'Lost': Previewing 'The Little Prince'

I'm sure you've been counting down the days since 'Jughead' to get your greedy eyes on the next episode of Lost, entitled 'The Little Prince.' And trust me, I'm right there with you. While I managed to catch the first three episodes early, ABC's decided to pull the plug on screeners for the time being. And despite what you may have heard, it's got nothing to do with a certain trenchcoat wearing, Boston-based balding blogger holding up a boom box outside Damon Lindelof's house, blasting "Make Your Own Kind of Music" at all hours of the night. At least, I think it's got nothing to do with that.

So the lack of screeners means that there will be no live chat this week. Sorry about that. We'll have chats periodically throughout the season, and throughout Zap2It as well. (Check out this swanky Super Bowl-based chat!) It's just too hard to watch the episode and moderate the literally thousands of comments that come from your nimble fingertips. Consider the comments section below your forum for discussion during and immediately after the episode.

Now, that title...seems to me that Darlton want us to re-read a certain classic story in preparation for this episode. And confession time: I've never read it until this week. I probably should have read it upon learning the episode's title a few months ago, but then I saw something shiny and got distracted. So I won't pretend to be an expert in any way shape or form about this novel and its relationship to Lost, but a few things really, really jumped out at me upon reading.

There's a magic box! The Little Prince's first interaction with the narrator consists of the Prince asking him to draw a sheep. After being unable to satisfy the Prince's needs a few times through, he then draws a box, inside of which the sheep resides. This pleases the Prince immensely, and pleases me even more.

There are familiar archetypes! The Little Prince and the narrator meet several people with which Lost fans might recognize counterparts in their universe. The Drunkard/Tippler (Christian?), The Businessman (Widmore?), and most intriguingly, The Lamplighter. Of the last, The Little Prince says, "That man is the only one of them all whom I could have made my friend. But his planet is indeed too small. There is no room on it for two people..."  So, there's only one person who can light the lamp...or, perhaps, lantern? Sounds awfully familiar.

Time is relative! The Little Prince's home planet is so small, he experiences sunsets and sunrises just by moving his chair. He's horribly confused by his inability to do so on earth. In addition, the Lamplighter bemoans the increasingly rapid pace at which his world turns.

Nature talks back! Just as several characters commune with the Island, the Prince communes with a single rose. In both cases, the relationship can strain the patience and adversely affect the emotions of the humans involved.

There's an extinct volcano! While two of the three volcanos on his planet are active (and help cook his meals), the third lays dormant. However, the Prince cryptically says, "One never knows!" Hmmmm....

There's an Army of the Light and Army of the Dark! To be fair, these are plants more than people, but nevertheless coexist as invisible seeds, which must be constantly tended to before an imbalance exists. Should the dark seeds take hold, the Prince's world could literally be split apart. So as the Prince farms, he saves the world. (And yes, the Prince-as-farmer should harken you back to the farmer/hunter debate surrounding Locke.)

Death is not what it seems! In the final chapter, The Little Prince bids the narrator goodbye. He tells the narrator that while it may look as if he died, it's simply that his body is to heavy to take back with him to his planet. Read into that what you will, but it makes my Lost brain go 'splodey.

Feel free to leave other examples you notice in The Little Prince in the comments below. I am positive there are plenty I have missed, but hopefully these few examples get your mind working as we approach the fourth episode of the season.

Ryan also posts every 108 minutes over at Boob Tube Dude, then peruses Zap2It's Guide to Lost Facebook group. He also encourages you to subscribe to the Zap2It's Guide to Lost Twitter feed.