Comic Book Reading Nerds Finally Prove Themselves Useful!

First official Lost Season 3 news!

It comes to us from the annual "Comic-Con" (read: gathering of nerds, crowds typically 96% male, 65% dressed as Star Wars characters), where Damon Lindelhof and Carlton Cruse (pictured below) spilled the following juicy tidbits for the upcoming season of Lost!



Brian reactions in italics...

• Season three will have a vastly different feeling, but at the same time reembrace the roots of the series. Does this mean the introduction of more new characters, which would provide the Season One token "twist" at the end of their flashbacks, revealing who they really are? Seems with the introductions of the Others tribe, this could be likely. Or is this more referring to the returned focus to getting off the Island, away from last season's seeming contentment?
• Season three will focus more on adventure. This has to be good news for you, Heather! While it could refer to Jack, Kate, and Sawyer's escape from captivity, I get the feeling that the Trio will soon be siding with the Others - meaning we'll need to find a new "enemy" to generate this adventure. The Hanso / Dharma Foundation anyone?
• The first six episodes in the fall will be like a mini-series and focuses on the captivity story of Jack, Kate and Sawyer. Do you think they will focus exclusively on this story for the first six episodes? While it's clearly the most interesting story going on (and a seeming impetus for the direction the rest of the season / series will go), six weeks without knowing what happened to Locke, Eko, and Desmond would be unbearable. I have to say, I'm really excited for the new format this fall - where we get a "mini-season" complete with premiere and cliffhanger ending, and then a second "mini-season" from February through May. Having these smaller, pre-defined seasons will lead to tighter storytelling, because there are less episodes to carry the stories over.
• We'll learn more about The Others and Alex's story. Obviously. These have to be the new characters who will provide new flashbacks and help explain the "history of the Island".
• An event will happen mid-season that will blow people away! Literal explosion? Not likely after the Season Two Finale. Main character death? More likely. But I'm almost leading towards another "turn the series on its head" moment like a rescue ship arriving or Alvar Hanso appearing.
• J.J. Abrams will co-write the first episode which is titled "The Tale of Two Cities." He'll also direct the seventh episode, which is the first episode of the second half of the third season (early next year). I'll save the Deeper Meaning Guess for now (until we're sure of the title - since they have been known to change in the past a few times) but I think it's clear we're going to see the Others civilization (apparently a multi-citied one!). Now would be a good time to read "A Tale of Two Cities" to look for symbolism!
• They are going to reveal what happened to Locke, Desmond and Eko. I would almost guarantee that they all survived. Don't worry.
• They are adding new regular characters, which they are casting for now. New Others! New Hanso / Dharma employees (aka - "bad guys")?
• You'll see more scenes from the outside world (taking place at the same time they are on the island). In my eyes, this represents the biggest change for the series. I'm not really sure how I feel about it, because up until now everything has been told from the point of view of the Survivors, meaning that we, as viewers are just as in the dark about what's going on as the Survivors are. It helps create the element of mystery and danger that gives the series a lot of its atmosphere. However, I do think this could be a nice way to flesh out our characters, by revealing more of how they are through the people in the outside world who are searching for them. Could we soon see Jack's mom, Sun's dad, or Sayid's love, Nadia, and learn how they are coping with the loss of their loved ones / doing to try and find them?
• Desmond and Penny's relationship forms a new seed for a new element in the series. As I mentioned above, this really does change the feel of the whole show. It introduces the "outsiders" working on the same mission as our Survivors - getting them off the Island!
• Libby will be back to fill in the gaps. I'm a little unclear of what this means, other than that she'll be appearing in other flashbacks to fill in the gaps to her story.
• Within the first few episodes Kate "gets with someone". Kate and Jack? Kate and Sawyer? Kate and Jack's Wife Sarah? :)
• They are going to explain the medical miracles. Finally! This seems to indicate that things like Locke walking are either tied to the Others, or the Others have learned enough about the Island to explain how it is happening. If they have learned this much, I'm expecting a full explanation of a lot of other things on the Island, such as Smokey...
• They debunked the rumor that the monster is a cloud nanobot. Speaking of which! So Smokey isn't made up of a bunch of tiny robots. So what is it?!
• The hieroglypics on the countdown clock are signs of the underworld. "Underworld"? Not sure about what that means, but the hieroglyphics indicate an ancient history of the Island - perhaps there are more of these hieroglyhpic "signs" scattered around the tunnels under the Island?
• They have 4 to 5 seasons planned out, and they knew the beginning and ending from the start. Going beyond 5 seasons would be stretching it, they said. Five seasons and a feature film at the end. Mark it down right now.
• If they introduce a question on the show, they already know the answer. Good to know. Now if they would just prove it to us a little more often!
• They do look at fans' reactions and that does affect how they do things on the show. As evidenced by throwing us inside the Hatch right away in Season Two after the fury over the Season One Finale. I wonder what else we fans have affected?

That's all for now - but I'm seriously excited for the new season now! It really does sound like the show is going to have much more of a focused storyline this season, and that the creators are aiming to finally give the fans some answers they've been begging for since Season One. The countdown to October 4th is on!