Lost Glossarr - ET Canada

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Bruce
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Joined: Sun Jan 27, 2008 10:17 am

Lost Glossarr - ET Canada

Post by Bruce »

Getting Lost: an abridged A-Z glossary

Alex Strachan
Canwest News Service


Tuesday, January 29, 2008



Lost executive producers Damon Lindelof and Carlton Cuse, lead director Jack Bender and a handful of the show's actors discuss the show's fourth season. (ABC)


So much for easy answers. Thanks to the writers' strike, the creators of Lost have imposed a media blackout on the new season. Think of it as a self-imposed gag order. Fortunately for obsessive fans who think they can handle the truth, Lost executive producers Damon Lindelof and Carlton Cuse, lead director Jack Bender and a handful of the show's actors agreed to sit down with TV critics before the strike began.

Here's an abridged A-Z of what they said. If you think it begins with 'A' for answers, though, think again.

A - Australians
As in, Oceanic Flight 815 originated in Sydney, Australia before it crashed. So why are there so few Australians in the cast?
Emilie de Ravin (Claire): "I said I'd only do the show if I was the only Australian, so I guess the guys respected that."
Jorge Garcia (Hurley): "Genetically, the baby is Australian as well. Just wait 'till he starts talking."

C - Convoluted
As in, why does the story have to be so convoluted?
Damon Lindelof: "There's an argument to be made for making it easier to follow. But I would argue that version would be considerably less intriguing for a mystery show. When Kate is first stitching Jack up, if she says, 'Who are you?' and he says, 'I'm a spinal surgeon. I've got some hardcore father issues; I don't think I'm going to be a good leader,' and she says, 'You've got father issues? I blew up my (freaking) stepdad,' then it's a case of, why even do the show? Because everything's explained right there."

D - DVDs
Lindelof: "People seem to really enjoy the process of watching the DVDs of past seasons. People like not having to wait long between episodes on a show like this. But it creates its own problems. If there's any criticism of 24 - and, personally, that's my favourite show - it's that it bogs down at some point between episodes 16 and 19. When you watch them back to back, it's like, 'Oh, he's torturing somebody again,' or, 'Oh, Chloe's hacking into the computer again.' There are tricks we use on Lost that are part of the franchise. If you watch the episodes one after another, you might go, 'Wow, Sawyer is really using a lot of nicknames,' or, 'Jack sure is screaming a lot this season.' That's just the nature of the intensity of this kind of show.

F - Flashbacks
Carlton Cuse: "Flashbacks are one of the challenges of this show, and I think that's one of the reasons the show needed an end point. It's hard to top yourself. Nothing is as engaging as that first flashback when you find out that Hurley won the lottery. It's hard to go back and tell another story that has the same visceral impact. That said, we view the flashbacks as little New Yorker-style short stories. And we believe we have enough stories to tell about these characters to take us through the remainder of the series."

H - A house of cards
Bender: "Lost is built on a house of cards, and it's built very, very carefully. Even though we know where it's going, we don't always know the specifics of where it's going. So we have to place every little card on top of another carefully, one at a time."

J - Jack
As in, why does he ask such dumb questions?
Lindelof: "As writers, any question one of your characters asks on the show is a slippery slope. We also find ourselves saying, 'We'd ask better questions.' Unfortunately, if Jack asked the questions we wanted him to, he wouldn't get any answers. And that probably wouldn't be that interesting to watch. He asks questions that at least have the possibility of getting an answer."

K - Kate
As in, who will Kate end up with, Jack or Sawyer - a question which has already been half-answered in last May's finale.
Lindelof: "I think the real question is whether Kate will end up with 'zombie Jack' or 'zombie Sawyer.'"

M - The monster in the jungle
Bender: "I don't mean to sound evasive but, from the beginning, the show has always been more about the monster inside our characters than the monster outside."

P - Planning ahead
Lindelof: "We've known for some time where each season was going to end. As a writer-producer, though, you have to adapt to the changing currents. You pick an outfit for yourself to wear, but if it's freezing outside, you should throw on a sweatshirt as well."

S - Subtext
Bender: "I think our show plays on a very deep level of post-9/11 angst. 'How do we survive in a community of strangers?' and all those things. The big questions our characters want answered are, not to sound pretentious about it, are similar to the big questions everyone wants answered. The answers to the little questions may not always be as satisfying, but they're what we're left with in a TV show."

V - The viewers
Cuse: "No one expected the show to work. And no one expected it to work and have a huge audience. I think that, with a show like this, there will always be some attrition, if only because it demands such vigilant attention. There will always be people who fall away, because it really is hard to keep up. It's a complicated show. It's hard to drop in and out. You can, but it's not as rewarding as watching all the episodes. We still have a large audience, though. And we're happy with the audience we have."

Lost returns Thursday, Jan. 31, on CTV and ABC. Check local listings for the times.

Stephen
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Joined: Fri Jan 25, 2008 3:27 am
Location: Seattle

Re: Lost Glossarr - ET Canada

Post by Stephen »

I think some letters are missing...

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