One of Many Reviews: Audio Commentary for “Because You Left.”
I know I promised the season two would be up next; however, what I declined to mention is that only pertained to the next season I’ll write too many words about. Anywho, it’s time to give my thoughts on the commentary Damon Lindelof and Carlton Cuse recorded for the fifth season premiere “Because You Left.”
–This is an epic, detailed commentary. They discuss the major points of Season Five, how they got there. In sum, they summarize the entire writing process of the fifth season from mini-camp to the finale.
–With that said, they let slip a few things about the final season. It’s barely anything but it’s enough that I can write many words about it. The first thing I’ll mention is their use of the word paradox when discussing what Faraday will attempt to do by season’s end. The reason why the word struck me is because, since they recorded the season three podcast for Flashes Before Your Eyes, they’ve advocated the no paradox rule. I’m sure I’ve written about this using different words and phrasing months ago but I’m ready to advocate ‘time will not reboot’ during the final season full time. I’m open to anything that actually happens. But yes: paradox absolutely stood out to me.
–Damon quips about the teaser of the episode, saying “Because You Left” begins as the other seasons doe: not knowing where the hell you are or you are with. I got a kick out of that.
–Desmond is discussed. The Desmond discussion takes place at the end of the episode (you know…when Desmond appears) and Lindelof and Cuse jump ahead to what Ms. Hawking tells him: The Island is not done with him. Apparently, The Island is not done with Desmond at all. The discussion is very interesting not because they say a certain character’s story is not done, it’s HOW they discuss it. They used words like significance as in the viewers will learn Desmond’s significance to the WHOLE story. But it is the final season. We’re going to learn about where every character fits in to the grand scheme of things. In the recap before ‘The Incident’ aired in May, Damon and Carlton give a brief summary of where the characters were left at the end of “Follow The Leader” and then say that they are really excited to be at this point where they can begin really telling the final chapter of how these characters are more intertwined than they ever imagiend. Oh man I can’t wait.
-I really enjoyed the discussion about how season five was constructed and crafted, even the first episode alone. Damon and Carlton discussed the mistakes they made in past finales (not involving all of the characters) and how they wanted to account for every character in the premiere. They discussed how to pay each character the time they needed in a 42 minute window. The discussion provides valuable insight into the inner-workings of the LOST writers room and how an episode is broken (the most famous episode break is for “The Constant”).
-During the scene in which Locke is treated by Richard for his bullet wound, Damon and Carlton talk about how (the viewer now knows) Future Locke and Ben are watching the scene from the jungle. Carlton simply says ‘Locke is basically a different person” and Damon then says “You can say that again!” Oh those wacky dudes. Should I have written Future Locke or Not Locke there? Hm. They have a lot of fun messing with the audience. Speaking of that, there’s a worthwhile quote from Damon from a GQ interview with Bad Robot. It’s about the final season. Suffice to say, I will be using this quote again when I write the final part of this preview on February 1, 2010.
But it makes you understand why some people go to church every Sunday and some people are atheists. Some people need Lost to have a scientific explanation for everything, and that’s why our viewership now is what it is—because the people who needed there to be a scientific explanation for everything stopped watching. They were like, “Okay—the show has now proven my theory wrong.” This is another joke masking a true terror for us—we’re doing the last season of the show now, and this season is where you get your answers. And we’re not waiting until the last episode—the answers start coming fairly fast and furious right out of the gate. But in a lot of ways, the storytelling this year is just us telling people that they were wrong. They’ve built up theories for five years. When a show like this gets to a certain point and then it’s “Oh, man, we were cancelled,” people get to bring their theories with them to the grave. With us, it’s basically like, “No—you’re wrong.” And some people may have been right. Who knows?
-Back to the commentary: they spend some time emphasizing thee motif of the season which is The Hatch. They wanted to set up the importance of the Hatch again because they knew that would be the key thing by season’s end. They wanted to establish the rules of time-travel because they wanted the viewers to question whether or not the characters would try to change anything. This led into a discussion about the overall story of the show and how free-will is a very important theme. Eventually, the characters do try to change things and those episodes are really, really good.
-There could be a part two to this because I might be leaving things out. But this is the end of this LOST entry.
LOST: The Complete Fifth Season
The Journey Back-Expanded Edition
One of Many Reviews: Audio Commentary for “Because You Left.”
I know I promised the season two would be up next; however, what I declined to mention is that only pertained to the next season I’ll write too many words about. Anywho, it’s time to give my thoughts on the commentary Damon Lindelof and Carlton Cuse recorded for the fifth season premiere “Because You Left.”
–This is an epic, detailed commentary. They discuss the major points of Season Five, how they got there. In sum, they summarize the entire writing process of the fifth season from mini-camp to the finale.
–With that said, they let slip a few things about the final season. It’s barely anything but it’s enough that I can write many words about it. The first thing I’ll mention is their use of the word paradox when discussing what Faraday will attempt to do by season’s end. The reason why the word struck me is because, since they recorded the season three podcast for Flashes Before Your Eyes, they’ve advocated the no paradox rule. I’m sure I’ve written about this using different words and phrasing months ago but I’m ready to advocate ‘time will not reboot’ during the final season full time. I’m open to anything that actually happens. But yes: paradox absolutely stood out to me.
–Damon quips about the teaser of the episode, saying “Because You Left” begins as the other seasons doe: not knowing where the hell you are or you are with. I got a kick out of that.
–Desmond is discussed. The Desmond discussion takes place at the end of the episode (you know…when Desmond appears) and Lindelof and Cuse jump ahead to what Ms. Hawking tells him: The Island is not done with him. Apparently, The Island is not done with Desmond at all. The discussion is very interesting not because they say a certain character’s story is not done, it’s HOW they discuss it. They used words like significance as in the viewers will learn Desmond’s significance to the WHOLE story. But it is the final season. We’re going to learn about where every character fits in to the grand scheme of things. In the recap before ‘The Incident’ aired in May, Damon and Carlton give a brief summary of where the characters were left at the end of “Follow The Leader” and then say that they are really excited to be at this point where they can begin really telling the final chapter of how these characters are more intertwined than they ever imagiend. Oh man I can’t wait.
-I really enjoyed the discussion about how season five was constructed and crafted, even the first episode alone. Damon and Carlton discussed the mistakes they made in past finales (not involving all of the characters) and how they wanted to account for every character in the premiere. They discussed how to pay each character the time they needed in a 42 minute window. The discussion provides valuable insight into the inner-workings of the LOST writers room and how an episode is broken (the most famous episode break is for “The Constant”).
-During the scene in which Locke is treated by Richard for his bullet wound, Damon and Carlton talk about how (the viewer now knows) Future Locke and Ben are watching the scene from the jungle. Carlton simply says ‘Locke is basically a different person” and Damon then says “You can say that again!” Oh those wacky dudes. Should I have written Future Locke or Not Locke there? Hm. They have a lot of fun messing with the audience. Speaking of that, there’s a worthwhile quote from Damon from a GQ interview with Bad Robot. It’s about the final season. Suffice to say, I will be using this quote again when I write the final part of this preview on February 1, 2010.
But it makes you understand why some people go to church every Sunday and some people are atheists. Some people need Lost to have a scientific explanation for everything, and that’s why our viewership now is what it is—because the people who needed there to be a scientific explanation for everything stopped watching. They were like, “Okay—the show has now proven my theory wrong.” This is another joke masking a true terror for us—we’re doing the last season of the show now, and this season is where you get your answers. And we’re not waiting until the last episode—the answers start coming fairly fast and furious right out of the gate. But in a lot of ways, the storytelling this year is just us telling people that they were wrong. They’ve built up theories for five years. When a show like this gets to a certain point and then it’s “Oh, man, we were cancelled,” people get to bring their theories with them to the grave. With us, it’s basically like, “No—you’re wrong.” And some people may have been right. Who knows?
-Back to the commentary: they spend some time emphasizing thee motif of the season which is The Hatch. They wanted to set up the importance of the Hatch again because they knew that would be the key thing by season’s end. They wanted to establish the rules of time-travel because they wanted the viewers to question whether or not the characters would try to change anything. This led into a discussion about the overall story of the show and how free-will is a very important theme. Eventually, the characters do try to change things and those episodes are really, really good.
-There could be a part two to this because I might be leaving things out. But this is the end of this LOST entry.
It’s Finals week. So what better time to launch my epic seven week season six preview? Finals Week!
I’ve been thinking a lot about Jacob’s Foot since I launched it. I’m always debating with myself how to improve the blog, how to approach weekly coverage of the show when the show is on hiatus for 8 months. I’ve figured it out: a seven-week season six preview.
What exactly will this seven week preview contain? A little bit of everything. The episode of the day feature is not going away but it won’t be written on a weekly basis. I’ll explain why later. For the preview, I’m going to break down each and every season of the show with full mind being paid to the upcoming season. I’m going to stare at the final poster released as part of damoncarltonandapolarbear.com and then write about it. I’m going to write a lot about certain characters, review every single thing contained in the season five dvd. It’s going to be an interesting and exciting process. Without further do, here is an NBA/NHL style recap of the first season of LOST
In the official LOST podcast for “Follow The Leader,” Damon and Carlton spend a few minutes explaining the similarities between the end of season five and the end of season one. Here’s the transcript of that conversation:
Damon Lindelof Yeah, what do you think the reaction to the finale is gonna be? Let’s just get that out of the way.
Carlton Cuse Umm, I think that, you know, people are gonna like it because there are some good mythological advancements in it, but I think there’s also gonna be a fair share of annoyance that they’re gonna have to wait 8 months to find out what happens after the finale. It has a very, sort of, Season 1 feel to me, like when we blew up in the hatch and people were like, “You’re kidding me! That’s where you’re leaving us?”
Damon Lindelof Yeah, that is always a part of the finale, and I think that umm, several have begun to assume that the show is almost, that there is sort of a reflective quality to it, so that if we’ve been saying that Season 6 is going to be a lot like Season 1, it would seem only fair that this finale going into the finale season of the show is sort of, sort of reminisced about Season 1. We do know that the Jack-gang at the very least is about to go to the Swan site, which is exactly where Season 1 ended, correct?
Carlton Cuse It’s kind of like, you know, in movies, when instead of having the credits at the beginning, they put them at the end of the movie but they’re in reverse order. Right, you know?
Damon Lindelof Oh, interesting.
Carlton Cuse So, feels like we’re kind of, almost spinning back into Season 1. Does that mean that we’ll start Season 6 with the most exciting part of the season?
Damon Lindelof All I have to say is that over the summer, if anybody asks me, “What’s in the hatch?” I’ll know that something has gone horribly haywire!”
I spent the last portion of my 4,000 word “The Incident” recap discussing the mirror of season six to season one. Now I have no idea how this mirror will work. I’ll just have to wait and see. But know the set-up is there throughout the season five finale and the intention for the mirror is there. The official posters for season six features every major character. The final poster for damoncarltonandapolarbear is very season one. Now, let the seven week season six preview commence with a look-back at the first season of this fantasic show:
Episodes You Need To Watch before Feb.2
*Walkabout–The first John Locke episode that revealed he couldn’t walk for four years until he landed on The Island was healed. This is absolutely the finest Locke episode of the series and a top 3 episode of season 1. I have no idea what to make of the “John Locke” we saw in the season five finale but I totally think this episode will be re-visited somehow, someway. I’m not sure if healing itself will be answered on the show but it’s been an essential thing throughout the show. This episode truly begins Locke’s special communion with The Island.
*White Rabbit–Jack’s first episode! Jack follows his father through the jungle. He’s led to his father’s casket which he finds empty and then is brought to the caves and the fresh water. Those two sentences say everything. Christian’s been pretty important during the show. That empty casket will probably make some sense by series end.
*Raised By Another–The dream Claire has in the beginning of the episode seems so significant that I’m posting the first 8 minutes of the episode. This is Claire’s best, has the most mystery regarding the significance of her relationship with her son Aaron. We haven’t seen her since Something Nice Back Home (unless you count The Little Prince). This is the perfect Claire refresher.
*Exodus ALL PARTS–There’s the Black Rock, The Others, and the fantastic montage of everyone getting into their seats on Oceanic 815.
Episodes You Don’t Need to Watch but should still watch:
*Hearts and Minds–Boone and Shannon’s episode. Remember them? In this episode, Locke gives Boone something that makes Boone hallucinate Shannon’s death. There’s a lot of great Locke moments PLUS the first notion of electromagentism existing on The Island.
*…In Translation: an episode I will probably write about in the Episode of the Day feature because it’s a favorite of mine. Jin finds himself in an unpleasant situation when people find his hands burned. They think he burned the raft. The scene when he yells at Michael in Korean, he is merely telling him that he tried to put the raft out. It’s an absolute spectacular episode. You should watch “House of the Rising Sun” as well since, perhaps, Jin and Sun will be reunited in the sixth and final season of the show.
*The Greater Good–Remind yourself how Sayid ended up on Oceanic 815. This episode provides some context for the B-plot in “Walkabout.”
I told you this would be in the style of a major sports league recap. There’s a few characters in the running for this: John Locke, Jack Shephard, Sayid Jarrah, Kate, and Michael. How does one decide? That’s a good question. I’m not sure. I haven’t made up any rules for this and since me and STEVE didn’t begin recording our rankings until season three…I can’t look at rankings and say “oh there’s the MVC.” I have enlisted STEVE for the MVC. Here’s the different characters credentials (i’m relying on my memory as well as the greatest LOST resource in the world for this: lostpedia.com and I am basing MVC on their on-Island stuff only. no flashbacks.):
Locke:
Discovered the Hatch, Hunted Boar for awhile, helped Boone’s obsession with his step-sister to cease, built a crib for Claire’s baby-to-be (big points right there as I am a Claire geek), ate an orange whole in the pilot, the first survivor to see Smokey the Smoke monster and put an optimistic spin on the Monster, helps Charle kick his drug habit, discovered Claire who had just gotten back from her time in The Staff with Ethan and his Other friends, was able to get Walt to confess to burning the raft, lights the fuse that blows up the Hatch.
Here’s some things that could prevent him from winning MVC: Hits Sayid in the head when Sayid attempts to triangulate the distress call, had the poor taste to show up to Boone’s funeral in a shirt covered with Boone’s blood, and lied about Boone’s fall which caused Jack to mistreat him.
Jack:
Assumes the role of leader of the losties, Wakes up surrounded by bamboo and immediately leaps to help everyone after the crash, finds fresh water at the caves, gives the great ‘live together, die alone’ speech, breaks up many fights between the survivors in the first days, always treats Claire and whoever else needs to be treated, tries to save Marshall, sits by Rose and talks to her about Bernard when Boone expresses concern, tries to save Boone after Boone’s accident, nearly kills himself giving Boone a blood transfusion, and saves Charlie’s life.
Sayid:
Devotes Much Time seeking ways to communicate with the outside world,Tries to Triangulate Rousseau’s distress call, Stands by his Beliefs like not wanting people to move to the caves with jack, Disagreed with Jack’s plan to burn the bodies in Walkabout (again watch The Greater Good), Helps and Connects with Rousseau, Fixes her Music Box, Is Honest with her, Finds the Looking Glass cable, Is the first character to hear the whispers and acknowledge they are not alone on The Island, Begins to Court and DOES court Shannon, goes with Charlie on a mission to retrieve Aaron from Rousseau, and helps RESCUE Aaron alongside Charlie.
Kate:
Goes on the quest to retrieve the Transceiver with Jack and Charlie, humors Charlie when Charlie sings “You All Everybody,” helps Sayid triangulate the distress signal, helps an injured Michael back to camp, Makes out with Sawyer in an attempt to get the truth out of Sawyer, Helps Sawyer break out his shell, Goes with Jack in pursuit of Claire and Charlie, Gathered fruit in the Jungle, Helped Sawyer track the boar who annoyed Sawyer, and HELPED CLAIRE GIVE BIRTH TO BABY AARON (Big Points).
Michael:
Builds a Relationship with his son after the crash, Uses his construction skills to make The Caves a safe dwelling place, Saved Walt from an attacking Polar Bear, Helped Sun deal with her problems with Jin, Eventually Settles His Differences with Jin and becomes Friends with him, and builds a raft NOT ONCE but TWICE giving the losties the best possible chance for rescue.
Here are some Honorable Mentions:
* Hurley: He’s the heart of the show.
* Charlie: Kicked a drug habit, became Claire’s best friend, became best friends with Hurley. He’s a good man.
* Jin: For everything post-…In Translation.
* Claire: Gives Birth on a FRIGGIN’ Island!
* Sawyer: He caused so many problems that he couldn’t jump Michael. The MVC is tough.
THE WINNER AND MOST VALUABLE CHARACTER OF THE FIRST SEASON OF LOST: Jack Shephard. As STEVE writes, “He’s the leader.” Indeed. Jack’s experience as a doctor is so essential that it’d be a crime to rob him of the MVC.
Runner-Ups:
2. Sayid
3. Locke
4. Michael
5. Kate
——————————————-
I was going to do an LVC category but…it’s too negative and every character is so damn good and important this first season and throughout the show so the LVC has been scrapped.
For fun, here’s The All-Island Adventure Team (the characters YOU want going into the jungle for an adventure or search or something). It’ll only be 5. Think the All-NBA team set-up.
All-Island Adventure Team: Kate, Sayid, Locke, Jack, and Sawyer.
—————————————–
You must be wondering to yourself, “I thought he said this is the first of a seven week season six preview.” Indeed, it is. It’s the first part of the preview. The whole objective of the episode of the day is to show where these characters were, their arcs, etc as we prepare for the final season of the show. It’s all about reminding people of the story and these characters. And for these next seven weeks, that is what I’m going to do.
As you can see, I’ve changed the title of the blog to ‘Jacob’s Foot’ since it was revealed Jacob’s Cabin hasn’t been Jacob’s cabin in a long time. It’s time to dot my I’s, so to speak, with the LOST finale. Yes, I still have more to write about the LOST finale.
–’What lies beneath the shadow of the statue?’ ‘He who will save us all’ is THE answer to the question. By now, I’m sure everybody that reads anything online about LOST knows that. I discovered the answer about 3 minutes after I posted my recap. My whole deal is: I don’t like to read or hear anything about people’s thoughts on an episode until I have my recap finished. Why? I want my thoughts to be my own and not influenced by anything else. And then afterwards everything is fair game. And I’ll shove my absolutely wrong thoughts in a garbage can once Lindelof and Cuse introduce something totally different from what I thought into their show.
–Speaking of Lindelof and Cuse being awesome and me being inferior to them, I really, really, really, really (you get the gist) believed in the idea of John Locke as special, and the only character who could be resurrected on the Island. While doing so, I tossed aside the previous season’s commentary by Lindelof and Cuse about a character being dead once the show kills them off (it’s still a wait and see with Jack’s daddy). They even titled an episode ‘Dead Is Dead’ in season five. To say the least, John Locke falling out of the cargo jawn did shock me. It doesn’t matter that I heard someone say that John Locke isn’t John Locke because, to be honest, I don’t listen to any theories the average fan has to say about the show. I’m an elitist so-and-so when it comes to LOST. If there’s anything that steams my clams, it is literary theory that states the author is dead. Good ol’ Roland Barthes wrote the blowhardy essay arguing that the author is dead. How does this relate to my intolerance for LOST theories? Well, first of all, I’ll state that I am not against fans thoughts on the show. What I hate are people who care more about their dumbass theories than the story itself. It reminds me all too much of these blowhard literary critics who claim that the readers create the text rather than author. No. Not how it works. Without these texts, literary theorists can’t be blowhards. So, the author is in no way dead. With LOST, I’m all about the story. I won’t always buy what the writers are selling me but I won’t entertain any theory unless it becomes part of the story. It’s the way I roll. Another thing about theories. Fans just can’t throw anything on their theory wall, hoping that it sticks. You gotta have evidence for anything you theorize. It’s like writing an English paper. If I want to write about…say…Jane Eyre as a text about strawberry milkshakes and the growth of Victorian belief in cows as overlords then I need textual evidence to support my arguments. See what I’m saying? That’s about it. Just think.
Anywho, now with the pieces of the season five mosaic fixed in place, it’s all so obvious with Locke. I might’ve been too quick to say that Mr. Nameless (Doc Jenson came up with that and I like it so I’m using it) hijacked John Locke’s body because (it’s pretty clear) that Locke’s body fell out of the cargo. Times like these, I should let my dog hit me over the head with a bleeding two-by-four. Here I was, on Wednesday/Thursday, writing about how Mr. Nameless gives off a Smokey vibe and I’m writing about HIJACKING A BODY?!? I expected better from myself. If Mr. Nameless is Smokey, and it seems likely, he just assumes the form of people. What confused me, my 750,000 readership, was the whole idea of the loophole. If Mr. Nameless is Smokey, what makes John Locke the loophole? What about John Locke being dead creates the loophole? Or is it something larger than that? Or maybe all of these questions I’m asking is taking me and you away from the bigger issue at hand: the scene with the Ajira folk at Jacob’s Cabin. Bram finds the ash surrounding the Cabin (it’s not even Jacob’s cabin) disturbed. Ilana enters and then exits, claiming that Jacob hasn’t been here in a long time. This scene takes me back to season three’s ‘The Man Behind The Curtain’ in which we hear ‘Help Me!’ uttered by the dude seen in the chair for a brief instant. He’s a fellow who looks like an older version of Mr. Nameless. It seems as if he was set-free but it still doesn’t explain why he used John Locke. So this will probably be a pretty big plot-point for season six. I wonder what it means for Claire. Mr. Nameless better have been good to her.
–I am of the opinion that time will not be erased. I think Kate, Jack, Sawyer, Miles, Hurley, Jin, and Sayid will be in 2007. But I’m all up for being surprised.
–I made a big commotion about the line ‘If it only ends once, anything before that is progress.’ Well, the meaning of it hit me one day as I played FIFA 08 on ps2. I made it more complex than it actually is. All it means really, in the context of the scene and the conversation, is that Jacob is the optimist and Mr. Nameless is a nihilistic pessimist. Or to generalize it biblically and enter blowhard territory: Mr. Nameless represents the Old Testament vengeful God whereas Jacob represents the merciful, selfless God of the New Testament. Now this is beginning to resemble my essay on The Merchant of Venice so I will move right along…
–…To John Locke again! Obviously, as evidenced by the rankings, John Locke is one of my favorite characters. I’ve been watching season one re-runs weekday afternoons on sci-fi, and Locke owned those early season one episodes. Yesterday, ‘The Moth’ was on, the episode in which Locke helps Charlie overcome his drug addiction. Locke is one of the most fascinating characters on LOST. If his paralysis could be healed by the Island, I believed any other miracle, including being raised from the dead, could’ve happened. I always loved the story of John Locke. This guy who felt hopeless about his life until he came to the Island, was healed, and found his purpose, felt he realized his destiny. I liked how he made mistakes, sometimes fatal (as with Boone). One of my favorite moments from season five is when he tells Sawyer that he needed that pain, when explaining why he doesn’t want to change anything. I will miss John Locke. It is surprising that he’s actually dead. But dare I, despite everything I’ve written in this, hold out hope that the real Locke is not totally dead? I don’t know.
That’s about it for the additional thoughts on the finale. I’ll probably have more as the summer wears on. I’m going to post some favorite moments from season five soon. And soon, I’ll cover other things that are not LOST. But not yet.
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