Archive for 2010

You didn’t like the old me, Kate.

Wednesday, July 7th, 2010

Berninger, 43 – Norway :

In season five, Jack finally tells Kate to **** off.
I LOVE the look on his face when he calmly tells her she never liked the old him in reply to her petulant, bratty criticism of the “new Jack”. I have NEVER understood how a man like him can stand the kind of treatment Kate had heaped on him for five seasons and it was SO good to see him stand up to her worthless scummy self. “You didn’t like the old me, Kate” is basically my favorite Jack line ever. Based on how badly she treated the old him, truer words were never spoken.
The “old Jack” was lied to, manipulated and neglected by Kate and when he needed her most and was a desperate, lonely man who asked her to go to Locke’s funeral with him because he was so alone and badly needed a friend, she slapped him and abandoned Jack for daring to feel betrayed that Kate lied to him for her ex and went behind his back. Kate NEVER took any responsibility for any of that or for murder so it’s hardly any wonder.
It felt so good to see Jack standing up to someone as trashy and pathologically selfish as Kate who NEVER got her comeuppance for all the suffering she caused and was treated like a poor victim tot he very end, there was a loud cheer in the room around me. The only Kate episode that was ever worth a damn thanks to that one scene so it’s pretty memorable.

I’m sorry.

Tuesday, July 6th, 2010

Julien, 25 – Paris (France) :

The fact that Harold Perrineau had a leading part in this new series called Lost had much to do with the appeal the show had on me from the get go. I loved him for his role as Augustus Hill in Oz and I forgave him for the whole Matrix thing because I basically knew that this was an actor I wanted to see more often on screen.
One of the reasons I’ve got attached to this character is because to me, he was the most vulnerable. Not only did he have to take care for himself, he also had Walt, his little boy. While everybody else were just trying to adapt and survive, Michael also needed to protect, love and educate his son. On a desert island. With a black smoke chasing and killing everyone around. And even if we all saw the Walt abduction  thing coming, we all felt really bad for this struggling dad who just couldn’t do anything about it.
Which brings me to my Lost moment : season two, episode twenty. To free Ben, Michael has to kill Ana-Lucia. “I’m sorry“, he says, right before shooting her and – accidentally – killing a helpless Libby, who couldn’t have been in a worse wrong place, wrong time situation. The Others promised Michael a free pass off the island for him and his son if he could bring back their leader to camp. After all the killing and the freeing, Michael shoots himself in the shoulder. End title.
Harold’s amazing performance aside, it’s probably the first time I realized what I was watching exactly: a character-driven show about choices, sacrifice, loss, father-issues, hope, flaws, pessimism, regrets, life. The hell with the unanswered questions and all the mysteries that kept building up. I wanted to know how these guys I’ve learned to care about were going to survive all this. At that exact moment, I knew Lost was going the affect the way I enjoyed and perceived culture. That it was going to make me think. That it was going to, in a small way, affect the way I interacted with the world and society. Kind of a big deal for just a TV show.

Let’s look death in the face and say “Whatever, man.”

Monday, July 5th, 2010

Nicole, 20 – Warwick, Rhode Island (USA) :

Hurley has always been one of my favorite Lost characters, and this episode helps prove why I love him so much.
We know that Hurley has thought for a long time that he has no luck, and he pretty much lost all hope that he would ever get rid of “the curse”. In the beginning of the episode, we see Hurley telling his dad it’s stupid to try and start up the car when it needed a new carburetor, but his dad tells him hope is never a stupid thing to have.
Back in the present, Hurley is feverishly trying to get the Dharma van to start up, and everyone keeps shooting him down.  He goes to Charlie for help, and he argues with Hurley about what the point of it is, when Hurley says this: “Look, I don’t know about you, but things have really sucked for me lately and I could really use a victory. So, let’s get one, Dude. Let’s get this car started. Let’s look death in the face and say ‘Whatever, man’. Let’s make our own luck. What do you say?
Since the day this aired, I have tried to live my life by that quote.  Life is too short to be afraid.  Take risks and always remember that hope is never Lost (terrible pun intended).

Let me go, Jack.

Sunday, July 4th, 2010

Tristen, 22 – Greenville, South Carolina (USA) :

With Boone’s death, Lost turned a corner – and not just because his was the first death of a major character. As insignificant as many people see him and his death it was really anything but. Boone was my favorite character however not even I could have ever imagined the significance it held.
The way I see it: his death gave way to a new life – Aaron’s. It saved a life – Desmond’s (it resulted in Locke pounding on the hatch out of frustration, which kept Desmond from adding a second splatter to the hatch ceiling.) His death was also a major catalyst in the struggle between Jack and Locke that would span the next five seasons. Lastly, it gave us a glimpse into how the island works, in that it “demanded his life” as a sacrifice.
Arguably the most important aspect of Boone’s death would be some of his final words: “I know you made a promise. I’m letting you off the hook. Let me go, Jack.” Little did we know way back then just how significant those words would be; they essentially foreshadowed exactly how the next five seasons would play out and inevitably what it would all come down to – Jack “letting go.”

A3A 0051 AQ

Thursday, July 1st, 2010

Alan, 32 – San Francisco, California (USA) :

I rented a hotel room just to watch the series finale of Lost. I was staying with my family and knew that I would probably –happily– be a teary mess by the time the show was over and I wanted to be sure that I was somewhere where I could blubber in peace. So I drove to Santa Cruz, CA to a room with a view of the ocean, I thought it would be a perfect place to watch the end of my favorite story ever. I sat through the clip show before the finale, munching on snacks bought at the corner liquor store and started to get anxious. “Was I a complete moron for going to all this trouble just to watch an episode of television?
Finally 9:00 came and the show started and the very first thing I saw was Christian’s coffin coming out of an Oceanic Airlines plane and immediately I thought: “Oh, God, this whole show has been about Jack reuniting with his father. Of course. How heartbreaking. How beautiful.” (This may have something to do with my own dead dad issues.) I knew, right then, that all the time and energy I had spent on the show for that night –and over the previous years– was worth it. And, once the show was over, after bawling my eyes out (I was right, I was a mess), I went out on the balcony and stared out into the ocean and was happy that I was not a moron. Not in this case, anyway.

What about me?

Wednesday, June 30th, 2010

Luke, 22 – Atlanta, Georgia (USA) :

Imagine if you had the chance to express to whatever god you believed in, the amount of loss and disappointment you suffered in life because of having faith. The moment in “The Incident” where Ben confronts Jacob seems like it would feel exactly that way. It’s a profound moment for a lot of reasons. Not only do we have to reconcile the reveal of the mysterious Jacob, but for the first time, we actually get to attach a relatively human relationship to him.
Probably the most profound reason is that it is Ben’s most vulnerable moment. Not only do you understand him, but it’s hard not to deeply sympathize from where he is coming from. Michael Emerson brilliantly plays the scene with such despair and longing. “What was it that was so wrong with me… What about me?” asked Ben. “What about you?” says Jacob. There are few heartbreaking scenes like this on Lost.

Yes, Jack, she’s very happy.

Tuesday, June 29th, 2010

Marc, 39 – New York (USA) :

There have been a lot of moments on Lost that have inspired me, intrigued me, or moved me, but only one inspired me to write a book, intrigued me enough to get it published, and moved me to begin giving presentations. That moment came during the third season premiere, when Jack was locked in the cage and Juliet took out a file on him. Jack asked Juliet if his wife was okay, and she replied that she was.

It was a pretty ordinary moment, but something about it brought about an epiphany for me–a theory that became the outline for my book The Myth of Lost. I get into more details in the book, but the basic question I had at the time was how Juliet knew so much about Jack, and why did it seem that she was trying to help him get over his issues?

This one moment led to an entire theory. I guess that’s my Lost moment! It wasn’t my favorite scene, or even a particularly memorable one, but it’s the one that changed my life.

Marc Oromaner is an award-winning copywriter and author with eighteen years of television and advertising experience. His extensive knowledge of pop culture and spirituality has helped him decipher numerous myths in the media. He lives in New York City, where he is working on an update to his book, The Myth of Lost. Oromaner’s ultimate goal is to help unlock the messages hidden in movies, TV, and music that can help us uncover our own inner superhero.

Something tells me he never got around to making that call.

Monday, June 28th, 2010

Samuel, 17 – Syracuse, NY (USA) :

When I first viewed the relationship between Jack and Sawyer in the first Season, I didn’t really believe they would ever be connected in any way or ever be on the same page with one another. I always thought their relationship was going to be nothing but conflict, and competition over Kate. This scene with Jack and Sawyer really changed my view of their relationship with one another. Sawyer telling Jack how he met his father in a bar in Sydney, Australia created a big turn in their relationship.
This was my first look of Sawyer’s inner good side because he passed on this message from Christian to Jack, a message that Christian felt too pathetic to pass on to Jack from a telephone in the bar in Sydney. Christian wanted to tell Jack that “he was sorry” and that Jack is “a better doctor then he’ll ever be“. This was something that Jack needed to know because he believed his father felt betrayed by him, but really he was “proud” of him. This scene was quite emotional and very unexpected. After Sawyer said “Small world, huh?” I came to realize that everyone of these characters are possibly going to be somehow connected in different ways also, even if their backgrounds are highly different. I found this to be my Lost Moment because it’s really the first time I ever saw these two distinctive characters have a connection, a connection that both of them came to be aware of in a quite emotional way.

Now that’s what life’s all about. Laughin’ and lovin’ each other.

Thursday, June 24th, 2010

Ashley, 27 – Dallas, Texas (USA) :

My mother struggled with chronic health problems for the last five years of her life. In March 2010, she was in the ICU at the local hospital, and it became clear that her days with us were nearing an end. Lost had been a huge part of my life, and the one respite that I had during this particular storm.

On what would turn out to be the last week of my mother’s life, I could not wait for the Tuesday night hour of escape that I knew Lost would bring. I spent the four days leading up to Tuesday, March 16 saying goodbye to my mom, not knowing if she’d still be there the next day when I woke up.

That Tuesday the episode “Recon” aired, where one particular scene greatly stood out to me. Sawyer silently made a frozen dinner and watched television. His program of choice was Little House on the Prairie. This is a show that was my mother’s absolute favorite. Her hearing was bad, and I distinctly remember overhearing that damn theme song blasting from her room daily, from my childhood up until the days before her final admittance into the hospital.

Not only was my mom’s favorite show featured as a part of my favorite show that week, but the Little House clip that they included spoke directly to my aching soul. It told me that people aren’t really gone when they die, and that life is about the connections you make with those you love.

Less than two days later, my mom was gone.

I felt as if that moment was placed in that episode specifically for me to see and witness. It was there to comfort me, and only me. Lost is the one thing that I gave any attention to besides her hospital room that week, and while turmoil and chaos raged inside of me, the message that I so desperately needed to hear was given to me, placed in the one spot I’d be sure to see and absorb it. My mother was unable to speak to me during that week, so her favorite characters spoke for her, while one of my favorites watched and learned alongside me.

I needed that.

That was my Lost moment.

This is my destiny. I’m supposed to do this, dammit!

Wednesday, June 23rd, 2010

Keith, 33 – Sacramento (California, USA) :

For me, the reveal of Locke being able to walk again was the epitome of the Lost experience. It was about regaining faith, being healed, and having a destiny on The Island. When Locke sat discouraged in the Melbourne Walkabout Tours office, trying to convince the tour guide to be brought along and screaming at him it was his destiny, he so desperately wanted to believe he was important and he was special. He had finally gotten over his depression and made the arrangements to take the tour despite his “condition”. He had finally gotten up his courage to deal with what his father did to him by something constructive like going on a journey of self-exploration instead of just sitting around dreaming and being scared.
So when that tour guide told him “No, John. You can’t (do this)”, once again he was hit with the awful truth of the limitations of his life.

Cut to-

John Locke wiggling his toes on the beach after the crash. The miracle happened. He wasn’t forsaken after all. He wasn’t lost anymore. He was saved; healed. It all made sense now. “This is your destiny John. You wanted to believe so badly in things all your life, but each time you were disappointed often with disastrous results. Then when you woke up on that beach and…” well let’s just say it was as big of an enlightenment for John Locke, as what laying in The Source was for Jack in “The End”.
For me this moment epitomized what Lost was about. Redemption. They all came to The Island for a reason and we were shown how miraculous those reasons were for the first time with Locke being healed. We didn’t have to wait until the very last episode to see them all in the church. We got a glimpse of it very early on.