What did you think of Episode 1 - The Beginning of the End?

Note: Screencaps and Easter Eggs for this episode will be coming shortly.

Lost episodes on XBOX LIVE now!

Thanks to everyone who has emailed me that Lost is now available for download on XBOX LIVE in the US. You can download every episode from seasons 1 2 and 3 in regular or 720p HD.

Predict Lost Ratings

I thought this might be a fun exercise. With tonights premiere of Season 4 what do you think the official ratings that will be released for tomorrow will be?

I'm going to go with 16.8 Million. Closest person gets Kudos from the rest of us here at DarkUFO :)

How about you?

Lost S3 Finale Repeat Ratings

“Lost” (9:00-11:00 p.m.)
Starting out against an “Idol”-boosted installment of Fox’s “Moment of Truth,” a special replay of the third season finale of “Lost” built on its lead-in to draw an average audience of 8.5 million viewers and a 3.3 rating, 8 share among Adults 18-49 from 9:00-11:00 p.m. The show was enhanced with on-screen facts and back story. The night prior to its fourth season opener (Thursday – 1/31/08 at 9:00 p.m. ET), the “Lost” encore took second to “Moment of Truth” at 9:00 p.m. in Adults 18-49 (3.3/8) and then moved up to No. 1 during the 10 o’clock hour, beating NBC’s original “Law & Order” by 10% (3.4/9 vs. 3.1/8). In fact the repeat “Lost” ranked No. 1 from 10:00-11:00 p.m. across each of the key young adults, men and women demos: AD18-34 (2.6/8), M18-49 (2.9/8), W18-49 (3.9/10), M18-34 (2.1/6) and W18-34 (3.2/9).

• Compared to the Net’s performance in the 2-hour time period on the year-ago night with original programming (“According to Jim”/”In Case of Emergency“/”Primetime”), the repeat “Lost” improved ABC’s delivery by 2.9 million viewers and by 65% in Adults 18-49 (5.6 million and 2.0/5 on 1/31/07).

A note about increasing DVR penetration and year to year rating comparisons: Year-to-year rating trends based on the Live + Same Day data stream may be somewhat distorted by the level of DVR penetration in the Nielsen sample, which has nearly doubled from 12% at the same point in 2006, up to 22% currently. More viewers are watching shows on their own timetables, which may not be reflected in the overnight next day numbers. Therefore, the only truly valid year-to-year comparison would be one based on the Live + 7 Day metric, once those stats are released by Nielsen.

Source: Nielsen Media Research (Fast Affiliate Live + Same Day Ratings), 01/30/08.

Source: ABC

Lost Fantasy League: Group 1 Analysis

GROUP 1 ANALYSIS:

Here we are- the final group analysis before the premier of Lost. This group includes all the big dogs on the show. We’ve got all three corners of the love-it-or-hate-it “ship” and two men at odds with each other. No need to try hyping this up any further, so just click below and read on.

REMINDER: Do not post spoilers in the comments section. I have gone 90% spoiler-free during the hiatus and will not reveal anything that I know, so please do not let anything that you know slip. Let’s respect the fans that have gone 100% spoiler-free.

LOCKE
Roughly 36% of you have Locke on your Fantasy roster, which comes as no surprise to me. On the surface, Locke is your beauty queen for points. He’s done the most exploring and discovering, he’s seen the Smoke Monster and is in tune with the Island, he is a major player and not likely to bite the dust any time soon, and he’s seen Jacob. It is likely that all of these things will hold true for Locke in Season 4. He is Jungle John and he will dominate in the points. He destroyed the competition in the Hiatus League, finishing 90 points ahead of his closest opponent. Locke is surely a force to be reckoned with.

But beauty fades, makeup cracks, and the wrinkles make themselves known. For all the good that Locke can and likely will do for Fantasy teams, he’s not impervious. He has been roughed up several times in the past and does his fair share of damage. In Season 3 he tried to kill Mikhail, beat the one-eyed wonder in the middle of the Others’ camp, was gut-shot and left for dead, and topped it all off with a long-distance knifing on Naomi. God only knows what and who he may blow up this year.

Whether he has a flashback or a flashforward is irrelevant. Despite a few speed bumps and injury deductions along the way, I think Locke is going to be the top performer for Group 1 as well as for the entire Fantasy League. The key will be how the contestants selecting Locke filled out the rest of their roster.


JACK
On the Island, Jack has long been the leader, but here in the LFL he plays second fiddle to Locke. We didn’t see much from Jack in the Hiatus League, so his 9th place finish should be discounted. The truth is that Lost would not be Lost without Jack. He will be there until the final reel. I am sure of this.

Jack has appeared in nearly every single episode (65 of 69) and has had more flashbacks and flashforwards than anyone else, so he’s good for points. He goes on adventures, discovers new things and will earn a ton of points this year. He hasn’t been involved with as much violence as Locke and he has the romantic triangles and quadrangles in his corner. This could be key in keeping up with John Locke in the points. Only two things that could hold Jack back. The first is that he suddenly turns violent on everybody questioning his judgment. He’s brought them all this far and everyone seems to trust him so I doubt this will occur. The second thing that could hurt Jack is the reduced episode count this season. He was featured in the Season 3 finales, so he’ll probably have to wait a while for another shot at episode centricity. This could turn out to be s season with only one Jack episode, quite a change of pace for Lost.

For Jack to provide modest competition to Locke, he’ll need to have at least two episodes. We know he’s good for flashforwards, so there are a few extra points already. He’ll also need to have more episodes than Locke and keep his hands clean. As long as he stays one of the main focuses of the show, which is likely, the 587 contestants that picked Jack for lead their Fantasy teams into battle need only worry about the rest of their team. Jack will be a solid performer, but he’ll need a little help to keep pace with Locke.


SAWYER
If there’s one thing the Hiatus League taught us, it is that Sawyer is the Island’s favorite little punching bag. Keep in mind though that Sawyer didn’t have any flashbacks in the Hiatus League to boost him back up from oblivion. Still, he somehow managed to finish worse than any of the League character who didn’t even show up in the HL. Maybe we saw the worst of the worst for Sawyer, but that’s still not very reassuring.

As bad as it might get for Saw-Dog you needn’t worry about him dying. While I think he’s the one of the more likely candidates for death in Group 1, it won’t be this season. He’s still too important to the show and the romance angle to be given the axe. If Sawyer can patch things up with Jack and behave more civilly this season, I think he’ll reduce the number of points deductions he typically has gotten by a good margin.

Sawyer always has interesting flashbacks and I’m sure he would make for an interesting flashforward. Both options are still in play, I think, as he has only had four centric episodes to date. Sawyer currently has the longest centricity drought for living main characters (excluding Rose & Bernard). Because he is such an important character to the show and he has provided fairly consistent episode quality, I believe the Season 4 premier will be Sawyer-centric. Sawyer can carry an episode and I think we’ll be in for a doozy. He was only picked up by 18.5% of you, which ought to give Sawyer lovers a quick jump out of the gate if he can stay out of trouble.


BEN
The leader of the rapidly crumbling Others is in a very interesting place this season. First of all, he’s in the hands of the Losties, which could mean he’ll be roughed up for information and retribution for what the Others have done over the last three seasons. If these freighter people are coming to the Island, there’s a good chance they’ll know something about the fall of the DHARMA Initiative. Seeing as Ben was responsible for that, he may just have to answer for that as well.

As powerful, important and promising as Ben’s future on Lost may seem, I think he is the worst possible Group 1 selection for your Fantasy teams. He’s #2 on my Death Watch list because everything seems to be coming to a head in the series. I seriously doubt that the freighter people plot thread will be drawn out over the next three seasons. With 48 episodes left, the story is likely to get to the point, which means Ben is going to have to answer for all his doings this year. That might not be pretty.

Ben is good for another flashback before he dies though. It would be hard to tell the story of DHARMA and the Island without Ben as a means of doing so. He’s safe enough for now and likely to get another episode, but he may be unceremoniously dispatched come season’s end (whenever those last eight episodes may come). I think most of you realized the danger inherent to Ben. He’s only on 10.7% of all Fantasy rosters, so good luck to you brave souls who are risking it all on the self-professed “good guy.”


KATE
It really surprised me to see the lovely Kate Austen at the bottom of the list. Many fans have complained about her character veering away from the tough adventure chick from Season 1 and becoming caught in the murk and mire of the Triangle. I too feel that Kate hasn’t been very interesting since Season 1, but her appearance in Jack’s flashforward really launches her points potential through the roof.

With this appearance, we know several important things: Kate is now good for a flashforward of her own; Kate is good for appearances in other characters’ flashforwards; there was some kind of fallout between her and jack, which means there’s going to be a good deal more shipping drama before we reach the falling-out point. Kate is part of the A-Team, so we can expect her to pick up discovery and visiting points. She’s caught in the middle of two men, so she’s good for more romance points as well. As lackluster as her character may seem, Kate is a veritable points monster.

Because she has potential across the board, I selected Kate for my Fantasy team. She came in just a squeak behind Ben, appearing on 10.2% of all Fantasy rosters. She has a knack for getting caught, which will hold her back somewhat, but I think Kate will be a major player this season and one of our top 5 points earners. She came in second in the Hiatus League and she didn’t even have an episode centric to her during that time. Only time will tell if this seeming oversight by so many of our contestants will be significant. I know I’m hoping it turns out that way! Worst to first? Maybe not, but Kate will be the Comeback Kid for Group 1.

Get your crash helmets read Lost fans! We're now under the 12 hour mark.

Cheers!

DarkUFO - Season 4 - What to expect

Well it seems that most of us have just about survived the seemingly never-ending Hiatus, and I hope in some small way we've helped you here at DarkUFO to pass the time.

With Season 4 almost upon us, less than 15 hrs by my counting, I thought it would be a good time to list what you can expect from us here at DarkUFO during season 4 and where you can find the information. Make sure you bookmark this page so you can refer to it at any point during Season 4 and let your friends now about us :)

We hope you enjoy Season 4, and we also hope that you will enjoy it here with us at DarkUFO.

Homepage
The homepage will feature all the latest non-spoiler news and videos along with the following.
- Recaps: We will be featuring our regular recappers, Vozzek69, Fishbiscuit, J.Wood and DocJensen, but we will also have a couple of new recappers who I personally enjoy. These will be Erika and DarkUFO regular Lukhs, along with the odd guest recap.
- G-Man and myself will be guiding you through both the Fantasy League as well as the Prediction league. Make sure you check in each week to see how your team/picks are performing
- We will be running the episode polls again this year so that we can determine at the end of Season 4 which were your favourite episodes. The polls will go live as soon as the episode has aired.

Spoilers and Rumours
We will continue to try our best to bring you the latest spoilers, rumours and info. This will include.
- Trailers for next weeks episodes
- Screencaps from the trailers
- Sneak Peeks and Promotional Photos
- Hopefully full episode synopsis's before the episode airs

Screencaps and Easter Eggs
We hope to bring you some of the fastest screencaps and easter eggs directly after the show has aired. You will be able to request screencap via the screencaps section for any ones that we have not posted and that we deem reasonable.

Forum
We hope to expand and continue to post interesting and relevant discussion topics in the forum section and we have a couple of new people on board to help with this section. If you have not already checked it out as it has some great articles.

Mysteries and Answers
This is the section that started this whole blog off and therefore is dear to my heart. We will continue to collate and publish all the latest unsolved mysteries from the show and when answered post them in the answers section.

Books, Audio, Connections and Whispers
We will continue to catalog all Audio and Book references that are mentioned on the show, along with any new whisper audio transcripts and people connections.

Theories
With the new season upon us, there will no doubt be more theories and revisions of existing ones. We will attempt to post all of your submissions as well as allowing you to rate them and view the best ones so far.

Fan Fiction
Season 4 will also be bringing us new characters and situations and relationships. The Fan Fiction section is for you budding writers, artists and video producers to showcase your work and be rated.

Continuity
Our resident super-sleuth SpOOky will be scouring each episode of errors, mistakes and general continuity problems. No detail is too small for SpOOky. Let's see if they have tightened things up for season 4 :)

Via Domus
Our crack team of gamers will be providing you all with the latest news, videos, cheats, walkthroughs from the new Lost game, Via Domus.

Media Mentions
Here will will publish articles, stories, photos and videos of the cast and writers that are not related directly to Lost. This could include new movie news, TV appearances, Photoshoots, Interviews etc.

The ODI Podcast

My good friend The ODI has just published his first podcast. In it he discusses the Mobisodes, Find 815 Arg, and previews the new Lost season. It contains some mild spoilers but you are given clear warning if you want to skip those parts.

Give it a go and let us know what you think.

The ODI Podcast

Lost Fantasy League: Group 2 Analysis

GROUP 2 ANALYSIS:

Group 2 features some of the most popular supporting characters on Lost, so I can only imagine how difficult it was for some of you to pick one of these five fabulous people. Two of them are on the newer side but with good points potential, two are old favorites that have been around since the beginning, and the last is one who has nothing but potential going for them.

Who could I be talking about? Well, you probably already know, but read on to be doubly sure:

REMINDER: Do not post spoilers in the comments section. I have gone 90% spoiler-free during the hiatus and will not reveal anything that I know, so please do not let anything that you know slip. Let’s respect the fans that have gone 100% spoiler-free.

DESMOND
I like Desmond and I knew he was popular, but I had no idea that he would turn out to be the most selected character in Group 2. Appearing on just north of 44% of all Fantasy rosters, Desmond seems to be a powerhouse of potential. He’s only had three flashbacks so far and there is definitely room to grow for him in the cast.

Desmond is unique in that he is neither a Lostie nor an Other. He is a sort of third party on the Island and his story had run parallel to theirs up until now. If we see more of his time with Kelvin in the Hatch, he’ll be a lock for picking up Numbers points. If we see more of his past, he’ll likely pick up a few romance points for his relationship with Penny. And if we catch a glimpse of his future, he’ll likely score points with Penny and who knows what adventures he may take part in.

With the freighter people knowing who Desmond is, coupled with the fact that the freighter was not sent by Penny, you have to wonder what will happen to our mutual friend when ‘rescue’ reaches the Island. Whatever peril or reward may await him, I think he’s going to stick around for the long haul, being a consistent source of points all season long. It may depend on how he handles Charlie’s death and whether or not he still has flashes of the future, but I expect Desmond to be a major player in Season 4.


HURLEY
He’s one of the most beloved characters on the show and has been involved with several adventures. However, the big question mark on Hurley’s fate this season is how he will react to and handle Charlie’s death. Will it push him over the edge of sanity? Will he become reckless having lost one of the best friends he ever had? We’ll probably find out the answer to this very early on in Season 4, but it’s still a big risk; one that only 17% of you were willing to take.

In reality though, I don’t think Hurley is a bad choice. As crucial as he has been in the past for keeping everybody’s spirits up and for providing comic relief, I cannot imagine that Hurley would be killed off or devolve into a gloomy, hefty version of Sawyer. With Charlie dead, Hurley is the only character left that is able to lighten the mood when necessary. He’ll probably have to face more of his own demons (as all the Losties do) and we’ll probably see that sooner than later. We only had one Hurley-centric episode in Season 3, so I think his time to shine is coming up. He’s got the second-longest flashback drought among the main characters at the moment, but I don’t think his story is strong enough to carry the season premier. Some of his episodes have been a tad too light to envision him snaring the first episode of Season 4.

One thing that is always a mainstay for Hurley is the Numbers. While he seems to have broken away from their curse, you can bet that they’ll keep popping up. They already keep appearing all over the place, so Hurley’s relationship with the Numbers will continue. Some aspects of Hurley’s past still haven’t been revealed (such as the incident that pushed him over the edge and into Santa Rosa) and his future would certainly be interesting. What would he do with all that money he won? Hurley will get his time to shine early on and he will be a consistent source of points, but the specifics are still kind of vague for dear Hugo.


JULIET
With the death of Nikki and Paulo in the books, Juliet holds the title of newest main character still alive on the show. Her story has been dramatic and profound, but is there much left to it? Of all the main characters, I’d have to put Juliet at the top of my Death Watch list. She and Jack seem to have a little thing going on, so her absence from Jack’s flashforward is a little unsettling to me. Last hired, first fired seems to be a trend on Lost. Shortly after meeting all of the Tailies, they were nearly all killed off one by one. Bernard is the only one left at this point.

I don’t want to sound too negative, but Juliet does seem like a likely candidate for Boone Hill. She hasn’t become essential to any of the storylines but her own and really needs to see some depth added to her back-story or future-story in order to make the cut. If Juliet does stick around though, I think she will be a solid points earner. She’s not afraid to go exploring and put her life on the line and her little thing going on with Jack might just provide some romance points.

One other negative for Juliet is that she has proven to be one tough cookie. She can take it just as easily as she can dish it out, so she may be held back a little by this. Either way it goes, Juliet still got picked up by a good number of people, coming one roster selection shy of tying Hurley. Juliet is a risky pick for sure, but she could surprise us all. Besides, she’s not nearly as risky a pick as our Group 2 bottom feeder.


SAYID
As popular as Sayid is in some corners of the internet, I was surprised to see him come in fourth for Group 2. Granted, his back-story seems to have little remaining (Enter 77 seemed a bit of a stretch to me) but he has a knack for going on adventures and discovering things. Over 14% of you remembered his exploring ways and put him on your Fantasy rosters.

Perhaps his quickness to action worked against him in the end. While he is popular and has done his share of exploring he has also displayed quite clearly a knack for roughhousing. Whether he’s torturing suspected Others or blowing them up at the beach, Sayid usually finds himself mixed up in the sort of things that aren’t conducive to a prosperous Fantasy team. Whether he’s getting hurt or laying the hurt on someone else, this is an unattractive feature that most people seem to have kept in mind when filling out their rosters.

Still though, Sayid has some potential. If he has a flashforward, I would expect him to seek out Nadia. Should a relationship start there, Sayid owners could find a sudden boost from the romance points. I really shouldn’t have been surprised to see Sayid selected in such low numbers. As a soldier, he’ll be the first one in line when it comes to defending his friends from whatever dangers may come at them next.


MICHAEL
Some have wondered why we put Michael so high up in the Fantasy groupings. Yes, if the producers were trying to get Michael to come back the Season 3 finale but failed, then there’s a good chance they may have squeaked him in for Season 4. But, his fate is still uncertain.

Should Michael come back, it’s likely he would play a large part in whatever action is going on at the time. He’d certainly have a lot of explaining to do. There is potential for a flashback showing what happened to him and Walt after leaving the Island, and there’s always the chance that he could get a flashforward. The possibilities truly are endless with Michael, but it all hinges upon whether or not he even comes back. Like I said, if he comes back, he’ll be a major player. That is why we put him in Group 2. It’s a big risk, and not very many of you were willing to take it.

Well count me among the 176 contestants who felt Michael was worth the gamble. If he comes back, it will mean a huge boost to a minority of teams, which could make him a spoiler and a game-changer. The only problem is that he probably won’t show up right off the bat, costing us a few points before we strike gold. Michael performed rather well in the Hiatus League (5th overall), so we can be hopeful that he’ll match these accomplishments if he returns this season.

Say it with me now: Only 24 hours left!

Lost Fantasy League: Group 3 Analysis

GROUP 3 ANALYSIS:

In Group 3 we begin to see some of the main Losties but Group 3 also includes a two characters who could see their importance rising in the series. Group 3 also seems to be the most well-rounded in terms of potential points offerings because it is the most evenly dispersed group in the Season 4 Fantasy League. Even, that is, to a point.

The most popular choice was not who I expected. To find out who that is, read on:

REMINDER: Do not post spoilers in the comments section. I have gone 90% spoiler-free during the hiatus and will not reveal anything that I know, so please do not let anything that you know slip. Let’s respect the fans that have gone 100% spoiler-free.

DANIELLE ROUSSEAU
I was taken aback by Rousseau’s emergence as the most popular pick for the group. I thought for sure that one of the three series regulars would reign supreme so I am left trying to figure out why 31% of you picked her for your Fantasy teams.

The most obvious reason is that Rousseau has a rich back-story that has yet to be tapped. With only 48 episodes remaining in the series, a Rousseau flashback feels like it’s coming. But when? With so much going on and a reduced episode count, Season 4 may yet leave Rousseau high and dry on the flashback front. Still, she has a rich history of being a wanderer and discovering all kinds of things on the Island. That’s got to be good for something.

But the thing I keep coming back to in my mind is that Rousseau has a knack for dishing out the occasional hurt. With our zero-tolerance policy on violence, I think Rousseau is one of the most likely characters in the entire Fantasy League to rack up the injury deductions. She is obviously distrustful of the Others, so there may be some tense moments between her and Ben, Juliet and even her daughter’s boyfriend, Karl. As much good as she may do you with discoveries, her behavior lends herself to mixing it up too often. I view Rousseau as a case of two steps forward and one step back- she’ll get you points, but she’ll be her own undoing with violence. I think this was showcased pretty clearly in the Hiatus League.


JIN
When it came down to breaking the characters up into groups, we decided to put Sun and Jin in the same group. Obviously their stories are intertwined and they share many romantic moments. You didn’t think we’d let you pick both of them and double up on any kissing and sex points now did you? :-) As Sun and Jin grow closer, you can expect more affection between them.

Another big boost for Jin is that if a flashback focuses more directly on Sun, he can still get points for appearing in her flashbacks and even centricity points if the story includes him enough. The same goes for Sun really. There’s a symbiotic balance between them that enables each to benefit from an episode focusing on the other. Points abound in Kwon-centric episodes.

But Jin is another Group 3 surprise to me. I never would have thought Jin would be the more popular of the Kwons. He is just barely edging out his wife in episode count and has been roughed up more frequently than Sun. Despite being the more adventuresome of the two, Jin also has a bit of a temper and dishes out his fair share of punishment. His aggressive tendencies could come back to haunt 21.5% of you who selected him, but unless these setbacks really add up, I think Jin will still work out for you, just like he did in the Hiatus League.


SUN
I was expecting to see Sun at the top of the list for Group 3 selections. Boy was I surprised to see her come in as the third most popular pick, just slightly behind Jin, appearing on 20.8% of Fantasy rosters. But I’m also glad that she wasn’t the top pick, because it means less competition for me when Sun scores the big points for my team. :-)

Sun has all the same benefits as I laid out for Jin. Unless a death occurs, I’d expect to see both of them in any Kwon flashforwards. Sun has been well-behaved for the most part. She was knocked around by Charlie and she killed Colleen, but that’s been about the worst of it for her. She’s got some spunk, but doesn’t do as many adventures as Jin. Still, she was our #3 points earner for the Hiatus League, so I expect big things from her.

Of course, performance in the Hiatus League is hardly indicative of how any of our characters will perform in Season 4. We saw little Jack action and out Season 2 and 3 buddies were largely ignored. Still, Season 4 will put Sun smack in the middle of all the action, and I’m sure she’ll be getting her kiss on when she and Jin are reunited once more. I can see Sun running away with this group.


CLAIRE
I was actually expecting Claire to come in last for Group 3, but 4th is close enough. Just over 14% of you felt like including her on your rosters and I can understand why. She is a main character and has had a flashback episode each season. She has also gone on a few adventures and discovered a few things and people while on the Island, so in theory it wouldn’t be a stretch to think that her consistency in appearing and activity would continue.

Having a baby didn’t slow her down, but what might slow down Miss Littleton’s momentum is the reduced episode count this season. While her centric episodes have provided some quality entertainment, I wonder if her story is going to be important enough to cover this season. She’s largely a Beachwarmer and, while she has had a few moments of glory, I have my doubts as to whether she’ll be at the forefront of the action. Another negative for Claire is Charlie’s death. Now that he’s gone, the odds of her scoring any romance points are slim to none.

But there may yet be hope for our Island mommy. She’ll start off Season 4 with Jack & company at the radio tower and will likely be at the center of any action for the first two or three episodes based on the fact that everyone is all grouped together. Also, if Desmond’s flashes hold true, Claire and her son will board a helicopter sometime in the near future and leave the Island, opening up flashforward potential for her. If nothing else, you can count on appearance points and the occasional kissing points for when she shows her baby boy some TLC.


JACOB
Jacob is by far the riskiest character to choose is Group 3. We don’t know much about him and cannot be certain that we’ll see him again in Season 4. I would like to think that Damon and Carlton would treat us to a little bit of Jacob this year, but he may turn out to be more like the 4-toed statue and not show up at all the season after being introduced to us.

The uncertainty about Jacob is reflected in the number of rosters he is on (298 or 12.5 % overall). While he is an enticing character and full of mystery, you have to wonder what the plan is for him. We know he is real because we saw him for a millisecond in “The man Behind the Curtain,” so further appearances are possible. We know he exists in the present and could also appear in flashbacks for Ben, so all is not lost for you Jacob pickers out there.

A few reasons why I would have stayed away from Jacob are as follows: he can’t get the big points for encountering himself like other characters can; he seems stuck in that little shack so I doubt he’ll be up for any exploring; and he has displayed a rather violent nature, throwing things around his little shack when Ben and Locke paid him a visit. These three things could cause Jacob to lose more points than he could potentially gain, a problem for any Fantasy team.

Only 36 more hours... The clock is ticking!

Amazon slash Blu-Ray Version of Season 3

Update: 30th Jan The Lost Season 3 Blu-Ray disc is currently No.1 on Amazons Best Seller Chart.

Thanks to Bill for spotting that Amazon have slashed $57 off the price of the Blu-Ray version of Season 3. You can pick up the Blu-Ray version for under $40 here.

Lost Fantasy League: Group 4 Analysis

GROUP 4 ANALYSIS:

All the characters in Group 4 are recurring characters and every one of them was seen at one point or another in the Season 3 finale. While they have been regularly recurring character in the past, they are also the lowest on the totem pole in terms of frequency. Some of these folk are newer to the series and may hold more regularity in Season 4, while others have been away for a while, either in the background or away from the Island entirely.

What does the future hold for them? I can only guess, and guess I will. Here’s my Group 4 analysis:

REMINDER: Do not post spoilers in the comments section. I have gone 90% spoiler-free during the hiatus and will not reveal anything that I know, so please do not let anything that you know slip. Let’s respect the fans that have gone 100% spoiler-free.

ALEX
Expect to see Alex early on in Season 4, but don’t expect her to be a mainstay. Now tat she has met her mother, Danielle, there will likely be some early drama between Alex, her mom and Ben. Alex will want answers and there will likely be some bonding time between her and Danielle. The key factor in her points potential is what Danielle decides to do regarding the coming freighter people.

If Alex stays with her mother, then there’s a chance that the two of them will disappear back into the woods for a while. Danielle has a knack for doing this. If Alex decides to stick around with the Losties, it could be a whole different ballgame. We’d see her more frequently that way and she’d likely see more action and get more points. Also, her relationship with Karl will likely add a few kiss points to her tally. She has proven herself proficient with a slingshot, so don’t think she’s immune to picking up injury deductions.

All in all, Alex should do well. She’ll start off the season in the middle of everything, which will help her get some points right out of the gate. I find it no surprise that she is the most popular pick in Group 4. What is surprising is that she turned out to be the most popular pick overall, appearing on over 58% of all Fantasy rosters, my own team included. This astounding majority of contestants will benefit early on, but once the first few episodes are over and done with, Alex’s potential becomes more of a question mark. Even so, she should be a solid performer for her group.


WALT
Except for his mysterious appearance in “Through the Looking Glass,” Walt has not appeared since the Season 2 finale. He performed well in the Hiatus League, thanks to his encounter with a polar bear, but I have serious reservations as to his points potential this season. Damon and Carlton have said that they had wanted Michael to return at the end of Season 3, but it just didn’t work out. Forums have been swelling with speculation that we might finally learn something of Michael and Walt’s fate in Season 4, perhaps them even coming back to the Island. It sounds very enticing, but here’s a word of caution-

Malcolm David Kelley, the actor who plays Walt, has grown significantly from the kid we knew in Season 1. The powers that be did their best to mask his age in the Season 3 finale, but there would be no way to hide it if Walt were to return to the Island. It would present a very difficult issue to explain within the context of the show. The one way that Walt’s age would not be an issue is if he were only to appear in flashforwards. As of right now, we don’t know how far into the future Jack’s flashforward occurred, so they may be able to work around Walt’s difference in age and appearance.

Either way it could occur, dealing with Walt’s age will have to be treated delicately. I have too many doubts about Walt’s inclusion in Season 4 to provide a positive outlook. He is on nearly 29% of all fantasy rosters, positioning him to be an even bigger red herring than Richard Alpert. If he shows up, it will mean big gains for those contestants willing to take a risk on him. If he doesn’t show up, it will mean a significant loss over the whole season but, depending on how they have picked for Groups 5-7, those fantasy owners may be completely in over their heads.


ROSE
In the Hiatus League, Rose didn’t show up once and the 136 Fantasy teams she was on (5.7%) paid the price. In actuality, Rose has appeared in nearly 20% of the episodes so far. That would give the impression that she’s locked in for 3 episodes in Season 4. I actually think she’ll be in more than that.

I get the feeling that the Losties will likely travel as one large group from here on out now that Jack led them all up to the radio tower. Locke of course is the exception to this rule as he seems to prefer wandering around on his own. But since the Losties seem to be big on herd mentality at the moment, I think Rose will make her presence felt quite often this year. She may not have many lines and several of her appearances will involve her walking through a shot with her husband, but I expect Rose to be much more visible this season.

This will bode well for the few who picked her, because they will pick up appearance points like clockwork. This will only work against them slightly, as Rose is not apt to go on any adventures with the A-Team and as the gentlest character on the show, I doubt she’ll be hurting anybody. I also don’t think Damon and Carlton have a Rose & Bernard flashforward in store for us. Their story just doesn’t seem important enough right now to merit one. Mark Rose down as a good, consistent source for minor points (which can add up over the long haul).


KARL
Karl first came onto the scene in Season 3 as Alex’s boyfriend. He warned the Losties of the pending assault on their camp and has since been hanging out with our favorite castaways. The jury is still out on how large a role he has to play in Season 4, but Fantasy owners have all but written him off in advance.

Karl is only on 92 team rosters (less than 4%). Clearly, very few of you think he’s worth his weight in points. This very well may be true. He may just hang around with Alex and Danielle or he may try going to the Temple to meet up with the remaining Others. The future is very unclear for young Karl, but I think he’ll earn a few points early on. His relationship with Alex is no longer being interfered with, so there may be some kissy-kissy between the two lovebirds. Or he may just turn out to be a very boring addition to the cast. I hope he sticks around to at least explain the brainwashing film from Room 23.


BERNARD
Bernard also has a short analysis. Most of what I have to say was already spelled out above in my commentary on Rose. Bernard will certainly appear early on with the Losties still on the beach, but after that, who knows what will happen. Aside from a few random appearance points, he’s probably good for at least one kiss with Rose.

That won’t be very encouraging or helpful to the 83 Bernard lovers that picked him for the Fantasy rosters. With only 3.5% of our contestants holding any faith in Bernard, he could prove to be a major spoiler if he turns out to be a regular Indiana Jones. He was one of the top 10 points earners in the Hiatus League by virtue of the Tailie-centric episode “The Other 48 Days,” but I don’t think he’ll be such a Fantasy stud this time around.

We're now 48 hours away from the Season 4 premier of Lost in the US and Canada. We're almost there!

Sky One - "Utterly Lost"

Thanks to sophie for finding this video from Sky One which is their recap show for us here in the UK.

New Sneak Peek to Air on Kimmel

Thanks to Belen for letting us know that there's going to be a Lost Sneak Peek on Wednesday on Jimmy Kimmel's show.

http://abc.go.com/latenight/jimmykimmel/index?pn=index

Lost Fantasy League: Group 5 Analysis

GROUP 5 ANALYSIS:

The characters that we put in Group 5 were more significant characters to the show that have appeared on the Island in one way or another. Given this common trait and their past appearances, we felt that they were very likely to appear at least twice or more in Season 4. Granted this was all speculation, but it sounded good to us at the time. :-) Some of this speculation has made us look pretty smart, while some of it may have blown up in our faces.

For better or worse, here’s my Group 5 analysis:

REMINDER: Do not post spoilers in the comments section. I have gone 90% spoiler-free during the hiatus and will not reveal anything that I know, so please do not let anything that you know slip. Let’s respect the fans that have gone 100% spoiler-free.

PENNY WIDMORE
Now that she has confirmation that Desmond is alive, Penny will no doubt increase her search efforts. This significantly increases her likelihood of appearing in the present this season. She has also appeared in all of Desmond’s flashbacks, so she would be a safe bet there, but if Desmond were to have a flashforward you would almost expect Penny to be in it somehow.

The events of Lost seem to be occurring in the middle chapter of the story of Desmond and Penny’s relationship. There has to be a future for her in the show, but whether that future is now is up for debate. Actress Sonya Walger was recently seen on the HBO show “Tell Me You Love Me.” Could her involvement on this show have hampered her availability to Lost? It’s hard to say.

If you look at it from purely from a character perspective, Penny is almost certain to show up. How involved she’ll actually be is hard to say. It will depend on whether her role is limited to flashbacks or whether she actually appears in the present for a substantial amount of time. Either way, I feel pretty confident that she’ll show up and she’ll probably bring a good dose of points with her. Penny is certainly a good pick, so I am not surprised at all to see her on more than 45% of Fantasy rosters.


RICHARD ALPERT
From the outset, including Richard was a gamble. We knew that actor Nestor Carbonell was attached to the CBS show “Cane” and that there was a chance that the show would stick. This is why we put him in Group 5. Had we put him any lower, more people might have put him on their teams before hearing about his involvement with “Cane.”

Currently, around 1 in 4 of you has Alpert on your roster. Some of you thought that Nestor’s departure should allow you to change your roster, but consider this- how do we know that Alpert won’t be appearing at all this season? Sure, the networks don’t typically like sharing their actors, but there’s always a chance that he was able to fly out to Hawaii to shot a few quick scenes.

I can’t imagine an Others-related flashback without Richard, especially not one that shows more about the events leading up to or immediately following the Purge. If he is necessary to a storyline, Alpert will be there. If not, cross your fingers and hope against hope. It’s a long shot, but I still consider Alpert a viable character for the League.


AARON LITTLETON
Believe it or not, but Aaron is the only Group 5 character that we can say (with spoiler-free certainty) will actually appear in Season 4. Last we saw him, he was in his mother’s arms at the radio tower. He’s all but a regularly appearing character on the show, which will mean appearance points at the least.

The other potential points boost for Aaron comes in the form of kisses from his mother. Claire has been known to lay down mooches smooches on her handsome little diaper-man, a key reason why I selected him for my team. Any time he gets kissed, he gets points. It’s that simple! The only problem with Aaron is that he’s of little value in any of the other point categories. He can’t speak, so he won’t get first or last line points and he can’t walk, so we shouldn’t expect any discovery points for him any time soon. Also, his appearance on the show is almost inextricably tied to Claire’s presence. If Claire is a no-show, Aaron will likely follow suit.

Aaron proved himself a valuable player in the Hiatus League and he should provide the most consistency of the Group 5 characters. He’ll bring in little points on a regular basis and may even pull out some double digits when his mother feels affectionate. He won’t appear in Claire flashbacks, but would probably show up in her flashforwards, that is if they give Claire any airtime this season. Her status as a perennial Beachwarmer might doom Aaron to points obscurity. I think he is the smartest choice for Group 5 and the 347 other contestants who selected him will probably agree with me. :-)


MARVIN CANDLE
Up until Ben’s flashback in “The Man Behind the Curtain,” Marvin Candle/Mark Wickmund/Edgar Halowax was our only real glimpse into the past of the DHARMA Initiative. He has appeared in seven episodes over the past two seasons, so his recurrence seems to be consistent. Despite this, only around 9.3% of you selected him for your Fantasy rosters.

In a way, this makes sense, because we are supposedly moving away from the story of the Others this season, which could pull focus away from the mysteries of DHARMA. If there will be less revealed about the Others, then perhaps his appearance and points tallies will be limited. Still though, there is much to learn about the history of the Island, which will include both DHARMA and the Others. I expect to see him at least once this season.

If Ben has any more flashbacks of his time with DHARMA, Marvin may pop up in an orientation film somewhere. Otherwise, he’s most likely to be found in the present, as the Losties and whoever else explore the Island further and discover new stations and/or orientation films, which will only garner him basic appearance points. I think he’s a lock for appearing in Season 4, so I’m still in shock that so few people wanted him on their team. Maybe the overall lack of points potential did him in.


CINDY CHANDLER
At first glance, Cindy seems to be as risky a pick as Richard Alpert. Last we saw Cindy, Richard was leading her and the remaining Others to the Temple, which we have yet to see. Could her appearance in Season 4 depend on Richard’s? If the Damon and Carlton decide not to show us the Temple until Nestor Carbonell is available, we may very well not see Cindy for a while.

But it doesn’t have to be that way. Richard’s absence could very easily be explained if it comes time to showing us the mysterious temple, so you can’t rule her out. It seems that most of you have though, as she was only picked up by 5.5% of all Fantasy owners.

Given her track record, I would say there is a strong possibility that we could see her again in Season 4. Her chances are probably better than Richard’s but those chances seem to have been switched in the minds of Fantasy owners. Cindy is another wildcard that could really give a boost to the minority of owners with her on their rosters or leave the rest of us wondering what they were thinking when they picked her. Only time will tell.

Lost Fantasy League: Group 6 Analysis

GROUP 6 ANALYSIS:

Group 6 was also designed to cost our contestants points but not quite as many as Group 7. The characters we’ve included in Group 6 seemed more likely to show up than those in Group 7 for one reason or another. Thanks to the Tailie-centric “The Other 48 Days” and Claire-centric “Maternity Leave,” Group 6 avoided total oblivion, finishing up with a combined -25 points. Is this indicative of how well they may do in Season 4? Probably not.

Either way, here’s my take on the likelihood of these characters being good or bad picks for the Fantasy League:

REMINDER: Do not post spoilers in the comments section. I have gone 90% spoiler-free during the hiatus and will not reveal anything that I know, so please do not let anything that you know slip. Let’s respect the fans that have gone 100% spoiler-free.

LIBBY
Right around an even 39% of you included Libby on your Fantasy rosters and its understandable why. Damon and Carlton claimed way back at the end of Season 2 that they had hoped to tell Libby’s back-story but killed her off to add weight to Michael’s slaying of Ana-Lucia. They said for a while that they would hoped there was a way to tell her story through flashbacks of other characters.

Libby never emerged during Season 3 because actress Cynthia Watros was attached to a pilot that ultimately never got picked up. Watros was not attached to any pilots for the 2007-2008 TV season, so she may have had the flexibility to head to Hawaii and shoot a few cameos for Lost.

The largest mystery still surrounding Libby is her time in Santa Rosa with Hurley. If Hurley has a flashback this season, we may catch a glimpse of Libby and gain new insight as to why she was there, but she also appeared in Desmond’s Season 2 flashback, so she may pop up elsewhere. She did absurdly well in the Hiatus League but, because she’s dead, Libby certainly won’t show up in any flashforwards, which could limit her in potential appearances and points. Still though, she’s probably a safe bet for Season 4. Only time will tell.


CHARLES WIDMORE
Big Bad British Dad is the father to Desmond’s long-lost love Penny. He has appeared in two of Desmond’s flashbacks already and proved to be a powerful element in each of them. Any new flashbacks for Desmond could include Widmore, but he could just as easily appear in a Desmond flashforward. If Penny and Des are reunited, you can bet that he’ll have something to say about it.

Another enticing reason to include Widmore in the Fantasy League is the rampant fan speculation of how he and his company may be involved with DHARMA and the Hanso Foundation. He may also have ties with Mr. Paik’s company and possibly the people on the freighter. If the freighter was not sent by Penny, how did they acquire a picture of her and Desmond? These are questions only time will answer.

Because of both of these enticing possibilities, Widmore is a real wildcard, with potential for appearing in the past, present and future of Lost’s timeline. If he’s anything like his products, he’ll be popping up with some frequency from here on out. If he does show up more than once, he’ll be a big boost for the 504 (21.26%) of contestants that selected him.


ETHAN ROM
Ah the Duke of Disturbing! I feel that Ethan is probably the safest character in Group 6 to have on your team. As actor William Mapother states on the Season 3 DVD, he has appeared in more episodes via flashbacks than before his character was killed in Season 1. With nine appearances over three seasons and the fact that Mapother enjoys coming back and filming cameos, I think Ethan is a sure thing for Season 4.

Like Libby, the deceased Ethan won’t be show up in flashforwards (unless we ever get that zombie season that is), but he’s got a strong connection to the Others. If Ben has more flashbacks covering the time between the Purge and the crash of Flight 815, Ethan is almost guaranteed to show up. His back-story has been filled out a little bit through flashbacks, but I think there’s room to grow. What would background on the Others be without good ole Ethan?

As I said, Ethan is probably the safest pick from this group, but only around 19% of you picked him up. I guess this means that 81% of Lost fans like to live dangerously, which I think will prove costly for you once Season 4 is all said and done. Ethan’s appearance could be a difference maker, since he’ll always be picking up points for appearing in someone else’s flashback.


MS. HAWKING
Her only appearance thus far on Lost was a brief one, but people can’t stop talking about Ms. Hawking. Desmond’s time-bending flashback raised many questions and brought the fringe discussion of alternate timelines to the forefront of most forums. What did this episode, and Ms. Hawking specifically, mean to the series? No one has a clear answer yet.

Damon and Carlton said a while back that we would see her again at some point, explaining her appearance her in the Fantasy League. But will we see her this season? Were they even serious about her coming back? While Desmond is still a relatively fresh character, I don’t think we can count on Hawking to appear in any Desmond-centric episodes. If he has more than one episode, maybe it’s a possibility, but with the reduced number of episodes, I don’t know how likely it is that anybody gets doubled up in Season 4.

I was one of the roughly 16% of contestants to pick Hawking, thinking she could be an integral part to Desmond’s story here on out. Now, however, I regret my decision. I think Hawking was the red herring of Group 6 and it can only mean disappointment for those of us who picked her. All we can do is hope she turns up in other characters’ episodes.


RACHEL CARLSON
Initially, I didn’t think people were giving Rachel the credit she deserved. Appearing on less than 5% of fantasy rosters, it seemed like people were overlooking the fact that Rachel would be an important part of any potential Juliet flashforward. Further Juliet flashbacks would likely have been on-Island experiences, but Juliet’s devotion to getting back to her sister would have had her in a prime position for points in a flashforward. Juliet would undoubtedly want to catch up and see her miracle-nephew.

Since her initial dissing by LFL contestants, it seems to have been a wise choice to pick anyone else in Group 6. The actress playing Rachel, Robin Weigert, is currently on the NBC show “Life,” which was recently picked up for a full season. I don’t know how significant her character is on the show, but the major networks aren’t typically fond of sharing.

So it would seem that Rachel is going to be a bust for the Fantasy League, but I have learned to never say never with Lost. Rachel need not show up in just a Juliet episode though. She could appear in anyone’s flashforward, maybe asking about her sister. This of course would require her to find out that Flight 815 crashed on the same place her sister disappeared to. Although an unlikely player, an appearance by Rachel could be a huge spoiler for most of the League that counted her out and, depending on how many points she would earn, a huge boost to those few who dared to include her.

LFL Announcement, Rule Book, and more!

Announcement:
Before you read any further, watch the short video on the left!

Okay, so now you've either watched the video or totally ignored my request. Either way, the Lost Fantasy League is coming soon for Season 4! Since Lost airs on Thursdays in America and Canada, and since it airs on Sundays in Britain, Fantasy Updates will no longer be posted on Thursdays.

Beginning on February 4th, you can get your fill of LFL action on Mondays. This change in date will allow DarkUFO and I ample time to pull all the necessary data together and it will hopefully make Mondays suck a little bit less than usual for all of you. Be sure to come back next Monday to see how your team faired in the first week of competition.

LFL RULE BOOK:
As promised, DarkUFO and I have completed our Season 4 Fantasy League Rule Book. You can use this to keep score on your own as you watch the new episodes of Lost. Barring any further rule changes once the season gets underway, these rules will be applied to the first 16 new episodes of Lost we get, regardless of when the Writer's Strike ends.

We hope having this rule book will give you all a better sense of what to expect come the next Fantasy Update.


LFL CHARACTER GROUPINGS ANALYSIS:
After taking in the results of the Hiatus League and using my knowledge of Lost, I have speculated how well each of our League characters will perform this season. Were your roster selections foolish or wise? Find out what G-Man thinks all this week, leading up to the US premiere of Season 4.

Approximately every 12 hours I will post spoiler-free analysis of one of our character groupings. We'll start with Group 7 and work our way up to the top dogs in Group 1. I am 90% spoiler-free going into Season 4, so my analysis may be completely wrong and seem amusing to you spoiler readers. Nevertheless, I hope it helps build up the excitement and anticipation for Season 4!

REMINDER: Do not post spoilers in the comments section. I have gone 90% spoiler-free during the hiatus and will not reveal anything that I know, so please do not let anything that you know slip. Let’s respect the fans that have gone 100% spoiler-free.


GROUP 7 ANALYSIS:

During the Hiatus League, Group 7 did exactly what it was designed to do- lose points. Only one character avoided a negative total for those eight episodes. The characters in this group were determined to be the least likely of our 35 to show up at some point this season. Obviously, we felt that there was at least a chance that they would appear at least once, or else they wouldn’t have made the list.

Here’s a breakdown of Group 7 in order of their popularity:

CHRISTIAN SHEPHARD
Big Bad Dad turned out to be the second most popular pick for Fantasy rosters. Appearing on nearly 51% of all teams, Christian Shephard is not a character you should bank on for providing an extra little boost down the stretch. If that’s what you were thinking, sorry Charlie- half the contestants thought the exact same thing.

One reason behind Christian’s popularity is his consistency in showing up in flashbacks. He has appeared nine times over three seasons in flashbacks for four different characters. What’s not to like, right? Before you go patting yourselves on the back, keep these two important facts in mind- Christian is dead and, as “Stranger in a Strange Land” proved to us, there is virtually nothing left to Jack’s back-story.

The powers that be have stated that once you’re dead on Lost, you’re dead for good. As the show begins to balance between flashbacks and flashforwards, expect to see little or nothing of Christian Shephard. Unless Jack has another flashback (which I doubt) or he appears in someone else’s flashback (which could happen), half of you may have made a critical error including him on your roster.


NADIA
Early on it seemed that the only thing keeping Sayid going was his determination to be reunited with his long-lost love, Nadia. His relationship with Shannon kind of threw a wrench into that, but since her death I’ve been wondering if he’s once again committed to finding her.

Either way, Nadia is actually a safe bet. She has appeared three times in photographs and three times in flashbacks. Two of those flashbacks were for characters other than Sayid. Given her average flashback appearance of once a season, I’d say Nadia has a strong chance of popping up this season.

The advent of flashforwards also increases her value. If Sayid were to have a flashforward, there would be almost no reason for her to not appear. If Sayid still cares, then finding Nadia would be the first thing he’d do upon rescue. If Sayid doesn’t have a flashforward, I think it’s safe to say that she’ll pop up in someone else’s flashback or flashforward. This did her well in the Hiatus League at the every least. She may yet have a part to play in all this. The 17.67% of you with Nadia on your roster made a wise choice.


MR.PAIK
Big Bad Asian Dad is strongly tied to the story of Sun and Jin, so I expect him to show up this season (assuming Sun and/or Jin are given an episode). In the Hiatus League we saw Mr. Paik take advantage of the joint flashback structure of some Sun & Jin episodes. Because each had separate flashbacks, Paik got points for appearing in both sets.

This little points quirk is exactly why I am one of the 17.3% of contestants with Paik on their roster. If Sun & Jin have another flashback, the chances are pretty good that he’ll show up. If either character has a flashforward, then I full well expect him to show up. He would no doubt be relieved to see his daughter alive, and his inclusion to their future story could complicate things again, making our resident Koreans very interesting to watch once more.

Also furthering his points potential is all the fan speculation as to how deep his ties may be to DHARMA, Hanso or Widmore. Since he’s a mogul for heavy industries, he may be connected to construction (DHARMA, or the freighter even?). Also he’s the boss of his little crime operation, so you can expect him to keep his hands clean.


KELVIN INMAN
Probably the only two reasons behind Kelvin’s inclusion in the LFL are as follows:

First, if there’s any more flashbacks showing more detail about the DHARMA Initiative, the Others and the Purge, or more details about Desmond’s time in the Hatch, we may see Kelvin pop up again.

Secondly, there are some people out there questioning whether or not Kelvin is really dead. I think he probably is dead, but you never know.

While his chances may not be so great of showing up, the chance is still there. The fact that only 10.79% of you picked him for your rosters shows you don’t have much confidence in his return, which will make him a spoiler if he does.


KEVIN CALLIS
There is really only one reason for Kevin’s presence in the LFL. That is due to the speculation as to whether or not he is the ‘he’ that Kate referred to in “Through the Looking Glass.” It’s a stretch and it shows, as he appears on only 3.27% of all Fantasy rosters (78 total). This makes him the least selected character in the LFL.

The actor behind Kevin, Nathan Fillion, is contracted to ABC’s other mega-hit show, Desperate Housewives. Would it be such a stretch of the imagination for him to pop up on Lost if he’s already working for the alphabet network? If Kate has a flashforward in Season 4, which is more likely than not considering her back-story has as much left as Jack’s, there’s a chance Kevin may turn up.

He loved her very much, so would he turn up to confront her about their past? Who knows? It’s possible, but again- it’s a stretch. If he does show up, he could be a huge boost for those 78 folk that risked having him on their team.

LOST - The Synchronizing

Came across this nice little fan made video which I thought I would share.

Relive the events leading up to the crash of Oceanic Flight 815 and see what happened on the ground and in the air at the same moment from multiple angles. All footage property of and copyright © ABC and used for entertainment purposes only.

NDHatch

Lost Hiatus Fantasy League: Week 8 Update

Introduction
Here we are ladies and gentlemen! This is the final Fantasy Update for the Hiatus Fantasy League. I am happy to say that our final episode, "Maternity Leave," was our highest scoring episode to date! Week 7 pulled us out of a long slide but Week 8 puts us over the top. How appropriate that we go out with a bang.

Sadly though, I was sick and barely able to speak when it came time to get this video ready, so you'll have to wait until the start of the Season 4 Fantasy League to see my face again. The good news is that the video is much shorter for a change!

DarkUFO and I want to thank each and every one of you for your questions, comments, praises, criticisms and hate mail over the past 14 weeks. Your collective patience has allowed us to test the scoring database and helped me get some practice in on making videos. All your feedback and the episodes we watched have helped us refine our rules.

Speaking of our scoring rules, DarkUFO and I have finished writing up our official League rule book. On Monday we will put it here on the site for you all to see. Now you will be able to follow along while watching the episodes and get an early idea of how your team will fair for the week. Some come back on Monday and check it out. We may even have a few other items for your veiwing pleasure as well.

But enough talking- let's get to it! Check out the video (sans me), read all the usual data below and brace yourself for Season 4! Remember, you can always leave comments (no spoilers please!) and ask us questions anytime you like (LFLquestions@gmail.com).

Maternity Leave (in 500 words or less)

Turnip-head catches a fever and Claire overreacts when Rousseau shows up and proclaims that he is infected. Jack tells Claire its probably a common fever and she can relax. Naturally, she doesn’t. With Kate’s help, Mama Bear tracks down Libby and ask her to zonk Claire out to help her remember what happened when she was abducted by the Ethan.

Libby helps her relax (way down, deeper and deeper) and Claire begins to fill in the missing pieces. Apparently she was taken to a medical facility adorned with Georgia O’Keeffe paintings and where the muzak plays round the clock. Yeah, that makes sense.

Claire wants to find Rousseau, thinking she’ll know where to find this place. Kate gets a gun from Sawyer and they head off. They find Rousseau but she has no friggin’ clue where the med station is. She takes them to the point where Claire scratched her. From here, the Estro-fest Island tour wanders around until stumbling upon the place.

They find the remains of a DHARMA station, a knitted sock, a couple of ragged costumes and a fake beard. No medicine and no sign of anything useful. Yep, sounds like a Claire episode. :-)

Claire realizes that Rousseau’s daughter was the one who helped her escape and that Rousseau was trying to get Claire away from the Others.

Your B-Plot focuses on the tension between Locke and Jack and their respective plans for “Henry Gale” and the Button. Locke tries to sound smart by talking about Hemmingway’s jealousy of Dostoyevsky. Jack doesn’t get it. Eko figures out that their hiding someone in the hatch and has a few words with “Henry.” He apologizes for killing two Others and cuts off two little tufts on his beard.

Locke tries to be nice to “Henry” but the King of Creepy parallels Hemmingway and Dostoyevsky with Locke and Jack. Jungle John is less than thrilled to be mindf**ked and trashes the Swan’s kitchen like a rock star.

The flashbacks show Claire’s time in captivity. She’s constantly drugged and thinks the Others are there to help her. Ethan, the Duke of Disturbing, wants to play doctor, which turns out to be less “show me yours, I’ll show you mine” and more “show me yours, I’ll cut your baby out of you.” A mysterious girl who is obviously Rousseau’s daughter helps Mama Bear escape from the Staff. Claire and Rousseau meet each other and have a misunderstanding. A tussle ensues and Claire gets knocked out and taken back to Lostie beach.

1. Aaron’s fever counts as an injury. It caused him discomfort, but most importantly, we saw that he had pretty nasty looking rashes all over his body. The rashes were the key here. Without them being present, it would have been a tough call whether to count it as injury or not.

2. Ethan gets points for encountering the Numbers but Claire does not. Ethan grabs the vial, so we see his hand and the Numbers on screen at the same time. Later, the vial is in the foreground with Claire in the background. The key here is that the vial is out of focus and we cannot see the Numbers.

3. Jack gets credit for encountering the Numbers. We can see both 42 and 108 on the wall as Jack passes. It’s quick, but visible. We are counting 108 as one of the Numbers.

4. Claire does not lose points for being injected by Ethan. There is speculation that what he injected her with might have been the drug keeping Claire docile during her stay there, but we don’t know exactly what that liquid was.

We do count the canteen as an injury to Claire though. Ethan gives her the canteen and she claims it tastes sour. Ethan says he didn’t notice it, but never takes a sip. We have ruled that this was Ethan keeping Claire drugged.

5. Only Kate and Rousseau get points for discovering the Staff station. This was a tricky one to figure out. Claire had already been to the Staff, so she knew it existed, thus making her ineligible for discovery points. Had Claire known right where the Staff was, no one would have gotten points, because Claire could have led them all to it. But, she needed to find Rousseau, who led them to where Claire scratched her.

They had to wander around a little bit before they could find the Staff, so we’re giving Kate and Rousseau discovery points. All three got points for visiting the Staff though.

6. Claire and Ethan get points for visiting the Staff in Claire’s flashbacks. Because Claire’s flashbacks were on-Island, we know that she and Ethan were previously seen in the jungle together. This episode filled in the gaps about where they had been while Claire was missing. They obviously came to the Staff, so we gave them points.

7. Alex does not get points for visiting the Staff. Again, due to the technicality that we scored episodes under the guise of watching them for the first time, we didn’t initially know that Alex wasn’t supposed to be at the Staff. We know that she’s got a pattern of being disruptive to the Others’ plans and showing up where she’s not supposed to be. We didn’t know that originally, so no points for Alex.

8. Alex using chloroform on Claire counts as an injury. There was a slight struggle and chloroform has only one use outside of a chemistry set. Yes, Alex was helping Claire escape, but knocking someone out the way she did forces us to slap injury deductions on the situation.

9. We see the clip of Claire scratching Rousseau three times this episode, but were only deducting points for it once. DarkUFO and I made a new ruling on injuries- League characters can only lose points once per episode for a specific injury. No matter how many times we see that specific injury in a single episode, points will only be deducted for it once. If we see the scene or clip of that injury in later episodes, points will be deducted then as well, but only once per episode.

This does not apply to TYPES of injuries though. If Desmond is punched by Bernard at the beginning of the episode, Desmond can still lose points if other people punch him during the episode. Also, if Bernard were to come back later in the episode and punch Des again, more points would be lost. This double jeopardy rule only applies to singular, specific injuries.

10. Kate gets points for discovering the Others’ costumes and the fake beard. While she had seen the Others in costume before, she didn’t know they were costumes. The discovery of their prop locker is worthy of points.

11. Claire and Rousseau get points for discovering each other in Claire’s flashback. At this point, Claire didn’t know anything about Rousseau and vice versa.

Group 1-
KATE (+75): Attendance (+5); Discovers a DHARMA Station- The Staff (+25); Discovers a New Place- The Staff (+20); Visits a DHARMA Location- The Staff (+5); Discovers a New Thing- The fake beard and costumes (+20)
JACK (+35): Attendance (+5); Encounters the Numbers- 42 and 108 on Hatch mural (+20); Visits a DHARMA Location- visits the Swan twice (2 x 5 = +10)
LOCKE (+20): Attendance (+5); Visits a DHARMA Location- The Swan (+5); Last on Screen (+10)
BEN (+10): Attendance (+5); Last Line in Episode (+5)
SAWYER (+5): Attendance (+5)

Group 2-
HURLEY (+5): Attendance (+5)
DESMOND (-5): Absent from Episode (-5)
JULIET (-5): Absent from Episode (-5)
MICHAEL (-5): Absent from Episode (-5)
SAYID (-5): Absent from Episode (-5)

Group 3-
CLAIRE (+90): Attendance (+5); First on Screen (+15); First Line in Episode (+10); Episode Centricity (+25); On-Island Flashback (+10); Visits a DHARMA Location- Her on-Island flashbacks in The Staff count as a visit (+5); Kisses Aaron (+20); Gets Injured- Drugged by Ethan (-10); Injured by Alex- Knocked out (-10); Discovers a New Person- Meets Rousseau for the first time in her flashback (+20); Gets Injured- Rousseau manhandles her (-10); Injures Someone- Scratches Rousseau (-5); Gets Injured- Knocked out by Rousseau (-10); Visits a DHARMA Location- Visits the Staff with Kate & Rousseau (+5); Kisses Aaron (+20)
ROUSSEAU (+70): Attendance (+5); Discovers a New Place- The Swan (+20); Discovers a New DHARMA Station- The Staff (+25); Visits a DHARMA Location (+5); Appears in Claire’s Flashbacks (+15); Discovers a New Person- Meets Claire in her flashback (+20); Injures Someone- Manhandles Claire (-5); Get Hurt- Scratched by Claire (-10); Injures Someone- Knocks out Claire (-5)
SUN (+5): Attendance (+5)
JACOB (-5): Absent from Episode (-5)
JIN (-5): Absent from Episode (-5)

Group 4-
ALEX (+15): Attendance (+5); Appears in Claire’s Flashback (+15); Injures Someone- Knocks out Claire (-5)
BERNARD (-5): Absent from Episode (-5)
KARL (-5): Absent from Episode (-5)
ROSE (-5): Absent from Episode (-5)
WALT (-5): Absent from Episode (-5)

Group 5-
AARON (+50): Attendance (+5); First on Screen (+15); Gets Hurt- Fever and rashes (-10); Kisses Aaron twice (2 x 20 = +40)
CINDY (-5): Absent from Episode (-5)
MARVIN CANDLE (-5): Absent from Episode (-5)
PENNY (-5): Absent from Episode (-5)
RICHARD (-5): Absent from Episode (-5)

Group 6-
ETHAN (+40): Attendance (+5); Appears in Claire’s Flashbacks (+15); Visits a DHARMA Location- Appearance at the Staff in On-Island flashbacks counts (+5); Encounter the Numbers- picks up a vial with 4815162342 on it (+20); Injures Someone- Drugs Claire (-5)
LIBBY (+5): Attendance (+5)
MS. HAWKING (-5): Absent from Episode (-5)
RACHEL (-5): Absent from Episode (-5)
WIDMORE (-5): Absent from Episode (-5)

Group 7-
CHRISTIAN (-5): Absent from Episode (-5)
KELVIN (-5): Absent from Episode (-5)
KEVIN (-5): Absent from Episode (-5)
MR. PAIK (-5): Absent from Episode (-5)
NADIA (-5): Absent from Episode (-5)

As mentioned in the video, our Fantasy Genius of the Week is Quixo with 260 points.

Their winning combination was: Kate, Desmond, Claire, Alex, Aaron, Ethan and Christian

Congratulations!

Episode Scoring Chart


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