Lost Lowdown Season 5?

[riothero]

I'm so excited about the next season of Lost, and even more excited to hear new episodes of the Lost Lowdown! I actually realized that the other day. I guess I only appreciate Lost insofar as it inspires Claude and Justin to podcast! Anyway, it's time to wake everybody up and gather back around to show LLD our support. Please let this new season of Lost Lowdown be as good (and as long... as in episode length!) as last season. That's a little prayer. Amen!

[Stephen]

I had the same revelation the other day. "Oh. Neat. Lost starts up in two weeks. WAIT! That means... new LLD!".

On account of the hundreds (i reckon) of hours of LLD, you can listen to them over and over and it won't be repetitive, but the thought of new episodes is exciting.

[David3]

Lost is coming back?

[TheRadioTower]

Lost is coming back?

Did't you hear Lost has been cancelled. ABC is thinking about making a 2hr tv movie to wrap everything up but don't hold your breath

[riothero]

Tower, it's not nice joke around about Lost not returning.... It's a good thing I've been obsessively following DarkUFO and other Lost sites, almost daily, otherwise you might have fooled me.

Stephen, you know, I don't want to get into how often I listen to the LLD. But let's just say that, even though I've heard everything before several times, it's still not bad listening to old episodes. Except for a few notable exceptions -- like Eggtown, and parts of the Season 3 finale, where Claude and Justin spend like an hour trying to find certain islands in the Pacific on a map -- most LLD episodes do benefit from repeated view-- I mean, listenings.

Hey, any guesses as to whether Justin's got a new Lost-related News Years Resolution for 2009?

[Justin]

I don't even remember what last year's was...

[Stephen]

Last year's, if I recall, was just a modified version of the original New Years Justin. Funny you would mention that. I've been listening to "The Man From Tallahassee" today and the NYJ concept is mentioned many times. The same exact question crossed my mind.

[TheRadioTower]

But let's just say that, even though I've heard everything before several times, it's still not bad listening to old episodes. Except for a few notable exceptions -- like Eggtown, and parts of the Season 3 finale, where Claude and Justin spend like an hour trying to find certain islands in the Pacific on a map -- most LLD episodes do benefit from repeated view-- I mean, listenings.

I never listen to a LLD podcast more then once, I feel like it spoils Lost for me on some level. Listening to too many podcasts on a particular topic ruins it in general. I used to really love battlestar galactica before I started listening to Ron Moore`s podcast, now, I still love the show but I don`t feel the same sense of wonder.

[riothero]

Tower, I think what this means is that I'm a bigger LLD fan than you. It's kind of funny that I mentioned Eggtown as an example of one LLD episode I could not bear to listen to again.... because I think it's there that I remember Justin explaining to Jen what his 2008 resolution was, and how it differed from that of 2007. So, since I cannot search through the actual episode, although that's something I'll probably do later tonight anyway, let me try to paraphrase what I think the two resolutions were....

I could have this wrong, but 2007 was something like... Justin did not want to get carried away by all sorts of ridiculous theories about what's going on in the show. He didn't want to be "fooled" anymore. So, at the end of the day, Justin would err on the side of believing what the writer's wanted him to believe.

The 2008 resolution was a modified version of the earlier one, which stated that, since the writers are frequently as great at bullshitting as the people on the web who turn out ridiculous theories, Justin promised not to believe the wild things the writer's would sometimes throw out (like Smokey telling Dr. Eko "You're next" or "They're all next!" or uhh whatever), that is to say, if these wild things were unsupported, no longer mentioned in subsequent episodes, etc.

Maybe that's inaccurate.. .But hopefully it'll jog someone's memory?

[Justin]

you got it more or less exactly right. now i remember.

i have no idea what to say this year. it's been so long since i've thought about lost seriously that I cant think of any new direction for a resolution. maybe i can have a belated one after we see a few episodes.

[riothero]

Justin, I agree with you that it's probably a good idea to wait and see what the new season is like before making a new resolution.

Your 2007 resolution provided a good, strong perspective from which you could enjoy the show as a fan while still leaving room for plenty of theoretical speculation. It sometimes seemed to me, when I read certain LOST sites especially during seasons 1 & 2, that fans were watching a different show than I was, because they were reading so much into it they were projecting so much that simply wasn't there. You and Claude always had good sense to know what was possible and what was ridiculous.

You only had to modify the resolution in 2008 because, unfortunately, you underestimated how stupid and misleading the LOST writers can sometimes be. By the way, is anyone other than me surprised whenever reading, watching or hearing interviews with Damon and Carleton that these two bozos are the "brains" behind the whole LOST operation? No wonder the show is sometimes so disappointing!

My impression, based on what I've read about the upcoming season, including mostly spoilers (none of which are particularly revealing, by the way), is that the writers will be "mixing it up" this season. Just as there was a dramatic change in the show between, say, seasons 1 and 2, and to smaller extent, between all the other seasons, I'm preparing myself for a crazy new season. The only way these mysteries can be solved is through some crazy explanation, so they have to start entering sci-fi territory soon. Maybe one idea would be take into consideration where LOST is right now as a television show, and either weaken or strengthen the resolution depending on what you think the writers' intentions for this season are.

For example, I'm pretty sure that they're going to continue to keep us ignorant this season about nearly all the mysteries on LOST. Don't believe for a second that they're going to reveal any significant answers! But at the same time, there will certainly be less red herrings, so as not to confuse the largely dimwitted audience too much. I think you would agree that, at this stage in a mystery narrative, the goal of this season is to put everything in place, arranging the characters, revealing the stakes, so that they can begin to finally resolve this mess next season.

[Justin]

i know what you mean about d&c, i wouldn't quite say "bozos" but i'm glad you did.

i've said this before i'm sure, but i think that d&c, and probably the rest of the writing staff (maybe not for some of the season 1 writers, the writing was a bit different back then), are good, solid, reliable television writers who know how to deliver on the basics, and how to create mysteries and weave a story. on the other hand, i've always felt that they fall short in certain respects, when it's time to be "scary" or "surreal", when it's time to write a dream sequence or fantasy or vision. in these circumstances, i feel they are a bit too down to earth, they don't have that extra bit of unconventional creative thinking that could really push the show over the top, they tend to go for obvious on-the-nose psychological things.

i haven't read anything about season 5, i'm out of the loop completely, so i hope they surprise me with something crazy this year.

[Stephen]

Justin announces his New-new years resolution at 2h:45m on LLD #38.