What, me worry? Not when I just stumbled upon a fantastic stash of ink-wash caricatures of the LOST characters, done by MAD Magazine artist Tom Richmond.
He’s doing one a week up to the finale. So far, he’s done Jack, Kate, Sayid, Miles, Desmond — and my favorite of the batch, Flocke with a scary smile and smoke rising out of his shirt:
Check out the whole set — they’re wonderful: The LOST Sketch Collection. You can also see them on this page which includes comments.
I’ve been catching up on some of the official podcasts —
March 25 audio podcast
Darlton, punchy after having just finished writing a draft of the finale, rehashed Ab Aeterno, prehashed The Package, considered the possibility that Flocke was not evil — and revealed the title of the finale — on the March 25, 2010 audio podcast.
March 30 video podcast
In this short video podcast, Darlton answered a fan question about whether the fish that Jacob was cooking in the Season 5 finale, The Incident, was, ahem, a red herring.
I love the idea that it was a kind of visual pun, and in fact, someone left a comment on this blog back in September putting forth the “red herring” idea — an idea I found really funny at the time and still do. Alas, in this podcast, Darlton deny that was their intent. But the whole podcast is so jokey, I don’t know if they can really be believed:
April 1 audio podcast
Darlton briefly rehashed The Package, talked about who might win in a Flocke-Widmore showdown, prehashed Happily After Ever, and answered questions about Richard Alpert’s hair, the squirrel baby, and, of all things, grammar. April 1, 2010 audio podcast
April 8 video podcast
In this video podcast, Nestor Carbonell gave a tour of the set of the Black Rock. He talked about how they filmed the scenes there in Ab Aeterno — how they created the illusion of the smoke monster, and how they got the boar, who wasn’t hungry, to gnaw on a body (don’t worry, it was just a dummy). Very interesting!
Illustration of old microphone by Peter Suneson
Sideways Libby and Hurley
Episode 6×12, how do I love thee? Let me count the ways:
1. Hurley and Libby getting their picnic at last. Awww.
2. Sideways Hurley remembering the Island.
3. Jack sounding totally plausible when he said he was giving up control. He’s said it before, but I never believed him until now.
4. Desmond looking good in a suit.
5. Teacher Ben coming out to check on the suspicious character.
6. Terry O’Quinn getting better every week, which seems impossible because he’s already so good.
7. Flocke tossing Desmond down the well. I saw that coming, but I never imagined Flocke would be so casual about it. He’s the most badass of villains.
8. Libby not being crazy.
9. The cliffhanger ending.
Screencap of Libby and Hurley from Lost-Media.com
6×12 Everybody Loves Hugo will air Tuesday, April 13, 2010 from 9:00 to 10:02 in the U.S. (an hour earlier Central Time). Again this week, there won’t be a rerun, just the new episode.
The title is a clear nod to 2×04 Everybody Hates Hugo.
The press release for the episode has a couple of surprises in the guest list (I’m actually sorry that I peeked!) –> press release for Everybody Loves Hugo (spoilers!).
Promo:
Sneak peek # 1 — Sideways Hurley and his mother, who is a hoot!
Sneak peek # 2 — This second sneak peek is on the Island. Hurley makes a very good point:
Desmond in 6x11
What did you think of Happily Ever After, the Desmond-centric, Darlton-written, Jack-Bender-directed episode?
Michael Emerson talks about Ben’s flash-sideways in Dr. Linus, accompanied by great clips from that episode.
Emerson expresses perfectly what it is about the flash-sidways scenes that is so intriguing:
It kind of gets you in the heart, I think, to think that had our lives been just a little different, as a result, so many things would have changed, and how easy it would have been to just have simple happinesses and not be on the front lines of some cataclysmic battle between good and evil.
The video also has a clip of part of the memorable scene where Ben confesses to Ilana, and she forgives him. and it contains more of Emerson’s insightful comments about his character.
A must-see for Michael Emerson fans.
If the video above doesn’t work, you can watch it here: Video podcast with Michael Emerson
Flocke gesturing at Sun in 6x10 The Package
Did you notice how in the last episode, 6×10 The Package, Flock said that he wanted Sun to make a free choice to join him?
Sun, to Locke: You killed those people at the Temple.
Locke: Those people were confused. They were lied to. I didn’t want to hurt them. Any one of them could have chosen to come with me. And I’m giving you that choice Sun, right now. I would never make you do anything against your will. I’m asking you. Please. Come with me.
That reminded me of the way that Jacob had talked about choice:
Jacob to Hurley, in The Incident: All you have to do is get on that plane. It’s your choice, Hugo. You don’t have to do anything you don’t want to.
—————-Jacob to Ben, in The Incident: Benjamin, whatever he’s told you, I want you to understand one thing. You have a choice.
Ben: What choice?
Jacob: You can do what he asked, or you can go.
We saw something similar with Dogen, Lennon, and Jack in What Kate Does:
Dogen wraps a capsule in a piece of paper, and says something in Japanese.
Lennon, to Jack: He says you have to give your friend this pill.
Jack: Are you serious? Why don’t you give it to him?
Lennon: Because it won’t work unless he takes it willingly, and he won’t take it willingly from us.
What are we to make of this? Could it be that the MiB/Flocke, Jacob, and Dogen were all equally bound by some rule which says they should not force people to do anything against their will? Does forcing people to take action somehow undermine the validity or power of those actions, as Lennon suggested? What is so special, in the Island world, about choices that are made freely?
Or was Flocke just b.s.-ing Sun? After all, when Sun did make her choice — to turn Locke down — instead of accepting her choice, Flocke ran after her, which suggests he might have intended to try force instead.
Flocke running after Sun
Also, to what extent can Zombie Sayid be said to have made a free choice to join Locke?
Screencap of Locke gesturing at Sun is from Lost-Media.com. Screencap of Locke running after Sun is from Lostpedia.
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