama? Where was the suspense? Where was the surprise? This was a completely pointless wasteful death. "

I would extrapolate the "Why" to cover most of what the Others are doing. It is distracting to enjoy a good storyline if you are constantly wondering why something is happening. The difference between this season and the 2 previous seasons is, that while there has always been some over-arching "why" questions involved with this show, there have always been distractions. So we wonder Why the airplane has crashed and no one has found them, but we get distracted by A french womens distress over the radio waves, when we wonder about those we get distracted to why Kates picture is on a police mugshot, while we wonder about all those we get distracted by why is Jack seeing his dead father...etc etc etc. All of which were good stories or good fodder to mull over. This season we are getting new why's (note we still have 2 years worth of why's that have not been answered still) but the distractions are either completly missing or so obscure that your just left with "why". The why's have grown to "why care" and if the remainder of the season (which I know it will not be by the way) were to continue on in the same vein that it has these first 5 weeks, I could see how it could easily turn into "why watch".

Drynn_03

[Amber]

Feel left out at the water cooler the day after a Lost episode? Maybe you need Lostacil.

http://www.collegehumor.com/video:1723243/

[Justin]

"**** END OF MINI-SEASON PREDICTION MAY CONTAIN SPOILER ****

I got a crazy theory for how this 6-ep mini-series will end ... Ep.6 cliffhanger will be Jack having to make a choice between saving Ben's life or killing him, while on the operating table.

Now we have this long hiatus and during that time TPTB will let the fans decide Ben's fate (ala "Batman: A Death in the Family" circa late-80's).

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Batman:_A_Death_in_the_Family

I know this will probably not happen, but how cool would it be if it did. I got the idea after hearing all the Heroes/LOST cross-over talk.

**** END PREDICTION/POSSIBLE SPOILER **********************

Stay LOST brothas!"

The only problem is, they've already shot episode 7.

[SmokeMonster]

I hope Jack stabs Ben in the spine, Im sick to death of him. Jack counts, 1...2...3...4...5, he gets on the laughing gas and starts hacking away at Ben :) then for the last 40 mins Juliet gets in the cage with kate for some prolonged hot love action. now thats a finale!!

[riverfr0zen]

now that i look at it - does Jack seriously look like some coerced chimp in those shots?

very cool how the writers/producers/rest made the situation look like a chimpanzee experiment.

[Mark B]

@Drynn_03
I agree that the first six episodes has largely, and correctly, featured the mysterious Others and even after the time we've spent with them we don't actually know that much about them or their motives. But then we need to get to know these new characters and their mystery has always been their appeal. The "Who and Why" of the Others has been part of the show from the moment we first saw Ethan and Hurley realised he was not on the manifest. In my opinion, on the face of it, it appears that Ben wants Jack to operate on him and has taken Kate and Sawyer as back-up to use as bargaining chips, of course this being LOST probably means there are ulterior motives at work ! OK, Ben could have walked into the Losties beach camp after he'd found out about Jack being a surgeon and simply explained the situation about his tumour and 'Othersville' and asked Jack to come along and operate and everyone could have lived in harmony but that would have not made for very good TV. I think the rumoured Juliet flashback episode will answer some of those mysteries and unexplained motives. Hopefully we may get some answers this week or in a Ben flashback, assuming he survives long enough to have one!

Some of this third season, in my opinion, has been devoted to trying to get new viewers onboard, certainly the flashbacks have added very little for the avid LOST viewer. I think that TPTB have realised that ratings will drop regardless of the content in the show and whilst having the two season of DVDs to use to catch up how many people will actually bother to watch what is now 48 hours of TV to try to get into a show that they haven't already watched ? Remember LOST is pretty much reliant on commercials for revenue so ratings are the be all and end all. LOST can't get revenue from product placements -- well in flashback they could I guess but the opportunities will be far more limited than in a regular drama. Mind you Juliet offering Jack a can of Coke or Pepsi who have some shock (if not dramatic) affect!

For me LOST is all about those "Why?" moments you mention, it is what makes LOST LOST and not just some other TV show I watch whilst I eat dinner, pay the bills or whatever. Because of it's very nature (sci-fi drama) there is some requirement of suspension of belief. Some would argue LOST 'jumped the shark' from the moment anyone survived the plane crash, others would argue cause it's sci-fi it can't 'jump the shark' unless it does something outrageous like have aliens land. According to DL and CC this is going to be a season of answers, hopefully it will also be a season of different questions but we know some of the long term questions (e.g. the origin of Locke's paralysis and Jacks tattoos) will be answered.

I think people tend to forget that this is LOST not a show like, say ER. If you want your drama in nice one hour chunks and can miss an entire season (never mind an episode or two) and still be able to catch up after a few episodes of the next season then that's fine. I think this is one of the appeals of shows like ER, you can watch them and not actually watch them (if that makes any sense). ER is one of the longest running and most popular dramas on TV, it was there before LOST and it will be there long after LOST.

LOST became instantly popular because it was a different kind of drama now that difference may be killing it, killing it slowly but killing it nonetheless.

Sorry to have rattled on for so long (again) and if you got this far thanks !

Mark B.

[Bob]

Tools for controling Losties:
1. Smoke Monster
2. Visions

Is it possible that a 3rd party is controling the losties?
I would guess they would be located nearby.

oh, well

[Nash]

I think the Others are definitely controlling Kate by means unknown to us. It could just be by threatening Sawyer's life, but I suspect it might be more complicated. Could it have something to do w/ all these hints about fertility and children?

[Nash]

HUGE SPOILERS!!! Seriously, don't click the link if you don't want to know what the rest of the season is going to be about. Includes many other TV shows.

http://www.thetvremote.com/the-spoiler-roundup-110806/

[Kathy aka Fangirl]

Happy Lost Day!

[musepsycho]

Can anyone tell me what the "Permalink" button does? (Sorry to bring up something that´s not about the show ;) )