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Official Lost Podcast transcript/July 31, 2006

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A transcript is a retrospective written record of dialogue, and like a script (a prospective record) may include other scene information such as props or actions. In the case of a transcript of a film or television episode, ideally it is a verbatim record. Because closed-captioning is usually written separately, its text may have errors and does not necessarily reflect the true Canonical transcript. Jorge Garcia: Hey, this is Jorge Garcia, and you’re listening to the Official Lost Podcast, hosted by ABC.com. [Opening Lost Theme] Damon Lindelof: That’s good. I started that theory. Bryan Burk: Hi.

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A transcript is a retrospective written record of dialogue, and like a script (a prospective record) may include other scene information such as props or actions. In the case of a transcript of a film or television episode, ideally it is a verbatim record. Because closed-captioning is usually written separately, its text may have errors and does not necessarily reflect the true Canonical transcript. Jorge Garcia: Hey, this is Jorge Garcia, and you’re listening to the Official Lost Podcast, hosted by ABC.com. [Opening Lost Theme] Kris White: Welcome to a special summer edition of the Official Lost Podcast, hosted by ABC.com. Just recently, we traveled down to San Diego for Comic Con, 2006, where we gathered a lot of fan theories, cast interviews, and other video content, that we’ll be sharing with you in the upcoming weeks. Today, we’re bringing you a highlight from the Q&A section at Comic Con, where our panelists include executive producers Damon Lindelof, Carlton Cuse, and Bryan Burk, and joined by cast members Jorge Garcia and Daniel Dae Kim. But, before we go to the panel, don’t forget to check ABC.com for additional content, including a compilation of fan theories gathered at Comic Con and some video highlights taken from the panel, and, as promised, as we get closer to the Season 3 launch of Lost, we’ll have a video podcast with Damon and Carlton answering your fan questions. Until then, enjoy. Damon Lindelof: Our first year here was two years ago, when we premiered the show here. [Crowd cheers] And it was about half full… and it’s so surreal to see all the way back. And we can’t thank you enough for all your support. Thank you guys for coming out. [Crowd cheers] Panel Host: You know, there are a lot of amazing theories about the plotlines, and about the characters… a lot of stuff on the internet. I’m just curious—what’s the strangest theory each one of you has heard, either about a plotline or your character, on the internet? Carlton Cuse: Um… I think the strangest theory is that it’s all taking place in the dog Vincent’s mind. Damon Lindelof: It is also the correct theory. [Laughs] You heard it here first. Jorge Garcia: I once heard one that said that Hurley was Claire’s baby grown up, that was on the Island ahead of time. [Crowd laughs] Damon Lindelof: That’s good. I started that theory. Panel Host: Are you guys ready to start asking questions? Go right ahead. Damon Lindelof: We will try to be as non-evasive as possible. Fan 1: Fantastic. Hey, guys, thanks for making the most intelligent show on television. [Crowd cheers] Question on the mythology. I mean the Hatch, DHARMA, Hanso, the Others, the backstories… how much are you guys making it on the fly, how much of it is in a secret plan locked in a drawer, and how much do the actors get in on what’s going to happen? Damon Lindelof: [Sarcastic] We have never been asked that before. [Panel laughs] It’s quite honestly shocking. I think we should probably start with Jorge and Daniel, because as the actors getting the script, I’d be curious to feel what was their impression of how far ahead we plan it? Jorge Garcia: Well, we get a script about two to three days before we start shooting it, and that’s pretty much when we find out what happens in that episode. Carlton Cuse: Now, we actually do sit down, we do actually have an endpoint for the show, we have an overarching mythology for the show… we sit down before each season, as we did for this year, and we worked with all the writers, and we sort of planned out what our whole plan was for this season would be… but within that, there’s a lot of room for improvisation, and we feed back a lot on what the actors do, and what relationships develop. So, there’s sort of an overarching plan, but we also write the shows episode-by-episode and try to keep it organic by reacting to what we see on screen. Damon Lindelof: You know, the rule of thumb is, we never ask a question on the show, y’know, specifically, a mythology question, without knowing the answer to it… or else, we’re stumbling around blind. Y’know, where we are traditionally, the more organic the characters, the way they relate to one another… y’know, sometimes, we want the characters be enemies of one another, in the case of Season 1, Jin and Michael, Daniel and Harold’s characters, were supposed to be sworn enemies for the majority of the season… but we loved the chemistry of the actors, and we decided it makes much more sense for them to buddy up and be friends. So, you take a guy, who basically attacked another guy in the fourth episode of the year, and then, by the end, they’re on a raft together. So, you have to kind of look to what’s happening, and write to that as well. When it comes to the DHARMA Initiative and the deeper mythological foundation of the Island; the Others, specifically… you kind of have to know what you’re doing, and write to that, and hope that you won’t [bleep] up. [Crowd laughs] Fan 2: Hi, guys. Thank you so much. Jorge, I just have to say, I love you… [Crowd cheers] You kicked Josh’s ass, and it was great TV, so I thank you for that. [Crowd cheers] So, my question is: because of how huge your internet following is, you guys pretty much have immediate access to a ton of fan feedback. And I was just wondering, how much influence, if any, you feel that should have on the creative process. Carlton Cuse: You know, that has, it does have influence. We try not to get too influenced by it, but we… for instance, after Season 1, there was a lot of fan feedback that we didn’t answer enough questions, so when we set out to write the finale for Season 2, that was very much in our minds, and we tried to answer more questions in the Season 2 finale, and that was in response to internet feedback. Damon Lindelof: But, now, you know, you find yourself in a situation at the end of Season 2… it was too mythologically dense, the show’s getting maybe too complicated… and we have to sort of readjust again. So, the fans always determine the barometer. It’s the Goldie Locks thing, where the porridge is either too hot or too cold, but it’s never just right. And the fans are really there to tell us, to temperature gauge it, we’re wrapped in our little cocoon on the show, and there’s no one there to say “Stop! Go back.” Um… other than the most loyal fans, who are on the net and also, writing their own stuff… Carlton Cuse: And definitely the fans led to the new scheduling, and led to an enormous impact. Not with us only, but also with ABC. So, it was because of you guys, and complaining about the repeats, that ABC scheduled the show in this new two-pod configuration that we’re incredibly excited about. Now when Lost is on, it’s on, when it’s not on, it’s not on, there won’t be any confusion, there won’t be waits for weeks… and we’re designing… [Crowd cheers] And we’re designing the show in two distinct pods; the fall pod will sort of be like a little mini-series… and you know, it’s going to be great. Damon Lindelof: Thanks a lot. Fan 3: Hi, everybody. Thanks for coming. This is actually my first panel. Damon Lindelof: Wow. Congratulations. Fan 3: Ok. So, you guys are going to basically hate me, but… First season? Emmy-winning, awesome. Second season? Not nominated for best drama series. Were you surprised? Because I wasn’t. Damon Lindelof: Wow. [Crowd “Ooo”s, mixed reactions, some boos] Carlton Cuse: Whoah. Damon Lindelof: It’s ok, it’s ok. [Carlton laughs] Fan 3: No, honestly! I wanna know. Are you surprised? Damon Lindelof: Uh… we were… disappointed. And yes, a little bit surprised. In our estimation, we were very proud of Season 2. [Crowd cheers] Was it a “different” show than it was in Season 1? Absolutely. And Season 3 is going to be much different than Season 1 or 2. The show… it’s a new pilot every year… and although, I’m very eager to hear why you weren’t surprised, the idea that we were going into more sci-fi territory, that the show was going to be darker… we’re going into the Hatch, introducing the sort of DHARMA Initiative, Hanso Foundation of it all, etc… the reality of it is, y’know, Emmy-voters, is not necessarily a sci-fi crowd. For us, and this is not just throwing shout-outs to shows we love… why is Battlestar Galactica not in there either? That’s surprising. [Crowd cheers] I mean, why did they get no nominations? At least we got nine. I think that tells us something about y’know, what the tastes are. We can’t turn around and now say… screw the Academy, because they gave it to us last year. So, we feel really proud of Season 1. We want the drama from Season 1 to mean something. So we have to sort of take our licks and y’know… we don’t write the show to get Emmys. We write the show because we think it’s cool and we want you guys to like it… [Crowd cheers] And… that’s pretty much, it. Fan 3: Thank you. Damon Lindelof: Ok. If anyone wants to know why she wasn’t surprised, she’s sitting in the front row, third seat over from the right. [Crowd laughs] Fan 4: Hey guys, for the record, I was shocked that you guys didn’t get nominated. [Crowd cheers] Coming on the screen, it was not good… nearly woke up my neighbors at 5 in the morning. They were not happy. Anyways… Um… the first season, it took place during 48 days. Second season, was like 23? Do you guys have any idea of how long, for the entire series, how many days it’ll take place in? Carlton Cuse: You know, days? We never actually counted days. I mean, by the end of the show, hopefully we’ll have covered a lot of history, going back and forth… I mean, obviously, we saw that statue, that statue is kind of old? Damon Lindelof: At least 50 years old. [Crowd laughs] Carlton Cuse: At least… And probably, a little older? Damon Lindelof: Maybe, maybe. Carlton Cuse: And that was sort of… that, that was a signpost that the history of the Island may be a lot of um… more extensive than we’ve already dealt with on the show… so I think, by the time the show is done, we’ll have covered a lot of time. And um… in terms of how many days on the Island specifically, I dunno? 117? Damon Lindelof: It’s interesting that you should ask about time because… you know… you’re making a basic assumption that they’ve been there, y’know, as long as they think they’ve been there. [Crowd murmurs, someone says “Oh, no.”] I would say by the end of Season 3… that very different idea… Carlton Cuse: Stop right there, Damon, stop right there. Damon Lindelof: Well, I was just… Carlton Cuse: Stop right there. Nope, nope, no. Panel Host: Damon, the actors looked surprised when you said that! Damon Lindelof: Ok. Well, they came! They waited in line… [Crowd cheers] Fan 4: Thank you very much. Carlton Cuse: Sure. Thank you. Panel Host: Damon, the actors actually looked surprised when you said that. [Laughs] Damon Lindelof: Yeah… they’re just acting, though. [Laughs, crowd laughs] They know. Fan 5: Hi. I absolutely love the show, I just need to get that out of the way. Carlton Cuse: Thank you. Fan 5: Anyways, in a recent interview that Carlton did with Ausiello, he said that Season 3 was going to be more relationship based? And with all the feuding that’s battled back and forth between Skate and Jate, I was wondering if you were considering just getting all of them together and making “Sk-jate”? [Laughs] …And if that doesn’t work? Then I wanna see “Hate”, with Hurley and Kate. Damon Lindelof: Wow. [Crowd cheers] Carlton Cuse: Jorge got very excited about that. He’s trying to play it off now, but uh… Damon Lindelof: Would that be “Kurley”? Jorge Garcia: No, I think she said it would be “Hate”. Damon Lindelof: Oh. I like it. Jorge Garcia: But, you never know, that might be a dangerous thing for Kate, because um… the last girlfriend… [Crowd laughs] Carlton Cuse: Didn’t go so well… Jorge Garcia: It didn’t. Tragic. Carlton Cuse: No, we’re definitely having more romance on the show this year. It was something we tried to get to last year, but the storytelling didn’t… didn’t quite get to where we wanted to get to, so… yeah. That is coming up. And there’s a good reason why Jorge and Daniel are sitting next to each other. [Crowd cheers and laughs] Damon Lindelof: And I’m the one giving stuff away! Jorge Garcia: [Scottish accent] Get that “Jurley” boat a-sailin’! Fan 6: First, I wanted to say, that Daniel, you’re one of my favorite actors, I loved you on Angel, I loved you on Lost… you’re great. [Crowd cheers] Daniel Dae Kim: Thank you. That’s very kind of you, thank you. Fan 6: My question is… Matthew Fox’s character was supposed to die off in the first episode. Now you said that you have this “grand plan”. Has that affected the overall show, him living? Damon Lindelof: Y’know, at the… obviously, Jack living is a… fairly big deal. [Crowd laughs] But um, at the time that that decision was being made, we were probably only y’know, ten days into the development of the show. The conversations that started happening about the history of the Island, and what the final episode of the show was going to be, about who lived and who died… the sort of macro questions… didn’t really start until we were actually shooting the Pilot. As most of you know, from the moment that we sat down and started talking about Lost to the moment that we finished the two-hour Pilot, was roughly 11 weeks. So it was sort of like, “Should Jack die?” “No, Jack shouldn’t die.” “Hey, we should have a pregnant girl!” [Crowd laughs] So, all of those conversations were happening, and then once we were set and going to Hawaii and shooting the Pilot, as Daniel and Jorge could probably tell you… more so, with Daniel shooting the Pilot, we pulled the actors aside on the set and basically said “Here’s something that you should know about your relationship… This is from before the crash, this is what’s going on.” Yunjin needed to know that she spoke English. And that Daniel… this was a secret that she was keeping from her husband. Even though… we didn’t do that episode until… I guess that was the fourth episode of Season 1. So, when we had the information, we knew it. If Josh was reading a piece of paper and had an emotional reaction, he sort of needed to know what he was reading. So, as far as the flashbacks go, and the character depth, we knew a lot more in the Pilot, but we were still constructing the show. Carlton Cuse: And I would just add one other thing… who’s to say Jack isn’t dead? [Crowd “Aw”s] Damon Lindelof: I am. He’s alive! He’s kidding! Carlton Cuse: Kidding, yeah. Yeah. Damon Lindelof: For nowww… Carlton Cuse: Or not! [Crowd laughs] Jack Glatfelter: Hey guys. Damon Lindelof: Hi. Jack Glatfelter: I was just curious if next season, we were going to finally see the underwater hatch? Damon Lindelof: The underwater hatch? Jack Glatfelter: The underwater hatch. Damon Lindelof: What is… what is this underwater hatch of which you speak? [Crowd laughs] Jack Glatfelter: You know that cable? Carlton Cuse: The cable…! Ahh. Damon Lindelof: Oh, that’s interesting. Jack Glatfelter: They went to the right? Maybe swam out to check it out? Damon Lindelof: Well, I would not deny that there is an underwater hatch. Carlton Cuse: Yeah, I wouldn’t confirm it, but… [Someone cheers, crowd laughs] Damon Lindelof: Bryan? What are your thoughts? Bryan Burk: I’m… I don’t speak English. [Crowd laughs] Damon Lindelof: Are they… are they acting surprised about the underwater hatch? Poker face, they got it locked now. Jack Glatfelter: Thanks a lot, guys. Damon Lindelof: Our pleasure. [Jorge claps] Carlton Cuse: [Laughs] You’re applauding us for being evasive? [Laughs] Jorge Garcia: No, no, I knew that question was coming. [Crowd laughs] Damon Lindelof: He always does. Jay Glatfelter: I have a question. There’s a guy I know who thinks something… Damon Lindelof: He’s a liar. [Crowd laughs] Jay Glatfelter: He, he… Damon Lindelof: Before we proceed. Are you that guy? [Crowd laughs] Jay Glatfelter: No. No, it’s a guy I know… Damon Lindelof: Ok… we can talk honestly. [Crowd laughs] Jay Glatfelter: It’s not me, I swear! It’s a friend of mine… Damon Lindelof: Do you like-him like-him? Or… do you just like him… [Crowd laughs] What if I were to say, I would give this guy a hundred thousand dollars? [Crowd laughs] Jay Glatfelter: Well then, it would be me. Damon Lindelof: Then would it be you? [Crowd laughs] Jay Glatfelter: But um, he thinks that… Rose and Bernard worked for DHARMA? [Some laughs] So… I’m just trying to get the answers right now so I can stick it in this guy’s face. [Crowd laughs] Does Rose and Bernard work for DHARMA? Carlton Cuse: One moment please. [Panel pretends to confer for a second, crowd laughs] No. Jay Glatfelter: That’s all I want. [Crowd applauds] Damon Lindelof: Take that, GUY! Carlton Cuse: Yeah! GO GET HIM! Damon Lindelof: That’s ridiculous! [Crowd laughs] Rachel Blake: I have a question. Hello? Jorge Garcia: Very specific person in mind… Damon Lindelof: Hi. Carlton Cuse: Hi. Rachel Blake: Have you no shame? [Some crowd members shout "RACHEL!" and scream in delight] Damon Lindelof: What? Rachel Blake: [Slower, for emphasis] Have. You. No. Shame? Carlton Cuse: Well, I have a little shame… do you have shame, Damon? Damon Lindelof: I have no shame. Rachel Blake: Don't be cute. Tell us what you know about the Hanso Foundation. [Crowd erupts into applause] Damon Lindelof: The Hanso Foundation is a uh...is a...a philanthropic organization that we have co-opted for the purposes of Lost, we stuck it at the end of the orientation films, because we thought it would be fun... Rachel Blake: Those films are real! We deserve the truth. Damon Lindelof: No, no. Carlton Cuse: We came up with those films...we're writers... Rachel Blake: You're liars! [Crowd laughs] You're promoting them as some force for good, but they're not! Damon Lindelof: Look, um, you know how Dan Brown uses Opus Dei in The DaVinci Code... that’s how we… Rachel Blake: Oh my God. Okay, Stop. Since you claim not to know, why don't I fill you in? How about the name Joop, a 105 year old orangutan? [Crowd cheers] How about a fire in Iceland? Do you know anything about… [Off camera, panel is snickering and pretending to confer.] Stop. Stop that! Do you know anything about organ harvesting in Africa? How about the deaths of Hugh McIntyre and Darla Taft, from the Global Welfare Consortium? Damon Lindelof: There are other people waiting to ask questions, we have no connection... Rachel Blake: I'm sure that they want me to ask these questions. [Crowd cheers] Damon Lindelof: We have no connection with the Hanso Foundation. Rachel Blake: That's a lie! They run ads on your show. They're putting money in ABC's pockets to prove themselves as this great philanthropic organization?! Damon Lindelof: Well, I mean Maybelline runs ads on our shows and we're not part of the "International Makeup Global Consortium". [Crowd laughs] Rachel Blake: Stop it! You're protecting him. You're protecting a very real, very dangerous organization. Damon Lindelof: Look, it's not real! It's a television show! There is no Alvar Hanso! Rachel Blake: It is real! The Hanso Foundation is real! The DHARMA Initiative is real! Thomas Werner Mittelwerk is real, and what he's doing in Sri Lanka right now, he's doing terrible things… that's real. Where is Alvar Hanso? Damon Lindelof: He's an actor. Carlton Cuse: He's in a window in our TV show. Rachel Blake: Alvar Hanso is real and I am living proof of that and my name is Rachel Blake and I am real! [Crowd roars into applause] And if you want the truth, you will go to hansoexposed.com! [Rachel turns to face crowd and shows her shirt with the website URL on it, then she turns to face stage again and points to the individual panel members] You have blood on your hands! You have blood on your hands and you have blood on your hands and YOU DISGUST ME! YOU DISGUST- [Rachel is led out by security, who appear to be young females, crowd is cheering and applauding] Damon Lindelof: Thank you, thanks. Carlton Cuse: That was lovely. Wow. Damon Lindelof: Thank you. That was, that was great. Carlton Cuse: Jorge, what did you do to piss them off? Jorge Garcia: There are some tough looking security guards here, huh? Damon Lindelof: Yeah, aren’t they? [Laughs] Carlton Cuse: Wow. Ok. Damon Lindelof: Alrighty then. Panel Host: Should we keep going? Damon Lindelof: Next question. Carlton Cuse: Wow. Fan 9: Next question, wow, that’s not going to be an easy one to follow up. Carlton Cuse: Well, maybe if you take your shirt off, it’ll… [to male fan] Fan 9: No, no, no. Um, I’m interested… first of all, thank you guys, I enjoy the show, very entertaining, thank you very much… um, I’ve been watching a lot of theories, and we’ve all heard theories about they’re dead, they’re alive, they’re in purgatory… all of that. And within the last week, I’ve come across something that I’ve never seen before on my own, which is, some theories behind “The Land of Oz”. And I was wondering what kind of um… [Crowd laughs] Check it out yourselves. I was wondering, how steeped are you in the 100 years or so we have in Oz? Damon Lindelof: If you play Pink Floyd’s “Dark Side of the Moon” from the beginning of our Pilot… from the very first appearance of the Lost opening title… just as the “O” is approaching the screen, if you start it there… it’ll completely sync up. [Crowd laughs] Fan 9: So, no coincidence to the Land of Oz being an invisible island in the Pacific, or that compass roses don’t work on the Island? Damon Lindelof: There are obviously Oz references on the show. Henry Gale is Dorothy’s uncle Henry. And obviously, he had a balloon that came there. And there have been other Oz references on the show that have been either incredibly meaningful, or uh… they don’t mean anything at all. As to sitting here, and basically saying “You’ve cracked it.” Uh… Carlton Cuse: Not likely that’s going to happen. Damon Lindelof: Yeah, I don’t think that’s going to happen. But uh… Fan 9: Not looking for that. Carlton Cuse: It’s an interesting theory. Damon Lindelof: Yes. It is indeed. Fan 9: Thank you guys. Damon Lindelof: Well done. Thank you. [Scattered applause] Fan 10: Thanks for coming out… my question is… I know that the Lord of the Rings cast all got tattoos that are the same… have the Lost cast thought of doing something you know, in unison? To kind of cement the fact that you’re like the greatest cast on right now… [Audience cheers] Jorge Garcia: Well, we haven’t agreed on the design yet. We’ve only agreed on placement. [Crowd and panel laugh] Fan 10: Thank you. Fan 11: I was wondering, what Sawyer nicknames can we expect in the future? [Jorge laughs] I was hoping for a Locke and Luther reference perhaps? Damon Lindelof: What was the second part? Fan 11: Sawyer could call Locke Lex Luther? Damon Lindelof: Yeah, that’s sort of actually a good idea. Carlton Cuse: We have three writers that just sit around all day and come up with Sawyer’s insults and nicknames. That’s they’re full time job. Damon Lindelof: There is an amazing feature, if I may give the DVD a shout-out on the Lost Season 2 DVD, where we have edited together every single insult that Sawyer has ever thrown out. [Crowd cheers] Carlton Cuse: It’s astonishing when you hear them all together. Damon Lindelof: You can sit at home and play with your friends and try to figure out who he’s talking to. [Jorge laughs] Fan 11: Thank you. Damon Lindelof: Thank you. Fan 12: I’m a researcher who works with the spinal cord and internalization. I’m just wondering if you’ve already looked into the explanations for curing paralysis, and if we’re going to see why John Locke is paralyzed, and coming up, maybe… how the Island is going to solve that in a realistic, slightly logical fashion. [Crowd laughs] Carlton Cuse: Everything but the last part. [Panel laughs] No, well, yeah… we are definitely going to be back in the world of um… Jack’s role as a spinal surgeon this year. As well as… the mystery of Locke and why he’s in the wheelchair is obviously a question that we have not yet answered, but we’re not going to tell you exactly when, but we are going to explain that eventually. Damon Lindelof: You will know definitively. And one of the first things we talked about the very first time we came was… the sort of idea of the show dancing between the supernatural and actual science. And, as far as the Island’s healing abilities, Locke’s ability to walk, and the fact that Rose was cured… and many other sort of island mysteries, we’re going to be… it’s going to get a little scientific this year, which will be fairly cool. We want to be able to bounce between those sorts of ideas, between reality and fiction. So hopefully, you will be satisfied. Fan 12: Well, thank you very much, and from the scientific community, I appreciate it. Damon Lindelof: And we thank the scientific community. [Crowd laughs] Carlton Cuse: Good question. Damon Lindelof: It was a good question, I agree. Fan 13: I was wondering if you could tell us a little bit about the mobisodes, and in particular, will I need to get a new phone to see them? Carlton Cuse: Hm. Technically, I don’t know if you’ll need a new phone to see them, but… Damon Lindelof: I don’t think so. I think the deal is with Verizon, and then they’re partnering up with Sprint and other carriers, so if you have a phone that has vid-streaming capabilities, you’ll be able to watch it, it’s just a matter of… you might have to wait a day or two behind the people who have the first deal. But we don’t wanna… we want all the fans of the show to be able to see it. And then, a week after they’re available on phones, you’ll be able to watch them on the net. So… [Crowd applauds] free of charge. Carlton Cuse: And, they’re… our goal is to try to get them done so that they will fall in that period between our two pods of episodes. So they’ll be leaving some content between the six episodes in the fall and the episodes they run in the spring. Panel Host: How many are you guys going to do? Damon Lindelof: The plan right now is to do thirteen. And they’re very short, they’re just a couple of minutes each but… I think when the fans see what it is… Everybody keeps saying “What are the mobisodes, how is it going to work… you guys have just seen a little taste of it here, but we think it’s really really cool. We didn’t want to do anything… it’s been really hard to get them off the ground, because we didn’t want to do anything that was a waste of your time. Even two minutes, y’know, if it’s lame, who cares. So, we feel like… if you’re going to take the time to download it and watch it, then it should give you something that, that the show is not giving you or enhances your involvement of the show… [At this point the audio transmission squelches and is abruptly interrupted and Rachel Blake is heard with a male saying “Is this on?” “Hurry up and just read the code.” “Ok, the code is ‘V-I-X-7-Z-X-T-9-7’, repeat, ‘V-I-X-7-Z-X-T-9-7’” “Rachel, hurry up, go!” “Go, go, go!” (This turns out to be just another glyph code for HansoExposed.com, as just another clue in TLE; it cut off Fan 14's question about where they got the inspiration for different characters)] Damon Lindelof: …The, y’know, in the case of different characters, Hurley didn’t exist until J.J. saw Jorge in an episode of Curb Your Enthusiasm. [Crowd cheers] Y’know, that show is on on a Sunday night, and he came on the next day and said, “Did you watch Curb Your Enthusiasm last night?” And I said, “Yeah. That was really funny” He said, “That guy has to be on the show.” So, the part didn’t even exist… this is sort of in the spirit of Jack dying… So, Jorge, who could probably tell the story much more humorously… when we asked him to come in and read, there was no character Hurley. Is that… your recollection, sir? Jorge Garcia: Right, I read Sawyer’s lines when I came in. [Crowd laughs] Uh… I didn’t think I was up for Sawyer, it was just kind of to like give him a taste. And I guess I was kind of just chattin’ it up. And then they… wrote the part for me, and… Damon Lindelof: You got the part. It didn’t exist. Was written for you. Carlton Cuse: We tailor the… I think this is a very important fact about Lost from other television shows. We tailored the characters to the actors who we cast. So, as we are looking to add new characters as last year this year, we sort of have a general notion of what the characters we’d like should be, and then as we find the actors we like, we then start filling in the specific details to fit that person. I mean, Adewale was a great example. We knew we wanted to introduce an African character and we… our initial notion was that he was going to be a priest, but then after we sort of sat with Adewale and got a sense of him, it became more complex, and then thus, it evolved into a story where… his brother was a priest and that he was ultimately masquerading as a priest and the stick was his idea. Damon Lindelof: And yeah… Carlton Cuse: The stick is also going to have its own flashbacks. [Crowd laughs] Damon Lindelof: As a young acorn. The… Carlton Cuse: Acorns don’t turn into sticks, Damon. Damon Lindelof: The… [Crowd laughs] You’re right. The, the uh, there’s a constant dialogue happening between the actors and the producers and the writers, sometimes directly, sometimes indirectly. And very much, the actors experience playing the part and often, this sort of echoes the character. So, for this season, anybody who’s reading anything about the show… sort of aware of the fact that Terry O’Quinn was very frustrated. In terms of, here’s a guy who, Season 1, he’s running around the jungle, he knows all the answers, he’s on an axis of destiny, he finally, the Island has provided him an answer, and the answer is that he has to sit at a computer every 108 minutes and push a button. And this button frustrates him. Over the course of the season, both Locke and Terry get frustrated and he would say to us, “I want a knife in my hand! And kill things again!” So we said, “Oh, you’ll get your knife back, John Locke.” So, Season 3, we think will be really exciting… but you know, sometimes as writers, we have to frustrate the actors in order to tell the larger story. Carlton Cuse: Just as a final thing, we realize that Daniel speaks English. Which is… Daniel Dae Kim: Don’t tell anybody. [Crowd laughs] Carlton Cuse: Maybe we’ll see more of that. Daniel Dae Kim: And, once they realized that I was Korean, they started writing more Korean… so if I were Caucasian, I think Jin would probably be… Swedish? [Crowd laughs] Damon Lindelof: That’s right. Carlton Cuse: He was Swedish. Damon Lindelof: It was very weird because he was from Korea and married to a Korean woman… Jorge Garcia: It’s like, when you guys found out that I was like… crazy. And you started writing all that stuff? [Crowd laughs] Damon Lindelof: Right. That too. Fan 14: Thank you. Carlton Cuse: We weren’t going to talk about that, Jorge. Damon Lindelof: Exactly. Carlton Cuse: You took your pills there before this, didn’t you? They only have to last for six more minutes… Damon Lindelof: We thought your lawyer said that it was inappropriate when we talked about that…[Jorge laughs] I guess the gloves are off! Fan 15: Hi, my name is Stewart, and I’m a Lostaholic. Damon Lindelof: Everybody. Hi, Stewart. [Crowd repeats “Hi, Stewart.”, laughs] Fan 15: Sorry, I’m really nervous just even talking to you guys, but… Jorge, I love you so much, man. I can’t put it into words. Jorge Garcia: Thank you. The wrist band’s a great touch too. Fan 15: Oh, I’m actually cos-playing as you later at the masquerade ball, that’s why I’m… [Shows off costume, crowd applauds] Jorge Garcia: Breath, brother, breath. Fan 15: I know I have to ask a question so… Damon, how do you intend to only let the show go onto how you want it to, and not let the executives drag it out any longer than that… and what about the rumors of possibly ending the show with a movie? Damon Lindelof: Uh, there’s another question we never get asked. The… basically, it’s a very slippery slope. Um, one of the things we always talk about is the X-Files, which is… there was a plan to do x-number of seasons and then end it in a movie… and from our understanding, that was the original plan, but when a show is successful, the networks, the powers that be… we’re in a business. So the fact that the show does get good ratings is the reason that we’re all here right now. So we’re sort of in a catch-22 scenario. So, all we can do is… stick to the original plan. We have at least, for probably five awesome seasons planned out… and from that point, obviously after that, we’d have to start tap-dancing. Which is something that we just don’t want to do. Y’know, two years from now, will we be in a climate where ABC or Touchstone says, “Ok, we’ll let you end it, and what is the give in return?” We don’t know. Obviously, that is our preference as story-tellers, but ultimately, it’ll sort of be up to us to sort of put our foot down and say, “Fine, you can do more episodes of Lost, but we’re not going to have anything to do with it…” It’s hard for us to do that, because we don’t want to hang any of the writers, or fans, or crew out to dry… Daniel Dae Kim: Or the actors? Damon Lindelof: Or the actors. [Crowd laughs] Carlton Cuse: Oh yeah, it’s the unfortunate dilemma of “now we’re television”… We wish we could announce like J.K. Rowling that there were 7 Harry Potter books, and you’d sort of have that definitive sense when it’s going to come to a conclusion. We struggle all the time with a developed mythology, but not knowing how it’s going to play out… yet, the network invests a lot of money in the show, and yet it’s their business, too… and their absolute right to make money off this endeavor. That’s what they’re in business to do. Damon Lindelof: We could… there could be a plan that we all together in this room, if we all promise not to tell anyone… [Laughter] that we just stop watching the show in the 4th Season… and just… wait for the DVD. But then they’d go, “Oh, nobody’s buying the watching it anymore” and cancel it, and then we’d end it. But… the reality of ending it on our own terms is unrealistic. So we have to sort of think around corners a little bit. [Someone shouts out “Zombie Season 7!”] Yeah, zombies… and when in doubt… zombies. [Crowd laughs] Fan 15: Thank you for just… doing what you guys do. Damon Lindelof: Oh, thank you, man. [Crowd applauds] Thank you for your Lostaholism. Fan 16: Hey you guys, you’re absolutely amazing. Thank you for getting me to watch TV… it’s amazing what you guys have done. My question is for anyone… if this is possible to answer… What exactly is the literal translation of those hieroglyphics? Damon Lindelof: The literal translation of the… five resolved? Basically, hieroglyphics, each character means something separate, but those five hieroglyphics together are the symbol for “Underworld”… in Egyptian. Carlton Cuse: But they are subject to interpretation. But that’s sort of the closest translation. Fan 16: Awesome. And, second of all, could we get a Hurley hug, by any chance? Damon Lindelof: Wow. Not from Jorge. [Jorge laughs] Carlton Cuse: Bryan will give you a Hurley hug. Damon Lindelof: [Laughs] Even after you heard about the crazy thing? Oh, even more? Thank you guys. Carlton Cuse: No, no, we’re kidding, come up here. [Two young ladies invited up on stage to hug Jorge] Jorge Garcia: This is Carlton, pimping me out. Carlton Cuse: Ok, here we go. [Crowd cheers as they get a hug] Fan 17: You’re so sweet! Jorge Garcia: Alright, they asked first, so that’s it. Fan 17: Alright, first off? A big shout-out from The Fuselage. [Crowd cheers] Damon Lindelof: Shouted out back. Carlton Cuse: Shout back. Fan 17: And news flash for Daniel… I don’t know if they’ve heard, but the U2 concert in Honolulu has been rescheduled to December 9th. And Pearl Jam is opening! Daniel Dae Kim: Wow! Now that’s a show. I’ll see you all there! Fan 17: [Laughs] Ok, my question… hi Bryan. Bryan Burk: Hi. Fan 17: ‘Cause I want you to answer it. What kind of additional casting are we going to have anymore sequences off the Island? Since we finally… at least, we think we made it off the Island at the end of the season. Bryan Burk: Well, unless it’s snowing on the Island, we definitely made it off the Island for the first time. Um… there’s going to be new regulars on the show on the Island this year… we’re still in the middle of casting some of them. So it’s all unofficial right now. But um… our cast-mates will definitely see new people. Carlton Cuse: Um, we have said, if you guys haven’t heard, Desmond will be back on the show this year. [Fan whoops and crowd cheers wildly] Fan 17: And, the only acting Emmy nomination. Damon Lindelof: Sorry? Fan 17: He was the only acting Emmy nomination… and a lot of people were like… “Why didn’t Daniel or Jorge get a nomination?” As if he didn’t earn it… but I think he did earn it… Carlton Cuse: No, but I mean, that was really painful to see. We have so many awesome actors on the show. And we were so surprised that we didn’t get more nominations for our cast. [Crowd applauds] Fan 17: Alright, thank you. Damon Lindelof: Thank you. Fan 18: Alright. This is a yes or no question? Carlton Cuse: No. Damon Lindelof: Yes. [Crowd laughs] Fan 18: Is the Monster a cloud of nanobots? Carlton Cuse: [Laughing] Is this the same guy from last year? Damon Lindelof: Did you ask that question last year? Fan 18: No, that wasn’t me. Damon Lindelof: Man, if I had a nickel for every time I got asked the nanobot question. Uh… NO. It is not a cloud of nanobots. Sorry. Carlton Cuse: But, at least we were honest. Damon Lindelof: See you next year. [Laughs] You look so disappointed. He waited on line forty minutes for that. Fan 19: Hey. When is Sun going to have Michael’s baby? [Crowd laughs] Damon Lindelof: Wow. Carlton Cuse: Wow. Damon Lindelof: How did you no? [Faking talk show audience person] Oh, no you didn’t! Daniel Dae Kim: I’m personally offended by that. [Crowd laughs] Fan 19: Sorry. Damon Lindelof: Well, going back to the earlier question about how each season takes approximately thirty days of real time… I’d say somewhere in the range of Season 13. Season 14? I dunno. [Crowd laughs] Carlton Cuse: Although, I like your… R.I.P. Ana Lucia shirt there. [Crowd cheers] Damon Lindelof: Let’s just say that there will be zombies in the delivery room. Fan 19: Thank you. Damon Lindelof: Thank you. Fan 20: I just want to ask. When the heck is Kate going to get with somebody? Carlton Cuse: Very soon! Very soon, we promise. Fan 20: You promise? Carlton Cuse: Promise. Damon Lindelof: It depends what you mean by “get with”. Carlton Cuse: Yeah. I think you know what she means by “get with”, Damon. Don’t be playing coy. Don’t be getting her to say things in front of like five thousand people that she doesn’t want to say. [Crowd laughs] Damon Lindelof: It’s a family audience. But yeah, she is uh… within the first six episodes, there’s going to be… she’ll be officially making her selection. [Crowd cheers] Fan 20: Also, are we going to see any of Ana Lucia and Libby, in any of the flashbacks in third season? Carlton Cuse: Um. I think characters on our show like Christian Shephard, Jack’s father, if you’re dead, that doesn’t mean you don’t get a lot of story-time. So, let’s just say that there’s still things to be told… particularly about Libby, that we hope to get to. Damon Lindelof: We really loved working with Cynthia Watros and Michelle Rodriguez, and sometimes the story demands casualties, in the case of Michelle, we had… despite great cynicism amongst some people, we really had planned that out as a one-season arc. With Cynthia, as much as we valued her as an actor, when we came to that point, we thought it would just be more intriguing to have Libby die before she could sort of reveal all the answers to these questions. But obviously, we’ve left the audience dangling. We know she was in a mental institution, and we know she gave Desmond the boat, but we have a lot of blanks to fill in. And some of those blanks will be filled in the course of Season 3, and some beyond. Fan 20: Thank you. Damon Lindelof: Thank you. [Applause] Fan 21: My question is for Jorge… is Hurley going to get any better luck? Jorge Garcia: Uh, how is that question for me? [Panel laughs] Damon Lindelof: You can’t get worse luck. Jorge Garcia: There’s like three people at this table that know what’s happening in Season 3, and two of them are not us. Damon Lindelof: Would you like more luck? Jorge Garcia: Better luck? Damon Lindelof: Yeah. Carlton Cuse: You know, better luck isn’t really all that dramatic. Damon Lindelof: We can make that happen for you. Carlton Cuse: How much luck would you like? Damon Lindelof: Oh, look, a clover. Jorge Garcia: I like that. Damon Lindelof: Hurley finds a clover. Fan 21: Thank you. Fan 22: First, I really love the podcasts that you and Damon are doing. And I was wondering, when you do commentaries for the DVD and everything, are you going to do the podcasts on them, or are you going to do new commentaries, or…? Carlton Cuse: Uh, for the Season 2 DVDs, we recorded separate commentaries. We all collectively did one for the first episode of the show for Season 2, yeah, there are a number… Damon Lindelof: We did one for “23rd Psalm” and the writers and directors are t—did you do one commentary, too? Jorge Garcia: I did one for “Dave”. Daniel Dae Kim: I did one. Yunjin and I did one as well. Damon Lindelof: We try to have commentary tracks on at least a third of the episodes. Carlton Cuse: There a little more on-point, because we’re actually watching the show, so we’re not digressing about Damon not wearing any pants or anything… Damon Lindelof: Which I’m NOT. [Crowd laughs] Carlton Cuse: There was a lot of discussion backstage about whether Damon was going to wear his pants or not wear his pants… but he chose to wear his pants. Jorge Garcia: He’s wearing pants, but they’re not his pants. Fan 22: Yeah, thank you. Damon Lindelof: They’re Daniel’s pants. [Crowd laughs] Fan 23: Yeah, so many questions, and I can only choose one. Um… Damon Lindelof: Don’t choose that one. [Crowd laughs] The next one! Fan 23: Um, I guess I’ll find out from a MySpace URL… But, um… I heard J.J.’s going to have a little more involvement in Season 3? If you could let me or some of the J.J. fans know, let us know how that involvement is? Carlton Cuse: Um, J.J. is going to co-write the premier episode, and he’s hopefully going to direct the 7th episode, which will be the first episode of the, y’know the second pod of shows. Fan 23: Well, thank you. Conspiraspies unite! [Crowd cheers] Damon Lindelof: Thank you. Fan 24: Hi, uh, first off, Daniel and Jorge? My favorite characters of all on the show… so, really good job. But my… the production staff? You’re the only reason why I turn on the TV just to watch Lost. Carlton Cuse: Well, thanks, man. Damon Lindelof: Thank you so much. Fan 24: But my question is… ‘cause we didn’t get to see a flashback for Libby… is she gonna be like in most of the characters flashbacks that they’re gonna have? Carlton Cuse: Well, I mean, that would be how we would tell her story. So, sort of the example of Christian Shephard, who was dead at the beginning of the show, so… but we learned his story by watching Jack’s flashbacks… and even seeing him in other characters’ flashbacks as well, so that might be one way that we could see more of Libby’s story. Damon Lindelof: You know, we have a hard and fast rule on the show, that we will always stick… that is, when a character dies on the show, they’re dead. The only time you’ll see them again is in someone else’s flashback. So, um, we do that because we want the stakes on the Island to be real—there are characters who have died who have appeared in other people’s memories. I think if we were to tell you that you would see Libby again, the sort of intriguing question would be—well, who did she cross paths with that you already know? And that would be how you would be seeing her again. Carlton Cuse: Thank you. Damon Lindelof: Thanks a lot. Fan 24: Thank you. Fan 25: Hey, what’s up, guys? Carlton Cuse: Hey, man. Damon Lindelof: How are ya? Fan 25: I just wanted to say, thanks for the five minutes of the poker scene… with Sawyer and… [Fan cheers] That was sick, man! And Jorge, I wanted to ask… how was Bill Hellmuth as a person, was he a cool guy? Damon Lindelof: Who? Jorge Garcia: Who? Fan 25: Bill Hellmuth. When he taught you in the… Jorge Garcia: Really cool guy! Fan 25: Now, for the big guys out there on the right side, I was just wondering if there’s anything that goes along with the rich powerful fathers, like Sun’s dad, Jack’s dad, Locke’s dad, Libby’s husband… are they all like, have anything to do with the DHARMA Initiative or…? Carlton Cuse: Uh… you know that I think father issues are very much a part of the show. Dramatically, that is something that we deal with extensively. And if you look at the characters on the show, a lot of the characters have “daddy issues”. And that is sort of a thematic thread, and something that is very much a part of how we come up with stories and how we break stories. Damon Lindelof: But, you know, there are obviously… one of the things that we love writing and we feel that fans that watch the show very closely is realizing at what level do certain characters connect to one another? And there are connections between Mr. Paik and various other parties that are sort of being alluded to… not on the internet, but maybe gradually as we begin sort of moving towards it on the show… You’re asking the right question, but we’re certainly not going to confirm or deny it right here. Fan 25: Thanks, guys. Damon Lindelof: Thanks. Panel Host: We have time for one more question. Carlton Cuse: Ooh. [“Aww”s from audience] No pressure, though. Fan 26: Alright, everyone’s telling me to ask this. Is there anything we can look forward to in Season 3 and general information you can give us? Carlton Cuse: Well, there’s a good question. [Audience shouts out of range] Damon Lindelof: What’s that? [Inaudible shouts, laughter] That’s Season 4. [Inaudible shout about Hurley] That’s ALL of Season 5. [Crowd laughs] This is all gold. Jorge Garcia: I might not be naked. Carlton Cuse: We always welcome your suggestions. Damon Lindelof: We’re really excited about Season 3, and one of the things is, it’s going to be a vastly different feeling from the two seasons that preceded it, but at the same time, we’re sort of reembracing the roots that we love about the show. We feel that there’s going to be a lot more adventure elements in Season 3. Obviously, it’s incredibly exciting to us that Kate and Jack and Sawyer have all been captured by these Other people. So finally, we have an opportunity to learn more about these Other people, who they are, where they came from, why they captured Kate, Jack and Sawyer, but more importantly, this idea of telling an adventure story, and this captivity story, and that’s really going to be a big piece of at least the first six episodes, the sort of mini-series event. And then something is going to happen about mid-way through the year that will effectively fry everybody’s brain. So, if it doesn’t… we’ll once again get cries of jumping the shark, but y’know, as we always say, once we stop trying to jump the shark, the show is going to become incredibly boring and this element has been sort of always part of the DNA of the show. So, we’ve got a lot of factors coming back—Desmond, and Locke and Eko, what happened to them down there, and how did they survive, if they survived. Carlton Cuse: And, we’re going to have a lot more of… truly, we’ll have a lot more emphasis on the character relationships and romance on the show this year. We’re going to be introducing new characters on the show this year, and the mystery of who they are and where they came from, and what their flashback stories are will be a part of the show, and obviously, the end of last season, we did something that we haven’t done for the first 49 hours of the show, we took you to the outside world. And that was very significant for laying the scenes for the whole new element that is going to come into the show… and obviously, the Penny and Desmond relationship, the kind of… that scene teed up something that will become significant in the show this year as well. So, we’re actually really excited. We have a cool game plan and we see each of the seasons of the show as like a book, like in the Harry Potter series. I mean, each one has its own character and its own story. This season will in a lot of ways be about our characters’ interactions with the Others and we’ll get to know a lot about their society… but as Damon said, with a real action-adventure-type orientation. Damon Lindelof: AND naked Hurley and Jin. [Crowd cheers] All that. Alrighty. Do we have, one more or… Panel Host: Do we have time? [Crowd members shout “One more!”] One more. Damon Lindelof: Alright, the final question. Fan 27: What’s up? Damon Lindelof: That’s it. Fan 27: My name is Joanne, and I am a Lostaholic. [Panel says hello] I love you all, like Daniel and Jorge, you guys are awesome on so many levels. Give it up! Jorge Garcia: Thank you. Daniel Dae Kim: Thank you. Fan 27: What I wanna know is like, Alex, Rousseau’s daughter, are you bringing her back next year? Are you going to develop more of her character? Because she helped Claire escape, and I wanna know if she’s good, bad, I’m really confused because, y’know. Carlton Cuse: Well, she is part of the Others’ community, and we’re going to spend a lot of time exploring that community, so… Damon Lindelof: I would wanna see Alex. Carlton Cuse: Yeah, if I was a fan of the show, I’d be very mad if I didn’t see Alex. Fan 27: Like, what’s the name of the first episode? [Crowd cheers “Yeah!”] Damon Lindelof: The first episode is called "A Tale of Two Cities". Carlton Cuse: Really? Damon Lindelof: Yes. Carlton Cuse: Alright. Well, thank you guys so much. This is awesome. [Everyone cheers] Damon Lindelof: Thank you guys! Thank you guys so much. Panel Host: Give it up for Lost! [More cheering] Kris White: That concludes this edition of the Official Lost Podcast. Join us again in a few weeks for a special video interview with Jorge Garcia and Daniel Dae Kim at the unveiling of Todd McFarlane’s latest toy, modeled after none other than… Jorge himself. And as always, don’t forget that you can find lots of Lost extras at Lost.abc.com. [End Lost Theme]