All of This Matters: Lost Questions, More on "The End"

Welcome to this week's second look at Lost, in what will be my final column on Lost for some time to come now that the series has wrapped, amid some controversy (those ABC-inserted final shots!) and viewer polarization over the reveal of just what the Sideways/Lost-X storyline was really about.

As I have throughout this season, I'll be taking a second look at this week's episode of Lost ("The End") by responding to reader questions and comments submitted via comments, Twitter, and email.

While I discussed "The End" in full over here (as well as a shorter piece over at The Daily Beast), it's time to dive deeper and get to some further theories, doubts, and questions. (You can also catch me on this week's Instant Dharma critics roundup as well.)

So, without further ado, let's pull the cork from the bottle, lay down in the bamboo grove, and discuss "The End."

As I stated in my 4500-word review of the Lost series finale (which I'd urge to you all read as I was far more eloquent there than I intend to be here), I wasn't all that pleased with the resolution of the Lost-X timeframe and the ultimate ending of the series (i.e., the final ten minutes or so set in the church), but I did love everything that took place on the island in the two-and-a-half hour series finale ("The End"), which saw the final battle between good and evil and the role of ultimate leader get passed from Jack Shephard to Hugo Reyes, the one person who really didn't want the responsibility but who seemed selected long ago for the role of island protector.

Which left me feeling extremely ambivalent about the series finale as a whole as so much during the sixth and final season of Lost was riding on how well Damon Lindelof and Carlton Cuse could integrate that Sideways timeline, which we learned wasn't a divergent reality at all but a sort of spiritual purgatory where the castaways could finally let go of their earthly troubles, come together one last time, and then move on to the afterlife, having finally achieved the peace they couldn't find in life.

It was a touchy-feely and pat ending that didn't sit well with me, given the stakes we've seen through six seasons and it ended the series on a bit too much of an uplifting note that felt a little too uplifting and buoyant. (Personally, I'd have preferred we ended on that gorgeous shot of Jack on his back in the bamboo forest as the Ajira flight soars away overhead and he finally closes his eyes, a direct inversion of the opening of the pilot episode.) While it didn't invalidate anything that had come before it, it didn't spark within me the emotional response that Damon Lindelof and Carlton Cuse sought to achieve. While I thought the scenes of connection and reunion between the pairs of lovers were beautiful, the final scene of the cast--or most of them, anyway--in the church didn't resonate with me in any meaningful way.

But it also didn't confuse me either, as it did many viewers (and a few critics, to boot), who mistakenly believed that the reveal that this world was in fact an elaborate purgatory constructed by the collective consciousness of the passengers meant that the island itself was also a fantasy.

Not so.

Purgatory. Whatever happened, happened. That's been said several times throughout the run of Lost and it applies full stop to the six seasons of plot that we saw unfold on that mysterious island that can skip through time and space. Putting aside all manner of smoke monsters, mythical corks in bottles, and four-toed statues, the island DID exist. It was real and the castaways who crashed on the island in the pilot episode lived there and died there before a handful of them managed to escape on the Ajira Airlines flight in the series finale.

There's no getting around that. The island was not, as some have clung desperately to, a purgatory. Nor did the castaways perish "on impact" in the pilot. They lived and loved on this island, explored its mysteries, and either died or escaped at the end. (Save Hurley and Ben, who remained behind to protect the island from further interlopers.)

In other words: they lived their lives until their deaths. Which, for some of them, came years or even decades later. While Jack died in the final moments of the episode, Kate and Sawyer and those who escaped returned to the mainland where they finished out their days. What happened to them and what they did after coming back from yet another plane crash (and how they explained the appearance of James Ford and Claire Littleton, both of whom were declared dead following the return of the Oceanic Six) remains tantalizingly unclear. It will be up to the viewers to imagine just what kind of lives they had post-island.

But everyone dies. That's true not just for those who were buried on the island during the 100-plus days they stayed there initially but those who left too... and even island protectors Jack and Hurley.

Bound together by the extraordinary and inexplicable times they shared together on the island, they jointly created a purgatory where they could meet and come together one last time before leaving for the afterlife together. Thus, the final church scene in the series finale where all of them--including, in the end, Jack Shephard--come together before they step into the light and are rewarded for their struggles, finally letting go of their mortal coil and moving on in peace.

It's fitting that original man of science Jack Shephard should be the last to be "awakened," the last to come to terms with his death. While on the island, he made a huge leap of faith, here Jack needs a sign, a divine intervention to prove to him what he's secretly and subconsciously aware of: he's dead and needs to let go. Thus, the exposition-laden scene with Christian Shephard at the empty coffin, where he spells out for Jack (and the viewers) the nature of this world.

All of it did matter in the end: their lives, their struggles, the traumas that they fought so hard to escape. It all brought them first to the island and then to this place between life and death, where they could say goodbye and be sent on to their heavenly reward. Hugs all around.

Lost-X Island. One question I keep getting asked is why, if this world was an afterlife constructed by the castaways post-death, was the island underwater? It's a valid question and I believe the shot from "LA X" of the island beneath the sea was a bait-and-switch employed by Team Darlton to make the viewer believe even more than this was a divergent reality and that Juliet's actions at the bottom of the Swan Station pit had been successful (echoed, of course, by her line "It worked," which wasn't referring to Jughead at all). By showing us the island at the bottom of the ocean, it was an intentional mislead on their part to make us thing one thing and then yank out the rug later one.

Narratively, there's also another possible explanation: in this world, they don't need the island. This isn't a place of good and evil but a fictional construct where they can achieve happiness and then be released to the afterlife, a waiting room that's not predicated on them recorking any mythical bottle or facing down the smoke monster. The plane doesn't crash because there is no island to crash onto... and the plane doesn't crash because it doesn't need to. Those experiences have already been lived, those sacrifices already made, and those hard truths already learned.

What brings them together is their dawning realization that they are dead after going through another cycle of acceptance. While the castaways were joined by fate in life, so too are they in death. Their interconnectedness comes full circle here as Desmond acts as a divine messenger, awakening them to the truth of their situation, not that there is another world out there where they knew each other but that there is and always has been one world, one life, one that they shared together.

The island's presence under the water is just that: a symbol of buried truth and self-awareness. Rose says it best when she tells Jack in "LA X" that he can "let go now." The plane has crashed once before; it doesn't need to again. Like them, it reaches its final destination in the end.

Jack's Limbo? Saeine wrote, "The only thing that I want to add because it helped me reconcile it a little more was that this particular limbo/purgatory phase was Jack's only. The people that were there were the ones that were important to Jack. Jack was instructed to enter through the back, it was his father that was there to explain it to him."

I'd disagree with this entirely. For one thing, Christian Shephard flat out tells Jack that this world was built by all of them... and the entire season has used the shifting perspectives of each of the characters to flesh out this story and this world, not just Jack.

Each of them had come to this shared purgatory to connect one last time. While Jack is our main character--it's his eyes opening and closing at the beginning and end of the series--the purgatory that's explored here belongs to all of them, not just Jack. He's the last to come to terms with what this place is and his own death, which is why Christian has to appear to him and walk him through it and prove to the skeptical doctor the miracles of life and death.

Missing Passengers. An anonymous commenter wrote, "The second issue was certain people not being present in limbo at the end to move forward. I also think this makes sense. The island brought all these people together and completed their life. I think Walt's "purpose" wasn't the island, so he has his own limbo somewhere else. I think Ben's purpose was the "family" he had and needed to move forward with them. Richard's purpose was always his wife, and a "limbo" outside of the island again makes sense."

But Ben was in the purgatory they established. The reason that he didn't enter the church was that he wasn't ready yet to move on, as indicated by his conversation with John Locke. He chose to remain within the purgatory for an as yet undetermined about of time before letting go.

Others weren't yet ready to make the journey either. Hurley said that Ana-Lucia wasn't ready when he sees her in "What They Died For." Charlotte and Daniel Widmore (ne Faraday) haven't yet been awakened and are still unaware that they're dead. (Not helping matters: Eloise Hawking, who is aware of the purgatory aspect of this world but isn't ready to let her son go.) The same holds true for Miles.

The absence of Michael could be explained away by the fact that his soul is still trapped on the island and part of the whisperers. He hasn't earned his ticket to the afterlife yet. As for Walt, he too might not be ready to leave, even if he might be somewhere within this world...

Desmond. So what did Desmond see when he was dosed with the massive quantities of electromagnetic energy by Charles Widmore? Answer: that purgatory where the others had gathered. Not a divergent reality, not another world, but a twilight waiting room where they were being brought together once more.

Even Desmond seems confused about this in the episode. He pulls out the stopper in the bottle so that they can cross over and be with their loved ones, but that's not what happens nor was it meant to. In those moments in the chair, Desmond was pulled out of his mortal coil and given a taste of true happiness, a place where lovers weren't torn asunder by murderous demi-gods or mistakenly fired bullets but where they could be together, forever.

His purpose wasn't to allow them to cross over but to help them on their way to the true afterlife, just as his actions here enable Jack to finally slay the smoke monster and tilt the scales in the other direction.

Plane wreckage. Valdezign asked, "Could the plane wreckage in the credits be the Ajira plane?"

I got a number of comments from confused individuals who believed that the wreckage shown over the closing credits meant either (A) that the castaways had died in the pilot, or (B) that the wreckage was that of the Ajira flight.

Both are wrong.

I already tackled the first theory, that the castaways died on the island, above. I found it abundantly clear from the first viewing of the Lost series finale, but many people were confused about the outcome of the series and by those final images. I didn't think it indicated anything--after all, other relics of past crashes and civilizations have littered the island in the past (Black Rock, anyone?) and the photos also clearly showed signs that people had been there as well.

Additionally, ABC felt the need to clarify later the next day that they, rather than Lindelof and Cuse, had placed those images over the closing credits. (Long time viewers will recall the love/hate relationship between the showrunners and the ABC promo department, who oversee the promos and closing credit sequences.) Maria Elena Fernandez of The Los Angeles Times wrote a post about the plane crash imagery that confirmed this fact and indicated that ABC did not mean to mislead or confuse anyone with those images.

As for the theory that it was Ajira plane, no dice there. The final shot of the series from Jack's perspective is the Ajira plane soaring off into the skies and his expression of relief and happiness indicates that the plane made it off the island... and the shots of the wreckage were distinctively that of Oceanic Flight 815's fuselage, etc. No, Kate, Sawyer, and the others did escape the island and went on to lead lives that we'll never know about.

Answers. Rockauteur wrote, "Still very upset that no answers about Dharma/Hanso. Nothing about the supply drops on the island, or the outrigger shooting, or Libby's backstory, or how Christian (as Smokey potentially) was able to talk to Michael on the freighter or Jack in LA? Was that Smokey as Christian or Jack as Christian? Was Hurley's friend Dave Smokey? What about the Hurley Bird thing? I didn't care about that but that was something Team Darlton said we would get an answer to in the finale... What was Ilana's relationship to Jacob? Why did half the Oceanic 6 go to the 1970's and the other half the island in the main time stream? Why didn't The Others move through time? What happened to Cindy and the kids?"

Yes, there was still a lot of unresolved mysteries and dangling plot threads when Lost faded to white earlier this week. On the one hand, I fully expected this. There was never going to be a single unified theory that could be used as a rubric to solve all of Lost's diverse mysteries. And it was also inevitable that many questions would be left dangling in the wind when the series ended.

Some of the questions don't require answers as the viewers can piece together or theorize the solutions on their own without it being spelled out by Lindelof or Cuse. Others are just frustratingly ambiguous and should have been answered, if only to give some closure to these questions which loomed larger in the minds of the viewers than they did the writers (or the characters).

There are some questions which don't need solutions. I don't need to know what happened to Cindy and Zach and Emma because they were never the focus of the main story and we can interpolate why they were taken in the first place: the Others couldn't reproduce and therefore couldn't expand their population so they solved this by taking children and by testing women for fertility. Juliet Burke was brought in to attempt to solve the mystery of the pregnancy fatalities but never came close to reaching a solution. (I would assume the cause of this situation had to do with The Incident that Juliet herself caused, making it the height of irony that she was the one brought in to attempt to solve it... only causing it in the first place.)

Why didn't the Others move through time as the castaways did? Perhaps because they had been, over time, exposed to the electromagnetic energy of the island and had been locked in time as a result. (Though this doesn't quite explain why Juliet, having lived there for some time, did become unstuck and traveled through time.) But because we focused mainly on the castaways as they traveled through time in Season Five, it's possible that somewhere on the island, Cindy and the kids were themselves traveling through time. Or perhaps--if we really wanted to get nutty--the vaccine that the Others gave Claire and maybe the other inhabitants prevented them getting unstuck in time.

But, really, it's just not a major mystery that cries out for lengthy explanation. As for why Sun didn't travel back in time with the others, an argument could be made that Jacob had already invalidated her as a candidate when she gave birth to Ji Yeon. (Though Kate's name was crossed off because she too was a mother, yet she still traveled back in time, so scratch that.)

Regarding some of the other issues that Rockauteur raised, I too remember Darlton mentioning the Hurleybird would be resolved. The only thing I can think of is that Hurley eventually became the island's protector. Given that he was already attuned to the island's unique supernatural properties--he can see dead people--perhaps it was the island's way of reaching out to him and acknowledging that he would one day be its protector? Hmmm...

Some mysteries fell by the wayside, that's for sure. A television show is an organic things: it lives and breathes and changes as the writers are forced to adapt, change paths midstream, and shuffle things around. What was important back in Season Two when Team Darlton didn't have an end date for the series became less important when they did. Mysteries that were intended to help fill in the gaps and allow them to tread water for a bit quickly lost steam (and importance) as they began the marathon to the finish line.

However, some mysteries do beg answers: why the Dharma supply drops continued decades after The Purge? What was Libby's backstory and how did she get from the mental hospital to Oceanic Flight 815? Who fired at the time-tossed castaways in the outrigger?

And I'm not entirely convinced by Darlton's explanation that the Man in Black was masquerading as Jack's father Christian Shephard. Given the smoke monster's efforts to terrorize the castaways (starting with the poor, doomed pilot in the, uh, pilot), I don't believe for a second that he would lead them to water, thus saving all of their lives in the process.

Likewise, I'm not sure what to make of Christian's appearance in Jacob's so-called cabin, which was surrounded by ash, the sort that keeps the smoke monster out (or in), given that he was flying around the island at that point wreaking all sorts of havoc. I also have a hard time reconciling this reveal with the fact that Christian appeared to Michael aboard the freighter to say that the island was done with him... and to Jack in Los Angeles. While Jack was addled with drugs at the time, it still doesn't quite make sense to me.

His presence at the frozen donkey wheel? Sure, I can buy that that was the smoke monster in Christian's form as it set into motion Locke's death, his return to the island, and the Nameless One assuming his form. Christian with Claire in the cabin, after the dead Horace sent Locke there? Sure. But the others? I dare say that Team Darlton changed their mind along the way about the ghostly Christian.

And likely, quite a few other things as well. But that's the beauty--and often the pitfall--of doing a long-running serialized drama that is based around numerous and deeply layered mysteries. Things can, and often have to, change.

Even with Lost.

Channel Surfing: Lost DVD Epilogue, Diane Keaton and Ellen Page Land Tilda, Julia Stiles in Talks to Join Dexter, Skins, and More

Welcome to your Thursday morning television briefing. (Is it just me or does it feel like this week will never end?)

E! Online's Kristin Dos Santos is reporting that there's still more Lost to come, including an epilogue that depicts the time that Hurley (Jorge Garcia) and Ben (Michael Emerson) spent on the island after the events of the series finale. Emerson spilled the dirt on the sequence on G4's Attack of the Show, where told Kevin Pereira about the bonus footage on the complete series DVD. "For those people that want to pony up and buy the complete Lost series, there is a bonus feature," said Emerson. "Which is um, you could call it an epilogue. A lost scene. It's a lot; it's 12 or 14 minutes that opens a window onto that gap of unknown time between Hurley (Jorge Garcia) becoming number one and the end of the series... It's self-contained. Although, it's a rich period in the show's mythology that‘s never been explored, so who knows what will come of it." Dos Santos, for her part, wonders if it's that sequence that will also connect to the producers' promises that we'd see the story of Walt (Malcolm David Kelley) resolved as well. "Whatcha wanna bet that during Hurley and Ben's adventures on the island, they run into Walt a few years into the future, when he's oh, 18 and looking just as Malcolm David Kelley looks now?" ponders Dos Santos. [Editor: Hmmm....] (E! Online's Watch with Kristin)

It's official: Diane Keaton is heading to HBO, where she will topline the pay cabler's half-hour comedy pilot Tilda, which revolves around Tilda, a powerful Hollywood blogger. (You know, the one who may or may not be based on Nikki Finke.) Keaton will be joined by Ellen Page (Juno), who will play Carolyn, described as "a morally conflicted creative assistant caught between following the corporate culture of the studio she works for and following Tilda, who has taken a keen interest in her." Project is executive produced by Cynthia Mort (Tell Me You Love Me) and Bill Condon (Dreamgirls). (Entertainment Weekly's Ausiello Files)

Entertainment Weekly's Michael Ausiello is reporting that Julia Stiles (The Bourne Ultimatum) is in talks to join the cast of Showtime's Dexter for its fifth season. Details on who Stiles would play, should a deal be reached, are remaining firmly under wraps, though Ausiello reports that it's unlikely that she would be the season's Big Bad, citing comments made by executive producer Chip Johannessen several weeks ago. "We’re not going to have a single Big Bad this season," Johannessen said at the time. "We don’t want to try and top John Lithgow, so we’re going to change up the forces that Dexter’s going to be dealing with." (Entertainment Weekly's Ausiello Files)

UK's Channel 4 and Film4 are moving ahead with a feature film version of teen drama Skins, which will be directed by Charles Martin and will feature characters from both "generations" of the hit series. No word yet on who those characters will be--although this editor is hoping for Sid and Cassie to be in the mix!--though production is slated to begin in September, with a Summer 2011 release being eyed. (Deadline)

Say goodbye to SOAPnet, soap fans. The cable-based soap network will go dark as Disney/ABC Television Group will use the network to instead launch pre-school-oriented cable network Disney Junior in 2012. "The launch of Disney Junior in the U.S. is the next step in our global preschool strategy, which began 10 years ago with the premiere of our first dedicated preschool channel in the UK," said Anne Sweeney, co-chair, Disney Media Networks and president, Disney/ABC Television Group, in a statement. "The decision to ultimately transition SOAPnet to accomplish this was not arrived at lightly. SOAPnet was created in 2000 to give daytime viewers the ability to watch time-shifted soaps, before multiplatform viewing and DVRs were part of our vocabulary. But today, as technology and our businesses evolve, it makes more sense to align this distribution with a preschool channel that builds on the core strengths of our company." (via press release)

I can now officially announce what I've known for quite some time: Chuck writer/producer Phil Klemmer will be working on NBC's new espionage dramedy Undercovers, from executive producers J.J. Abrams and Josh Reims, next season.

Deadline's Nellie Andreeva is reporting that CBS has offered drama pilot Chaos an eight-episode midseason order, but there is no guarantee that the series will ever make it air as talks continue between CBS and studio 20th Century Fox Television, the latter of which seems less than encouraged by the short-run and has not accepted the offer. Elsewhere, CBS is said to have passed on medical drama pilot Gimme Shelter (formerly known as Untitled Hannah Shakespeare Medical Drama), though they may revisit it, given the situation with Chaos. Creator Hannah Shakespeare, meanwhile, has signed on to ABC's drama series The Whole Truth, but it's said to be in second position to her CBS pilot. (Deadline)

BBC America has teamed up with ITV Studios American to produce ten episodes of a US version of hit British culinary competition series Come Dine with Me, which features New Yorkers "competing for the title of ultimate dinner party host, bringing together four amateur chefs who take turns cooking up their idea of the perfect evening." The series will debut in early 2011 on BBC America and around the world on various BBC lifestyle networks. Meanwhile, the digital cabler has also acquired the original UK format and will air 22 episodes of the series beginning in July on BBC America. (Hollywood Reporter)

USA has given a script order to half-hour comedy Driven, the first time in decades that the cabler has developed a half-hour comedy. Project, from Linda Bloodworth and Harry Thomason, will star Ron White as an unemployed Texan who starts a limousine business. (Variety)

E! Online's Kristin Dos Santos has a video interview up with the stars of the CW's Vampire Diaries, Paul Wesley, Nina Dobrev, and Ian Somerhalder, in which the trio discuss Season Two, love triangles, and more. "The dynamic is going to change between the three of us," said Somerhalder of Season Two of Vampire Diaries. (E! Online's Watch with Kristin)

TBS has announced an airdate of Sunday, June 27th for its upcoming special, Team Coco presents Conan's Writers Live, which will feature Andy Richter, Reggie Watts, and several of Conan O'Brien's writers. (via press release)

Lifetime is developing two new unscripted series that are connected to acquired reality franchise Project Runway. The first is an untitled makeover show, from executive producer Rich Bye, featuring former Runway contestants Santino Rice and Austin Scarlett as they travel the country and transform women. The other is an untitled unscripted series (working title: Love's Divine) featuring Heidi Klum and her husband Seal as they travel the country offering guidance and counseling to couples. (Variety)

RDF Rights has hired former Shine executive J.C. Mills as VP of US acquisitions. He will be based in Los Angeles and report to Jane Millichip. (Hollywood Reporter)

Stay tuned.

Channel Surfing: ABC Clarifies Lost Wreckage Shots, Julie Benz to Return to Dexter, Friday Night Lights Heads to ABC Family and More

Welcome to your Wednesday morning television briefing.

The Los Angeles Times's Maria Elena Fernandez is reporting that the final shots of the Oceanic Flight 815 wreckage that accompanied the closing credits of the series finale of Lost were not placed there by Damon Lindelof and Carlton Cuse, but rather by ABC executives who wanted to "soften the transition from the moving ending of the series to the 11 p.m. news and never considered that it would confuse viewers about the actual ending of the show," according to Fernandez. ABC went on to release a statement to confirm this fact. "The images shown during the end credits of the Lost finale, which included shots of Oceanic 815 on a deserted beach, were not part of the final story but were a visual aid to allow the viewer to decompress before heading into the news," said an ABC spokesperson in a statement. [Editor: I am hoping this finally puts an end to the misread of the series' ending, as some have taken to believing that the passengers of Oceanic Flight 815 died in the initial plane crash, despite the presence of some lengthy exposition from John Terry's Christian Shephard that spelled out about the nature of the purgatory that they had created... and stated that everything that happened on the island, happened in real life.] (Los Angeles Times' Show Tracker)

[Editor: elsewhere, Movieline attempts to solve as many of the 100 "unanswered" questions from Lost, as raised by a recent College Humor video called "Unanswered Lost Questions."]

SPOILER! Entertainment Weekly's Michael Ausiello is reporting that Julie Benz is set to reprise her role as Rita in the first episode of Season Five of Showtime's Dexter but that Benz won't be playing Rita as a ghost. Confused? "We’re not going to do some ghostly thing with her," said executive producer Chip Johannessen. "We reserve those for Harry," executive producer Sara Colleton told Ausiello. "If you have too many things like that it becomes gimmicky." So just how will the writers bring her back from the dead? That's them mystery, although a Showtime spokesperson told Ausiello that Rita's presence will "help Dexter deal with his newfound feelings of loss and grief — emotions he has never really felt before." So interpret that as you will. (Entertainment Weekly's Ausiello Files)

Looks like Friday Night Lights is heading to ABC Family. The cabler has acquired basic cable rights to all five seasons of Friday Night Lights, which airs on DirecTV's Channel 101 (and has a second window on NBC), and plans to launch repeats of Season One in September. "Friday Night Lights is a perfect fit for ABC Family's sensibility for the modern day family program," said Bruce Casino, senior vp of cable sales at NBC Universal Domestic Television Distribution, in a statement. "ABC Family will introduce this award-winning show to a whole new audience segment where the series can thrive in its new environment." (via press release)

TNT has ruled out saving Law & Order, according to a statement released to The Los Angeles Times. "We are not in current talks, and we are not interested in a Season 21," said the cabler in a prepared statement. News comes even as creator Dick Wolf attempts to find a savior for the cancelled NBC procedural drama. (Los Angeles Times's Show Tracker)

Entertainment Weekly's Michael Ausiello is reporting that ABC drama Castle will relocate to Wednesdays this summer, a temporary move before it reclaims its Monday night timeslot this fall. (Entertainment Weekly's Ausiello Files)

Brett Davern (Desperate Housewives) and Beau Mirchoff (Case 219) have been cast in MTV drama pilot That Girl, about a high school student who becomes the center of attention when she's involved in an accident that everyone believes was a suicide attempt. (Hollywood Reporter)

Variety's Cynthia Littleton takes a look at MGM's television business, which includes the twelve-episode order for drama Teen Wolf at MTV and its This TV movie channel. (Variety)

CBS has announced launch dates for several of its summer series, including Big Brother (July 8th), Flashpoint (June 4th), and the burn-off of medical drama Three Rivers (June 5th). (Hollywood Reporter)

Meanwhile, international co-production The Bridge, which stars Battlestar Galactica's Aaron Douglas, will premiere on CBS on Saturday, July 10th at 8 pm ET/PT. (via press release)

UK's Channel 4 has commissioned a fifth season of comedy The IT Crowd as creator Graham Linehan prepares to assemble a team of writers. (Broadcast)

Style Network has given a series order to docuseries Too Fat for 15, which will center on "four extremely overweight teens and one preteen whose parents bring them to Wellspring Academy, a weight-loss boarding school in North Carolina." Series will debut in August. (Hollywood Reporter)

Warner Bros. Television has expanded the oversight of executive Lisa Gregorian, who will now serve as both chief marketing officer and EVP. The former title was created specifically for Gregorian. (Variety)

Elsewhere, former Channel 4 executive Simon Andreae has been hired as West Coast SVP of development and production for Discovery Channel. (Variety)

Stay tuned.

Channel Surfing: White Collar Nabs Hilarie Burton, Natasha Henstridge Gets Drop Dead Role, Jim Parsons on Big Bang Move, and More

Welcome to your Tuesday morning television briefing.

Fancast's Matt Mitovich is reporting that former One Tree Hill star Hilarie Burton has signed on to appear in a six-episode story arc on Season Two of USA's White Collar, where she'll play Sarah Ellis, a new love interest for Matthew Bomer's Neal Caffrey, who is described as "an insurance investigator-slash-white collar bounty hunter who has a bit of a score to settle with Neal." Bomer's Neal will quickly find himself enmeshed in a game of cat and mouse with Sarah. Season Two of White Collar is set to launch Tuesday, July 13th at 9 pm ET/PT. (Fancast)

Former Eli Stone star Natasha Henstridge is heading back to the courtroom, according to Entertainment Weekly's Michael Ausiello, who reports that Henstridge has signed on to a multiple-episode story arc on Season Two of Lifetime's legal dramedy Drop Dead Diva, which returns June 6th. She'll play the "heretofore-unseen partner at Harrison & Parker," according to Ausiello. (Entertainment Weekly's Ausiello Files)

E! Online's Megan Masters talks to The Big Bang Theory's Jim Parsons about the CBS comedy's move to Thursdays next season and Sheldon's new love interest, played by Mayim Bialik. "I am optimistically excited about it," said Parsons about Big Bang Theory's new scheduling. "We all know the world of television is unpredictable...but I do feel hopeful about it. It will be very exciting to be a part of a new night of comedy, a new section of comedy, whatever it turns into. My initial reaction was slight disbelief because I didn't see it coming, but as the day wore on I felt like this could be good. It will certainly keep things exciting and interesting. CBS has always been with us. From really very early on they've done these moves like this that made you realize that they have a lot of faith in the show." (E! Online's Watch with Kristin)

SPOILER! (If you haven't seen last night's 24 series finale) Entertainment Weekly's Lynette Rice has an interview with 24 executive producer Howard Gordon about the series finale, which aired last night. "Yes, that was very much designed from the beginning," said Gordon when asked if he knew early on that the season would end with Jack going off the rails. "How it would end, however, was something that was really unknown. I saw a little bit further ahead than I generally do, and we wanted to knit Jack and Renee together, only to take them apart, and for that to have a really profound effect on Jack. That’s about as far as we knew in the broad strokes. How that was going to happen, and how it would impact Allison Taylor and Chloe — those were late-to-the-party additions that I think helped bolster that initial idea." (Entertainment Weekly's Hollywood Insider)

E! Online's Kristin Dos Santos has the skinny on the fake spoiler that Lost showrunners Damon Lindelof and Carlton Cuse attempted to put out into the ether, one that the series ending with a wedding between Sun (Yunjin Kim) and Jin (Daniel Dae Kim). "But this wedding, unlike the Kwons' first one (with special guest Jacob), was actually a red herring planted by producers to throw off any spoiler hounds trying to sniff around finale storylines," writes Dos Santos. "According to reliable sources close to the show, a fake call sheet was sent out to the entire cast and extended crew detailing a Jin and Sun wedding scene for the finale. The 'spoiler' never leaked." (E! Online's Watch with Kristin)

Deadline's Nellie Andreeva is reporting that ABC has put five drama scripts into development for spring, hoping land two pilot orders from the pack of new projects. These include the Sony Pictures Television-produced reboot of Charlie's Angels, from Alfred Gough and Miles Millar, and Javier Grillo-Marxuach's Department Zero, and three projects from ABC Studios: Ghostworld, from Ian Sanders and Kim Moses (Ghost Whisperer), Behind the Blue, from executive producer Taye Diggs, and medical drama Island of Women, from Matthew Gross. These are on top of the six more scripts ordered for Rand Ravich's quirky bounty hunter drama Edgar Floats. (Deadline)

E! Online's Kristin Dos Santos talks to Gossip Girl's Chace Crawford about the fact that Crawford's Nate Archibald desperately needs a new love interest on the CW drama series... and that it likely won't be Taylor Momsen's Jenny. "I always thought [Nate and Jenny] was a little weird," Crawford admitted. "There's the age gap, she's still in high school..." Meanwhile, Crawford indicated to Dos Santos that the shocking season finale might point to a darker Nate next season. "That may be where they're going," Crawford said. "It'd be fun to play. Who knows, maybe I'll be the one getting shot next year." (E! Online's Watch with Kristin)

SPOILER! Elsewhere, Entertainment Weekly's Michael Ausiello is reporting that Gossip Girl producers are casting the role of Eva, described as " an utterly gorgeous female in her 20s or 30s who boasts a warm heart and an authentic French accent." Eva will be the new love interest for Chuck, natch, as shooting gets underway in New York and Paris in July. (Entertainment Weekly's Ausiello Files)

Jace Alexander (Burn Notice) will direct the Syfy action-adventure drama pilot Three Inches, which is said to focus on "an underachiever who develops a unique 'super' power after being struck by lightning — the ability to move any object by 3 inches using his mind – and is soon recruited by a covert team of superheroes." (Deadline)

Meanwhile, Nellie Andreeva also reports that Ken Sanzel (NUMB3RS) is in the process of closing a deal to come aboard new CBS drama series Blue Bloods as showrunner. (Deadline)

Overall deal roundup: Deadline's Nellie Andreeva is reporting that Greg Malins, newly installed as executive producer/co-showrunner on ABC comedy Better Together, has signed a two-year overall deal with Warner Bros. Television... and Zach Reiter (CSI: NY) has signed a two-year overall deal with CBS Studios, which will keep him aboard the crime procedural and develop new projects for the studio. (Deadline)

Stay tuned.

See You in Another Life: Thoughts on The Series Finale of Lost

"No one can tell you why you're here."

I'm of two minds (and two hearts) about the two-and-a-half hour series finale of Lost ("The End"), written by Damon Lindelof and Carlton Cuse and directed by Jack Bender, which brought a finality to the story of the passengers of Oceanic Flight 815 and the characters with which we've spent six years.

At its heart, Lost has been about the two bookends of the human existence, birth and death, and the choices we make in between. Do we choose to live together or die alone? Can we let go of our past traumas to become better people? When we have nothing else left to give, can we make the ultimate sacrifice for the greater good?

In that sense, the series finale of Lost brought to a close the stories of the crash survivors and those who joined them among the wreckage over the course of more than 100 days on the island (and their return), offering up a coda to their lives and their deaths, a sort of purgatory for found, rather than lost souls.

But it's that very ending that's dividing viewers. For some it was a somber and lyrical ending, but for others (myself including), I found it to be sentimental and cliched, as Lindelof and Cuse offered up the very plot contrivance that they fought so hard not to fall into in the island-set storyline.

My broad thoughts about the divisive nature of the ending can be read over here at The Daily Beast, but I also want to dive deeper into the specifics of "The End" and the symbolism of its ending as well.

So how did I feel about the series finale of Lost? Let's make our way to the church, open the coffin one last time, and discuss "The End."

I tried to lower my expectations when it came to Lost's series finale. I'd been burned somewhat by quite a few episodes this season and majorly by the two exposition dump episodes, "Ab Aeterno" and "Across the Sea," which seemed to point towards Lindelof and Cuse's way at the very tail end of Lost's journey to providing answers to the many swirling mysteries that have become intrinsically linked to Lost's narrative over six seasons.

Those episodes, particularly "Across the Sea," seemed to signify the answers that would be given here to the questions that Lindelof and Cuse thought were most vital: who were Jacob and the Man in Black? What was their relationship? What is the island and what is the duty of the protector? Just what is he protecting? How did the Nameless One become a murderous pillar of black smoke? We got answers to those questions but so many others fell by the wayside.

Cuse and Lindelof have been upfront about the fact that they wanted to answer the questions that were important to the Losties, not necessarily the audience. Why pregnant women were dying, who built the statue, what the Source really was, why Walt was "special," etc. weren't part of that equation.

I'm all right with that. I wasn't expecting Lost to tie up loose ends about these long-dangling plot threads or delve into an eleventh hour introduction of Alvar Hanso or the Dharma Initiative's status in the present day. I didn't go into "The End" expecting answers, really. Nor did I need them: Lost has chugged along for six years on the brainpower of its devoted viewers, for whom the mysteries have provided all manner of puzzle. Leaving these things ambiguous leaves the door open for further thought and analysis, for further conjecture and discussion. For all of the things that we who watch Lost have loved doing.

But what depressed me about the series finale was that it veered towards the Feel Good Ending as lovers reunited, mothers gave birth to sons, and friends hugged one another in a church that had a stained glass window decorated with symbols of many of the world's religions... before the crowd--which included most (but not all) of the many diverse characters that have been the focus of Lost over the years.

Many viewers have struggled this season with the late-to-the-game introduction of the Lost-X timeline, or the Sideways world, and how it connected to the narrative of the island and what was unfolding there. In the end, while what happened on the island had huge significance to what happened in that world, the reverse wasn't true. This world wasn't a world at all, nor a divergent timeline that explored what happened when the castaways didn't crash on the island. It wasn't a prism through which to explore their early days and what might have been.

It was, in the end, an epilogue of sorts. An epilogue of the most final kind. This world was a self-created purgatory for the passengers of Oceanic Flight 815 and their loved ones, a place were they could repeat old patterns (with one significant change) before being pulled together once again by bonds of fate.

Like Desmond, we were wrong about the nature of this place: it wasn't an alternative universe, it wasn't an earthly escape from the pain and loss that many of the castaways had suffered through, but a heavenly one. A celestial kingdom where the dead could finally let go of the issues that had plagued them in life and cast off those repeating patterns, finally accepting their death so they could move on to a true afterlife, joined by those they loved in life.

Which is fine on a thematic level, even if I didn't feel as though the Lost-X timeline had earned that ending. It was purgatory, after all, which Lindelof and Cuse had promised the island would never be and it felt like a cheap trick for that very reason. Yes, the series dealt with life and death in so many ways but the symbolism of those final scenes at the church just felt too easy and pat: after all of your struggles, your death isn't the end but the start of a party with all of your friends and family. It seemed to cast off much of the more challenging Dharma-oriented principles to offer up a glossy Judeo-Christian take on the afterlife.

Which, to me, might be the ending that people wanted but it wasn't what I needed. Yes, death is an inevitability for us all, even these characters, who all made their way here eventually and stood on yet another precipice. (Even Hurley and newly installed second-in-command Benjamin Linus, eventually freed from their duties at some point down the line, turned up here.)

To me, the end of Lost's narrative is the final scene of Jack in the bamboo grove, his story having come full-circle to the place where it began, a lone sneaker dangling solemnly from a bamboo tree, its laces now rotten and old where once they were new. Time might heal all wounds but it's also a killer. Laying down his burdens where the series began, Jack stares up at the sky to see the plane--carrying Kate, Sawyer, Claire, Lapidus, Richard, and Miles--arc overhead as Vincent the dog comes to lay down next to him. While the story began with Jack opening his eyes, here we finish that thought, seeing the good doctor, the all-too-brief champion of the island, close his eyes for the last time, leaving behind the metaphorical and literal wreckage as he himself soars through those blue skies.

Which isn't to say that the purgatory that the characters created didn't give us some powerfully evocative moments, because they did in "The End." The moments of joyous reconnection between the characters--between Sayid and Shannon, Charlie and Claire, Sun and Jin, and Sawyer and Juliet--were beautifully rendered both by the actors and the subtle score of composer Michael Giacchino. While the ending left me cold, it was these moments that stirred some genuine emotion within me.

Our many star-crossed lovers got their moment in the sun, a final reunion at which they communed with one another and their collective experiences, of lives lived and lost, of loves conquered and stolen all too soon. But the final ten minutes of "The End" took this thematic reunion to a new level that it needn't have gone, with Christian Shephard (whatever did happen to his body on the island, BTW?) spelling everything out to his son as Jack finally comes to realize what the others already have: that they're long dead.

The self-awareness glimpsed throughout this season--the cuts on Jack's neck, the sense of frisson from reflections in the looking glass--all point towards this conclusion in the end. They were coming to terms with their deaths just as the island provoked them to come to terms with their lives. However, while I think this works on a thematic level, I found the ending to be so heavy-handed, clunky and maudlin at the same time, that I couldn't give in to the post-life love fest going on in those final scenes.

Lost-X. My frustration with the series finale may have been the fact of how the Lost-X timeline--or lack thereof--was presented, introduced in the final season and glimmering with possibility of how it directly connected to the narrative we'd seen unfold over the five previous seasons, the island trapped at the bottom of the sea. By revealing it to have been ethereally connected, it removed much of the drama that had been contained in that storyline. What did it really matter if Jack had a child there or Kate proclaimed her innocence or Locke was confined in a wheelchair once more, if none of it was "real"?

They were variations on a theme rather than a full-blown narrative in their own right, offering a sucker punch of emotion that, while moving during the episode, felt entirely false after the fact.

What should we make of the fact that Walt doesn't appear at the church at the end? Or that Michael too isn't there? While we know that Michael's soul is trapped on the island, chained to the rock as one of the Greek chorus of whisperers damned to remain there, that's not true for Walt. We could argue that many of the others absent from that final scene--Faraday, Charlotte, Mr. Eko, Ana-Lucia, and others--weren't ready to let go and move on, still needing to work things out in this intermediate state before they could achieve a heavenly release. (That fact was stated by Hurley in "What They Died For," whose title makes more sense now.)

But what then of the fact that Eloise Hawking seems all too aware of what this place is? That she is somehow self-aware of the fiction of this world yet has been included in a perfect world created collectively by the will of the dead castaways? I understand why Eloise might want to cling to the son she killed in life, but why was she even a part of this landscape to begin with?

I can't quite wrap my head around that one, I'm afraid. For a purgatory that was created by a group of people who wanted to reconnect, they certainly brought in quite a few people who had made their lives miserable in the process and their travails in this purgatory brought them together with other people from their lives as well. What should we make of the fact that Sayid "ended up" not with his one true love, Nadia, but with Shannon? Hmmm...

Or that Jack isn't at all perturbed by the fact that his son doesn't really exist and is instead a fiction created by his own subconscious? It's fitting that the original skeptic is the last to come around to a belief in the profound and divine at the very end, and only when faced with proof of this existence: by coming face to face with his dead father. A father whose coffin is once again empty and devoid of a body. But here, the two finally get a chance to say their farewells and share their true feelings in a way that the messy chaos of life and death doesn't usually permit.

The Incident. The actions that Jack and the others took at the end of Season Five (in "The Incident"), detonating the hydrogen bomb at the future site of the Swan Station never resulted in a divergent reality at all. So what to make of Juliet's final conversation with Sawyer at the bottom of the shaft, the one where she whispers, "it worked" and seems to indicate that their actions did have their intended consequences? Well, her words were taken at face value then, the "worked" element of that statement taken to mean that reality had split and they had managed to ensure that they had never crashed on the island in the first place.

But not so. Jack and Juliet's actions didn't seem to do anything other than cause the very Incident that they were looking to avoid, an action that resulted in the creation of the Swan Station, a button that had to be pushed every 108 minutes, and at the end of that string of causality, the crash of Oceanic Flight 815. (And, yes, sent them back to the present day.)

So what was Juliet speaking about? Had she gained a multi-dimensional awareness, cognizant of the existence of another world? Not quite. She was dying in those final moments, oxygen already depleted from her brain, her synapses firing one last time before fading out. And in those moments, she connected to that place of purgatory, one where she was the ex-wife of Doctor Jack Shephard (I do feel vindicated by that fact) and where she crossed paths with a handsome cop named James Ford and helped him obtain a trapped Apollo bar from a vending machine in the hospital by telling him to turn off the machine and then turn it back on.

The candy bar does drop from its holder. "It worked," Juliet says as the power goes off.

Juliet's words in "LA X" then refer to this specific scene, to the first--and last--meeting of lovers Juliet and Sawyer, achieving the union they couldn't have in life.

The Cork in the Bottle. The Final Battle between Jack and the Nameless One began the moment they set foot in the bamboo grove, the very heart of the island, with Desmond Hume, each hoping to achieve something impossible: that the Nameless One would be able to destroy the island and send it plummeting to the bottom of the ocean and that Jack would be able to kill his adversary. In order to do so, they both needed the help of Desmond Hume, the time-tossed survivor who had a resistance to the island's electromagnetic energy as a result of his proximity to the Swan Station's fail-safe procedure. Des got lowered into the cave, over that precipice--in a scene that evoked the final shot of Season One as Jack and Locke gaze into the abyss--and found himself in yet another grand, man-made cavern that this time contained a literal cork in the bottle.

Believing that by removing the stone stopper he would allow the castaways to travel to the other side that he had glimpsed (which wasn't a divergent reality but a purgatory), Desmond entered the Source and pulled out the cork... resulting in the water draining right out and volcanic heat swelling through the cave as the island began to shake to its core.

Just what is this place? Who built it? What is its actual purpose? I'm glad that the finale didn't seek to answer these, instead leaving the mythology tantalizingly abstract. In the end, the specifics of this place or the nature of the island don't really matter. Like Oz or Narnia or any number of magical realms, there's an inexplicable and unknown quality to their very natures.

That's a wonderful thing.

I don't want everything spelled out for me. I'm quite content knowing what we know about the island (particularly as any further answers just start a new cycle of further questions) and I am happy with it remaining something unknowable and mysterious, something eternal and impossible.

Desmond. Just what was Des' purpose then? Widmore brought him back to the island because of his resistance to the electromagnetism that was the same energy as the Source itself. He was, as Jack put it, a weapon to be used by either side. While it seems as though Desmond's entire purpose is thwarted--his actions, too, don't lead to another reality--he does serve his purpose all the same.

He's the only one who can safely enter the Source without being altered by its powerful energy and the only one who can remove the cork from the bottle. Whether it will sink or swim all depends on what happens next: will the island plummet to the bottom of the ocean? Will someone make the ultimate sacrifice to recork the bottle and keep the island safe?

Desmond was a weapon in the end, a weapon for either side. But the ultimate outcome depended not on fate but free will. Could Jack end his own life in order to save the world? Yes, of course. He had made a solemn pledge to defend this place and protect the Source, which could go off and on. (Just like, as people, we can make good or bad choices and still correct ourselves before the end.)

As for who rescued him from the well, the answer was the appropriate one: Rose and Bernard (and Vincent!), who had long since withdrawn from the battles for the island, preferring to live out their final days away from the others in retirement. "We don't get involved," she tells Desmond. But they did get involved, of course, by saving Desmond's life. Desmond, however, repays the favor, forcing the Nameless One to leave Rose and Bernard alone and not harm them in any way, before he turns himself over to the Man in Black.

The Final Battle.Desmond's actions result in the island nearly ceasing to exist but they also lead to something else entirely: to the Nameless One regaining his humanity. Or at least his corporeal nature. His powers as the smoke monster were derived by the Source. Once its light flickered out, he was human once again. A final loophole that Jack took advantage of.

The showdown between Jack and the Nameless One on the cliff's edge was a thing of staggering beauty, a face-off composed not as a series of close-up shots at first but a long shot that framed the action as a diagonal, a literal image of the scales, long since tipped over to darkness. (Watch again: you'll Jack up in the top left corner and the Nameless one at the bottom right.)

It all comes down to these two men, a man of science who has become a man of faith and a greedy deity who has stolen the face of a man who was willing to die for what he believed in. Their struggle is bloody, brutal, and messy (as is life itself, really). Locke cuts Jack's neck (that unstoppable bleeding in the Lost-X timeline) and then stabs him in his side. It's a mortal wound and Jack really does die then. He just doesn't let go, not yet. It's ironic that the Nameless One's death--in the body of Locke--follows yet another pattern. Just as Anthony Cooper had pushed Locke from a great height, so too does Jack do the same to the man wearing his face, as the Nameless One plummets onto the rocks below, his neck broken, his legs dangling uselessly.

The Candidate. It was too easy that Jack would step up and elect himself as Jacob's replacement ("the obvious choice"), and I had a sinking feeling last week that his oversight of the island would be short-lived. The responsibility falls to the most selfless of them, the one who didn't want the position at all and therefore is most worthy of it: Hugo Reyes, whose time on the island has been characteristic of his altruistic nature. He's been marked for this role from the very early days: he had an advance knowledge of the numbers, managed to survive every scrape without dying (or even coming close), never fired a gun, and saw dead people. He was special in every sense of the word.

Ben offers up a fitting chalice here, a water bottle that works just fine, thank you very much, as Jack makes do with a very different kind of transference ritual. No words, no blessing, just the drinking of the water, and the words, "You're like me now." A message of collective identity, of shared experience, of belonging. The magic circle is complete once more, a new protector for a place that needs protection.

But being protector means making rules. And Hurley's rules don't need to be the same as Jack's or Jacob's. It's fitting that it's the newly redeemed Benjamin Linus who tells him this fact. He needn't rule in the way that Jacob ruled. Desmond can leave the island, he can make his own ways, create his own legacy. Desmond might, after all, be able to finally return home to his waiting Penelope after this long odyssey.

Jack. Jack, meanwhile, fulfills his destiny: he makes a leap of faith into the unknown, recorking the bottle and saving the island from catastrophe. I thought his laughter and solemn joy at the bottom of the cave was a beautiful note to end the Final Battle on as the light of the Source reignites once more, before Jack finds himself at the bottom of the cave's output, the same place where Jacob stumbled onto his brother's body.

But Jack hasn't been transformed by the Source (I'd wager it's because he was already dead when we entered there and his motives were pure) and he instead makes his way back to the very beginning, where this story started, taking us with him one last time into the unknown.

Fly Away Home. I'm more than happy that I was wrong about the final fates of Richard Alpert and Frank Lapidus, both of whom survived their fates in "What They Died For" and "The Candidate" respectively. Lapidus managed to survive the sinking of the submarine and was reunited with the others so that he could fulfill his purpose: flying them off the island and back to the mainland. ("I am a pilot," Frank says with a hint of frustration.)

There was a beauty and triumph to seeing a plane take off from the island, defying the odds, rather than crashing to the rocks, the motley crew of final survivors safely heading away from this place of mystery back to the "real" world, their lives there lost to the mists of time. (Or a fitting choice by Cuse and Lindelof to leave things with Jack at the very end.)

That the plane was flown by the man who was originally meant to pilot Oceanic Flight 815 is no mere coincidence either. Frank Lapidus finally fulfills his purpose, the plane at the ready, soaring majestically overhead as Jack closes his eyes one last time.

Aboard that plane, those who are leaving are heading home, back to a world that they thought was long forgotten. Even Claire, who was so terrified of being a mother, of Aaron seeing her the way she was, that she was willing to remain behind. But she wasn't alone in the end. She might be meant to raise Aaron alone according to some prophecy but she isn't alone at all: Kate is by her side, squeezing her hand. The two mothers, united finally in space and spirit, setting out to raise their shared child together.

"There are no shortcuts, no do-overs," says Jack. "All of this matters."

And it does in the end. The journeys that these characters made over the last six seasons have led them in the end to this place. Which is why what followed left me so cold. I would have loved Lost to have ended on this note, with Jack's sacrifice and the departure of those he loved, those whose lives hadn't been lost and could therefore go on.

I didn't hate the Lost series finale, but I didn't love it either.

However, I did love every moment within the two-and-a-half-hours that was set on the island with the characters we knew and loved by taking it--and the Lost-X storyline to such a sentimental place, to an afterlife of rewards and happiness didn't make me feel good in the end. It made me feel sad that something Lindelof and Cuse clearly intended to be lyrical and magical felt to me instead like it had fallen to earth with a deafening thud.

If Lost has been about mysteries, it's been mostly about the mysteries of human existence rather than mythology. And some mysteries are better left unknown and unsolved. For a series that dealt so lovingly with multiple philosophies and beliefs, with the breadth and scope of literature and the nature of story, to come down to a singularly Judeo-Christian view of the afterlife (despite, yes, the ham-fisted presence of those symbols in the stained glass) felt like a bit of an easy way out to me, a reductive explanation of Season Six and an opportunity to give these characters a happy ending in death that they didn't have in life.

But that's not realistic when viewing the complicated messiness of life. Sometimes endings are happy but often they're just endings.

I'm curious about how you felt about the series finale and the sixth season as a whole. Did the ending make the flash-sideways (or, as I dubbed it early this season, the Lost-X timeline) work for you? Do you feel that the destination was worth the journey? Are you happy with the way the series came together at the end? Surprised? Sad? Feeling cheated? Melancholy? Was your mind blown?

I want to hear about your own thoughts to the very end of Lost and how you felt Damon Lindelof and Carlton Cuse managed to pull it together at the end of the road. Head to the comments section to discuss, analyze, and debate the very last episode of Lost. Ever.

See you in another life, brutha.

The Daily Beast: "The Infuriating Lost Finale"

Over at The Daily Beast, you can read my broad thoughts about the divisive series finale of Lost ("The End") before I post my detailed thoughts here.

Head over to The Daily Beast, to read my piece, "The Infuriating Lost Finale," where I talk about my issues with the narrative and thematic conclusion of the series after six years.

Do you agree? Disagree? Head to the comments section to discuss your take on Lost and "The End." (And the end.)

Channel Surfing: Glee Gets Third Season, Mystery of Eko-Less Lost Finale Solved, Smallville Creators Get Charlie's Angels

Welcome to your Monday morning television briefing.

FOX has given a major vote of confidence to musical-comedy Glee, which it renewed for a third season... before the first season has even wrapped. News of the pickup was broken by Entertainment Weekly's Lynette Rice. "Everything about Glee – from the concept to the characters to the marketing – has been innovative and risky, but with [series creator] Ryan Murphy tapping into the zeitgeist, the risk has paid off with this truly remarkable series," said Kevin Reilly, FOX Entertainment President. "Glee has one of the most active, devoted fan bases I’ve ever seen, and we couldn’t be more thrilled to give Gleeks a third season of their favorite show." The upside for FOX and studio 20th Century Fox Television are obvious: "Not only does it help cut production costs over the long haul, it allows Murphy and his writers a chance to plan ahead (if not breathe a much-needed sigh of relief)," writes Rice. "Most important, it gives the studio a head start in taking the episodes out into the syndication marketplace." (Entertainment Weekly's Hollywood Insider)

Wondering why Mr. Eko wasn't in the Lost finale? E! Online's Kristin Dos Santos has learned that Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje turned down an offer to appear in the series finale of Lost. "According to ABC and Lost insiders, Adewale was offered a hearty sum to do one scene in the last hurrah, but the actor wanted five times the amount that was offered," writes Dos Santos. "It didn't work out." (E! Online's Watch with Kristin)

Dos Santos also answers questions from attendees at last night's E! Online Lost finale screening, including some heretofore unrevealed elements of Lost's mythology, such as the true name for the Man in Black. Watch the video to find out! (E! Online's Watch with Kristin)

[Elsewhere, Entertainment Weekly's Lynette Rice reports that the Lost finale featured more than 45 minutes of commercial and promotional time, roughly 107 on-air spots.]

Smallville creators Alfred Gough and Miles Millar have signed on to write the pilot script for ABC's Charlie's Angels pilot, which will be produced by Sony Pictures Television and is being eyed for a possible midseason launch. The duo replace Josh Friedman, who had originally been hired to develop the project, which will be executive produced by Drew Barrymore, Leonard Goldberg, and Nancy Juvonen. (Hollywood Reporter)

The Chicago Tribune's Maureen Ryan is reporting that British actress Emilia Clarke (Doctors) has stepped into the role of Daenerys on HBO's upcoming fantastic series Game of Thrones, replacing Tamzin Merchant, who left the project. Production will begin in July with reshoots scheduled for the pilot episode, which featured several actors who have since left the project, including Merchant and Jennifer Ehle. [Editor: I watched the original Game of Thrones pilot last week and was blown away. HBO has knocked it out of the park with this one.] (Chicago Tribune's The Watcher)

Lost director/executive producer Jack Bender has signed on to direct the 90-minute pilot for Syfy drama Alphas, written by Zak Penn and Michel Karnow. "We are very excited that Jack has chosen to be part of Alphas," said Mark Stern, Executive Vice President of Original Programming, Syfy and Co-Head of Content for Universal Cable Productions, in a statement. "His vision and expertise are perfectly suited to this project, and will truly elevate it." Here's how Syfy is positioning Alphas: "Alphas follows a team of ordinary citizens who possess extraordinary and unusual mental skills. Using physical feats and uniquely advanced mental abilities, this unlikely team takes the law into their own hands and uncovers what the CIA, FBI and Pentagon have not been able or willing to solve. These gifted individuals must balance their quirky personalities and disparate backgrounds with their not always visible powers as they work to solve crimes, stop the ticking time bomb and catch the enemy." (via press release)

SPOILER (if you haven't watched the Bones finale yet): Bones executive producer Stephen Nathan has promised "big changes" next season for the series in a new interview with Entertainment Weekly's Michael Ausiello. "The start of the season will have Booth and Brennan meeting [12 months later] at the coffee cart, and the series will start again… though on very different footing," Nathan told Ausiello. "There will be big changes." (Entertainment Weekly's Ausiello Files)

Deadline's Nellie Andreeva is reporting that Rand Ravich's ABC drama pilot Edgar Floats, which stars Tom Cavanagh, Robert Patrick, and Alicia Witt, is still alive and has received a order for six additional scripts, which means that the project is still in contention for a midseason slot on ABC's schedule. [Editor: having watched the pilot over the weekend, I can say that this is very good news indeed. Edgar Floats was a fantastic script and the best pilot I've screened so far this season.] (Deadline)

Paula Abdul is heading to CBS. According to The Hollywood Reporter's James Hibberd, Abdul is set to sign on to CBS' upcoming dance competition series Got to Dance, where she will serve as "lead judge, executive producer, creative partner, mentor and coach" on the series, which is produced by ShineReveille and based on the British competition series of the same name. (Hollywood Reporter)

ABC has signed a three-year deal which will see the Miss America Pageant head to the Alphabet. (Variety)

MTV has promoted Lauren Dolgen to SVP of MTV series development, West Coast, where she will report to Liz Gateley. (Deadline)

Stay tuned.

Requiem for a Dream: Saying Goodbye to Lost

"To everything there is a season..."

As hard as it is to fathom, the end is upon us.

Lost will end six seasons of mysteries, mythology, and smoke monsters with a two-and-a-half hour series finale tonight as ABC devotes what seems like seven hours to ending one of the greatest and most ambitious serialized storylines ever devised.

My relationship to Lost dates back to May 2004, when I was still working in television development. On that particular day in late May, a box of pilots arrived at the studio where I worked, as they did every spring like clockwork after the network upfronts.

Among the offerings, many of which have now been forgotten to the dustbin of time, was the two-hour pilot for Lost, which was co-written and directed by J.J. Abrams, then coming off of a successful run on ABC's Alias. We had been waiting for this day for quite some time.

I remember that our boss was out of the office that week, so several of us furtively entered his office and sat down together to watch the original pilot. For ninety minutes (remember, no commercial breaks), we sat there in near-silence, entranced by the story that was unfolding, one that was so unpredictable, so shocking, and filled with plot twist upon plot twist so that by the time Dominic Monaghan's Charlie uttered those immortal words ("Guys, where are we?"), we were all hooked.

Lost, more than any other network drama series, showed us what television storytelling was capable of delivering, in terms of complexity, scope, and drive. It was television as Dickensian literature, featuring a cast of hundreds, the push and pull between fate and coincidence, and an examination of the human condition, all there on the screen, but made even more intoxicating by the introduction of the series' trademark mysteries.

The questions that the series kicked up week after week made us ponder, theorize, guess, and devote huge sections of our lives to decoding, even as we followed the characters through thick and thin, through kidnappings at sea, imprisonment in bear cages, birth and death, and the never-ending battle between light and darkness.

That early viewing of the pilot, five of us huddled around a television set, was sharply contrasted with the first Lost panel at that year's Paley Festival, which showcased the cinematic qualities (save that stuffed animal polar bear, maybe) of Abrams' pilot on the big screen. The crowd that gathered was large but nowhere near the gargantuan following that the series would later have at other public events such as San Diego Comic-Con and others. Its mythology was only just beginning, its following loyal but not yet as rabid as it would later become. (It seemed to reach its apex with last week's beautiful and triumphant Lost Live: The Final Celebration, which saw 1,800 attendees attend what was essentially a wake for the beloved show.)

But I was already on board, compelled week after week to check in on these disparate characters--a doctor challenged by a lack of faith, a paralyzed man who believed in miracles, a fugitive who had nowhere to run, a con man loner forced to live with others. The list went on and on, each one of them special in their own way, a part of a larger puzzle that became more complex and labyrinthine as the years went on.

I started Televisionary back in February 2006. At the time, I was still working in television (and would be for a few more years after that) but wanted a place to vent my feelings about the medium and the programming that I was most fixated on. Not surprisingly one of the series that I wrote about frequently and passionately was Lost, then in its second season of faith versus science battles, lonely men in hatches, and an increasingly mounting body count.

I've been a Lost devotee since the beginning but I've also been willing to call the series out when it made some missteps or missed the mark altogether. I've struggled to solve mysteries, pondered the larger metaphysical questions that the series has raised, and followed the drama with a passion that bordered on obsession. It was a series that broke down the fourth wall between the series and the audience, inviting each of them to discuss, come together, and debate. It was perhaps the first real organic social networking experience, demanding that its viewers, like its characters, had to live--and watch--together, rather than alone.

Damon Lindelof and Carlton Cuse announced several seasons back just when Lost would be ending its run. We've had several years' warning on that account but it doesn't make it any easier to know that that fateful day has finally arrived, and with it, the end of an era for its audience and for television in general. There has never been a series quite like Lost and there likely never will be another quite like it again.

As I quoted at the outset of this personal reminiscence about Lost, all things have their season and all things must come to their natural ends, even Lost. I've loved writing about this remarkable series and discussing it with friends, critics, writers, family members, strangers, and each of you, who have visited this site over the last four years, sharing the experience of watching this series week after week. To you, I offer my thanks for allowing me to express my thoughts and theories about Lost with you each week, year after year.

To the writers, actors, directors, and below the line crew who have worked so tirelessly to provide us with fodder for thought and six years of entertainment, I'd like to also offer my sincere thanks. You all have made your mark on the television industry in so many important ways. But even more than that, you've incited our imaginations, returning us to a state of wonder and awe on a weekly basis, something many of us left behind when we embarked on the long, hard road to adulthood.

Many thanks for the memories and for the magic.

The series finale of Lost airs tonight at 9 pm ET/PT on ABC.

Letting Go Again: Lost Questions, More on "What They Died For"

Welcome to this week's second look at Lost, just a few days ahead of Sunday's series finale of the mind-bending serialized drama.

Once again this week, I'll be taking a second look at this week's episode of Lost ("What They Died For") by answering reader questions submitted via comments, Twitter, and email.

While I discussed "What They Died For" in full over here, it's time to dive deeper and get to some further theories, doubts, and questions that we're all thinking about.

So, without further ado, let's grab a tin cup, whisper some mystical words, and discuss "What They Died For."

I had the chance to watch this episode twice over the course of a few days, the first time and the beautiful and memorable Lost Live: The Final Celebration event at UCLA's Royce Hall (which you can read more about here), and the second being right here in my living room, where I wanted the opportunity to watch the second to last episode on my television with my wife and my dog by my side.

Given my dislike of the previous episode, "Across the Sea," I thought that "What They Died For" was a step in the right direction as the writers finally set up the endgame contained with the series finale (airing Sunday evening, though there's no one in the world that doesn't know that at this point) and positioned the players into their places.

We got an episode that provided some answers, offered some forward momentum, and even had a fair amount of humor as well, a final breather before what's likely to be a shocking and (hopefully) breathtaking series ender. It's hard to believe that we're about to reach that final destination after six seasons and "What They Died For" offered us an opportunity to get our bearings before we reached the precipice...

Richard. Ally wrote, "I don't think that's the last we've seen of Richard. We'd at least see him dead on the ground, I think. His last contribution may be little more than some dying words to someone (Ben? Miles?) but I don't doubt that they will be important." It was a sentiment echoed by reader Crystal, who believed that Richard couldn't be dead because he had gotten a huge backstory episode and we still hadn't learned why he didn't age or die.

I'd like to think that Richard Alpert didn't die when the smoke monster ripped through the barracks and slammed him into a tree. Given that we didn't see him crumbled and bloody, it's possible that the seemingly immortal Richard survived the impact... but I also think that Damon Lindelof and Carlton Cuse are clearing the board of the non-central characters at this point.

While Crystal points out that Richard got his backstory-centric episode, that's my point exactly, we already got his backstory and learned his origin. I don't think that's any reason to keep him alive; in fact, I think they signed his death warrant when they wrote "Ab Aeterno." With his backstory out of the way, Richard's plot is done. As for why he didn't age or die, Jacob made it so, just like "Mother" made Jacob and the Nameless One special. If it's Jacob making the rules--whether that be the rules of reality or physics--he's the one who decreed it, thus making it so.

What more is there really for Richard to do? He was Jacob's mouthpiece and Jacob is dead. He believed that the Nameless One wanted him to follow him. In actuality, all he craves is death and destruction, as evidenced by his behavior at the barracks.

Ben. Ticknart asked, "Did you see the look in Ben's eyes when Locke told him that Sayid had lied about killing Desmond? Ben has his own end in mind, I think. He's probably playing it by ear at this point, but knowing that Locke doesn't know everything was a surprise, and a pleasant one at that."

I agree and I think Ben has a plan of his own. Ben has always been on Team Ben rather than truly allied himself with any other cause. He's all about self-survival and I think here he realized, especially after seeing what the Nameless One did to Richard, that he had to go along with the Man in Black's plan... at least for now.

As I mentioned over in the Wednesday post, there's a definite reason why Ben gives the walkie-talkie to Miles, and I believe that Ben will thwart the Man in Black's plan at some point. He's definitely noticing the signs that MiB isn't in control of the situation and can be blindsided, as he was here by the knowledge that Sayid betrayed him, especially as Sayid was swayed to the dark side. (Remember the scene where Ben found Sayid over Dogen's body at the temple pool? If Sayid can betray the Man in Black, given the darkness within him, it means anyone can.)

Likewise, Rockauteur said, "Love your theories on Ben maybe playing Locke. I do think that Ben will end up being the ultimate candidate. But will Jack be able to perform the ceremony to initiate him now that Jacob is just about gone? Or will Jacob be able to initiate Ben?"

Is Ben the true candidate? Would he have been chosen to succeed Jacob if Sayid had never shot him in 1977 and had him claimed by the Others as a result? I don't know. I like to think that we've begun to see the redemption of Benjamin Linus but so many of his actions point towards self-serving ends than true selflessness. I believe he may make the ultimate sacrifice to balance the scales in the series finale, redeeming himself and achieving his soul's release from the island. But that's just me.

As for the other point you made, Jacob is gone. Jack is now the protector of the island. Should the day come where he needs to find a replacement, he'll be able to complete the ritual himself. The opening of his eyes after Jacob's benediction signify a thorough knowledge of the island and its--and his own--abilities. He is like Jacob now and he can create new rules to govern the island, just as Jacob had.

Widmore. Kim Harrington wrote, "I was a little taken aback by Ben killing Widmore, namely because they'd already made it clear in a previous season that--like Jacob and MIB--Ben and Widmore cannot kill each other. It's against the rules. It's not clear to me why that changed. And why Ben was obviously aware of this change. Otherwise, he wouldn't have bothered pulling the trigger."

Yes, but whose rules were those? Were they man-made rules as a result of Widmore's exile from the island years earlier? A sort of ceasefire agreement signed between the exiled Widmore--sent out into the world after he conceived a child with someone off the island--and the new leader of the Others, Ben? I never believed that there were cosmic rules put in place that didn't allow them to kill each other or their respective families. Unlike, that is, the laws that govern Jacob and his Bad Twin (heh), which are rooted in the fabric of the island and have mystical qualities. These are cosmic rules that have a basis in physical reality. The rules of the war between Ben and Widmore have no such basis. They're created and agreed upon by the parties but, like any war, there's nothing keeping either party from reneging on the deal.

Which means that Ben's murder of Widmore is just that: murder. There was no cosmic law preventing Ben from killing him, nor is there any loophole that will prevent Widmore from dying there on the floor of the secret room.

Claire. Carmen asked, "Where is Claire?" It was a sentiment echoed by reader stimpqb1, who wrote, "I also really want to know why they kept Claire from us, it leads me to believe that her role in the finally will be of the [utmost] importance." Rockauteur also questioned her whereabouts this week: "Where was Claire? She vanished into thin air about she was left with Locke aboard the docks... and he didn't seem like he wanted her dead. Wonder if she is just chilling with the other red-shirts at Hydra Station (and in my theory, Eloise is among them as well) that weren't killed by Locke."

A very good question. Claire's absence from "What They Died For" is an interesting one. When we last saw her, she was on the dock and the Nameless One went striding off into the jungle to finish what he started. Given this fact, it makes sense that Claire wouldn't be with the Man in Black as he paddled over to the Barracks on his own. So where is she? Hydra Station with Widmore's surviving flunkies? A likely possibility. She's denied the final audience with Jacob due to the darkness within her. But is she too far gone to come back to the light? Can her brother Jack save her soul now that he's the island's protector?

As for the other point, I'm not sure that Eloise Hawking is on the island... But I do believe that she'll definitely be at the museum's concert in "The End."

Miles. "What is Miles's purpose on the Island?" asked stimpqb1. "I believe he will hear Jack's final thoughts after he is killed and will pass down the job to Sawyer or Hurley. I think it will be Hurley just because he said that he did not want the job."

I thought that Hurley's line about not wanting the job was an interesting one as well. The role of eternal island protector seems tailor-made for Jack, what with his God complex and need to fix everything. But Hurley's not been a leader; while he's been a follower, he's also been a spiritual guide throughout the six seasons of Lost, one who felt that he was doomed to walk the Earth alone as everyone around him suffered horrible fates. (Sounds like Jacob, no?)

I feel like the fact that Jack became the protector in this week's episode--and not the finale--points towards a twist ahead. Can the Man in Black get someone--Ben? Claire?--to kill him and start the cycle over again? Would Jack be able to transfer his responsibilities to someone else before he died? Hmmm...

Lost-X. Jonah Blue asked, "So why is Hurley working toward eliminating the X time-line in favor of the main one, in which Ana-Lucia and Libby, his love, are dead?"

Do we know that that's what they're trying to do? Hurley is aware of the other reality but we've yet to find out what Desmond's master plan is here. While I believe that they are going to have to chose between the two worlds and sacrifice their true happiness in order to help their counterparts defeat the Man in Black, I don't know that Hurley is privy to all that Desmond knows. He recognizes Ana-Lucia and he remembers his brief and unconsummated relationship with Libby but how much does he know about what's going on? About the choice he might have to make?

After all, these individuals might have memories of the island (impossible ones) but they haven't shared the same experiences, those brushes with the profound and terrifying that the crash-survivors did on the island. Just what line is Desmond feeding them, after all?

Having said that, I do think it's going to come down once again to free will: will these individuals sacrifice everything for the greater good? Can they tear down this world to save another?

Desmond. Rockauteur asked, "Who rescued Desmond? I'm guessing that happened off screen (and we'll see it next week) as Jack finds him and brings him up from the well. I'm still not exactly understanding his role in the end game though I like your theories about how he may have to sacrifice himself to return his energy to the source. I only wish he is able to reunite with Penny and his son Charlie before then! Their romance is the true heart of the show!"

We never saw just what happened to Desmond after Sayid decided not to kill him in the well. The presence of the rope over the side indicates that someone threw it down there to help him out. Was it Sayid himself? If it was, why did he tell Jack to find Desmond at a well, knowing that he would have likely left that place and hidden elsewhere? And if it wasn't Sayid, who else would have known of his whereabouts? The real question to me, however, is: since Desmond has left the well, where did he go?

And I'm glad that you like my theory about Desmond sacrificing himself an entering the Source. I have a feeling that will play a very large role in the series finale.

Answers. Rockauteur wanted to know what happened to the Dharma Initiative and the Hanso Foundation: "My biggest question is: where is dharma and hanso? I know its not the most pressing question but I still want a bit of dharma and to finally meet hanso. and find out what happened to all the dharma people in 1977 in the mainstream storyline... i know we aren't supposed to care about that but its still important to me (much like the question we'll never get answered about what Amy was doing in the jungle). Oh well."

This goes to the heart of the answers vs. mysteries debates that have been raging the last few weeks. Lost has built its intricate story on the back of demanding and complex mysteries and engaging characters. But with so little time before the end, some things will have to remain unanswered. This might frustrate some viewers who have built up some of the mysteries into more than Team Darlton originally intended. What Amy was doing in the jungle will likely not be answered in the series finale, nor likely will the identity of the shooters targeting the time-strewn castaways in the outrigger in Season Five (as much as I would like it to be).

The Dharma Initiative seemed to have been co-opted by the Others after the Purge. Given the fact that Eloise Hawking had control over the Lamp-Post Station (as seen in Season Five) and the Others were using Mittelos Bioscience as a shell company makes me believe that they absorbed the Dharma Initiative leftovers at some point after this, moving into the Barracks, seizing the Lamp-Post and the Flame, etc. The polar bears also escaped the Hydra, likely due to lack of supervision there.

So who kept the provisions dropping on the island? Was it Dharma Initiative-backers the Hanso Foundation? Did it continue because they knew about the existence of Desmond Hume in the Swan and the need to press the button every 108 minutes?

Kelvin Inman did join Dharma after the Purge and was the one pushing the button before he chose Desmond to succeed him and attempted to leave the island... and the provisions kept dropping like clockwork thereafter. Which not only helped Desmond survive for as long as he did, but the passengers aboard Oceanic Flight 815 as well. Could it be that Jacob is behind keeping the supply drops coming? And, given that he's now dead, does that mean they've stopped?

Sadly, I don't know that we'll see Alvar Hanso or the Dharma Initiative in the season finale as the plot has moved away from the earth-bound and into the spiritual.

Epilogue. Kim Harrington wrote, "I also think his bloodbath we've seen in the final episodes won't stick. I'm hoping that the theory of the happy sideways world being the epilogue--the end game--is true."

I actually hope it isn't... and I don't think that the previous episodes have allowed for this at all. Desmond's mission--and the crossing-over of his consciousness--indicate that these two words are unfolding at the same time and Desmond is able to access his collective consciousness in both of them. Yes, the individuals are waking up and remember things that happened on the island but I don't believe that the Lost-X world is the end of the series. Rather, it's unfolding concurrently and Desmond's actions in both will have major effects on what world is left when everything is done and dusted. Will the Lost-X individuals be able to sacrifice their lives and those of their loved ones for a higher purpose?

I think the end of the series will have to involve our core characters, the ones we started this journey with back in 2004 when Lost began, rather than their counterparts in a divergent reality where the island is at the bottom of the ocean. Given Lindelof and Cuse's preponderance with the mystical and profound, I also don't see them ending the series in a world that's empty of "magic," for wont of a better word. Like Oz and Narnia, the island has to be out there somewhere, an impossible place that we all dream of and aspire to, a place where we can cast off our past traumas and become the people we were always meant to be.

Come back Monday to discuss next week's episode and head to the comments section here to discuss any of the above thoughts and theories or pose additional questions...

The two-and-a-half-hour series finale of Lost ("The End") airs Sunday evening at 9 pm ET/PT on ABC.

UK Lost Alert: Watch the Lost Series Finale on Sky1HD Monday with West Coast US Simulcast

UK viewers of Lost, you're in luck: you'll be able to catch the two-and-half hour series finale of Lost at the same time it airs on the West Coast of the US.

Sky1HD will be presenting the series finale of Lost ("The End") at 5 am GMT, as it is transmitted at 9 pm Pacific Time of the West Coast of the United States.

"We are proud of the fact that at Sky 1HD we have a long tradition of running all of our US shows as close as possible to their US TX date," said Stuart Murphy, Director of Programmes, Sky1 HD, Sky1, 2 and 3, in a statement. "With something as hotly anticipated as the LOST finale it makes sense to show it at exactly the same time as millions across America will see it."

Given how high anticipation is for the series finale of Lost--and the fact that it will likely go down as the most illegally downloaded episode of a series ever, I have to give Sky1 and Murphy credit for offering UK viewers a legitmate and legal way of watching the historic series finale at the same time as US viewers... and not later in the week during Lost's usual timeslot on Fridays.

Well done, Sky1.

The full press release from Sky1 can be found below.

SKY1 HD TO SIMULCAST WORLD PREMIERE OF LOST: THE END

LOST reaches its ultimate conclusion with a thrilling two and a half hour finale simulcasting with the US West Coast broadcast on Monday 24 May at 5am, Sky1 HD and Sky1

On Monday 24 May, after six monumental seasons and 121 captivating episodes, the series that has provoked more theories, debates and analysis than any other, will reach its final hours on Sky 1 HD and Sky 1. Along with fans in six other countries outside of the US (Italy, Spain, Portugal, Israel, Turkey and Canada), UK viewers will be able to enjoy the world premiere of LOST’s thrilling conclusion as Sky1 HD air a live simulcast of the US transmission. The double bill finale, aptly entitled The End, will bring to a close the many unanswered mysteries that show producers Damon Lindelof and Carlton Cuse have teased viewers with since 2004.

Stuart Murphy, Director of Programmes, Sky1 HD, Sky1, 2 and 3 commented: "We are proud of the fact that at Sky 1HD we have a long tradition of running all of our US shows as close as possible to their US TX date. With something as hotly anticipated as the LOST finale it makes sense to show it at exactly the same time as millions across America will see it.”

Since its launch, LOST has established itself among audiences as a ground-breaking television series that has defined a genre. It has succeeded in the almighty task of giving sci-fi universal appeal; placing ordinary people in an extraordinary situation. Still holding the title of the most expensive television pilot in history, LOST immediately captivated both audiences around the world and critics alike. It has since picked up a raft of awards including an Emmy® for Outstanding Drama Series, a Golden Globe® for Best Television Series (Drama), and Screen Actors Guild and Writers Guild Awards.

In 2007, Lindelof and Cuse made the bold decision to announce that LOST would comprise six seasons in total and reach its conclusion in 2010, allowing them to map out exactly how the series would unfold over the final two seasons, whilst also providing dedicated viewers with an endgame.

The sixth season, which debuted on Sky1 HD in February 2010, has answered many long-standing questions posed back in the early days of the show. In perhaps one of the most revealing scenes so far, Jacob (Mark Pelligrino) used the metaphor of a wine bottle to explain the importance of the Island, the true nature of the Man in Black and how and why he must be prevented from fulfilling his wish of escaping. “Think of this wine as… Hell… malevolence, evil, darkness, and here it is – swirling around in the bottle unable to get out, because if it did, it would spread. The cork, is this island, and it’s the only thing keeping the darkness where it belongs.” Now with the Man in Black taking on the form of the deceased Locke (Terry O’Quinn), the final episodes are building towards his potential escape. But will Charles Widmore (Alan Dale) or Jacob’s yet-to-be-decided successor, be able to stop him?

Executive producers and writers Damon Lindelof and Carlton Cuse recently put the finishing touches on the final script, and explained that answers to the mysteries will continue to unravel. Cuse commented: “It was very profound for us, as we had written a cryptic scene, and we thought, no, these characters are actually at the place where they can have a discussion about what is going on here. It was very weird to take these closely held secrets and actually put them in the scene. It was very liberating and exciting.”

The final season has also introduced the concept of flash-sideways, portraying two parallel universes. The scenes on the island depict a universe where the bomb failed to detonate and the survivors remained, whereas the flash-sideways show a world where Oceanic 815 landed and the passengers never ended up living together. However, destiny appears to be drawing them together regardless as their lives end up colliding despite the reversal of history. Indeed, following a recent meeting with Charlie (Dominic Monaghan), Desmond (Henry Ian Cusick) starts to feel as if he has led another life before and plans to ‘awaken’ the other passengers on Oceanic 815 – starting with crashing his car into Locke as he crosses the road.

On Monday 24 May at 5am, catch the live simulcast of LOST: The End, a two and a half hour unmissable landmark event in television history. The finale will then be repeated on Tuesday 25 May at 9pm.

On Friday 28 May at 7pm, Sky1 HD and Sky1 will kick off an evening celebrating LOST with a two hour US special entitled LOST: THE FINAL JOURNEY. The documentary will take a retrospective look at the past six seasons of the series and delve into what has transpired during the current season as a primer leading into the finale.

At 9pm, it’s time for another chance to catch LOST: The End, and at 11.30pm, fans need not despair as two of Sky1 HD’s specials, THE END IS NIGH and TOP 10 GREATEST SCENES will follow.

Measure of Last Resort: Letting Go on Lost

"We're very close to the end."

While those words are spoken aloud by Jacob on the latest installment of Lost, they might as well have been spoken by tireless showrunners Damon Lindelof and Carlton Cuse, signaling to the audience that the curtain is about to drop on six seasons of storylines and the final battle between good and evil, with the fate of a mythical island and the entire world hanging in the balance.

Tonight's penultimate episode of Lost ("What They Died For"), written by Elizabeth Sarnoff and Edward Kitsis and Adam Horowitz and directed by Paul Edwards, definitely moved the players and their pieces into their final positions. The episode, offering a mix of humor and heartbreak, delivered some serious forward momentum and brought the story back once again to the survivors of Oceanic Flight 815 after last week's polarizing detour into outright parable ("Across the Sea").

The six seasons of Lost have given us a number of character studies of some deeply flawed individuals, granting the audience the ability to not just come to know them through their actions on the island but those that came before, via the trademark flashbacks that defined the early seasons. These strangers, thrust together by invisible threads of fate, seemed to be put through these trials in order to emerge on the other side complete individuals, unencumbered by trauma, strengthened by their experiences, finally able to let go and achieve catharsis. The island then isn't just a mystical place but a prism through which to see ourselves, to witness our flaws, and to strive to be better human beings.

While the mythology of Lost might involve a millennial battle between two sibling deities for control of an ancient power source that we all have within us, at its heart, it's about the mythic journey we each take over the course of our lives, the quest of the hero, whether we're a doctor, a fugitive, a con man, a rich kid, an absent father, or a failed rock star. It's the human journey, our collective story, that endures.

So what did I think of this week's episode of Lost, the series' second to last? Pour yourself some water, cook up some coq au vin, move the bookcase, and let's discuss "What They Died For."

This was my second time watching this week's episode, the first being at last week's amazing and moving Lost Live: The Final Celebration event here in Los Angeles (which you can read more about here) and, after the disappointment of "Across the Sea," marked a return to form for the season, providing us with some answers (why were these individuals selected by Jacob, who will succeed him, why was Kate's name crossed off), as well as some signs of increased relevance to the Lost-X storyline, which this week featured a major turning point as things began to coalesce on the other side.

While there was a fair amount of humor here (Miles, and even from some unexpected avenues like Benjamin Linus), there were also some really touching and evocative moments, such as Sawyer watching the life preservers from the sunken submarine wash on shore. Standing there silently, there's an immense sense of palpable loss and grief as Sawyer sees the items wash up as Kate puts her head on his shoulder before the entire group unites, silently, to stare out at the ocean and the final resting place of their friends.

Sawyer's guilt over their deaths is keenly felt. Walking through the jungle, he sadly asks Jack, "I killed them, didn't I?" But whereas Sawyer earlier this season blamed Jack for Juliet's death, Jack offers forgiveness instead, telling him that it was "Locke" who killed them.

Likewise, I loved the moment where Jack has to sew Kate up after tending to her gunshot wound, using a black piece of thread and a needle to keep her alive and infection-free. It's a nice callback to the pilot episode of Lost as Kate finds Jack in the bamboo grove and has to stitch him up. There's a nice sense of coming full circle here, retracing our steps all the way back to the beginning, all those years before.

That bamboo grove is, of course, highly significant. Not only is it the location where Jack landed after the crash and where he first opened his eye on the island but it's also right near the cave, the heart of the island. And that's what Jack's purpose has always been about: just as he knew he had to go back to the island, so too does he have to be the one to follow in Jacob's footsteps... and his own, retracing his own journey back to the beginning, his eyes fully open now.

Jacob's ashes are dying out and once the fire burns out, he'll be gone forever. So too is true that Lost's embers are fading. With only two and a half hours left, it too will cease to exist, except for in our memories. I'm not ready to say goodbye. Not yet and possibly not ever. But that's a fact of life and death. We don't get to make the rules. We rarely get to say our goodbyes on our own terms and too soon do good things come to an end...

Lost-X. This week's episode began to speed things up in the divergent reality, with Desmond acting once again as the catalyst for change, awakening the sleepwalkers from their slumber and working to bring them all together... at the museum charity event that many--if not all--the important players of the Lost storyline will be attending, from Charlotte and Miles to Sawyer, Kate, Hurley, Jack, and Jack's ex-wife (cough, Juliet, cough). They were always meant to come together, to be together, and Desmond is yanking those strings that bind them to one another, creating a web that ensnares everyone aboard Oceanic Flight 815.

But before then, there's still much to be done. Desmond nearly runs Locke over again but instead savagely attacks Dr. Linus at the school, awakening his impossible memories and sending a message to Locke: that he wasn't trying to hurt him but rather trying to help him "let go," the very message that Jack had told him several episodes back. The encounter shakes Locke enough that he seeks out Jack and tells him that he wants to get out of that wheelchair. He wants to walk again. He wants to believe that there is a purpose to everything, that life isn't just a series of meaningless coincidences, but rather something complex and guided by destiny. He is making that leap of faith, finally.

Jack, meanwhile, has another encounter at the looking-glass, waking up to discover that his neck is bleeding. It's the second time this has happened, the first time being in "LA X," when he found blood under his shirt collar. Just what does it signify? That the two worlds are bleeding together? That he's said farewell to his mortality on the island? That in bleeding, there is the truth of another world? A pathway to enlightenment? In the meantime, he shares a breakfast with what's left of the Shepard clan before getting a call from Oceanic Airlines saying that Christian's coffin has been recovered. Little does he know that it's Desmond...

Lost-X Ben. As for Benjamin Linus, he gets a quiet evening with Alex and Danielle Rousseau as she cooks him coq au vin. There's a beautiful familiarity between the three of them, a damaged family comprised of people who need each other, even though they're not related by blood. The profound sadness that Ben experiences when Danielle tells him that he's the closest thing Alex has ever had to a father is heartbreaking; even he is taken aback by how much her comment cuts him to the quick.

In the other world, of course, he's forced to contend with Alex's grave outside the house they shared... as he comes face to face with the man he blames for her death. Here, she refers to him semi-humorously as the exiled Napoleon. Fitting, really. And Ben gets his own moment to gaze into the looking glass, realization slowly dawning that something is not right with the man reflected back at him.

Desmond.Desmond turns himself in to James at the police station, getting locked up with Sayid and Kate, who continues to plead her innocence to James Ford. But while the cops scratch their heads about why Des would turn himself in, he enacts a brilliant stratagem, breaking them out of police custody with the help of Ana-Lucia and Hurley. (Hurley recognizes Ana-Lucia from the mainstream reality--his memories would appear to be fully actualized--while she has no idea who he is.) And Desmond sends Hurley and Sayid on a mission while he and Kate head to the museum.

Just what will happen next week when all the players are assembled? Just what is Desmond's plan? I'm not entirely sure but it's important that they all come together in the same place and are all awakened in time to... What exactly? Raise the island from the ocean floor with the power of positive thinking? Make a leap of faith to save not only their world but another? Sacrifice their happiness to save humanity?

Meanwhile, we learn just what Desmond's role is within the battle between Jacob and the Nameless One: he's a measure of last resort, a literal failsafe that can be employed by Jacob if the Nemesis is able to kill off his candidates. His resistance to high levels of electromagnetism seem to signify just what he's meant to do: fuse with the energy at the Source and sacrifice himself in order to prevent the Man in Black from ever leaving the island. After all, he did just that at the Swan Station, propelling himself into a divergent reality before the universe had to course-correct. He was exposed to massive quantities of the same energy that flows at the Source. If we all have a spark of that energy, is it possible that Desmond has more of it than normal people? A larger dose that enables his consciousness to travel through time and space. Could it be that he is meant to return it? To return to the Source and give it back?

However, the Nameless One has his own plan for Desmond, as he confides in Ben: he wants to use Desmond to destroy the island, just as Desmond destroyed the Swan Station. No island means no cork in the bottle, which means--as I surmised earlier this season--that the Man in Black intends to smash the metaphorical bottle once and for all.

Ashes. We finally got confirmation (not that there was any doubt in my mind, ever) that Hurley swiped the bag of ashes from Ilana's stuff after she exploded a few episodes back. Here, he's visited by Young Jacob, who demands he turns the ashes over to him and then leads him to the Ghost of Jacob, who sits waiting patiently at a campfire to tell the candidates just why Sun and Jin and the others died and what their purpose is.

"When the fire burns out, you'll never see me again," says Jacob. "We're very close to the end."

Richard. What a sad end for poor Richard Alpert as the smoke monster comes soaring out of the jungle and smashes him against a tree. It seems as though Jacob's gifts are fading, just like the final embers of the fire. Richard's immortality was more longevity than imperviousness. Was his purpose fulfilled? Was the island done with him? Or are the rules no longer applying as there is no candidate to replace Jacob and therefore no jailer to enforce the rules? Curious.

It does seem as though Richardo is dead, though. Could he have survived? It's certainly possible, but not probable. I dare say that we've seen the last of him, at least in this timeline...

Ben and Widmore. Ben, meanwhile, sits in a rocking chair of his old house, waiting for the inevitable. But the Nameless One doesn't want to kill Ben; instead he offers him the one thing that Ben has wanted his entire life: power. Ben makes a Faustian bargain once again, trading his redemption for the possibility of controlling the island after the Nemesis has left.

With no use for Zoe (particularly after she is told not to speak to him, which makes her "pointless"), the Nameless One slits her throat and then turns to Widmore, offering him yet another bargain. If he tells him just why he came back to the island and his plan, he will spare Penny's life. For his part, Widmore claims that he had been visited by Jacob after the freighter incident and that Jacob showed him the error of his ways... and he brought Desmond back to the island to act as Jacob's final failsafe.

Would Widmore betray all of humanity to protect the life of his estranged daughter? Love, after all, trumps everything... But, though he whispers his secret in the Nameless One's ear, Ben shoots Widmore three times, enacting a bitter vengeance for the murder of his daughter, Alex. "He doesn't get to save his daughter," he says viciously... and then asks about the other people the Nameless One wanted him to kill.

Has Ben really sided with the Nemesis? For one, Ben isn't really ever on anyone's side except for Ben... and then there's the fact that he specifically gave one of Widmore's walkie talkies to Miles (before he went careening off into the jungle to save himself) and then shut Widmore and Zoe in the secret room behind the bookcase. Why would he want to stay in contact with Miles if he was looking to kill all of them? I'm hoping that Ben has something up his sleeve, a payback for his manipulation at the hands of the Nameless One.

Jacob. The remaining candidates gather in the darkness around Jacob's campfire as he tells them about the Source and his culpability in the creation of the smoke monster. His replacement will have to make sure that the light never goes out and prevent the Nameless One from ever attaining the Source. "I made a mistake," he says. "I am responsible for what happened to him."

So why did Jacob bring them to this island, a fate that Sawyer views as a punishment rather than a reward. "I didn't pluck any of you out of a happy existence," he says. "You were all flawed... and, like me, all alone. You needed this place as much as it needed you." And that is the mission statement of Lost right there: that a place can save you as much as you can save it. That the stewards of this magical kingdom on Earth might be just as changed by the experience as much as they change the island itself. Oz and Narnia, after all, needed warriors to save them from those who would corrupt the land and cast it into darkness and ice.

So why was Kate invalidated? It's a simple answer: she became a mother. (It's likely why the Kwon of 42 was perhaps Jin rather than Sun.) In stepping into motherhood, her responsibility was to care for her child rather than sacrifice her life and her entire existence to guarding the island. He couldn't ask that of her, nor could he expect her to be willing to do so. But in the end it's "just a chalk line in a cave," according to Jacob. If she wants the job, it's hers. It really is about choice.

Jacob claims that they have to find a way to kill the Nameless One and prevent him from ever reaching the Source and ending everything. But Jacob has always been about free will; he wants them to have the choice that he never did. As Ilana predicted, it isn't a coronation but an election, a means of someone volunteering themselves, sacrificing their very future--possibly for all eternity--to protect this place.

Jack. The ultimate candidate is, of course, Jack Shephard. This has always been his purpose, from his "God complex" (Sawyer's words) to his intrinsic need to fix everything. He was born to fulfill this role and follow Jacob, a true shepherd in every sense of the word. He sacrifices everything now that he can truly see the world for what it is. Over the course of six seasons, the scales fell from his eyes and he became the man of faith that John Locke always wanted him to be, a believer in the profound and powerful, the unseen and the inexplicable.

He's initiated into the circle of magic by the ritual of transference, one that uses a cup or chalice (here Jack's tin cup), a liquid (water or wine), and some words. But it's not the single ingredients that matter but the confluence of them as well as the intention and meaning of those words, the belief that wishing and hoping and praying can make you god-like and the drink that follows the benediction is a symbolic conclusion to the ritual at hand.

We see at the very end a Jack Shephard much changed, one who opens his eyes truly for the first time to see the truth of the island and his role in this grand tapestry. This is now his burden to shoulder "for as long you can," Jacob tells him. With those final words, Jack has become like Jacob, an immortal guardian of the island and keeper of the Source. A Christ-like figure who sacrifices his humanity to step into the divine.

We stand now on the precipice, one last chapter to a story that began back in 2004 when a group of strangers crashed on a seemingly deserted island and were forced to live together or die alone. The remaining survivors are about to enter a final showdown between the forces of light and those of darkness. Only one side can win as the scale tilts inexorably in one direction. Will good triumph over evil?

With two hours remaining, there are likely innumerable mysteries that will not be solved. But Lindelof, Cuse, and Co. will have to answer some plot-rooted ones: Will Jack be able to stop the Nameless One? Is he the final guardian of the island? Will he have to utilize Desmond as a final ditch effort to prevent the Nameless One from leaving the island and destroying reality? Will someone else have to replace him? And how will this all end? Will the island be destroyed? Will it rise up once more? Will the story end or will it continue on forever, at least in the minds of the viewers?

In the end, Lost can only end once. It will likely be filled with heartbreak, sacrifice, and loss but also with the promise of hope and healing as well. Regardless of how it all comes together on Sunday, there will never be another series quite like this one and I feel incredibly blessed and honored to have traveled with these characters on this incredible journey. As we bid a final farewell to them in just a few days' time, I'm ready to take one last jaunt through the looking-glass. I'll see you all on the other side.

Do you agree with the theories above? Can the ending satisfy everyone? Are you as heartbroken as I am that there's only one episode of Lost left? Head to the comments section to discuss.

On Sunday's series finale of Lost ("The End"), details tk.

Countdown to the End: Previewing "What They Died For" on Lost (Spoiler-Free!)

I hate spoilers. I don't read them, I don't like them, and I don't want to foist them onto you, my readers.

I had the opportunity last week to watch tonight's episode of Lost ("What They Died For") and I've kept my mouth shut because I don't want to ruin the sense of surprise and discovery that comes from going into an episode unencumbered by any advance knowledge of what's about to unfold.

So I'm not going to reveal even an iota of the plot of tonight's fantastic installment of Lost, written by Elizabeth Sarnoff and Edward Kitsis and Adam Horowitz and directed by Paul Edwards. (Sorry!)

What I will say is that it did remove some of the bad taste left in my mouth by the previous episode ("Across the Sea"), easily the most divisive episode in the entire history of Lost so far. It builds on some of the elements introduced there while advancing the main plot of the series: the fate of the survivors of Oceanic Flight 815.

While "Across the Sea" felt like an entirely different series, a parable slotted in right after a particularly tense and heartbreaking episode, "What They Died For" feels entirely like a penultimate episode of Lost should: it sets the stage for the final chapter (airing Sunday evening, of course) and kicks the action into high gear, signaling in no uncertain terms that the end is about to arrive.

While there's a lot of drama contained within tonight's episode and some crucial plot points, I do want to say that there's also a hell of a lot of humor as well, as "What They Died For" might just go down as one of the funniest episodes of Lost in a very long time. Despite the presence of some whiplash-inducing plot twists, there's also some nicely scripted levity. So you'll be laughing and possibly falling off the edge of your seat at the same time.

That's all I'll say about tonight's humorous and haunting episode, other than the fact that I really, really, really enjoyed it and there will be quite a lot to discuss after the episode has aired...

The penultimate episode of Lost airs tonight at 9 pm ET/PT on ABC.

Back to the Source: Lost Questions, More on "Across the Sea"

Welcome to this week's second look at Lost, which only has three and a half hours left before it fades to black. (Or white.)

Once again this week, I'll be taking a second look at this week's episode of Lost ("Across the Sea") by answering reader questions submitted via comments, Twitter, and email.

While I discussed "Across the Sea" in full over here (along with my views about why I didn't care for the episode), it's time to dive deeper and get to some further theories, doubts, and questions that we're all thinking about.

So, without further ado, let's grab our Senet boards, take a sip of wine, and let's discuss.

[NOTE: While I've already seen next week's astonishing and shocking episode ("What They Died For") at last night's Lost Live event (which I covered for The Daily Beast), I won't be discussing it here, so you can safely stay spoiler-free.]

Reaction to "Across the Sea" seemed to be extremely mixed, with viewers seeming to either love the episode or loathe it. I fell into the latter camp: while I appreciated the hows and whys of the story that unfolded here, I had to question the choices that Damon Lindelof and Carlton Cuse made in slating this episode in this particular order. Given that there are so few installments left, I didn't want to take a breather just when the momentum was going in full-swing before the end... and I certainly didn't want to break away from our core cast to focus on a pair of bickering deities whom we only met at the very end of last season.

There were some important answers buried within "Across the Sea" that are essential to a full understanding of Lost as a single entity, but, as I stated in my post on Wednesday morning, I felt that the episode amounted to little more than an information dump, a way for the writers to directly download a huge amount of exposition to our frontal lobes without grounding it in much emotion or characterization.

But I discussed all of that and more the other day. It's time now instead to look at your questions and thoughts stemming from "Across the Sea."

Adam and Eve. Amanda from Michigan asked, "Way back in season 1, when they introduced Adam and Eve, were they planning the whole Jacob/MIB storyline? We didn't even know that Jacob really existed until the very end of season 5. I'm guessing this is evidence that the writers knew what they were doing all along."

Um, not quite. Lindelof and Cuse have admitted that the Jacob-Man in Black mythos really was developed in the period when they were beginning to break the second season after the Season One ender when the hatch was blown open. The skeletons of Adam and Eve, discovered by the group at the beginning of Season One in "House of the Rising Sun," weren't planted there by the writers originally as the corpses of the Man in Black and Mother.

I doubt Lindelof and Cuse will ever reveal just who they originally meant them to be... but it's safe to say that they had a very different answer in mind way back then, especially because Jack--though not an expert--dated the clothing of the skeletal remains and said that the level of decomposition indicated they had been dead approximately forty or fifty years, a point that reader Kim Harrington also pointed out.

Had Lost not gone on for six seasons, through alternate universes and various time periods and integrated sibling deities with divine and demonic powers, I dare say that we would have eventually learned something very different about "Adam and Eve" in the cave than this.

Jacob. Reader stimpqb1 wrote, "Maybe why Jacob lets people figure things out for themselves because he has no more answers that anyone else. The only thing he knows is that given time people will make decisions and there might be good or bad things that come from those decisions."

I think that's somewhat true. He was given an awareness of his position as guardian of the Source by Mother, who seemed to transfer a huge amount of power to him through the ritual... and he's had thousands of years to fulfill that duty. But much of what has unfolded has been on Jacob's terms and his belief that man is inherently good rather than evil. While he seems to have chosen these individuals for a higher purpose, he's leaving their ultimate decisions in their own hands. He's definitely a proponent of free will, even if he's pulling strings to set up encounters that will themselves lead to choices.

Eventually darkness will overtake light and the cycle will have to begin anew again. His fallen brother will find a way to kill him and attempt to flee the island, perhaps not by taking a plane or a submarine, but by returning to the source itself, as he was trying to do with the wheel. Unable to find the Source for thirty years (it seems to be a guardian's power to prevent others from finding the Source and thus shielding it), the Nameless One wants perhaps to extinguish the light and have it go out everywhere in the world? Perhaps that's why the stakes are so high for Jacob: letting the Man in Black leave, especially in his monstrous form, would result in the end of everything.

Likewise, rockauteur asked, "At what point did MIB regain his corporeal form to interact with Jacob? When was the statue built? How is Jacob able to leave the island? Is this a power he acquired or found that he had? Or did he literally travel off the island on a vessel or using the donkey wheel? Was Mother able to travel off the island (I'm thinking not)?" KenB echoed some of these questions with a few of his own: "If Nemesis is incorporeal but Jacob can come and go freely, then what are the rules about leaving the island and therefore what is it exactly that Jacob is protecting?"

All very good questions and likely many that will remain unanswered at the end of the series. It's my belief that the smoke monster didn't "regain his corporeal form" so much as begin the pattern of appearances by which we know him in the present day: he selected the image of a dead person, namely himself.

As for how Jacob was able to get off the island, it's perhaps wise to recall the words of his nameless brother from this week's episode: "One day you can make up your own game and everyone else will have to follow your rules."

I believe that the guardian has the ability to change the rules. Jacob believes he can be in more than one place at once and so he can be. I don't believe that he actually left the island unguarded but was perhaps able to send himself across the sea to appear there as well at key moments in our characters' lives. After all, I still maintain--as I suggested very early on this season--that the flashbacks we've seen throughout the series has been Jacob watching the characters and deciding which of them will be chosen to act as candidates to be his replacement.

It's no mistake that these characters were brought to the island, as we've been told time and time again, they were brought here for a reason and each one of them needed to be brought there in order to "let go" of the traumas and injuries of their past life. The island acted as a looking glass into their souls, enabling many of them to achieve redemption, to progress their grief, or rage, or loss, to sublimate those emotions and process them in a magical place, an impossible land like Oz or Narnia that was free of the distractions of the modern world.

Wine. Caitlin asked, "Now that MIB has smashed the wine bottle (in a different espisode this season), what will the candidate drink from during the handing-over ritual? Or won't the candidate drink from it, because the island is at the bottom of the sea and 'it only has to end once'?"

As I wrote on Wednesday, after seeing this episode, I didn't think that the wine was the important part of the ritual, just part of it like many religious rituals in many different belief systems. It just signified the benediction and the oath that the replacement was taking, completing the prayer. It could have been any cup or any wine. Or anything, really. The prayer--the words spoken--and the belief that they impart are the true essence of the power transfer.

The Nameless One. An anonymous commenter wrote, "I don't understand the deliberately not naming Jacob's brother. What purpose does it serve to not give him a name? Last night was the perfect opportunity to name him."

It was the perfect opportunity to name him, which is why Lindelof and Cuse subverted expectations by not naming him. When you name something, you give it form. Some ancient belief systems believe that if you know someone's name, it gives you power over them. Throughout the series, names have been incredibly important: they are identity signifiers. Various lists, names on the wall, names on the lighthouse compass, they all track individual people who are recognizable by their names.

If something has no name, it's therefore unknowable in any complete sense. The Nameless One has many names--smoke monster, Man in Black, Esau, Fake Locke, Smocke, Flocke, etc.--but no true name. By denying us any concrete identity marker, Team Darlton has managed to keep Jacob's brother somewhat unknowable and therefore somewhat mysterious and unpredictable by nature.

Claudia didn't have a name for him. She didn't know that he, Jacob's dark twin, even existed until he came into the world. She couldn't name him as she didn't have a name for him (remember how important it was that Aaron be named Aaron?) and Mother (who also is nameless, save for her familial relationship to the boys) killed Claudia before she had a chance to think of another name.

By not naming Jacob's brother, did Mother unwittingly--or intentionally--lead to his eventual betrayal? Did she need him to leave her, to attempt to find his own identity with the humans, knowing that he would only day return and punish her for preventing him from knowing about the world across the sea? From keeping a real knowledge of good and evil from him?

Jacob learns of evil because he sees the potential for such within himself, acting out of anger and vengeance, making a fatal mistake that results in the transformation of his brother into a black pillar of smoke, a fate worse than death. The Nameless One is corrupted by his own desire to leave. Jacob is able to sacrifice his own freedom for the greater good. His brother wants only to leave so he can be free. He's further corrupted by his time among the humans, by those who want to claim the power, to use it, to study it, and harness it. But the Source is meant to burn on its own, to be viewed from afar, and never to be touched, lest it and mankind be forever corrupted.

And another anonymous commenter (ye gods!) asked, "Just how did MiB know how to create a bomb using a wrist watch as detonator? He was born and raised on the island and was not the possessor of any great knowledge (evidenced by the basic child-like question she asked Mother). He now possesses Locke's body ... Locke was a box salesman, right? So just, where did he learn how to create a bomb?"

It was seen here that the Nameless One has many skills that he shouldn't, he seems to possess knowledge of things from across the sea even though he's never been there... and he's watched over humans on the island for thousands of years. Something tells me he's picked up a few pointers along the way, even how to rig a bomb (which was, after all, harvested from Widmore's explosives on the plane).

And Gregory wrote, "Jacob's brother is dead. His skeleton is lying in a cave. And although spirits may reappear here and there I shall quote Ben who I think said, "Dead is dead." This led me to think that Smokey is as much Locke right now, as I projected him to be the MiB before. And/Or although Smokey may have the same ambitions as Jacob's brother, it is not in essence Jacob's brother as portrayed in the episode."

Gregory, see above. Yes, the Nameless One's body is laying in the cave with that of Mother, but I believe that his interaction with the Source stripped his essence, his corrupted soul, from his body, transforming it into something dark and evil: the smoke monster, who then took the form of a dead person, himself. It's the start of his whole M.O., really.

Sawyer. Brian raised an interesting theory that had Sawyer taking over for The Man in Black, due to the fact that he seems to want to get off the island and was able to see the ghostly image of the young Jacob. The latter was a point of contention for Vishwananatha BU as well: "Wonder how/why you forgot/slipped to correlate the scenes of sawyer and MIB seeing the flashes of the boy with this episode...Gives a strong hint about sawyer's possible future."

I've said repeatedly throughout this season that I felt as though the dichotomy between Jack and Sawyer was meant to echo that of Jacob and his Nemesis... and the earlier one set up between Locke and Jack, with Jack finally stepping into the role of man of faith and Sawyer now fulfilling his role as skeptic. But besides for the obvious parallels, I don't think that Sawyer is being groomed as a replacement for Smokey. For one, we don't know that Smokey needs a replacement... The island seemed to exist before there was a smoke monster and Mother implicitly warned the boys against accessing the Source. Two, I've long said that the reason Sawyer was able to see the young Jacob is because he is a candidate and had been in Jacob's presence prior. I don't see it as an indication that Sawyer is being groomed as a candidate for Smokey or will take over Smokey's role as island prisoner.

Candidates. Rockauteur also raised an interesting point about parallels between the Dharma Initiative's button-pushing exercise and the role of protector on the island, writing, "One more thing: no one really ever discusses the parallels to Jacob hunting for his replacement with the candidates and the Dharma Initiative with the person that has to press the 108 button. Desmond was "a candidate" for that job by washing up onshore and replacing Kelvin... Interesting parallel..."

I thought this was a nice touch as well. Desmond was clearly a candidate to replace Kelvin, who wanted to get the hell off the island, providing a nice parallel with Jacob and his brother. Desmond was quite happy to press the button every 108 minutes, keeping the world safe (the island's human protector) while Kelvin wanted to shirk his responsibilities and go back across the sea. But it doesn't quite work that way.

Like Jacob, Desmond makes a fatal mistake: not pressing the button, which causes the crash of Oceanic Flight 815. (Just like Jacob accidentally creates the smoke monster.) But in doing so, Desmond saw that he had to reclaim his purpose and the act--which brought the castaways there, resulted in him dedicating his life--possibly the whole of his existence--to pushing the button and keeping the island safe.

Could it be that because of this role, which due to the electromagnetic correlation with the Source and the energy of the Swan Station, the Dharma supplies continued to arrive? Because they knew that, just as Jacob had to protect the island, so too did a human, pressing the button every 108 minutes? Until, of course, something changed and the energy was released, making the sky purple and infusing Desmond with electromagnetic properties.

Those properties that Widmore wants to use for some purpose. But what if Widmore's intentions and Jacob's aren't the same? Just what is the Nameless One scared of regarding Desmond? Could it be that because of his tolerance to the energy, he can safely enter the Source? Hmmm...

Fate or coincidence? Yammer2002 asked, "I remember from Season 2 that a big deal was made regarding the original crash: Desmond was chasing Kelvin Inman out of the hatch, did not enter the "Numbers" in time, resulting in the meltdown and eventually causing the crash of Oceanic 815. This makes it seem that the passengers of Oceanic 815 were there "accidentally," as as result of Desmond not entering the Numbers in time. However, this season, with the Numbers in the cave, with Jacob's "touch",and with the Lighthouse numbers, we are led to believe that each of the Oceanic 6 characters were "chosen" by Jacob to be on the island. This conflicts with the "accidental" nature of the initial crash."

Yes, Jacob chose these people and they were all brought aboard Oceanic Flight 815 for a reason. The crash happened because Desmond didn't push the button, because he didn't believe. But what if he was given a crisis of conscience to make him believe? What if Jacob left that a choice for Desmond to make, knowing that he would have to chose and in doing so, the candidates would arrive on the island? (See also above for my thoughts on why it was important for Desmond to question. The questioning is what made him sacrifice his life to fulfill his purpose of pushing that button until someone else could replace him.)

Lost-X. Greg asked, "Is it possible that the Lost X universe isn't really an alternate reality, but the new reality? Since the beginning of this season, it's been pretty much assumed that it was the bomb at the end of last season that spawned this new reality and sunk the island. But, what if it wasn't that event that sunk the island? What if it's the event at the end of the series that sunk the island and the life of the Lost X is truly the new reality?"

That seems in keeping with the epilogue-theory that's been circulating all season but its a theory that I can't get behind. There seems to be more of a connection between what's unfolding within the mainstream reality and the Lost-X reality, which despite being set in two different timeframes, seem to be unfolding at the same rate and time. What happens in one reality affects the other; Desmond's subconsciousness getting shuttled over to the Lost-X timeline seems to confirm that. I think they're islands in the stream, divergent realities occurring side-by-side rather than a strict cause-and-effect relationship.

Endless Cycle. HipHopAnonymous wrote, "In retrospect it seems like the real point of the whole ep was to warn viewers that the island is simply never going to be explained to anyone's satisfaction because it's all an endless succession of pass-the-baton backwards through time, i.e. before 815 there was the Frenchies, and before them Dharma, before them the Others, before them Richard, before him there was Jacob and MiB, and before them, the 'Mother'. If we were to get her backstory, it would no doubt simply lead to another predecessor who indoctrinated her into the mysteries of the island, preceded by yet another predecessor, ad infinitum. Thus we can only learn the stories of the people who came to the island, never the story of the island itself or how it came to be. Because the island simply is. And apparently always has been. No origin needed or applicable."

Agreed. The island has always been. Trying to figure out where or when it came from and who proceeded Mother is a bit like unstacking a neverending series of matryoshka. There are questions within questions within questions. One protector follows another, the cycle continues unabated... until it doesn't. If the smoke monster escapes, if the light goes out, there will be nothing to protect any longer. Someone will have to make an enormous sacrifice, not just of the span of a human life, but for eternity, to protect the island and its nature.

You're right when you say that we can only learn the stories of the people who come to the island rather than those who came before Mother. The cycle continues, they are the variables in the equation. Will they choose the path of righteousness or evil? That's the eternal question and the eternal struggle, really. Not just of the island but of mankind in general.

Come back Wednesday to discuss next week's episode and head to the comments section here to discuss any of the above thoughts, theories, or additional questions...

Next week on the penultimate episode of Lost ("What They Died For"), Locke devises a new strategy while Jack's group searches for Desmond.

The Daily Beast: "Celebrating Lost for the Last Time"

I had the absolutely privilege and pleasure to attend last night's Lost Live: A Final Celebration event here in Los Angeles.

It was quite possibly the last hurrah for Lost, an event where 1800 very lucky attendees had the unique opportunity to say goodbye to the ABC drama series by listening to a 47-piece orchestra play the music of Lost composer Michael Giacchino, listen to Damon Lindelof and Carlton Cuse offer some final thoughts about the series, and watch the series' penultimate episode ("What They Died For").

Over at The Daily Beast, you can read my take on last night's truly amazing and inspiring event in a piece entitled "Celebrating Lost for the Last Time," where I attempt to recreate the emotions--both joyous and saddening--that accompanied this unique charity event, which raised money for the Coburn School, a music conservatory in downtown Los Angeles.

Were you lucky enough to attend? Or wish you had been? Head to the comments section to discuss, as well as how you plan to say goodbye to Lost.

Lost is set to end its six season run on Sunday, May 23rd on ABC.

Channel Surfing: Chuck Renewed, ABC Keeps V But Not FlashForward, NBC's Law & Order Conundrum, Lost, and More

Welcome to your Friday morning television briefing.

Good news for Chuck fans: Entertainment Weekly's Michael Ausiello is reporting that Chuck has been renewed for a fourth season of thirteen episodes, though NBC declined to comment on the report. While I had hoped for a full-season order, any Chuck is better than no Chuck, right? (Entertainment Weekly's Ausiello Files)

Good news as well for fans of the Visitors: ABC has reportedly given a thirteen-episode renewal to freshman sci-fi drama V. "V was likely a no-brainer, as ABC wants to bring back at least one frosh drama, and the alien thriller is showing signs of life," writes Variety's Michael Schneider. "Its fellow frosh sci-fi drama, FlashForward, is not." (Variety)

Yep, it's not looking good for FlashForward, which Entertainment Weekly's Michael Ausiello is reporting has already been cancelled, along with Better Off Ted, Scrubs, and Romantically Challenged. (Entertainment Weekly's Ausiello Files)

After a day of back-and-forth about the fate of Law & Order, NBC is reportedly in talks to renew the legal procedural for a record-breaking 21st season. "The network has long intended to bring back the Dick Wolf-produced drama for one final season, allowing the show to top Gunsmoke as the longest-running drama in TV history," writes The Hollywood Reporter's James Hibberd. "But NBC's testy relationship with Wolf came to head Thursday when the producer rejected the network's offer to continue the show at a reduced license fee. Wolf's office told producers and some cast members that the drama had been canceled, triggering online reports that the show was finished." Apparently, those reports were premature, though it's possible that the eleventh hour talks could result in no deal, at which time Wolf could shop the series to cablers. TNT, meanwhile, denied reports that they are in talks with Wolf. (Hollywood Reporter)

The New York Times' Lorne Manley has a brand-new Q&A with Lost showrunner/executive producers Damon Lindelof and Carlton Cuse just ahead of the series finale of Lost, airing Sunday, May 23rd. "If there’s one word that we keep coming back to, it’s redemption," said Lindelof. "It is that idea of everybody has something to be redeemed for and the idea that that redemption doesn’t necessarily come from anywhere else other than internally. But in order to redeem yourself, you can only do it through a community. So the redemption theme started to kind of connect into 'live together, die alone,' which is that these people were all lone wolves who were complete strangers on an aircraft, even the ones who were flying together like Sun and Jin. Then let’s bring them together and through their experiences together allow themselves to be redeemed. When the show is firing on all pistons, that’s the kind of storytelling that we’re doing. I think we’ve always said that the characters of Lost are deeply flawed, but when you look at their flashback stories, they’re all victims. Kate was a victim before she killed her stepfather. Sawyer’s parents killed themselves as he was hiding under the bed. Jack’s dad was a drunk who berated him as a child. Sayid was manipulated by the American government into torturing somebody else. John Locke had his kidney stolen. This idea of saying this bad thing happened to me and I’m a victim and it created some bad behavior and now I’m going to take responsibility for that and allow myself to be redeemed by community with other people, that seems to be the theme that we keep coming back to." (The New York Times)

ABC has picked up six new series for the 2010-11 season: comedies Mr. Sunshine, Happy Endings, and Better Together and dramas My Generation (formerly known as Generation Y), The Whole Truth, and Detroit 187. Variety's Michael Schneider is also reporting that Wright vs. Wrong could still be in contention. (Variety)

Deadline's Nellie Andreeva is reporting that NBC drama pilot Rockford Files is now dead, despite it being a major frontrunner just a few weeks ago. [Editor: I can't say that I'm surprised as I wasn't all that chuffed with the script or the casting of Dermot Mulroney.] (Deadline)

CBS has ordered a pilot for Chuck Lorre's comedy Mike & Molly and is said to be high on Bleep My Dad Says, Team Spitz, Livin' On a Prayer, Hawaii Five-O, Defenders, Chaos, and the untitled John Wells/Hannah Shakespeare medical drama. Deadline's Nellie Andreeva is also reporting that CBS is in talks to renew Ghost Whisperer and Old Christine but that, if talks go South, ABC would step in to pick them up should CBS pass. (Deadline)

Over at NBC, it's looking certain that Kindreds, Garza, and The Cape will all receive series orders before Sunday afternoon rolls around. Sadly, Rex Is Not Your Lawyer is said to be dead at NBC. (Hollywood Reporter's The Live Feed, Deadline)

Sony Pictures Television has signed a new two-year overall deal with Damages creators Todd A. Kessler, Daniel Zelman, and Glenn Kessler. There is still no word on the fate of Damages, which wrapped its third season last month. "We originally planned out five or six seasons between Patty (Close) and Ellen (Rose Byrne), about the relationship between mentor and protege," Kessler told Variety. (Variety)

Deadline's Nellie Andreeva is reporting that producers of 20th Century Fox Television-produced drama pilot Breakout Kings, which FOX passed on after it renewed Lie to Me and Human Target, are shopping the project and have been talking to USA, A&E, and Spike. (Deadline)

Entertainment Weekly's Lynette Rice is reporting that TNT has picked up legal dramedy Franklin and Bash, which was originally developed at sister cabler TBS. Series, from creators Kevin Falls and Bill Chais, stars Mark-Paul Gosselaar and Breckin Meyer. (Entertainment Weekly's Hollywood Insider)

TBS, meanwhile, has ordered eight episodes of hour-long period comedy Glory Daze, which stars Kelly Blatz, Callard Harris, Matt Bush, Drew Seeley, Hartley Sawyer, Julianna Guill, and Tim Meadows. Series revolves around a group of college friends in 1980s Wisconsin. Glory Daze was created by Walt Becker and Michael LeSieur; it will likely premiere later this year. (Deadline, Variety)

Universal Media Studios has signed a two-year production deal with Todd Holland and Karey Burke's new shingle, which remains as yet unnamed. "Together we really make one perfect creative person," Holland told Variety. "She has all the skills I don't have: all the network experience, the general awareness of the writer community and the memory of so much TV development. I'm always thinking like a director -- 'What are we doing right now?'" (Variety)

Stay tuned.

Channel Surfing: Team Darlton Talk Lost's "Across the Sea," NBC Likely to Axe Heroes, 24, Fringe Preview, and More

Welcome to your Thursday morning television briefing.

Hitfix's Alan Sepinwall has a fantastic (and lengthy) interview with Lost showrunners Damon Lindelof and Carlton Cuse about this week's divisive "Across the Sea" episode and the end of the series. "We told the story the way we wanted to. Like David Chase, we tried to make the show to entertain the audience. That was our primary goal," said Cuse about making the sixth and final season of Lost. "We kind of planned this episode to come at this period of time because we actually wanted to take a break after the deaths of these major characters. It felt like this was the perfect time to take a time out from the main narrative. And since this was the final big mythological episode that we were going to do, we felt like it was a good placement for it, and now we'll roll into the finale. We make no apologies. We planned this to be the way it is. Again, it is funny, because there are a lot of people who are very happy with the show, there's going to be a very vocal group of people who are not happy, and that just kind of comes with the territory. We're making the show the best way we know how to make it, and we stand by it, and we're excited about how it ends and how the journey's unfolded." (Hitfix)

Over at Los Angeles Times, Maria Elena Fernandez has a fantastic piece on Lost's composer Michael Giacchino, who will be conducting a full symphony orchestra at tonight's Lost Live event here in Los Angeles (I'll be attending, of course) and speaks to Lindelof and Cuse about Giacchino's impact on the series. "We've always talked about the central aspect of Lost being character, character, character, and his music is so evocative of a certain moment or person in the show," Lindelof told Fernandez. "If you close your eyes and play 30 seconds of one of Michael's themes, you'd know which character's theme that is." (Los Angeles Times)

Vulture's Josef Adalian is reporting that Heroes is very unlikely to earn a spot on NBC's fall schedule and that all indications are currently pointing towards the superhero drama being deader than a dodo. Previous reports had indicated that the Peacock was considering ordering a final chapter of thirteen episodes but that appears not to be the case any more for the Tim Kring-overseen drama after screening the pilots that they had ordered. "NBC (which declined to comment for this story) is nothing if not appreciative of the few Heroes fans who still care about the saga and doesn't want to leave them hanging," writes Adalian. "While a half-season appears to be out of the question, we hear there's a good chance the network will at least try to find a way to fund a two- or four-hour movie event in order to give some finality to the franchise." (Vulture)

Entertainment Weekly's Lynette Rice has an interview with 24's Cherry Jones about the "trippy story arc" this season for President Allison Taylor. "By the end of the season, these guys are just this side of brain dead," said Cherry about Howard Gordon and 24's writers. "They have been trying so hard. They don’t have an arc. Most TV shows would have an arc and they would figure out how to nudge everybody in the direction they wanted to go in. These guys look at the performances, look at who they’ve got and try to follow things they think will be the most shocking. The fact that my character has suddenly taken this turn was never anticipated by anyone, but they have to figure out a way to justify it. They and I have managed to do that. I’ve got to hand it to them, they live right on the edge. They don’t take the easy road." (Entertainment Weekly's Hollywood Insider)

E! Online's Megan Masters takes an early look at Part One of season finale of FOX's Fringe (airing tonight), offering up side-by-side photos of Olivia Dunham (Anna Torv) and Walter Bishop and their alternate reality counterparts. [Editor: I think that Olivia looks amazing in either reality but her "over there" counterpart has got a smoldering look.] (E! Online's Watch with Kristin)

And here's the promo for the two-part Fringe season finale:



[Editor: FOX and NBC ordered a whole slew of series yesterday afternoon, which you can read about here.]

Former Sopranos star James Gandolfini has been cast opposite Diane Lane and Tim Robbins in HBO's telepic Cinema Verite, a dramatization of the seminal 1970s reality series An American Family, where he will play the series' producer Craig Gilbert. (Robbins and Lane will play Bill and Pat Loud, the married couple at the center of the series.) Project, written by David Seltzer and directed by Shari Springer Berman and Robert Pulcini, will begin production this summer. (Variety)

BBC One has unveiled the cast of its upcoming eight-part sci-fi drama series Outcasts (created by Ben Richards), which will include Battlestar Galactica's Jamie Bamber, Ashes to Ashes's Daniel Mays, Clash of the Titans' Liam Cunningham, Spooks' Hermione Norris, Being Human's Amy Manson, Small Island's Ashley Walters, Ugly Betty's Eric Mabius, Shameless'Michael Legge, Generation Kill's Langley Kirkwood, Invictus' Patrik Lyster, and Jeanne Kietzmann. Series revolves around a group of human colonists who are attempting to build a new society on a distant planet. Here's how BBC describes the series: "They are a diverse group of individuals who left their old lives behind in extraordinary circumstances; promised a second chance at life they created a society, far away from their home, friends, family... and their pasts. Settled in the town of Forthaven on Carpathia, they are passionate about their jobs, confident of their ideals and optimistic about the future. They work hard to preserve what they've built on this planet they now call home, having embraced all the challenges that come with forging a new beginning.The planet offers the possibility for both corruption and redemption; while they try to avoid the mistakes made on Earth, inevitably our heroes cannot escape the human pitfalls of love, greed, lust, loss, and a longing for those they've left behind. As they continue to work and live together they come to realise this is no ordinary planet... is there a bigger purpose at work? Mystery lurks around them and threatens to risk the fragile peace of Forthaven." (BBC)

Entertainment Weekly's Lynette Rice is reporting that Steven Spielberg has pre-taped a "special introductory message" that will be played to advertisers at FOX's upfront presentation next week," signifying that his project--the prehistoric drama Terra Nova (which revolves around a family from the future who travels back in time)--has secured a thirteen-episode commitment and will be presented to advertisers even though a single frame of film has yet to be shot. (Entertainment Weekly's Hollywood Insider)

Entourage's executive producers Mark Wahlberg and Stephen Levinson are developing a female-oriented comedy for HBO which will be written by Leah Rachel (with an assist by Emily Montague) that will revolve around a group of female friends in Los Angeles. (Hollywood Reporter's The Live Feed)

Deadline's Nellie Andreeva is reporting that Warner Bros. Television is in the final negotiations of a deal with Angus T. Jones that will keep him on CBS' Two and a Half Men for two additional seasons. Still no progress, meanwhile, in the ongoing renegotiation talks between WBTV and series lead Charlie Sheen... (Deadline)

Hitfix's Alan Sepinwall has an interview with Cougar Town co-creator Bill Lawrence about how the series got beyond a thin concept and rickety title... which Lawrence would love to change. "I'd like to (change it), and the studio has been talking about it for three reasons: One, partly as a result of common sense and partly from their research, they find too many instances of testing of people saying they would never watch a show called Cougar Town - 'I don't want to see some show about a 40-year-old woman nailing younger guys' - and then they screen an episode, and people go, 'Oh, I would watch this show,'" said Lawrence. "Second point is simply what you already said, which is you would be hard-pressed to watch the last three episodes of the show and asked anyone for titles - I doubt anyone would say Cougar Town. Third, in a world where ABC and Steve are looking to promote Modern Family and capitalize on it to promote all their new shows next fall, anything you can do to create some kind of dialogue about your existing show is smart and savvy. The reasons not to do it I think solely come down to business reasons." (Hitfix)

Community's Joel McHale and Modern Family's Sofia Vergara will be announcing the primetime Emmy Award nominations on July 8th. (Hollywood Reporter)

Deadline.com's Nellie Andreeva is reporting that FOX has passed on the following projects: Breakout Kings, Breaking In, Tax Men, Strange Brew, Most Likely to Succeed and The Station, while NBC has passed on Matthew Broderick-led comedy Beach Lane. In other pilot news, FX has passed on comedy project Sweat Shop, after filming a pilot. (Deadline)

Lionsgate has acquired international distribution rights to Comedy Central's upcoming series Big Lake, from executive producers Will Ferrell, Adam McKay, and Chris Henchy. Cabler has given the comedy, which stars Chris Gethard, Chris Parnell, and Horatio Sanz, a ten-episode commitment, with an option to order an additional 90 episodes. (Broadcasting & Cable)

Stay tuned.

There Is a Light That Never Goes Out: Across the Sea on Lost

"Everything dies."

It's a fact of life that all things must come to an end, even Lost itself. We've entered the final act of one of television's most ambitious and serpentine series and anticipation is running high for just how showrunners Damon Lindelof and Carlton Cuse will wrap up six seasons of storylines and a plethora of mythology-based mysteries while also remaining true to the characters we started this journey with back in 2004.

We certainly got some answers this week. However, I don't know that they were quite the answers that we wanted or needed... or that they were offered in the timeframe they needed to be in.

After a staggering episode that ramped up the tension last week and set the stage for a climactic final few episodes, this week's episode of Lost ("Across the Sea"), written by Damon Lindelof and Carlton Cuse and directed by Tucker Gates, felt like it squandered the taut momentum of the last few episodes, pushing aside the central characters for the backstory of the island's dueling deities, Jacob (Mark Pellegrino) and his Nemesis, the Nameless One (Titus Welliver), and their mother (Allison Janney).

So what did I think of this week's episode of Lost? Grab your Senet board, finish your tapestry, gaze into the light, and let's discuss "Across the Sea."

While Jacob and his Nemesis have provided much theorizing among Lost's devoted audience, I don't think that they are the driving force behind the overarching narrative, at least not in an emotional context. We've come back week after week to follow the adventures of our beloved band of castaways, caught in a timeless battle between good and evil, but it's been those characters--Jack, Kate, Sawyer, Sayid, Hurley, Sun, and Jin (and the rest)--who have provided the emotional spine of the series.

Casting them aside this late in the game to focus on the mysterious past of two characters we know precious little about seemed doomed to failure, with so few episodes remaining in the series. For an episode that was intended to provide answers--and perhaps closure to some mysteries--it ultimately felt increasingly frustrating and obtuse. Were these stories that needed to be told? Or at least told in this fashion? With so few hours remaining in this grand tapestry, wasn't it a bit of a waste of yarn at this point?

Part of that frustration could stem from the fact that none of our main characters featured at all in this week's installment (other than a frustrating "flashback" to Season One, where Jack and Kate found the skeletons in the cave and Locke dubbed them "Adam and Eve," which we all remember already) and the three characters that this episode revolved around--Jacob, his brother, and their murderous mother, the island's previous guardian--aren't fully formed characters in any sense of the word: they're archetypes meant to represent various images that have repeated themselves endlessly through stories: the child, the hero, the mother, the trickster, the devil.

Here, we're meant to see the beginnings of the grand rivalry, the endless push and pull between good and evil that exemplifies the balance of the island, but instead we got a domestic drama about a woman who steals children, lies to them about the nature of the world, and then sets them against one another after showing them the truth behind their island home: a glowy, watery cave that is the source of the light within every man.

Wait, say what? After six seasons and countless theories about the nature of the island and its energy source--which had been explored already through the Dharma Stations, the Orientation films, and the groovy 1970s sojourn--the war comes down to who controls this badly rendered special effect?

Back in Season One, John Locke claimed to have seen the heart of the island (or specifically the "eye of the island") and that it was a beautiful and transcendent experience, made all the more so because we didn't see it. Instead, we saw a bright shining light that was reflected in his face and an expression that was akin to divine communion. Here, that energy source--that ephemeral spirit that exists within all of us--is transformed into something tangible and therefore loses something in the translation. What's unseen is typically more psychologically powerful to the viewer than what is seen and, by giving the Source a form, the writers have essentially removed its aura of mystery and therefore its narrative strength.

Yes, as Allison Janney's unnamed mother (henceforth called just "Mother") tells us, "everything dies." But so too does a little bit of my faith in Damon Lindelof and Carlton Cuse here. From start to finish, this episode was a huge misstep at the end of a marathon, sending the narrative tumbling to the ground amid a hazy fog. I've been anxiously awaiting the series finale but the way with which Team Darlton provided answers here might not bode well for an emotionally satisfying conclusion.

Personally, I don't need every answer served up on a silver tray (or even an ancient Senet board); I'll be content to continue theorizing and turning these mysteries over in my head for some time to come after the final credits have rolled if the writers opt to offer an ambiguous ending. But what happened with "Across the Sea" is that the episode functioned more or less as an information dump, a way for Team Darlton to say, "Here you go: You wanted answers, here are answers."

We learned just what the relationship was between Jacob and his Nemesis (they're twin brothers!); we learned where they came from (their pregnant, Latin-speaking mother was shipwrecked on the island); we learned who raised them (a solemn woman prone to keeping secrets and weaving things into her hair); we learned who originally constructed the frozen donkey wheel (the Man in Black!); we learned who the skeletons in the cave belonged to (Mother and Man in Black!); and we learned how the Nameless One became the smoke monster (his unconscious body went into the Source and his soul was stripped from his body).

So, yes, we got answers. A whole heap of them. So why did I find "Across the Sea" to be so disappointing? Because it was a narrative mess that failed to extract any emotional core to what was going on, rendering this familial struggle to nothing more than millennial-old sibling rivalry, glowy caves, and questions within questions.

Mother says that questions just lead to more questions and that's true. The fact that this woman appeared to be living on her own made me wonder: where did she come from? Had she been brought to the island? Did she grow up there and replace the former guardian? How did she learn about the island's nature? Why did she have such a cut-and-dry view of human morality? How did she have the power to implement rules, such as the fact that Jacob and his brother couldn't ever die and couldn't hurt one another? Why were she and Claudia speaking Latin? How did she kill an entire village and fill in a huge well by herself? If the statue of Taweret wasn't there then, when was it built? When was all of this taking place?

For all of the answers that Cuse and Lindelof provided, it kicked up a whole slew of others, over-shrouding the episode's story, adding to the frustration that we're being fed these singular answers this late in the narrative because the writers felt that these were the answers that needed to be given.

I would have been happy not to have seen Young Jacob and Young Nemesis (though both actors--Kenton Duty and Ryan Bradford--have to be commended for their powerful and nuanced performances) because I had already formed a more compelling vision in my mind. And we've already known for some time that the teenage boy that the Man in Black was seeing was a Young Jacob. Additionally, I didn't feel as though Allison Janey really provided the sort of presence required to pull off that role and it was distracting, in fact, to have her there as her Allison Janney-ness kept pulling me away from the character she was meant to be portraying.

Also distracting: the blatantly awful and cheap set when Claudia gave birth to the twins, which is still making me laugh a day later. It seemed to set the tone for an episode that was unnecessarily cheesy on a series that had previously excelled at dealing with the profound and powerful. Makes me sad, really.

Twins. We learned this week that, while Jacob and his unnamed brother, were born on the island, they came from across the sea and were brought to the island, unborn, by their Latin-speaking mother, Claudia. She is found wandering the island by Mother, who helps her give birth. Both Claudia and Mother are overjoyed to see that she has given birth to a beautiful baby boy, who is quickly named Jacob and swaddled in light colored cloths. But Mother seems visibly shaken when she realizes that Claudia is going to give birth to another baby, a dark-haired son, who is not given a name as Claudia had only picked one and who is swaddled in dark cloths. (One side is light and one side is dark, of course.)

The appearance of the twin is significant. I believe that Mother had already chosen Claudia's offspring as her successor as guardian of the Source and was chagrined to learn that there would be a second child. The existence of two children (and later two men) will inevitably lead to conflict. Only one can follow in her footsteps, only one can be the candidate to replace her, and everything else that follows points towards an inexorable conflict between the two.

Light and Dark. Being twins, they seem to embody the literal duality of light and dark. Besides for their obvious looks, the twins seem to be polar opposites: Jacob is quiet, loyal to a fault, and cannot tell a lie; the Other is shifty, crafty, and manipulative. Jacob would never dream of leaving his mother or the island; his brother wants nothing to do with her after learning the truth and wants to use the Source to leave.

Their cross-purposes put them on a collision course thirty years later as the Nameless One, now a grown man, prepares to use the untapped energy of the Source to leave the island. It is exactly what Mother feared: that the greediness of mankind would corrupt the source, a magical energy whose sparks lie within all of us, a Well of Souls.

The Nameless One. Did Mother always know that the Nameless One would eventually betray her and the island? Is that why she showed the children the Source, knowing full well that the Nameless One's need to explore the boundaries of his universe would lead him to that moment? Did she hope that he would be the one eventually to kill her and release her from her duty to the island? Everything must die, after all. Even Mother. Her words of thanks as the Nameless One pulls out the knife which he used to stab her seem to indicate that she is pleased that he fulfilled his purpose and the cycle can start anew. (She also says that she wouldn't let him leave because she loved him.)

Mother, after all, did tell the Nameless One that he was "special," beginning a pattern of kidnapping and island brainwashing that continued with Rousseau/Alex and Claire/Aaron. Not so special that he warranted a name even as an adult, but that was another effort of Mother to distinguish between the two men. Jacob was the selfless one, caring for his mother and the island, while the other brother wanted escape, to see life across the sea. Is he corrupted by his three decades among men? Or was his fate decided the moment he sprang from his mother's womb, a shadow following the brightness of his brother?

After all, he knows that the Senet board came from "across the sea," just as he inherently knows the rules of the game. He seems to have knowledge that Mother's stories are nothing more than falsehoods intended to ensnare them, to continue her purpose of protecting the island, to eventually force Jacob into his role as the island's guardian. She loved them in different ways and each served their purpose. From the moment that the ghost of Claudia appeared to the Nameless One, his fate seemed all but sealed as he became attuned to the island's dark side, to the death that surrounds it, the souls contained within its grasp.

The Source. Then there's the matter of the Source itself. The villagers whom the Nameless One makes his people have begun to conduct crude experiments into the island's natural energy, discovering the existence of the electromagnetic properties that intrigued the Dharma Initiative so much thousands of years later.

It's significant that Mother tells the boys that they cannot ever enter the cave or they will face a threat worse than death. A fragment of the light that exists within the cave is inside all of us but that man inherently wants more... and that if they try to take the light, it might go out... and if it goes out at the Source, then it will go out everywhere. (Which made me wonder about the island being at the bottom of the ocean in the Lost-X timeline. Has the light gone out? Or is it still flickering away from beneath the water?)

So what is the source? Is it the Well of Souls? A place where all souls are born or return to after death? Is it the mystical energy that animates the world? A nexus of power and possibility? Is it the source of all stories, all lives? The ever-turning wheel of life, death, and rebirth?

The Wheel. I'm not sure how the behavior of metal at certain electromagnetically-charged sites across the island lead to the Nameless One's theories about a means of departure, nor how tapping into the Source can result in an exit route or how he knows this. (Though the Nameless One does know many other inexplicable things as well.)

It's he who designs the frozen donkey wheel in a cave that it later the site of the Orchid Station (though why it's frozen down there years later is a mystery) and, given that we know that it is an escape route, the Nameless One was correct with his theory: it does act as a gateway to the world across the sea. Mother can't let him access the source, can't let him leave, so she wounds him and uses her considerable powers to cover up the well and kill the Nameless One's people.

Jacob and the Smoke Monster. Mother tells Jacob that the next guardian will be him. "It has to be you," she says, echoing Sayid's words to Jack in last week's installment. The virginal and pious Jacob is the only one pure enough to keep watch over the Source without being tempted by it. The Nameless One is tempted by the Source and wants to use it rather than protect it. He questions whereas Jacob accepts, providing a skeptic to Jacob's believer, a man of science to Jacob's man of faith.

Mother inducts him to the order of guardians by whispering a benediction and having him drink from a cask of wine from a silver cup. I couldn't help but wonder which part of this ceremony was the most important: the chalice, the wine, or the words? Or all three? Or was it a more a case of Mother willing it to be so as she elects Jacob to replace her? And is this the same bottle of wine that Jacob has Richard Alpert drink from as he makes him immortal?

I can't help but wonder what would have happened to Jacob if he had been he who had touched the Source rather than his nameless brother, whether he too would have had his soul stripped away from his body and been trapped in the form of a black smoke, a formless thing befitting his own lack of form, lack of name.

Striking his brother until he is unconscious, Jacob throws him into the cave containing the Source, knowing that he cannot kill his brother. When the Nameless One--already corrupted by his interaction with the men and his own greed and need to harness the Source to his own ends--comes in contact with the Source, his soul is transformed into the creature we know as the Smoke Monster. (Clearly, he later takes as his first corporeal form his human body.)

What happened, happened. Actions cannot be undone. As much as the Nameless One is chained to the island, so too is Jacob, doomed to protect the island until a successor can be found, forced to act as jailer to his brother, suffering from the knowledge that the monster unleashed that day was created by his own hand in an act of vengeance.

Adam and Eve. It's Jacob who takes his brother and mother's bodies to the cave and lays them down, their hands clasped together, in final rest. And places the white and black stones of the Senet board game in a pouch with them, where they remain undisturbed until 2004, when Jack and Kate find them in the cave.

As I mentioned earlier, seeing this scene unfold again really rubbed me the wrong way. Given that we're at the very end of Lost, I think it's safe to say that we all recall that scene--perhaps not with pitch-perfect accuracy--but with general message and import remains abundantly clear. It seemed to indicate that the audience wasn't clever enough to piece this together on their own and needed their hands held.

Additionally, I still think the season would have been better off had this episode aired earlier in the rotation as it could have provided some answers earlier on without falsely building up to this point and then pulling the rug out from beneath us. "The Incident" managed to juxtapose both the plight of the survivors with the revelations about Jacob and the Man in Black and I almost wish that they had done the same here, splitting up this episode into segments that were intertwined with the main storyline. Would that have made me feel differently about this episode? Perhaps, but left as it was, I felt like it was a disjointed and frustrating note at a time when the entire series should be singing.

Ultimately, while there were several interesting ideas cast up by this episode, I felt really frustrated by the way with which they were handled here, resulting in an episode that did not connect with me on any emotional level. Lindelof and Cuse have been vocal about the fact that mysteries are often more exciting than their solutions and they're absolutely right. I just wish that with "Under the Sea," they had followed their own advice and left some things in the darkness, rather than bringing them into the harsh light of day.

Next week on Lost ("What They Died For"), Locke devises a new strategy while Jack's group searches for Desmond.

Channel Surfing: Chuck Renewal Still Up in the Air, MTV Orders US Skins Series, Lost, True Blood, and More

Welcome to your Tuesday morning television briefing.

Entertainment Weekly's Michael Ausiello is reporting that multiple sources have confirmed to him that NBC will be renewing action-comedy Chuck for a fourth season and that "the show has thus far figured into all of the network’s preliminary plans for its May 17 upfront presentation," with Chuck likely to get a thirteen-episode initial order with the possibility of a full season order still in the cards as well. However, co-creator Josh Schwartz hadn't heard anything regarding a renewal as of yet. "That’s news to me," said Schwartz. "I would urge fans to take nothing for granted..." (Entertainment Weekly's Ausiello Files)

NBC's Angela Bromstad also cautioned fans about reading too much into rumors about Chuck's future and wouldn't confirm that it had been picked up when speaking with The Hollywood Reporter's James Hibberd. "It's our highest performing Monday night show," said Bromstad about Chuck. "We look at it as a very strong player and it's a show that matches up with our new shows. It's too early for me to say for certain as it's a conversation we're going to have next week." (Hollywood Reporter)

MTV has ordered ten episodes of a US version of British teen drama Skins, which is being considered for a January launch at the cabler. Co-creator Bryan Elsley is writing the pilot script and will executive produce with Charlie Pattinson and George Faber. Like its predecessor, this version will feature a cast of mostly unknowns but will be set in Baltimore (rather than the original's Bristol). (Deadline.com, Variety)

New York Magazine's Vulture has an interview with Lost showrunners Damon Lindelof and Carlton Cuse about the end of Lost, now less than two weeks away. "I think we've been prepared for a long time for the ending of the show," said Cuse. "I think that we feel certain that it was the right decision. We're prepared for it. I think that there will certainly be a mourning period when it's all said and done. It's funny: There's this special feature for the DVDs in which some other show-runners discuss what it's like ending a show. There's an interview with Stephen Cannell [The A-Team, The Greatest American Hero, Wiseguy] who said that he's produced something like 42 television series, for network television, and he never ended any of them on his own terms. We're far more grateful for the fact we're able to do this on our own terms. I think that's the emotion, at least at this moment, that outweighs the other ones." (New York Magazine's Vulture)

Entertainment Weekly's Michael Ausiello is reporting that British actress Lara Pulver (Robin Hood) has been cast in HBO's True Blood, where she will play Claudine, a pivotal character that has been likened to Sookie's "guardian angel" or "fairy godmother." She'll recur throughout the third season. (Entertainment Weekly's Ausiello Files)

Ausiello also reports that Michael Steger (90210) is headed to HBO's True Blood, where he will guest star as Tony, described as "a gay prostitute who gets picked up by King of Mississippi Russell Edgington (Denis O’Hare) because of his resemblance to his current steady, Talbot (Theo Alexander)." He's expected to appear in one episode of True Blood's third season, which launches next month, and may recur in Season Four. (Entertainment Weekly's Ausiello Files)

TV Guide Magazine's Will Keck talks to True Blood's Theo Alexander, who plays gay Greek vampire Talbot, the boyfriend of the 3000-year-old King of Mississippi Russell Endgington (Denis O'Hare), who happens to cheat on his BF with a certain straight male character we've seen so far on the series. "Talbot loves Russell immensely because he’s [his] maker, but like any marriage, it has its ups and downs," said Alexander. "One thing we have a huge fight over is that I always have to stay home. Sometimes I have to straighten him out and take drastic measures to save the marriage." (TV Guide Magazine)

Deadline's Nellie Andreeva has her latest roundup of pilot-related buzz. FOX seems high on Terra Nova and Midland, with either Breakout Kings or Ridealong getting the second drama slot; on the comedy front, they're keen on Keep Hope Alive and Wilde Kingdom, with Traffic Light, Breaking In, and Most Likely to Succeed still in the running. Over at NBC, the Peacock is still considering The Cape, Rockford Files, and Kindreds (also possibly Garza), while they're said to be circling comedies Perfect Couples, Friends with Benefits, Next, Beach Lane, and maybe This Little Piggy, which has cooled off recently. At CBS, Hawaii Five-O, Defenders, Chaos and possibly the untitled John Wells/Hannah Shakespeare medical drama are frontrunners. (Criminal Minds spinoff seems mixed, with a possible midseason launch being bandied about.) On the comedy side, the network is high on Mike & Molly, Team Spitz, Bleep My Dad Said, Mad Love and Livin' on a Prayer. Over at ABC, dramas No Ordinary Family, Detroit 187, The Whole Truth, Body of Proof, Off The Map, and Generation Y are all said to be in the running, along with comedies Mr. Sunshine, Happy Endings, Wright Vs. Wrong, Awkward Situations For Men, Who Gets the Parents, It Takes a Village, and the untitled couples comedy. CW is high on Nikita as well as Hellcats, while HMS and Betwixt remain possibilities. (Deadline.com)

Fancast's Matt Webb Mitovich has an interview with Elizabeth Mitchell about the final two episodes of ABC's V. "It could be icy as hell," said Mitchell about the season finale's family dinner between the Evans and the Visitors' Anna and Lisa. "You’ve got Anna, who is this fantastic politician/religious leader, and then you have Erica, who’s in the process of becoming exactly that. So you have two people who are pretty good at the games they’re playing coming face to face. They’re looking for any little chink in the armor, any sign of vulnerability on the other’s part. I thought it was fun to play. I enjoyed working with Morena [Baccarin] tremendously." She also teases two major jaw-droppers in the episode, which is scheduled to air next week on ABC. (Fancast)

TV Guide Magazine's Will Keck speaks to Daniel Dae Kim about this three favorite Sun-and-Jin moments from Lost. (TV Guide Magazine)

Deadline.com's Nellie Andreeva is reporting that CBS may order Chuck Lorre's comedy Mike & Molly to series as early as this week, rather than wait until announcing at their upfront presentation, scheduled for next week. "CBS is said to have a very short window to pick up the comedy or release it so producer Warner Bros. can shop it elsewhere," writes Andreeva. "It’s safe to say the latter won’t happen." (Deadline.com)

E! Online's Drusilla Moorhouse takes a look at whether the winners of this season of CBS' The Amazing Race cheated by taking a look at the official rule book for the reality adventure series... and determined that brothers Dan and Jordan won fair and square. "As long as Amazing Race teams purchase a coach ticket, a network representative confirmed to us today, they are absolutely allowed to upgrade to first or business class," writes Moorhouse. "The Pious brothers' pretty persuasion is not unprecedented, either: Plenty of other teams in previous seasons have talked their way into fancier seats at the front of the plane—something Race superfan Jordan probably knew." (E! Online's Watch with Kristin)

TBS' hour-long comedy pilot Franklin & Bash now appears poised to move to sister network TNT, according to Deadline's Nellie Andreeva, while Glory Daze is expected to get a series order at TBS. (Deadline.com)

Stay tuned.

Channel Surfing: No Mr. Eko for Lost Finale, Lost Live in LA, Unhappy Ending for 24, Shawn Ryan Leaves Lie to Me, and More

Welcome to your Monday morning television briefing.

Don't expect Mr. Eko to turn up among the passengers of Oceanic Flight 815 this season on Lost. Entertainment Weekly's Lynette Rice is reporting that Adewale Akinnoye-Agbaje will not be returning to ABC's drama series Lost before it wraps up its epic run on May 23rd. "Though the producers wanted to find a reason to bring back the former tailie, EW has learned that a deal could not be reached in time," writes Rice. Akinnoye-Agbaje, who played Nigerian warlord-turned-pious-fake-priest Mr. Eko, had previously made it clear that he would be more than happy to return to Lost, which he departed during the series' third season. "I’m here for [the producers]," Akinnuoye-Agbaje said in an August 2009 interview. "Adewale is open for business. We have had talks about some things they might do for the final season and there are other dead folks coming back allegedly but at the moment it is still a maybe. A strong maybe but I have not shot anything yet or signed any contracts. But I’m hoping." It does appear than time was not on the side of Mr. Eko. Or the smoke monster managed to intervene once more. (Entertainment Weekly's Hollywood Insider)

Variety's Cynthia Littleton has details about Thursday evening's Lost Live: The Final Celebration event here in Los Angeles, during which Michael Giacchino will conduct a full live orchestral performance of the music from Lost for 1800 lucky fans (myself included), which will be followed by a screening of the following week's episode, the series' penultimate. Proceeds from the event will benefit the Colburn School of Performing Arts. We thought it was a great way to connect working musicians with students who are looking to make a living playing music," Giacchino told Variety. "And we want it to be fun -- not all academic and serious. We're celebrating what is quite an amazing ending to a long run." Executive producer Carlton Cuse, meanwhile, wanted a way to pay tribute to Giacchino's enormous contributions to the series and the fans. "Lost is so much about the community that has grown up around the show. It seemed like it would be a great culmination for all of us to watch the (penultimate) episode together and have that shared experience," said Cuse. "I think it's going to be a powerful and emotional evening." (Variety)

[Meanwhile, The New Yorker's Alex Ross has a fantastic interview with Lost composer Michael Giacchino that's worth reading.]

Fans of FOX's 24, also set to wrap its run this month, shouldn't expect a happy ending for Kiefer Sutherland's Jack Bauer, according to executive producer Howard Gordon. "[It] leaves him in a compromised place morally, ethically and emotionally," said Gordon. "This show is a tragedy, and to give Jack a happy ending didn't feel authentic..." Meanwhile, a first draft of the script has been written for the big screen version of 24, with a second draft currently being worked on. "We're honoring the series and the creative integrity of (Bauer) and then possibly bringing in a whole new group [of characters]," Gordon said. "What I do think is important is that we do not retread." (Hollywood Reporter)

Shawn Ryan, who took over as showrunner/executive producer of FOX's Lie to Me, has said that he's looking to depart the procedural drama, which is currently on the bubble for a third season renewal. "I had a great year working on the show and helped develop a team that’s ready for more responsibility," wrote Ryan on Twitter. "Time for me to go …When I took gig, I had things in development, nothing in production. Now with Terriers and possibly Ride-Along, too much work... As for timing, this allows studio time to give network succession plan to increase odds of pickup. Still very excited to show you 12 episodes we have in the can. The great Howard Hessman guest stars in one of them." Lie to Me is set to return to the schedule on June 7th. (Entertainment Weekly's Hollywood Insider)

Lifetime is developing a drama spinoff of its series Army Wives, which will revolve around Brigid Brannagh's Pamela, described as "a former police officer whose husband was a Delta Force soldier" who "is now divorced and back in her old job as a Charleston, S.C., cop," according to Variety's Michael Schneider. The potential new series, which will follow Pamela back to Charleston, will be written by Bruce Zimmerman and T.D. Mitchell and executive produced by Mark Gordon and Deb Spera. (Variety)

USA has announced an official launch date for Season Five of dramedy Psych, which will return to the schedule on Wednesday, July 21st at 10 pm ET/PT. (Hollywood Reporter)

In other USA news, Emmanuelle Vaugier (Human Target) has been cast in USA's upcoming espionage drama Covert Affairs, where she will star opposite Piper Perabo and play a "fearless journalist/blogger." Series is set to launch on July 13th. (Hollywood Reporter)

Variety's Rick Kissell is reporting that venerable crime drama CSI: Crime Scene Investigation could be headed to a new timeslot when CBS unveils their new fall schedule network. "All three [CSI] shows remain fairly popular -- and on most weeks they win their hours in total viewers -- but there's no guarantee they will all be on the fall sked. And keeping all three in the same timeslot for a sixth straight fall seems even more unlikely," writes Kissell. "As currently scheduled, each CSI is the beneficiary of some of the Eye's strongest lead-ins, and CBS may feel the time is right to get more production out of those slots." He believes that CBS will leave CSI: Miami on Monday nights, possibly rest CSI: New York during the fall or shift it to Fridays, and either flip CSI and The Mentalist on Thursdays or move it to Fridays as a lead into another drama, such as The Good Wife. (Variety)

A new Facebook campaign has sprung up, perhaps in response to the success of the Betty White/Saturday Night Live grassroots effort, around Modern Family. The group, "Let Cam & Mitchell kiss on Modern Family," is look for just that: an on-screen smooch between Eric Stonestreet and Jesse Tyler Ferguson: "Cam & Mitchell, the adorable gay couple on ABC's Modern Family, have not been shown sharing even a brief kiss throughout the series' first hit season. ABC isn't afraid of gay characters, so why won't they let them show some love?" (New York Magazine's Vulture)

Classic detective drama Randall and Hopkirk (Deceased) is getting another remake, this time for American television as Syfy has handed out a pilot order to an updated version of the project, which revolves around a pair of mismatched detectives, one of whom is a ghost who was killed in the line of duty. Josh Bycel and Jonathan Fener will write the script and executive produce along with Howard Braunstein; project hails from ITV Studios. (Variety)

Entertainment Weekly's Michael Ausiello is reporting that Mary Lynn Rajskub will guest star in the June 10th episode of USA's Royal Pains, where she will play the stepdaughter of Christine Ebersole's Mrs. Newberg. "I play a girl who does yoga on diet pills," Rajskub wrote on Twitter. (Entertainment Weekly's Ausiello Files)

20th Century Fox Television drama development czar Patrick Moran has departed the studio and will be replaced by Michael Thorn, the former NBC executive who was most recently the president of Marty Adelstein's 20th Century Fox-based shingle, Lost Marbles Television. He'll move into the position of SVP of drama development in June, and report to Jennifer Nicholson Salke. "Marty has been a great friend and mentor, but this was an opportunity I couldn't pass up," Thorn told Variety. "Twentieth has a legacy of developing and producing some of the most creative drama series in TV. To get to be a part of that, and make my own mark, and be able to sell to Fox and the other networks, it was something I couldn't say no to." (Variety)

Stay tuned.

Returning to the Sea of Love: Lost Questions, More on "The Candidate"

Welcome to this week's second look at Lost, which only has four and a half hours left before it fades to black. (Or white.)

Once again this week, I'll be taking a second look at this week's episode of Lost ("The Candidate") by answering reader questions submitted via comments, Twitter, and email.

While I discussed "The Candidate" in full over here (along with theories about the Man in Black, Sayid, Claire, Widmore, and more) and dropped by this week's episode of Instant Dharma, it's time to dive deeper and get to some further theories, doubts, and questions that we're all thinking about.

So, without further ado, let's prepare to board the submarine and head down to Davy Jones' locker.

I don't know about you but I'm still getting choked up just thinking about "The Candidate" and the number of major deaths that the episode contained. While I'm somewhat sad to see Sayid and (possibly) Lapidus go, it's the final haunting image of Sun and Jin, united one last time in death, that sends me reaching for the Kleenex every time I think about it. For a series that's had such a huge body count over the past six seasons, the fact that Damon Lindelof and Carlton Cuse--and episode writers Elizabeth Sarnoff and Jim Galasso--managed to make the married couple's reunion-in-death so poignant and memorable is a testament to both the well-crafted writing on the series and actors Yunjin Kim and Daniel Dae Kim.

Even with only a handful of episodes left, they'll be missed... and we can cross off 42-Kwon off our own personal cave wall/lighthouse wheel.

Lots of questions to get through but make sure you stick around until the end where I discuss an interesting theory raised by reader HipHopAnonymous about the possible end of the series.

Man in Black. Frank1569 asked, "If last night, plus the preview, doesn't nearly confirm my theory that Jacob is the wolf in sheep's clothing and Smokey's the good guy, well... See how upset Smokey was when he realized the sub sank? That was not his plan..."

Oh, Frank1569, I love that you believe so much in your theory about Jacob being the evil one and the unnamed Man in Black being the good guy but this week's episode went out of its way to disprove your theory. There's no possible way that Smokey is good as it was absolutely his intention to sink the sub and kill everyone on board. Hell, after he realized that his time bomb had failed to kill all of the candidates, he picked up his rifle and set out to finish what he started. He absolutely intended for that submarine to explode and sink to the bottom of the ocean, thus killing everyone on board.

He may not have detonated the bomb itself--though he put it in Jack's bag and meant it to be found--but his intentions were clear. He shared them with the group, putting the blame on Charles Widmore: he wanted the candidates in a contained space, with no chance of escape, and then he wanted them to DIE. That's not goodness, that's pure malevolent evil to me.

Furthermore, Damon Lindelof and Carlton Cuse went so far as to clarify any false beliefs that the Nemesis was a white hat, with Cuse telling Entertainment Weekly, "There is no ambiguity. He is evil and he has to be stopped... There will be very little debate at the end of this episode that [Fake Locke] is evil and bad and has to be stopped. The main narrative reason for him killing our main characters is to establish how much of a bad guy he is and to clearly identify him as the antagonist rolling into the end of the series."

I've never doubted that for a minute. Sorry, Frank1569!

Frank Lapidus. Tempest, wrote, "I am... still peeved about the death of Frank Lapidus. I am going to live in denial about that one until I hear otherwise. Yes, I know logic isn't really on my side. That's never stopped me before." (An anonymous commenter also wanted Frank to survive the blow to the head and likely drowning in the sub: "That silver fox was a nice side character and I have yet to believe he's dead until it is officially confirmed. Hopefully he'll either show up back on the island (who's gonna fly that plane?! maybe a Widmore lackey...) or he's seen in Lost-X.")

Ah, Frank Lapidus. A lot of readers held out hope that because Frank was killed "off-screen" it meant that there was still a chance he managed to escape the wreckage of the sub and swam to another beach somewhere. Alas, I don't think that's really the case. For one, Sayid was killed off-screen as well when the bomb blew up and there's no way he survived that and he's been a series regular since the pilot episode. Plus, Frank was cracked in the skull by a huge bulkhead in a compartment that quickly filled with water.

Is it possible for a human being to survive all of that? Theoretically, maybe there's a small, infinitesimal chance that someone could. But honestly, I think Frank's a goner. At least in this world. (I still wonder if perhaps he was flying Oceanic Flight 815 in the Lost-X timeline, rather than Seth Norris.)

The Candidate. Calfoodie.com asked, "Couldn't replacing Jacob be Sawyer or Hurley's destiny, or perhaps they will govern by committee? Live together."

Yes, the idea of living together and dying alone has been pervasive since the beginning of the series and a core thematic idea that has powered a lot of the conflict and inter-character dynamics in every installment. But I don't know that a group of people could succeed Jacob. While the rules about the island are still tantalizingly unclear, it seems as though it has to be one person's responsibility and that they have to sacrifice their own life in order to do so, promising to protect the island and act as the Nemesis' jailer until someone takes over for them, repeating the cycle.

Could the ultimate candidate be Sawyer or Hurley? In theory, sure. But it seems fairly certain that the last man standing should be Jack Shephard. The series began with him alone in the jungle, his eye opening with dawning realization, and I think it will end the same way, Jack alone, where he is meant to be.

Which isn't to say that the other two individuals aren't important or vital to the endgame of Lost, because they clearly are. If, for example, we believe in repeating patterns, the love triangle between Jack/Kate/Sawyer could shed light on the rivalry between Jacob and his Nemesis. Did they too tangle over the love of a woman?

Hurley has been acting as Jacob's mouthpiece since his death on the island and, even prior to that, Jacob placed an enormous amount of responsibility on Hurley, sending him back to the island with a list of the candidates... and continually reappearing to offer Hurley advice. Could it be that Hurley might serve as Jack's Richard Alpert? Hmmm...

The Bomb: Boom or No Boom? Patrick wrote, "It's been established that MIB can't kill the candidates but also that they can't kill themselves. If they had let the counter run down to zero after Sawyer pulled the wires, I don't think it would have blown because that would have amounted to Sawyer killing himself."

I think it all comes down to intentions. In removing the wires, Sawyer didn't intend to kill himself but to SAVE himself, an important distinction. The dynamite didn't explode when Richard lit the fuse because he wanted to die, not to live. Sawyer hoped to live, therefore it negated what I'll call the "death quotient" of the bomb. In removing those wires, he sought to protect the candidates and that provided a loophole that the Man in Black was able to use. Just as he knew that Sawyer would shut him out of the submarine, so too did he know that Jack would not be able to convince the skeptical Sawyer that the bomb wouldn't blow if they did nothing.

I think that Jack was right, however: the bomb wouldn't have gone off if they left it alone, just as the dynamite failed to explode. But tamper with the device for the RIGHT reasons and you can still get the WRONG outcome.

You might say then that Sayid killed himself. Which again, would be wrong, because Sayid didn't kill himself out of desperation or fear. Rather, he sacrificed himself in order to save the group. He achieved redemption in those moments, placing his own needs and continued existence behind those of the greater good. He served his purpose to the island and died a hero once more. He didn't kill himself but he did sacrifice himself, an important distinction that points towards the significance of self-sacrifice within the series' mythology.

Rose and Bernard. An anonymous commenter asked, "I don't think we've seen him or Rose this season, right? Where the hell are they?!"

Good question. Just where are married couple Rose and Bernard and where have they been this entire time. Last time we saw them they were living a semi-comfortable life of retirement in the jungles in the 1970s, having traveled through time with the rest of the castaways who didn't leave the island.

So where are they? I still say they are the Adam and Eve skeletons in the cave which the castaways found in Season One, buried by followers of Jacob in accordance to the beliefs of the island: with those black and white stones that indicate a balance between good and evil. Or they managed to move forward again in time to 2007 and are hanging out with Vincent somewhere.

Flight Numbers. Andy asked, "How many people really remember their flight number a week after the flight? I usually forget the flight number by the time I leave baggage claim (after having looked it up when I got there to figure out which carousel has my suitcase), and I'm a math nerd!"

Good point. It's a quibble but one that's a valid one, given the lack of surprise expressed by Jack as he begins to realize that everyone who keeps coming into his life in the Lost-X timeline was aboard Oceanic Flight 815. I never remember what flight I'm on, even when I'm flying on it but I'm going to say that this is just a writer's shorthand of getting to the point quickly and easily. These people recognize that they were on the same flight together. Having them remember the flight number just makes the point hit home more easily.

The End. Reader HipHopAnonymous sent in a very intriguing theory about the end of Lost, spurred on by my own theorizing and the fact that Lindelof and Cuse have been very vocal about not wanting to narratively allow for sequels or spinoffs:

Even if they destroy MiB-- whom I hope we can all agree now, is in fact malevolence incarnate...--if the island still remains this mysterious, magical place where miracles happen, then the story isn't really over. In a way, they already told us how the show was going to end last season when MiB says, "They come, they fight, they destroy, they corrupt; It always ends the same." To which Jacob replies, "It only ends once. Anything that happens before that is just progress."

Ergo, the yarn being woven here will come to an end when someone finally manages to break the above cycle of destruction and corruption on the island, perhaps by sacrificing themselves, or the island, or both. And given LOST's frequent biblical undertones, would it really be that surprising to see a finale wherein man loses paradise again?

Congratulations, HipHopAnonymous! You've managed to dazzle me by inverting my own theory about the ending. I've long believed that the Lost-X castaways needed to raise the island up and begin the cycle anew but you make a clear case about the importance of breaking repeating patterns.

You're right when you invoke Jacob's statement that it only ends once. If the island is a mythical place--call it Oz, Narnia, or Eden--than it would be fitting to see mankind lose access to the garden, be deprived of their Paradise (just call the series Paradise Lost then) and push them out of the kingdom of the magical and divine.

There has been a clear usage of religious motifs and metaphors throughout the six seasons of Lost but I also have a hard time wanting to see the series end on such a discordant note: for a series that has always asked its characters to make a leap of faith and believe in the impossible, to eliminate that possibility from their lives seems an awful downer of an ending.

Likewise, would the destruction of the island lead to the death of the Nemesis... or his release? Does there need to be a cork in the bottle, after all? Or does erasing the mystic potential of the island and the evil of the Nemesis balance the cosmic scales? By sacrificing its beauty and magic and its evil potential for destruction, do the possible actions of Jack and the surviving castaways (should there be any) allow for that balance? To allow the creation of a world where there is no "magic," but a mundane place where each of us must "let go" of our own issues and resolve them in order to achieve catharsis on our own, without the aid of a mystical island such as this?

Or would Lindelof and Cuse instead offer an ending that does allow for that possibility, for the belief that each of us can find our way back to Paradise, but that we'll each be tested along the way, by our previous actions and by our own attempts at redemption and prove ourselves worthy of both the journey and the destination?

Many questions to think about. I think that the finale will definitely see one or both islands change positions. There either needs to always be an island in the world or there can't ever be one ever again. The cycle will either start over again or be broken forever. Both of which are very, very intriguing possibilities to consider over the next few weeks. (Although I still think that island has to come up from the ocean floor.)

Come back Wednesday to discuss next week's episode and head to the comments section here to discuss any of the above thoughts, theories, or additional questions...

Next week on Lost ("Across the Sea"), the motives of the enigmatic Man in Black are revealed.