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TwitterA 'Lost' stocking stuffer
Hey, remember at the end of last season, when Lost introduced Desmond's long-lost love Penny Widmore (played by Sonya Walger, who despite similar coloring and features is not current regular Elizabeth Mitchell) and her very probably nefarious dad Charles (Alan Dale)?
It looks like we may finally see them again once the series resumes in February.
We're still a good seven weeks out from the show's Feb. 7 return, but ABC has, in the spirit of the season or something, released its official copy on the events of the first four episodes back. As usual, the descriptions don't offer much. Here's what the network says about the Feb. 7 episode, called "Not in Portland":
Jack is in command, as the fate of one of The Others' lives rests in his hand. Meanwhile, Kate and Sawyer find an ally in one of The Others, and Juliet makes a shocking decision that could endanger her standing with her people.
Aside from that last clause about Juliet (Mitchell), the rest of it provokes a sort of "Well, duh" response. Digging down into the list of guest stars, though, we can get our speculative juices flowing.
For instance, that first episode looks like it may give us another look at Others Town before the crash, as it features William Mapother as Ethan. We'll also be seeing more of Alex (Tania Raymonde) and Karl (Blake Bashoff), the kid who was Sawyer's cage buddy for a short time early in the season.
The Widmores pop up in the Feb. 14 episode, which is called "Flashes Before Your Eyes" and involves Hurley and Charlie trying to figure out why Desmond has been acting so weird since the hatch went blooey. Crazy Frenchwoman Rousseau (Mira Furlan), meanwhile, is back on Feb. 28. That episode will also have Hurley finding a junked car -- for reals, that's what it says -- on the island.
So there you go, something to talk about with your Lost-obsessed cousin at Christmas or on New Year's Eve, after you've had a couple drinks and are feeling good and conspiratorial. But I have to ask:
Do ABC's hints intrigue you? Are you counting the hours until the return of Lost? Does it even matter to you anymore?
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Zap2it Twitter Talk 
I was a loyal viewer of LOST for the first 2 seasons, but this year's episodes just seem to be 'treading water' until another big character's death occurs. Over the past 2+ seasons, I have tired of the producers and ABC executives stretching out these storylines, so that they can eventually get to 100 episodes (enough for future syndication).
In addition to just dragging out storylines, the series has switched most of the focus from the original crash survivors to the 'Others'. Some viewers might still find that compelling, but I originally tuned in because I wanted to see how normal people were going to survive on a supposedly deserted island. I really don't care that there seems to be a fully functional research facility on par with any American University's campus.
Also, I think ABC should have just waited until January to launch season 3, just as 24 has successfully done last year. It seems that Lost viewers didn't care enough to tune into Day Break during the hiatus anyway, so 'splitting' the season was an apparent mistake. For the record, I will NOT be watching Lost when it returns in February.
I will be watching Lost when it comes back in February because I really do enjoy the show. I don't like the idea of splitting the season though, especially since we only got to see six episodes after the long summer break. It wasn't enough to really get me pumped for the show to come back. In the meantime, I've been satisfied by replacements like Heroes (which has taken over my Lost obsession), Battlestar Galactica, and I've started watching Medium more - it's an intriguing program.
Unlike above reviewer, I appreciate the depth and opportunities presented by new groups. Someone with his/her view could have taken issue with the tail section populace from last season, but it added to the intrigue/possibilities, as do "the others". (I'm in for the long haul).
I have watched every episode of Lost thus far, but I am taking this opportunity to make a clean break. I will not be watching when it returns.
While I have not seen enough lately of my favorite characters (Sayid, Hurley, Locke), and way too much of the "love triangle," what finally did it for me was characters acting out of "character." Namely Locke turning on a dime and suddenly losing faith in entering the numbers, based on the Pearl Station film (despite Desmond both correctly pointing out how he caused the crash, and that he could not really know who were the experiment subjects). And soldier Sayid lamely thinking he could sneak up on the Others in a BOAT, of all things!
When you ask your audience to have faith that the writers are taking you somewhere, this kind of inconsistancy is fatal. It is OK to raise new Q's as you provide some A's (Heroes is doing this well). But the way Lost is now providing one little A while introducing 100 new Q's resembles the made-up-as-you-go-along story-telling of a four year old.
I have to agree that 'Lost' may have not been a good as it was in past few seasons, but it still has me glued.
ABC thought that Lost could hold the audience enough as a lead in for 'The Nine' and that is why you saw them run six episodes in the fall and then waited it out until February.
Despite cridical aclamming, Nine just was not a hit with the audience and now Lost will take that slot. It should get a second place finish behind CSI: NY. Very smart move since American Karaoke (as I like to call Idol) is still a titain to be reckon with and the boost that CBS's 'Criminal Minds' will get after the Super Bowl since that respect show gets the Post Bowl slot. Minds beat Lost a few times and CBS though that was good to get the Post Super Bowl airing.
The goal of all the networks is to domate every night. When the networks move shows or plan a certain way they hope they can hold the audiences. Sometimes it works and sometimes it does not.
ABC moved Grey to Thursday and it paid off. Placing Ugly Betty as the lead it proved to be a winner too.
Grey is going to be the one show that can beat CSI. CSI can still hold its own.
American TV has always belived in the 100+ episode rule. Unlike in Britian in which a TV Series could have around 12 to 16 episodes and two series (they use series rather than season) to be remebered.
The British Office lasted for two series and two Christmas special. 14 episodes total. The American Counterpart needs to hang tough and get the over the 100+ mark. Or at least close to it. Look at 'Still Standing' FOX felt it was good enough for Off Network Syndication in spite of 86 episodes.
It needs six seasons to do that since the first season was only six episodes. Hopfuly they are planing on wraping things up should The American Office reach season six.
Another British show 'Life on Mars' will end after two series and 16 total episodes. Their are plans to have an American version of this series. Again it will have to produce over 100 episodes.
I agree wholeheartedly with miki's ***essment. I will NOT be returning to Lost no matter what time slot ABC execs think it fits.
I absolutely LOVED the first season of Lost, possibly one of the best seasons of any American produced drama. Then the second season started to focus on the Tailies, which was still interesting (they were still fish out of water trying to survive in a tropical wilderness).
This third season has just been painfully BORING to watch. The writers want us to start caring about a couple of redshirts who have had 5 lines each so far. Oh, and there just happens to be a sophisticated, high-teck research lab on this island? How convenient for the writers, so that they can show the Haves versus the Have Nots. What about spending more screentime on the original cast members, like Claire, Hurley, Sayid, etc.?
And how about the supposed importance of Walt? Was that 'special' kid really a red herring or did the producers just have to write him out due to Malcolm David Kelly's growth spurt? Maybe they could have recast Walt with a younger actor and kept him and Michael around? I enjoyed watching those two charcters starting to bond as a father/son should.
You might as well stick with LOST, because ABC is not giving any new shows more than a two or three weeks. I will watch LOST, but I have been burned too many times (Invasion, The Nine, Six Degrees, Daybreak )to start watching any other ABC shows.
If a program is captivating enough and receives sufficient promotion and marketing, then it can thrive on its own --with or without a Lost type program as a lead-in. The Nine was a well-written and a well-acted show, but it was moving too slowly for millions of viewers to tune in consistently.
Last year Prison Break was one of the hottest new shows, even without the benefit of new episodes of 24 or a highly rated lead-in (anyone still remember Kitchen Confidential?). ABCs strategy of splitting Lost's season did not help The Nine's ratings, nor did the replacement series Day Break manage to survive.
Loyal fans of Lost will follow the show to whatever new time slot. However, some casual viewers are more upset about having only 6 new episodes and then a 13 week break. I will not continue to watch Lost when it returns in February. There are too many other shows I would rather follow, such as Rome and 24 (and I know that these show will provide some real answers at the end of their seasons).
I have to agree with many of the other comments here...the whole idea of the "Fall Season Finale" really ****es me off. And with a show like this that requires your undivided attention (and even then, half the time you don't know what's going on) it just doesn't work well. Couple that with the completely different focus of this season's episodes, and I'm afraid I'm DONE with Lost, as are most of my friends who used to watch the show....
I hate the split season as well. I've forgotten what all went on before since it was so boring and contrived leading me not to really care what happens.
What is it about Walt anyway?
I will, however, give it shot for a few episodes when it resumes for the spring schedule. It had better be riveting story line or I'm turning my back which makes me kind of sick to think about since I've invested so much time. Then...on the other hand, I think I've gotten my time's worth in the first few seasons.