It's that time... LOST Season 5 Thread!

I don't get it...

i can't wait

I am pretty stoked. The trailer seems to imply a lot of the action of the story will be one the O6 getting back to the Island, which leaves me wondering what timeline will be our "present," especially with the dissolution of linear time that happened last season. There is a possibility that we will start off the Island, with flashforwards (maybe of island, maybe of post-island,) but the weeks will be interspersed with O6 stories and Island stories, presenting them as if they were concurrent... but then sometime near the end of the season the O6 will get back to the Island, only to realize that they have been off for so long that the amount of time that has occurred for them and the amount that has occurred for folk on the Island will be different... not sure which will have lasted longer (ie the O6 lived 1 year off island but only 2 weeks had passed on-Island, or vice versa).... when you are only off Island for a few days, such differences in temporality are minimal and non obtrusive, but when you have been off as long as they have it becomes a big deal.

I dunno. I'm kind of excited for the new season but it's not like that christmas eve kind of excitement where I can't wait for it to get here.
never really felt compelled to bother looking at any of the comic-con stuff or the ARG, what's it about this time then?
anyways, that being said, i'll still watch each episode as soon as they're on. it's just one of those "meh, when it gets here; it get's here."

The ARG this time around is a Dharma Initiative Recruitment thing, which they started at COmic COn. You had to go to this site, DharmaWantsYou, and you filled out a survey, and basically every week they released a new test, hypothetically your results from all of the tests would determine whether you are or are not a suitable new recruit for new Dharma Initiative missions. However, as soon as the tests started, people realized there were clues as to how to cheat on all of the tests, supposedly hacked into the tests by someone named Black Swan, unknown to be a disgruntled Dharma employee or an outsider. Then, a few tests in, the guy who was leading you through this posted a video saying that it had come to their attention that folk were gaining unfair advantages on tests and that Black Swan was to be avoided, but the tests kept coming and there were still cheats available. Then, the final test revealed that Black Swan was never real, but rather it was the final test, as to whether or not you were honest. After every test they put you into a group, "based on your test results," and the final test put you either in the group "Black Swan" (if you had cheated) or "White Swan" (if you had not cheated.) As of now, thats it. Testing is over, they said they would contact us in December, after "all of the test data is analyzed thoroughly."

There is a cool video with our friend from all of the other Dharma videos... if you head to www.dharmawantsyou.com you can check it out...

Did not know that show was still on.

I'm not yet ready to post in this thread.

me too.

that video is not a thing

Lost returns to its old time slot, Wednesday 9pm, with a two hour premier on Jan 21!

http://www.thrfeed.com/2008/11/abc-sets-lost-p.html

Also, Reiko Aylesworth is in negotiations for a recurring role:
http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/hr/content_display/news/e3i798ea20fcf86...

Im pumped as usual, cant wait for Jan!

So, in a kind of weird and disappointing ending to this summer's alternate reality game, I just received this message from the Dharma Initiative Recruiting folk:
**********************************
Namaste.

I am pleased to announce that registered recruits can now log in and download your personalized Volunteer Assessment Dossier outlining your full test results as well as your position within the Dharma Initiative.

I want to personally congratulate you on behalf of everyone at the Dharma Initiative for your hard work and diligence during our testing process.

We hope that you are happy with your results. We certainly are. The tests were extremely challenging and the aptitude and excellence displayed far exceeded our expectations.

Now that you are in possession of your results I am sure you are asking the obvious question: what's next?

Our plan was that together we would commence a glorious adventure: the revival of the Dharma Initiative using the myriad talents of all our amazing new recruits. We imagined not just fulfilling long abandoned goals but taking the Dharma Initiative to a new level of greatness as an organization promoting the peaceful social and technological advancement of all humankind.

Then the financial crisis struck.

Sadly, our benefactors were not immune to this crisis. In fact, unconfirmed reports suggest that much of the money designated for the work of the new Dharma Initiative was tied up in highly leveraged mortgage derivatives. This, however, cannot be confirmed because, I am sorry to report, the principals representing the benefactors - my employers - have gone missing. Based on bills still coming into our office we believe they are somewhere in South America.

This stunning reversal of fortune has forced us to abandon our ambitious plans. In fact, absent this funding, the Dharma Initiative was forced to make the only sensible decision we had available: we sold the Dharma Initiative to the television show LOST.

While this might strike some of you as a shock, the reason for this was not simply that they were the only bidder. As the only remaining Dharma Initiative employee who had not fled the country, I felt that at the very least the show would be able to keep the spirit of the Dharma Initiative alive and in the public consciousness until such time as a reversal of the reversal of our economic fortunes occurs.

It is with a heavy heart that I must bid you farewell. Despite my fervent commitment to the mission of the Dharma Initiative, the realities of a broken marriage, heavy casino debt and some unfounded police charges have required that I change my present circumstances. It is with great excitement that I can inform you of my pending senior sales management job at a large multi-brand auto dealership in Dubai. I have enjoyed our brief association more than I can ever express, and if you are ever in the Middle East and need a car, please e-mail me for a special "Dharma rate".

In the meantime, you will hear shortly from LOST showrunners Damon Lindelof and Carlton Cuse. They will explain to you their future plans for the Dharma Initiative and how these plans might affect you.

Thank you again, personally, for your unflagging commitment and support. I hope our paths will one day cross again. In the meantime may the spirit of the island guide you.

Namaste.

Hans Van Eeghen
Head of Recruiting
The Dharma Initiative
**********************************

Weird. However, if you look through the newsletter source code, this email address is found: DSAqanda@gmail.com

So if you send an email to this address, you get the auto-reply:

"Got a question for the creators of LOST? Submit your question along with your name and hometown, and if selected, Damon and Carlton will answer it in a DSA announcement… that is, if you haven't been a bad Black Swan." (A Black Swan is someone who cheated on the recruitment tests).

Dont know if I am going to email them a question or not. They did assign me, as the result of my "test scores," to be a Psychologist.

Sweet Season 5 poster just released:

http://www.docarzt.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/11/lost_y5_adart_vert_noa...

It is kind of interesting that on the Island side the only original Losties on there are Locke and Sawyer... the other four are newcomers... while on the city side it is almost all Losties...

New trailer - Disregarding the "music video" style, actualy really good, and a good song for a Lost promo video... Plus, it has an easter egg!

Read about Easter Egg here:
http://www.comingsoon.net/news/tvnews.php?id=50735

jack+kate=jate

jack+kate=the LEAST interesting thing about this show.

Clip from January 21's season premiere!

Access Denied!

It's a Jack/Kate/Sawyer love triangle.

okay, I edited the above post with the YouTube link....

K, I thought Lost was over and everyone knew what happened now...I'm really really confused.

two more weeks.

Counting the days...

Anyone else been watching the clips and videos they have been releasing every week or so? Or am I the only one?

And the real question is, can I find 13 hours to re-watch Season 04 before the new season starts...

2 more days!

there's a marathon on the scifi channel now.

they play 4 hours of Lost every monday.

wait, that might be G4 that does that, i dunno.

It's like 5 different channels that play lost. Scifi, G4, spike, i think some others, I can't wait for wednesday.

Anyone else re-watching Season 4 in anticipation?

Sure, the 8pm clip show would have the same effect. But maybe my completion of exams and week off from work has made me decide that a 14 hour clip show (OK, a 588 minute clip show) is more appropriate...

Man, I am so stoked for this. BEST. SHOW. EVER.

Glad to see that you made this thread. I've been waiting for it, and then I just kinda blew off this site for a month or so...

After 4 seasons I've realized that watching all that other shit is pointless and will be irrelevant once the series starts. There was a few interesting things that TV Guide had to say though. I don't remember them offhand, but if I get a chance to look at it today, I'll make a post.

I know that the big one was that someone is going to die within the first few episodes, and that someone we thought was dead is going to not be. It seems apparent that one of those people will be locke, but there is a chance that something interesting might happen. I still don't buy that Jin is dead, and if he is, that was a lame way to kill him off.

pretty much everyone that has died so far they've been lame deaths.

I disagree. Boone's death was cool, he got crushed by a plane and then his legs were chopped off by Jack. Shannon, Anna and Libby all were shot unexpectedly and I think it helped the plot and suspense. Arnst was blown up by old dynamite and Nikki and Paulo were buried alive, which was by far the best thing that ever happened to those characters. And the death of Alex was one of the most dramatic scenes of the series. Even some of the minor character deaths have been cool, such as Locke throwing a knife in Naomi's back and the final battle with the Others. The death of the Dharma Initiative was a major event.

The only lame deaths in my book have been Echo's which was pointless, and Charlie's which was stupid, and also the anti-climactic deaths of Karl and Daniele. The rest of the ones that weren't too great were for people that we didn't care about anyway.

for my money, Eko's and Charlie's death were the most significant and they basically just squandered them. But you're right they do have it set up to where any single person can die at any moment without even the hint of it coming, which is good.

also, does anyone else think that picture of chuck on the front page looks a lot like Alpert?

So have we decided to do a single thread per episode now? I think we were discussing this after the last two season's threads ballooned to ridiculous levels.

I say we do. Plus it'll look cool with the cool episode title names up there.
I'd also suggest we add what episode # it is too. that way someone won't accidentally stumble over spoilers if they haven't made it to that episode yet and don't know the specific title.
If they can't keep straight how many episode number OR titles they've seen up to yet, then fuck'em.

Yeah, I suggest a uniform title for each thread, such as LOST Season 5, Episode 3: "EPISODE NAME".

Ok.. if we are doing individual episode threads, then what is the point of this thread?

I think that's a redundant idea. last season thread only got up to like 12 or so pages, that's not a whole lot, compared to the average thread on this site.

i don't want to make a thread because I usually end up deleting all my threads. So someone needs to either make a thread for the premeire or start talking about it here or something!

i don't think i like this island hopping through time bit. I liked it more when i thought it "moved" to one specific point in time or whatever. I do like it because they'll be able to show more of the history, but i don't like it because it's just basically a gimmick like them having a dream. When and if anything dramatic or anyone's in danger (like Locke was of getting shot again last night) they'll just Fwapp! Island moved again just in the nick of time!

it's convenient. they can show how the ship got on the island, or how the statue came about if they keep looping the island through time. i really want to know what the fuck the smoke monster is and why.

I agree that it's a gimmick that they're going to use to death, but at the same time I'm hopeful that the gimmick is going to show us some damn nifty shit, such as the origins of the Black Rock, the smoke monster, etc; also, it gives the writer's a shitload of leeway to go and correct mistakes (theoretically) from earlier episodes, to clarify things, to show us things that may or may not have existed when watching the show from the beginning, and so on. Basically, it gives a ton of room for general fuckery, which I support wholeheartedly. What I don't get is Desmond and Daniel Faraday's relationship. I may have to go back and watch the episode where they first meet in real time on the island, as what we perceived as strangers--is there a look or a hint that they knew each other? Because I don't remember there being anything of the sort, even though that seems like its at least the 3rd of 4th time they've bumped into each other. Also, I was kind of disappointed in Frogurt getting killed--not because they killed him, but because I assumed his actions moments before getting arrowed was indication that the time traveling caused the the Crazy French Ladys crew's illness; I assumed that's what was happening to him, not that they were just setting up him getting killed by some fiery arrow, which although cool was kind of unnecessary--why didn't they just sneak up on the group and shoot them from the trees?

Anyway, all in all I think it's a promising start to the season, I think they've got both the flexibility they need to make in interesting as well as the focus needed to keep it feel like it's moving towards a conclusion.

A very promising start to the season, I would have to agree.

There were a number of things that were revealed that, in hindsight, make total sense and are almost not surprises. Farraday being on the island previously, for one. But when his character was first introduced we knew he had a connection to the Island (remember, when, upon hearing of the crash of 815 he started crying or freaking out or whatever, but didnt know why?) Also, his mom being Mrs. Hawking also makes sense. OK, this was not definitively said, but certainly implied at the end of "The Lie," and I like the idea.

There is one thing that is bugging me. At Season 4's conclusion, Jacob said they were going to move the Island. And, sure enough, upon turning the wheel, we saw the Island disappear. But now, on the Island, the white flashes are signaling record skips through time, and Faraday says that most likely the Island is not moving through time, but the people. So, are they all moving through time over and over again in addition to the Island actually physically moving?

And, the Island skipping through time and place and all that jazz still doesnt begin to explain how Ben was transported to Tunisia, Oct. 2005 by turning the wheel.

As long as they maintain these distinctly different time frames and storylines the whole "flash" storytelling method is problematic. The second episode, "The Lie," was technically a Hurley centric episode. Now, in episodes past that would mean that ALL flashes would involve him. However, over half of the flashes in the episode did not involve him at all, but were happening simultaneously and necessary to progress the story along more quickly. I am not sure if I like this better or not. I think I like the episodes to have their flashes really just focused on one person, not one time frame, because it crafts the story in a more intricate way so we can slowly see how it fits together instead of putting it together for us. For now, however, I see how it is necessary, as they want to get the folk back together again.

There was a lot more in those episodes, but only having watched them twice I might wait to read what others are thinking before solidifying my thoughts.

As for a new thread for each episode... Is that really necessary? Seems like overkill to me. If people really want it we can do it, though. I will edit the title of this post if, before next Wednesday evening, enough people respond affirmatively to this...

I am just curious over the Penny's father and Linus situation and why Sayid went against Ben after working for him for that period of time and just when you think Ben is utterly a bad guy (which he partially is) you have that moment he's striving for something larger at the end of the episode.

Some people may say that they answered some questions (which they did in some parts) but i'm still questioning the events that happened in the season premiere.

Overall though, I liked it. A bit of change for me with the show and shows a transformation of sorts from the first season to where they are now.

Something to watch from start to end again when it is all said and done and really appreciate what they crafted here.

I want to see what it was that Ben did that changed Sayid's mind as well. How many people do you think Sayid assassinated before changing his mind? Ben needs Sayid, to get back to the Island, so he would not have made an attempt on Sayid's life or anything. And their arrangement was already precipitated on Ben exploiting one of Sayid's weaknesses - He thought with his heart before his gun, and it cost him dearly, rght? And that is what Ben used to convince him to work for him...

I wonder what is going to be the final reveal of the series, which is 30 episodes away, I know. Will it be about Jacob and the origins of the Island? If so, then some more reveals about Widmore may be due this season...

As we’ve Established, in Lost time there are two different time vectors,- the Island and the rest of the world. When we last left off it was 2004 in world time, and 2004X in Island time, where X equals the difference between the two times.

Six of the survivors got off of the Island, while the rest remained. Ben and Locke succeeded in “moving” the Island, which did not move it through space, but through time. For the Oceanic Six three years have passed since they left the Island, making it now 2007 for them.

We don’t know what the time difference is now between the Island and the world as it has shifted to a new time vector. When the O6 return to the Island will they find that three years have passed, or will it be like they never left? I have a suspicion that it will be the former, and that the new time differential is something like -3 years. It’s assumed that the connection point to synchronize the times still exists.

It seems apparent that the Island has traveled back in time because it is once again hidden from the world, it’s uncovering having been effectively reversed. This shift has now caused all of the Islands inhabitants to suffer from the Time Displacement Factor and the only way to reverse it is for them to be reunited with the one’s that left and establish them as Constants. As of right now we don’t know if this is only effecting the people, or if the entire Island is constantly shifting through time as well. It wouldn’t seem to make much sense that it would be, since returning it to the present or future post-discovery would not help it’s goal in changing time in the first place, which was to make it hidden again.

Because Locke does succeed in going back and forth between the Island, it’s evident that the island hasn’t changed it’s position in space. Whether or not that is merely a space travel and not a time travel, IE: 3 years have passed on the Island before he left, or he left soon after the TDF occurred and found himself three years in the future, has yet to be revealed.

Daniel is rethinking his theory about Consistency and chronology protection. The distinction may lie in the difference between body and mind travel as discussed before. Because he has only experimented with mental time-travel (and perhaps this is what all the Islanders are experiencing, which would confirm that the Island itself is not unstuck in time or TDF) it may be that he incorrectly assumes that you can’t make changes, because his experience is limited- the mental cannot effect the physical. But to someone that has traveled in body, he can make physical changes.

He believes that person to be Desmond, who exists on a different time vector than everyone else. Because Desmond has time traveled, he is on one time vector that is separate from the one that the rest of the 06 are on, because they have not time traveled, but he is also on a different one than the island’s time, which has time traveled differently. What is interesting to point out is that there is another character that is on a 4th time vector, Benjamin Linus, who jumped ahead one year in time, so if Desmond can change the past, then perhaps he can too. That idea might be a very ominous one as we have seen the things that ben is willing to do to achieve his goals.

i think it's possible the island has moved in space as well as time. Remember rabbit #15 from the orchid video, and how he says it will appear to momentarily disappear, and in that comic-con video we see the #15 rabbit just fall out of nowhere, presumably after having been "moved" in the first video.
The question would be exactly how long is that "momentarily disappear" bit. The island had to momentarily disappear for quite a while, because even with the helicopter crash and them floating around in the ocean for a while, i don't know if they would have drifted far enough away to not notice an island all of a sudden reappearing.

They ran both episodes again tonight on tv and it seemed weird to me that when they show Locke right after the move, it's raining on him, but not on everyone else on the beach. I'm wondering if Locke is "separated" from the main group somehow and is moving on a different schedule than them and just happened to synch up with them when he meets them in the jungle. Maybe he's even learned now how to control it and move to whenever he wants/needs to? We'd have to wait till another episode and see how much he's letting on that he knows now.

Something else i saw that was peculiar, which i'm not sure was intentional or just a consistency gaffe. Before the island moves and the sky is all turning purple, Locke reaches up to cover his eyes with his left arm, but after the flash he's lowering his right arm away from shielding his eyes.

I am betting this is a gaffe.

I am not sure if this is what you meant, Tyler, but reading your post made me think that the Island did not move, but all of the technologies in place to shield the Island from the outside world, which might potentially include a visual cloak of some sort, explaining why planes flying above do not see it, which have since been disabled by the Losties, were re-activated when traveling backwards in time. So the Island did not ever disappear, as it seemed to the folks on the helicopter, but rather it was just cloaked.

My guess is that the time the O6 get back to the Island it will not have been three years that have passed. The reason they need to go back is because everyone dies if they don't. So my guess is that the constant jumping around through time starts killing them all nosebleed style, as we see already starting to happen with Charlotte. This most likely only takes a few physiological days to happen... regardless of what time they are in. So whenever the O6 get back, and hopefully stop the constant skipping of the Island, it only represents a few physiological days for the Losties. And the reason I dont think they will cause them to be in a time frame that is 3 years ahead of the original Island timeframe is because then they would have to account for what the Others were doing for three years, seeing as how intimately Locke is connected with them, and how Ben is obviously playing a major role in what is happening. And I dont know if they are going to want to fill in three additional years of Others' narrative...

Plus, while we do not know who the folk are who attacked the Losties on the beach nor what time they are in when episode 2 ends, I wonder if the Island ever actually skips to the future. I know Daniel said we can be in the past or the future, but so far it seems that even though their skips have gone backwards and forwards in time they have not skipped forward of their starting point. Maybe they can never surpass that benchmark, and instead are constantly jumping around in times that were all prior to that moment?

My initial reaction was the people who attacked them were members of the DHARMA group, probably around the time Ben's dad moved them to the island. I don't have any proof of this, and I've only watched the episode once, but that was my initial thought on it.

I hope there's more to the Time Flux effects than bloody noses and aneurysms; I'm hoping that gets drawn out a bit, which could be explained as the cause of the French Expedition's craziness, although it wouldn't explain how the French woman doesn't go insane like the rest of her group. But I think the time travel stuff is brilliant because in one fell swoop they're going to be able to tie together Black Rock, French Expedition, 4-Toed Statue, Jacob and possibly the Black Smoke, and I think they're going to do it in this season's finale rather than next season, because it seems like there's stuff that goes so far beyond all of that that will encompass most of next season.