Happy Anniversary, Lost: Reflections in My Rear View Mirror (Updated)

It only seemed appropriate on the anniversary of its debut to look back at where and who I was when Lost first aired on September 22, 2004. Below is a timeline of significant personal memories, fondly flashing back in time to the early days when I was just a fan without an online presence, voice or forum. 


A television show can change your life. Lost altered my path in more ways than one. 


It Doesn't Matter Who We Were, It Only Matters Who We Are


9/22/04: Lost debuted on ABC

10/20/04: I was officially hooked, thanks to episode 1.05 (White Rabbit) 

8/13/05: Purchased the name and URL for JOpinionated, and started a pop culture blog

3/14/06: Posted my very first Lost entry, after episode 2.15 (Maternity Leave)

1/23/08: Created this site in order to share Lost-specific analysis only, separately from other TV/film reviews

6/20/08-7/23/08: Created Jeremy Bentham website and Facebook profile with Lost anagrams and puzzles; a short-lived summer project

7/25/08: Attended Comic-Con for the first time, asked Damon and Carlton at an EW panel about the use of the name Bentham  

7/26/08: Attended the Lost panel at Comic-Con 2008

8/19/08: My first Lost interview: William Mapother (Ethan Rom)

2/18/09: Experienced the official Lost tour on Oahu via KOS Tours

4/4/09: Met writer/script supervisor/continuity guru Gregg Nations at the Lost Weekend charity event, as well as Sterling Beaumon (young Ben) and Andrea Gabriel (Nadia) - both of whom have become good friends [sidenote: I help run their FB fan pages]


6/4/09 - 1/16/10 Completed 5-season rewatch project with comprehensive analysis of each episode

7/09: Attended the Lost panel at Comic-Con 2009, met Josh Holloway, Nestor Carbonell and Jorge Garcia in the press room [also interviewed Dom Monaghan in the FlashForward press room]

1/29/10: Attended a private meet and greet party for the S6 premiere press in Waikiki; spoke with Damon and Carlton, Michael Emerson, Jeff Fahey, Daniel Dae Kim, Yunjin Kim, Nestor, Harold Perrineau and Zuleika Robinson, as well as writers/executive producers Adam Horowitz, Eddie Kitsis and Liz Sarnoff


1/29/10: Hosted a party or 120 Lost fans from around the world; Fahey made a brief appearance

1/30/10: Went on a private press tour of Lost filming locales with executive producer Jean Higgins

1/30/10: Was on the S6 premiere red carpet on the beach, interviewing the above plus Evangeline Lilly and Josh Holloway 

3/15/10: Met and interviewed Elizabeth Mitchell on the set of V in Vancouver

5/23/10: Moderated a Lost panel at Jay and Jack's finale party at the Orpheum in LA, featuring Sterling, Andrea, L. Scott Caldwell (Rose), Neil Hopkins (Liam Pace), Malcolm David Kelley (Walt) and Eric Lange (Radzinsky)

8/21/10: Attended Lost Auction in LA, was a guest judge for the costume contest


I realize that I'm leaving out a few important events, but those were the first that came to mind. By the way, you can find articles about each of the above in the archives to the upper right or by searching by category in the Tabs. 


First Theories


For the sake of nostalgia, I looked up my first Lost entry from 2006 and am posting some of it below. I think you'll be amused by my initial thoughts, but I have to say that I'm proud of my Looking Glass station prediction!

3/14/06

• When Sayid first went exploring by himself in season one, he came across a thick black cord buried in the sand. He tracked it into the jungle but never questioned where the other end led. My theory is that there is an underwater hatch, and that cord is somehow providing electricity or power to it.
• Why did flight attendant Cindy disappear and where did she go? She doesn't seem like someone that the Others would be interested in.
• Isn't it a tad coincidental that Hurley would be attracted to a clinical psychologist when he used to be institutionalized? He even comments to Libby that she seems familiar. I'm sure we'll find out that she worked where he was a patient. Libby is a mystery; perhaps an Other or perhaps just an odd bird.
• When Jack came across his father's coffin, it was broken but empty. Is his dad still alive and on the island? Is he an Other or somehow involved with the Dharma Initiative? Or did the airline send the coffin without the body?
• The airplanes on the mobile above the crib had Oceanic logos on them. Dharma is obviously involved with Oceanic - do they own the airline?
• Could the HIM they're referring to be Henry Gale, the stranger held captive in the hatch?
• Claire took a drink from Ethan's canteen, much like Jack did from Desmond's canteen in his flashback. She mentioned that it tasted sour. Is water one of the methods that Dharma folks use to poison and/or drug people?
• Henry Gale was the name of Dorothy's uncle in The Wizard of Oz. And the Wizard himself arrived in Oz via hot air balloon, the very method of transport that this Gale is claiming to have crashed in on the island. Keep in mind that the Wizard also departed Oz in a hot air balloon, so we'll see what happens with Lost's Gale. 
• Why on earth would Sawyer have a pregnancy test among his hoarded supplies? If a female passenger had packed one, does that mean that one of the survivors thought they were pregnant or are pregnant now?
• Is Mr. Eko building a church?
• The hatch has a magnetic field below - did it have something to do with bringing the plane down? Or why the Black Rock ship is in the middle of the jungle? Does it have something to do with Locke's ability to walk?
• Locke's biological father talked about how everyone gets conned. And who is our favorite con man? Sawyer. There is indeed a connection between those two, but I have no idea what it is. 

Picture a Box. You Know Something About Boxes, Don't You?

What if I told you that somewhere in my house, there is a very large box...full of Lost memorabilia to give away. Simply leave a comment below by 10/1/10 and let me know how Lost has changed YOUR life; you will be entered to win a piece of memorabilia (I have plenty of goodies left to give away). 


Thank you for strolling down this road with me. And for the past six years. Because without your eyes and words and support, I would still be an anonymous fan without a voice.


Happy anniversary of the day our lives changed collectively and forever.


-Jo 


*UPDATE: Here are the names I randomly pulled; please email me your shipping address (jo at jopinionated dot com) and I will send you a little something from my Lost collection!

1. Andrea
2. Chelsea
3. Froy
4. HankG
5. HumaneBean
6. JasonBunch
7. Mandazoid
8. Stupescommaruth

Top 100 Scenes from 5 Seasons of LOST

Because the next episode ("The Variable") is the historic 100th of the series, I posted my favorite 100 LOST scenes of all time on TVOvermind!

Click here to see the extensive list, accompanied by photos and organized by season and episode.

See you late tomorrow night!

-Jo

LOST Tour in Oahu, Part 1

Before I begin, I need to thank and acknowledge Jeff from Kos Tours; he was far more than our tour guide and ride, and really made today one of the most memorable and exciting experiences of my life! And a huge shout-out to Sam & Holly, who were also on our tour and put up with hours and hours of my endless Lost chatter and theorizing. You are patient souls and we were thrilled to have spent the day with both of you as well!

Given that I have to catch a flight home in a few hours, I only have time to post photos from actual filming locations right now (with a few obvious exceptions), accompanied by matching screen captures from the show. So please consider this a rough first draft; I really wanted to post these before I left Hawaii and because so many of you were kind enough to follow my journey on Twitter and Facebook today. The next entry will include pictures of the beach camp, the fuselage and pieces from the wreckage, various props, etc.

So stay tuned for more details and very cool photos after I am home again...and after tomorrow night's new episode airs.

* One caveat: this is and always will be a spoiler-free blog. We did witness live filming today, but I feel that I owe it to my loyal spoiler-free readers to remain silent about what we saw. All I will say is that is was amazing and surreal to be so close to the live production and set, and that we were able to watch a few scenes being filmed with some familiar faces.

When I have more time, I will add the titles of each episode from the photos below.

Anthony Cooper's house, stalked by Locke

Bad daddy's real pad

Desmond flashes back to military training

Not filled with Scotsmen on a normal day

Eko's church

...remains unfinished

Hurley's 1st lottery house

Thankfully the real one isn't cursed & didn't burn to the ground

Jack meets Kate in the pilot episode

It was rocky from the start

Jack's Thailand vacation beach

No sign of Bai Ling (phew!)

Jack's Thailand vacation beach, take 2

The coast is clear...literally

Jin brings Sun to the temple

It is breathtaking in person

Jin proposes to Sun

Note the Dharma-ish bench

Jughead on the island...

...and Jughead hidden on a prop truck

Kate buried her ex's toy airplane time capsule beneath this tree


...and then, like most men in Kate's past/path, he died

Miles parachutes onto the island

In reality, the ash layered rock is much darker in color

Other Rock Point

...does not actually have that opening

Pala Ferry

no Hurley, Jack, Kate or Sawyer held captive today

Radio Tower

nowhere near where it was on the show

Sawyer's Sweet Shrimp Shack

different name, same location

The sub before Locke gets to it

...and the sub in storage

The waterfall

No one resembling these two were swimming underneath it

Yemi's plane

The actual tree they superimpose it upon

Various fuselage beach camp tents

We took several hundred photos and I can't wait to share the best of the rest with you very soon!

I will say that taking this tour is exhilarating and exhausting (I have even more respect for the actors now...walking along their beach was surprisingly challenging); an absolute treat for true Lost fans who have the opportunity to travel to Hawaii. Even after the series ends, Kos will be offering this journey and I highly recommend it to all of you (we chose the 8 hour tour, but they also offer 2 and 5 hour versions).

Have a great day, and thank you so much for taking the time to stop by!

- Jo

Oahu, Day 2: Jin, Meet Sun!

If I told you that these hotel discoveries were coincidences, would you believe me? Because they are!

I was strolling around downtown Waikiki this morning, and recognized the green marble outside of The Royal Garden Hotel because that is where Jin first met Sun (see photo above; his head is down as he opens the door for her). Below is my photo of the front entrance; notice the same gold ornate table right inside the door.

We are very excited to meet up with Ryan & Jen from The Transmission this evening, as they live here and have been providing excellent Lost news and analysis since the beginning of the series on their fantastic podcast!

And of course tomorrow we will be on the Lost Tour all day long. So no, I will not be sleeping any time soon. And yes, it's worth it. I planned our entire vacation around this brief trip to Oahu for Lost. That is love; I am lucky that my valentine is a fan...and doesn't mind my dedication to a television show.

:)

- Jo