Hydra Island Weekend: LOST - MISSING PIECES!

My retrospective on LOST is returning next week with a look back at Season Four!  Apologies for the Halloween-induced hiatus after Season Three, but in a way, it’s fitting and representative of what the LOST viewing experience was really like.  After all, the normal three-month wait between seasons extended to an almost eight month pause in 2007, as the show transitioned from starting in the fall to premiering in the winter.

During that brutal break, the Powers That Be did their best to make the wait a little less unbearable with a series of short bonus LOST scenes that you could access from your cell phone (known as “mobisodes”).  So, in order to make your wait a little less unbearable, here’s a bonus article all about those mobisodes!  Ah, the verisimilitude!  Enjoy!

It’s almost impossible to imagine now, but a time existed in most of our lifetimes when consuming content over a cell phone was a strange novelty rather than a normality.  Hell, it wasn’t that long ago that watching a movie or TV show on a phone screen was literally impossible; if were born in the 80’s or 90’s, I want you to imagine the first five cellular phones you ever owned and try to visualize watching THE LORD OF THE RINGS on any of those screens.  But that’s a thing you can do now!  There’s a strong argument to be made that you maybe shouldn’t, but there’s absolutely nothing stopping you from trying.

Before technology reached that point, however, most companies stumbled through the 2000’s trying to figure out how to push content onto these increasingly-common cellular devices.  The topic of today’s article covers one of the more notable, if increasingly obscure, attempts in 21st century television.

Ladies and gentlemen, LOST: MISSING PIECES.

LOST: MISSING PIECES was a thirteen-part series that aired during the winter of 2007/08, with the intention of expanding the increasingly expanding mythology of LOST.  What they wound up being were, basically, a dozen glorified deleted scenes, some more interesting than others.  The extra gimmick was that they would first become exclusive to Verizon customers, who would get access to these scenes (dubbed “mobisodes”, a clumsy portmanteau of “mobile episodes”) a week before everyone else.  Not world-beating, but then, it wasn’t really advertised as anything other than a distraction during the extended hiatus between Season Three and Four.

What’s interesting, and slightly disappointing, is how much ambition this project had in its initial conception.  The first notion of a LOST mobisode series actually occurred in November 2005, where it was announced that there would be twenty-two mobile episodes being produced, six of which would be exclusive to the Season Two DVD.  Even cooler, the initial concept was that the twenty short-ish episodes would combine to tell a story of a pair of two previously-unintroduced survivors of the plane crash (which sounds to me like the concept that would eventually become Nikki and Paulo in Season Three).

Less cool is the fact that baked into this premise was the specific move of hiring two non-SAG members for these characters, which led to a bunch of pushback from all three creative unions (actors, director’s, writers).  Keep in mind that this was just a year or two prior to the WGA striking over the issue of residuals for online content.  Eventually, the studio brokered a deal with the guilds to provide residuals for this project, then titled THE LOST VIDEO DIARIES.  This prompted Damon Lindelof and Carlton Cuse to pivot to using established LOST actors, abandoning the non-SAG idea.  Although this revamped VIDEO DIARIES project moved far enough along to get a promo during the 2006 San Diego Comic Con, no formal contract agreements were ever made with the core LOST cast, and the year came and went with no mobisodes.

Finally, finally in November of 2007, the mobisodes began to be released, fully produced by ABC Studios and (with one exception) created from scratch by notable LOST writers (Lindelof and Cuse, Elizabeth Sarnoff, Christina M. Kim, Edward Kitsis & Adam Horowitz, Brian K. Vaughan, Drew Goddard).  The driving force behind each mobisode was the opportunity to expand on moments that the show hadn’t previously provided the time for.  Beyond the studio support and notable names behind the scripts, the direction of Jack Bender and the participation of every LOST actor you could possibly have wanted added a lot of legitimacy to the now-titled LOST: MISSING PIECES.

But were they any good?  Sometimes!  But not always.  Let’s go through them one by one and you’ll see what I mean. Watch along if you’d like.

1. “The Watch” 

Christian gifts Jack a family watch the day before his wedding.

Don’t ever accuse LOST: MISSING PIECES of being extraneous material!  Right off the bat, we’re answering questions set up all the way in the pilot.  We now know DEFINITIVELY where Jack got that watch he was wearing the day of the crash.  Turns out…his dad gave it to him as a wedding present!  Hot damn!

Look, I’m clearly being a dick, but “The Watch” does kind of establish what you’re in for with these.  It’s not bad; more scenes of John Terry and Matthew Fox interacting is never bad.  But it doesn’t really deepen your understanding of LOST in any meaningful way.  We’ve seen Jack talk with his dad the day before his wedding (in the far superior scene by the hotel pool, as Jack struggles to write his vows).  Yes, I suppose if you really wanted to justify this, you could look at the passing down of the watch as yet another instance of Christian passing on his bullshit to his son.  But it would only be another instance; LOST proper had already dramatized this to great effect.  And at only ninety seconds or so, how far is one willing to go to justify “The Watch” as an essential piece of LOST media?

2. “The Adventures of Hurley and Frogurt”

Neil antagonizes Hurley over his impending beach date with Libby.

Ah, yes, Neil “Frogurt”, the third entry in the trilogy of “Background Characters Thrust Into the Spotlight”, following Leslie Arzt and Nikki/Paulo.  Although first mentioned in passing all the way back in Season Two, Neil is probably the least remembered red shirt in all of LOST, which is odd since he’s the one played by an actor the average viewer was likely to recognize (Sean Whalen aka the “Aaron Burr” GOT MILK guy).

The reason, I imagine, that “Frogurt” has been memory-holed is that he’s really fucking annoying, and not in a fun way.  Why LOST decided to make all of these background characters as obnoxious as possible, I don’t quite know, but “Frogurt” takes the fucking cake (one made, naturally, of frozen yogurt).

This Missing Piece serves as his official introduction, and he decides to make his first impression by giving Hurley shit for having a crush on Libby and letting him know he wants to fuck her.  Cool, man!  I know “Frogurt” gets his comeuppance in Season Five, and that’s great and all, but it’s a punchline they already pulled off with Arzt.  It wasn’t worth them trying to do it again.  Fuck “Frogurt”.  I hated this one, lol.

3. “King of the Castle”

Jack and Ben play chess.

The best of the first three by virtue of being a well-written conversation between two characters that we know pretty well at this point.  It feels like a scene that could have been on the real show.  My issue is that its only real purpose is to tease something that we’re already aware of happening (that being the destruction of the submarine).  Actually, it’s not so much teasing as it is intensely foreshadowing this event because the writers know we know about it, too.  But then, what’s the point?  The only seeming purpose is for us to go “ooooohh, Ben’s hinting that something is going to happen to the sub!”  There’s not enough substance to go with the style (and the style is even a little on-the-nose, even for LOST…a chess match happening during a tense conversation!  Wow!)  Not my precise cup of tea.

4. “The Deal”

Essentially a reskin of the interrogation scene from Season Two’s “Three Minutes”, swapping out Miss Klugh with Juliet.  Again, not a lot of meat on the bone, but “The Deal” does introduce one great advantage of LOST: MISSING PIECES.  It allows for characters and actors who never got a chance to interact an opportunity to share a scene together.  So it goes with Elizabeth Mitchell and Harold Perrineau, two of the best actors the show ever employed, finally getting a little moment.  In this sense, I actually think “The Deal” has value, and successfully explores the unique format these scenes find themselves in.

Also, if you were to insert this scene into “Three Minutes”, that would mean Juliet gets introduced in Season Two, not Three, which…weirdly seems right.  She deserves to have debuted around the same time as Benjamin Linus, doesn’t she?  Good “Deal”!

5. “Operation: Sleeper”

Juliet reveals to Jack that she’s working as a spy for Ben.

Again, not terribly interesting, and serves only to show us a scene that had previously happened offscreen.  It’s nice to see the moment Juliet discloses to Jack that she’s working against our castaways, as well as why she’s willing to triple-cross Ben, but it isn’t strictly necessary.  It certainly doesn’t portray this revelation in a more interesting way than the average viewer’s imagination might have.  Thumbs down.

6. “Room 23”

Juliet informs Ben of a Walt-related incident.

I’ve always admired how eerie this one is, as well as how shook the Others seem to be by their underestimate of Walt’s powers.  However, I also remembered “Room 23” being a way bigger deal than it really turns out to be.  For some reason, I had a memory of us actually entering Room 23, with the camera slowly panning to a behind-the-back shot of Walt (or some height-appropriate kid standing in for him)?  Alas, it does not, although we do get a big gravesite for a bunch of birds.  

Again, it’s okay, and it at least informs why the Others are so willing to give Walt back, so I don’t hate the attempt here.  But I was sort of hoping the scene would go half a step further.  It feels like it ends just as it’s getting started, unfortunately.

7. “Arzt & Crafts”

Leslie Arzt bitches to everyone about the decision to move to the caves.

Look, I’ll never complain about more Arzt in my life, but my main complaint about this one is that I think it pushes the asshole-ness of our resident high school science teacher just a tad too far.  Calling Jack crazy for running around the jungle chasing his dead father is one thing, but slow-yelling at Jin and Sun to “bridge the language gap” is a different kind of dick move than we normally get from Arzt.  The punchline of him hearing a scary noise, then deciding to move to the caves after all is performed well, but you see it coming a mile away.  Wish I liked this one more! Sorry, Arzt!

8. “Buried Secrets”

Michael and Sun share a moment…and nearly a kiss.

The bottom of the barrel as far as these Missing Pieces go.  Michael’s weird bond with Sun at the beginning of Season One was kind of an interesting dynamic, and what made it work at the time was that it was never set up to make Mike the third part of a love triangle.  The two just had an understanding, you know?  So this scene pushing a near-romance between Sun and Michael is instantly repellant, at least to me.  “Buried Secrets” is LOST going back in time in order to give in to its lesser instincts.  Shoulda stayed buried, bitch!

9. “Tropical Depression”

Arzt discloses to Michael the reason he was in Sydney.

I like this one more than “Arzt & Crafts”, even if it actually works really hard to cut against the only real piece of knowledge Arzt ever brings to the table (“it’s monsoon season!”).  Still, what I like about this compared to the other Arzt Missing Piece is that it gives us an extra shade to his character that the actual LOST show didn’t get to (the presumed point of this project).  He actually comes off as a human being, and Daniel Roebuck is able to convincingly provide us that side of him.  Hearing his tale of getting stood up by a date he made online is rough, even if it happened to an annoying guy like Arzt!  Thus, “Tropical Depression” is one of the better Missing Pieces. Nice work!

10. “Jack.  Meet Ethan.  Ethan?  Jack.”

Ethan discusses with Jack what may happen if Claire gives birth on the island.

This one’s actually pretty good!  It’s a rare example of an extra scene that might have benefitted the actual show.  The amount of Ethan we get in Season One before the reveal that he is, in fact, an Other, is perfectly sufficient (maybe a scene or two in a couple of episodes), but more wouldn’t have necessarily been a bad thing, especially when it’s a scene as non-foreshadowy as this one (as opposed to “King of the Castle”). It’s Ethan and Jack actually sharing a moment, and both trying to figure something out, which is a nice touch.  One of the better Missing Pieces!

11. “Jin Has a Temper-Tantrum on the Golf Course”

Jin has a temper-tantrum on the golf course.

Almost certainly the most inessential of this whole 13-scene set; the whole thing is succinctly summarized by its title.  But…y’know what, I like it.  It might be my favorite of all the Missing Pieces.  First of all, we’ve all been there (I’m sure many have experienced Jin’s emotions this entire week), and Daniel Dae Kim so successfully communicates what it’s like to just need one little goddamn thing to go right after a series of total setbacks.  Second of all: it’s on the golf course!  It’s one of the best non-crucial sets in all of LOST, a throwback to the time in which LOST had to fill time with fun character stuff.  It’s a blast to see the golf course one last time!  More golf course stuff!

12. “The Envelope”

Juliet shows Amelia the envelope that will be revealed to contain Ben’s cancer X-ray.

The most unique Missing Piece, in that it is a legitimate deleted scene from the Season Three premiere “A Tale of Two Cities”, as opposed to something created after the fact.  And, again, it deserved to be cut.  There’s nothing precisely wrong with it, and I think it provides a crucial piece of context to something important.  But, I think the cold open to “A Tale of Two Cities” is pretty perfect, and it’s difficult to imagine how this scene could be worked in satisfyingly enough to justify messing with the flow.  An interesting little bit of insight into how episodes can get edited, but shockingly little more.

13. “So It Begins”

The ghost of Christian Shephard tasks Vincent the dog with finding Jack in the jungle.

A fitting finale, as it feels the most “grand” of them all.  Admittedly, I thought “So It Begins” was pretty “whoah”-worthy at the time, with its revelation that Christian Shepherd was the one who sent Vincent the dog over to find Jack in the middle of the jungle immediately post-crash, bridging us perfectly to the very first shot of the series.  And frankly, it’s still pretty cool…as long as you don’t think about it for even one second. 

I think this scene is written with the understanding that Christian is Jacob in disguise, but that doesn’t really make sense and, in fact, goes against how Jacob works.  Is this actually the Smoke Monster/Man in Black embodying Christian’s corpse (as it’s established he can do in later seasons)?  If so…why?  Why does he care if Jack is found or not?  Why Vincent?  Yeah, there’s plenty of ways to head-canon all this to make it fit, but the simplest explanation is that this scene was written before LOST had fully established what Jacob or the Smoke Monster could do (remember: all shows are a little made up!).

In a way, it’s the perfect Missing Piece.  It’s ostensibly cool, but LOST may have been a worse product with it integrated. 

So it ends.