Lost: The Rewatch Thread

[Jesse Custer]

Just so you all know, there probably won't be another column this week -we're off to celebrate a year of marriage. There should be a double column up by Monday.

[Tomas Mejor]

Hey, congratulations.

[gobblox]

Congrats Jesse.

Small thing that I just remembered that I loved from season 1. Remember how many episodes in the beginning would end with those cheesy montages set to whatever Hurley was listening to on his portable cd player (lol, portable cd player... who has one of THOSE anymore?)? Remember how awesome it was when his batteries died and we no longer had to sit through those anymore, and the show found much better ways to cool music like "Make your own kind of music" into the show?

I love you, Lost.

I was just reminded of the existence of the montages while discussing with a friend who I'm just getting into the show. He's on the second disc... his comments so far, "this show is weird". Also, "what's with the imaginary monster"? Heh.

[joeypants]

I loved those montages. The Willie Nelson one was especially awesome.

[Jan]

Originally Posted by Jesse Custer

Just so you all know, there probably won't be another column this week -we're off to celebrate a year of marriage. There should be a double column up by Monday.

All the best, Sir!

But look out who wants to touch you. You never no where (or when) this will lead to!

[jlove]

I also want to wish the JC the best and say that he's doing great work on the rewatch column.

Not just Jesse but all of you who have contributed have been awsome.

This is not really a rewatch for me because this is my first go around with Lost and I got started thanks to this thread and it has enhanced my viewing listening to all of your thoughts and commentes.

One quick thing before I go, I just watched Jughead the other day and to listen to Desmond say his sons name (Charlie), well it just made me feel all good inside.

[Mangy]

Just so you all know, there probably won't be another column this week -we're off to celebrate a year of marriage. There should be a double column up by Monday.

What about MY needs, dammit?!? Kidding, congrats Jesse.

The expense and lead-time for that episode had to be among the highest of any hour in the show's history, with all the fx, locations and cameos. The entire narrative is driving towards their deaths, it's not like it was a tacked-on ending that could have potentially been added later. I'd love to hear more about how that episode got made.

The Nikki and Paulo thing remains weird. It feels like as soon as they finished the script for the first ep of the season, they knew it wasn't going to work. Very strange.

[DarthLowbudget@]

Congrats Jesse. Don't kill yourself trying to rush up when you get back. Enjoy your weekend.

[Expo67]

Originally Posted by joeypants

I loved those montages. The Willie Nelson one was especially awesome.

Lost knows how to open a season like nobody's business. The S2 cold opening is one of my favorite TV moments ever.

[joeypants]

Originally Posted by Expo67

Lost knows how to open a season like nobody's business. The S2 cold opening is one of my favorite TV moments ever.

Agreed. There's nothing like seeing someone watch that for the first time (or, watching it yourself).

That was one of the most amazing things, TV wise, I've witnessed.

[Feral Akodon]

Congrats Jesse.

I was going to say that while you do the rewatch pay attention at the right moment when Jacob appears in the timeline (some were touched pre-815, other did not).
But Jan brought a better argument above this.

[Fizzgig]

Originally Posted by Expo67

Lost knows how to open a season like nobody's business. The S2 cold opening is one of my favorite TV moments ever.

Definitely. And after the season 5 cliffhanger I've got high hopes for how they open season 6.

A friend of mine at work prefers to wait for DVD each year and watch it all in one go rather than on broadcast, but this year I showed him the season 5 opener on YouTube and he changed his mind. Marvin Candle flashback? Time travel? Wait, FARADAY? It was too much to resist.

[Expo67]

I think my anticipation on how Season 6 will open ranks above my wondering how it will all end next May.

[Ejoiner]

Two things I've picked up on this time around (my second):
1) The season openers are uniformly fantastic as you guys have stated above. The one that nailed me this time around was for S3 - knowing you were in Otherville and waiting for the crash and then watching the plan split while Ben sets everything in motion. Shivers, man, shivers.
2) The music is just incredible. The first time through I didn't even think the show had a soundtrack that I could remember. Now, I really really see it as important as any of the characters (if not more so in some places!). It's so important and yet so organic to the episodes you don't realize it's there working on your perceptions.

[mcnooj82]

Originally Posted by Ejoiner

2) The music is just incredible. The first time through I didn't even think the show had a soundtrack that I could remember. Now, I really really see it as important as any of the characters (if not more so in some places!). It's so important and yet so organic to the episodes you don't realize it's there working on your perceptions.

While I feel the music for the show has gotten repetitive and bordering on self-parody, I had a hard time NOT noticing Giacchino's score for the first season. It's fantastic.

Two score moments I love from Season 1:

Locke pounding on the hatch door cross-cut with him breaking down from being betrayed by his the real Sawyer.

That whole piece that plays under the montage of the passengers of 815 crosscut with the opening of the hatch leading to the season's cliffhanger ending.

What really underlined my love for the score was the soft piece that played under Matthew Fox's photo montage of the production that was a special feature on the Season 1 DVD.

[Ady Meet Roy]

Happy Anniversary, Custer! Watch out for Jacob, as others have said.

RE: the score: yes, it's gotten quite repetitive, but LOST is the show that first made me sit up and take note of Giacchino. I thought his S1 score was minimalist, surreal, and emotionally powerful all at once. It really got under my skin. Then I did some research and realized he had also scored The Incredibles (probably my favorite film score in the last 5 years), and bingo! New Giacchino fan.

These days, tho, it does seem as if the composer isn't even showing up to work anymore, and the sound editors are randomly inserting past cues into current episodes--not always to good effect. Here's hoping Giacchino exerts his creative juices a bit more in S6 so he can help send out the show with a bang.

[mcnooj82]

Originally Posted by Ady Meet Roy

These days, tho, it does seem as if the composer isn't even showing up to work anymore, and the sound editors are randomly inserting past cues into current episodes--not always to good effect. Here's hoping Giacchino exerts his creative juices a bit more in S6 so he can help send out the show with a bang.

Pretty much what I assume has been going on. The guy is in such demand these days, I don't now how he would fit in the scoring duties on a TV show of such scale.

[Mangy]

The themes are familiar by now, but I still love the score.

Lost knows how to open a season like nobody's business. The S2 cold opening is one of my favorite TV moments ever.

Question: After the Mackenzie Phillips announcement, did anybody else go on the Internet to make sure they could still listen to "Make Your Own Kind Music" without feeling queasy?

[Luscious Python]

I was never a fan of Giacchino, but I like his work on Season 1.

RANK THE SEASON OPENERS:

S2: Who dis? What's the computer for? Mama Cass? Is this the right show? *BOOM* What's going on here? Wait as sec... Jack and Locke!!!! The Hatch!

S3: Ah, a nod to S2 opener. Cool. Who's this? She's kinda hot... Book club? Henry Gale? What's going on here? Is this a flashback or an alternate universe? HOLY SHIT! THE PLANE! ETHAN! GOODWIN! "So I guess I'm out of the book club". Welcome to Othersville.

S1: Very cool opening for the show. Love the visual contrast of Jack in his suit waking up in the jungle. And the reveal of the wreckage is well done.

S2: Willie Nelson. Record skips. Marvin Candle. "Ya hear that? TIME TRAVEL. How stupid does he think he is?". Lost sucks you in and never lets go.

S4: Car chase, it' Hurley, he's one of the Oceanic Six. Seemed more suited for the typical episode rather than the season opener.


Hope S6 opener blows my mind.

[gobblox]

The season 2 opener is one of my absolute favorite moments on Lost... it doesn't fail to give me the shivers of awesomeness.

One of my favorite musical cues is the adventure music, known on the season 1 soundtrack as "hollywood and vines" I believe. It's the music that plays when they're climbing the cliff to reach the radio tower in Pilot pt. 2, and it's used throughout the show whenever they're about to do something adventurous (Like when Sayid gets the boat on the Freighter and heads toward the island in Season 4). It gets you pumped!

[joeypants]

While we're jerking off the score...

I agree with all of Nooj's 1st season moments. The Locke one almost had me in tears (I'm a sucker for a good emotional cue).

Also, the score at the beginning of S3's finale hit me hard. The soft piano when Jack is in his Bronco... ugh. Amazing.

[Trav McGee]

Congratulations Jesse! Have a great week.

I can't remember which season DVD set has it, but there's one extra about the show put on at the Hollywood Bowl, LOST music over projected scenes with readings by cast members in between (I at least remember Terry O'Quinn. Maybe it was just him? been a while since I watched it). Can't remember if Giacchino conducted or not, but he assembled the extended orchestral suites. Looked like a great night out.

Being a total sucker for sweeping emotional moments with broad manipulative scores (my heartstrings are raw from all the tugging I allow them), I've always choked up some when the raft leaves during Exodus. That's just a great marriage of scene, characters, and music that's all the more remarkable for being network TV.

ETA: Bonus tug for Giacchino's member: His Speed Racer score is 75% of why that film ends up working so damn well.

[gobblox]

Originally Posted by Trav McGee

Being a total sucker for sweeping emotional moments with broad manipulative scores (my heartstrings are raw from all the tugging I allow them), I've always choked up some when the raft leaves during Exodus. That's just a great marriage of scene, characters, and music that's all the more remarkable for being network TV.

Not to mention the fact that Vincent (Canine Harbinger of Doom) breaks away from Shannon and runs into the water to chase the raft while Waaaaaalt screams, "go back Vincent!" which adds to the BAAWWWWWW factor of the scene.

Yeah, the Raft setting sail is one of the most epic moments of the entire show and the swelling music fits perfectly. A lesser show would end their season right there as a cliffhanger, but not Lost!

[Trav McGee]

Originally Posted by gobblox

Not to mention the fact that Vincent (Canine Harbinger of Doom) breaks away from Shannon and runs into the water to chase the raft while Waaaaaalt screams, "go back Vincent!" which adds to the BAAWWWWWW factor of the scene.

Yeah, I didn't mention Vincent and Walt because I didn't wanna start sobbing at work. Christ, that part wrecks me. Such a sucker for dog stuff (and thus a perfect target for Harbinger of Dooming should Vincent ever cast his eyes of death upon me. "Who's a good boy! Who's a good doggy! You like gettin scratched behind the ears, dontcha! Yes yes yes gooood booooy--Urk!" thud).

[Luscious Python]

I guess I'll be the guy that brings up the bit where with everyone cheering during the launching of the raft and "Go back Vincent, go back!"s, Jin and Sun are the silent ones locking their eyes at each other.

Aw hell, here's the whole thing. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cl_Kh8RGQYQ

[Ejoiner]

Hey, while we're all waiting for Jesse to get back from his (well deserved) hiatus, check out Fishbiscuit's latest recap at Doc Arzt's place. I love the format (lots and lots of pics) and the analysis is crazy deep and wide and good. She sometime's goes overboard with her anti-Jack tirades but not this time. And was that really Locke falling past the window in Hurley's accountant scene? That's just crazy.

[Jesse Custer]

Hola all, and thanks for the kind words.

Hope the rest of the week treated everyone kindly. Feeling rested, refreshed, and raring to go. There should be a column in by end-of-day.

[Eileen]

Left Behind

http://chud.com/articles/articles/21...-15/Page1.html

[Admiral Shark]

Hurley conning Sawyer into being nice to everyone is one of the many, many reasons he's my favorite character. Right up there with him trying to explain the whole series of events following the plane crash to his mother.
On an unrelated note, I was wondering if maybe Eloise Hawking was full of shit when she said that it was absolutely necessary to have the O6 on Ajira flight 316. Maybe that was just part of her shpiel to convince them to go, for what purpose I don't know. Is she on Jacob's side or the Man in Black's? If she isn't on Jacob's side, is it significant which people were persuaded (or forced) to go by who? Sayid and Hurley got on Ajira 316 on the influence of Jacob, or an agent of Jacob (Ilana). Sayid has, it seems, fulfilled his purpose, shooting Ben. Though, I have no idea, maybe there's more for him to do. But again, it gets back to what Jacob wants with Hurley. He's the only one Jacob had a conversation with, and the only one to whom Jacob gives a direct suggestion (as opposed to a little push). I like your comparison to Richard, because it gives me an interesting idea. Could Hurley be Richard's successor?

[Expo67]

Damon and Carlton mentioned that every time we see The Monster, they like to reveal a new aspect of it. The flashes seemed to be It gathering information for later(?).

In regards to Richard seemingly walking through the sonic fence unharmed: after watching the season finale, i assumed he used one of the underground tunnels to bypass it (while giving off the impression he was a sauve, superhuman badass).

[kingfan]

Just wanted to thrown in a defense of King's It. Taking out what some people cal the bloat would ruin the point of the novel. The novel isn't about IT but rather the corruption and decay of a town called Derry. Pennywise is simply the larger aspect of the novel. The supposed tangents simply add to the towns history.

[Eileen]

One of Us

http://chud.com/articles/articles/21...-16/Page1.html

[Deanburger]

i gotta say i'm pretty interested in your observation that Juliet knew about the man Sawyer killed the night before the flight. Didn't Christian talk to Sawyer right before he did the deed? if that was the night before Flight 815 took off, wouldn't Christian have been dead at that point?

[DarthLowbudget@]

I've been wondering about that too.

[Jesse Custer]

Originally Posted by Deanburger

i gotta say i'm pretty interested in your observation that Juliet knew about the man Sawyer killed the night before the flight. Didn't Christian talk to Sawyer right before he did the deed? if that was the night before Flight 815 took off, wouldn't Christian have been dead at that point?

Interesting thoughts, Dean. I don't know that Christian talked to Sawyer on the actual day that Sawyer took a life, just at some point prior to the shooting. It's possible that they met a few days before Sawyer worked up the courage to shoot Duckett.

How do you think Juliet was aware of the shooting?

[Expo67]

They appear to know some things about the castaways beyond what's on public record. These are people who seem to be able to coordinate a bus to "accidently" slam into Juliet's ex, so perhaps their information gathering goes beyond what Mikhail can dig up in the Flame.

[Scott]

Jesse, I've been rewatching the episodes while reading your awesome column and with a nice stint with the flu, I'm now way ahead of you halfway through season 5.

A few notes:
-If you have Xbox Live, get Netflix. I rewatched seasons 1-4 on Instant Streaming and they look phenomenal in HD. As long as they keep these on here, I don't see the point in shelling out the dough for the series on disc.
-I watched episodes 1-9 on Hulu, which just expired. They added the last episodes today, but they forgot episodes 10 and 11! WTF, Hulu? I found them on ABC.com (which now has the latter half of S5), but anyone who still wants to watch the first half may have to wait for DVD.
-Overall, I like ABC's streaming service better. The interface is less clunky, it doesn't stutter as much, and you can watch the video in full screen on one monitor while still using your computer on the other monitor (Hulu and YouTube both exit full screen if you even click your mouse).
-Except for Juliet/Ben/Locke/Desmond flashbacks, I've happily fast-forwarded through all the flashbacks. I don't think I can take another Kate flashback where she falls in love, hurts the person she loves, then runs away all while listening to Patsy Cline or some shit.
-Greatest Hits might be one of the best episodes in the series.
-I liked season 4 way better the second time around. Confirmed Dead and The Constant are the two big winners here.
-So fucking sick of the Jack/Kate/Sawyer/Juliet love square in season 5. Kate and Jack are mopey assholes that were made for each other.
-Ilana is pretty presumptuous thinking that Sayid has a thing for handsome women with permed hair.
-Radzinsky is such an effectively annoying foil for the time-traveling Losties. Hope he gets a mouth full of buckshot in the near future.
-Pretty sure Adam and Eve are Rose and Bernard. Whatever Jughead did, I don't think they were close enough for it and they remained in that time period.
-The monster is obviously supposed to be mechanical-sounding, but all signs point to it being as old as the temples and heiroglyphics that surround it. Was the monster created in the distant future and can travel through time?
-Speaking of Smokey, I keep thinking back to the producers saying that we may never learn what the monster is. I think all the clues we get in S5 are building up to something substantial as we've probably learned more about it in S5 than any other season.

[Jesse Custer]

There's a new Too Much Information column up today, focusing on the questions that Season 6 'must' answer from my perspective, as well as those questions that I'd like them to answer, but won't pitch a fit over if they choose not to do so.

You can check it out here.

[gobblox]

What jesse? No "Who is kate gonna choose?"

I kid.

But I would like an explanation of the monster... even if it's a vague one (not as vague as "It's a security system" though). Does Richard know what it is? Does the MiB/Not!Locke know? It wouldn't make me dislike the show, but I'm guessing that when it's all said and done the casual mainstream audience will talk a lot of trash about the show if they don't reveal what the monster is.

[Eileen]

Catch 22

http://chud.com/articles/articles/21...-17/Page1.html

[Mangy]

I guess we're all still excited by the Season 6 news to comment on this, but first off, great recap, Jesse!

For whatever reason, I've never really recalled the conversation between Brother Campbell and Desmond, but seeing it in print, along with the Hawking photo on the desk (which belongs on Photoshop Disasters), makes me realize that it was actually quite important.

[dontEATnachos]

Our inevitable march toward the season 3 finale continues.

[Jesse Custer]

Thanks, Mangy. I'm adjusting the column's schedule so that it'll run up to the show's return. I'll be able to fit the mobisodes in this way.

[Eileen]

D.O.C.

http://chud.com/articles/articles/21...-18/Page1.html

[Feral Akodon]

Jesse, I thought Ben's arm healed pretty fast... [Mind explodes].

[Jesse Custer]

Originally Posted by Feral Akodon

Jesse, I thought Ben's arm healed pretty fast... [Mind explodes].

Yeah, that's when the Ajira flight crashes, right? I've got no idea what to make of that yet.

[Feral Akodon]

Originally Posted by Jesse Custer

Yeah, that's when the Ajira flight crashes, right? I've got no idea what to make of that yet.

Yes. He even smirked at Locke (?) when his healing is evident.

[Syd]

Well, I suppose at that point Ben was needed alive and well...so maybe it's Smoky/MiB who's controlling the healing. I guess we'll find out who controls what (Jacob or MiB?) once the series is over.

[DarthLowbudget@]

Perhaps Ben has in someway atoned for some kind of "sin" against the island, perhaps by his actions off-island? Or then again it could all be MiB manipulation, like Syd suggests.