So, I am a big fan of "Lost". Even with the ridiculous melodrama, the soap-opera qualities of some of the writing, and the plot holes, it's still a great show that makes me think, and I really have no idea how it's going to end. The season premiere last Thursday was more than worth the 9-month wait IMO. It didn't answer many questions, but has given me even more tidbits to ponder. Do any of you watch "Lost"? If so, what do you think of the new structure of the show? I'm not going to elaborate here, for the benefit of those who may have recorded last Thursday's episode but haven't watched it yet, but the creators have done something unique with the timeline that's made it feel like a whole new show to me, with the excitement and energy of Season One.

PLEASE, no spoilers here. I know there's tantalizing stuff all over the internet but I've intentionally refraining from reading it and ruining all the surprises.

Yep--love what they've done with the timeline. I think it's opened up a whole lot of other directions for the writers (when they finally get back to writing). You're right, it's soapy and melodramatic, but it's suspensful and thought provoking and full of some really fine actors. I can't wait for Thursday night (and I'm sad that we'll probably have to wait another year after this 8-episode season to find out what happens next)!

Oh, I KNOW! I'm sad too. I just bet that they'll really have a lot of intriguing plotlines going on just at the 8-episode mark, then we'll have that hiatus again before new episodes begin again. This TV strike's really getting annoying. I'm glad you like the changes with the timeline, wildblue! With this season I'm on the edge of my seat the entire episode, not just during the Island-time scenes. The off-Island scenes are chock-full of clues, and I really truly believe that the show's creators KNOW what they're doing with the entire story now. I think I read somewhere several months back that they've got the entire story arc outlined now, and that Season Five will supposedly be the end of the series. I'm glad, because usually when a series is successful it's dragged out too long and gets ridiculous and pathetic in its final season or two.

I am also a huge fan! I think the season got off to a great start. I am enjoying the new structure and am looking forward to next week’s episode. I must agree on the spoilers, please leave me out. My friends and I are having a fabulous time trying to figure it all out for ourselves. I will say this, the flash-forwards of Hurley make me sad. I hope he finds a way to twist his fate... of course, on the Island, anything is possible.

So far, it sounds like we're all unspoiled and wanna stay that way! Liblady, who do you think was in that coffin in the season finale? I have no idea but doubt it was Hurley (my friends said the coffin wasn't big enough). My guess is Sawyer. Just a guess.

Yes the flash-forwards of Hurley make me sad too. He's always been such a tragic figure on that show. Jorge Garcia is a seriously great actor in that role. Remember the flashbacks to when he was a normal-sized little boy, and he started eating candy right after his dad abandoned him & his family? Poor guy.

I agree, I think there is a strong possibility it’s Sawyer. I can’t imagine Sawyer letting Kate, Jack and Hurley off of the island without him. We know from Hurley’s rant upon his arrest that the survivors are known as the Ocianic 6. It would make sense that Sun and Jin would also be on the initial rescue evacuation due to her pregnancy and the fact the all of the other pregnant woman on the island died in their second trimester. These of course are just my theories and I could be completely off. Feel free to let me know your takes as well. Maybe as a team we can piece together at least some of the puzzle.

I'm intrigued by the names of some of the characters. "Locke," "Rousseau," and "Hume"(Desmond) were all philosophers, and their philosophies correspond to the ways in which those characters behave (i.e., Rousseau is the "noble savage"). The mysterious guy who came to see Hurley in the mental hospital and offered him an "upgrade" is named "Abaddon." According to Wikipedia, "Abaddon" comes from the Hebrew word for "destruction," and in the Book of Revelation, Abaddon is the "Angel of the Abyss." Also according to Wiki, "many Biblical scholars believe Abaddon to be Satan or the antichrist." I'm also convinced we haven't seen the last of Jack's father, "Christian Shepherd." Hmmm, allusion to Jesus and resurrection? Obviously, I've spent too much time mulling these things over, lol (I'll blame it on my past as an English major).

I have no clue who could be the person in the coffin, but I thought it might be Locke. Maybe he got thrown off the island somehow by those left behind. If so, he would be paraplegic again and maybe this would cause him to commit suicide? I dunno really...just a theory. I hope it's not Hurley, and I'm comforted by the fact that the coffin didn't look big enough to hold him!

I'm very anxious to figure out who the rest of the "Oceanic Six" are. We know three of them are Jack, Kate, and Hurley. But there are so many other fleshed-out survivor characters than just the remaining three slots. I'm assuming that the "Oceanic" describor would mean that characters like Desmond, Ben, Alex, or Rousseau would not be in the group, because they weren't originally on the plane. But geez, just think of who the other three could be:

Locke
Sawyer
Sayid
Jin
Sun
Claire
Her baby?
Bernard
Rose
Vincent the dog (I hate to think of seeing his death in an upcoming episode!)

that's eight adults, a baby, and a dog. Which means we have a lot of our favorite characters meeting tragic ends before this is all done. And that's assuming I didn't forget anyone in a lead role. For all we know, the other three could be extras in the back who've never had a line. THAT would piss me off...

RE: Christian Shepherd -- I was wondering if he's not "Jacob", the shadowy figure in the rocking chair in the cabin? They show just enough of him that it looked like it could be his face in profile.

Wildblue, good call on the philosophers' names and the characters. I remembered the names Locke and Rousseau from a long-ago philosophy course but didn't remember Hume (or that Hume was Desmond's last name). Everything has significance on Lost, doesn't it?

I WAS hooked, but there was too much time between seasons.

I watched, but I'm not sure it's gonna hold my attention this time...I feel like a jilted lover.

I feel your pain, Jelsey. That was a looooong wait, almost Sopranos-long. If not for that repeat of last year's two-hour season finale (complete with helpful/corny comments at the bottom of the screen) to refresh my memory, I would've been lost while watching the season premiere. Pun intended.

#@$%! It pains me to say this, but I missed the latest episode of Lost! Yesterday evening, I was busy doing something, so I asked my dear husband to set the DVR to record Lost. He did as told...but he set it to record the episode at 8:00 (last week's repeat) instead of 9:00. The moral of this story is that if you want something done right, do it yourself! I have since set the DVR to record all new episodes for the season. Guess I'll have to wait yet another week to catch the latest episode when they repeat it next Thursday at 8:00. Grrrr...

Heh...and I like the jilted lover analogy!

Hey Wild -- last night's episode was pretty good, and there's even more mystery now. Some new characters who seem potentially very interesting. I won't spoil it for you. Thank god ABC is re-airing the episode from the week before at 8:00 p.m. now! You'd be seriously out of the loop.

random observation: Sawyer has really really nice hair. It always looks like he's just gotten out of the shower and is letting it air-dry. I kinda wanna run my fingers through it.

Yes, thank god they're airing last night's episode next week! Mr. wildblue got an earful from me last night. I don't wanna be out of the Lost loop!

Yes, Sawyer does have some fabulous hair...his dimples are kinda dreamy too...*swoon*

Between Sawyer and Sayid, I get to get all my weekly swooning out of the way on Thursdays at 9:00. Jack, not so much.

I'm a Lost fan, and right now I feel like I belong in the show. I have no idea what is going on.
And, I really don't think watching this weeks episode again next week is gonna help me.

Never heard of that show.

You all watch to much t.v.

It's Saturday morning and I watched this week's recorded episode last night. It's heavily on my mind, to the extent that I had a dream last night that I was in this bizarro post-island "Lost" universe (with Sayid -- yeah baby!) The new episodes are still on a good track IMHO. I love what they're doing with Sayid's character by putting him in this morally questionable new "profession" after the island...on the surface he's doing something evil but it appears that he's doing it for virtuous reasons (protecting his friends). But the real question is, WTF is Ben's character really all about? How has he become such the puppetmaster? He's so much more menacing than I ever imagined he could be on the island, which was pretty menacing indeed ...

questions:

- is anyone else getting really tired of Kate wanting to have her cake and eat it too? she needs to pick which guy to bat her eyelashes at, Sawyer OR Jack. girl can't have it both ways.

- why was the cabin gone when Locke tried to show it to everyone? what is the powdery outline made of? it makes me think of a granular pesticide you'd put down for ants, like Boric Acid or something similar.

- did anyone else see the Hurley-as-bait setup? i was completely surprised. Locke's one crafty dude.

- i wish, for continuity's sake, that there would be a tiny bit of focus on Claire, currently just shown in the background, and the incredible grief she should be going through because of Charlie. i think they're selling that storyline short. i know it's not critical to what's going on, but Charlie was a very prominent character and i'd like to see his loss acknowledged a little more.



Oh, and Sweets, "Lost" is a great adventure/mystery show that's in its fourth season, but it's so convoluted that it would be impossible to explain here. The people who have watched it from the beginning has basically broken into two camps, those who love it and those who are frustrated with its complications. I wouldn't even try to start watching it at this point if you haven't been following it all along. It would just be too mysterious and you might end up throwing your remote control at the TV with disgust.

Sawyer & Sayid.....now there's a manwich sandwich I wouldn't mind participating in!

Get in line, sister! In last week's Sayid-centric episode, he was looking particularly fine (albeit a bit on the short side; I was surprised he wasn't taller--I'd still hit it, though ). He's turning into quite the badass, if the flash-forward is to be taken at face value. And Ben really is some sort of evil genius puppetmaster. I can't wait to see this week's episode--only 5 left.

Kate bugs the hell out of me.

It's almost getting too weird for even Lost. The flash-forwards just...I don't know...don't go over as well as the flashbacks. Unless the future can be changed... a la Terminator... we know who's gonna live and get back okay now.

aww, I actually like the flash-forwards better than the flashbacks! I'm on the edge of my seat trying to look for clues in them as to what's about to happen on the Island. and i think that at some point the current storyline will chronologically meet up with the flash-forwards, then the series will wrap up with just one "now" storyline. What would be nice at that point would be if there would be a final flashback to show us, behind the scenes, what actually happened as far as Penny and Dharma and the other missing pieces of the plotline from the past. How they all ended up converging to create the situation on the island.

Kate gets on my nerves as well, wildblue. The writers can't seem to agree on her; she's all over the place. Her character is rarely put to good use and she doesn't behave like a real person would behave (for example, in last week's episode, where Sawyer asks her why she'd want to get off the island, since she'll be going into a prison when she gets back to the real world...she gets this look on her face as if she'd never considered that outcome...that was LAME). Locke's behavior is all over the place too, but in a crazy interesting way; at least it seems that he has good reasons for doing a lot of the stuff he does.

Re: Sayid and his lack of height -- bring it on! I'm only 5'-0 1/4", so the fact that he's pocket-sized only increases his appeal to me! Dude's gotta trim those fingernails, though...I can only imagine how lethal the toenails must be.

You may or may not want to be "spoiled"... http://www.spoilerfix.com/

::averting eyes and holding up index fingers in cross formation::

nooooo! i will not read! must...resist...temptation!!!!

welcome to the forums, RedJo. sooo, you like yourself a little "Lost" action? are you on Team Sawyer or Team Jack?

Um... That would be Team Kate - HAWT! Yeah - starting to - just got into it this season - lots of catching up to do...

You're right--Locke behaves erratically, but I think Terry O'Quinn is such an amazing actor that he carries it off. Evangeline Lilly just doesn't have the acting chops, IMO, and the Kate character is just...irksome.

Hee hee--"pocket-sized" Sayid! I tend to like 'em tall (my husband is 6'2), and I like to wear heels too (I'm about 5'7" without). That said, I wouldn't kick the diminutive Sayid outta bed for eating crackers. Just sayin'... Now the long nails might be a deal breaker!

OMG, too funny, I was going to use that exact phrase earlier, except substitute "naan" for "crackers", but I thought everyone would think I was a little too, er, OBSESSED with Naveen Andrews. thanks for making me feel better about myself, wild.

FWIW, I just read his bio at imdb.com and learned that he likes the older ladies. had a baby with his math teacher, who he fell in love with when he was 16...currently dating Barbara Hershey, 21 years his senior. Innnnnteresting! I suppose being 2 years older than him isn't old enough...

D@mn it figures the one guy in Hollywood that I would hook up with likes older ladies… lol. Anyway, if anyone is interested in watching any episode from any season you can go to www.abc.com and watch the entire serious with limited commercial interruption. It’s updated every Friday incase you miss one and can’t wait a full week to catch up.

Bwah--even better! Okay--Sayid can eat hot-baked naan in my bed any time, as long as he brings enough to share!

Good tip about the episodes at abc.com, liblady!

Okay, has everyone seen last week’s episode??? If not you must, must, must, go to abc.com and watch. To say it is explosive would be an understatement. I don’t want to spoil so if anyone is interested in discussing the details, please sign back on and let me know. I have more questions now than ever!

Liblady, that final revelation of the episode was pretty stunning, wasn't it? I was somewhat lukewarm on this episode because I can't stand Kate, but it did advance the plotline ever so slightly. And I'm guessing this flash-forward occurs before the time of the flash-forward that was featured in last season's finale (where Jack was unshaven, unkempt, drinking hard, and wanting to get back to the island). It'll be interesting to see what occurs between now and then to make him want to go back. And who's in the coffin dammit? Only 4 episodes left this season, so I'm thinking I probably won't find that out for a while.

I agree, wildblue. I think that this flash-forward is the earliest of all the flash-forwards we've seen so far. I was trying to guess by how much older Aaron looks than on the island, how much time has elapsed. I'm thinking not more than a year since the island scenes at the compound.

Kate is one of my least favorite characters. Evangeline Lilly substitutes cute facial expressions and flirty posturing for acting, most of the time. meh.

The fact that Claire shows no signs of grieving over Charlie is becoming very glaring and annoying to me. I'd rather they had no scenes with her at all, than scenes with her acting somewhat normal. I mean, she just got the news that Charlie was dead a few days before, tops, right? I'm not keeping good track of the passage of time on the island, but my guess is 3 or 4 days. She should be pretty broken up, or at the very least she should be mentioning him from time to time. I understand that the writers need to place her in close proximinity to Kate to further advance the plot, so that it'll make some sort of sense that Kate leaves the island with Aaron. But please, writers, please, write Claire's character so that she behaves as if her boyfriend just died, okay?

How awesome that Hurley popped in a tape of "Xanadu" -- hee hee -- and also how great is it that Sawyer's still sporting those nerd specs. Is it strange that they make him look even hotter?

I am excited and intrigued about exactly why the "Oceanic Six" have this fake story about what happened on the island. The fact that the people who are off the island are living with crushing guilt about the fact that they escaped, and that the fate of the other Survivors is so unclear right now, has me anxious for next week's episode. God, there are just so many unanswered questions still, though...I'm not the only one who remembers the foot of the four-toed statue, am I? Did Homer Simpson inhabit the island at some earlier date?

The coffin question: I used to think that Sawyer was in the coffin, but now I think it's Ben. The fact that he's so slippery and seems to have so many false identities, and the fact that he's most probably not included in the "Oceanic Six" group, would explain why there were absolutely no mourners for his service. Nobody really knows about him. Except for people like Kate and Jack. I think Ben is behind the reason that they have this fake story, this false front they need to keep up, and when Jack found out he was dead, maybe then he thought it was okay for them to try to get back to the island. Perhaps when Ben was alive, they were prevented from returning? He IS such a puppet master. Also he had that tumor; maybe it's returned and killed him. Just my theory. I haven't spoiled myself at all...

Okay, Losties, who watched last Thursday’s trippy, back-to-the-future episode? I thought it was the best one of the season so far, and I think Henry Ian Cusick (Hume) deserves an Emmy nod. I am really liking the Faraday character so far as well. And on a shallow note, I thought Hume was particularly smokin’ with short hair. Between him, Sawyer, and Sayid, I think I could be quite happy stranded on an island with the three of them.

This week’s TV Guide has a couple of articles about Lost, one of which is a Q&A with executive producers Carlton Cuse and Damon Lindelof. Unless I misread, there will be another 5 episodes (in addition to the original 8) starting on 4/24, yay! And Lindelof said that we will find out the identity of the body in the coffin by the end of this season. I hope it’s not Sawyer, but even if it’s not, I think Sawyer is a tragic character, and I don’t foresee him having a happy ending.

Clever, I laughed out loud at Hurley and "Xanadu!" Evidently there was supposed to be an episode that went more into depth with Hurley and Sawyer living together, but it's now a casualty of the writers' strike.

Yep, I saw last week's episode and really enjoyed it. Desmond is one of my favorite characters and Henry Ian Cusick does deserve an Emmy nod for his fantastic portrayal of such a tragic character. I am loving the time travel aspect and am glad that they've expanded on this as an important component in explaining the whole plot behind the series. Still tons of loose ends but they're starting to bring certain things together. The story of Desmond and Penny is heartbreaking and I got a little lump in my throat at the end.

Also I liked the Fisher Stevens character (who died too soon) and I'm hoping that even though he died, he's going to turn up in other pieces of the story, whether they're in the past or in the future. And I'm looking forward to learning more about the Daniel Faraday character...obviously he's got some juicy backstory (and future story) as well!

IMO there could be a little spinoff (or a series of short Webisodes) that could be the Sawyer-and-Hurley Show. hee hee. Remember all the drama between the two of them last season (or was it the season before?) when Sawyer made fun of his constantly? It's nice that they have some sort of friendship at this point. Hurley watching Xanadu while Sawyer read on the sofa, total domestic bliss. :-)