joshholloway

We've already discussed some of this season's letdowns, and now it's time for the good stuff. Even the pickiest Lost fan must acknowledge that season four was phenomenal. A lot of things could have gone wrong this season. The writers had to incorporate an entirely new timeline into the show, deal with strike-related delays, and ease another group of characters into a huge ensemble cast.

Instead of falling short of expectations, this season surpassed them. I probably could have devoted separate posts to each of the following highlights. As usual, please share your own praise for this season of Lost in the comments section. I didn't come close to covering everything that made this season incredible.

(S04E10) The writers gave us a break after last week's action- and information-packed episode. While Jack struggled with appendicitis, we got another look at his future off the island. Three of the other members of the Oceanic Six turned up, and Jack learned that there's no escaping a love triangle. Back on the island, Claire had an unexpected visitor.

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(S04E09) What a brilliant episode! At this point, I think all future Lost episodes should be either Ben-, Sayid-, or Desmond-centric. This episode had it all: tons of action, several big revelations, and more questions to ponder. Michael Emerson gave yet another award-worthy performance this week and showed off his action hero side.

Follow this link to join the chat. The full review is after the jump.

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Lost spoilers are serious business. I know what I'm talking about since I've been roaming the web and poking my sources for spoilers about the ABC series even before it premiered on September 22, 2004. Information about upcoming episodes was rather easy to find the first two years of the hit series. But as Lost got more popular and the mysteries more and more important and... mysterious, security around the show got tighter in order to keep spoilers leakage to a minimum. Luckily for us, extras always delivered the goods. This week, Whitney Matheson, who writes the "Pop Candy" column at USA Today, relays information an extra sent about her experience on the set and the episode she will appear in. Spoilers ahead!

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(S04E08) We're going into a five-week Lost hiatus, and I'm extremely thankful that this wasn't the season finale. "Meet Kevin Johnson" wasn't a bad episode, but I couldn't have waited until 2009 for a follow-up. This episode did have its moments. We learned more about the island's connection to its inhabitants, Michael's time on the mainland, and there was (at least) one death. That should keep us busy for the next month or so, right?

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We all love a good Sawyer nickname, don't we? Thanks to ABC, you can now be like Freckles, Hoss, and Zeke and get your own nickname from James Ford. Among the newest features on ABC's Lost page is Sawyer's nickname generator. All you have to do is provide basic information about yourself--name, body type, etc.--and the the generator gives you a new handle.

In his infinite wisdom, Sawyer gave me the nickname Hawking. Not to worry: if you don't like your nickname, you can enter the same information and get a new one. My second and third nicknames were Grasshopper and Skeletor. I guess I should have stuck with Hawking. Just for fun, check out an old video homage to Sawyer's nicknames after the jump.

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Last week, ABC announced that it would air an enhanced version of the season 3 finale of its hit show Lost. This enhanced version of "Through the Looking Glass" was set to feature on-screen facts and back story about the episode and the series on the lower third of the screen.

Before seeing the end product, fan comments ranged from "just wrong" because the on-screen facts would clutter the screen and cover part of the beautiful shots to "giving many people who wouldn't be tuning in a reason to consider it," and "great idea." Personally, I embraced the idea because it would offer something to chew on while waiting for the season premiere.

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Years ago, I loved watching Pop Up Video to learn more about the artists and the music videos themselves. When I bought my Back to the Future Trilogy DVD, I was thrilled to see that we could watch all three movies with fun facts about the cast and movie showing up throughout the features. If, like me, you like to know more about the behind the scenes, the actors, the fun stuff that happened while shooting, why certain characters are named the way they are, etc., rejoice because the season 3 finale of Lost is getting that treatment!

The season four premiere of ABC's hit series Lost is less than two weeks away. For weeks, fans have been looking for everything and anything to chew on in order to cope with the wait. ABC helped fans trough the withdrawal with those Missing Pieces mobisodes (the first one was awful but the others ones were pretty cool and even gave some explanations as to what happened between some scenes and episodes), the season four trailer (short and long versions), the 8:15 recap, and the viral marketing campaign that included a sort of online hunt. The latest piece of the puzzle? The season four poster.

Oceanic Airlines is back in business starting on January 31. Since the flash-forward finale of last season, Lost fans have been speculating about everything and anything regarding the series. As usual, and even if the cast and crew do their best to keep spoiler leakage to a minimum, information about the upcoming episodes has made its way to the web. Eight episodes have been completed before production had to shut down due to the writers' strike. But rumors (and spoilers) have it that this small number of episodes will be filled with jaw-dropping moments and deaths! Spoilers warning!

If you are one of the few people who haven't watched ABC's Lost yet and want to start this coming season but don't want to have to watch the DVD sets for the three previous seasons, ABC just put online what you seek: the ultimate Lost recap!

Narrated by a hyper woman, this 8 minutes and 15 seconds recap (get it? 815...) will not only bring those who never watched the show up-to-date but also help hard-core fans remember what happened since Flight 815 crashed.

One of the most jaw-dropping TV moment of 2007 was, without a doubt, the reveal that the Jack-centric season finale of Lost didn't feature a flashback but a flash forward (and the death of loved-character Charlie)!

Even if Carlton Cuse and Damon Lindelof (with some help from Disney's security) do their best to keep the ending of each season finale a secret, the top-secret ending scene always gets spoiled in one form or another on the world wide web. When Internet surfers read about the "rattlesnake" (that's the how the top-secret season 3 scene was named by Cuse and Lindelof), the reaction was almost as big as when the reveal aired on May 23, 2007.

Lost may only return in February (or April according to some nasty rumors!) but that doesn't mean we can't enjoy some season 4 footage. The show has pieced together a trailer that currently airs in US movie theaters. Thanks to the magic of YouTube, the trailer made its way to the net.

The trailer features scenes from past seasons as well as new footage taken from the upcoming season. The clip isn't that spoilerish but does offer a few good tidbits (and clues) to chew on while waiting for the season premiere.

(S03E15) Some Lost episodes are stand-alone pieces of the show's mythology. Others are pieces of a larger puzzle, filling in gaps from past episodes and setting the stage for future episodes. "Left Behind" definitely falls into the second category. More of Kate's past was revealed, and new island loyalties were formed in what I am sure is a build-up to an Others-Survivors showdown (fingers crossed).

The newest Lost audio podcast was released yesterday, which included some revealing details about the show. If you don't want to listen to the 22 minutes of banter between producers Damon Lindelof and Carlton Cuse, here's a review of the major points:

• In a short interview, Josh Holloway mentioned that while the writing team comes up with Sawyer's snappy nicknames, the actor himself gives people nicknames in everyday life. According to Holloway, the writers often like to incorporate the cast members' personalities into their characters. He also wants more nicknames to stick around the way that Freckles has.
• There is actually a class at Tufts University that lists the Lost podcasts as required "reading." Has the world come to an end?