Lost: Via Domus

Someone got to say it first on at least one message board, but it's a good point. Lost Via Domus, the Ubisoft video game based on the series is a little like the whole Nikki and Paulo story arc.

Like the series of Lost paperbacks, the Exposé episode and those immediately preceding it in Season 3, Via Domus introduces a new character aboard Oceanic Flight 815 who's quickly off on his own adventure, wending his way through the island's familiar landmarks, interaction with the main characters and his own cryptic flashbacks.

That new character is you as you play first person non-shooter, and fairly quickly you discover you're an amnesiac photojournalist with at least one thug on your tail. Your objective is to unlock your memories about a girl who periodically appears Christian Shepherd like--or Kate's horse-like--in the jungle and in your memories.

I didn't think I'd really like the non-canonical story, but for me, it all works pretty well and it has some definite pluses.

Story pace
What is it like, 100 days we've had spread out over 3 1/2 seasons? Much of the familiar plot line material is playing out around you in the game. You're busy wandering in caves or the jungle while the first encounters with the Others are taking place, explosives are being acquired from the Black Rock, the hatch is being opened and Sawyer, Jin and Michael are taking off on a raft.

That peripheral exposure while you're being sent on mystical vision quests by Locke and getting shot at in the jungle, really gives you a feel for how fast everything is supposed to have transpired.

In the midst of your quest, you also have to take a tour of the Swan hatch, a great walkthrough experience because it lets you see how everything's laid out from the computer room where you have to enter the numbers at least once to the kitchen and living quarters. You get to browse the books but not the album collection, but you can't have everything. There are only so many megabytes available, right? (The authenticity of the game with some cool in-game clips is disccused in this IGN video featuring the developers.)



The #$%@&*^%* Spots
I've found two #$%@&*^%* portions of the game so far and I think I'm just past the midsection. A lot of players discussing Via Domus in forums seem to agree with me.

There are the #$%@&*^%* electrical panels in which you have to modify fuses to either reverse electrical flow or disperse it appropriately. I don't know what should be inferred from the fact that Oceanic Flight 815 and the hatch utilize the same basic panels. I solved a couple but went to a walk through for the others because trial-and-erroring fuses had a dangerous level of stop-me-from-playing potential.

The other portion that's a little frustrating is an area where the difficulty is achieved by repeated incursions of the #$%@&*^%* smoke monster. Enough! you want to say after a while.

Still and all for me if not for the Doom generation, Lost: Via Domus is a cool adventure and puzzle game and it's a fun if not required experience for the Lost fan. Hopefully it will tide me over until the return of this season.

Maybe by April 24 I will have managed to get past the #$%@&*^%* smoke monster.

Lost: Flashes and Tears Before My Eyes

(Spoiler warning: This post reveals information found in the Lost episode "The Constant" and thus spoilers to the mysteries of the show thus far.)
Just a few days after I noted that Christine sometimes thinks I get choked up too easily at TV shows, comes "The Constant," one of the best episodes ever of Lost ever. It was penned by the show's producers, Damon Lindelof and Carlton Cuse.

I've already acknowledged the reunion of Rose and Bernard was a hanky moment, but as the wicked cool Lost Diary that chronicles each episode movement by moment summed up this installment's final seconds:

9:58 -- Ring, ring, ring, ring, ring ...

9:59 -- "Penny?" -- Desmond

10:00 -- If you're not choked up right now, I'm sorry -- we can't ever be friends.

In a mythology-rich episode we discovered some characters such as Desmond (Henry Ian Cusick) are unstuck in time, and we discovered that his long-lost girlfriend Penny is a requirement for his survival-- time-hoppers need a "constant" present in past and future to prevent total meltdowns. Whoa! And Penny's dad was bidding on a ledger from the Black Rock, the ship somehow deposited at the center of the Losties' island.

As his Billy Pilgrim-like escapades began to threaten Desmond's life, we discovered Desmond needed at least voice contact with Penny to survive. "1996 Desmond, get a phone number where you can call Penny in 2004!"

In true Lost "everything happens for a reason" fashion who should be on board the "rescue" freighter where the affected Desmond found himself gradually goin' south but former Republican Guard communications officer Sayid Jarrah--who, by the way, doesn't need a gun, buddy! Sayid was able to fix damaged radio phones and get Des hooked up on a long distance call with none other than Penelope Widmore.

What a fabulous storytelling arc to convey all of the information the writers had to impart. Deep science fiction concepts wrapped in a love story.

So I'm sitting there watching and thinking "Christine's going to chide me if I cry. Christine's going to chide me if a I cry" and then I look over during:

9:58 -- Ring, ring, ring, ring, ring ...

9:59 -- "Penny?" -- Desmond

and tears are streaming down Christine's cheeks.

That, ladies and gentlemen, is writing. Bravo!

Lost: Interruptions

One of the most interesting things about watching the fabulous "Lost" finale-- "Through the Looking Glass" --last night was that the local weatherman seemed to have learned a valuable lesson.

I wish I had the citation, but a while back now, Christine read an article in The New York Times Magazine, I believe, noting that local TV stations have invested heavily in their weather radar systems and love opportunities to trot them out.

That of course leads to overwrought reporting. "Get in your back yard and dig, dig for your lives!" the weatherman's given to shout on cloudy days. "A storm cellar is your only hope when the orange and green Rorshack pattern reaches our area! Go now!"

So anyway, couple of weeks ago an episode of "Lost" called "The Brig" was the offering of the evening. Unfortunately it got cloudy around the time the show was set to begin.

The weatherman came on the air right around the end of the re-run of the previous week's episode and started talking about where it might begin to rain next.

He put up video of what the station's parking lot had looked like minutes earlier. I'm not sure why. Basically you could see a few branches waving in the breeze.

Lost hope
As the top of the hour neared, Christine asked me to stop suggesting so loudly that the weatherman was overweight and that his parents might not have been legally wed.

As minutes ticked by it became apparent he had no plans to shut up in time for us to find out how things were going with Locke.

I finally gave up and bought the episode the next day from iTunes. I'm easy going except when I'm not.

So anyway, flash forward ;-) and last night, minutes until the finale was to start, thunderstorms started rolling through our area.

Miracles
Miraculously, there was a crawl across the bottom of the screen, and a tiny little weather map, but no interruption.

The show began and played on without a hitch. Then at a commercial break! the weatherman came on and said: "Don't worry you won't miss any of `Lost' but I thought you'd like to know there's a Queen Mother of a thunderheadabout to hit Smithburg."

They gave up commercial air time. Apparently some people didn't reserve their remarks for their living rooms.

And the station listened. Democracy in action.

They finally figured out interrupting a vastly popular serial drama--known for its surprises and plot twists--with trivialities is not a way to win the hearts and minds of the viewership.

And that was danged near as cool as Hurley driving the VW microbus to the rescue!

Lost: Looking at the Foreshadowing

OK, spoiler alert if you haven't watched the Lost episode "The Man Behind the Curtain." Seriously, Charles you really need to rent the DVDs.
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The foreshadowing would suggest Locke's not going to die:

1. In recent episodes, even though we've suspected it for a while, characters have highlighted the fact that people heal quickly on the island, most notably Patchy when he was treating Naomi.
2. The Others were a bit in awe of Locke's healing capacity, which seems strong even for the island.
3. There was a close up of his father biting him, and his hand healing quickly from that wound.
4. Yeah, I know Libby died but she was gut shot and could barely talk. Ditto Ana Lucia. Locke and Ben were having a whole conversation. (Right before the bad news I was thinking turning his back on Ben couldn't have been a good idea.)
5. Sounded like a lung, Naomi got over a lung.

I could be wrong, but somebody in the writer's room went to a lot of trouble to hammer those points.

P.S. I think Ben missed some people in the Swan hatch when the killer gas was released.

Time will tell, but I wanted to get this on record in case I'm right. If I'm wrong? This post will be deleted, baby!

Lost: Gendarmerie

(Contains spoilers if you're waitng for the DVD, blink now.)
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When I caught just the glimpse of the "Sawyer" file Locke was reading on Lost's "The Brig," I knew I'd be visiting Lost Eastereggs for a better view this a.m..

Gendarmerie's certainly an interesting hint of something more. I didn't know what a gendarmerie was until I visited Wikipedia--a "military body charged with police duties among civilian populations."

Does Dharma/Hanso/Mittelos have not just people keeping tabs but an entire secret army at work in the world off the island?

Is that something I missed with I started to lose interest in the Lost Experience?

I continue to be amazed at the wonderful tidbits sprinkled throughout "Lost."

I know there's been a lot of "Lost" bashing, but I remain optimistic that a fabulous master work is unfolding.

Even an obvious revelation like last night's identity/cross was handled deftly and with twists to make it satisfying.

I'm staying on for the ride.

Would we accept the Lost Others as Aliens?

For those avidly following "Lost," as I am, an intersting Easter Egg (or red herring?) popped up last night, as documented on the Lost Easter Eggs Blog.

The symbol on the tree at the suitcase drop in the jungle appears similar to symbols related to Ummo aliens, claims that beings from planet Ummo began visiting Earth in 1950. I'd never heard about them before although it's aparently well known though not Roswell-well known.

So, does that mean Adam and Eve in the cave are dead astronauts who spawned or deposited core members of the Others group?

Is the seemingly superhuman strength of the Others of alien origin? Is the oft-referenced Jacob a "Stranger in a Strange" land who's garnered worshippers?

Did they have, then lose the ability to reproduce on The Island? Or are aliens trying to breed with humans and failing?

Producers Carlton Cuse and Damon Lindeloff have stressed Adam and Eve who appeared in Season 1 are proof they've had a narrative plan all along.

Is that step one in foreshadowing that might soon take the already strange story even further into the realms of science fiction?

And if so, as viewers are we primed enough to accept it or is such a revelation a potential "jump the shark moment." I'm not sure how I'd feel.

How far can you go in a fictional stretch? Anyone have thoughts?