1.0Fighting In The War Roomhttps://fightinginthewarroom.comDa7e<h2>Hello, Da7e here.</h2> <em>I'll admit, when </em>Lost<em> ended I was one of those people who initially thought that focusing on the characters was bullsh*t. Although I've come to terms with Plot Vs. Character on television since, it always bugged me that what I focused on during Lost's airing was supposedly not the focus.</em> <em>What follows is a long-form editing/re-watching experiment where I go through the complete series of </em>Lost<em> and strip away all of the FlashBacks, FlashForwards and FlashSideways to see what we're left with and why Lost took ultimately took the narrative form that it did. </em> <em>I'll explain my method in text and videos and include the entirety of my first season of Lost. In audio segments with my Fighting In The War Room co-hosts, we'll discuss how we experienced </em>Lost<em>'s narrative and how the capability to re-watch an entire series gives you the freedom to re-construct the narrative.</em> <h4>Any text that appears in Bold (like this paragraph) triggers a comment section when you hover over it with your mouse.</h4> <em>If there is a conclusion, it's not damning as much as it is a celebration of the new power of the television viewer and it's application to a groundbreaking series.</em> <em>Thanks for venturing into my insanity.</em> <a href="http://fightinginthewarroom.com/subscribefollow/" target="_blank"><em>Oh, and subscribe to the podcast, obviously. </em></a> <p style="text-align: right;"><em>-Da7e- </em> <em>3.20.14</em></p> <h1 dir="ltr"><a href="http://fightinginthewarroom.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/02/L_01.jpg"> <img class="size-full wp-image-266 aligncenter" alt="L_01" src="http://fightinginthewarroom.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/02/L_01.jpg" width="695" height="382" /></a></h1> <ul> <li><a href="http://fightinginthewarroom.com/lostfiller/2/" target="_blank"><strong>Podcast -</strong> Introduction to the Project</a></li> <li><a href="http://fightinginthewarroom.com/lostfiller/3/" target="_blank"><strong>Section 1 -</strong> A Case For A Re-Watch</a></li> <li><a href="http://fightinginthewarroom.com/lostfiller/4/" target="_blank"><strong>Section 2</strong> - Whatever Happened, Happened: The Liberation Of The Re-Watch</a></li> <li><a href="http://fightinginthewarroom.com/lostfiller/5/" target="_blank"><strong>Section 3</strong> - Creating Dramatic Tension With Flashback Structure</a></li> <li><a href="http://fightinginthewarroom.com/lostfiller/6/" target="_blank"><strong>Section 4</strong> - Let's Cut the Flashes</a></li> <li><a href="http://fightinginthewarroom.com/lostfiller/7/" target="_blank"><strong>Video</strong> - Parts of an Episode: Storytelling Terminology</a>, "Man of Science, Man of Faith"</li> <li><a href="http://fightinginthewarroom.com/lostfiller/8/" target="_blank"><strong>Section 5</strong> - Does Cutting the Flashes Neuter the A-Plot?</a></li> <li><a href="http://fightinginthewarroom.com/lostfiller/9/" target="_blank"><strong>Video</strong> - I LOST THE FILLER "Pilot parts 1&2"</a></li> <li><a href="http://fightinginthewarroom.com/lostfiller/9/" target="_blank"><strong>Podcast</strong> - Beginnings and Archetypes</a></li> <li><a href="http://fightinginthewarroom.com/lostfiller/10/"><strong>Video</strong> - Editing For Story, "Whatever The Case May Be"</a></li> <li><a href="http://fightinginthewarroom.com/lostfiller/11/" target="_blank"><strong>Section 6</strong> - Micro Arcs Vs. Macro Arcs</a></li> <li><a href="http://fightinginthewarroom.com/lostfiller/12/" target="_blank"><strong>Podcast</strong> - Reckoning With Story Arcs</a></li> <li><a href="http://fightinginthewarroom.com/lostfiller/13/" target="_blank"><strong>Videos</strong> - I LOST THE FILLER "Season One"</a></li> <li><a href="http://fightinginthewarroom.com/lostfiller/14/" target="_blank"><strong>Section 7</strong> - Charting Lost's On-Island Story Arcs</a></li> <li><a href="http://fightinginthewarroom.com/lostfiller/15/" target="_blank">Lost Complete Series Graphic.</a></li> <li><a href="http://fightinginthewarroom.com/lostfiller/16/" target="_blank"><strong>Video -</strong> The Mythology in 12 Minutes</a></li> <li><a href="http://fightinginthewarroom.com/lostfiller/17/" target="_blank"><strong>Podcast -</strong> Conclusions?</a></li> <li><a href="http://fightinginthewarroom.com/lostfiller/18/" target="_blank">Project/FITWR Media Credits</a></li> </ul> <!--nextpage--> <iframe src="https://w.soundcloud.com/player/?url=https%3A//api.soundcloud.com/tracks/140120434%3Fsecret_token%3Ds-2PCde&auto_play=false&hide_related=false&visual=true" height="300" width="100%" frameborder="no" scrolling="no"></iframe> <pre>[<a href="https://soundcloud.com/fitwr-media/podcast-introduction-to-i-lost" target="_blank">Open Soundcloud page In A New Window to play while surfing or download</a>]</pre> Da7e (<a href="http://twitter.com/da7e" target="_blank">@da7e</a>), Patches (<a href="http://twitter.com/misterpatches" target="_blank">@misterpatches</a>), David (<a href="http://twitter.com/davidehrlich" target="_blank">@davidehrlich</a> and <a href="http://twitter.com/CriterionCorner" target="_blank">@CriterionCorner</a>), and Katey (<a href="http://twitter.com/kateyrich" target="_blank">@kateyrich</a>) welcome you to the strange inner workings of Da7e's mind and talk about when they watched <em>Lost</em>. <strong>NOTES:</strong> <ul> <li>Da7e's Rewatches - Star Trek Sinkhole <a href="http://fightinginthewarroom.com/OPKINO_CLASSIC/OPKINO98.mp3" target="_blank">OPKINO CLASSIC #98 [MP3]</a></li> <li>Showrunner's conclusions - <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B5chCMRsEVo" target="_blank">Damon Lindelof on Lost - On The Verge</a></li> <li>Patches Is Ashamed - <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Lost-The-Complete-Collection-Blu-ray/dp/B0036EH3WK/ref=sr_1_3?s=movies-tv&ie=UTF8&qid=1395318779&sr=1-3&keywords=lost+complete+series+box+set" target="_blank">Lost's Season's "Giant Box"</a></li> <li><a href="http://tvnews.pazsaz.com/cancel03.html" target="_blank">TV Shows that Ended in 2004</a></li> </ul>   <iframe src="//player.vimeo.com/video/89146730" height="391" width="695" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0"></iframe> <!--nextpage--> <p dir="ltr"><a href="http://fightinginthewarroom.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/02/LOST_PAGE2_1.jpg"><img class="size-full wp-image-378 aligncenter" alt="LOST_PAGE2_1" src="http://fightinginthewarroom.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/02/LOST_PAGE2_1.jpg" width="695" height="382" /></a></p> <p dir="ltr">When <em>Lost</em> premiered 10 years ago, I was at college while my younger brother and parents latched on to the story of the survivors of Oceanic Flight 815 on a crazy science-fiction Island. By the time <em>Lost</em> concluded in 2010, I had joined millions in the week-to-week speculating about symbolism and motives, one white and one black, and just how stupidly perfect a wine cork metaphor could play.</p> <p dir="ltr">In contrast to many of  our expectations, when the sixth season ended in a church bathed in White Light, we were presented with the mantra "It's about the characters," reportedly straight off the whiteboard from the <em>Lost</em> writers room.</p> <p dir="ltr">If that's true, the story of<em> Lost</em> is the story of how our time on Earth is meaningful because the people we love and connect to will bond with us well into the afterlife and guide us through Purgatory. Embrace destiny, the series conclusion says, even if it causes you pain in the moment, because this isn't all there is...there's a warm white light with all your loved ones at the end.</p> <p dir="ltr">However, the way <em>Lost</em> was plotted, the mystery-series was also about a magical island that holds the world's evil at bay and the one period in its existence where its protector had an adversary that happened to be his biological brother.</p> <p dir="ltr">Ten years after the debut, television has adopted certain aspects of <em>Lost</em>. Take <em>The Walking Dead</em>, whose title is also a double entendre for the character and plot devices that weave that narrative (zombies are, as are the characters). Or the heavy serialization of JJ Abrams' follow up <em>Fringe</em>, with its time travel and actual alternate reality (for those die-hard secular <em>Lost</em> fans who expected that's what the Flash/Sideways segments really were).</p> <p dir="ltr">In attempt to re-live what I remembered loving about <em>Lost</em>, I jumped onto Netflix and started re-watching the show. With the entire narrative available to you - a narrative advantage over the creators of the show who spun a story from week to week, season to season - it makes me want to revisit specific moments rather than digest the entirety of the series again, and I wondered why that was.</p> <h4 dir="ltr">As a critical thinker, I recognize that revisiting something is always a different experience than the initial one, though arguably twice as valuable in trying to gain a greater understanding of whatever you're evaluating. Wasn't my impulse basically as if I'd dog-eared pages on a novel where I underlined my favorite passages?</h4> <p dir="ltr">The first step of any thought process these days is to dig yourself a Google hole, so I turned to the browser in the grand tradition of my generation. In searching the internet, I stumbled upon Katey's review of the <em>Lost</em> Complete Series Blu-Ray set and was surprised how her connection to the series, when she looked back in August 2010, echoed how I felt about re-watching the series as a whole:</p> <blockquote> <p dir="ltr">Like anyone who stuck with it through six beguiling seasons, my experience with <i>Lost</i> became a pretty personal one-- I plowed through Season 1 on DVD while home from college on winter break, suffered through the doldrums of early Season 3 in my first Manhattan apartment, gave a new boyfriend the Season 1 DVD for Christmas when I didn't know him well enough to give anything else, and three and a half years later watched the finale with him, joking that the foundation of our relationship was gone at last. For us <i>Lost</i> devoted it wasn't just a TV show but a cultural experience, something you kept up with just to know what your friends were talking about, something worth traveling to Comic Con or even Hawaii to experience with fellow fanatics. Like <i>Star Trek</i> or <i>The X-Files</i> before it, <i>Lost</i> was a model of how passion for a TV show could form vast communities-- and in that way became much bigger than itself.</p> And even though the <i>Lost: Complete Collection</i> box set is packaged in a ridiculously elaborate stone box and is packed to the brim with special features, it gives us our first chance to look at the show on its own terms, simply as a story told over six years, not a phenomenon or that thing you wanted to get your friends hooked on. Having the entire story in your hands is like getting back to square one, sitting down with the whole giant saga and seeing what it still has to offer. So with the mysteries resolved and the Smoke Monster vanquished at last, what's worth returning to in <i>Lost</i>? Anyone who's ever screamed in frustration when the "LOST" logo popped up at the end of an episode will relish the chance to watch the show this way, all six seasons laid out before you, every cliffhanger resolved at the touch of a button, every suspected callback confirmed by flipping back a few episodes or seasons. As fun as the suspense could be from week to week, this may be the way <i>Lost</i> was meant to be experienced, an ever-expanding saga moving briskly form point to point, never giving you time to look at the bigger picture. Looking at the bigger picture-- that's my job. And regarding <i>Lost</i> as a whole it becomes hard to ignore the show's many flaws, the loops into plot diversions that went nowhere-- the Season 3 cages! Dogen and the Temple in Season 6!-- and characters who started off promising but petered out. Forget all the little nagging questions, like the Dharma food drops and LIbby in the mental hospital-- how did they abandon Walt like that? Why did Kate morph from a gun-toting badass into a needy surrogate mom who couldn't pick between two men? Why did they start treating Sun and Jin as chess pieces to emotionally manipulate the audience? But getting caught up in frustrations like that is what we've all been doing since the finale ended, mentally going over what we'd seen and trying to sum it all up. The experience of holding all six seasons in your hands is something different, quieter and more sentimental-- you're not looking at the Big Meaning of the show, but of all the moments that thrilled and delighted you for six years, all of them ready to be seen in glorious HD. No, the raft launched at the end of Season 1 never got them anywhere, but watching that scene can still give you chills. The beginning of Season 3 was almost entirely a boring wash, but skip around to those scenes between Jack and Juliet for some serious acting sparks-- then compare them to Juliet and Sawyer's relationship in Season 5, just for fun. Watch "The Constant" on repeat, or just the moment when Hurley and Ben are given control of the island-- for the first time you've got the ability to pick and choose the <i>Lost</i> you want to remember, and it's a heady feeling. Watching <i>Lost</i> free from the anticipation of explained mysteries or mythology is also surprisingly liberating.</blockquote> <!--nextpage--> <a href="http://fightinginthewarroom.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/02/LOST_whateverhappened.jpg"><img class="size-full wp-image-382 aligncenter" alt="LOST_whateverhappened" src="http://fightinginthewarroom.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/02/LOST_whateverhappened.jpg" width="695" height="382" /></a> <h1 style="text-align: center;"><strong>What makes the re-watch liberating? </strong></h1> <p dir="ltr">Considering television storytelling was first utilized to sell soap to housewives, the medium has become exponentially more complex in reaction to the capability of an audience to control its watching experience.</p> <p dir="ltr">Since audiences could digest the narrative at their own pace via DVD collections, the process of TV storytelling has added narrative layer after narrative layer to keep up with the sophistication of the audience. An additional product was required to revisit the series as you saw fit, be it DVDs or a DVR with a large hard drive, so advertisers and money-men alike allowed the creatives behind narrative TV to elevate the complexity of the storytelling methods used on traditional programming.</p> <p dir="ltr">Now that streaming television has reduced the amount of effort required to jump between episodes, arcs and seasons--disc-switching be gone!--the phenomena of the series-long re-watch and “binging” have been introduced to the TV watcher's arsenal of tools to fully process the narrative placed before them. Unlike DVDs, streaming services like Netflix and Hulu+ welcome series to their repertoire in chunks that don’t require an additional purchase of a product, but rather a subscription; a promise to ingest content on the regular, to meet a wide variety of narratives head on.</p> <h4 dir="ltr">Where once a TV show would have its on air finale and disappear completely, now, we can revisit a story's entirety with complete control over how that narrative unfolds. Television at the turn of the century was reaching a new level of narrative complexity with the real-time suspense of <em>24</em> and the lyrical middle seasons of <em>The Sopranos</em>, it also helped audiences develop their critical thinking tools. Over the six seasons <em>Los</em>t was on the air, the TV landscape changed to suit the complex narratives the audience wanted to be told.</h4> <p dir="ltr"><em>Lost</em>'s storytelling feeds into the narrative control fantasy a re-watch allows because the original broadcast was structured around not knowing the complete picture. Cliffhangers, Island mysteries, hatches, and near-death experiences (and some actual death experiences) put what we knew from the previous week's plot in jeopardy, forcing us to work over what we knew like an everlasting gobstopper for a full week before the next episode. Re-watching <em>Lost</em> after the narrative has completed is to watch a show with the key storytelling mechanic neutered anyway you rationalize it; we know the solutions to most of the show's mysteries.</p> <!--nextpage--> <h1 dir="ltr"><a href="http://fightinginthewarroom.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/02/L_04.jpg"><img class="alignnone size-full wp-image-269" alt="L_04" src="http://fightinginthewarroom.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/02/L_04.jpg" width="695" height="382" /></a></h1> <p dir="ltr">With the knowledge that not all the mysteries we obsessed about contributed to the true end of the narrative, what we're left with is a show about characters that was constructed as a show about plot.</p> <p dir="ltr">Regardless of its medium, every narrative has a meaty center--what’s in between the beginning and the end. If you think about it like a sandwich, the sandwich is technically anything between two slices of bread (the beginning and end).</p> <p dir="ltr">The shortest story of <em>Lost</em> is: “Jack came to a magical island that he saved and then died and went to heaven.” Every additional element, like characters, plot and theme, just exist to emotionally bond us, the narrative’s consumer, to process of the story being told.</p> <h4>Lost's core storytelling mechanic of "Flashing" --backwards, forwards and sideways--is the warped timeline that distributes information and plot to the audience in a way that maximizes drama. Sometimes we know things the characters don't, other times the characters are months or years ahead of us and we get a glimpse of the end of that character's journey, but this constant withholding gives the feeling that the other shoe is going to drop; it creates narrative tension.</h4> <p dir="ltr">This is a plot mechanic well suited for crime dramas and procedurals, obviously, but when it's used in a serialized television show it can unshackle itself from true crime mysteries and apply the tension of knowing-but-not-knowing to anything. Take <em>How I Met Your Mother</em> (please, take it!)</p> <h1><a href="http://fightinginthewarroom.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/02/L_Flashchart.jpg"><img class="size-full wp-image-280 aligncenter" alt="L_Flashchart" src="http://fightinginthewarroom.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/02/L_Flashchart.jpg" width="695" height="382" /></a></h1> <p dir="ltr">In Seasons 1, 2, and most of 3, the show’s Flashes are traditional flashbacks that let the audience know about the characters’ pasts before they landed on the Island. This establishes why the characters are "Lost" in their personal lives and - once the Island is revealed to be a magnet tuned to them by a deity named Jacob - shows what personal obstacles they have to overcome while on the Island.</p> <p dir="ltr">The narrative tension is a free exchange of the power of the unknown between the character/show and the audience. Sometimes, through the power of the modern television consumer's capacity for connecting two barely related narrative dots, we’re meant to infer greater meaning behind a character's otherwise uninformed actions. Stringing various moments of narrative tension together is the process of active television watching. We're shown FlashBacks as a way to highlight the theme of the episode and place a character's on-Island actions in the context of their life. Also, we're shown FlashBacks that contain information the characters remain ignorant of  (such as Claire and Jack being step-siblings), the process of filling in these gaps in our own minds is our participation with the show.</p> <p dir="ltr">Season 4, which was written after the show had secured an end date, jumped to FlashForwards that show us where our characters end up to contrast with how they are in our main Island Timeline. The tension here comes from knowing how far Jack will fall emotionally before becoming Bearded Jack. Season 5, the time travel season, is more like trying to end a crossword puzzle by guessing the words you have partially filled in. Season 6's Flash/Sideways go into Purgatory, where each cast member is living out an alternate version of their life.</p> [caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="681"]<a href="http://fightinginthewarroom.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/02/Timeline.gif"><img alt="Timeline" src="http://fightinginthewarroom.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/02/Timeline-681x1024.gif" width="681" height="1024" /></a> Timeline by Lostpedia user Valenzetti_FTW[/caption] <h4>These characters are the story and that was the resounding mantra after the finale caused such debate. However, as pieces of storytelling, these characters were just archetypes that had mini narratives in the Flashes used to highlight a theme in the greater narrative. In the grand arc of the series, the fact that the characters were spiritually and emotionally aloof didn’t play into greater plot, outside of generating the consistent feeling throughout that there was a reason for the Island or that fate existed in this story world.</h4> <!--nextpage--> <h1 dir="ltr" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://fightinginthewarroom.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/02/LOST_Cuttheflashes.jpg"><img class="size-full wp-image-381" alt="LOST_Cuttheflashes" src="http://fightinginthewarroom.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/02/LOST_Cuttheflashes.jpg" width="695" height="382" /></a></h1> As a way of looking at <em>Lost</em> at the macro level, now that we have the capability and the data to do so, is to recognize our narrative focus. In the case of <em>Lost</em>, I can accept that the characters were the story I was meant to relate to throughout the series and I've long since come to an emotional understanding with myself regarding the finale and what it says about the individual characters finding themselves and each other with no regards to mystery or the fantastic. What motivates my re-watch is a willful attempt to find the other narrative, the one about the Island, which I remember as having just as many great character moments, but with the benefit of the moment-to-moment propulsion a mystery series can generate. <h4>I believe that a better understanding of the overall structure of the show's Island narrative can be better recognized by cutting all of the Flashes to effectively put the plot we see on a re-watch in alignment with the character's experiences as a group.</h4> <h4>It’s clarification through reduction and, yes, certain characters will lack some nuance. But, that's part of the luxury of re-watch after ingesting the series as it was intended. If Flash characters or events are truly important to the narrative, the moral center of the plot will be restated in the Island timeline, or your mind will most likely insert the necessary Flashes for you. You'll always know Locke was in a wheelchair even if he doesn't tell Boone until the 19th episode of the show, because as someone who has experienced the series once and lived through the television landscape it populated, you’ve subconsciously developed the ability to recall the missing steps in the narrative arc you know exists. That’s how we found peace with the show’s finale in the first place.</h4> More importantly for this exercise, by attempting to excise a part of the story, we're also forced to evaluate and define the rest of it. <p dir="ltr">In <em>Lost</em>, because the Flashes are used to provide the inter-episode tension for the main character arc, they are almost always tied to The A Plot--the story given the most on-screen time in any given episode.</p> <p dir="ltr">Cutting the Flashes to focus only on the Island automatically strips away parts of any episodes A Plot.  The Flashes and plot relate directly, so just focusing on the Island scenes leaves us with...well, basically only the "mythology" of the series.</p> <p dir="ltr">Since we can identify the story-purpose of the Flashes then we acknowledge that cutting them out is basically like removing the heart of the show--the reasons we’ve invested in theses characters for six seasons--to better understand the circulatory system. (While fully expecting to find I’ve made a Frankenstein’s monster - Lindelof’s Monster?)</p> <!--nextpage--> <h1></h1> <h1 dir="ltr" style="text-align: center;">TV Storytelling Taxonomy</h1> <p dir="ltr">Knowing the complete scope of a television series allows us to identify the core storytelling dynamics at any point in the entire series. If you can identify the beginning, middle, and end of a narrative, you can track what the current season, episode, arc, or scene contributes to the whole. Without the Flashes diverting a linear narrative to create audience tension, isolating the individual cell structure that makes up the organism of serialized storytelling on television becomes much easier.</p> <p dir="ltr"><a href="http://fightinginthewarroom.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/02/LOST_sceneIrsi.gif"><img class="alignnone size-full wp-image-384" alt="LOST_sceneIrsi" src="http://fightinginthewarroom.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/02/LOST_sceneIrsi.gif" width="695" height="300" /></a></p> <p dir="ltr"><em>Lost</em> is a 5 Act story with a Cold Open. That means that we open without a title on a sequence, then cut to the moving Lost title and a commercial. After that are five acts, with a commercial separating them. The leftovers from having commercial breaks, each act needs to tell a piece of the story and then conclude with a cliffhanger that propels you into the next act (lest anyone change the channel and miss the rest of the tale).</p> <p dir="ltr">My first test edit was cutting down Season 2's Premiere "Man of Science, Man of Faith" (fun fact: it’s the highest rated <em>Lost</em> episode ever), let's look at how that episode breaks down and what we lose from each plot to cut the episode's Flashes.</p> <h4><iframe src="//player.vimeo.com/video/86638540" height="382" width="695" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0"></iframe> <!--nextpage--></h4> <h1 dir="ltr" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://fightinginthewarroom.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/02/LOST_CRISISOFJACK.jpg"><img class="alignnone size-full wp-image-388" alt="LOST_CRISISOFJACK" src="http://fightinginthewarroom.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/02/LOST_CRISISOFJACK.jpg" width="695" height="382" /></a></h1> <p dir="ltr">Obviously lost (THE FIRST INTENDED PUN) was Jack's storyline with his wife... but, don't we get the idea that Jack needs to save everyone from his speech to the survivors and his (without the Flashes, seemingly sudden) decision to pursue Kate and Locke down The Hatch? The question is, did we lose the A Plot because we cut the Flashes?</p> <p dir="ltr">If the A Plot is Jack's crisis of faith, I'd say no. Hell, we even get a re-capping of what The Numbers mean from Hurley along with his millionaire backstory that would have been cut from Season One. If the A Plot is that Jack knew Desmond from before his time on the Island, that connection certainly suffers. But, does it matter outside of creating that atmosphere of connectivity that we already admitted we’d lose with The Flashes?</p> <p dir="ltr"><a href="http://fightinginthewarroom.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/02/LOST_EPIRIS.gif"><img class="alignnone size-full wp-image-385" alt="LOST_EPIRIS" src="http://fightinginthewarroom.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/02/LOST_EPIRIS.gif" width="695" height="302" /></a></p> <h4 dir="ltr">What cutting "The Filler" does expose is how little of an episode's runtime is devoted to moving the greater mythology forward. Here, it's more about getting our characters into The Hatch for the first time. All other plot motion from the second season begins after this episode, which, when aired, was presented as a big reveal of what's in The Hatch. However, like the rest of <em>Lost</em>'s mysteries, knowing the answer suddenly lays bare how little we were actually getting by on in the first place.</h4> <p dir="ltr">This is a necessary side effect of serialized storytelling on a network. The serialization needs to include a certain amount of recapping, even for a heavily serialized show like <em>Lost</em>. In "Man of Science, Man of Faith," the writers hope that you watched Season One's "The Numbers," but have Hurley tell the whole story to Jack just in case you didn't.</p> <p dir="ltr">Other examples of runtime filler is the amount of traveling-centric stories we see on the Island. Though occasionally paired with recapping (like Locke talking to Kate about the Smoke Monster in "Man of Science, Man of Faith") sometimes travel creates its own mini-arc, like when someone gets trapped by the Tailies or wanders in the jungle looking for that damn dog. <em>Lost</em> as a TV show was never able to elevate Island travel beyond moving from impressive set to impressive set. The logistics of shooting in Hawaii and real jungles, plus having the cast move through those locations made it easier for scenes to happen in a non-moving, controlled environment. There are a lot of clearings and the characters frequently walk through very familiar looking fields.</p> <h4 dir="ltr">Without its Flashes, “Man of Science, Man of Faith" has trouble standing on its own as the impressive piece of episodic storytelling that it is. We've essentially stripped away character work and complicating backstory to get a peek at the sub-structure of the episode as we get ready to push from an evaluation of a micro plot to a macro plot. If we were trying to better understand just this episode, it might consist almost entirely as a series of Flashes. That was how the episode was first experienced, though, with the tension of the unknown. Does the recognition of its absence have a place in our re-watch?</h4> <p dir="ltr">Not to be reductive, but if I know Jack gets into heaven, I'm more interested how the mini-plot in "Man of Science, Man of Faith" is a link in a chain of stories that build the full series. If you do not feel the same way, I have an hour and a half for you thanks to YouTube user <a dir="ltr" href="http://www.youtube.com/user/blayneedvd" data-sessionlink="ei=-HckU93CDNKB9Qbd3ICQCg&feature=watch" data-ytid="UCesu-1FQyBHZjo5sz7YZPrg" data-name="watch">blayneedvd</a> who came to the opposite conclusion I did and compiled all of Jack Shephard's Flashes in the series into one video:</p> <h4><iframe src="//www.youtube.com/embed/qAQ-xS9rrBw?rel=0" height="391" width="695" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0"></iframe> <!--nextpage--></h4> <h1 style="text-align: center;"></h1> <h1 style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://fightinginthewarroom.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/02/LOST_PILOT.jpg"><img class="alignnone size-full wp-image-389" alt="LOST_PILOT" src="http://fightinginthewarroom.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/02/LOST_PILOT.jpg" width="695" height="382" /></a></h1> <p dir="ltr">Seeing what stripping away mystery tension did to a single piece of the series like "Man of Science, Man of Faith" tells us how an individual episode can be trimmed into a singular, Island-only narrative without losing the crux of what that story was supposed to communicate to the greater arc of the series.</p> <p dir="ltr">This made me curious about how much could be abbreviated to just the Island plot while still telling a complete narrative in its own right. I was convinced that the entire series could be expanded and contracted like an accordion paragraph to tell the story of the Island in varied degrees of complexity. So, like an accordion (or a sandwich to go with the earlier metaphor), it's important to separate the beginning and end of the overall narrative.</p> <p dir="ltr">The first two episodes of <em>Lost</em> cannot answer any questions. It's entire purpose is to introduce us to the characters, setting, and storytelling mechanic of the series. Because <em>Lost</em> was built on withholding information, “Pilot” needs to be the master of withholding, and it is - though Kate and Locke are introduced, we don't learn that Kate is the prisoner and Locke used to be in a wheelchair until episodes 3 and 19 respectively (on Island, not Flashes). Similarly, “The End” of season six cannot introduce any new plot or questions, it can only close off the plots and themes the series has deemed important.</p> <h4 dir="ltr">We can acknowledge the “Pilot” in our cut to understand story, but because it's an exercise in archetypes - as arguably most pilots have to be - and because <em>Lost</em> forces its players to retread the content of their character multiple times over the life of the season, the Pilot's only story functions are to introduce the survivors as archetypes on the Island, establish the Monster as a threat, and propel us into the series with the cliffhanger of Rousseau's signal.</h4> <h4><iframe style="font-size: 14px; line-height: 1.5em;" src="//player.vimeo.com/video/86702276" height="382" width="695" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0"></iframe></h4> <iframe src="https://w.soundcloud.com/player/?url=https%3A//api.soundcloud.com/tracks/140197998%3Fsecret_token%3Ds-Ito0g&auto_play=false&hide_related=false&visual=true" height="450" width="100%" frameborder="no" scrolling="no"></iframe> <pre>[<a href="https://soundcloud.com/fitwr-media/beginning-stories-on-tv" target="_blank">Open Soundcloud page In A New Window to play while surfing or download</a>]</pre> Da7e (<a href="http://twitter.com/da7e" target="_blank">@da7e</a>), Patches (<a href="http://twitter.com/misterpatches" target="_blank">@misterpatches</a>), David (<a href="http://twitter.com/davidehrlich" target="_blank">@davidehrlich</a> and <a href="http://twitter.com/CriterionCorner" target="_blank">@CriterionCorner</a>), and Katey (<a href="http://twitter.com/kateyrich" target="_blank">@kateyrich</a>) talk about the Lost pilot, beginning TV stories in general and how much complexity that can bear. <strong>NOTES:</strong> <h1><a href="http://fightinginthewarroom.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/02/L_06_21.jpg"><img class="alignnone size-full wp-image-283" alt="L_06_2" src="http://fightinginthewarroom.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/02/L_06_21.jpg" width="695" height="126" /></a></h1> <!--nextpage--> <h1 style="text-align: center;"></h1> <h1 style="text-align: center;">Arcs Are Stories Within Stories Within Stories</h1> <p dir="ltr">Now, everything between “Once upon a time” and “the end," between the tips of our accordion, the meat within our sandwich, is what we use to color our narrative. The true “middle” in terms of plotting is made up of tiny narratives nested within the larger one, like those Russian Nesting Dolls. Inside “Jack dies on a magical Island” is the myth of Jacob and the Man In Black, inside that myth is the origin of The Others, inside the origin of The Others is the struggle between Ben and Charles Widmore--a struggle that began when the survivors Time Travelled, which is something they did when they tried to escape on the freighter, which is what they did after trying to escape on the submarine, after Jack fixed Ben’s cancer, after Ben abducted Jack, after Jack held Ben hostage in The Hatch, after Locke blew open The Hatch, after they were shipwrecked on an Island.</p> <p dir="ltr">In season one’s “Exodus”, Jack and Locke have a discussion about fate and their opposition, which could have been inserted directly to the final battle in “The End” in order to provide the proper context as to why Jack and (someone who looks like) Locke would be fighting each other. Everything else that existed to deepen our understanding of the character or the history of the plot exists in a tinier version of that story.</p> <p dir="ltr">The next step was to apply what I'd learned about TV storytelling to a methodology for stripping away some of the repetition inherent in the medium. If the “Pilot” has the characters and “The End” has the answers then the space between needs to keep its own momentum with ongoing plot and character arcs. On the Island, this leads to mystery and a lot of hiking around.</p> <p dir="ltr">Cutting just the Flashes was a good place to start but we've also learned that, because of the network broadcast, there was a lot of recapping of previous events and, because of <em>Lost</em>'s setting, a lot of traveling through the jungle that often gets relegated to non-essential story motion because of the production constraints of a live-action series.</p> <h1><iframe src="//player.vimeo.com/video/87136011" height="382" width="695" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0"></iframe></h1> <!--nextpage--> <h1 style="text-align: center;"></h1> <h1 style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://fightinginthewarroom.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/02/LOST_ARCS.jpg"><img class="alignnone size-full wp-image-390" alt="LOST_ARCS" src="http://fightinginthewarroom.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/02/LOST_ARCS.jpg" width="695" height="382" /></a></h1> <p dir="ltr">The ability of a re-watch to slide between scene and series is ultimately where its critical power lies. Sure, there’s a lot to be said for your knowledge of the original series filling in gaps in your selective re-watch, but boiling away parts of<em> Lost</em> not connected to the Island mythology has revealed a distinct series of events and story arcs that tie the greater events together.</p> <p dir="ltr">This, I feel, is the power of the re-watch and with this power it’s our responsibility as curious television viewers and lovers of storytelling to be able to slide between the micro and macro storytelling techniques, evaluating each step along the way to discover the purpose of each cog in the greater machine. Granted, the storytellers can’t tell us what we can and can not strip away, but isn’t it about time the viewers of Lost had some agency of their own?</p> <p dir="ltr"><a href="http://fightinginthewarroom.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/02/LOST_ARCIRIS.gif"><img class="size-full wp-image-386 aligncenter" alt="LOST_ARCIRIS" src="http://fightinginthewarroom.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/02/LOST_ARCIRIS.gif" width="695" height="302" /></a></p> <p dir="ltr">We’re comfortable cutting the Flashes because we understand they are theme and character add-ons, just like we’re comfortable cutting the recapping and the travel because they’re symptoms of stalling on the Island narrative, something we don't have to abide having access to the entire series. We’ve also established that for the purposes of distilling an arc from multiple episodes, we’re not going to discard any episodes entirely.</p> <p dir="ltr">If an episode like “Whatever The Case May Be” centers most around the background story of Kate, then discovering that the on-Island plot of the episode revolves around giving the survivors access to guns places that episode into a greater arc of the latter half of season one where the survivors are trying to find protection from the mysterious Others.</p> <h4 dir="ltr">The next step in attempting to abbreviate the grand plot arc of the entire series is to establish a perspective on how the narratives of a single episode connects to narrative arcs across multiple episodes and build to narratives that make a season.</h4> <p dir="ltr">Instead of following this process throughout all six seasons (which was done - see chart on the next page), let’s focus instead on Season One--the tenth year anniversary season. It's interesting because of it was the season that introduced us to our narrative addictions as <em>Lost </em>fans, but it is also a season that we now know saw the showrunners scrambling to run a hugely popular television show that was mostly predicated on series-co-creator JJ Abram's concept of a mystery box. It was a season of characters and questions since so little of the Island mythology existed in the storyteller's minds.</p> <!--nextpage--> <iframe src="https://w.soundcloud.com/player/?url=https%3A//api.soundcloud.com/tracks/140197834%3Fsecret_token%3Ds-NAjuw&auto_play=false&hide_related=false&visual=true" height="450" width="100%" frameborder="no" scrolling="no"></iframe> <pre>[<a href="https://soundcloud.com/fitwr-media/tv-story-arcs" target="_blank">Open Soundcloud page In A New Window to play while surfing or download</a>]</pre> Da7e (<a href="http://twitter.com/da7e" target="_blank">@da7e</a>), Patches (<a href="http://twitter.com/misterpatches" target="_blank">@misterpatches</a>), David (<a href="http://twitter.com/davidehrlich" target="_blank">@davidehrlich</a> and <a href="http://twitter.com/CriterionCorner" target="_blank">@CriterionCorner</a>), and Katey (<a href="http://twitter.com/kateyrich" target="_blank">@kateyrich</a>) talk about being cognizant of story arcs while TV is airing and when it ends. Then they try to figure out how to extract story arcs without damaging an narrative. Then, finally, Patches says Da7e calling things "filler" is totally wrong. <!--nextpage--> <p dir="ltr">Without skipping any episodes, I broke the 23 hours of Season One into four arcs, with each four arc containing smaller arcs which are made from distilling individual episodes.</p> <p dir="ltr">Like so:</p> <h2 dir="ltr">THE SURVIVORS</h2> <p dir="ltr">The individual survivors have to find food, clean water, shelter, and help Charlie kick heroin addiction.</p> <div dir="ltr"> <table><colgroup> <col width="37" /> <col width="165" /> <col width="66" /></colgroup> <tbody> <tr> <td> <p dir="ltr">#03</p> </td> <td> <p dir="ltr">"<a href="http://lostpedia.wikia.com/wiki/Tabula_Rasa">Tabula Rasa</a>"</p> </td> <td> <p dir="ltr">(<a href="http://lostpedia.wikia.com/wiki/Kate">Kate</a>)</p> </td> </tr> <tr> <td> <p dir="ltr">#04</p> </td> <td> <p dir="ltr">"<a href="http://lostpedia.wikia.com/wiki/Walkabout">Walkabout</a>"</p> </td> <td> <p dir="ltr">(<a href="http://lostpedia.wikia.com/wiki/Locke">Locke</a>)</p> </td> </tr> <tr> <td> <p dir="ltr">#05</p> </td> <td> <p dir="ltr">"<a href="http://lostpedia.wikia.com/wiki/White_Rabbit">White Rabbit</a>"</p> </td> <td> <p dir="ltr">(<a href="http://lostpedia.wikia.com/wiki/Jack">Jack</a>)</p> </td> </tr> <tr> <td> <p dir="ltr">#06</p> </td> <td> <p dir="ltr">"<a href="http://lostpedia.wikia.com/wiki/House_of_the_Rising_Sun">House of the Rising Sun</a>"</p> </td> <td> <p dir="ltr">(<a href="http://lostpedia.wikia.com/wiki/Sun">Sun</a>)</p> </td> </tr> <tr> <td> <p dir="ltr">#07</p> </td> <td> <p dir="ltr">"<a href="http://lostpedia.wikia.com/wiki/The_Moth">The Moth</a>"</p> </td> <td> <p dir="ltr">(<a href="http://lostpedia.wikia.com/wiki/Charlie">Charlie</a>)</p> </td> </tr> <tr> <td> <p dir="ltr">#08</p> </td> <td> <p dir="ltr">"<a href="http://lostpedia.wikia.com/wiki/Confidence_Man">Confidence Man</a>"</p> </td> <td> <p dir="ltr">(<a href="http://lostpedia.wikia.com/wiki/Sawyer">Sawyer</a>)</p> </td> </tr> </tbody> </table> </div>   <h2 dir="ltr">ABDUCTIONS AND GUNS</h2> <p dir="ltr"> Sayid meets Rousseau who tells him about The Others. Charlie is assaulted and Claire is abducted by Ethan, Jack and the survivors find guns to protect themselves, Claire is returned and Charlie executes Ethan - the only Other we’ve seen.</p> <table><colgroup> <col width="59" /> <col width="116" /> <col width="93" /></colgroup> <tbody> <tr> <td> <p dir="ltr">#09</p> </td> <td> <p dir="ltr">"<a href="http://lostpedia.wikia.com/wiki/Solitary">Solitary</a>"</p> </td> <td> <p dir="ltr">(<a href="http://lostpedia.wikia.com/wiki/Sayid">Sayid</a>)</p> </td> </tr> <tr> <td> <p dir="ltr">#10</p> </td> <td> <p dir="ltr">"<a href="http://lostpedia.wikia.com/wiki/Raised_by_Another">Raised by Another</a>"</p> </td> <td> <p dir="ltr">(<a href="http://lostpedia.wikia.com/wiki/Claire">Claire</a>)</p> </td> </tr> <tr> <td> <p dir="ltr">#11</p> </td> <td> <p dir="ltr">"<a href="http://lostpedia.wikia.com/wiki/All_the_Best_Cowboys_Have_Daddy_Issues">All the Best Cowboys Have Daddy Issues</a>"</p> </td> <td> <p dir="ltr">(<a href="http://lostpedia.wikia.com/wiki/Jack">Jack</a>)</p> </td> </tr> <tr> <td> <p dir="ltr">#12</p> </td> <td> <p dir="ltr">"<a href="http://lostpedia.wikia.com/wiki/Whatever_the_Case_May_Be">Whatever the Case May Be</a>"</p> </td> <td> <p dir="ltr">(<a href="http://lostpedia.wikia.com/wiki/Kate">Kate</a>)</p> </td> </tr> <tr> <td> <p dir="ltr">#13</p> </td> <td> <p dir="ltr">"<a href="http://lostpedia.wikia.com/wiki/Hearts_and_Minds">Hearts and Minds</a>"</p> </td> <td> <p dir="ltr">(<a href="http://lostpedia.wikia.com/wiki/Boone">Boone</a>)</p> </td> </tr> <tr> <td> <p dir="ltr">#14</p> </td> <td> <p dir="ltr">"<a href="http://lostpedia.wikia.com/wiki/Special">Special</a>"</p> </td> <td> <p dir="ltr">(<a href="http://lostpedia.wikia.com/wiki/Michael">Michael</a> &<a href="http://lostpedia.wikia.com/wiki/Walt">Walt</a>)</p> </td> </tr> <tr> <td> <p dir="ltr">#15</p> </td> <td> <p dir="ltr">"<a href="http://lostpedia.wikia.com/wiki/Homecoming">Homecoming</a>"</p> </td> <td> <p dir="ltr">(<a href="http://lostpedia.wikia.com/wiki/Charlie">Charlie</a>)</p> </td> </tr> <tr> <td> <p dir="ltr">#16</p> </td> <td> <p dir="ltr">"<a href="http://lostpedia.wikia.com/wiki/Outlaws">Outlaws</a>"</p> </td> <td> <p dir="ltr">(<a href="http://lostpedia.wikia.com/wiki/Sawyer">Sawyer</a>)</p> </td> </tr> </tbody> </table>   <h2 dir="ltr">VILLAIN REVEALED</h2> <p dir="ltr">Locke finds the Hatch with the Numbers on it, convinced he needs to open it. He causes Boone’s death and lies about it to Jack who finally lets it go when Shannon almost shoots Locke.</p> <table><colgroup> <col width="46" /> <col width="150" /> <col width="76" /></colgroup> <tbody> <tr> <td> <p dir="ltr">#17</p> </td> <td> <p dir="ltr">"<a href="http://lostpedia.wikia.com/wiki/...In_Translation">...In Translation</a>"</p> </td> <td> <p dir="ltr">(<a href="http://lostpedia.wikia.com/wiki/Jin">Jin</a>)</p> </td> </tr> <tr> <td> <p dir="ltr">#18</p> </td> <td> <p dir="ltr">"<a href="http://lostpedia.wikia.com/wiki/Numbers_(episode)">Numbers</a>"</p> </td> <td> <p dir="ltr">(<a href="http://lostpedia.wikia.com/wiki/Hurley">Hurley</a>)</p> </td> </tr> <tr> <td> <p dir="ltr">#19</p> </td> <td> <p dir="ltr">"<a href="http://lostpedia.wikia.com/wiki/Deus_Ex_Machina">Deus Ex Machina</a>"</p> </td> <td> <p dir="ltr">(<a href="http://lostpedia.wikia.com/wiki/Locke">Locke</a>)</p> </td> </tr> <tr> <td> <p dir="ltr">#20</p> </td> <td> <p dir="ltr">"<a href="http://lostpedia.wikia.com/wiki/Do_No_Harm">Do No Harm</a>"</p> </td> <td> <p dir="ltr">(<a href="http://lostpedia.wikia.com/wiki/Jack">Jack</a>)</p> </td> </tr> <tr> <td></td> <td></td> <td></td> </tr> <tr> <td> <p dir="ltr">#21</p> </td> <td> <p dir="ltr">"<a href="http://lostpedia.wikia.com/wiki/The_Greater_Good">The Greater Good</a>"</p> </td> <td> <p dir="ltr">(<a href="http://lostpedia.wikia.com/wiki/Sayid">Sayid</a>)</p> </td> </tr> </tbody> </table>   <h2 dir="ltr">HOPE EXPLODES</h2> <p dir="ltr">The raft launches while Jack and Locke team up with Rousseau to get dynamite from the Black Rock to blow open the Hatch. The Others blow up the raft and take Walt.</p> <div dir="ltr"> <table><colgroup> <col width="44" /> <col width="139" /> <col width="82" /></colgroup> <tbody> <tr> <td> <p dir="ltr">#22</p> </td> <td> <p dir="ltr">"<a href="http://lostpedia.wikia.com/wiki/Born_to_Run">Born to Run</a>"</p> </td> <td> <p dir="ltr">(<a href="http://lostpedia.wikia.com/wiki/Kate">Kate</a>)</p> </td> </tr> <tr> <td> <p dir="ltr">#23</p> </td> <td> <p dir="ltr">"<a href="http://lostpedia.wikia.com/wiki/Exodus,_Part_1">Exodus, Part 1</a>"</p> </td> <td> <p dir="ltr">(Various)</p> </td> </tr> <tr> <td> <p dir="ltr">#24</p> </td> <td> <p dir="ltr">"<a href="http://lostpedia.wikia.com/wiki/Exodus,_Part_2">Exodus, Part 2</a>"</p> </td> <td> <p dir="ltr">(Various)</p> </td> </tr> </tbody> </table> </div> <p dir="ltr"><a href="http://fightinginthewarroom.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/02/LOST_SEASONIRIS.gif"><img class="size-full wp-image-387 aligncenter" alt="LOST_SEASONIRIS" src="http://fightinginthewarroom.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/02/LOST_SEASONIRIS.gif" width="695" height="302" /></a></p> <p dir="ltr">What I was most surprised to discover while cutting season one by removing the Flashes and then isolating the narrative arcs was (what I understand to be) the mythology of the series remained so in tact. Granted, a problem could emerge if I carried out the same method into the Season Five finales "The Incident, Part One and Two" because the Flashes reveal Jacob's connections to the characters.Still the question would remain: is our pre-knowledge of the series capable of accepting what we would otherwise dismiss as exposition when Locke explains the Candidate process in Season Six's cave or when Jacob explains to the remaining Candidates in "What They Died For?"</p> <h4 dir="ltr">Having lived the series in its entirety before there was an end, with the capability to judge each scene from the micro to the macro story-focus, what I found is that most of the essential plot points and dramatic moments hinge at the overlap of several story purposes. I was never at risk of cutting the greater metaphor of The Hatch or the ultimate victory of Charlie kicking heroin because the key moments in the main mythology and its narrative arcs were often the same scene. The construction of the episode into distinct narratives creates key moments and some of those moments--like Jack and Locke's confrontation in the season one finale--echo through the entire series mythology.</h4> <p dir="ltr">What's left of season one is actually a coherent story of a group of survivors on a mysterious Island. They overcome obstacles and they learn about themselves, albeit in an abbreviated fashion. To someone that's seen season one of <em>Lost</em>, however, it's a pleasant refresher of how interpersonal relationships and abductions made up the majority of this science fiction show.</p>   [vimeography id="1"] <!--nextpage--> <p dir="ltr">The idea was never to ruin <em>Lost</em> but rather to reveal another side of it--the side I ostensibly wanted when the series ended in that church. This isolation of the Island plot allows for a focus that provides context clues to answer a lot of the Island questions while only excising character and theme.</p> <p dir="ltr">May I present the entire series of Lost, robbed of its filler, broken into mini-arcs:</p> <h2 dir="ltr"><a href="http://fightinginthewarroom.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/02/SSN1_GIF.gif"><img class="size-full wp-image-306 aligncenter" alt="SSN1_GIF" src="http://fightinginthewarroom.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/02/SSN1_GIF.gif" width="650" height="339" /></a></h2> <h2 dir="ltr">THE SURVIVORS</h2> <p dir="ltr">The individual survivors have to find food, clean water, shelter, and help Charlie kick heroin addiction.</p> <div dir="ltr"> <table><colgroup> <col width="37" /> <col width="165" /> <col width="66" /></colgroup> <tbody> <tr> <td> <p dir="ltr">#03</p> </td> <td> <p dir="ltr">"<a href="http://lostpedia.wikia.com/wiki/Tabula_Rasa">Tabula Rasa</a>"</p> </td> <td> <p dir="ltr">(<a href="http://lostpedia.wikia.com/wiki/Kate">Kate</a>)</p> </td> </tr> <tr> <td> <p dir="ltr">#04</p> </td> <td> <p dir="ltr">"<a href="http://lostpedia.wikia.com/wiki/Walkabout">Walkabout</a>"</p> </td> <td> <p dir="ltr">(<a href="http://lostpedia.wikia.com/wiki/Locke">Locke</a>)</p> </td> </tr> <tr> <td> <p dir="ltr">#05</p> </td> <td> <p dir="ltr">"<a href="http://lostpedia.wikia.com/wiki/White_Rabbit">White Rabbit</a>"</p> </td> <td> <p dir="ltr">(<a href="http://lostpedia.wikia.com/wiki/Jack">Jack</a>)</p> </td> </tr> <tr> <td> <p dir="ltr">#06</p> </td> <td> <p dir="ltr">"<a href="http://lostpedia.wikia.com/wiki/House_of_the_Rising_Sun">House of the Rising Sun</a>"</p> </td> <td> <p dir="ltr">(<a href="http://lostpedia.wikia.com/wiki/Sun">Sun</a>)</p> </td> </tr> <tr> <td> <p dir="ltr">#07</p> </td> <td> <p dir="ltr">"<a href="http://lostpedia.wikia.com/wiki/The_Moth">The Moth</a>"</p> </td> <td> <p dir="ltr">(<a href="http://lostpedia.wikia.com/wiki/Charlie">Charlie</a>)</p> </td> </tr> <tr> <td> <p dir="ltr">#08</p> </td> <td> <p dir="ltr">"<a href="http://lostpedia.wikia.com/wiki/Confidence_Man">Confidence Man</a>"</p> </td> <td> <p dir="ltr">(<a href="http://lostpedia.wikia.com/wiki/Sawyer">Sawyer</a>)</p> </td> </tr> </tbody> </table> </div>   <h2 dir="ltr">ABDUCTIONS AND GUNS</h2> <p dir="ltr"> Sayid meets Rousseau who tells him about The Others. Charlie is assaulted and Claire is abducted by Ethan, Jack and the survivors find guns to protect themselves, Claire is returned and Charlie executes Ethan - the only Other we’ve seen.</p> <table><colgroup> <col width="59" /> <col width="116" /> <col width="93" /></colgroup> <tbody> <tr> <td> <p dir="ltr">#09</p> </td> <td> <p dir="ltr">"<a href="http://lostpedia.wikia.com/wiki/Solitary">Solitary</a>"</p> </td> <td> <p dir="ltr">(<a href="http://lostpedia.wikia.com/wiki/Sayid">Sayid</a>)</p> </td> </tr> <tr> <td> <p dir="ltr">#10</p> </td> <td> <p dir="ltr">"<a href="http://lostpedia.wikia.com/wiki/Raised_by_Another">Raised by Another</a>"</p> </td> <td> <p dir="ltr">(<a href="http://lostpedia.wikia.com/wiki/Claire">Claire</a>)</p> </td> </tr> <tr> <td> <p dir="ltr">#11</p> </td> <td> <p dir="ltr">"<a href="http://lostpedia.wikia.com/wiki/All_the_Best_Cowboys_Have_Daddy_Issues">All the Best Cowboys Have Daddy Issues</a>"</p> </td> <td> <p dir="ltr">(<a href="http://lostpedia.wikia.com/wiki/Jack">Jack</a>)</p> </td> </tr> <tr> <td> <p dir="ltr">#12</p> </td> <td> <p dir="ltr">"<a href="http://lostpedia.wikia.com/wiki/Whatever_the_Case_May_Be">Whatever the Case May Be</a>"</p> </td> <td> <p dir="ltr">(<a href="http://lostpedia.wikia.com/wiki/Kate">Kate</a>)</p> </td> </tr> <tr> <td> <p dir="ltr">#13</p> </td> <td> <p dir="ltr">"<a href="http://lostpedia.wikia.com/wiki/Hearts_and_Minds">Hearts and Minds</a>"</p> </td> <td> <p dir="ltr">(<a href="http://lostpedia.wikia.com/wiki/Boone">Boone</a>)</p> </td> </tr> <tr> <td> <p dir="ltr">#14</p> </td> <td> <p dir="ltr">"<a href="http://lostpedia.wikia.com/wiki/Special">Special</a>"</p> </td> <td> <p dir="ltr">(<a href="http://lostpedia.wikia.com/wiki/Michael">Michael</a> &<a href="http://lostpedia.wikia.com/wiki/Walt">Walt</a>)</p> </td> </tr> <tr> <td> <p dir="ltr">#15</p> </td> <td> <p dir="ltr">"<a href="http://lostpedia.wikia.com/wiki/Homecoming">Homecoming</a>"</p> </td> <td> <p dir="ltr">(<a href="http://lostpedia.wikia.com/wiki/Charlie">Charlie</a>)</p> </td> </tr> <tr> <td> <p dir="ltr">#16</p> </td> <td> <p dir="ltr">"<a href="http://lostpedia.wikia.com/wiki/Outlaws">Outlaws</a>"</p> </td> <td> <p dir="ltr">(<a href="http://lostpedia.wikia.com/wiki/Sawyer">Sawyer</a>)</p> </td> </tr> </tbody> </table>   <h2 dir="ltr">VILLAIN REVEALED</h2> <p dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;">Locke finds the Hatch with the Numbers on it, convinced he needs to open it. He causes Boone’s death and lies about it to Jack who finally lets it go when Shannon almost shoots Locke.</p> <table><colgroup> <col width="46" /> <col width="150" /> <col width="76" /></colgroup> <tbody> <tr> <td> <p dir="ltr">#17</p> </td> <td> <p dir="ltr">"<a href="http://lostpedia.wikia.com/wiki/...In_Translation">...In Translation</a>"</p> </td> <td> <p dir="ltr">(<a href="http://lostpedia.wikia.com/wiki/Jin">Jin</a>)</p> </td> </tr> <tr> <td> <p dir="ltr">#18</p> </td> <td> <p dir="ltr">"<a href="http://lostpedia.wikia.com/wiki/Numbers_(episode)">Numbers</a>"</p> </td> <td> <p dir="ltr">(<a href="http://lostpedia.wikia.com/wiki/Hurley">Hurley</a>)</p> </td> </tr> <tr> <td> <p dir="ltr">#19</p> </td> <td> <p dir="ltr">"<a href="http://lostpedia.wikia.com/wiki/Deus_Ex_Machina">Deus Ex Machina</a>"</p> </td> <td> <p dir="ltr">(<a href="http://lostpedia.wikia.com/wiki/Locke">Locke</a>)</p> </td> </tr> <tr> <td> <p dir="ltr">#20</p> </td> <td> <p dir="ltr">"<a href="http://lostpedia.wikia.com/wiki/Do_No_Harm">Do No Harm</a>"</p> </td> <td> <p dir="ltr">(<a href="http://lostpedia.wikia.com/wiki/Jack">Jack</a>)</p> </td> </tr> <tr> <td></td> <td></td> <td></td> </tr> <tr> <td> <p dir="ltr">#21</p> </td> <td> <p dir="ltr">"<a href="http://lostpedia.wikia.com/wiki/The_Greater_Good">The Greater Good</a>"</p> </td> <td> <p dir="ltr">(<a href="http://lostpedia.wikia.com/wiki/Sayid">Sayid</a>)</p> </td> </tr> </tbody> </table>   <h2 dir="ltr">HOPE EXPLODES</h2> <p dir="ltr">The raft launches while Jack and Locke team up with Rousseau to get dynamite from the Black Rock to blow open the Hatch. The Others blow up the raft and take Walt.</p> <div dir="ltr"> <table><colgroup> <col width="44" /> <col width="139" /> <col width="82" /></colgroup> <tbody> <tr> <td> <p dir="ltr">#22</p> </td> <td> <p dir="ltr">"<a href="http://lostpedia.wikia.com/wiki/Born_to_Run">Born to Run</a>"</p> </td> <td> <p dir="ltr">(<a href="http://lostpedia.wikia.com/wiki/Kate">Kate</a>)</p> </td> </tr> <tr> <td> <p dir="ltr">#23</p> </td> <td> <p dir="ltr">"<a href="http://lostpedia.wikia.com/wiki/Exodus,_Part_1">Exodus, Part 1</a>"</p> </td> <td> <p dir="ltr">(Various)</p> </td> </tr> <tr> <td> <p dir="ltr">#24</p> </td> <td> <p dir="ltr">"<a href="http://lostpedia.wikia.com/wiki/Exodus,_Part_2">Exodus, Part 2</a>"</p> </td> <td> <p dir="ltr">(Various)</p> </td> </tr> </tbody> </table> <h2 style="text-align: center;"></h2> <a href="http://fightinginthewarroom.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/SSN2_GIF3.gif"><img class="size-full wp-image-314 aligncenter" alt="SSN2_GIF3" src="http://fightinginthewarroom.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/SSN2_GIF3.gif" width="650" height="339" /></a> <h2></h2> <h2>THE SWAN AND THE CAPTIVES</h2> (Episodes 1-4) Jack and Locke debate the purpose and meaning of The Hatch/The Swan station while the survivors of the assault on the raft wash up amongst the unfriendly Tailies. <div dir="ltr"> <table><colgroup> <col width="33" /> <col width="159" /> <col width="69" /></colgroup> <tbody> <tr> <td> <p dir="ltr">#01</p> </td> <td> <p dir="ltr">"<a href="http://lostpedia.wikia.com/wiki/Man_of_Science,_Man_of_Faith">Man of Science, Man of Faith</a>"</p> </td> <td> <p dir="ltr">(<a href="http://lostpedia.wikia.com/wiki/Jack">Jack</a>)</p> </td> </tr> <tr> <td> <p dir="ltr">#02</p> </td> <td> <p dir="ltr">"<a href="http://lostpedia.wikia.com/wiki/Adrift">Adrift</a>"</p> </td> <td> <p dir="ltr">(<a href="http://lostpedia.wikia.com/wiki/Michael">Michael</a>)</p> </td> </tr> <tr> <td> <p dir="ltr">#03</p> </td> <td> <p dir="ltr">"<a href="http://lostpedia.wikia.com/wiki/Orientation">Orientation</a>"</p> </td> <td> <p dir="ltr">(<a href="http://lostpedia.wikia.com/wiki/Locke">Locke</a>)</p> </td> </tr> <tr> <td> <p dir="ltr">#04</p> </td> <td> <p dir="ltr">"<a href="http://lostpedia.wikia.com/wiki/Everybody_Hates_Hugo">Everybody Hates Hugo</a>"</p> </td> </tr> </tbody> </table> <h2>DON'T WANDER IN THE JUNGLE</h2> (Episodes 5 & 6) - Michael wanders in the Jungle looking for Walt, Sun loses her wedding ring, Sawyer's injuries aren't helped when the Tailies also wander the Island. <div dir="ltr"> <table><colgroup> <col width="33" /> <col width="159" /> <col width="69" /></colgroup> <tbody> <tr> <td> <p dir="ltr">#05</p> </td> <td> <p dir="ltr">"<a href="http://lostpedia.wikia.com/wiki/...And_Found">...And Found</a>"</p> </td> <td> <p dir="ltr">(<a href="http://lostpedia.wikia.com/wiki/Jin">Jin</a> & <a href="http://lostpedia.wikia.com/wiki/Sun">Sun</a>)</p> </td> </tr> <tr> <td> <p dir="ltr">#06</p> </td> <td> <p dir="ltr">"<a href="http://lostpedia.wikia.com/wiki/Abandoned">Abandoned</a>"</p> </td> <td> <p dir="ltr">(<a href="http://lostpedia.wikia.com/wiki/Shannon">Shannon</a>)</p> </td> </tr> </tbody> </table> <h2>THE TAILIES</h2> (Episodes 7-9) - The story of the survivors of the tail section of the plane and their merging with the Losties after Ana Lucia shoots Shannon. <div dir="ltr"> <table><colgroup> <col width="33" /> <col width="159" /> <col width="69" /></colgroup> <tbody> <tr> <td> <p dir="ltr">#07</p> </td> <td> <p dir="ltr">"<a href="http://lostpedia.wikia.com/wiki/The_Other_48_Days">The Other 48 Days</a>"</p> </td> <td> <p dir="ltr">(<a href="http://lostpedia.wikia.com/wiki/Tailies">Tailies</a>)</p> </td> </tr> <tr> <td> <p dir="ltr">#08</p> </td> <td> <p dir="ltr">"<a href="http://lostpedia.wikia.com/wiki/Collision">Collision</a>"</p> </td> <td> <p dir="ltr">(<a href="http://lostpedia.wikia.com/wiki/Ana_Lucia">Ana Lucia</a>)</p> </td> </tr> <tr> <td> <p dir="ltr">#09</p> </td> <td> <p dir="ltr">"<a href="http://lostpedia.wikia.com/wiki/What_Kate_Did">What Kate Did</a>"</p> </td> <td> <p dir="ltr">(<a href="http://lostpedia.wikia.com/wiki/Kate">Kate</a>)</p> </td> </tr> </tbody> </table> <h2>FISSURES AND CHILDREN</h2> (Episodes 10-16) The Island calls Mr. Echo to his brother's downed plane, which reintroduces heroin into Charlie's struggle with addiction. The Losties are worried about baby Aaron and search for a cure when he comes down ill. Sun takes an interest because she's secretly pregnant. <div dir="ltr"> <table><colgroup> <col width="33" /> <col width="159" /> <col width="69" /></colgroup> <tbody> <tr> <td> <p dir="ltr">#10</p> </td> <td> <p dir="ltr">"<a href="http://lostpedia.wikia.com/wiki/The_23rd_Psalm">The 23rd Psalm</a>"</p> </td> <td> <p dir="ltr">(<a href="http://lostpedia.wikia.com/wiki/Eko">Eko</a>)</p> </td> </tr> <tr> <td> <p dir="ltr">#11</p> </td> <td> <p dir="ltr">"<a href="http://lostpedia.wikia.com/wiki/The_Hunting_Party">The Hunting Party</a>"</p> </td> <td> <p dir="ltr">(<a href="http://lostpedia.wikia.com/wiki/Jack">Jack</a>)</p> </td> </tr> <tr> <td> <p dir="ltr">#12</p> </td> <td> <p dir="ltr">"<a href="http://lostpedia.wikia.com/wiki/Fire_%2B_Water">Fire + Water</a>"</p> </td> <td> <p dir="ltr">(<a href="http://lostpedia.wikia.com/wiki/Charlie">Charlie</a>)</p> </td> </tr> <tr> <td> <p dir="ltr">#13</p> </td> <td> <p dir="ltr">"<a href="http://lostpedia.wikia.com/wiki/The_Long_Con">The Long Con</a>"</p> </td> <td> <p dir="ltr">(<a href="http://lostpedia.wikia.com/wiki/Sawyer">Sawyer</a>)</p> </td> </tr> <tr> <td> <p dir="ltr">#14</p> </td> <td> <p dir="ltr">"<a href="http://lostpedia.wikia.com/wiki/One_of_Them">One of Them</a>"</p> </td> <td> <p dir="ltr">(<a href="http://lostpedia.wikia.com/wiki/Sayid">Sayid</a>)</p> </td> </tr> <tr> <td> <p dir="ltr">#15</p> </td> <td> <p dir="ltr">"<a href="http://lostpedia.wikia.com/wiki/Maternity_Leave">Maternity Leave</a>"</p> </td> <td> <p dir="ltr">(<a href="http://lostpedia.wikia.com/wiki/Claire">Claire</a>)</p> </td> </tr> <tr> <td> <p dir="ltr">#16</p> </td> <td> <p dir="ltr">"<a href="http://lostpedia.wikia.com/wiki/The_Whole_Truth">The Whole Truth</a>"</p> </td> <td> <p dir="ltr">(<a href="http://lostpedia.wikia.com/wiki/Sun">Sun</a>)</p> </td> </tr> </tbody> </table> <h2>HENRY GALE AND FAITH</h2> (Episodes 17 - 24) The mysterious Henry Gale reveals himself to be a master manipulator, getting Kate, Jack, Sawyer and Hurly over to his side of the Island, releasing Michael after his double cross, and causing Locke to lose faith, leading to the destruction of The Hatch and the Lostie's first Electromagnetic Event. <div dir="ltr"> <table><colgroup> <col width="33" /> <col width="159" /> <col width="69" /></colgroup> <tbody> <tr> <td> <p dir="ltr">#17</p> </td> <td> <p dir="ltr">"<a href="http://lostpedia.wikia.com/wiki/Lockdown">Lockdown</a>"</p> </td> <td> <p dir="ltr">(<a href="http://lostpedia.wikia.com/wiki/Locke">Locke</a>)</p> </td> </tr> <tr> <td> <p dir="ltr">#18</p> </td> <td> <p dir="ltr">"<a href="http://lostpedia.wikia.com/wiki/Dave">Dave</a>"</p> </td> <td> <p dir="ltr">(<a href="http://lostpedia.wikia.com/wiki/Hurley">Hurley</a>)</p> </td> </tr> <tr> <td> <p dir="ltr">#19</p> </td> <td> <p dir="ltr">"<a href="http://lostpedia.wikia.com/wiki/S.O.S.">S.O.S.</a>"</p> </td> <td> <p dir="ltr">(<a href="http://lostpedia.wikia.com/wiki/Rose">Rose</a> &<a href="http://lostpedia.wikia.com/wiki/Bernard">Bernard</a>)</p> </td> </tr> <tr> <td> <p dir="ltr">#20</p> </td> <td> <p dir="ltr">"<a href="http://lostpedia.wikia.com/wiki/Two_for_the_Road">Two for the Road</a>"</p> </td> <td> <p dir="ltr">(<a href="http://lostpedia.wikia.com/wiki/Ana_Lucia">Ana Lucia</a>)</p> </td> </tr> <tr> <td> <p dir="ltr">#21</p> </td> <td> <p dir="ltr">"<a href="http://lostpedia.wikia.com/wiki/%3F">?</a>"</p> </td> <td> <p dir="ltr">(<a href="http://lostpedia.wikia.com/wiki/Eko">Eko</a>)</p> </td> </tr> <tr> <td> <p dir="ltr">#22</p> </td> <td> <p dir="ltr">"<a href="http://lostpedia.wikia.com/wiki/Three_Minutes">Three Minutes</a>"</p> </td> <td> <p dir="ltr">(<a href="http://lostpedia.wikia.com/wiki/Michael">Michael</a>)</p> </td> </tr> <tr> <td> <p dir="ltr">#23</p> </td> <td> <p dir="ltr">"<a href="http://lostpedia.wikia.com/wiki/Live_Together,_Die_Alone">Live Together, Die Alone, Part 1</a>"</p> </td> <td> <p dir="ltr">(<a href="http://lostpedia.wikia.com/wiki/Desmond">Desmond</a>)</p> </td> </tr> <tr> <td> <p dir="ltr">#24</p> </td> <td> <p dir="ltr">"<a href="http://lostpedia.wikia.com/wiki/Live_Together,_Die_Alone">Live Together, Die Alone, Part 2</a>"</p> </td> <td> <p dir="ltr">(<a href="http://lostpedia.wikia.com/wiki/Desmond">Desmond</a>)</p> </td> </tr> </tbody> </table> <h2><a href="http://fightinginthewarroom.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/02/SSN3_GIF.gif"><img class="size-full wp-image-320 aligncenter" alt="SSN3_GIF" src="http://fightinginthewarroom.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/02/SSN3_GIF.gif" width="650" height="339" /></a></h2> <h2>BEN'S PLOT</h2> Ben's cancer leads him to psychologically torturing Kate, Sawyer and Jack in an attempt to get Jack to operate on him and to drive the love triangle apart. Eventually, Jack and his captor Juliet discover they have a mutual enemy in Ben. <div dir="ltr"> <table><colgroup> <col width="38" /> <col width="150" /> <col width="80" /></colgroup> <tbody> <tr> <td> <p dir="ltr">#01</p> </td> <td> <p dir="ltr">"<a href="http://lostpedia.wikia.com/wiki/A_Tale_of_Two_Cities">A Tale of Two Cities</a>"</p> </td> <td> <p dir="ltr">(<a href="http://lostpedia.wikia.com/wiki/Jack">Jack</a>)</p> </td> </tr> <tr> <td> <p dir="ltr">#02</p> </td> <td> <p dir="ltr">"<a href="http://lostpedia.wikia.com/wiki/The_Glass_Ballerina">The Glass Ballerina</a>"</p> </td> <td> <p dir="ltr">(<a href="http://lostpedia.wikia.com/wiki/Jin">Jin</a> & <a href="http://lostpedia.wikia.com/wiki/Sun">Sun</a>)</p> </td> </tr> <tr> <td> <p dir="ltr">#03</p> </td> <td> <p dir="ltr">"<a href="http://lostpedia.wikia.com/wiki/Further_Instructions">Further Instructions</a>"</p> </td> <td> <p dir="ltr">(<a href="http://lostpedia.wikia.com/wiki/Locke">Locke</a>)</p> </td> </tr> <tr> <td> <p dir="ltr">#04</p> </td> <td> <p dir="ltr">"<a href="http://lostpedia.wikia.com/wiki/Every_Man_for_Himself">Every Man for Himself</a>"</p> </td> <td> <p dir="ltr">(<a href="http://lostpedia.wikia.com/wiki/Sawyer">Sawyer</a>)</p> </td> </tr> <tr> <td> <p dir="ltr">#05</p> </td> <td> <p dir="ltr">"<a href="http://lostpedia.wikia.com/wiki/The_Cost_of_Living">The Cost of Living</a>"</p> </td> <td> <p dir="ltr">(<a href="http://lostpedia.wikia.com/wiki/Eko">Eko</a>)</p> </td> </tr> <tr> <td> <p dir="ltr">#06</p> </td> <td> <p dir="ltr">"<a href="http://lostpedia.wikia.com/wiki/I_Do">I Do</a>"</p> </td> <td> <p dir="ltr">(<a href="http://lostpedia.wikia.com/wiki/Kate">Kate</a>)</p> </td> </tr> <tr> <td> <p dir="ltr">#07</p> </td> <td> <p dir="ltr">"<a href="http://lostpedia.wikia.com/wiki/Not_in_Portland">Not in Portland</a>"</p> </td> <td> <p dir="ltr">(<a href="http://lostpedia.wikia.com/wiki/Juliet">Juliet</a>)</p> </td> </tr> </tbody> </table> </div> <h2> Attempting To Prevent Tragedy</h2> Desmond's been seeing the future since he survived the Hatch explosion, Hurley fixes a Dharma Van in an attempt to stave off hopelessness and the other Losties continue to try and find the Others' main camp on the Island. <div dir="ltr"> <table><colgroup> <col width="33" /> <col width="154" /> <col width="85" /></colgroup> <tbody> <tr> <td> <p dir="ltr">#08</p> </td> <td> <p dir="ltr">"<a href="http://lostpedia.wikia.com/wiki/Flashes_Before_Your_Eyes">Flashes Before Your Eyes</a>"</p> </td> <td> <p dir="ltr">(<a href="http://lostpedia.wikia.com/wiki/Desmond">Desmond</a>)</p> </td> </tr> <tr> <td> <p dir="ltr">#09</p> </td> <td> <p dir="ltr">"<a href="http://lostpedia.wikia.com/wiki/Stranger_in_a_Strange_Land">Stranger in a Strange Land</a>"</p> </td> <td> <p dir="ltr">(<a href="http://lostpedia.wikia.com/wiki/Jack">Jack</a>)</p> </td> </tr> <tr> <td> <p dir="ltr">#10</p> </td> <td> <p dir="ltr">"<a href="http://lostpedia.wikia.com/wiki/Tricia_Tanaka_Is_Dead">Tricia Tanaka Is Dead</a>"</p> </td> <td> <p dir="ltr">(<a href="http://lostpedia.wikia.com/wiki/Hurley">Hurley</a>)</p> </td> </tr> <tr> <td> <p dir="ltr">#11</p> </td> <td> <p dir="ltr">"<a href="http://lostpedia.wikia.com/wiki/Enter_77">Enter 77</a>"</p> </td> <td> <p dir="ltr">(<a href="http://lostpedia.wikia.com/wiki/Sayid">Sayid</a>)</p> </td> </tr> <tr> <td> <p dir="ltr">#12</p> </td> <td> <p dir="ltr">"<a href="http://lostpedia.wikia.com/wiki/Par_Avion">Par Avion</a>"</p> </td> <td> <p dir="ltr">(<a href="http://lostpedia.wikia.com/wiki/Claire">Claire</a>)</p> </td> </tr> </tbody> </table> </div> <h2> Recontextualize Yourself</h2> Locke blows up the submarine and demands answers from Ben, Nikki and Paolo meet their end while casting suspicion on Sawyer, Juliet and Kate find themselves in an odd situation while handcuffed together. <div dir="ltr"> <table><colgroup> <col width="34" /> <col width="162" /> <col width="69" /></colgroup> <tbody> <tr> <td> <p dir="ltr">#13</p> </td> <td> <p dir="ltr">"<a href="http://lostpedia.wikia.com/wiki/The_Man_from_Tallahassee">The Man from Tallahassee</a>"</p> </td> <td> <p dir="ltr">(<a href="http://lostpedia.wikia.com/wiki/Locke">Locke</a>)</p> </td> </tr> <tr> <td> <p dir="ltr">#14</p> </td> <td> <p dir="ltr">"<a href="http://lostpedia.wikia.com/wiki/Expos%C3%A9">Exposé</a>"</p> </td> <td> <p dir="ltr">(<a href="http://lostpedia.wikia.com/wiki/Nikki">Nikki</a> & <a href="http://lostpedia.wikia.com/wiki/Paulo">Paulo</a>)</p> </td> </tr> <tr> <td> <p dir="ltr">#15</p> </td> <td> <p dir="ltr">"<a href="http://lostpedia.wikia.com/wiki/Left_Behind">Left Behind</a>"</p> </td> <td> <p dir="ltr">(<a href="http://lostpedia.wikia.com/wiki/Kate">Kate</a>)</p> </td> </tr> </tbody> </table> </div> <h2>The Illusion of Solutions</h2> Juliet joins the Losties and helps Sun with her pregnancy scares, Desmond realizes he can't stop Charlie from dying. <div dir="ltr"> <table><colgroup> <col width="34" /> <col width="162" /> <col width="69" /></colgroup> <tbody> <tr> <td> <p dir="ltr">#16</p> </td> <td> <p dir="ltr">"<a href="http://lostpedia.wikia.com/wiki/One_of_Us">One of Us</a>"</p> </td> <td> <p dir="ltr">(<a href="http://lostpedia.wikia.com/wiki/Juliet">Juliet</a>)</p> </td> </tr> <tr> <td> <p dir="ltr">#17</p> </td> <td> <p dir="ltr">"<a href="http://lostpedia.wikia.com/wiki/Catch-22">Catch-22</a>"</p> </td> <td> <p dir="ltr">(<a href="http://lostpedia.wikia.com/wiki/Desmond">Desmond</a>)</p> </td> </tr> <tr> <td> <p dir="ltr">#18</p> </td> <td> <p dir="ltr">"<a href="http://lostpedia.wikia.com/wiki/D.O.C.">D.O.C.</a>"</p> </td> <td> <p dir="ltr">(<a href="http://lostpedia.wikia.com/wiki/Sun">Sun</a>)</p> </td> </tr> </tbody> </table> </div> <h2> Sacrifices The Island Required</h2> Locke and Sawyer kill Locke's Father, Ben reveals that he killed the Dharma Initiative to become the Leader of The Others, communicating with "Jacob." Charlie dies alerting the survivors that the approaching freighter does not belong to Penny. <div dir="ltr"> <table><colgroup> <col width="34" /> <col width="162" /> <col width="69" /></colgroup> <tbody> <tr> <td> <p dir="ltr">#19</p> </td> <td> <p dir="ltr">"<a href="http://lostpedia.wikia.com/wiki/The_Brig">The Brig</a>"</p> </td> <td> <p dir="ltr">(<a href="http://lostpedia.wikia.com/wiki/Locke">Locke</a>)</p> </td> </tr> <tr> <td> <p dir="ltr">#20</p> </td> <td> <p dir="ltr">"<a href="http://lostpedia.wikia.com/wiki/The_Man_Behind_the_Curtain">The Man Behind the Curtain</a>"</p> </td> <td> <p dir="ltr">(<a href="http://lostpedia.wikia.com/wiki/Ben">Ben</a>)</p> </td> </tr> <tr> <td> <p dir="ltr">#21</p> </td> <td> <p dir="ltr">"<a href="http://lostpedia.wikia.com/wiki/Greatest_Hits">Greatest Hits</a>"</p> </td> <td> <p dir="ltr">(<a href="http://lostpedia.wikia.com/wiki/Charlie">Charlie</a>)</p> </td> </tr> <tr> <td> <p dir="ltr">#22</p> </td> <td> <p dir="ltr">"<a href="http://lostpedia.wikia.com/wiki/Through_the_Looking_Glass">Through the Looking Glass</a>"</p> </td> <td> <p dir="ltr">(<a href="http://lostpedia.wikia.com/wiki/Jack">Jack</a>)</p> </td> </tr> </tbody> </table> </div> <h2><a href="http://fightinginthewarroom.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/SSN4_GIF.gif"><img class="alignnone size-full wp-image-324" alt="SSN4_GIF" src="http://fightinginthewarroom.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/SSN4_GIF.gif" width="650" height="339" /></a></h2> <h2><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">What Does The Freighter Want?</span><span style="font-size: 14px; line-height: 1.5em;"> </span></h2> As a science team from the mysterious freighter off shore lands on the Island, the Survivors struggle with believing the new arrivals are really here to save them. <div dir="ltr"> <table><colgroup> <col width="33" /> <col width="143" /> <col width="85" /></colgroup> <tbody> <tr> <td> <p dir="ltr">#01</p> </td> <td> <p dir="ltr">"<a href="http://lostpedia.wikia.com/wiki/The_Beginning_of_the_End">The Beginning of the End</a>"</p> </td> <td> <p dir="ltr">(<a href="http://lostpedia.wikia.com/wiki/Hurley">Hurley</a>)</p> </td> </tr> <tr> <td> <p dir="ltr">#02</p> </td> <td> <p dir="ltr">"<a href="http://lostpedia.wikia.com/wiki/Confirmed_Dead">Confirmed Dead</a>"</p> </td> <td> <p dir="ltr">(<a href="http://lostpedia.wikia.com/wiki/Science_team">Science team</a>)</p> </td> </tr> <tr> <td> <p dir="ltr">#03</p> </td> <td> <p dir="ltr">"<a href="http://lostpedia.wikia.com/wiki/The_Economist">The Economist</a>"</p> </td> <td> <p dir="ltr">(<a href="http://lostpedia.wikia.com/wiki/Sayid">Sayid</a>)</p> </td> </tr> <tr> <td> <p dir="ltr">#04</p> </td> <td> <p dir="ltr">"<a href="http://lostpedia.wikia.com/wiki/Eggtown">Eggtown</a>"</p> </td> <td> <p dir="ltr">(<a href="http://lostpedia.wikia.com/wiki/Kate">Kate</a>)</p> </td> </tr> </tbody> </table> </div> <h2>Forced Revelations</h2> Desmond has to be anchored in time to save his life, Juliet reveals the Island's pregnancy issues means Sun has to leave the Island, Charlotte and Faraday shut down the poison gas failsafe Ben controls. <div dir="ltr"> <table><colgroup> <col width="37" /> <col width="142" /> <col width="79" /></colgroup> <tbody> <tr> <td> <p dir="ltr">#05</p> </td> <td> <p dir="ltr">"<a href="http://lostpedia.wikia.com/wiki/The_Constant">The Constant</a>"</p> </td> <td> <p dir="ltr">(<a href="http://lostpedia.wikia.com/wiki/Desmond">Desmond</a>)</p> </td> </tr> <tr> <td> <p dir="ltr">#06</p> </td> <td> <p dir="ltr">"<a href="http://lostpedia.wikia.com/wiki/The_Other_Woman">The Other Woman</a>"</p> </td> <td> <p dir="ltr">(<a href="http://lostpedia.wikia.com/wiki/Juliet">Juliet</a>)</p> </td> </tr> <tr> <td> <p dir="ltr">#07</p> </td> <td> <p dir="ltr">"<a href="http://lostpedia.wikia.com/wiki/Ji_Yeon">Ji Yeon</a>"</p> </td> <td> <p dir="ltr">(<a href="http://lostpedia.wikia.com/wiki/Sun">Sun</a> & <a href="http://lostpedia.wikia.com/wiki/Jin">Jin</a>)</p> </td> </tr> <tr> <td> <p dir="ltr">#08</p> </td> <td> <p dir="ltr">"<a href="http://lostpedia.wikia.com/wiki/Meet_Kevin_Johnson">Meet Kevin Johnson</a>"</p> </td> <td> <p dir="ltr">(<a href="http://lostpedia.wikia.com/wiki/Michael">Michael</a>)</p> </td> </tr> </tbody> </table> <h2>The Truth About Ben</h2> The attack by the freighter mercenaries causes the death of Alex and reveals Ben and Widmore's ongoing feud. Locke steps up to protect the Island while it's most recent Leaders try to kill each other. <div dir="ltr"> <table><colgroup> <col width="33" /> <col width="185" /> <col width="68" /></colgroup> <tbody> <tr> <td> <p dir="ltr">#09</p> </td> <td> <p dir="ltr">"<a href="http://lostpedia.wikia.com/wiki/The_Shape_of_Things_to_Come">The Shape of Things to Come</a>"</p> </td> <td> <p dir="ltr">(<a href="http://lostpedia.wikia.com/wiki/Ben">Ben</a>)</p> </td> </tr> <tr> <td> <p dir="ltr">#10</p> </td> <td> <p dir="ltr">"<a href="http://lostpedia.wikia.com/wiki/Something_Nice_Back_Home">Something Nice Back Home</a>"</p> </td> <td> <p dir="ltr">(<a href="http://lostpedia.wikia.com/wiki/Jack">Jack</a>)</p> </td> </tr> <tr> <td> <p dir="ltr">#11</p> </td> <td> <p dir="ltr">"<a href="http://lostpedia.wikia.com/wiki/Cabin_Fever">Cabin Fever</a>"</p> </td> <td> <p dir="ltr">(<a href="http://lostpedia.wikia.com/wiki/Locke">Locke</a>)</p> </td> </tr> </tbody> </table> <h2>The Loop Opens</h2> A bomb on the freighter plus Ben's plan to move the Island set into motion the chain of events that eventually lead to the creation of The Hatch, the pregnancy problems on the Island and the Man In Black's loophole plan. <div dir="ltr"> <table><colgroup> <col width="33" /> <col width="185" /> <col width="68" /></colgroup> <tbody> <tr> <td> <p dir="ltr">#12</p> </td> <td> <p dir="ltr">"<a href="http://lostpedia.wikia.com/wiki/There%27s_No_Place_Like_Home,_Part_1">There's No Place Like Home, Part 1</a>"</p> </td> <td> <p dir="ltr">(<a href="http://lostpedia.wikia.com/wiki/Oceanic_Six">Oceanic 6</a>)</p> </td> </tr> <tr> <td> <p dir="ltr">#13</p> </td> <td> <p dir="ltr">"<a href="http://lostpedia.wikia.com/wiki/There%27s_No_Place_Like_Home,_Parts_2_%26_3">There's No Place Like Home, Part 2</a>"</p> </td> <td> <p dir="ltr">(<a href="http://lostpedia.wikia.com/wiki/Oceanic_Six">Oceanic 6</a>)</p> </td> </tr> <tr> <td> <p dir="ltr">#14</p> </td> <td> <p dir="ltr">"<a href="http://lostpedia.wikia.com/wiki/There%27s_No_Place_Like_Home,_Parts_2_%26_3">There's No Place Like Home, Part 3</a>"</p> </td> <td> <p dir="ltr">(<a href="http://lostpedia.wikia.com/wiki/Oceanic_Six">Oceanic 6</a>)</p> </td> </tr> </tbody> </table> <h2><a href="http://fightinginthewarroom.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/02/SSN5_GIF2.gif"><img class="size-full wp-image-435 aligncenter" alt="SSN5_GIF2" src="http://fightinginthewarroom.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/02/SSN5_GIF2.gif" width="650" height="339" /></a></h2> <h2>Time Skips</h2> Ben moves the Island, but the wheel skips, causing some of the Island inhabitants to skip through time. Locke can stop it, but he has to leave the Island and the Man In Black tells him he has to die, which he does. <div dir="ltr"> <table><colgroup> <col width="39" /> <col width="145" /> <col width="84" /></colgroup> <tbody> <tr> <td> <p dir="ltr">#01</p> </td> <td> <p dir="ltr">"<a href="http://lostpedia.wikia.com/wiki/Because_You_Left">Because You Left</a>"</p> </td> <td> <p dir="ltr">(None)</p> </td> </tr> <tr> <td> <p dir="ltr">#02</p> </td> <td> <p dir="ltr">"<a href="http://lostpedia.wikia.com/wiki/The_Lie">The Lie</a>"</p> </td> <td> <p dir="ltr">(<a href="http://lostpedia.wikia.com/wiki/Hurley">Hurley</a>)</p> </td> </tr> <tr> <td> <p dir="ltr">#03</p> </td> <td> <p dir="ltr">"<a href="http://lostpedia.wikia.com/wiki/Jughead">Jughead</a>"</p> </td> <td> <p dir="ltr">(<a href="http://lostpedia.wikia.com/wiki/Desmond">Desmond</a>)</p> </td> </tr> <tr> <td> <p dir="ltr">#04</p> </td> <td> <p dir="ltr">"<a href="http://lostpedia.wikia.com/wiki/The_Little_Prince">The Little Prince</a>"</p> </td> <td> <p dir="ltr">(<a href="http://lostpedia.wikia.com/wiki/Kate">Kate</a>)</p> </td> </tr> <tr> <td> <p dir="ltr">#05</p> </td> <td> <p dir="ltr">"<a href="http://lostpedia.wikia.com/wiki/This_Place_Is_Death">This Place Is Death</a>"</p> </td> <td> <p dir="ltr">(<a href="http://lostpedia.wikia.com/wiki/Jin">Jin</a> & <a href="http://lostpedia.wikia.com/wiki/Sun">Sun</a>)</p> </td> </tr> <tr> <td> <p dir="ltr">#06</p> </td> <td> <p dir="ltr">"<a href="http://lostpedia.wikia.com/wiki/316">316</a>"</p> </td> <td> <p dir="ltr">(<a href="http://lostpedia.wikia.com/wiki/Jack">Jack</a>)</p> </td> </tr> <tr> <td> <p dir="ltr">#07</p> </td> <td> <p dir="ltr">"<a href="http://lostpedia.wikia.com/wiki/The_Life_and_Death_of_Jeremy_Bentham">The Life and Death of Jeremy Bentham</a>"</p> </td> <td> <p dir="ltr">(<a href="http://lostpedia.wikia.com/wiki/Locke">Locke</a>)</p> </td> </tr> </tbody> </table> <h2>Judgement In DHARMAville</h2> It's revealed that the main characters were always part of the DHARMA Initiative and Ben's transition to The Others. Ben, Sayid, Miles, Kate and Sawyer are judged by their peers. <div dir="ltr"> <table><colgroup> <col width="33" /> <col width="184" /> <col width="55" /></colgroup> <tbody> <tr> <td> <p dir="ltr">#08</p> </td> <td> <p dir="ltr">"<a href="http://lostpedia.wikia.com/wiki/LaFleur">LaFleur</a>"</p> </td> <td> <p dir="ltr">(<a href="http://lostpedia.wikia.com/wiki/Sawyer">Sawyer</a>)</p> </td> </tr> <tr> <td> <p dir="ltr">#09</p> </td> <td> <p dir="ltr">"<a href="http://lostpedia.wikia.com/wiki/Namaste">Namaste</a>"</p> </td> <td> <p dir="ltr">(None)</p> </td> </tr> <tr> <td> <p dir="ltr">#10</p> </td> <td> <p dir="ltr">"<a href="http://lostpedia.wikia.com/wiki/He%27s_Our_You">He's Our You</a>"</p> </td> <td> <p dir="ltr">(<a href="http://lostpedia.wikia.com/wiki/Sayid">Sayid</a>)</p> </td> </tr> <tr> <td> <p dir="ltr">#11</p> </td> <td> <p dir="ltr">"<a href="http://lostpedia.wikia.com/wiki/Whatever_Happened,_Happened">Whatever Happened, Happened</a>"</p> </td> <td> <p dir="ltr">(<a href="http://lostpedia.wikia.com/wiki/Kate">Kate</a>)</p> </td> </tr> <tr> <td> <p dir="ltr">#12</p> </td> <td> <p dir="ltr">"<a href="http://lostpedia.wikia.com/wiki/Dead_Is_Dead">Dead Is Dead</a>"</p> </td> <td> <p dir="ltr">(<a href="http://lostpedia.wikia.com/wiki/Ben">Ben</a>)</p> </td> </tr> <tr> <td> <p dir="ltr">#13</p> </td> <td> <p dir="ltr">"<a href="http://lostpedia.wikia.com/wiki/Some_Like_It_Hoth">Some Like It Hoth</a>"</p> </td> <td> <p dir="ltr">(<a href="http://lostpedia.wikia.com/wiki/Miles">Miles</a>)</p> </td> </tr> </tbody> </table> <h2>The Loop Closes</h2> The events set in motion at the end of Season 4 resolve with the Losties causing The Incident in the 1970s and the Man In Black finally achieving victory by convincing Ben to murder Jacob. <div dir="ltr"> <table><colgroup> <col width="42" /> <col width="150" /> <col width="73" /></colgroup> <tbody> <tr> <td> <p dir="ltr">#14</p> </td> <td> <p dir="ltr">"<a href="http://lostpedia.wikia.com/wiki/The_Variable">The Variable</a>"</p> </td> <td> <p dir="ltr">(<a href="http://lostpedia.wikia.com/wiki/Daniel">Daniel</a>)</p> </td> </tr> <tr> <td> <p dir="ltr">#15</p> </td> <td> <p dir="ltr">"<a href="http://lostpedia.wikia.com/wiki/Follow_the_Leader">Follow the Leader</a>"</p> </td> <td> <p dir="ltr">(<a href="http://lostpedia.wikia.com/wiki/Richard_Alpert">Richard</a>)</p> </td> </tr> <tr> <td> <p dir="ltr">#16</p> </td> <td> <p dir="ltr">"<a href="http://lostpedia.wikia.com/wiki/The_Incident,_Part_1">The Incident, Part 1</a>"</p> </td> <td> <p dir="ltr">(<a href="http://lostpedia.wikia.com/wiki/Jacob">Jacob</a>)</p> </td> </tr> <tr> <td> <p dir="ltr">#17</p> </td> <td> <p dir="ltr">"<a href="http://lostpedia.wikia.com/wiki/The_Incident,_Part_2">The Incident, Part 2</a>"</p> </td> <td> <p dir="ltr">(<a href="http://lostpedia.wikia.com/wiki/Jacob">Jacob</a>)</p> </td> </tr> </tbody> </table> <h1><a href="http://fightinginthewarroom.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/02/LOST_SS6_PLOTS.gif"><img class="size-full wp-image-414 aligncenter" alt="LOST_SS6_PLOTS" src="http://fightinginthewarroom.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/02/LOST_SS6_PLOTS.gif" width="650" height="339" /></a></h1> <h2>The Temple</h2> The 1970s Losties return to modern times and travel to the Temple to save Sayid, where they meet Dogen and get a lesson in the dark sickness of evil on the Island, Locke reveals himself as the MIB. <div dir="ltr"> <table><colgroup> <col width="43" /> <col width="145" /> <col width="80" /></colgroup> <tbody> <tr> <td> <p dir="ltr">#01</p> </td> <td> <p dir="ltr">"<a href="http://lostpedia.wikia.com/wiki/LA_X,_Parts_1_%26_2">LA X, Part 1</a>"</p> </td> <td> <p dir="ltr">(Various)</p> </td> </tr> <tr> <td> <p dir="ltr">#02</p> </td> <td> <p dir="ltr">"<a href="http://lostpedia.wikia.com/wiki/LA_X,_Parts_1_%26_2">LA X, Part 2</a>"</p> </td> <td> <p dir="ltr">(Various)</p> </td> </tr> <tr> <td> <p dir="ltr">#03</p> </td> <td> <p dir="ltr">"<a href="http://lostpedia.wikia.com/wiki/What_Kate_Does">What Kate Does</a>"</p> </td> <td> <p dir="ltr">(<a href="http://lostpedia.wikia.com/wiki/Kate">Kate</a>)</p> </td> </tr> <tr> <td> <p dir="ltr">#04</p> </td> <td> <p dir="ltr">"<a href="http://lostpedia.wikia.com/wiki/The_Substitute">The Substitute</a>"</p> </td> <td> <p dir="ltr">(<a href="http://lostpedia.wikia.com/wiki/Locke">Locke</a>)</p> </td> </tr> <tr> <td> <p dir="ltr">#05</p> </td> <td> <p dir="ltr">"<a href="http://lostpedia.wikia.com/wiki/Lighthouse">Lighthouse</a>"</p> </td> <td> <p dir="ltr">(<a href="http://lostpedia.wikia.com/wiki/Jack">Jack</a>)</p> </td> </tr> <tr> <td> <p dir="ltr">#06</p> </td> <td> <p dir="ltr">"<a href="http://lostpedia.wikia.com/wiki/Sundown">Sundown</a>"</p> </td> <td> <p dir="ltr">(<a href="http://lostpedia.wikia.com/wiki/Sayid">Sayid</a>)</p> </td> </tr> </tbody> </table> <h2>TEAM MIB</h2> The Man In Black in Locke's skin wanders around the Island getting ready for his final battle against Charles Widmore. We learn how Richard came to meet Jacob after MIB tried to recruit him to kill Jacob. <div dir="ltr"> <table><colgroup> <col width="37" /> <col width="157" /> <col width="78" /></colgroup> <tbody> <tr> <td> <p dir="ltr">#07</p> </td> <td> <p dir="ltr">"<a href="http://lostpedia.wikia.com/wiki/Dr._Linus">Dr. Linus</a>"</p> </td> <td> <p dir="ltr">(<a href="http://lostpedia.wikia.com/wiki/Benjamin_Linus">Ben</a>)</p> </td> </tr> <tr> <td> <p dir="ltr">#08</p> </td> <td> <p dir="ltr">"<a href="http://lostpedia.wikia.com/wiki/Recon">Recon</a>"</p> </td> <td> <p dir="ltr">(<a href="http://lostpedia.wikia.com/wiki/James_%22Sawyer%22_Ford">Sawyer</a>)</p> </td> </tr> <tr> <td> <p dir="ltr">#09</p> </td> <td> <p dir="ltr">"<a href="http://lostpedia.wikia.com/wiki/Ab_Aeterno">Ab Aeterno</a>"</p> </td> <td> <p dir="ltr">(<a href="http://lostpedia.wikia.com/wiki/Richard_Alpert">Richard</a>)</p> </td> </tr> </tbody> </table> <h2>Widmore's War Comes To The Island</h2> Charles Widmore shows up with a submarine, Desmond and a plan to stop the MIB from leaving the Island. He makes camp on Hydra Island with the landed Ajira Flight 316 and both Team MIB and the Candidates get drawn in. <div dir="ltr"> <table><colgroup> <col width="37" /> <col width="157" /> <col width="78" /></colgroup> <tbody> <tr> <td> <p dir="ltr">#10</p> </td> <td> <p dir="ltr">"<a href="http://lostpedia.wikia.com/wiki/The_Package">The Package</a>"</p> </td> <td> <p dir="ltr">(<a href="http://lostpedia.wikia.com/wiki/Jin">Jin</a> & <a href="http://lostpedia.wikia.com/wiki/Sun">Sun</a>)</p> </td> </tr> <tr> <td> <p dir="ltr">#11</p> </td> <td> <p dir="ltr">"<a href="http://lostpedia.wikia.com/wiki/Happily_Ever_After">Happily Ever After</a>"</p> </td> <td> <p dir="ltr">(<a href="http://lostpedia.wikia.com/wiki/Desmond">Desmond</a>)</p> </td> </tr> <tr> <td> <p dir="ltr">#12</p> </td> <td> <p dir="ltr">"<a href="http://lostpedia.wikia.com/wiki/Everybody_Loves_Hugo">Everybody Loves Hugo</a>"</p> </td> <td> <p dir="ltr">(<a href="http://lostpedia.wikia.com/wiki/Hurley">Hurley</a>)</p> </td> </tr> <tr> <td> <p dir="ltr">#13</p> </td> <td> <p dir="ltr">"<a href="http://lostpedia.wikia.com/wiki/The_Last_Recruit">The Last Recruit</a>"</p> </td> <td> <p dir="ltr">(Various)</p> </td> </tr> </tbody> </table> <h2>Candidates</h2> Jacob's intentions are revelead, the master myth of the series is shown, Jack faces MIB, dies and goes to Purgatory.   <div dir="ltr"> <table><colgroup> <col width="36" /> <col width="133" /> <col width="96" /></colgroup> <tbody> <tr> <td> <p dir="ltr">#14</p> </td> <td> <p dir="ltr">"<a href="http://lostpedia.wikia.com/wiki/The_Candidate">The Candidate</a>"</p> </td> <td> <p dir="ltr">(<a href="http://lostpedia.wikia.com/wiki/Jack">Jack</a> & <a href="http://lostpedia.wikia.com/wiki/Locke">Locke</a>)</p> </td> </tr> <tr> <td> <p dir="ltr">#15</p> </td> <td> <p dir="ltr">"<a href="http://lostpedia.wikia.com/wiki/Across_the_Sea">Across the Sea</a>"</p> </td> <td> <p dir="ltr">(<a href="http://lostpedia.wikia.com/wiki/Jacob">Jacob</a> & <a href="http://lostpedia.wikia.com/wiki/MiB">MiB</a>)</p> </td> </tr> <tr> <td> <p dir="ltr">#16</p> </td> <td> <p dir="ltr">"<a href="http://lostpedia.wikia.com/wiki/What_They_Died_For">What They Died For</a>"</p> </td> <td> <p dir="ltr">(Various)</p> </td> </tr> <tr> <td> <p dir="ltr">#17</p> </td> <td> <p dir="ltr">"<a href="http://lostpedia.wikia.com/wiki/The_End">The End</a>"</p> </td> <td> <p dir="ltr">(Various)</p> </td> </tr> <tr> <td> <p dir="ltr">---</p> </td> <td> <p dir="ltr">"<a href="http://lostpedia.wikia.com/wiki/The_New_Man_in_Charge">The New Man in Charge</a>"</p> </td> <td> <p dir="ltr">(<a href="http://lostpedia.wikia.com/wiki/Ben">Ben</a>)</p> </td> </tr> </tbody> </table> </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> <!--nextpage--> <h1 dir="ltr"><a href="http://fightinginthewarroom.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/02/FULLSEASONS.jpg"><img class="size-full wp-image-330 aligncenter" alt="FULLSEASONS" src="http://fightinginthewarroom.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/02/FULLSEASONS.jpg" width="695" height="1973" /></a></h1> <!--nextpage--> <h1 dir="ltr" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://fightinginthewarroom.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/02/LOST_SERIES.jpg"><img class="size-full wp-image-391" alt="LOST_SERIES" src="http://fightinginthewarroom.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/02/LOST_SERIES.jpg" width="695" height="382" /></a></h1> <p dir="ltr">I have no doubt that without a lot of the pointless chases through the jungle and frequent distractions of greater character-centric arcs, supposed mysteries would become clearer - like that "The Incident" causes the pregnancy problem on the Island and the Sickness is an infection of the Dark/Man-In-Black influence. However, would they have any degree of resonance without the character work done throughout the series? Of course not.</p> <h1><iframe src="//player.vimeo.com/video/89244076" height="391" width="695" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0"></iframe></h1> <p dir="ltr">In terms of a complete narrative, I’m fine admitting <em>Lost</em> was ultimately about the characters and their relationships to each other and themselves. That’s the story that the series told in its entirety, which means it’s the broadest definition of what <em>Lost</em> was. Yet there are still the pieces of the mythology left scattered throughout the series, nested inside larger narratives, even if the full picture wasn’t presented by the time the story had reached its end.</p> <h4 dir="ltr">Ultimately, certain questions were never answered on the show proper. Supplemental materials provided answers to in-series questions about the Dharma drops and the Hurley bird. Yet, <em>Lost</em> was well plotted while it was being written under the stresses of actual production and telling a story with only the faint idea of a thematic ending. It succeeds in hindsight, even with the mechanic neutering of knowing the end and beginning. You can skip to just the plot you want to see, like I did, or watch the thing all the way through again. The transition between the two approaches doesn't require an editing experiment, just the slider on your streaming device.</h4> <p dir="ltr">In the end, I think I have more questions about the mechanics of storytelling than answers about <em>Lost</em>.</p> <h4 dir="ltr">Like: If an arc that contains another--like how the A plot on the island includes the Flashes-- how valuable is the nested arc? If it never comes up again, it's worthless (how Jack got his tattoo), but if it contains a nugget of plot or character necessary for later, convention dictates it be re-capped, which invalidates its original purpose outside of taking simple pleasure in the exercise of reinterpreting a stereotype.</h4> <p dir="ltr">I was delighted to learn that certain scenes in <em>Lost</em> consisted of a core that was just enough to satiate a momentary craving. Then I got curious about what lead to those scenes and came to an arc. Then I got curious about that arc and moved on to two other episodes...that lead to a season...that lead to a series.</p> <p dir="ltr">And that's a re-watch motivated by pure storytelling curiosity--not an initial viewing lead by the ephemeral high of a mystery show.</p> <p dir="ltr">Another thing that was made very clear is that the questions I had at the end of the series existed for a reason: the questions I thought were “unanswered” were simply not <em>completely</em> answered.</p> <h4 dir="ltr">While going through the series at the macro-most plot level, it’s very obvious from context clues that The Heart of the Island is an electro-magnetic surge that motivates all actions at the Hatch and causes birth defects and time jumps whenever someone tries to tamper with it (usually using The Orchid’s Ice Donkey Wheel). It becomes obvious that the DHARMA Initiative never existed outside of the conflict-ridden history of the Island. It becomes obvious why Ben stopped being a candidate. These "answers" all come through context clues, unlike the fact that Desmond caused the crash of Oceanic 815, which came from the direct dialogue of the characters. Which is to say the answers exist if you want to look for them in the realm of fandom (or subjectivity), not in the realm of concrete answers.</h4> <p dir="ltr">At the end of my selective re-watch, I had the same questions as I had after my first viewing of <em>Lost</em>, but I also had at my disposal all the context clues from the Island scenes in an easily digestible, linear format. In an attempt to directly address the questions I had at the end of my initial, real-time viewing of<em> Lost</em>, I only needed to use pieces from 22 episodes.</p> <p dir="ltr">To connect the gaps of the context clues, I used post-series interviews with showrunners Damon Lindelof and Carlton Cuse and series bonus material from the Alternate Reality Game “The Lost Experience” and the Complete Series Blu-Ray pack of delicious extras. All this just seems to reinforce the idea that the storytellers of <em>Lost</em> were living in a time of narrative transition. It's possible they were just as surprised as the rest of us with the television storytelling environment become more complex, as their show (or possibly because their show) was forced into more plot-based backflips.</p> <iframe src="//player.vimeo.com/video/88552335" height="382" width="695" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0"></iframe> <!--nextpage--> <blockquote>"The [questions] that were alive during the show are still the biggest ones post-show. What was up with the polar bears? Are they all dead? Were they dead the whole time? Different expressions of that… Who was on the other outrigger? Why Nicki and Paolo? The show lived with questions, it died with questions, and I'm happy to have questions be the legacy." <p style="text-align: right;">-<a href="http://www.eonline.com/news/522886/damon-lindelof-i-think-there-will-be-more-lost" target="_blank">Damon Lindelof</a></p> </blockquote> <h1><iframe src="https://w.soundcloud.com/player/?url=https%3A//api.soundcloud.com/tracks/140197987%3Fsecret_token%3Ds-HiRUp&auto_play=false&hide_related=false&visual=true" height="450" width="100%" frameborder="no" scrolling="no"></iframe></h1> <pre>[<a href="https://soundcloud.com/fitwr-media/lost-conclusions" target="_blank">Open Soundcloud page In A New Window to play while surfing or download</a>]</pre> Da7e (<a href="http://twitter.com/da7e" target="_blank">@da7e</a>), Patches (<a href="http://twitter.com/misterpatches" target="_blank">@misterpatches</a>), David (<a href="http://twitter.com/davidehrlich" target="_blank">@davidehrlich</a> and <a href="http://twitter.com/CriterionCorner" target="_blank">@CriterionCorner</a>) throw down on if this was all worth it and if Da7e is disrespecting stories, then Katey (<a href="http://twitter.com/kateyrich" target="_blank">@kateyrich</a>) jumps in after measuring all opinions. <strong>NOTES:</strong> <ul> <li>Big Data! - <a href="lostpedia.wikia.com" target="_blank">lostpedia.wikia.com</a></li> <li>Wikipedia - <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mythology_of_Lost" target="_blank">"The Mythology of Lost"</a></li> <li>TV Watching Complexity Evolution - <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Everything-Bad-Good-You-Actually/dp/1594481946" target="_blank">Everything Bad Is Good For You</a> by Steven Johnson</li> <li>Selective Re-watch - <a href="http://forums.televisionwithoutpity.com/topic/3195936-lost-summer-rewatch-what-happened-happenedagain/" target="_blank">TELEVISIONWITHOUTPITY.com Summer 2010 <em>Lost</em> Re-Watch Forum.</a></li> <li><a href="http://www.amazon.com/X-Files-Mythology-Vol-Abduction/dp/B0007ZEO7I/ref=sr_1_1?s=movies-tv&ie=UTF8&qid=1395319736&sr=1-1&keywords=x-files+mythology+collection" target="_blank">X-Files: The Mythology DVDs</a></li> <li><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ghost_in_the_Shell:_Stand_Alone_Complex" target="_blank">Ghost in the Shell: Standalone Complex</a></li> </ul> <!--nextpage--> <iframe src="//player.vimeo.com/video/87817294" height="391" width="695" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0"></iframe> <strong>OUTSIDE CONTRIBUTIONS</strong> Lost Episode Posters by <a href="http://gideonslife.com/design/lost" target="_blank">Gideon Slife</a> And Used Under Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 2.0 Generic (CC BY-NC-SA 2.0) "Method: Whatever The Case May Be" soundtrack is "Seventy Cops" by Steroid Maximus. "Parts of an Episode: Man of Science, Man of Faith" soundtrack is "Wm" by Steroid Maximus <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qAQ-xS9rrBw" target="_blank">Jack Shephard's Flashes</a> edited by <a dir="ltr" href="http://www.youtube.com/user/blayneedvd" data-sessionlink="ei=-HckU93CDNKB9Qbd3ICQCg&feature=watch" data-ytid="UCesu-1FQyBHZjo5sz7YZPrg" data-name="watch">blayneedvd</a> ABC ReCapping Specials via <a href="http://www.imdb.com/company/co0361756/" target="_blank">TSV Productions</a>. <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B5chCMRsEVo" target="_blank">Damon Lindelof Interview</a> via <a href="http://www.youtube.com/user/TheVerge" target="_blank">The Verge</a> Plot points not appearing in videos were checked against <a href="http://lostpedia.wikia.com/">Lostpedia</a>. Timeline Lostpedia user <a href="http://lostpedia.wikia.com/wiki/User:Valenzetti_FTW">Valenzetti_FTW</a> <h1>THIS WAS GREAT!</h1> Thank you! <strong>Fighting In The War Room does not, at this time, feature advertising. If you enjoyed what you saw, please consider <a href="https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/fighting-in-the-war-room/id762922035" target="_blank">LEAVING US AN iTUNES REVIEW</a> or, if you've already done that and still feel psyched, you can donate any amount below:</strong> <form action="https://www.paypal.com/cgi-bin/webscr" method="post" target="_top"><input type="hidden" name="cmd" value="_s-xclick" /> <input type="hidden" name="hosted_button_id" value="93A27XD7CL3V8" /> <input type="image" alt="PayPal - The safer, easier way to pay online!" name="submit" src="https://www.paypalobjects.com/en_US/i/btn/btn_donateCC_LG.gif" /> <img alt="" src="https://www.paypalobjects.com/en_US/i/scr/pixel.gif" width="1" height="1" border="0" /></form> rich