May 25, 2006
WHAT DID ONE VIEWER SAY TO THE OTHER?:
Dickens, Challah and That Mysterious Island (KATE AURTHUR, 5/25/06, NY Times)
On last night's "Lost," which closed the island mystery's second season on ABC, a crucial plot development hinged on a copy of the Charles Dickens novel "Our Mutual Friend." (Readers who do not wish to know the particulars of the finale should stop here.)In a flashback Desmond (Henry Ian Cusick), the character "Lost" viewers know as the man who lived down the hatch, tells a prison guard that he carries around "Our Mutual Friend" because he means for it to be the last book he reads before dying. Later, on the island, when Desmond thinks that death is near, he finds a letter inside the book from the love of his life, Penny. Her letter inspires him to go on an apparent suicide mission to save the island and, the episode implied, possibly the world.
During a visit to New York City last week, Damon Lindelof and Carlton Cuse, the executive producers who run "Lost," said they got the idea of the deathbed reading of "Our Mutual Friend" from an interview with the writer John Irving in which he said he was saving it for last. But besides paying tribute to Mr. Irving, they were eager to refer to Dickens for their own narrative purposes.
"He was writing chapter by chapter for newspapers," Mr. Cuse said. "We often think: 'How much did Dickens know when he was writing his stories? How much of it was planned out, and how much was flying by the seat of his pants because he had to get another chapter in?' " He paused, then said with a laugh, "We can respect what he went through."
Smells like shark. Posted by Orrin Judd at May 25, 2006 9:28 AM
If someone shows up in the third season opener with a motorboat and a leather jacket, we'll know it's so.
Posted by: John at May 25, 2006 10:40 AMEspecially if that person is Henry Winkler.
Posted by: Jim in Chicago at May 25, 2006 10:48 AMThey need to work in the "it's all a dream" motif somehow. (And I've never seen an episode, so what do I care?)
Raoul: They already have. Last night, they even added a "Saint Elsewhere" ending homage.
Posted by: David Cohen at May 25, 2006 11:12 AMNext season Hurley wakes up, Libby is in the shower, and it's all been a dream.
Posted by: BrianOfAtlanta at May 25, 2006 11:15 AMHurley wakes up next to Suzanne Pleshette
Posted by: Bryan at May 25, 2006 11:19 AMIt's all taking place in an autistic boy's imagination.
Posted by: Jim in Chicago at May 25, 2006 11:26 AMWell, it was a darn sight better than last year's finale, that's for sure.
Posted by: b at May 25, 2006 1:58 PMThe ending was too scatter shot and very unsatisfying.
What the "F" is everybody talking about?
I watched the first 30 minutes of the premeier episode of "Lost", which convinced me that this was a truly "suck" series.
Of course, blogoshpere wise, what do I know? I put BSG/Firefly in the same category. How can otherwise seemingly intelligent people watch this crap, let alone praise it?
Oh, wait, crap like "Friends", "Will & Grace", "Seinfield"(sp?), 24, Gilmore Girls, and untold others are praised.
Surely sucks to be old and prejudiced, correct, but still prejudiced.
Mike
What the "F" is everybody talking about?
I watched the first 30 minutes of the premeier episode of "Lost", which convinced me that this was a truly "suck" series.
Of course, blogoshpere wise, what do I know? I put BSG/Firefly in the same category. How can otherwise seemingly intelligent people watch this crap, let alone praise it?
Oh, wait, crap like "Friends", "Will & Grace", "Seinfield"(sp?), 24, Gilmore Girls, and untold others are praised.
Surely sucks to be old and prejudiced, correct, but still prejudiced.
Mike
Mike,
Being old has nothing to do with it. I never watched those shows you mentioned and in fact only got hooked on watching TV at all a year or so ago when Bright House introduced us to their magic taping box. Now we tape shows that appeal to us and watch them any time we want sans commercials. The season finale of "Lost" left a lot to be desired and my roomie has declared he may not opt to watch season three. Brave words now, we'll see if his resolve holds up.
If anyone cares, we tape Walker, 24, House, Lost, CSI, Numb3rs, Hustle, Mystery!, Masterpiece Theater and other non-series programs that may catch our fancy.
Sports viewing, not a shared activity, happens anytime 24/7.
*shrugs* I thought the finale was great.
Posted by: RC at May 26, 2006 6:58 PM