Looking for a wonderful way to waste an entire weekend? Get “Lost” … DVD

Jim Hill

18 years ago

Only four more weeks … Only four more weeks … Only four more weeks ’til (hopefully) we finally find out who was dragging that teddy bear through the jungle …

… Or what exactly is written on the back on the hatch door.

Okay. I admit it. I’m a big honking fan of “Lost.” I have totally been sucked in by this ABC series. Which — FYI — begins Season 3 on Wednesday, October 3rd (Just four more weeks! Woo-hoo!)

Alright, I know. Some of you were probably put off by the show’s second season. When “Lost” ‘s already-difficult-to-follow storyline became even more convoluted with the arrival of the Tailies. Not to mention Desmond’s mysterious disappearance and re-appearance. Or Henry Gale …

So you’re not exactly sure how all the puzzle pieces fit together anymore, right? That’s okay. Just pick up a copy of “Lost: Season 2 — The Extended Experience.” And — as you slowly make your way through this 1056-minute-long, 7-disc set — you’ll eventually get back up to speed, story-wise.

Of course, the beauty of now having Season 2 of “Lost” on DVD is that you finally get the chance to savor some of this show’s more surreal moments. Like Hurley’s brief appearance as an apostle in “Fire & Water.”

Or — better yet — re-experience that truly chilling moment from “The Whole Truth.” Where Henry Gale — as he sits nonchalantly munching cereal — explains how he’d lay a trap for Sayid, Ana Lucia and Charlie. That is, of course, if he were really one of the bad guys.

But — of course — as anyone who saw this year’s season finale for “Lost” can tell you … Henry (or whatever his real name is) thinks of himself as one of ” … the good guys.” Of course, how exactly one can be a member of the Others and still be a good guy … That’s one of the many mysteries that I (along with millions of other “Lost” fans out there) hope will be cleared up in Season 3.

Of course, if you just can’t wait another four weeks to find out what exactly happens to Jack, Kate and Sawyer … Well, to be honest, I can’t honestly help you. I’m as much in the dark as you folks are.

But Lynnette Porter & David Lavery — in their “Unlocking the Meaning of Lost: An Unauthorized Guide” (Sourcebooks, Inc., April 2006) — have some very interesting theories about this show. In particular how the various TV programs that preceded “Lost” (I.E. “Gilligan’s Island,” “Jurassic Park” and Stephen King’s novella, “The Langoliers“) offer some real clues about how the storyline of this hour-long drama may wind up playing out in Season 3.

Mind you, Orson Scott Card (I.E. The best-selling author of the “Ender’s Game” series) takes a very different approach to his own unauthorized guide to this ABC series, “Getting Lost: Survival, Baggage and Starting Over in J.J. Abrams’ ‘Lost’ ” (Benbella Books, August 2006). Rather than try & predict where “Lost” may be going in Season 3 and beyond, Card has collected this entertaining set of essays that are written by qualified contributors like TV critic Joyce Millman and science fiction writer Adam-Troy Castro. Each of whom focus on one particularly intriguing aspect of the program. Like the Jack-Locke dynamic or the origin of the Others.

Not a big fan of theories or essays, eh? You’d prefer to try and get inside of some of the heads of the “Lost” characters. Find out what really makes them tick.

Well, if that’s the case … Then why not pick up a published version of that manuscript that’s been making the round on the island over this past season, “Bad Twin” (Hyperion, May 2006). According to some “Lost” fans, there’s an awful lot to be gained from closely reading this new Gary Troup novel.

Of course, if searching for hidden meanings just gives you a headache, then I suggest that you go straight to the source for all your info about “Lost.” And that means subscribing to the official “Lost” magazine. Which is published six times a year and regularly features detailed interviews with the show’s cast and creative team.

I’m just now reading the 2006 yearbook edition of “Lost” magazine. But — so far — I have yet to learn what the deal was with that huge pile of message tubes that Jack, Sawyer, Kate, Hurley and Michael found out in the forest.

Or why that Colossus-of-Rhodes -like statue that Jin, Sun and Sayid spied on shore only had three toes.

*Sigh*

Only four more weeks … Only four more weeks … Only four more weeks ’til the start of Season 3. And then maybe, hopefully, finally we’ll get some answers.

Anyone else out there find themselves obsessing about where “Lost” might be going next season. If so, then let me know.

Your thoughts?