Dharma Special Access - Part 4

Hurray! Another week, and another instalment of Dharma Special Access. Without further ado, here’s the mail I received from ‘the guys’. (I think Darlton and I are becoming all friendly enough for me to call them ‘the guys’ now. I mean, they do keep e-mailing me and sending me videos of themselves. . .)

Hey, guys. Happy Holidays.

One of the fun things about shooting the show in Hawaii is how completely inconsequential Mother Nature makes us feel. This week a landslide hit one of our upcoming locations, and now we can't shoot there for a couple of weeks while the site is restored.

In season two it rained for a truly Biblical 42 straight days and nights, which required lots of schedule revisions, and when that wasn't possible our fearless crew put on their wading boots and shot for days on end in mud that was literally knee deep and higher.

Speaking of mud, this week our exclusive video for you features OUR ANSWERS to YOUR QUESTIONS, which many of you sadly will find maddeningly obtuse and muddy. Other LOST fans, like our mothers for example, will find our answers sparking, insightful and maybe even amusing.

And finally, based on how popular the last sneak peek was, we also have another exclusive look at a scene from the premiere episode. Click on the link below, enter the password, and all will be revealed. Enjoy. And until next week...

Aloha,

Damon and Carlton

So the first video, called Intentionally Ambiguous, sees Darlton in festive form as they undertake a question and answer session. But rather than have me describe it, why don’t you just press play and have a look at it yourself with your eyeballs?

I love the strategically placed Season 4 DVD between the two of them, whilst they're wearing Santa hats. Like some kind of Christmas gift advertisement. But what did we learn from the Q+A?

Well, it was asked who Ben meant when he said “all” of them had to go back. Darlton managed to dodge the question, really, but did say that it would be a question the characters themselves would raise. They’ve made it deliberately ambiguous. I can live with that. Just a nice little bit of intrigue for the first few episodes of the new season (at least!) to pick things up, like the way Season 4 kept us trundling along for the first half wondering who the Oceanic 6 would be.

There was also a question asked about the runway that, I thought, we received a form of an answer about. Fundamentally, I think it’s going to b relevant. Purely by watching Darlton answer it, and make a bet about it being irrelevant (at least for Season 5), the inference was that it’s an idea that’s will be a crucial part of Season 5. (Unless Cuse was confused about the nature of the bet and thinks that he might be on the receiving end of a punch to the stomach despite the runway being a part of the new season!)

We also got some good information – that the Smoke Monster existed on the Island before the Dharma Initiative arrived. I’ve had theories based around the idea that Dharma created the Smokey Monster themselves, and had it get out of control. Looks like I was totally wrong on that score. The intrigue about that thing just piles on and on!

That was pretty much all from the Q+A, but I thought it was a good little video to have thrown out there for nothing, so it gets my vote. If it was ever running for anything. But now, last but certainly by no means least, we have another sneak clip preview from Season 5. They’re really spoiling us this week! It’s. . . like. . . Christmas!

It’s clearly got that first episode feel about it. I wouldn’t be surprised if this is one of the first scenes of the new show. With its subtle method of revisiting the previous episode, recapping what went on, it helps bring up regular Lost viewers (i.e. non-geeks like you or me) to speed on where they last left off.

Ben’s asking Jack about what Locke told him suggests that he also doesn’t know about the Island and he was never visited by Locke – but we can’t take anything for granted with this guy! What it does also imply, however, is that the scenes on the Island may become the new flashbacks, at least for a while. Possibly that's what Darlton meant when it was stated the conventional flashback storytelling device was being mostly dispensed with.

Noticeably Ben only mentions that they need to get the O6. I get the feeling that's just Ben breaking Jack in gently, before he tells him who else they also need. The plan seems to be to get Hurley first, then Sayid. But as we know, Sayid picked Hurley up and took him away (and we’ve seen them in the other promo in a house, getting shot at). Makes me wonder if Sayid has perhaps ‘broken off’ from Ben and is acting on his own? I’d like to think not, since that was a curious partnership I’d like to see continue.

Obviously none of these sneak peeks are giving anything away about what really became of the Island and the people on it. That’s the trump card surprise Lost is (thankfully) holding back until the show returns. I’m happy to wait. As much as I like these sneak peeks, if there was one that totally blew a surprise out of the water I wouldn’t be particularly impressed. This clip does a good job of showing something whilst giving away nothing. And, hey! At least Jack shaved off that stupid beard off now!

So that’s our lot for another week, folks. (Unless they're taking a week off for Christmas. I guess I can allow that.) But I, for one, am a very satisfied Lost fan! If this Comet had thumbs, they would be up!