The Tail Section

With the revelations this week concerning the five actors joining Lost I thought it would be a great time to dust off these predictions that I produced on demand for a good buddy last week.  Who are the five characters?  Now that we know Lost’s producers are savvy to the secretagentman and company’s ploy of mining spoilers from character casting sheets, we need to look at these things in a whole new way.  Not as pure bunk, but as semantic puzzles.  Hidden somewhere in the inference that lays between the character traits is a real description.  Even though the particulars may not be dead-on, they definitely steer us in the general direction.  Each character description must be deconstructed to divine what the Lost boys are really after.  Here are some of my guesses.  Beware, some of them are wild.

Russell - A brilliant mathematician and deep thinker who is capable of great insights and has a tremendous knowledge across various scientific fields. He sometimes struggles socially by being too direct and disconnected in his interpersonal relationships. While an empiricist by trade he is humbled and fascinated by the magic and mystery of all in this world that cannot be explained by science.

Also rumored only to be appearing in eight episodes.

Because he is roughly half of the episodes, I’m going to say that Russell is a flash forward character - since the forward/back ratio is rumored to be 1:1  - and someone who shares Jack’s desperation to find the island, but for an entirely different end result.

So here are a couple of options for you theory wise:

(Playing themes of Russell’s mix of Science and Faith against the series’ tendency to play those themes in absolutes of character, i.e. Locke and Jack, this theory assumes that Russell is developed as a character capable of extending those themes through amalgamation.  I strongly suspect that one of the season four mysteries will be did Locke get off the island, and I suspect we’ll find out he did, but not by choice, towards the end.  Just a hunch.  But a character that embodies unifying character traits could lead Jack and Locke back into unity, or at the very least unify the themes themselves within the context of the story.)

1. Russell is an extension or liaison of the Brother Campbell/Mother Time organization for the flash forward sequences, and the only one that can help Jack in his quest to find the island, but only after Jack can make the same leaps of faith that this ‘man of science’ has.

(Here’s a far out one assuming the entire character description is misdirection.)

2.  Assuming that every character trait is misdirection to prevent fans from learning too much from the casting description I would say Russell sounds a lot like an autistic savant since autism is marked by social adjustment, disconnectedness, and a constant discomforting wonder of the world regardless of the deep insights that can come with savants.

Charlotte - Very attractive in a naturalistic, athletic way, her looks are only one small part of charms. Precocious, loquacious, and funny, Charlotte a very successful academic who also knows how to handle herself in the real world. On a personal level, it is hard to crack the hard shell of poise and certainty around her, but when it does crack, it’s like an egg; lots of repressed and pent up emotions spill out.

Wow, this one is either full of creative usage - which is fine by me - or we have a genuine mystery on our hands.  Loquacious, yet hard to crack?  Hiding behind a fountain of trivial information?   Here we go…

3. Charlotte’s delicate interior indicates she has been through a trauma, I would say this is a trauma of isolation as one of the only surviving, functioning, members of the original Dharma initiative who has has been continuing her mysterious task in seclusion on the island.

Arthur - Ruthless corporate recruiter.  Tall, thin, chilling.

4.  I also predict Arthur for the future story arc, and keeping with the cues of the basic description I would expect that Arthur is someone who knows that certain survivors of Oceanic 815 know about a certain island, this drives his sinister ‘recruitment’ efforts and his menace will be what drives those characters back together.

Ken Leung’s top secret character.

5. Since Leung’s character’s name is a secret we must assume it will give something away. Young doctor Candle wouldn’t be that big a giveaway since we don’t even know what Candle’s name really is, so how about Kwon, or better yet Paik, for a possibility.  Maybe the mysterious watches from season one - the reason Sun and Jin were on the road to begin with - will become a very long tail part of Lost’s underlying plot.

A few commentators have sent up a red flag in the loyalty region of my brain, so I want to clarify one thing right now:

No inside information is EVER published on TheTailsection unless I am specifically asked to do so, and unfortunately that has not happened yet.  I got pinched by a few of my contemporaries in the pro media side of the world for dropping a Carlton quote.  So I think it’s time to put that in perspective.

By day, I am mild mannered entertainment reporter Jon Lachonis of BuddyTV.com.  At night, I don my Dharma issue jumpsuit, and descend the rusty, decrepit ladder into the abandoned Dharma facility I found in my back yard, to tap messages to my fellow lost fans around the globe.

There are lines I don’t cross, and one is definitely abusing the press credentials of BuddyTV to polish up this mildewed old berg.  The Apple II is just fine for blog posting, and as long as the needle holds out on my turn-table, I’m happy just being mr. fanboy while I’m in this subterranean wonderland.

The dropping of the Carlton quote was unfortunate, in that it would have been better for me to cite myself since the quote was made for the purpose of clarifying an article written during my day job, and not made to pass on to the readers of TheTailsection.

So to be clear, spoiler posts here are not derived from, clarified by, or sanctioned in any way by the press contact afforded me as a BuddyTV reporter.  I leave that hat at the door.

Well, we need a good foiler controversy about now.  Not that I’m exactly an angel when it comes to those sorts of accusations, but I’ve reformed. I swear.  Now, without further pomp and circumstances, I bring you… a foiler.

Tons of response to this posting at DarkUFO. "OMFG Doc, did you read that Locke was in the casket?!"

Wha, who?

Locke in the casket?  Sure. That idea would live for like, five minutes in the writers room.  Somebody’s sniffing Dharma  turpentine.

Turns out this was posted as ‘Spoiler’ over at DarkUFO  (maybe muddled the category on this one?).  It originates from The ODI’s myspace blog and it goes a little something like’a this:

For those of you that said Ben….nope sorry you were wrong….for those of you that felt it was Michael….nope wrong again…..those who said it is somebody we have not seen before nope wrong once again….BUT for alllll of you that said everyone’s favorite hunter Locke….you are right…!!

Like I said this is from Kristin who is known to be a VERY reliable source on LOST but she also did say the writers changed their mind about showing Locke….soooo at this point who knows……maybe they will change their minds again….!!??

Okay, first of all.  As my own peeps are often to admonish me on, Kristin is in fact not a VERY reliable source.  She is very loved by the Lost crew but her signature is definitely a little hyperbole and speculation.  So perhaps it is better to say, Kristin is a valued source of info, but don’t listen to her speculation.

The problem with this so called ‘Spoiler’ is that the writers could never ever ever have intended Locke to be in the casket.  As the ’spoiler’ states, they originally intended to show Locke but changed their minds.  Hello.  Would that not have blown the entire flash forward disguise?

Let’s remember the flash forward was set up so that we would not know until the end.  See this is what happens to your mind when you become too much of a spoiler addict.  Your logical thought processes atrophy and you actually think that something like this could be real.

The big reveal of the flash forward WAS that it is a flash forward.  THAT was the twist.  To the crowds that mangled their brain pans reading Lostfan108’s synopsis, its impossible to understand that other than the subtle clues that point towards that reveal, most of the flash was filler.

The casket is important.  BUT, there is no way they ever intended to reveal who was in the casket during the flash, it would have diffused the ’snake in the mailbox.’

I’ve put an email into the TVDiva and am awaiting a reply as we speak.

Carlton Cuse and Damon Lindelof have broken their silence on the five new characters.  The extent of the info does not exactly bleed over into ‘spoiler’ territory, but it sure does put a few holes in a few theories.  Of course, if you’ll forgive me a smug moment, one of my favorite parts is where Carlton confirms that most of the casting sheet info, down to the names, is bogus because they KNOW from past experience that the information travels far and wide.  Here are the bullets of interest for you speed readers.  The full interview can be found here.

CC: “We actually [have] the actors read fake [scenes] and give them fake character names because those casting [pages] travel so widely, there’s no way to maintain secrecy.”

DL: “The part he’s playing — it’s a character we wrote very specifically for Ken. Nobody else read for it. It had to be him.” (On Ken Leung)

CC: “We had been interested in Lance back when we were casting the Mr. Eko part, but he was unavailable due to The Wire.” (On Lance Reddick)

DL: “corporate recruiter means something entirely different than corporate recruiter. Let’s just say that part of the character’s skill set is coercion. If people are reading into that that he is an Other, or has the same job as Alpert, we would encourage that speculation, but we wouldn’t confirm or deny it.” (Also on Lance)

CC: “He’s one of our favorite character actors — a complete chameleon. We both really responded to what he did in Solaris; the way he spun that character was engaging.” (On Jeremy Davies)

CC: “Because given the character we have in mind for him, a beard just might work.” (On Jeff Fahey)

Yes, I’m teasing all you Jacob theorists with that last one.  You should also consider that Carlton is also saying that the beard is optional.  NOT JACOB.  But, feel free to speculate as you like! (of course)

Team Tailsection, UNITE!  Lost needs our help!  EW.Com has a poll up on their front page for most exciting casting news.  Let’s put the Duke over the top!  Vote Fahey!  He’ll put a Jacob in every shack, and lower taxes too.

Every season of Lost confronts issues that just can’t be kept secret any longer, Lost season 4 has a lot of them.  With the length between the final three seasons, and the precious few episodes to wrap it up, the time for lollygagging is over.  This doesn’t count as prediction, but I expect the mystery to move at a decent clip now.  That said, it’s time to dispense with a few things before we all get thrown into the wait for season five.  Here are five things I think we’re going to know before the end of Season Four.

What Possessed Locke to Kill Naomi

No brainer, you say?  I think not.  I have a feeling that the proximity of Ben’s former troop of others and Locke’s encounter with Mr. Jacob sort of demand that we dispense with what happened between Locke’s visitation from Walt, and what prompted him to think that Jack was not supposed to make the call. This demands an on island flashback to solve the WTF factor

Desmond Finds Purpose

This is more of a nebulous prediction because it’s really just about change.  Desmond was obviously of importance to Naomi’s people, which means they were most likely interested in the Swan.  Since Desmond served his purpose in season two as indoctrinator to button pushing practices and teller of bad snowmen jokes, he moved on to become an omniscient with an unusual fascination with a particular survivors fate.  What is there for him to do in season four?  Has Desmond yet resolved his cowardice problem?  His position with proximity to the tower and the beach gives him the ‘high’ ground, so to speak, when the baddies arrive.  I get the feeling the survivors fates are in Desmond’s hands.

Love Square Trouble
 
We know that Kate did not wind up with Jack.  But, we also know, apparently, that Jack did not wind up with Juliet or she would be straightening out his map collection and telling him the GI Joe look is SO yesterday.  Was she driven away by his obsession, or is dear Juliet on the Season 4 chopping block?

The Man in the Box

I don’t even think we will have to wait long for this one.  Particularly if the flash forward sequences run in a sequential fashion.  The question is, is it someone we know?  I think that, despite our intuition, the man in the box is a character we will meet on the island this season, either from ‘Not Penny’s Boat,’ or elsewhere.  Why?  The producers are being overly protective of the names of the new characters.  Some people figure they have deciphered the name of the man in the coffin.  I’m guessing one of our new characters is going to have that very same name.

This is an excellent opportunity for you guys to chime in and let me know how you feel about casting.  Is Casting a spoiler, or not?  I do not consider it a spoiler since the presence of the actor doesn’t reveal anything about the story.

I’m especially psyched about this one.  Jeff Fahey.  He was Jobe in the original Lawnmower Man (Which, incidentally, Stephen King disowned because it was so wildly removed from his short story), and was also in one of my favorite Cheese ball horror flicks of all time, Body Parts.

I’m going to be duping Carlton Cuse’s comment here - mostly because it is flat out true - but Fahey has the most piercing eyes, and like so many of the other casting choice he just has this tension to him… coiled evil…

So Fahey is on board, and the the role is top secret, of course.  You can read more from Carlton and Jeff Jensen on www.ew.com.

Yes it was bound to happen.  I’ve been showing incredible restraint, but it is time for me to unleash my wild predictions for Lost season 4.  I like to think of my odds for being correct as "highly unlikely, but highly entertaining."

Like any other Lost fan, I love to speculate, I just have a captive audience of news seekers I can afflict my imaginings on. So let’s get on with it! 

My goal is to unleash twenty predictions this week, take a break, then come back to finish it off somewhere towards the end of September.  Of course you guys can have your say on how far out in left field I am by either using the comment system, or the polls.

Prediction Number One - Flashforward Style

This is a procedural prediction.  I am predicting that the flash forwards will not be presented in a ‘is this future or past?’ context.  The flash forwards will be clear.  Furthermore, I expect the flashforwards will be populated by a supporting cast unique to the flashforwards.  This comes more from a story telling perspective than anything else.  If we rely on our known characters to fill in the blanks, the sequences will have a ton of exposition.  Throw in some auxiliary heroes and foils and you can get into the meat without being too obvious.

Prediction Number Two - Exiles

Who are the people from Naomi’s boat?  We know there is still a lot to be known about the island.  Particularly the fact that it is existing in warped space.  This is proven by Desmond’s failed escape from the island, and Juliet’s comments regarding the sailboat not being a threat. ("Let them sail in circles.")  Naomi’s people are seemingly very well known to Ben, though.  When Michael was sent away from the island  to the mysterious compass bearing, was he being sent to a no-man’s land of sorts?  Was Michael the first one sent to this no-man’s  land by Ben? Perhaps Naomi’s people have been "sailing in circles" themselves until the Swan Implosion gave them, like the snow hut guys, a temporary bearing on the island.

Prediction Number Three - The Original People

I’m with the growing body of people who believe that Richard was a slave or shipmate on Jacob’s ship, The Black Rock.  What I don’t believe is that the Hostiles are NOT the island’s original inhabitants.   I’m guessing we’ll learn the original inhabitants are still on the island, perhaps in a phase-shifted Jacob like state.  Whispers anyone?

Prediction Number Four - Mr. Paik’s Watches

One mystery of the first season that has never been resolved is Mr. Paik’s mysterious watches.  Jin was sent on a mission to deliver those watches.  The mission was so important that a distinctly otherish type guy in a Hawaiian shirt menaced Jin in a bathroom over completing his mission.  Before long, I see "What is in the watch?" coming on par with "What is in the hatch?"

So that’s what I have folks.  What do you think?  Am I losing it?

Emmy award-winning musical composer Michael Giacchino will be appearing with cast member Terry O’Quinn on September 22 with the Honolulu Symphony Toyota Pops outdoors at the Waikiki Shell. Tickets range from $36 to $94, and various discounts (military, student, senior) are available.

Press release:
Experience the epic musical score of the hit ABC television series “Lost” as award-winning American composer Michael Giacchino brings this original music to Honolulu for its symphony orchestra world premiere by the Honolulu Symphony Toyota Pops and conductor Tim Simonec on Saturday, September 22 at 7:30 p.m. at the Waikiki Shell. Emmy-nominated “Lost” star Terry O’Quinn will join the Pops on stage to narrate passages as the music brings every gripping and passion-filled moment to life. Enthusiastic “Lost” fans are well acquainted with Mr. Giacchino’s breathtaking score and have been enjoying his captivating compositions for three seasons. The music of “Lost” captures not only the journeys, spectacular vistas and touching emotion, but also echoes the thrilling and dangerous saga of life on a mysterious island.



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