LOSTsoup

The final season of 'Lost' starts February 2, 2010: What does this mean for the show?
The news that "Lost" fans have been waiting to hear finally arrived today: Season 6 has a starting date. But, as with all things "Lost," the news isn't without some confusion, misdirection, slight of hand, and above all, drama. But after five seasons of the show, do you really expect anything else? Of course not. Let's try to break down what this all means.The start dateAs reported earlier today here on Zap2it, the starting date will be February 2, 2010 at 9 pm EST. Three things about this date: 1) it's not in January, 2) it's on a Tuesday, and 3) it's on Groundhog Day. Now, the first factoid is slightly depressing, in that we want Season 6 to start, well, tomorrow if possible. But if pushing off the show from its expected starting date of January means we'll get an uninterrupted run of new "Lost" episodes, I fail to see how waiting an extra...

Don't get 'Lost' in all the 'Twilight' buzz
Let's face it, "Lost" fans: sometimes it's easy to focus solely on this show and forget there's anything else out there in the pop culture landscape. I'm personally guilty of this on many occasions, even though this is Zap2it's Guide to Lost, not Zap2it's Guide to Lost and Anything Else Out There in the Pop Culture Landscape. (That was my proposed title for this space, incidentally. Got shot down. Can't imagine why.)So, in order to do proper penance and shine a light on another corner of the entertainment world, I thought it best to highlight this little indy flick coming out this weekend called "Twilight: New Moon." Don't feel bad if you've never heard of this tiny, arthouse film: not everyone can have my subtle, discerning eye for cinema.In all seriousness, trying to escape the hype surrounding this movie is a little bit like trying to outwit Ben Linus: unless you are Jacob's archenemy and...

Underappreciated 'Lost' Theatre: Do No Harm
In all the craziness that is my life this Fall, I straight up forgot all about one of my favorite ongoing series: Underappreciated "Lost" Theatre. And methinks it's high time to reintroduce it as we hit the midpoint this week. I have a pretty long article planned for Thursday, so consider this the appetizer before the main course.Past entries in this series have included:Tricia Tanaka is DeadS.O.S.Live Together, Die AloneOutlawsToday, we're going back to Season 1 with "Do No Harm," a Jack-centric ep that saw the show's first major death as well as the birth of Turnip Head himself, Aaron. Should be a no-brainer in terms of canonical eps, and yet barely gets mentioned even when discussing Top 10 Season 1 episodes. So let's break down why that might be, and why it deserves a second look.Why it's overlookedJack's flashback, in which we see the events leading up to his wedding, could possibly be used...

What role will Juliet Burke have in the final season of 'Lost'?
Being an actor on "Lost" has its perks. You're on a show with a devoted following, you get to spend your time filming in Hawaii, and even when your character dies, you've still got a pretty good shot at continuing to play the character at some point again. Heck, I'd wager that William Mapother's character Ethan Rom has appeared onscreen about 12 times more AFTER he died than before. The events at the end of "The Incident," coupled with the Season 6 promotional poster, indicate that we're about to see a lot of characters that on most shows would stay six feet under.Today, we're going to look at one of those characters: Juliet Burke. Elizabeth Mitchell might be currently trying to make me care about an alien lizard invasion over on "V," but she's also due back for more than one appearance in the finale season of "Lost." I'll provide the link to the full...

'Lost': Following the leaders of The Others
Honestly, I think I could spend the rest of the weeks leading up to the final season of "Lost" talking about nothing but The Others. Don't worry, that's not my plan: but the past week and a half have shown just how seemingly inexhaustible this topic truly is. My cursory look at some of the major mysteries surrounding these people has yielded even more, equally interesting conundrums from you, the readers.  Here's a question that I've attempted to address before, but it's worth looking at again. Courtesy of reader DCMeads, in regards to Charles Widmore's time as leader of The Others:  But did Widdy ever really rule the Island?  Clearly '54 Widdy acted like he was in charge but supplicated to [Alpert]'s final authority in "Jughead". Renaissance Widdy showed his muscle while taking down Kate and Jack in "The Variable" while Ellie, still in control, used her brain. Finally Ben one-ups him in "Dead is...

'Lost': Mo' money, mo' problems for Charles Widmore
Let's face it, "Lost" fans: correctly predicting future events on the show is a tricky business. At best, you're making an educated guess. At worst, you're flailing about in the dark, screaming out conspiracies like so many crazy people on the subway. Back in Season 3, I correctly predicted that Charles Widmore sent Naomi and Co. to the Island unbeknownst to his daughter, Penelope. For realz. Not a bad guess, and hey, given how many guesses I make, at least a few have to be correct, statistically speaking.But what I did not even fathom at the time was that Charles Widmore himself was himself not only on the Island, but Ben Linus' predecessor as leader of the Others. Such a thought didn't enter my mind (or the minds of many) until "The Shape of Things to Come," the post-strike episode that stuck a stake firmly in the ground to denote the start of the show's...

'Lost' in translation: The Others and the lists
If there's a single topic that you have been clamoring for over the last week of "Lost" entries, it's been "the lists." Some of you thought I forgot about them, others accused me of ignoring them, and at least one of threatened to put me on one if I didn't start producing some insight into their derivation. But since one mere week of Others'-centric entries couldn't begin to cover the gamut of interesting mysteries still surrounding the group, I'm happy to spill the series over into a second week. Never let it be said that I don't give you people what you want.It's actually a good time to bring up the lists, in that my last entry talked about the gradual circling of the wagons that took place in Others' culture over the course of the 20th century. I suggested that perhaps Jacob's original plan was to systematically gather the proper people to The Island...

'Lost': Progression and regression for The Others
We're winding down our week-long look at The Others today, and if you're feeling more "Lost" than ever about this group, I can't say I blame you. Every time you approach an answer about this collective, the questions multiply.Yesterday, I suggested that the original purpose of the society was to establish a small control group of humans possessing inherent psychological characteristics that, if properly seeded, could blossom into a collective capable of pushing humanity as a whole towards the next plateau of its existence. But the Island's isolatory nature, combined with Jacob's "observe, not interfere" approach, led to an eventual degradation of the group's purpose. Instead of gradually incorporating those that found their way to the Island's shores, they decided to treat everything "foreign" as "antagonistic."Did everyone that came to the Island deserve the red-carpet treatment? Certainly not. But it's one thing to treat outsiders with suspicion and a whole other thing to infiltrate, antagonize,...

'Lost': The (de)evolution of The Others' morality
"Lost" fans know that it's generally not a good idea to trust Ben Linus. He'll probably fry your brain through twisted logic and emotionally manipulate you to do his bidding, but you'll never actually trust him even while performing acts that go against everything in which you believe. But today, as a thought exercise, we're going to try and take Ben at his word for once.This solitary time? At the Pala Ferry, bidding Michael and Walt goodbye:Michael: My friends--I was promised you wouldn't hurt them.Ben: A deal's a deal.Michael: Who are you people?Ben: We're the good guys, Michael.So let's assume NOT that The Others are in fact the good guys, as he states. Rather, let's assume that when he tells Michael this, he believes that he is telling the truth. "Good" and "bad" are of course in the eye of the beholder. The actions taken by The Others against the survivors of Oceanic 815 certainly...