The Countdown is On!

I just (finally) finished watching S2 this morning, and now I am PUMPED for the season premiere!! (In case you can't tell, in which case, you must be oblivious to everything.) I thought that I would go into detail on each episode I rewatched, but I'm lazy and I only have half an hour before I have to leave for work. So here are the high notes:

* LOCKDOWN - Did Fenry push the freaking button or not?! My thoughts are that he must have, otherwise everything would have gone all magnetic. So did he just lie about pushing the button to f with Locke's mind. Poor guy, he's been through a lot both preIsland and presentIsland, and it sounds like things are just gonna get worse for him this upcoming season. (see my previous post about Ian Somerhalder.)

*DAVE - There was much speculation (mostly by me) after this Hurley-centric episode aired. If what Hurley's imaginary friend said was true, namely, that Hurley is still in the mental institution and this whole thing is a figment of his crazy imagination, I might be very angry. Saint Elsewhere is a bit before my time, but from what I've read about it, the series ending was bullshit. I have to put more faith in the writers and producers than that.

* S.O.S. - Rose and Bernard were cute when they were reunited, but I'm pretty much over them now. Seriously, who didn't see it coming that Rose was sick? Bueller? Bueller? Pretty much the only thing this episode did for me was give me time to give myself a manicure. It's fairly interesting that Rose seems to be in the Locke camp with the whole "Island healing thing" and it does go along with what Crazy Healer Guy said about specific geological points being the center of healing, but, overall, a boring episode in my mind.

* Two for the Road - Just try and convince me that Michelle Rodriguez and Cynthia Watros weren't killed off the show as the result of their illegal extra-curricular activities. Go ahead, try me. Nonetheless, when I saw this episode the first time, it was actually a DVRd episode, since I had had to work that night. When I got home (around midnight or so), Ian told me it was a really good episode. I tried to go to sleep and tell myself I could watch it in the morning, but we all know that I got out of bed at 1:00am to put it on. To be brutally honest, I didn't see it coming. I hadn't heard any spoilers, and I was completely dumbfounded. Like Jaw on the Floor Dumbfounded. Whoa.

- ? - (Possibly the stupidest name for an episdoe, but hey, like I've said before, they don't consult me on these things.) Oh Eko. I like him and his Jesus Stick. This episode is the turning point for our respective men of faiths. Locke loses it, and Eko gains it, and this will become more important in the final episodes of seaon 2. Claire's psychic makes a comeback via Eko's flashbacks, and creepy autopsy girl delivers a message to Eko from beyond the grave. Uh-huh.

-Three Minutes - Micheal, you're a slime ball. As a result, both the names Michael, Walt, and Vincent will be stricken from the potential baby name list.

-Live Together, Die Alone- Apparently, Jack is so verbose that he will even quote himself. Egotistic? A little, but hey, it's ok, we're seniors. (Inside joke, don't try and understand.) The questions answered in the season finale were minimal in comparison with the questions that were ultimately raised. My biggest issue being this: Desmond KNOWS what happens if you don't press the button, so why, for all of God's Green Goodness, does he let Locke wind the timer down? He KNOWS it's real, why does he let Locke think otherwise? P.S. Kate is a really bad shot, guys, let's not give her any more guns, mmkay? Tanks.

Less than a week to go, kids, time to get excited. :)

Got Milk?

I would like to officially nominate Michael Emerson (Fenry) and writers Christina M. Kim and Elizabeth Sarnoff for The Best Writing and Acting Award in the History of the World Award for the final 2 minutes of "The Whole Truth," an episode of S2 that features flashbacks of Jin and Sun that you immediately forget as soon as "LOST" flashes on the screen at the conclusion of the episode. In fact, I don't even remember most of the episode, as the last 2 minutes were just that good. Worth mentioning, however, beith this point: I don't think the baby is Jin's. Nor am I completely convinced that it's Baldy's. Either way, the woman can't lose: Jin's got abs you could wash clothing on and Baldy's not exactly the world's ugliest person. So go and party like it's your birfday, Sun, you sure know how to pick 'em.

Ian Somerhalder.... Back from the Dead?

If you are an avid reader of my blog (and if that be the case, good God, get a life!), you'll remember from a previous post that I mentioned Ian Somerhalder, who played the unfortunate Boone in S1, is set to reappear for a few episodes in S3. Most of us assumed these appearances would be limited to flashback sequences, but apparently, that is not the case. Tripp West, an Atlanta DJ, provides us this this titilating spoiler:

"Hot off the release of his big screen horror "Pulse," the former LOST star spent a week in Hawaii working on new material for an upcoming episode of LOST which centers on the bushman-who-lost-his-way John Locke. In the episode Locke, who is still reeling from his actions in the cataclysmic season finale, begins to have visions of the young man who died to keep the hatch a secret. Boone leads Locke to a redemption of sorts and sets him off on a 'kung fu' like journey to unravel yet another island mystery. Sources say this journey rivals the season one fascination with the hatch and will find John Locke squarely returning to his mysterious mysticism and McGyver-ish ways."

HOT-DAMN, people! Seemingly, Shannon isn't the only one having visions of castaways that aren't quite there. (Remember dripping-wet, speaking-backward Walt in S2? Uh-HUH!)

Good to know that Johnny Locke won't be quite so weird this upcoming season. Now, if we could only figure out what the hell Jack's problem is....

Have You Forgotten?

I have just finished re-watching "One of Them," the Sayid-centric episode that introduces us to Pre-Island Sayid, a member of Iraq's Republican Guard. I thought there were many interesting tidbits that I didn't necessarily catch the first time around. First and foremost, this episode was chock-full 'o' character connections. Not only do we see Kate's father (well, they guy she thought was her father, not the guy she blew up...) capturing and interacting with our favorite Iraqi, but we also catch a glimpse of pre-island Kelvin (remember the hatch dweller prior to Desmond? Yeah, that guy...) playing CO to the American troops there. One thing I didn't notice the first time around, (or maybe it's just actually settling in my brain this time) is that Sayid is brought in to torture and interrogate one of his own people under the pretense that he is the translator, the only one with the ability to speak fluent Arabic. Yet, toward the end of the episode, we see that Kelvin, too, speaks fluently, leading us to believe... well, what exactly? That they didn't want to do the dirty work themselves? Or are we to believe, instead, exactly what Kelvin tells Sayid, namely, that he has equipped Sayid with a necessary tool to use later in life? Um, not exactly sure, but either way, Sayid apparently became a professional torturer, honing his skills first on our favorite redneck, Sawyer, and later on the creepy Other, Fenry.

I felt like this episode was a turning point in the season, like this was the episode where things really began to happen. Up until this point in the season, things had happened, people had died, of course, but this was the climax of season 2, I feel. From here, everything began to snowball, and would eventually leave us staring as Michael and Walt (and Vincent? Have we figured that out yet?) sailed off into the wild blue yonder, Jack, Kate, and Sawyer were led off the dock, and Penny Widmore was flabbergasted by something.

On a final and more somber note, the closing scene of "One of Them" struck me in a way that is relatively difficult to put into words. In this scene, Sayid sits with Charlie on the beach justifying, in a way, his actions in torturing Fenry in the Hatch. He does this by bringing back to our memories the actions The Others have taken against our band of survivors. He refreshes Charlie's memory as well: "That you were strung up by your neck and left for dead. That Claire was taken and kept for days during which only god knows what happened to her. That these people -- these Others -- are merciless, and can take any one of us whenever they choose." The final line of this episode hit me hard as I watched on Monday night, the 5th anniversary of the worst terror attck on American soil: "So tell me, Charlie, have you forgotten?" It is my solemn hope that, as this 5th anniversary passes us by, that we, as a nation, realize that our pursuit of those who struck a blow to our nation on that day is a pursuit not of revenge, but rather one of justice. Now, I could quite possibly be the one person on Earth who could, (or would) relate our unstable present day society to a ficticious island drama, but I hope that the fiction to which I am addicted seeks the same justice. That may sound wicked corny, but, as I watched on Monday night, I found an undeniable parallel between our world and that of our island friends: we are all in search of peace, that we all are "one nation, under God, indivisible," endlessly searching for "liberty and justice for all." Ok, so I'm corny. Deal with it.


p.s. For those of you who don't already know, it's a boy. Maybe I'll name him Jack. :)

Gimmie a "Klugh"

I've been progressing my way through the episodes of S3, and I just finished rewatching "The 23rd Psalm," the Eko-centric episode where Charlie takes Eko back to the fallen Beechcraft, and they encounter the black-smoke-monster-thing in the jungle. If you already haven't done so, I strongly suggest that you go back through that part where they show what's in the smoke, and do it frame by frame. You'll notice a bunch of different images that I think will prove to be of some interest later on. While I was going back through and looking at those images, it occurred to me that perhaps the woman who is seen in the smoke was none other than Ms. Klugh, one of The Others who appears toward the end of S2. Apparently, I wasn't the only one with such thoughts.

Other (heh heh, no pun intended) theories have circulated about Klugh (though many of them seem farfetched at best): she's Eko's long lost sister or somehow related to him, that she's the real Henry Gale's wife, etc. Most, however, want to attach an anagramical (is that a word?) significance to her name. In the S2 finale, "Tom," the Other with the fake beard, refers to her as "Bea." Bea Klugh. Everyone seems to be like, "Oh, it must BE A CLUE." C'mon people, I think they're a bit more subtle than that. While I DO think that this character will (obviously) have more significance in the upcoming season, I think most of these theories are way off the mark. People have also commented on the fact that she says to Michael almost exactly what Walt's mom's lawyer (got that?) says to him in the episode "Adrift:" "For someone who wants his son back so badly, you don't seem to know much about him, Michael." Ohmigod, alert the presses, the whole mystery has been blown wide open!! OK, not really. It's certainly interesting to note, and maybe it will prove to be of importance later. If we even see Michael and Walt again in the present instead of flashbacks.

P.S. I forget exactly what it was I was watching (maybe some sort of bonus feature), but I totally do not remember Vincent being on the boat with Michael and Walt when they pulled away from the dock, but there he was, looking all doggy-like. How did that happen? It's not like Kate, Jack, Sawyer, Hurley, and Michael just brought him along for the trek across the island to Camp Other. Directing glitch or intentional? Hmmmm.....

As I make my way through the rest of the episodes, I'll keep everyone updated on my findings and subsequent theories. I'll have to look into this whole "Klugh" thing a bit more thoroughly, and see if she was, indeed, the woman in Eko's smoke. (Though, it should be said.... just because she's black doesn't mean she has anything to do with either Eko or Michael. Think outside the box here people.)

AND one thing I forgot....

Remember the girl that Sawyer was, .... well, uh.... getting friendly with in the hotel before Hibbs (the guy who told Sawyer that the guy in Australia was the real Sawyer when he really wasn't) announced his presence? According to the little "Connections" feature, she is also the lottery number puller that announced Hurley's winning numbers..... Yeah, not sure how/if that's important, but do with it what you will.

Bonus Stuff

OK, I'm not gonna lie: I tried to do some online research to supplement the stuff I found out by watching the bonus features disc today, but some people are talking about stuff that's waaaaay over my head, so I'll just stick to what I and I alone know, mmkay?

So. My wonderful and loving husband went out and bought me ("us") season 2 yesterday, and, as today is my day off, I hunkered down with some leftover pizza and pen and paper to watch the bonus features disc of the 7-disc set of season 2. The bonus features disc is broken down into 3 diferent "phases" and is designed to look like part of a Hanso film (like the "Orientation" video). Here's my breakdown of the different features:

PHASE 1: OBSERVATION

Fire + Water: Anatomy of an Episode
This little extra breaks down the "making of an episode," and shows the audience how a single episode evolves from pre-production, goes through the production process itself, before finally making it to post-production and is shown on TV. For this particular feature, they chose "Fire + Water," a Charlie-centric episode where Charlie believes it is his purpose to save Baby Aaron. While I felt that this feature was, indeed, informative, it was quite long, and not exceptionally enjoyable. (I don't know, maybe I just find Dominic Monaghan tedious in and of himself.)

LOST: On Location
This one features snippets from 10 different episodes throughout season 2 and details the trials and tribulations of shooting "on location." (Hence the title here, people, try and keep up!) They delve into various locations including jungle scenes, water scenes, beach scenes, and flashback locales. It is rather interesting to see how they, for example, create a London flat in downtown Honolulu. This one isn't a complete waste of time...

The World According to Sawyer
Maybe it's just me actually enjoying the entertaining aspect of the bonus features that made this one a disappointment.... Although it's quite humorous, it (unlike the "Anatomy of an Episode) was too short! This feature highlights Sawyer's quick wit and his uncanny ability to offend everyone, whether they are Middle Eastern, black, white, Asian, fat, a burn out, or merely those of us who don't burn in the sun but rather are blessed with "angel kisses" (as my grandmother used to refer to my freckles...) I really wish they would have included more on this one; however, it was quite enjoyable.

PHASE 2: CONDITIONING

The Lost Flashbacks
WTF?! I was looking for some key information here, only to find out that there are only 3 (?!) of these unaired flashbacks, and 2 of them are from Shannon's flashback episode, "Abandoned." One of them occurs after Adam's wake, and is quite irrelevant to anything. The second one is called "The New Au Pair," and shows Shannon going to work for a French family as an Au Pair even though she knows absolutely no French whatsoever. (Though there are some interesting looks exchanged between her and the father, so who knows, maybe she's one of those au pairs.) Enthralling, obviously.

Another exceptionally boring flashback and of no use to anyone is called "Locke's father," a 30 second clip of a priest asking him questions about his father prior to the "funeral" and Locke not knowing the answers, having not known his father. Whoop-de-freaking-doo.

Deleted Scenes
For the most part, you can tell why these scenes were originally deleted. THEY ARE BORING!! They reveal nothing, save for one: "What's Your Story" focuses on Libby and Hurley in the hatch, folding laundry, and asking each other about their lives pre-island. We learn that Libby has been married three times ("if the annulments count"). Yay monogomy.

LOST bloopers
I love bloopers, and there are never enough of them, and that's all I have to say about that.

Channel 4 UK Promo
In order to describe this in one adjective, I would have to go with creepy. Check it out: creepy promo. (NOTE: this link brings you to an Access Hollywood website with another link, but I have faith that you'll figure it out.)

Sneak Peeks
Uh, yeah, sneak peeks that AREN'T OF LOST!! Honestly, I'm not really interested in Season 4 of Scrubs (actually, that's a lie, I LOVE Scrubs, but that's not what I'm blogging about, now, is it?), Desperate Housewives, Pirates of the Carribbean, or something called "The Heart of the Game." Is it too much to ask for sneak peeks about LOST on the bonus features disc of LOST?! Geez, I'm working with amateurs, here, for chrissakes.

PHASE 3: Conclusion

LOST Connections
This is actually the most challenging of all the features, since you actually have to do it yourself. (I'm lazy, dammit!) Anyhoo, it starts off talking about a 1929 Hungarian author by the name of Frigyes Karinthy (pronunciations welcome) whose "theory of centrality" eventually became what we today know as "6 Degrees of Separation." The initial voice over raises the question as to whether or not chance meetings with strangers are simply coincidence or fate, a question that seems to be at the forefront of our much beloved LOST. It claims that there must be one person at the center of this idea, and it places Jack (love him) at that center. From there, it is up to you: starting with Jack, you go through many conduits finding out how one character is connected to another. It's actually a very exhausting process: after a little less than an hour, I gave up, feeling like I was not even touching the surface of all the connections between all these people. It was, however, helpful in reminding me of some connections I had forgotten (i.e. Locke and Nadia, Kelvin and Sayid, Claire and the pilot, etc.) Mostly refresher stuff, but there was one thing that I found particularly interesting. The final conduit in Jack's piece of the puzzle, as it were, is a "frayed wire" and leads you to a screen of static in which you can make out the blurry figure of a man. "OK, weird," you think, and move on. You won't notice anything else out of the ordinary until you come to the final conduits of Claire and Christian Shephard, which yield the exact same thing, which leads me to believe a rumor that has been circulating for awhile now: Recall, if you will, Christian's Down Under rendezvous with Ana-Lucia, and his middle-of-the-night visit to a house where a drunk Christian demanded to see "her." As many have speculated, and I agree, the "her" was Claire, Christian's daughter, and Jack's half-sister, and, as such, I am led to believe that the blurry images at the end of these three pieces of the puzzle are an as-yet-unrevealed connection between the three. I guess we'll just have to wait that one out, huh?

Mysteries, Theories, and Conspiracies
Also a very interesting piece. This one delves into the fans' ideas and theories as to what is going on on the island, as well as the theories of the actors themselves and the producers (who just like to pull shit out of their asses). The only thing that I found relatively plausible (and which proves true in many cases) was an interview with Yunjin Kim, who plays Sun. She said something to the effect that if your character is conflicted, you're pretty much safe from the swift hand of Death. This is something that I, at least, have thought for ahwile now. Only those characters whose "issues," as it were, have been resolved, have been the ones to die. Examples: Once Boone finally came to grips with his (albeit f-ed up) relationship with Shannon, he died. It wasn't long after his hallucination in the jungle when he saw Shannon die and was relieved that the Beechcraft fell from the canopy with him inside. Here's another one: Shannon, having developed a relationship with Sayid, and sorted out her guilt issues over Boone's death, is shot by Ana-Lucia. Fast forward, and trigger-happy "Ana-LuLu," whose pre-island issues include losing a child, admits to Michael that she "can't do it (kill Fake Henry, or "Fenry" as I like to call him) anymore," coming to terms with the fact that she's killed people for stupid reasons, and hands over her gun to him, her final act before Michael shoots her. I'm honestly not quite sure why they killed Libby, since I think she has much more to her, and I would still like to know why she was in the hospital with Hurley, but hey, they obviously don't consult me about these things beforehand. Bottom line: don't work out your issues, it won't end well.

Secrets from the Hatch
Pretty much a behind the scenes look at our favorite hole in the ground. Pretty interesting, when they highlight the things that I've sort of forgotten about: the seemingly millions of hash marks on the wall, the mural, the telescope-mirror surveilance camera thing, etc. Definitely worth watching, since, according to hearsay, (and judging by the way the hatch imploded in the finale) the hatch's day has come and gone.

Bottom line of the bonus features disc: don't waste your time with the first phase (although, do catch up on your Sawyerisms) and spend the bulk of your time on the connections piece. It'll do your memory well to refresh yourself.

Uh-oh

Uh-oh, Adewale. We all know what happens to cast members who get arrested! Need we remind you about Michelle Rodriguez and Cynthia Watros? Next thing you know, you'll be down in the hatch with Michael and get two through the chest. Maybe people just shouldn't have cars in Hawaii. Why would you need one anyway?

An oldie but a goodie...

This LOST promo originally aired during a SuperBowl commercial break, and still remains one of the best I've seen so far. LOVE IT. Check it out: Addicted to LOST

(I apologize, as I tried to actually show the video on this page, but my technical skillz are lacking.)

One more little tidbit...

Malcolm David Kelley (Walt) is credited in the episodes 1,2, and 4 of S3 as a full-time cast member, and in episodes 3 as supporting cast. Harold Perrineau (Michael) is credited as a full-time cast member in episodes 1 & 4, and supporting cast in episodes 2 & 3. Hmmm.... interesting. Even more interesting; however, is that IAN SOMERHALDER is credited in episodes 3 & 4. WHAT THE HECK?!! (flashbacks, I'm presuming, but with this show, one can never tell...)

Unconfirmed rumors...

After taking a look at various websites, here's a list of things that I'll be keeping my eye out for in the upcoming season:

1) Last season, when discussing who "Him" was, one of the producers said that the audience would know who "He" was by "a wink and a nod." Someone claims that "the look" shared between Jack and Kate in the S2 finale would qualify as this "wink and a nod." I'm not completely sure how I feel about that... But I have heard that the Others never really wanted either Jack or Kate, they only wanted Sawyer, leaving us to conclude that Jack and Kate are "plants" or something. I don't know. That one is kind of hard to swallow.

2) In the same vein, it has been reported that the love triangle between Jack, Kate, and Sawyer will become a love square of sorts this season. The season 3 press release discusses Jack's interest in "the new girl," Juliet, played by Elizabeth Mitchell. Executive producer Carlton Cuse confirmed that Kate will "get with" someone this season. As you all know, I am a hardcore supporter of Jate. If she "gets with" Sawyer, I think I will be inconsolable.

3) In terms of scheduling, everyone seems to agree that season 3 of LOST will have NO repeats this year. I hear that, beginning with the season premiere on October 4 (you have all marked your calendars by now, I presume) LOST will run for 6-7 consecutive weeks before going on a 12-13 week hiatus. (As much as this pains me, I do believe the producers had my best interests at heart.... Those guys, always helping me out.... Last year, after I got married, and was in the middle of moving, there were no new episodes. This year, I'll be having a baby, and I still won't miss a thing! You can't convince me otherwise that they didn't do this just for me! :P) The show will return to it's regular time in February '07, and run straight through until the season finale.

4) Damon Lindelof claims something will happen halfway through the season that will "fry everybody's brains." The possibilities are endless. I can't even begin to wrap my head around the number of things they could do. Quite honestly, my brain was fried when Michael killed Ana-Lucia and Libby. My jaw just hung open and would not close.

5) Speaking of Damon Lindelof, it appears that he may have revealed a tad too much at this forum thing. He says that it may be wrong of fans to assume the Losties have "been there as long as they think they've been there." Holy slip-up, Batman! OK, let's do the math on this, shall we? According to the information we were provided in the S2 finale, the plane crashed on the island on September 22, 2004. (The same day as the series premiere AND my parents' anniversary! Happy 25th anniversary Mom & Daddy!) There have been 47 episodes, but I do believe that some of those episodes have spanned more than one day, so I will assume that the castaways have been on Pain in the Ass Island for about 60 days. So it appears that the Losties should have just celebrated their first Thanksgiving together, if we are to believe these conditions. Maybe Desmond's "snow globe" theory isn't too far off the mark, huh?

6) Harold Perrineau, the actor playing Michael, has signed on to make 4 films due out in 2007. Is it then safe to assume that we have seen the last of Michael as he drove away on that damned boat? I think I would be very upset if they don't, at the very least, show the boat exploding or something! You can't just betray my Jack and Sawyer (oh, yeah, Kate too) like that and not have the vengeance of ME thrown down upon you! >:0!!! OK, sorry, my emotions got the better of me on that one.... Either way, I think Michael's done with the island. I mean, look at the history of castaways who have made other TV shows or films: Maggie Grace (The Fog): DEAD. Cynthia Watros (My Ex Life; Frank): DEAD. Your time is up, Michael.

Well, that's all for now, folks. Stay tuned. (P.S. HAPPY BIRTHDAY, IAN!! :)

Season 2 DVD - September 5

So herein begins my LOST blog. At the current time, ABC has presented 47 episodes of the hit drama, and it would be an extreme lesson in patience and fortitude to recap all that has happened on this show up till now. So, if you are truly interested in knowing the highlights of all that has transpired thus far, might I suggest you go here to enlighten yourself.

This blog will start right now, right here, where we are. Today is 2 September, 3 days prior to the release of Season 2 on DVD, which promises to include not only all the episodes from season 2 (duh), but also 8 hours of bonus features. (Well, that's a day in itself right there!) Such bonus features like "never before seen flashbacks;" deleted scenes; bloopers (i LOVE bloopers!!); "The Official Lost Connections," detailing the connections between the characters; "Secrets From the Hatch;" "Mysteries, Theories, and Conspiracies;" and "The World According to Sawyer," among other things. (Now, if I could only convince my husband that everyone should receive a "Day After Labor Day" gift....)

The release of Season 2 gives avid LOST fans exactly 29 days to extract all they can from the season 2 DVD, for the season 3 premiere is set for 9:00ET (AHH!! Is that 6:00 Pacific?! Haven't quite grasped the whole time change thing yet...) on October 4. Here's a lineup of the episodes that are forthcoming. (DISCLAIMER: these are only rumors, as published on spoilerfix.com ):

• Episode 3.01: "A Tale of Two Cities" (Kate-centric) Airdate: October 4, 2006.
• Episode 3.02: "Further Instructions" (Claire-centric) Airdate: October 11, 2006.
• Episode 3.03: "The Glass Ballerina" (Sun/Jin(?) centric) Airdate: October 18, 2006.
• Episode 3.04: "Every Man for Himself" (Desmond-centric) Airdate: October 25, 2006.

And here is ABC's press release regarding season 3:

"Lost," awarded the 2005 Emmy and 2006 Golden Globe for best drama series, has begun production in Hawaii on third season episodes of action-packed mystery and adventure -- that will continue to bring out the very best and the very worst in the people who are lost. The series will have its season premiere Wednesday, October 4 (9:00-10:00 p.m., ET), on the ABC. After Oceanic Air flight 815 tore apart in mid-air and crashed on a Pacific island, its survivors were forced to find inner strength they never knew they had in order to survive. But they discovered that the island holds many secrets, including a mysterious smoke monster, polar bears, a strange French woman and another group of island residents known as The Others. The survivors have also found signs of those who came to the island before them, including a 19th century sailing ship called The Black Rock, the remains of an ancient statue and bunkers belonging to the Dharma Initiative, a group of scientific researchers. Jack, Kate and Sawyer open the season in captivity as prisoners of The Others. Just who these Others are and what they want are primary questions Season Three will explore. Michael Emerson joins the regular cast in his ongoing role as Henry Gale, leader of The Others. Romance looms on the horizon as Jacks interests veer towards a mysterious new woman, whose motives may be questionable. Sun and Jin will continue to celebrate their pregnancy but is the child really Jin's? Locke and Sayid will band together with some of the other survivors and journey across the island in an attempt to free Jack, Kate and Sawyer. Charlie will attempt to return into the good graces of Claire and her baby, Aaron, but can he be trusted to stay clean and sober? The fates of Locke, Desmond and Mr. Eko in the aftermath of the implosion of the hatch are answered. Will Penny Widmore find the island and her long, lost love, Desmond, and can the survivors find a way to interact with the outside world? The band of friends, family, enemies and strangers must continue to work together against the cruel weather and harsh terrain if they want to stay alive. But as they have discovered during their 60-plus days on the island, danger and mystery loom behind every corner, and those they thought could be trusted may turn against them. Even heroes have secrets.

"Lost" stars Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje as Mr. Eko, Naveen Andrews as Sayid, Henry Ian Cusick as Desmond, Emilie de Ravin as Claire, Michael Emerson as Henry Gale, Matthew Fox as Jack, Jorge Garcia as Hurley, Josh Holloway as Sawyer, Daniel Dae Kim as Jin, Yunjin Kim as Sun, Evangeline Lilly as Kate, Elizabeth Mitchell as Juliet, Dominic Monaghan as Charlie and Terry O'Quinn as Locke."Lost" was created by Jeffrey Lieber and J.J. Abrams & Damon Lindelof. Abrams, Lindelof, Bryan Burk, Jack Bender, Jeff Pinkner and Carlton Cuse serve as executive producers. "Lost," which is filmed entirely on location in Hawaii and premiered on September 22, 2004, is from Touchstone Television.

Also of interest in the upcoming season is that there will (obviously) be newcomers to the cast. They have been identified as Elizabeth Mitchell, a woman who will play the character of "Juliet," Rodrigo Santoro, for whom I haven't been able to find a character name, and Kiele Sanchez, who will play a character named "Nikki."

So far, that's all I have. I hope that this information whets your appetite as it does mine for the upcoming season. (I have yet to determine a tactful way of saying I can't work on Wednesday nights since we longer have a DVR.... ) I'll post more when I'm so inclined.