Doing Anything on Thursday, May 20?

Three days before the highly anticipated series finale of "Lost," fans of ABC's award-winning global television phenomenon can watch co-creators and executive producers Carlton Cuse and Damon Lindelof in a TimesTalks LIVE event in select theaters nationwide. Moderated by New York Times entertainment editor Lorne Manley, "Behind the Scenes of Lost", will cover the challenges faced by the creators to craft a series finale that would satisfy them as storytellers and the show's legions of fans. The event will include a teaser from the upcoming final episode and an interactive Q and A session with fans. Prior to the event, guests can submit their question for consideration at timestalks@nytimes.com.

The event will be broadcast live, in high definition to theaters from The Times Center in New York City in front of a sold-out audience on Thursday, May 20 at 8 pm Eastern / 7 pm Central / 8 pm Mountain (tape delayed) / 7 pm Pacific (tape delayed).

Get more info here: http://www.fathomevents.com/OriginalPrograms/event/TimesTalks_LOST.aspx

I will be attending the 8 pm show at Crocker Park in Westlake. I've already got my tickets through Fandango. My birthday is that night and I think it was so nice of the show's creators to give me this present!

"The Last Recruit" (Season 6, Episode 13)

This was one of those episodes that felt like so much happened, but upon review, not much did in the way of moving the story along. I'm sure it's laying the groundwork for what's to come in these final episodes. It was intriguing to see how many characters could cross paths in the alternate time line.

Best Line

• ". . .And that pilot who looks like he stepped off the set of a Burt Reynolds movie." Sawyer's description of Lapidus.
  

Did You Notice? - 2004 Parallel Time Line

• The name tag of the paramedic working on Locke in the rescue squad is Simon Holt. This is also the name of the author of a young reader horror novel, The Devouring. The plot tells of the Vours, black smoke-like beings that possess humans who can't conquer their fear. Sound familiar?
  
• The EMT who wheels Sun into the hospital is played by Todd Coolidge, who also played the paramedic who wheeled Desmond into the hospital after he was shot by Ben in the original time line in the episode “The Variable".
• I believe Sun's near-death experience from the gun shot allowed her to remember and recognize Locke (or UnLocke).
• I was reminded of Adam and Eve when Sawyer offered Kate the apple in the police station. Was this the writers' way of hinting that the Adam and Eve skeletons will turn out to be them? Sawyer and Kate weren't even one of the options in my last survey! If they had been, would they have received any votes unlike Sawyer and Juliet?
• Kate is adamant she is not a murderer. She has said this before (to Claire) in the alternate time line. I'll be curious to see what really happened to make her a wanted woman.
• Now we know why Sawyer, a police detective, didn't do anything when he encountered the hand-cuffed Kate in the airport elevator. He would have had to explain his trip to Australia. If you remember, he had told everyone he had gone to Palm Springs.
• Ilana’s law firm is Sweetzer and Verdansky (her last name). In “Happily Ever After," Penny made a date with Desmond at a coffee shop on the corner of Melrose and Sweetzer.
• We are once again teased with the identity of David's mother as Jack talks to her on his cell phone. I'm thinking she will be revealed when she comes to the hospital to pick up David. My money's still on Juliet.
• Jack's reaction to learning Claire is his father's daughter was similar to him learning this from Claire's mother at Christian's funeral when the Oceanic 6 returned to Los Angeles.
• When Jack see’s Locke’s x-ray, he notes that the dural sac is obliterated. In the series pilot, Jack told Kate a story of how he once accidentally ripped a patient’s dural sac to explain to her how to control her fear, a story that was explained in the season 5 finale.
• Our weekly mirror moment is back! It occurred when Jack, before beginning the surgery, looked down at the operating bed's mirror and saw first his face, then Locke's.
  

Did You Notice? - 2007 Island Time Line

• Another mystery solved: Jack's dad, Christian, on the island was really the Man in Black impersonating him. That is if you can believe UnLocke.
• The Man in Black was really bashing John Locke to Jack. Makes you wonder if he was laying it on too thick.
• I like that Sawyer knows the Star Wars jargon of "going over to the Dark Side" but never heard of Anakin (Darth Vader's alter ego for the uninitiated).
• Well, now we know what UnLocke's stick is for: smashing walkie-talkies. I got the sense when UnLocke looked at the device, he had no concept of the technology.
• Sawyer tells Jack that Sayid is a zombie, not the first time there has been a reference to these undead creatures.
• The sail boat is Desmond's. If you remember, it was given to him by Libby for his around-the-world race. This is why it is named Elizabeth.
• So do you believe Sayid followed through on UnLocke's request to kill Desmond? I don't. That Desmond is good at convincing.
• I didn't hear Zoe say into her walkie-talkie to turn off the sonic fence until I re-watched this episode, so I had a moment when I thought Jin and Sun's reunion might be short-lived as they ran to each other.
• "I love you" were Sun's first words since she lost the ability to speak English. I thought the moment was ruined though by Lapidius' unnecessary need to point out (to the viewers) that she'd found her voice. Yeah, we get it. The power of love.
• Why has Widmore changed his mind and reneged on his deal with Sawyer?
• If you watch closely, the first explosion that throws Jack in the air leaves UnLocke standing unscathed.
• I presume the title of "Last Recruit" refers to Jack now being with UnLocke.
  

The Numbers - 2 3 4 5 6 8 10 15 16 23 42 108

• Sawyer describes Zoe to Hurley as Widmore's number 2.
• The adoption agency and Ilana's law firm are both on the 15th floor.
  
• Sawyer explains that for 3 years, the Dharma folk came and went from the island by sub.
• Jack tells David's mom that he will have him home by 5 o'clock.
  

Previews
You probably couldn't tell from the previews, but next week is a repeat (the only one of the season). It is the episode with Richard's back story. I believe they are doing this to allow the finale on Sunday, May 23, to fall during the important ratings sweeps period. I'll be blogging again in two weeks. See you then!

"Everybody Loves Hugo" (Season 6, Episode 12)

The title is a variation on Season 2's "Everybody Hates Hugo". And what an episode! Hurley is reunited with Libby. The Black Rock explodes. Ilana explodes. (Did we learn nothing from Dr. Arzt?) Not to mention Desmond unleashing his road rage on Locke.

Best Line

• "The island was done with her. Makes me wonder what's going to happen when it's done with us." Ben to Jack after Ilana's explosive departure.
  

Did You Notice? - 2004 Parallel Time Line

• Dr. Pierre Chang is the host of Hugo's benefit. We learned previously in James Ford's episode that Miles' dad worked at a museum. Amazingly, he looks the same age he did in the 1970s. Now how is this possible?
• Hugo mentions to his mom that he must attend an event for the Human Fund. This is a fictional charity created by George Costanza on Seinfeld.
• The waiter at Spanish Johnny's, the restaurant where Hugo and Libby met, was played by Jesse Smith, who played one of the random background extras who survived the plane crash in the first few seasons.
• How good was it to see Hugo's soul mate Libby back?
• Dr. Brooks was Hurley's doctor at Santa Rosa in the original time line.
• At Mr. Cluck’s there is a sign for new Outback Roasters with the tag line “It’s like a walkabout in your mouth," a reference to the walkabout trip Locke tried to take. The sign also featured Ayers Rock where Bernard brought Rose to see a faith healer.
• The order clerk at Mr. Cluck's is played by Samm Levine, who recently was featured in Quentin Tarantino's "Inglourious Basterds".
  
• Desmond "accidentally bumping" into Hugo obviously is the start of his task of reminding the Oceanic passengers of their other lives.
• The island photo in Dr. Brooks' office at Santa Rosa was in the original time line as well.
• One of the Santa Rosa patients is playing Connect Four, the same game Hurley played as well as Leonard Simms, the man from whom Hurley first heard of the Numbers. Connect Four has 42 possible positions in which to put the pieces.
• The chalkboard in the game room at Santa Rosa featured a chalk drawing of a desert island. This same picture was there when Hurley returned from the island and Matthew Abaddon came to visit him.
• Whereas Desmond had flashes of his other life from the MRI, Libby experienced the memories simply by seeing Hugo on TV.
• Libby's comment to Hugo about the picnic on the beach as being like "a date we've never had" references the picnic date on the island that never happened because Michael shot her.
• For Hugo, his kiss with Libby brought back the buried memories of the other time line. It is also interesting to note that I did not notice a "mirror moment" in this episode. Perhaps this scenes of self reflection are no more and the epiphany of another life will instead be the weekly occurrence.
• Dr. Linus questioning Desmond's reason for being parked in the school parking lot was priceless. "Are you sitting here in your car as school lets out for inappropriate reasons?" "No, brother. Just here to run over that man in the wheelchair." (I paraphrase.)
  
• So does Desmond remember his other self has a son named Charlie or did he just use that name because of his recent run-in with adult Charlie?
• The license plate on Desmond's car when he hits Locke (2FAN321) is a different one from what is on his car at the beach, watching Libby and Hugo (4PCI264). Either a continuity error or Desmond changed it so he couldn't be tracked down.
• I believe Desmond's hit-and-run was not malicious but his way of getting Locke reunited with Jack. Dr. Linus' comment was to call 9-1-1 so they could get Locke to the hospital. The school's in Los Angeles; Jack's hospital is there as well. As we saw Jack and UnLocke meet up on the island in the prior scene, I think this is what Desmond has planned in this time line. And who knows, Jin and Sun may be there too as she recovers from her gun shot wound.
  

Did You Notice? - 2007 Island Time Line

• Why hasn't Libby's ghost appeared to Hurley? Is it because most of his visitors, like Michael, have only yelled at him or told him what he should or should not be doing?
• Ilana says she has been training her whole life to protect the candidates.
• I noticed a couple of "God" references in this episode: Ilana says if that thing (UnLocke) gets off the island, "God help us" (right before she went boom!) and UnLocke calls the island a "God forsaken rock".
• UnLocke carving the stick reminded me of Mr. Eko's walking stick which Charlie called his "Jesus stick". Carved into it were various Bible scriptures (book, chapter, and sometimes verse), a small cross, and the Numbers. When asked by Claire what he was carving, Eko answered, "Things I need to remember." After Eko's death, Locke retrieved the stick. Locke intended to use the stick as a marker for Eko's grave. As he was pounding the stick into the ground, he noticed an inscription: "Lift up your eyes and look north John 3:05". Locke interprets "305" as a northward compass bearing, which leads them to the Flame station.
• The book Hurley finds among Ilana's belongings is a copy of Fyodor Dostoyevsky’s Notes from the Underground, a novel whose themes echo the series, as it is about free will and about the fact that determinism or fate is not valid because people can sometimes do things without reason or purpose just to prove that they have free will.
• Hurley also picks up a pouch which he examines but we do not see what is inside. I first thought these were Jacob's ashes but upon re-watching the episode, you can hear the contents rattle. Some folks I spoke with thought these might be Nikki and Paulo's diamonds, but I wonder if they are white stones and a black stone like the Adam and Eve skeletons had in their possession. At some point was Ilana going to have people random draw a stone and whoever pulled the black one had to do an unpleasant task?
• Why was UnLocke so apparently upset by Desmond identifying him as John Locke? Did he believe Desmond knew the truth and was lying to him?
• Once again, UnLocke offers his hand to someone, but this time, Desmond does take it.
• Another appearance by the mysterious boy in the jungle. I'm still going with my theory that this is an older version of Aaron. And why the smile when he saw Desmond?
• Richard was obviously trying to get Hurley to say that the island is like a cork to prove Jacob was there.
• Another item off the Lost unanswered questions checklist: The whispers are those people stuck on the island who can't move on.
• Michael's apology of course was for shooting Libby immediately after shooting Ana Lucia and wounding himself when all three were in the hatch.
• The well is similar to the one outside of the Orchid Station that John Locke descended into to find the frozen donkey wheel that moved the Island.
• UnLocke's comment that something causes compass needles to spin afflicted Locke in Season 1 with his own compass.
• Poor Sun is still unable to get back together with Jin as she enters UnLocke's camp only to find Jin not there. He is still on Hydra Island.
  

The Numbers - 2 3 4 5 6 8 10 15 16 23 42 108

• Libby asks Hurley if he thinks 2 people can be connected.
• Ilana tells Richard she has 4 sticks of dynamite.
• Desmond's order number at Mr. Cluck's is 42.
• Desmond answers UnLocke that he spent 3 years in the hatch pushing a button.
• Hurley brings 6 different kinds of cheeses to his picnic with Libby.
• Desmond's license plate at the beach is 4PCI264 whereas it is 2FAN321 at Ben's school.
  

Previews
Scenes from next week's "The Last Recruit" were accompanied by the audio of Gene Wilder as Willy Wonka singing the song from the most unsettling scene in that movie (and this is a movie with little, orange people and I'm not talking about Snookie from Jersey Shore but Oompa Loompas - co-worker Geoff knows what I'm talking about). The creepy lyrics which fit appropriately for the coming finale are:

"There's no earthly way of knowing/Which direction we are going.
Not a speck of light is showing/So the danger must be growing.
Are the fires of hell a-glowing?/Is the grisly reaper mowing?
Yes, the danger must be growing/And they're certainly not showing/Any signs that they are slowing! "

Speaking of creepy, check out this item that no Lost fan should be without: a bobble head Claire complete with squirrel skull baby. (Yes, it's actually for sale at www.entertainmentearth.com)














Upcoming
It was recently announced that the pre-show to the series finale has been extended to two hours, now starting at 7 p.m. Eastern Time on Sunday, May 23. We can never get enough Lost!

Blog Milestone

Well, it finally happened. The Lost and Found blog has had 10,000 hits since its inception! I know this may not be a lot compared to the activity on other blogs, but it was my goal to achieve this before the series wound to its close. I want to thank each and every one of my readers for their visits and it will be bittersweet as I type these last entries over the next six weeks. Namaste!

New Poll for the Week

To the right is this week's new poll. Cast your vote as to which pair of characters will be revealed (or will they?) as the male and female skeletons nicknamed "Adam and Eve" found in the cave.

"Happily Every After" (Season 6, Episode 11)

Wow, what an episode. I woke up this morning wondering if what I saw actually happened or had I dreamt it since it was so surreal. You can't seem to go wrong with a Desmond episode. I am curious about the title though. "Happily Ever After" is the phrase that ends most traditional fairy tales, usually preceded by "And they lived. . ." Does this imply that what we saw last night and all season of the parallel time line is all made up and not real? This title would seem more fitting to a final episode rather than one seven hours away from the series finale.

Best Line

• "I don't want to set off a nuclear bomb, Mr. Hume. I think I already did." Dan Widmore to Desmond.
  

Did You Notice? - 2004 Parallel Time Line

• The transition to this time did not involve the typical flash-sideways sound and quick cut from one scene to another but instead had the point of view of moving through clouds. A hint that this episode would be a departure from previous ones.
• Desmond has his first mirror moment in the reflective surface of the airport Arrivals screen. I am still not convinced that this was the same Desmond that we saw on the plane in the season premiere.
• Desmond who has a son in the island time line correctly identifies that Claire will have one as well. It's almost as if subconsciously he knows this fact.
• George the limo drive is George Minkowski who was last seen as the radio operator on Widmore's freighter and ended up dying in Desmond's arms due to the side effects of time travel.
• George points out that Desmond isn't wearing a wedding band. The Desmond that was on the plane talking to Jack in the season premiere was wearing one.
• On the wall of Widmore's office is a painting of a scale, balanced equally with a black rock and a white rock similar to what was in Jacob's cave.
• The sailboat that Desmond is admiring in Widmore's office is a model of the same type Libby gave him for his around-the-world race that resulted in him being shipwrecked on the island.
• You know Widmore and Desmond have a better relationship in this time line since Charles offers some of his McCutcheon scotch whereas in the island time line, Widmore claimed Desmond wasn’t good enough for it.
• Desmond's second mirror moment (the first character to have two) occurs when he is reflected in the glass door of the courthouse where he is picking up Charlie.
• The recurring theme of car accidents is put to the test as Charlie carelessly crosses the street from the courthouse to the bar. It's as if he knows he cannot die.
• At the bar, Charlie expounds on the virtues of love. LOVE. The four-letter word with an E that sums up the series. According to co-creator Damon Lindelof, love is what Lost "always has been. . always will be." At first, I was as thrilled by this as I was when the island was said to be like a cork. Then, I thought about it. Love conquers all. Love makes the world go round. All you need is love. And when I considered the characters, aren't they all looking for love? Jack and Kate. Sawyer and Juliet. Desmond and Penny. Sayid and Nadia. Rose and Bernard. Daniel and Charlotte. Even the Adam and Eve skeletons.
• When Desmond tells Charlie he was on the same flight and Charlie says "trust me, you didn't see her", it once again made me question whether Desmond was actually on Flight 815.
• I presume the rapturous blond woman Charlie was describing was Claire.
• Since Charlie almost choked to death, did he have that moment of clarity where everything was illuminated and all possible futures were known much like Juliet who realized "it worked" when she died?
• Desmond's comment to Charlie that "there's always a choice" is another recurring theme of the series. Good choices. Bad choices. Different outcomes.
• The marina that the car crashes into is the same one where Desmond and Penny have their sailboat in the island time line.
• I loved the sinking car scene and the echoes to Charlies' drowning at the Looking Glass station.
• After the crash, the doctor checks Desmond's eyes similar to what the freighter doctor did to him in the episode "The Constant".
• The MRI technician asks Desmond whether he has any keys or change just as Widmore's man did prior to the test involving the big coils. MRI stands for magnetic resonance imaging.
  
• Once again, Desmond is responsible for pushing a button, in this case the panic button. The clicking sound in the MRI was like that of the hatch's countdown clock.
• Desmond recalling Penny and the birth of his son was our first, full blown moment when a parallel character remembers his other life.
• The desk nurse at St. Sebastian's hospital who wouldn't give Desmond any information on Charlie was, in the other time line, the nurse at Santa Rosa where Hurley was a patient.
• Eloise Widmore was wearing two starburst pins on her lapel of the same design as the mark branded on Juliet's lower back. This was done at Ben's request as part of commuting Juliet's death sentence in Season 3. When Desmond first met Ms. Hawking, she was wearing a circular broach of a dragon similar to an ouroboros, an ancient symbol of a dragon or serpent swallowing its own tail that signifies infinity or wholeness. Are the two identical pins that Mrs. Widmore is wearing meant to indicate the duality of the parallel time lines?
• Mrs. Widmore's comment to Desmond that "what happened, happened" is a variation on a phrase we've heard a few times.
• Penny’s last name is Milton, most likely a reference to John Milton, author of Paradise Lost. One of the first commentaries written on that work came from a man named Patrick Hume, Desmond’s last name.
• The other names mentioned on Mrs. Widmore's guest list were Stephanie Leifer (who in reality is a network executive at ABC), Mary Markey (who is an editor on Lost and who won an Emmy award for the series pilot), and Nicholas Pepper (who is director of drama programming at ABC).
  
• Contrary to George's warning, Eloise Widmore is quite pleasant and understanding initially with Desmond. It is only after he begins asking about Penny that her fury becomes evident. It is clear she is not thrilled with his pursuing this, going so far as to call it a "violation". It's as if there is some unwritten law that she feels he is breaking. I couldn't help but feel Eloise Widmore knows of the multiple time lines.
• Dan Widmore's "love at first sight" with the blue eyes and red hair is of course Charlotte. He also mentions she was eating chocolate which is something island Charlotte in her delirious state said her younger self wanted to do but her mum said it would spoil her dinner right before she died.
• The notations in Dan Widmore's notebook include "real space" and "imaginary time".
• If Penny is Dan's half sister, are we to assume Charles Widmore is the father of both but they had different mothers? If so, why is Penny's last name Milton? Was this her mother's name? Or was she married?
• The stadium where Desmond meets Penny is where island Desmond first encountered Jack and also where he said goodbye to Penny prior to going on the sailboat voyage.
• Why did the contact of shaking hands with Penny bring Desmond back to the island? And when we returned to the parallel time line after this, we did hear the traditional flash-sideways sound.
• Desmond's request for the Oceanic Flight 815 manifest and his comment of "I just need to show them something" is very intriguing. How will he convince the passengers of their other lives?
  

Did You Notice? - 2007 Island Time Line

• The episode began with the recurring image of a close-up of an eye. However, the previous close-ups were more centered straight on the person's eye and then cut away whereas this one of Desmond's was at an angle and went out of focus as the IV came into frame. Was this our first hint that the episode might be off-kilter and slightly askew?
• Widmore's reference to Desmond being shot by Ben goes back to Season 5 when Desmond was returning to the marina with groceries and Ben pulled the gun on him.
• I thought the almost imperceptible twitching of Desmond's face when he found out he was back on the island was brilliant and conveyed so much with so little.
• Widmore's comment that "the island isn't done with you yet" is exactly what Eloise Hawking previously told Desmond in the Lamp Post Station under the church in Los Angeles.
• When I heard Widmore and his people say "test", I thought I had correctly guessed the four-letter word summing up the series. Nope - another four-letter word with an E in it!
  
• Seamus tells Simmons to check out the solenoids. A solenoid is a three-dimensional coil. In physics, the term solenoid refers to a loop of wire, often wrapped around a metallic core, which produces a magnetic field when an electric current is passed through it. Solenoids are important because they can create controlled magnetic fields and can be used as electromagnets. The term solenoid refers specifically to a magnet designed to produce a uniform magnetic field in a volume of space where some experiment might be carried out. (Just wanted to make sure you knew the science of Lost was accurate.)
• Another recurring image is the white rabbit. Seamus's caged bunny was named Angstrom. “Rabbit" Angstrom is the name of the main character in four novels by John Updike.
• Widmore's reference to his son who died on the island was of course Daniel Faraday.
• Another cryptic statement from Widmore when he tells Desmond that everyone will be "gone forever" if events go wrong.
• The catastrophic electromagnetic event that Desmond survived was the implosion of the Swan station. And why is this "talent" so vital to Widmore's plans?
  
• Desmond has his eyes checked by one of Widmore's people after the test not unlike the doctor who checks them in the parallel time line after the car crashing into the marina.
• Why did Sayid let Zoe go but knocked out one and broke the neck of the other of Widmore's people? And why did Desmond so happily go with him?
  

The Numbers - 2 3 4 5 6 8 10 15 16 23 42 108

• Zoe tells Desmond he has been unconscious for the last 3 days.
• According to the Arrivals board, Oceanic Flight 815 arrived at 10:42 at gate 8.
• Hurley points out to Desmond that their flight's luggage is at Carousel 4.
• Charlie tells Desmond that a woman in handcuffs (Kate) was 2 rows in front of him.
• Desmond tries to convince Charlie to come with him by noting that he will be put up in a 5 star hotel.
• Charlie tries to escape Desmond in the stairwell by exiting on Floor 2 of the hospital.
  

Previews
Next week's "Everybody Loves Hugo" marks the return of Michael and since the previews showed him on the island talking to Hurley, we can only assume it is in ghost form. With the close-up of Libby's grave and Michael's involvement in her death, could she be making an appearance as well?

Upcoming
Set your DVRs for Sunday, May 23. After the one hour recap at 8 p.m. ET and the two-hour finale at 9 p.m. ET, executive producers Carlton Cuse and Damon Lindelof and several cast members will join Jimmy Kimmel for "Jimmy Kimmel Live: Aloha to Lost." The special episode will air at 11:35 p.m. ET, following the finale and local newscasts.

New Poll

On the right hand side of the page is this week's new poll: Which of the remaining candidates do you think will take over for Jacob as protector of the island? I did not include Sayid since he has been "claimed" or Locke since he is dead. I also left off Jin and Sun since as of this posting, we don't know which Kwon is the candidate.

WTF?

Why the face, Desmond? Thanks to Brian P. for the heads-up on this shot from next week's "Happily Ever After" episode.