'Lost': 'Orientation: Ryan Station' talks 'Dr. Linus' with special guest James Poniewozik
We're back with another installment of our weekly "Lost" podcast, "Orientation: Ryan Station." The Chicago Tribune's Maureen "Mo" Ryan and myself had the distinct pleasure to welcome Time Magazine's own James Poniewozik to this week's discussion about "Dr. Linus." And Lord knows there was not a small amount to discuss about last night's fantastic episode.
As always, there are several ways in which you can hear the podcast. There's an embedded file in this entry, just below the Hulu version of "Dr. Linus." In addition, just below that is a link that allows you to save the MP3 directly to your hard drive. Next to the download is a link to the podcast's feed. If you want to sync this podcast up to your iTunes player, make sure to go to this link or search for "Orientation: Ryan Station" inside the iTunes music store.
If you use either of the latter two options, we'd love for you to also rate us and provide feedback. The more ratings and feedbacks we receive, the more people that can find the podcast. While Mo and I do this because we absolutely have a blast doing it, sharing the fun with as many people as possible would be great as well.
(If this isn't enough "Lost" multimedia for you, then check out Zap2it's own Brill Bundy as she appears on AOL TV's "Instant Dharma"! Print, audio, video: we've got you covered here. Just don't ask us to bake. We're bad at baking. OK, I am bad at baking. You caught me.)
In this week's podcast installment: James makes the case for Leslie Arzt, Mo makes an unfortunate verbal flub, and I make an even more unfortunate costume suggestion for Richard Alpert. In between all that mayhem lies a fun and hopefully informative look at "Dr. Linus." You can follow along with us as we watch the episode, or simply download it and listen to our discussion on the go. We hope you enjoy listening to it as much as we had in recording it. Namaste!
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Ryan, loved loved the content, the other voices were hard to hear through the link above. Your voice, however, was classy as usual.
I've got three items I'd like to throw out there and get your thoughts on.
1) You said on this podcast that "Jacob is very good at getting people where they need to be." Isn't that exactly how Matthew Abbadon described himself? And given that we now saw Widmore approaching the island, if we believe Widmore is the person Jacob referred to as coming to the island, does that mean Abbadon (and thus Widmore) was working for Jacob all along?
2) My wife finally decided to watch Lost, so I'm rewatching the entire series from the beginning. In "The Man Behind the Curtain", Ben tries to leave the Dharma Initiative because he sees his dead mother on the island. Knowing what we now know about Smocke being able to take the form of dead people, do you think her image was really Smocke's first influence over Ben in his long plan to get Ben to kill Jacob?
3) Since we're told Smocke is no longer able to take the form of others, does that mean Cabin Christian is all over? If so, that seems like a major let down to the audience. We've been believing for a long time that Jack's big role was to confront Cabin Christian, but now it seems that can never happen.
Steve: I believe a reader reminded me of this a few weeks back...we DID see Cabin Christian after Smocke was "born," if you will: he interacted with Sun and Lapidus in the remains of New Otherton. So I think/hope we'll see CC again, confronting Jack as Smocke attempts to recruit the good doc to his side.
Eagerly awaiting Course Corrections for 'Dr. Linus'
This is definitely the blog with the BEST Lost analysis I've found.
Well done!
Little disappointed that Richard's speech is seen as nothing more then some Meta thing for what the audience is thinking, I didn't look at it that way at all, I say it as a pretty important character moment for Richard and I kind of loved it.
And really "the most Meta thing the show has ever done"?? Did you not hear every thing Hurley said in The Lighthouse?
In regards to the Black Rock, I'm surprised nobody mentioned the unlimited amount of dynamite in that ship, even if Rousseau was the first person to use it, that still 19 years worth of dynamite.
Ryan, this was the first time I've been able to catch your podcast. It was awesome. Keep up the good work!
@jade: Course Corrections coming tonight!
@Stacy: I definitely don't think it's _just_ a meta discussion. Unlike when we write about these eps, we only have a limited time to talk about the issues/elements onscreen. In "Course Corrections" tonight, I talk a LOT about Richard. Stay tuned!
@Steve and Ryan,
We saw Cabin Christian BEFORE Jacob died, and I think that's the key. Now that Jacob is dead, Smocke can no longer change form.
As for young Ben seeing his mother, I actually think that was NOT Smocke. It seems to me that Smocke can only take the form of the dead that are physically ON the island. This is why Richard asked Ben where his mother died.
ARRRRZTTTTT
Here is a question I haven't seen asked. Does anyone think Miles' abilities are somehow connected to the MiB?
MiB has shown the ability to recall the thoughts of people before they died (i.e. Locke), just like Miles can. I think that's an interesting connection to the origin of Miles' powers.
Smocke can't change form, BUT I'm not convinced that what Cabin Christian is = what Smocke is now. Otherwise, why all the hub-bub about the loophole finally broken?
The two are related, but Smocke seems like an upgrade of epic proportions. Plus, would "Lost" REALLY pass up the chance to have a Darth Vader/Luke Skywalker-esque confrontation on the Island between Jack and Christian?