Wow! I think we have some things to talk about.

I copied the text, but the link is directly below:

http://tv.ign.com/articles/720/720495p1.html

Comic-Con 2006: Lost Season 3 Revelations
Daniel Dae Kim, Jorge Garcia and the producers speak about what's to come.
by Eric Goldman

July 22, 2006 - An absolutely packed to capacity audience gathered this morning for one of the earliest panels of the day, to see some of the creators and cast of ABC's Lost. In attendance were co-creator/executive producer Damon Lindelof, executive producers Bryan Burk and Carlton Cuse and two cast members; Daniel Dae Kim and Jorge Garcia.

Preview footage was shown from the upcoming Lost mobisodes -- in which Hurley was seen filming Kate and Sawyer with a video camera he found -- and also some footage from the upcoming Lost Season 2 DVD. After that, the panelists took questions from the audience, which covered a broad range of topics.

Asked the strangest theory they've heard, Cuse said it was that the entire story was taking place in the head of the dog, Vincent, while Garcia said it was that, "Hurley was Claire's baby grown up, that was on the island ahead of time." Some critics and fans had grown concerned that Lost was making up too much of the story as they go, but Cuse remarked that, "We have an endpoint for the show, we have an overarching mythology for the show," though within that "there's a lot of room for improvisation, to try to keep it organic and reacting to what we see on screen." Lindelof insisted, "We never ask a question on the show if we don't have an answer for it," but pointed out the Michael/Jin storyline as an example of altering something due to the actors; in this case, they had originally intended Michael and Jin to remain enemies all first season, but the chemistry between the actors led them to change the storyline so that they became friends. However, Lindelof added, "When it comes to Dharma and the Others, you have to write to that and hope that you don't f**k up."

Asked about fans and if they have any influence on the show, Cuse replied that they do to some degree, saying that, for instance, after there was so much criticism that the season 1 finale didn't have enough revelations, they attempted to remedy that with the season 2 finale.

Lindelof talked about the show having what he saw as a logical endpoint, and balancing that with the network likely wanting the show to go on for several years, saying, "We have four, maybe five awesome seasons planned out, and after that we'd have to start tap dancing, which is something we don't want to do," and pondered telling the network, "Fine, you can do more episodes of Lost, but we won't have anything to do with that." Ultimately, Lindelof observed, "The reality of ending it on our own terms is unrealistic, so we have to work around that."

An amusing bit of live theater broke out when the panel was "interrupted" by a woman spouting off about the Hanso Foundation, insisting they were a real organization with corrupt business dealings and that Lost was helping endorse them. In fact, this was all a tie-in with the "Lost Experience" online companion to the show, and eventually "security" escorted "Rachel Blake" (actually actress Jamie Silberhartz) away.

While it was difficult to get many specifics from the panel on upcoming plot points, there were some intriguing things mentioned:

# Asked about the fact that each season only seems to cover just a few weeks of time, Lindelof responded with, "You're making a basic assumption that they've been there as long as [the characters] think they've been there," and hinted that perception may be changed in season 3.

# Cuse promised "more romance on the show this season," leading to a joke that, "there's a reason that Jorge and Daniel are sitting next to each other." Asked if Kate will finally "get with" someone this season, Cuse replied, "Very soon, very soon. We promise," with Lindelof elaborating that, "Within the first six episodes, she will officially be making her selection."

# The producers spoke of writing the characters with the actors in mind, and how Terry O'Quinn's dissatisfaction with Locke's role last season became reflected as Locke became increasingly frustrated pushing the button in the hatch. Lindelof recounted O'Quinn saying, "I want a knife in my hand, and to kill stuff!," and then added, "Oh, you'll get your knife back John Locke."

# In response to a question about what an audience member saw as several wealthy and/or powerful fathers the show has portrayed, Cuse replied, "Father issues are very much a part of the show; something we deal with extensively. All the characters have daddy issues as a common thread." More specifically, though, Lindelof remarked, "There are connections between Mr. Paik and various other parties," referencing Sun's father.

# Cuse said that the fact that they finally revealed the outside world on the season finale is, "Very significant for laying the seeds for a whole new element that is going to come into the show," and that Desmond and Penny are setting up big things. The producers also confirmed that Desmond will indeed be back this season, despite his apparent death in the finale. Burke said there will be some "new regulars" too, but they are still casting.

# It was revealed that JJ Abrams will be co-writing the season premiere with Lindelof, which is titled "A Tale of Two Cities". Abrams will also very likely direct episode seven this season, which will be the show's return in February, following the extended break the series will have after its first six episodes. The producers said they were happy with this new scheduling, as they believed it answered fan complaint about reruns, and allowed the first six episodes to tell a miniseries of sorts.

# Near the middle of the season, Lindelof promised, "something will happen that will effectively fry peoples brains," joking that he was sure it would be another time some would claim the show jumped the shark, but that those were the moments they strive for. http://tv.ign.com/articles/720/720495p1.html

Thanks, NM, this is so much better than the TV Guide (which I knew in advance was going to be a waste; should've spent my $2 on the Weekly World News instead).

In no particular order:

1) Now we know we can stop watching after season 5. That's a relief for me, since I hate serials, can't stand being glued to the TV.

2) Time perception - that's like Mysts of Avalon, or space travel. Works for me. I got no problem with sci-fi.

3) Kate's gonna hook up - does that mean she will die? I don't think so, therefore that blows the "single women who have sex have to die" theory.

4) Desmond's alive - well, of course he is. Pointless to kill him off now. I wanted to say he can't die cos he's a male and didn't have sex, but we just put that theory to bed. But it would've been asinine to have him come back just long enough to pull a deus ex machina, i.e., turn the hidden key.

5) They laughed at the "Hurley is Claire's son" theory - but didn't mention the "Claire is Jack's half-sister" one - still viable?

quote:

# Near the middle of the season, Lindelof promised, "something will happen that will effectively fry peoples brains," joking that he was sure it would be another time some would claim the show jumped the shark, but that those were the moments they strive for.

...jump the shark?

Where have we heard that before?

quote:

2) Time perception - that's like Mysts of Avalon, or space travel. Works for me. I got no problem with sci-fi.

3) Kate's gonna hook up - does that mean she will die? I don't think so, therefore that blows the "single women who have sex have to die" theory.

5) They laughed at the "Hurley is Claire's son" theory - but didn't mention the "Claire is Jack's half-sister" one - still viable?

2) Yes, I would enjoy that too. Brain-twisting stuff. If they were in different time periods
then Walt's unscheduled appearances would make more sense. People might not be who we think they are - or rather, they could also be someone else.... Love it.


3) Naaa. Libby didn't have sex, did she?

5) I always thought that the woman Christian talked to in Australia looked really like Sara, Jack's wife (or ex). I have continued to wonder if Christian was the person Sara was seeing when she and Jack broke up (after all he chose the name Sara for AL too). What if they did have a child and then she, for whatever reason, fled to Australia?
How much would that freak Jack out?
More daddy issues loom on the horizon.

My 2 cents' worth:
I really hope that the writers remain true to the tone of the show and don't sacrifice too much of the mystery and mythology for the sake of romantic subplots.
I hate it when these popular shows drag on to become banal soaps just so the network can milk them for all they're worth. (er...Anyone see Desperate Housewives 2? Anyone going to continue watching??).

quote:

Originally posted by YinYang:
3) Naaa. Libby didn't have sex, did she?

5) I always thought that the woman Christian talked to in Australia looked really like Sara, Jack's wife (or ex). I have continued to wonder if Christian was the person Sara was seeing when she and Jack broke up (after all he chose the name Sara for AL too). What if they did have a child and then she, for whatever reason, fled to Australia?
How much would that freak Jack out?
More daddy issues loom on the horizon.

My 2 cents' worth:
I really hope that the writers remain true to the tone of the show and don't sacrifice too much of the mystery and mythology for the sake of romantic subplots.
I hate it when these popular shows drag on to become banal soaps just so the network can milk them for all they're worth. (er...Anyone see Desperate Housewives 2? Anyone going to continue watching??).

3) Yes, but she was just about to. We raked over that one for days.

5) There was a lot on that too, but I didn't draw it out and flowchart it, so I lost track of who was related to whom.

I agree, just as consummating a love affair in real life often kills the friendship, consummating it on the screen kills the show. I'd rather shiver with antici.......

Two other little reveals from Comic Con:

- It's official: there are no clones on Lost and no nanobots (good - now I don't have to pretend I know what a nanobot is )

- During her - staged - interruption of the interviews "Rachel Blake" referred people to the hansoexpose.com website. I had a little look at the links there, and the one marked "Hanso" takes you to the so-called "Hanso Adoption Agency". Might be interesting to follow through.
Of course, this is peripheral Lost Experience stuff but it passes the time waiting for Season 3.

quote:

My 2 cents' worth:
I really hope that the writers remain true to the tone of the show and don't sacrifice too much of the mystery and mythology for the sake of romantic subplots.
I hate it when these popular shows drag on to become banal soaps just so the network can milk them for all they're worth.

I'm with you on that one... hopefully they won't strech out their ideas just so they can continue to run the show... I'd rather have 5 seasons of good Lost material rather than 10 seasons with mediocre material.

FYI you can now download the podcast (audio only) of the Comic Con session over at the ABC Lost site. It's quite long and totally worth it.