It used to glue me to the tv like no other but I fear that this show has jumped the Dharma logo adorned shark.

I'm mildly proud of myself for finding a way to use adorned.

war_machine | February 15, 00:33 CET

Not to mention working the whole Dharma-shark/jumping the shark thing in!

As Alias went down the drain in its final two seasons, I discovered that Goddard episodes were still more than worth my 42 minutes. I continue to be charmed by Lost but would probably watch tonight even if I wasn't following it closely, based on Drew's talents alone. Guy knows how to tell a story, develop a character and work in some fine humor to boot.

MrArg | February 15, 01:10 CET

Drew's the man and I still love LOST so this makes me very happy!

MySerenity | February 15, 01:41 CET

I like Lost and Drew Goddard (a handy coincidence), last week's episode had a wonderful jaw dropping scene and I will quite happpily watch the show till the cows come home.

Simon | February 15, 03:59 CET

I had problems with the first six episodes this season, but the one last week made up for them. I expect DG's episode tonight to be great, because it's Drew doing Hurley, Charlie, and Desmond. That can't be a bad combination!

Nebula1400 | February 15, 04:58 CET

i'm with you myserenity...lovin' lost and can't wait for this ep!

yamsham | February 15, 06:29 CET

Simon, remind me please what scene that was.

madmolly | February 15, 06:36 CET

Simon, what was the jaw-dropping scene from last week's episode? Are you guys caught up and running the new eps at the same time over there, or are you downloading it?

I think Season 3 is doing very well and, if it continues to deliver and gives a strong finish, will be the best build, strong middle (the rarest component of most 20-something episode network shows), and ending of this series so far. The show's been delivering on answers this year, looks to continue to do so, has a strong focus (unless you hate The Others, I guess), and if I didn't know any better, almost feels ready to end either this year or next year. Think about it, the...well. Spoiler warning necessary...

***Lost SPOILERS if you're not current on it***
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The whole "experiment" angle is gradually becoming more and more exposed this year at a rate much higher than in the first two seasons. The Others are revealed and I feel we're pretty close to getting a complete explanation on them (I wonder if Juliet was the only worker held there longer than she agreed to and/or maybe forced into working on certain things as soon as she arrived on the island(s) ). Alex is playing a major part and will likely soon be reunited with Rousseau The Frenchlady (they better bring back Mira Furlan this year). The fate/destiny vs. random chance/free will argument, that whole push-and-pull, has come to the forefront again with tonight's Desmond ep and might be explored more in (but hopefully at an intelligent, challenging, non-high-school philosophy class level). Heck, even the goddamn Jack/Kate/Sawyer triangle was broken finally (a situation that could've been fixed, I still maintain, as with a major triangle on another of JJ Abrams' shows--Ben/Felicity/Noel on Felicity--with a simple threeway match-up or some sort of sharing agreement [yay bigamy], but they weren't written that way which is kind of a pity since tug-of-war triangles are done to death on network TV).

I thought tonight's episode was quality (it's actually a Damon Lindelof/Drew Goddard co-written script), but then I'm a pretty big fan of Desmond. Nice twist with the "destined-to-die" thing, I didn't guess it beforehand (not the Claire angle nor the Charlie surprise). My only minor complaint was, too much use of scenes from previous eps (and even the ep itself) taking up time that could've been devoted to new stuff, but then again some of them were kinda necessary to build up tension toward revelations and the writers also gotta consider the slower viewers out there.

And yeah, to steal Ain't It Cool News' quote, "This is perhaps the most atypical episode of Lost since 2005’s The Other 48 Days." [the start-to-finish of Ana-Lucia, Libby, Mr. Eko, and Bernard's ordeal on the island pre-Michael/Jin/Sawyer]

[ edited by Kris on 2007-02-15 04:53 ]

Kris | February 15, 06:48 CET

I'm loving Lost this year.

Reddygirl | February 15, 07:24 CET

Oops! Duplicate.

[ edited by Nebula1400 on 2007-02-15 06:13 ]

Nebula1400 | February 15, 08:01 CET

Great episode!! I've always loved this show and this was one of the best episodes so far.

Firefly Flanatic | February 15, 08:08 CET

This episode was awesome!!!

"Package for 815." 4 8 15....

The blue box in the background behind Desmond and Charlie... a Doctor Who shout out? After all, there is that time-traveling bit...

Shishir Kurup playing the same kind of character as he did on "Heroes" (the doubting scientist friend).

Desmond appears to be trapped in an endless time loop.

I wish I had taped this, because I bet there were a whole bunch of Easter eggs in this one.

Drew Goddard hit one out of the ballpark and it landed in the ballpark of another country!

[ edited by Nebula1400 on 2007-02-15 14:46 ]

Nebula1400 | February 15, 08:12 CET

Bleh. Meaningless, not surprising reveal at the end, and when did the Oracle decide to come over? She get tired of Morpheus and Neo? Or was this Run Lola Run?

Dana5140 | February 15, 08:21 CET

Great episode, The 2nd act was filled with easter eggs but I lost count after that when I got enthralled with the episode. Drew always delivers.

eddy | February 15, 08:32 CET

I have to admit, this episode was good. Desmond became so much more interesting. It almost pulled me back in. Too bad next week's episode deals with Jack again. :(

war_machine | February 15, 08:46 CET

Man. This was a great episode. I heart season three so far--way moreso than two--and this just made one of the best episodes in a long while.

sumogrip | February 15, 09:06 CET

Lovely fake-out and twist in the end of this ep. I hope they'll get back to the ensemble feel of the show from here out. I do miss the interaction between ALL the characters.

Love's Bitch | February 15, 09:36 CET

This episode finally made me like Lost again.
Season three was drifting badly and this was a good reset.

TaraLivesOn | February 15, 10:11 CET

I love Jack and I love Lost. Throw in Drew's writing and it's all good.

cheryl | February 15, 10:37 CET

Just to be clear, since I forgot to add this in my previous post, I realize the show almost certainly won't end next year (and definitely not this year), but that fact doesn't change the feeling I'm getting that things are sorta drawing to a close. Which doesn't really add up when you consider that the plane crash survivors have only been "lost" for maybe two months (a bit longer than that?) in their time, still stuck in November or December 2004. You'd expect them to be stuck there a lot longer before they discover the island's secrets and find a way to get off (assuming that's roughly the planned ending/solution for the show, with twists and deaths along the way of course).

I've got a bad feeling about Charlie (not that the character's been a favorite of mine this year or last, but I really like Dominic Monaghan). Besides the Desmond prediction, Dominic was on Ellen's talk show recently and, while he didn't give any spoilers and remained on the diplomatic side, he sure did speak pretty loosely about the show's drawn-out (and sometimes stalled) action. Seemed to imply his distaste of the fact that there is a planned, set storyline, but the execs in charge have made the creators/writers lengthen it so that they can go considerably longer if ratings hold up. I know TV is a business, but I still hate that $$$ trumps art and creative considerations. Not all entertainment mediums are owned by money, but of course my favorite one has to be.

Anyway, Dom said he'd like to see four seasons and then a movie or two. I wish Hollywood folks would clue into the fact that you need to do a movie before the show peters out, while it's still hot and popular. The X-Files got that. Sure, maybe "Fight the Future" could've come a season earlier. I know it was pretty much just a glorified episode of the TV show with a budget, but I liked it as a bridge between seasons and an "event" action piece of the alien/conspiracy arc, despite how increasingly muddled and somewhat lame that arc became later on.

In conclusion, um...Lost rocks in my books and I hope it stays that way and doesn't drag on for seven seasons ?

Kris | February 15, 10:43 CET

Loved the abstract art pic of the polar bear in Widmore's office. Saw more red phone boxes in that ep than I did the 3 years I lived in London. Go, set designers!

kazzmere | February 15, 11:00 CET

madmolly and kris, it was the scene in the room with the boyfriend. It may have been a complete homage to Clockwork Orange but it was just so unexpected and freaky.

Simon | February 15, 11:16 CET

(couldn't they have stuck a TARDIS in there somewhere :-)
oh alright, I'll just screencap and photoshop one in :p

TaraLivesOn | February 15, 11:24 CET

I love last nights epi. And now we know Desmond's full name: Desmond David Hume. So, we've got a Locke, a Rousseau, a Burke and a Hume character.

Reddygirl | February 15, 15:50 CET

Well, I'm waiting for Derrida. ;-)

Dana5140 | February 15, 16:40 CET

(couldn't they have stuck a TARDIS in there somewhere :-)

They sort of did. In the scene between Desmond and Charlie in London, they were standing in front of a large, blue box with messages posted on it. Still, that blue box strongly resembled the Tardis. I'm sure they knew what they were doing, because every prop on a set has to be ordered, built, and accounted for with specifics as to detail, including size, shape, and color.

Nebula1400 | February 15, 16:45 CET

I read 'Drew Goddard penis'... *shakes head at self*

I haven't seen the episode yet, so I scrolled down to avoid being spoiled, but I am loving Season 3 and Juliet may very well be my new favorite character.

That said, I am loving "Heroes" even more and will even venture the opinion that "Heroes" is the show most like "Buffy" since it went off the air.

OzLady | February 15, 18:34 CET

Was the mispelling of "honour" on the Royal Scots Guards poster an easter egg (or clue of some sort) or just a dumb mistake on the part of the art department?

Ruadh | February 15, 18:37 CET

i think that since they were in England, they were using the English spelling Ruadh...so not so Easter Eggy. Anyone want to list some of the Easter Eggs they noted? I finally taped an ep so I can go back and look.

yamsham | February 15, 18:58 CET

i think that since they were in England, they were using the English spelling Ruadh...so not so Easter Eggy.

Ah - but that was my point! They used the Americam spelling - and since I'm Canadian, that's always wrong ;-)

Ruadh | February 15, 19:21 CET

Simon,
"The scene in the room with the boyfriend"? I still don't know what scene you mean. Sorry if I'm being dense...

fruit punch mouth | February 15, 20:23 CET

fruit punch mouth, think Clockwork Orange brainwashing sequence. Loud music (techno on Lost as compared to Ludwig van in C.O.), various images combined with texts being strobed across a screen, etc. etc.

MrArg | February 15, 20:50 CET

"The scene in the room with the boyfriend"? I still don't know what scene you mean. Sorry if I'm being dense...

That was from last week's episode, not the new one last night.

Nebula1400 | February 15, 21:42 CET

Dana, who knows, maybe that name will pop up in the future!

Reddygirl | February 15, 22:31 CET

Poor Drew, he now gets to hold the crown for having written the lowest viewed new episode of Lost ever. Still pulled in over 12 million viewers so it isn't desperate but it doesn't augur well for the timeslot shift to me.

helcat | February 15, 22:51 CET

Well, see, Drew's written other episodes of Lost, so, not all of them are the lowest rated... Glass half empty...

k8cre8 | February 15, 23:53 CET

Nebula1400, close but not quite. It was a green newstand ;-)

TaraLivesOn | February 16, 00:26 CET

New 'Lost' Episode Hits a Ratings Low
Feb 15, 6:19 PM EST


The Associated Press

"Lost" crashed in the ratings this week, hitting an all-time low for a new episode. ABC's drama about plane crash survivors stranded on a mysterious island drew an estimated 12.8 million viewers Wednesday, according to preliminary figures from Nielsen Media Research. That's well off the peak of more than 20 million for the drama that became an instant sensation when it debuted in September 2004.

ABC has worked hard to try to protect a show that helped turn the network's fortunes around, moving it to 10 p.m. EST Wednesday this year to steer clear of Fox's blockbuster "American Idol" and CBS's increasingly strong "Criminal Minds."

After "Lost" fans complained about reruns interrupting the show's serial flow last season, the network tried an experiment: It split the current season in two, airing six episodes before an extended break and then resuming with 16 additional episodes.

The show's Feb. 7 return was heavily promoted and drew nearly 14.5 million viewers. But the bounce didn't last, with the show slumping this week.

Although protected from top-rated "American Idol" in its new time 10 p.m. time slot, "Lost" now has the disadvantage of trying to draw viewers at an hour when fewer people are watching television. This Wednesday, Valentine's Day put a 7 percent dent in overall TV viewership.

In the show's defense, ABC noted that it beat the competition among the advertiser-favored young adult crowd, drawing 7.3 million viewers age 18 to 49 compared to the 5.8 million that tuned in to CBS' "CSI: New York."

"Lost" also handed ABC nearly 4 million more viewers in the time slot compared to last year, when short-lived drama "Invasion" aired, the network said.

But there's no question that "Lost," once riding big ratings, buzz and cachet, has lost significant ground.

Some fans and critics complain that the story has gotten confusing and unsatisfying. The show, named best drama at the 2005 Emmy Awards, was shut out at the 2006 ceremony.

Dana5140 | February 16, 16:39 CET