Abrams:Lost Season Finale ‘Mind Blowing’

The hit show Lost, created by Trek XI producers Damon Lindelof and JJ Abrams finishes it’s third season tonight with a 2 hour finale. The episode titled "Through the Looking Glass" was written by Lindelof along with co show runner Carlton Cuse.  

Some quotes from Abrams & Lindelof about the finale (w/ spoilers) below

In an interview with USA Today the show producers promise that tonight "will be an evening of conflict — and bloodshed — between the crash survivors and the Others." As usual they are still coy about details by Abrams is quoted as saying

The ending is so mind-blowing, it’s crazy

One of the payoff’s in the finale will be the reuniting of the mysterious Danielle Rousseau (aka  "the French lady" played by Babylon 5’s Mira Furlan) with her daughter Alex (Tania Raymonde). On the reunion JJ Abrams states

The challenge in a show like Lost with so many different people is characters getting lost, but they have made Danielle and Alex so identifiable and complex. I certainly think people are looking forward to seeing this reunion. It’s something we’ve been playing to all year.

EW.com got Damon Lindelof to list off the ‘5 things you wont see in the finale’

5. Rose quietly snuffing the life out of Bernard by holding his nostrils closed while looking distractedly at Aaron’s car seat.

4. Hurley feeling a great disturbance in the Force (”as if many voices cried out and were suddenly silent”) because his cousin back in Valencia, Calif., was blown up in a nuclear explosion and no one seemed to give a crud.

3. Kate and Juliet doing each other’s hair and nicknaming Jack”McIntensey” and Sawyer ”McMurderedTheManWhoConnedHisParentsy.”

2. A character traveling back in time to warn all the other characters to do something, but by doing that something, they prevent a future that might have happened but never did had the character not travelled back in time, thus negating the entire reason behind everything.

1. Sanjaya.

Lindelof also promises that you will see Jack smile…twice!. Lindelof’s list shows his trademark humor. If you haven’t yet had a chance, then check out Lindelof & Cuse’s weekly Lost podcasts (in iTunes) where he regularly shows that he doesn’t take things too seriously.

If you have not yet found Lost then it is worth getting into on DVD, in fact it may be better. The Abrams directed two hour series premiere (also written by Lindelof and Abrams) may be one of the best TV pilots ever made. The Emmy-winning first season changed the TV landscape and made sci-fi cool again – opening the door to shows like Heroes. The second season did drag a bit as did the beginning of the third, but the latter half has really turned it around again. Lost finished up its Season 3 production very recently. The shorted 16 episode Season 4 does not premiere until January of 2008, leaving a very long hiatus for Abrams and Lindelof to get to work on that other little project of theirs…I forget what it is called but it involves someone called Kirk.

 

Here are a couple more ‘sneak peeks’ at tonight’s big season finale

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Lost has been unwatchable for the last 2 seasons-and Heroes may have just jumped the shark as well,with the disappointing season finale.

I gave up after the second season.

However, I hardly think Heroes has “jumped the shark”–sure, the season finale could have been better, but at least we got answers, and a nice set-up for season 2.

I agree season 2 of Lost was just too drawn out and disjointed, but this season has brought me back to the fold. They’ve winnowed out the less interesting characters (well, most of them) and have set some really interesting things in motion. I do wish they’d wrap it up sooner than 2010, and I hate those miniseasons that producers seem to be fond of these days, but regardless, I think they are back on track to producing some great TV.

Sometimes thing just work in small does. Some story lines can not exceed many hours. Remember “V”? The two miniseries were far better than the one season that followed. With that said I watched the two “V” miniseries recently on DVD and I liked it but it’s a bit hoakey. Anyway, Lost is a concept that is most difficult to extend for a long time. Star Trek is even hard to extend for a long time, but when Trek works it really cooks baby!

#1,2,3…. I completely disagree.
Disjointed is the name of the game for Lost. You cannot have a good story without knowing about some characters backstory and this show excels at that. You cannot blow up the island or launch an EMP pulse very episode. I look forward to tonight and beyond.

Heroes is just plain fun… and if you’ve not read a super hero comic book you might not care for the story-telling method or plot.
Neither is more than a pop-corn action show, but still fun. Sit back and enjoy and quit worrying about jumping sharks.
LOL

X

you people and your need for ‘answers.’ ‘coherency.’ ‘structure.’ laziness! you want the creators to do all the work for you–but all they’re doing is the heavy lifting. The function of the viewer is to view, and engage in viewing…

Also, V sucked.

i don’t mind searching for and finding my own answers, but in the case of Lost, i simply ceased to care and thus i stopped watching.

Well that was quite a season wrap-up! As I thought (?) I said before, I’ve thoroughly enjoyed this season of Lost and feel they’ve established a great new narrative rhythm, as the cliffhanger seemed to bear out.

However I do still feel they got bogged down in season 2 with the introduction of all the “Tailies” and a lot of time spent in the Hatch. I love a good back story, but too often felt they were covering the same ground without advancing their greater story arc. I was a pretty big fan of the show and am glad I stuck with it, but I can see why it lost a big chunk of viewers along the way.

But this season they got the mix just right, keeping the tension between revelations and mysteries at a max. And the set up for next season — brilliant!!

I think that each season of Lost can be summed up into neat little chapter titles. I will share them with you:

Season 1: The Island
Season 2: The Hatch
Season 3: The Others

I think that Season 4 will be all about The DHARMA Initiative trying to take the island back from The Others by any means necessary, forcing The Others and the Castaways to team up. It will be a glorious battle for the island.

I rented the first two seasons on DVD, rather than during the original broadcast. So I saw the epsiodes in burts of 4. My friends complained about Season 2 dragging, but I didn’t find that to be the case watching them as I did.

I have to say that Lost works better in that format. Mutiple episodes can comprise a single day to the characters. Story arcs are continued over several (and not necessarily consecutive) episodes.

Having flashbacks wasn’t confusing enough. Now we have flash forwards into a ‘maybe future.’

The most amazing two hours of episodic television I have seen!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Hurley saving the day was the payoff of the season for me! Never piss off a fat man in a VW microbus!

Anthony — what gives?
I’m seeing that Christie’s is auctioning off TOS stuff… including an Enterprise-A, Capn’ Kirk’s chair (looks beat up like an original) and TOS uniforms.
I thought all the good stuff had gone, but this looks primo.

Lost is the only show on TV regularly doing challenging locations, teriffic stunts, explosions and set construction. Who else dumps thousands of gallons of water in scenes anymore? And that ‘s not its best feature; those characters are some of the best ever. Good music too. Wide range of emotions among the characters,which is refreshing considering the number of “Hushed Serious Talk in Dark Rooms” shows on today. IMHO. Liked the finale, but they got just short of overdoing the body count. Still, an excellent show.

It was a great finale… a few too many commercial breaks in my opinion, but what are you going to do?

I agree with some of the other comments, that one of the reason this show is so great is the fact that it is disjointed, there are many mysteries, and you don’t always get the answers you desire. Anything can happen, and that ups the stakes. I used to be an avid watcher of Earth:Final Conflict and B5, because they both included that sense of Mystery, and what will happen next? writing. Keeps you wanting more.

I will say though, that I think I see through the finale, and how the future flash forwards fit in. I personally think it was just Jack ruminating on what could happen if he got back to the outside. All the stresses, and his We’re getting off the Island now, by hook or by crook attitude, seem to point in that direction.

And who died in this mysterious future anyway? Did I miss something?

What a great finale!! My body count of the dead others is 12: The 7 on the beach in the explosions, the other three on the beach when Hurley and Sawyer save the day, (thank god Tom finally got his comuppance!), plus the 2 girs in the looking lass station. Pay back is GOOD for the soul!!

Can’t wait to see what happens next year!

I also agree, based on the season finale, I think TrekXI is in good hands!

Until Next Time,
FM!!

I recommend the establishment of an isolated research facility on a remote Pacific island to study the possibilties of time dilation to compress the 8-month waiting period before next season. Who’s with me? Charter flight anyone??

I’m guessing that Mikhail is dead too, though it’s not a given…

A minor typo: “it’s third season” should be “its third season”. The possessive form of it has no apostrophe. Just thought I’d let you know for future!

#20, John N:
I’m guessing that Mikhail is dead too, though it’s not a given…

I considered that in in my body count, especially considering that he was shot and bleeding, (ought to attract the sharks at least…) and being anywhere near the hand grenade when it exploded probably would act like a depth charge and kill him as well.

However, this IS Lost, and without Mikhail’s dead body yet found (or at least shown), I figured I would keep the options on him open until proven otherwise. If he is really dead, the count would go up to 13 dead others.

All in all, a pretty good day for the losties I’d say! (Those others have had it coming for a long time….)

By the way has anybody else wondered what happened to Michael and Walt since they left in the boat provided by the Others? (I assume the Walt we saw last night was a vision, and not the real in the flesh Walt, much like Ben seeing his dead mother the week before in that flashback….)
Hmmmn…….

Can’t wait for next February!!!!

Mikhail has been dead before. A little pain never hurt anyone.

I think Lost wen the same way as Alias. Abrams simply doesn’t know how to advance an idea. He poses lots of interesting questions and instead of answering them, just keeps throwing more out there as a kind of cover. I suspected eaxctly what happened to Alias would happen to Lost and it did.

I think Lost wen the same way as Alias. Abrams simply doesn’t know how to advance an idea. He poses lots of interesting questions and instead of answering them, just keeps throwing more out there as a kind of cover. I suspected eaxctly what happened to Alias would happen to Lost and it did.

Funny, I thought we came to this site to talk Trek, but I guess some of you got “Lost” along the way!

I used to love the “phrase jump the shark” cuz I saw the first airing of Fonzie jumping the eponymous shark and thought the show had indeed died. Look at the TVLand repeats and you’ll get it clearly.

However since it became a trendy phrase so many want to use it on every new show. I say we retire that phrase for any show that hasn’t been on for at least 5 years.

Or better just retire it completely.

Jeff, Abrams is barely involved with the show anymore, it’s almost exclusively in the hands of Lindelof and Cuse. Please know what you’re talking about before you try to trash something.

And the Heroes finale blew.

#28, whatever makes you feel better. Doesn’t make it true, but if it makes you feel better, knock yourself out.

#27 – thank you! If I never hear “jump the shark” again, it will be too soon. It’s become the ultimate crutch for lazy writers. And I remember watching Fonzie make that infamous jump too . . . :-)

That said, I loved the finale last night. I haven’t seen Charlie’s story mentioned yet, but I was all choked up. Excellent job all around, and count me as someone who *didn’t* see the flash-forward coming. I’m wondering if the guy in the casket is Ben — he would clearly have no friends, and Jack would be affected by his death since he was the best chance of re-finding the island. Anyway, they ended the season on a very high note last night.

Lost is Lost…I like to leave things up to my imagination, but there is a limit to how many questions one show can have…..the future thing just brings up more questions…the show was great….but its starting to get old….the black smoke is my only concern because it seems to be the key to the island…but like i said LOST is lost the show should be called “?????”

HOLY FUCK THAT WAS A GREAT FINALE!

Lost is the most brillaint episodic television since Star Trek (Original no spinoffs) aired. We are in the best possible hands as far as I’m concerned. I am so jacked up for this!!!! In addition early reports say the new Babylon 5 (which is the third greatest genre show of them all) movie is tremendous and we get that in two months!!!!!! If CBS digital can get back on track with the quality we saw a couple of months ago this promises to be a tremendous summer for us, especially as the rumor mill starts churning at warp speed for the Trek movie!!!!!

1. Star Trek TOS

2. Lost

3. Babylon 5

4. DS9

5. Quatloo or no Quatloo

99999. Voyager

Um, right, so Abrams is barely involved, like I said. He occasionally writes a premiere or finale and can’t even find time to direct an episode, while Lindelof and Cuse make all of the big day to day decisions.

Barely involved.

The series has been a roller-coaster ride literally. I try not to ride them because I feel bad at some point and just want to get off as soon as possible. Suddenly, you hit the thrill of a corner or loop and you are as giddy as a child. LOST does that and makes some people mad because they want a linear story. I love the fact that we never know what is going to happen in the story: new people, characters die and reappear, flash-backs and now flash-forwards. LOST rules. I don’t know if we can have too many more seasons before you become completely LOST but I am in for the ride.

I’ve never felt so scammed by a television series as I have with Lost.
I’ve read thousands of scripts, and I know that these ‘writers’ don’t have a clue where to take the characters, the only thing they know that they have to fill up 36 episodes of crap and do it as slowly as possible.

The “writers” on Lost should not have jobs as writers. Period. The shows are written so poorly, people will not watch this show in syndication, rather, not as many people will watch this show. this last season has greatly devalued the franchise.

Notice how they sign on to do as few episodes as possible to retian the franchise. The production team clearly has the desire to move on. I would too if my name were on the writing credits.

The amateurish lack of life experience of these people is so obvious it nauseates me. These people do not know what they are doing. Everybody knows that these guys don’t deliver, be it answering the millions of questions that are ignored, or creating drama.

The characters mumble all the time. I like to leave closed captioning on so I don’t have to pay attention to the garbled slow pointless talking, deliberately written to drag out the show and waste our time.

Speaking of which, I will mention the Rimbaldi project in “alias” and the ridiculous badinage that resulted from the completely boring conclusion to that series and those mysteries as well?

Yes maybe I am being harsh, but I had to mute a bunch of Ford ads for two hours to learn very very little in terms of answers.

I thought seaon One was a nice campy romp on the Island.
Season Two got me taking Lost seriously.
Season Three made me realize it’s a scam.
Season Four? Yawn. What else is on?

On that note. What a #@$* great finale of LOST! Man what is wrong with people not enjoying the ride.;) Has everything gotten to the point that we want the answers to everything now? Also so what if there are a few mystery moments kicking around. Life is like that. Heck I have had small mysteries in my own life. I am still thinking about the last few episodes of LOST. Where it will go next and such. Great story telling when the show sticks in your mind for awhile.

No scam here just good entertainment. Heck I was never a big Charlie fan and I really felt for him at the end. So hey I can not wait for more. Also loved that the island adventure became Jacks flashback. Also Mikhail I believe he has been killed a few times. That dude just keeps on going!;)

You know it is interesting in the last few years how there are television shows as interesting or more interesting than most films out there. With shows like THE SOPRANOS, THE SHIELD, LOST, BSG, ROME, etc. what a great moment in TV viewing! Makes me feel this new STAR TREK project should just be a television show. Let the story build and the characters grow. I know I go against the grain, but I would love a reboot. Keep much of the core elements, many of the designs but go forward with a story without trying to fit it into what has come before. Just my 2 cents.

Bring on more LOST though!

I have an idea…hopefully good…how about a Felicity reunion…with Keri Russell as a Klingon. Thats ok…nice thought. Now how about Amy Jo Johnson for either a Klingon role or a character on the Enterprise. This is if Keri Russell gets the part as a Klingon.

13 dead total. You forgot about Mikhail which blew himself up with the grenade.