Lostpedia Celebrates 5000th Article

Thanks to Season 5, Lostpedia's number of articles has increased dramatically with all the revelations hitting our way. We've now reached the 5000 page mark, with the article Jughead (bomb) being the exact page that tipped the scales.

With this many pages, you seriously can spend days reading Lostpedia content! But we all already knew that.

5x03 Jughead Review

This episode seems like a difficult one to discuss... major events happened, but it felt like there were only a few things to comment on specifically. Also zero easter eggs really (please correct me if there were - maybe on that landmine before it blew up?)

Let's start with Locke - who is starting to wear a little thin with his whole "I was sent here to lead you" biz. What does he expect people to say to that? I guess it is the 1950's though, Milgram and all that... or was that the 70's... time is weird! (our new club motto). But I thought it was really interesting how he gives Richard the compass - which now explains what Richard was doing when he visited a young Locke last season - the objects didn't have some spiritual meaning, young Locke was supposed to pick the compass but didn't. What is weird though is the chronology of it - Richard in the... whenever... gives Locke a compass. Locke goes back in time to the 50's and gives it to Richard who has never seen it before you'd think by the look on his face. Two years later, Richard offers it to Locke who rejects it. Richard then keeps the compass and gives it to Locke at the Beechcraft. Do you get what I'm trying to say here? The compass technically came from nowhere... Weird...

Moving on to the Others themselves. This was perhaps the highlight of the episode - seeing how the Others were in the 50's, and how Richard just lives forever it seems. God knows what the deal is with him, but it seems like he is actually PART of the Island almost. I liked Ellie though - she bore a resemblance to Charlotte though... and she's now my frontrunner for the "who are Charlotte's parents if she was born on the Island" speculating. The Latin as well as a lot of fun - typically Juliet knows all these things and never mentions them. She also knows that Richard lives forever, and probably knows why, and yet won't tell anyone until they ask (which seems like never).

And Mr Charles Widmore - it's quite ironic that he is actually just a lacky - tends to reflect most big cheeses in life... they were always someone else's property once upon a time and have pent up issues. It was bizarre though that he was just an Other. We always got the impression that Widmore's ties in the Island go deeper - though then again, perhaps we'll soon see that they do.

Ending with Charlotte - is the fact that she may have been born on the Island the reason for her sickness following time travel? It seems likely. My theory is that the Island is on a separate space/time, so it allows the paradox of e.g. Locke being there before his birth. However, as Charlotte is FROM the Island space, she may be experiencing these side-effects as she effectively walks around the same age as her parents (thus making a paradox). It's a wacky theory, as usual, but it seems highly likely that her birth is the special factor. Looking forward to hearing other theories.

Let's end by sparing a thought for the beach camp. Only 10 or so others made it out? They're dropping like bombs!

Chat and watch

Just a little note plugging the Lostpedia Chatroom for tonight. Drop on by here, but avoid spoilers (that includes promo trailers!). Discuss the episode as it airs, or just chat afterwards to hear what other Lost fans are saying. Hope to see you there!

P.S. Cheers to blogs.com for including the Lostpedia Blog in its list of the top ten Lost blogs. Nice considering this is just a small section of a site known for its wiki content - and its still up there :)

Indiana Jones

Let's address one of the main questions from 5x02. Who the heck is Jones working for, and when the heck are we? Fitting into that question is the flaming arrows brigade (who are either pure savage killers, or just don't like it when you steal their boar...).

So who does Jones belong to? Well an initial reaction would be DHARMA, and indeed he is wearing similar style attire. However, he has no DHARMA insignia or admittedly any kind of 1970's hippy "save the world" demeanor. More like a "cut off a hand, ask questions later" mentality. Maybe he'll have a run-in with Pierre Chang one day. Or lest we forget, our screen-time undervalued friend Montand.

So if Jones isn't DHARMA, who is he? He refers to the place as "our island". He has a British accent. He's actually wearing a mid-20th Century military uniform with nametag. His gun is an M1 Garand (issued to US troops circa 1936-1963). The gun thing is slightly irrelevant though I'll wager - some of those guns the Others had belong in museums.

What was striking for me though was the accent. Charles Widmore said to Ben that the Island was "his" - and so there could be an implication about 'what came before DHARMA' - who arrived in the 70's. Add to this idea those crazy flame arrow throwing mysteries, who could be the Others, but then again don't really seem to be following the same style. It all implies we're in a time older... and though not by much older - perhaps a time when the Widmore name DID have some kind of stake in the place? So, what do you think - is Jones DHARMA? Are we in a time older than DHARMA?

Deconstructing S5 opening scene

I felt this would be a great thing to discuss on the Blog, as it's a lot easier to make strong connections and "theorize" with logic on here than on the wiki (where such connections, when not 100% proven, are not allowed on main articles). The opening scene with Pierre Chang is interesting as it appears a little out of context, prompting a few I've spoken to to suggest that it was merely there for Pierre fans or Comic Con supporters (see below). I, however, believe it to be integral to Season 5, and think we should take heed of this scene in particular.

Let's start, however, with what we already knew before Season 5 aired. The main thing I want to point you to is the 2008 Comic Con video. For those of you who missed it - basically Lost cast and crew host a special Q&A session every year at the Comic Convention is San Diego. In 2007, they played a cool video for us featuring some time travelling bunnies. It was also the first mention of an Orchid station. In 2008, a character of the then current Lost ARG, Dharma Initiative Recruiting Project (which was about as innovative as its title), filmed another Pierre Chang video being played. Amongst other things, this new video revealed the guy's true name. It also featured a character called Lara off-camera, a baby, and a guy behind the camera with a suspiciously familiar voice. Let's watch it again:

Further details about this video and where it came from can be found at the wiki Dharma booth video article, in case you missed the ARG over the summer. So now that we know this information, I'm going to compare it with what we know from Season 5. We saw Chang wake up with a woman - so it's probably not much of a stretch to assume she might be Lara (though the ABC press release helpfully credits the actress as playing "Woman"). Then we saw the baby, who we knew existed from the Comic Con video. I'll let you all speculate about who the baby might be in this crazy time messed up world... but my money is on Charlotte.

Furthermore, it seems pretty much proven now that the man behind the camera is none other than Daniel Faraday. Faraday was always the front runner because of the voice, and now with the opening S5 scene - we can all accept this chain of events. We can also somewhat explain why Faraday describes Chang's comments as "useless" in the video - as his speech in S5 about being unable to change the future would naturally make him cut-off Chang's pleas about us finding ways to change the timeline.

Lastly, we can gather that Faraday must make some form of contact with Chang in his time, and that he will tell him intimate details about the DHARMA Initiative's future (including that Chang will lose a hand judging by the way he cradles it).

So what will happen next? We can be sure to look forward to 1970s DHARMA scenes for sure - which personally I think is very exciting. What's even more interesting though is the possibilities it throws up - will it be Bernard who leaves a glass eye in the Arrow station? Will Faraday help build the sonic fence? Will Juliet and Sawyer be the Adam and Eve skeletons? With time relative, anything is possible!

Episode Review - 5x01/02

Alternative title: WHEN am I?

That line from Locke was clearly THE soundbite for the 2-hour premiere in my mind - an absolutely fantastic summation. As per the last two-three years we've been doing episode reviews, Season 5 episode reviews will consist of either me or another Lostpedia Administrator blogger going over the eps and highlighting key 'points of interest' that fuel the mythology and our general theorizing.

So to start off, the general theme for the episode other than time seemed to really be about everything making sense. It seemed like, now that time is shifting all over, the holes and the mysteries we have of the Lost world are being filled as we go. The start itself was full of these - learning a little more about Pierre Chang and the Arrow station's purpose, seeing the Nigerian plane crash, Faraday in the past (linking to the Comic Con 2008 video). I have to say, the rumors of time travel before the season began scared me, but having seen the episodes, I'm starting to be converted as it seems to just work really well. Perhaps considering Lost is built on flashes of time, the idea of 'real-time' shifting just fits in with the narrative so fans can accept it. Guessing WHEN the scenes are taking place, I actually really enjoyed, and it seemed to be like the opening scene to a new season every 10 minutes (where there's always a play - Desmond in a hatch S2, Barracks house S3, etc). The opening of this Season was generally quite amusing, with Chang warning of the catastrophe that'd occur if someone went into that energy room.... oopps...

The time travel timeline was very intricate, and it was also nice for the Oceanic 6 to be given a timeframe - three years in the future from when the wheel was turned. It was nice to watch the O6, but I felt there was little 'what the hell' moments for them (apart from the final scene with Ms. Hawking). In contrast, on-island there was a host of peculiar happenings from the time distortion. First, FROGURT makes his debut (bar mobisode), albeit shortlived - we couldn't have had him all S5 though, right? His character is a little irritating. Furthermore, we've got flame arrow throwing freaks - probably the Hostiles/Others, considering DHARMA are a bit more gung-ho with their weapons (just not the name of their stations). It made me think though - how far back did they go when they're getting shot at with arrows... this didn't last long however with DHARMA folk (I assume DHARMA folk...) attacking Sawyer and Juliet. Guessing they thought they were Others. Also - deja vu with Sawyer stepping on a splinter... any significance to that you reckon, Losties?

For a final section - picking up the pieces of the O6 events. Firstly, it was nice to see Ana-Lucia... glad it wasn't really her though, cause if time was moving weird for Hurley too, it would have been too much to handle. It was enjoyable though to have so many guessing games of who the person was. Pierre Chang, Ana-Lucia, Ms Hawking... all great moments of tension. Furthermore, was that Carlton Cuse I heard introducing an episode of "Expose"?

So that's it, minus the enlightened Hurley's mom, who now has won me over - believing her son out of sheer love instead of nagging him like she usually does. Typical parenting I guess. All in all though, a great opening - and I think hats off to the writers for introducing the notion of time travel and yet at the same time, doing so in a smooth way that didn't alienate fans. Only on Lost....

Join Lostpedia in IRC Chat

Before, during, and after the Season 5 premiere on January 21st, be sure to drop by Lostpedia's chat room. You can chat with your browser by clicking here, or with your own IRC client pointed to irc.gamesurge.net #lostpedia. Read full details on how to use IRC with Lostpedia here.

IMPORTANT: Note that spoiler rules are based on the East coast USA broadcast of Lost, and that ABC promos and commercials are prohibited as they are also considered spoilers in-channel. Users who post spoilers may be banned without warning.

You can also match your wits against other fans by playing the largest Lost trivia game on the Internet using the Lostpedia trivia bot in #lostpediatrivia. Just type /join #lostpediatrivia to join the trivia game then type !trivia to begin. You can also spend time pushing the button in #theswan. All chat channels are open every day, come see the biggest and most active Lost-related IRC channel on the Internet.

Mr Bentham, I Got Destiny On Line One

How long has it been since the last episode of LOST? Too long. And now the wait is almost over. LOST airs Wednesday 8pm EST!!!

Get the most out of the experience with Lostpedia. Naturally, the wiki will be there for after the episode airs to be filled with knowledge. The Forums will be thriving with discussion and theorizing. But not only that - we also encourage you to check out the Lostpedia Chat function. Not only can you chat about the episode in IM, but a number of users are going to be using the channel on Wednesday for an "as-it-airs" talk. It'll be a great opportunity to know how other fans are reacting, share those beautiful "what the hell" moments with like-minded people, and hear what others are saying about events as they happen. Not only that, but a separate chatroom on the same server is being run in tandem, for those a few hours behind at PST time, who still want to enjoy this unique experience.

So how do you join the Chat? Well, if you have an IRC client, you can log on through #lostpedia at irc.gamesurge.net (to use the PST room, it's #lp-pst). Alternatively, you can use this direct link through the Gamesurge web client (if you want the PST room, go here). Alternatively again, you can get a ChatZilla extension if you're on Firefox. A full step-by-step help guide is also available on the Lostpedia wiki here.

Just a note that spoilers are not allowed in either chan - break the rule and be banned... it's as simple as that. Also, internationals (e.g. UK fans) bear in mind that Lostpedia and all it's areas (wiki, Forum, Chat) run off US airtimes. Though we are always considerate (e.g. we try not to put what happened on the Main Page so you don't get spoiled), we can't guarantee your spoiler safety - so remember this when going on Chat, etc.

Enjoy the 2-hour event, Wednesday on ABC!

DSA Week 8 Appears From Nowhere

Remind me to not pay attention to that silly countdown timer on the Dharma Special Access site, as the Week 8 email has been sent out and we have access. Head on over and use the password 'bharosa'

So what do we have this week? Well first off, the weekly email confirms the first two episodes airing next week, along with their titles (check the wiki if you wanna know). Also confirms there'll be a quick recap feature before the episodes begin, to refresh our memories.

In terms of exclusive stuff, there's a scene from the new series featuring the Oceanic 6, Des and Penny (I found it a great scene - sowed up a few continuity issues). Finally, there's a video featuring all the Season 5 promoshots of the cast - little boring as most of you will have seen them before. But if not, filler content.

Roll on next week!

DSA 8 on the way

The post isn't out yet, but thought I'd just drop in a quick message about it - as they're usually released at the start of the week, so you may be wondering what's up. A new update is coming, but still about 30 hours to go yet (at time of posting). Here's hoping it'll be something good. Keep updated at the Dharma Special Access site and watch the countdown.

Sidebar - I've also just joined the world of Twitter to accompany the blog. It'll be sort of semi-official Lostpedia stuff, as I think it'll just be myself updating it, but I think the truly diehard fans will find it useful. I'll be posting brief descriptions when there are ARG advances or general LOST news, along with the occasional rant post (thank god Twitter folk don't mind that sort of thing). I think it'll be nice as I can update it quickly instead of posting a detailed blog post much later - and also comment on episodes too. So, if you'd like to join - I'm at nicklostpedia - "nickb123" and "lostpedia" were both taken annoyingly (the latter by the Italian site administrators).

DSA Week 7 - Meet The Team

Dharma Special Access has been updated with a new week's worth of exclusive content, courtesy of Damon Lindelof and Carlton Cuse. In this edition, fans are offered the chance to see behind the scenes at the LOST studios, and meet the people who "make the magic happen" (just not literally we hope... cause that would be a sucky Season 5 shark jump).

Found Adam Horowitz particularly enigmatic, and also enjoyed seeing the DOA/undead board on the writers' wall. Had a little gander to see if anyone was in a column they shouldn't be, but it all seemed in order. Finally, do we think D&C stopped and pointed out Rousseau and Eko on that art poster in their offices by accident, or was it staged like pretty much half that video? Is this a clue to Season 5? Will we see that Rousseau flashback after, what, three years of wanting?

Check out the video now at Dharma Special Access, using the codeword "holma", which according to WP is an extinct Afro-Asiatic language formerly spoken in Nigeria...

Book Club Watches The Watchmen

Happy New Year everyone! Taking a quick breather from Ajira for a moment, I'm pleased to announce that the Lostpedia Book Club is now starting "Watchmen" by Alan Moore. Though a graphic novel, it is one of the most respected books of the 20th Century (the only graphic novel in TIME magazine's best 100 books of the century). It is also set to become a major blockbuster of a movie in the coming months - so it's a great opportunity for you to get to know the incredibly complicated story before you're thrusted upon that world at the movies.

To discuss Watchmen and its relation to LOST on the Forums, see this thread. Please also consider voting for future reads on this thread, as we want your ideas! As usual, you can also discuss the book on Lostpedia's IRC Chatroom too. Hope you enjoy it!

As for February, it's been decided that we will move back to the work of Stephen King, and read "The Stand" - referenced so many times by the writers as a huge influence on LOST, you wouldn't believe. Thus, it's a great choice for the on-season time. Check out Amazon here for buying, and here for libraries in the US so you can borrow.