(Season 3)
[credit: wikipedia]
Lost is an American serial drama television series that follows the lives of plane crash survivors on a tropical island, after a passenger jet flying between Australia and the United States crashes somewhere in the South Pacific. Each episode typically features a primary storyline on the island as well as a secondary storyline from another point in a character's life.
In May 2007 it was announced that Lost will continue for a fourth, fifth, and sixth year, concluding with the 117th produced episode in May 2010. These three final seasons will consist of 16 episodes each.
List of episodes
The series began development in January 2004, when Lloyd Braun, head of ABC at the time, ordered an initial script based on his concept of a cross between the movie Cast Away and the popular reality show Survivor. Episodes have a distinct structure: following a recap of events relevant to the upcoming narrative, each show begins with a cold open. Often a close up of a character's eye will follow. While there is a continuous story arc, each episode relates events concurrently with pre or post-island flashbacks centered on a particular character.
Lost is almost entirely filmed on the Hawaiian island of Oahu. Various urban areas in and around Honolulu are used as stand-ins for locations around the world, including Los Angeles, New York, Iowa, Miami, South Korea, Iraq, Nigeria, England, France and Australia. For example, scenes set in a Sydney airport were filmed at the Hawaii Convention Center, while a World War II-era bunker was used as an Iraqi Republican Guard installation.
Cast & Characters
The initial season had 14 major roles getting star billing. Naveen Andrews portrayed former Iraqi Republican Guard Sayid Jarrah. Emilie de Ravin played the pregnant Australian Claire Littleton. Matthew Fox acted as the troubled surgeon and lead role Jack Shephard. Jorge Garcia portrayed Hugo "Hurley" Reyes, an unlucky lotto winner. Maggie Grace played Shannon Rutherford, a former dance teacher. Josh Holloway acted as con man James "Sawyer" Ford. Yunjin Kim played Sun-Hwa Kwon, the daughter of a powerful Korean businessman and mobster, with Daniel Dae Kim as her husband Jin-Soo Kwon. Evangeline Lilly portrayed fugitive Kate Austen. Dominic Monaghan acted as an ex-rock star drug addict Charlie Pace. Terry O'Quinn played the mysterious John Locke. Harold Perrineau portrayed construction worker Michael Dawson, while child actor Malcolm David Kelley acted as his young son, Walt Lloyd. Ian Somerhalder played Boone Carlyle, chief operating officer of his mother's wedding business and step brother of Shannon.
Casting
Many of the first season roles were a result of the executive producers' liking of various actors. The main character Jack was originally to die in the pilot, and was hoped to be played by Michael Keaton, however ABC executives were adamant that Jack live.[35] Before it was decided that Jack would live, Kate was to emerge as the leader of the survivors; she was originally conceived to be more like the character of Rose. Dominic Monaghan auditioned for the role of Sawyer, who at the time was supposed to be a suit-wearing city con man. The producers enjoyed Monaghan's performance and changed the character of Charlie, originally a mature former rock star, to fit him. Jorge Garcia also auditioned for Sawyer, and the part of Hurley was written for him. When Josh Holloway auditioned for Sawyer, the producers liked the edge he brought to the character (he reportedly kicked a chair when he forgot his lines and got angry in the audition) and his southern accent, so they changed Sawyer to fit Holloway's acting. Yunjin Kim auditioned for Kate, but the producers wrote the character of Sun for her and the character of Jin, portrayed by Daniel Dae Kim, to be her husband. Naveen Andrews, who plays Sayid, was also not in the original script. Locke and Michael were written with their actors in mind. Emilie de Ravin who plays Claire was originally supposed to be a recurring role.[35] In the second season, Michael Emerson was contracted to play Ben ("Henry Gale") for three episodes. His role was extended because of his acting skills to eight episodes, and eventually for the whole of season three.
Season Synopses - Note: Some Spoilers
Season 1
Season 1 had 24 episodes. A plane crash strands the surviving passengers of Oceanic Flight 815 on a seemingly deserted tropical island, forcing the group of strangers to work together to stay alive. Their survival is threatened by mysterious entities including polar bears, an unseen creature that roams the jungle, and the island's malevolent inhabitants known as the "Others." They encounter a Frenchwoman who was shipwrecked on the island over 16 years earlier and find a mysterious metal hatch buried in the ground. An attempt is made to leave the island on a raft.
Season 2
Season 2 has 23 episodes. Most of the story, which continues 45 days after the crash, focuses on the growing conflict between the survivors and the Others, with the continued clash between faith and science being thematic in certain episodes. While some mysteries are resolved, new questions are raised. New characters are introduced, including the tail-section survivors and other island inhabitants. More island mythologies and insights into the survivors' pasts are divulged. The hatch is explored and the existence of The DHARMA Initiative and its benefactor, the Hanso Foundation, are revealed. As the truth about the mysterious Others begins to unfold, one of the crash survivors betrays the other castaways, and the cause of the plane crash is revealed.
Season 3
Season 3 has 22 episodes. The story continues 67 days after the crash. New crash survivors and Others are introduced, as the crash survivors learn about the Others and their history on the island. One of The Others and a new island inhabitant join the survivors while a survivor defects to The Others. A war between The Others and the survivors comes to a head, and the survivors make contact with a rescue team.
Future Seasons and End Date
Season 4 will feature 16 episodes that will begin airing in the United States and Canada sometime in February of 2008. The season will run all of its episodes consecutively without repeats.
On May 7, 2007, ABC Entertainment President Stephen McPherson announced that Lost will end during the 2009-2010 season with a "highly anticipated and shocking finale." "We felt that this was the only way to give it [Lost] a proper creative conclusion," McPherson said. Beginning with the 2007-2008 television season, the final 48 episodes of Lost will be aired as three seasons with sixteen episodes each. Thus, Lost will conclude with its sixth season. These seasons are to air uninterrupted from February to May.