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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.


Transcripts for Lost episodes up to and including "Enter 77" are based on the transcriptions by Lost-TV member Spooky with aid of DVR, and at times, closed captions for clarification. She and Lost-TV have generously granted us permission to share/host these transcripts at Lostpedia. Later transcripts were created by the Lostpedia community, unless stated otherwise below.

Disclaimer: This transcript is intended for educational and promotional purposes only, and may not be reproduced commercially without permission from ABC. The description contained herein represents viewers' secondhand experience of ABC's Lost.



Episode: - "A Tale of Two Cities"

Commentators: Damon Lindelof and Elizabeth Mitchell

Commentary[]

Damon Lindelof: Hello there. This is Damon Lindelof. And I'm here with...

Elizabeth Mitchell: Elizabeth Mitchell.

Damon Lindelof: Elizabeth is in Hawaii. I'm in Los Angeles and we're talking in our NPR voices, so you can watch this commentary. and we're gonna be talking today about episode one, he season premiere of, uh, of season three, A Tale Of Two Cities, which just so happens to be the episode in which we introduce Juliet.

Elizabeth Mitchell: Juliet?

Damon Lindelof: That's your character.

Elizabeth Mitchell: Oh, there's me.

Damon Lindelof: That's you. Your eye.

Elizabeth Mitchell: Oh. [laughs] Wasn't it fun?

Damon Lindelof: I will say, you are one of the best eye-actresses in Hollywood.

Elizabeth Mitchell: Aw, Damon, stop. Really?

Damon Lindelof: You nailed that eye-open in one take. Yeah, it's good.

Elizabeth Mitchell: Well, yeah.

Damon Lindelof: You're doing some eye acting here as well.

Elizabeth Mitchell: Well, I do a lot of eye acting. I start with the eye.

Damon Lindelof: It shows. [Mitchell laughing] Just a little...

Elizabeth Mitchell: You know, this song has now taken off.

Damon Lindelof: It... Oh, yeah, has it? Really? This is Petula Clark.

Elizabeth Mitchell: Once again, you've started something. Yeah.

Damon Lindelof: All the music we use on the show is basically music that my mother used to vacuum to on Sundays. And she'd cry while she vacuumed. She'd listen to Mama Cass and Petula Clark. And I said, "l am gonna use all those songs on the show."


Elizabeth Mitchell: I'm glad you did.

Damon Lindelof: Good song.

Elizabeth Mitchell: It's presented kind of a timeless... lt has.

Damon Lindelof: Now, there was actually another scene that we shot before... ...uh, right after this one. And, obviously, we're doing the big psych-out here that we are... ...we are, in fact, back in, back in the real world. And we've never met this woman, and we don't know whose legs those are, etcetera, etcetera.

Elizabeth Mitchell: Yeah.

Damon Lindelof: Do you want to tell us about the scene that we so egregiously cut before this book club scene?

Elizabeth Mitchell: [laughs] Well, there were a couple little snippets, actually. There was the one where l'm looking at the x-rays, um... And we kind of wonder who they are. And, uh... And there was also a really great scene between me and the other actress, Julia.

Damon Lindelof: She was actually the woman in The Creature From The Black Lagoon. When you see that...

Elizabeth Mitchell: Which is amazing...

Damon Lindelof: ...she's the main chick. She's the one the creature is carrying out of the lagoon, so... there she is.

Elizabeth Mitchell: She was such a pleasure. She was so much fun. Um, and we had, and we did have a good one where she was talking to me about the fact that she thinks Ben might have feelings for me, and have I talked to him about it. And... I think I growl at her. [laughs]

Damon Lindelof: The irony is that we set up the whole tumor thing right there, then we cut it out of the show. So people could later accuse us of making it up as we went along.

Elizabeth Mitchell: You did.

Damon Lindelof: I think it'll be in the deleted scenes, though.

Elizabeth Mitchell: I always thought it was something more, which it kind of was. So you guys are very clever that way. And there he is.

Damon Lindelof: There's Mr. Benjamin Linus.

Elizabeth Mitchell: This is good. This was fun to watch him do this.

Damon Lindelof: When did you shoot this stuff? Was this kind of, you did the stuff in the Hydra first?

Elizabeth Mitchell: This was my first day. Well, actually, I think we might have done a little Hydra, but then, this was either my first or my second day.

Damon Lindelof: What was it like meeting Michael Emerson when you first came to Hawaii and you were like, "Hi, we're gonna be doing some scenes together"? Tell me that story.

Elizabeth Mitchell: [laughing] l think I might have been... l can't remember it. l know in this particular scene I was giving him a hard time about something, he turned to me, straight-faced, those blue eyes looking right at me, he goes, "l can't work with you, you know?" [laughs] And I was like, "fine," but I can't remember what it was.

Damon Lindelof: Then he tried to kill you.

Elizabeth Mitchell: Seemed like someone l... Then he tried to kill me, yeah... which I thought, "Hey, let him try."

Damon Lindelof: Exactly.

Elizabeth Mitchell: That's worth it.

Damon Lindelof: You got to wake up pretty early in the morning to kill him.

Elizabeth Mitchell: You know, poor, poor Ethan. He, you know, he... He hates being thought of as creepy, 'cause he's so very straight with what he does. But he is, he is pretty creepy.

Damon Lindelof: Ethan wins the kind of, like, l Died Forever Ago, But I Keep Cropping Up ln The Show Award, 'cause he's just that good.

Elizabeth Mitchell: You have to have him. He's an excellent creepy antagonist.

Damon Lindelof: He's awesome. And there it goes, and we know what Goodwin is now, which is kind of fun.

Damon Lindelof: Yeah. That's right. I wonder how Juliet reacted when Goodwin died. l'd like to see that story.

Elizabeth Mitchell: [laughs] Well, I would too. 'Cause it's Juliet. That scene, by the way, that completely... My husband's mouth was hanging open, which was so much fun.

Damon Lindelof: Jack Bender directed this...

Elizabeth Mitchell: Nice to shock him.

Damon Lindelof: ...phenomenally.

Elizabeth Mitchell: He really kept it going.

Damon Lindelof: So here we are, we're gonna, we're going to, uh,

Damon Lindelof: So here we are, we're gonna, we're going to, uh, to have some Jack flashbacks here, which, uh, which is... is wonderful and, and, uh, and thought-provoking and emotional. But since Elizabeth isn't in them, really, who cares? [Mitchell laughing] So what l... what I feel that people might be...

Elizabeth Mitchell: I care, I gotta tell you. He's fun to watch, but go ahead.

Damon Lindelof: Oh, Jack's sad. He's gonna yell, like, oh, he still likes his ex-wife. There she is. This is an awesome...

Elizabeth Mitchell: She looks so pretty.

Damon Lindelof: She's amazing. And, uh...

Elizabeth Mitchell: This is an awesome scene.

Damon Lindelof: What's really cool is that Julie Bowen, you know, you kind of... l wouldn't say you look like her, but you definitely are in that wheelhouse of that type, you know? So we understand instantly why Jack is drawn to Juliet.

Elizabeth Mitchell: Absolutely. A softness...

Damon Lindelof: There's good eye-acting.

Elizabeth Mitchell: That was... Well, l learned from him, maybe. And there's some chains, Jack in chains. [dramatically] Jack in chains. There's some muscles.

Damon Lindelof: A lot of chains.

Elizabeth Mitchell: A lot of chains and a lot of muscles and some sweat. These aren't all bad things.

Damon Lindelof: It wouldn't be Lost if there weren't chains and sweat, and Band-Aids.

Elizabeth Mitchell: [laughs] And muscles.

Damon Lindelof: Cotton balls. There's Elizabeth Mitchell's name for the first time, exciting to see you amongst the cast.

Elizabeth Mitchell: Oh, that was really fun.

Damon Lindelof: Can you talk us through a bit about, through the auditioning process? What was it like when you first got a call saying, "Hey, they're gonna be adding this new character to Lost"?

Elizabeth Mitchell: Well, you guys called a while just to say they were adding a character or somebody did. Maybe it was Jeff. But I know that, uh, we got the call, and I thought to myself...

Damon Lindelof: There was no glass there. Matthew completely just acted that. He mimed it, that's how good he is. There's still... there's still no glass. Have you ever seen a mime in a box? That's what he's doing, no glass.

Elizabeth Mitchell: He's a beautiful mime. You've seen his whiteface, right? He can really do it. He's fantastic.

Damon Lindelof: When he does the tug o' war thing, unbelievable. Classic miming.

Elizabeth Mitchell: Well, yeah. No, he can do it all. And then, box over his head.

Damon Lindelof: Oh, that's a classic. The reason that Elizabeth and l are completely talking over each other is there is a one-second delay between us and Hawaii. So it isn't that we aren't cracking each other up, it's just it takes a second for me to say something funny and for her to register it, and vice-versa. So, you know?

Elizabeth Mitchell: [laughing] Yeah. Oh, Kate.

Damon Lindelof: And there's M.C. Gainey.

Elizabeth Mitchell: He looks so big and scary, and the nicest guy in the world.

Damon Lindelof: The best. Sorry, I interrupted your story. You were saying...?

Elizabeth Mitchell: No, no. Then, then, of course, um, l didn't think it would ever happen. And then, like, the people kept calling, "We think you might." l said, "l don't believe it." I'll believe it when I see it." And then, of course, I went in. And someone came out and then gave me a note about Juliet, which was pretty much exactly the way I wanted to do it, which made me very happy. And I saw pretty much every actress that Il've known or been around for the past ten years. And it was, it was kind of fun. It was kind of a fun experience. You guys were hilarious. Jeff was there. l don't think you were in the room.

Damon Lindelof: I think Pinkner was there for the first time you did the read.

Elizabeth Mitchell: Yeah, yeah he was.

Damon Lindelof: I try never to let anybody see me, um, you know. [Mitchell laughing]

Damon Lindelof: I'm kinda very mysterious.

Elizabeth Mitchell: The man behind the curtain kind of thing?

Damon Lindelof: Exactly what it is. I've got a very kind of Jacob-like quality to me... ...in that I live in a dirty cabin and like to break things.

Elizabeth Mitchell: Well, of course, yeah, you're spectral.

Damon Lindelof: What's interesting about watching this stuff now, l haven't seen this episode in a long time, we spend lots of hours editing. But, you know, this is our first time in the cages. And the fact that we are gonna spend the next five hours of the show, plus, sort of confined in these things makes me begin to realize why the audience got so angry at us for such a period of time in terms of keeping the beautiful Josh Holloway caged in, in a polar-bear cage pushing buttons, when he could be out running around, taking his shirt off more often.

Elizabeth Mitchell: Well, he does take his shirt off in the cage, though. And, and I think that was, uh, that was nice, you know? It's something to give to people.

Damon Lindelof: We got around to that.

Elizabeth Mitchell: Of course you did. And the two of them in cages opposite of each other.

Damon Lindelof: This is a lot like the cage that we keep you in, right, Elizabeth? Down in Hawaii?

Elizabeth Mitchell: Well, you know, it's really best for me to perform at, at peak efficiency if I am kept in a polar-bear cage. l requested that cage.

Damon Lindelof: This one here.

Elizabeth Mitchell: But whatever.

Damon Lindelof: There's Karl. That's some good back acting, by the way.

Elizabeth Mitchell: Some really good back acting.

Damon Lindelof: We told the actor the camera was on the other side of him, and he had no idea that we were shooting that. No, l, I joke.

[Mitchell laughing] l, I joke.

Damon Lindelof: It's amazing. There's Karl. Who would know at that time that Karl would become such an integral force? He would be the Paul Revere of the island.

Elizabeth Mitchell: I know. He's, and he's, he is a great kid.

Damon Lindelof: Blake is his name, yes?

Elizabeth Mitchell: This is my problem. l have nothing catty to say of Blake.

Damon Lindelof: Here he is again. No glass. Leaning up against nothing.

Elizabeth Mitchell: Chains, of course. He even made his palms do that kind of indentation thing.

Damon Lindelof: This is actually a great moment, because in the tone meeting which we have with Jack Bender, basically, he was reading the script and going, "What is Jack exactly trying to do here?" l said, "He's trying to pull on the chain." And he said, "Why?" And I said, "Don't worry, Foxy'll sell it." And, lo and behold... l don't know what... I don't know what his plan is, but he sold it. So here you are.

Elizabeth Mitchell: I know.

Damon Lindelof: Now, everyone's... "I'm Juliet." There it is.

Elizabeth Mitchell: Yeah. What a great, great way to have someone come into a show. Just that. That was awesome.

Damon Lindelof: It's cool, because it's after we've seen her. We've seen her cry, We're sort of emotionally bonded to her, and... We don't know anything about her.

Elizabeth Mitchell: Don't expect it to be her.

Damon Lindelof: Exactly.

Elizabeth Mitchell: Yeah. And there she is. Ohh. Oh, obsessive Jack.

Damon Lindelof: He is, uh, you don't want Jack to get a crush on you, 'cause it's just a matter of time.

Elizabeth Mitchell: Well... yeah. And it, it could be used against him, but it is, it's a weakness, but sweet.

Damon Lindelof: I think Juliet's kind of got a crush on Jack. l would have to say, um, you know, that, uh, from the very beginning, she totally feels the heat even through that, even through that, uh, that glass, uh, wall there.

Elizabeth Mitchell: Well, maybe, maybe the glass just started it. It was his impressive glass acting. It's kind of like a microwave in there, heating up... [Mitchell laughing]

Damon Lindelof: ...behind the glass. Juliet might, might as well walk over and just push the popcorn button, 'cause it's getting hot up in there.

Elizabeth Mitchell:[laughing] So take off all your clothes. [Lindelof chuckles]

Damon Lindelof: Right now?

Elizabeth Mitchell: [laughs] l was just, "It's getting hot in here, so take off all your clothes..."

Damon Lindelof: You know what? You're in Hawaii, and I'm in L.A., why not? Otherwise, it would be unprofessional. But just let me remove...

Elizabeth Mitchell: You're absolutely right. You don't want to make me feel bad.

Damon Lindelof: I wouldn't. [Mitchell laughing]

Damon Lindelof: Julie Bowen is so awesome. l love using her over and over again on this show.

Elizabeth Mitchell: She not only is awesome on camera, she's awesome in person. We met a couple years ago. And it's, she's just great. You have nothing to say but "she's great."

Damon Lindelof: The scene we shot...

Elizabeth Mitchell: A man's woman, a woman's woman.

Damon Lindelof: ...in Jack's flashbacks in the finale, she's eight months pregnant. We actually shot it in L.A.

Elizabeth Mitchell: I bet she looks insane.

Damon Lindelof: Awesome. We went to set, and she was, like, "Hi, how are you?" Like, you know, happy to work.

Damon Lindelof: And we're, like, "Thanks for doing this so soon, close to your imminent due date." And she was, like, "Ah, whatever." Very cool.

Elizabeth Mitchell: "Whatever," of course.

Damon Lindelof: I love... She's got the greatest attitude. The best.

Elizabeth Mitchell: She has the greatest attitude. She's so much fun to be around.

Damon Lindelof: So here's your first big scene. And this was your audition scene.

Elizabeth Mitchell: This was my audition scene. And it was very similar to the way I kind of saw it. But it was... [Mitchell chuckles] You know, I didn't realize at the time that I was talking down to him, but it is interesting.

Damon Lindelof: You are very much...

Elizabeth Mitchell: I think she likes him.

Damon Lindelof: She likes him. But you're very much sort of the, you know, sixth-grade teacher here, and he's very much the kid who is, you know, sort of, you know, talking to his friends in class.

Elizabeth Mitchell: But you get the idea that she wants to help him.

Damon Lindelof: Look at this gratuitous... Kate showering. Do we really need that in the show? Does that make it a better show?

Elizabeth Mitchell: Yeah. I think it does, actually. I think it does. lt gives her the vulnerability. "Wear this." Oh, my gosh, you guys. It's always, it's great. You have all these people you can play with, like figurines when you're a kid. You can make them do whatever you want. It's awesome.

Damon Lindelof: Well, not whatever we want. [Mitchell laughing]

Elizabeth Mitchell: You can take the show to cable.

Damon Lindelof: Yeah. That's true.

Elizabeth Mitchell: Oh. Kate in a dress.

Damon Lindelof: Yeah. This was a cool idea, you know. l think... J.J. and I actually wrote the script together and, uh, you know, this, this idea was based on Raiders Of The Lost Ark. And basically, there's a scene where, uh, where, um, Marion Ravenwood, played by, uh, Karen Allen, is basically, she's caught by the bad guys. And she's been, like, tied up in this tent the entire time. And he brings in this beautiful dress. And she's such a tomboy, and has been rocking and rolling the entire time, it completely, like, makes her so vulnerable when she puts it on.

Elizabeth Mitchell: It really does.

Damon Lindelof: We were like, "How would Ben make Kate really vulnerable here? Oh, let's put her in a nice dress."

Elizabeth Mitchell: And give her some silverware.

Damon Lindelof: Oh, exactly. Silverware is a great way to make somebody feel vulnerable. That's why I eat all my food with toothpicks. [Mitchell laughing]

Damon Lindelof: Does that make me crazy? Am I eccentric for that?

Elizabeth Mitchell: [laughs] Well, not for that.

Damon Lindelof: This, uh, this French press, l think, was Carlton Cuse's idea. He was, like, when I first said...

Elizabeth Mitchell: That is such a good idea. And Ben should have this whole, like, breakfast set up, like at the, you know, like at a resort. And he should go... And there should be a French press. And, and there it is.

Elizabeth Mitchell: That's so good.

Damon Lindelof: It's just sitting there, like a time bomb waiting to go off, like the old Road Runner cartoons, as he pushes it down. I love it.

Elizabeth Mitchell: Something a little Planet Of The Apes too, the first one, of course.

Damon Lindelof: With the French press? Here's Kate's love affair with handcuffs.

Elizabeth Mitchell: Well, not the French press. Just the, this whole... [laughs]

Damon Lindelof: Isn't that what's on the Statue Of Liberty at the end of Planet Of The Apes? She's got the torch, and she's holding a big French press, and Charlton Heston's like, "You destroyed it all with your French presses! lt was the coffee!" [Mitchell laughing]

Damon Lindelof: That is in the original cut, actually. Or I might, I might be thinking of Soylent Green.

Elizabeth Mitchell: I did not know that.

Damon Lindelof: I'm not sure. l love that he has the ketchup...

Elizabeth Mitchell: He's actually quite threatening in this.

Damon Lindelof: Yeah, he's pissed.

Elizabeth Mitchell: He does. Yeah. No, he's, he's a little scary. I never think of him as scary. But...

Damon Lindelof: He's been taking beatings. Remember Ben for the better part of the end of the last season was just getting beat-up all the time. He still has these scars on his face. It's great.

Elizabeth Mitchell: He was a punching bag. He did it so nicely.

Damon Lindelof: Not easy to be a punching bag.

Elizabeth Mitchell: Those eyes are amazing.

Damon Lindelof: I look at this scene, I feel like we shot in front of a green screen, 'cause, uh, that... that view behind him is so amazing. But that is the location.

Elizabeth Mitchell: That's what happens when you drive around Hawaii. You can't believe the color of the water. It looks like something they made up. But, you're right, it looks like a green screen.

Damon Lindelof: Here he is explaining what the next six episodes are gonna be.

Elizabeth Mitchell: How can they do this to her? She looks like she's seven years old. [Mitchell laughs]

Damon Lindelof: See, audience who hated the first six episodes? Ben told you that you wouldn't like them. He told you they'd be unpleasant.

Elizabeth Mitchell: [laughing] They told you you wouldn't like them. Oh, no.

Damon Lindelof: Talk about eye-acting there. Evangeline was awesome. "Hi, my name is Jack Shephard. I am an obsessive psychopath."

Elizabeth Mitchell: "And I'm lying."

Damon Lindelof: I love that he's smiling here. He's actually enjoying the deception.

Elizabeth Mitchell: I love what a good liar he is. It's, I think it's fantastic. They're both pretty good liars, really, Jack and Juliet.

Damon Lindelof: Jack does a lot of lying in this season. But it's all good lying.

Elizabeth Mitchell: It's good lying. No, he's a hot character.

Damon Lindelof: I tried to explain to my mom "No, Mom, it's good lying."

Elizabeth Mitchell: [laughs] It's good lying.

Damon Lindelof: She never really bought it.

Elizabeth Mitchell: We got in a lot of trouble for lying.

Damon Lindelof: I'm just noticing for the first time these trophies behind Jack. And I wonder, what do you...? They're over sort of to his right. and I wonder, what do you win a trophy for if you are a good spinal surgeon? That's... [laughs] You know, is it sort of like... ...Nest Surgery '02. "Let me tell you something, Dad. l not only won the bowling trophy..."

Elizabeth Mitchell: Nest fixing of a nicked artery.

Damon Lindelof: "No one fixes a nicked artery like I do. I've got the trophy to prove it."

Elizabeth Mitchell: "Nobody puts Jack in a corner." And he... [laughing] Ohh, he's so sad.

Damon Lindelof: How would you feel if your daddy was having sex with your ex-wife who you were obsessively trying to track down?

Elizabeth Mitchell: Hey, yeah, now, that, that was an excellent turn of events. Look at those blue eyes. Hey, maybe l'm really his father. [gasps]

Damon Lindelof: Interesting. They actually look a lot alike, these two.

Elizabeth Mitchell: They do look a lot alike.

Damon Lindelof: John Terry is another guy who is so awesome in flashbacks that we regretted killing him almost instantly, but we were like, "Oh, we'll just have to see him in every single effing flashback ever."

Elizabeth Mitchell: I haven't met him, but I enjoy watching him.

Damon Lindelof: He's awesome.

Elizabeth Mitchell: Back to the chains. That was a creepy set, you know? Damon, that was a creepy set. I loved it. And I love that this water is disgustingly poisonous.

Damon Lindelof: Zack designed this set. Um, that's brine, because Jack is underwater. And, uh, he doesn't know it yet. But he's thirsty.

Elizabeth Mitchell: ls it wrong that this was a sexy set to me? ls it? Am l...

Damon Lindelof: I wouldn't say wrong as much as... you need help.[Mitchell laughing]

Damon Lindelof: And you're seriously disturbed. But, uh, hey...

Elizabeth Mitchell: And just stay right where you are. We're coming to get you.

Damon Lindelof: That's good. Lights on. By the way, I like that the Dharma Initiative took the time to label their bottled water, just 'cause, "Oh, we don't want to compete with Evian. We want you to know that you're drinking Dharma Initiative water. Nope. That's not Crystal Geyser. Mmm. Nothing tastes as good as a nice bottle of Dharma Initiative water."

Elizabeth Mitchell: [laughing] Oh, no.

Damon Lindelof: It's the little things.

Elizabeth Mitchell: That's very serious stuff, you know?

Damon Lindelof: But, honestly, I will say the toothpicks are awesome here. And I love the way that you play this scene.

Elizabeth Mitchell: I love the toothpicks as well. And I love that she doesn't cook... ...or even make the sandwiches.

Damon Lindelof: She doesn't. l always imagined that there's some guy with an iron standing outside the room, just putting, sticking it down on a grill, on a couple pieces of bread and a piece of cheese. It's all in the presentation.

Elizabeth Mitchell: It's all in the presentation. It's just so surreal. The scenes that you wrote, the reason I liked them so much when I read them, they're so surreal.

Elizabeth Mitchell: They start laughing at each other pretty quickly, which is nice.

Damon Lindelof: 'Cause she knows everything, and I love the fact that you're playing it like she doesn't. She's not calling "bullcrap" yet.

Elizabeth Mitchell: I think it's very important that he tell her the things, actually. l think it's important to her. When your plane crashed, where were you flying from?

Elizabeth Mitchell: I think he was specifically trying to show her his muscle there.

Damon Lindelof: This, uh... That's a good look. These, these episodes for us as writers are almost always about, what does a character want? You know, obviously, that tracks from sort of scene to scene, and there is sort of a seasonal arc. But... l think it's very clear by episode's end exactly what it is they both want. Um, and it's so... They have all these scenes, but, you know, to break Jack down, and get him to, um, start to let go of his past. And condition him, and getting him in, into this place of, um, you know, as far as Juliet is concerned, getting him into a place where she can get him to kill Ben, although she doesn't realize, she doesn't reveal that agenda for several episodes. Um, Ben's agenda is to get Jack to perform the surgery. So this episode, Ben and Juliet want exactly the same thing, um, although for different reasons.

Elizabeth Mitchell: For different reasons, yeah, I love that. This was hard, right in front of him.

Damon Lindelof: That was the best.

Elizabeth Mitchell: It was, you know, you guys wrote it, and I was like, "Oh, that's gonna be hard." But it, it was kind of fun to do once we did it.

Damon Lindelof: I like the sound of biting into a grilled cheese sandwich.


[Mitchell ][laughs] Yeah. Who doesn't love grilled cheese? You can just taste it. It's delicious.

Damon Lindelof: It's at around this point in writing the script, I was like, "Hey, wait a minute, we're almost half an hour into the first episode, and no one has received the massive beating yet." So it... It just wouldn't be Lost unless there was a significant beating. And Karl just looks so sweet and innocent. So this is how... He's out. And you know a beating is soon to come.

Elizabeth Mitchell: That was excellent. Man, that Jack Bender, he really can direct. He really can.

Damon Lindelof: He's not bad, when he's sober.

[Mitchell ] [laughs] No, he's... nice.

Damon Lindelof: Man, I was drunk when I wrote this episode. This, uh, this cue is very Planet Of The Apes-y, that Giacchino wrote. Oh, here you are. You guys shot this, like, weeks later.

Elizabeth Mitchell: Yeah, we did.

Damon Lindelof: You're actually tickling Josh just out of frame there, aren't you? That's how he was able to... He's also Method.

Elizabeth Mitchell: Yeah, of course. l think they both might have been a little afraid of me in this first episode. l try to do my best to stay back a little. l love, by the way, you know, she's totally into Jack, but she just doesn't, she's not... Sawyer's powers do not work on Juliet.

Elizabeth Mitchell: That's really true, isn't it? l wonder why that is, but it's been that way from the very beginning. l think maybe that she's... l don't know. She's kind of past the whole Sawyer thing. Like, he's so... As I said a million times...

Damon Lindelof: She is. He's just not as interesting to her.

Elizabeth Mitchell: Jack is far more interesting to her. She sees him for what he is. She's just not, it's not her thing. l think that...

Damon Lindelof: And here he is again.

Elizabeth Mitchell: I know, he's very sad.

Damon Lindelof: It's amazing that Matthew, basically, had to sit in that room for six episodes, pretty much, of work, and didn't go entirely bonkers.

Elizabeth Mitchell: I was really hoping I'd get to be in that cage for a while, l have to admit.

Damon Lindelof: Why?

Elizabeth Mitchell: I don't know. There was something dramatic about it. l guess 'cause I'm a theatre actor. You guys set it up like a beautiful play. It was fun. It was really fun to do.

Damon Lindelof: This is back to the sexy thing isn't it?

Elizabeth Mitchell: Well...

Damon Lindelof: You and that cage.

Elizabeth Mitchell: Yeah, I think so. I think l might have a thing for the cage.

Damon Lindelof: I love that moment, by the way, when she says, "I'm a repo woman."

Elizabeth Mitchell: And he laughs.

Damon Lindelof: The subtext there is, you sneaky little devil. He holds up his finger, and he's kind of like, you know, touch?

Elizabeth Mitchell: Yeah, he really is. [laughs]

Damon Lindelof: Now she's really starting to wear him down. It's... It's such an effective, um, "l really believe you" here.

Elizabeth Mitchell: It's the only tactic that would work for him, though, because if she came at him hard, he'd come right back. So it's really the only thing that would work, is to go underneath. You can tell that he's...

Damon Lindelof: ls it gonna work?

Elizabeth Mitchell: With women, he's... Yeah, I think it's working. Juliet thinks it's working. Look at that, he looks beaten.

Damon Lindelof: That fruit sure looks good.

Elizabeth Mitchell: It looks really good, plenty of water in there.

Damon Lindelof: "Here, Jack. Come on. Here, Jack." But he is like, "No, I'm gonna go sit in the corner."

Elizabeth Mitchell: No, that's not gonna happen. Something crazy is gonna happen. And she's just slightly disappointed. [Mitchell sighs]

Damon Lindelof: Little does she know, Jack is hatching a secret plan. He's lied again.

Elizabeth Mitchell: You think? Oh, come on.

Damon Lindelof: I wouldn't trust him.

Elizabeth Mitchell: Really?

Damon Lindelof: I'd let him operate on me, though.

Elizabeth Mitchell: Well, I would if he weren't incapacitated or obsessed, absolutely.

Damon Lindelof: Not Jack, Matthew Fox.

Elizabeth Mitchell: [laughing] Listen, from what I know about Matthew Fox, he could probably do it.

Damon Lindelof: Yeah. Just, just make sure you got your eye on your kidney sac. [Mitchell laughs] Be careful, 'cause he will, he will cut you... He will cut you good.

Elizabeth Mitchell: He will slice it up. Oh, no, man. Oh. Oh, this is all really hard to watch.

Damon Lindelof: Why? He's going to have an affair with Sarah.

Elizabeth Mitchell: I know, but you hate watching him go down that road, it's so real. You so get it. And it's so weak and so sad. But it does make him so human, which is nice.

Damon Lindelof: Yeah, I love, you know, what's really cool about this episode is you realize that, if not for Jack's obsession, his father might have gotten things together. And, uh...

Elizabeth Mitchell: It's really true.

Damon Lindelof: It's the cycle of despair.

Elizabeth Mitchell: Yeah.

Damon Lindelof: You don't even see where he is yet. And it's like, obviously, he's not here with your...wife, dude.

Elizabeth Mitchell: No.

Damon Lindelof: "You're having sex with all of these people, Dad? All of them?! What kind of, what kind of sick meeting is this?"

Elizabeth Mitchell: Oh. And he can't back off 'cause he's already so mad. He's already worked up in it.

Damon Lindelof: In poker, we call this pot-committed.

Elizabeth Mitchell: Pot... Yes, oh, that's excellent. Yeah.

Damon Lindelof: And it basically means you've put so much money in on the bluff that you cannot fold your cards. And that's where Jack is right now. It's kind of like, "OK, I was wrong, but now I'm gonna yell at you about something else."

Elizabeth Mitchell: Yeah, I know that's... Ohh... Oh, he is good. But if you're gonna break down, an AA meeting is probably a good place to do it.

Damon Lindelof: ] They're kind of used to it. But Jack's not even, you know, Jack doesn't even, even get to say he's drunk here. He's, he... ...he detonates sober.

Elizabeth Mitchell: If he had just started with a "Hello, my name is Jack, I'm a..." all this would be OK.

Damon Lindelof: And they'd all say, "Hello, Jack." l don't think the scene would have been as interesting.

Elizabeth Mitchell: Damon, you know, you're right, but I'm just trying to give you some colors here. Oh, and now l'm gonna give him some food. [inhales] Ooh, it's a little nerve-racking now.

Damon Lindelof: Less interesting version of this scene. Jack just lets her come in, puts the fruit down...

Elizabeth Mitchell: And says hi. Oh, goodnight.

Damon Lindelof: No, but he always has to run at people.

Elizabeth Mitchell: You know, we ended up having to use the real plate because the rubber one they had kept bending every time he put it to my throat.

Damon Lindelof: Oh, my God.

Elizabeth Mitchell: This was a trust exercise. It was actually pretty funny.

Damon Lindelof: I love that Jack's doing a little MacGyver here. Who would have thought that you could use a plate as a weapon?

[Mitchell ] [laughs] I know.

Damon Lindelof: "l swear to God, I will make you eat off this broken plate." [Mitchell laughs]

Elizabeth Mitchell: Here's where he betrays her, which I love, and she appreciates this. Oh! Oh! Oh! Man, if she didn't hate him before... She's gonna kick his ass. Excuse my language. But come on.

Damon Lindelof: I think you can say ass. You're allowed.

Elizabeth Mitchell: Can you?

Damon Lindelof: You said it.

Elizabeth Mitchell: [whispers] OK. Thanks. l did? I know.

Damon Lindelof: I love that Jack lets her go, and he is like, you know what? Now, let me ask you something. When is the last time you turned a handle like that and this didn't happen? Huh? 'Cause chances are if you're if you're turning a handle like that... ...you're gonna get wet.

Elizabeth Mitchell: Something, something bad is gonna happen. Yeah. Something's behind that door that ain't supposed to get out. Thought we should get to know each other. And she saves him. She saves him.

Damon Lindelof: Was this fun to shoot or petrifying?

Elizabeth Mitchell: This was so... No, there was nothing petrifying. But any time you get to do your own stunts, it's thrilling. l mean, I feel bad for the stunt person. But, uh, she was very gracious about it. But it's so interesting because you're in it with the other actor and there's no faking. You're doing exactly what you're supposed to do. It's so much fun.

Damon Lindelof: Hey, how long has it been since somebody got beat up on this show? [Mitchell laughs] I think it's been almost six minutes.

Elizabeth Mitchell: [shouts] Nice! You know, I was supposed to originally punch him in the stomach. That wasn't... You know who helped me do that, Matthew and I came up with that together, because I was supposed to punch him in the stomach and he fell over. And it just wasn't as... Now, this wasn't in the script. That was just something that we did and we thought was getting cut. But he was down, not breathing, and we thought was getting cut. But he was down, not breathing, you know what I mean? In the water. l thought, we should pick him up. I like it now.

Damon Lindelof: I love that, and it's like, "poor Jack."

Elizabeth Mitchell: Yeah. 'Cause what l was told was we'd never use it. And I was so... lt was so amazing that it was in there.

Damon Lindelof: When you make awesome choices, we put them in the show and then take credit for them.

Elizabeth Mitchell: [laughs] Sorry. l shouldn't have said that.

Damon Lindelof: No, I think it was an awesome idea. Maybe you should just start writing this show, Elizabeth.

[Mitchel] [laughs] Damon, stop. Thank God I don't.

Damon Lindelof: I think that was... You guys make choices all the time that we exploit and, uh, you know... But you guys are playing these characters. So...

Elizabeth Mitchell: Well, you make it, it's fun. It's more fun. It's more fun than I've ever had.

Damon Lindelof: Really? l hope that's not true.

Elizabeth Mitchell: Yeah. It's more fun than I've ever had in a show. Yeah, absolutely. This is the most fun. It's a fun show. It's fun words, and it's a ridiculously good character.

Damon Lindelof: Dharma Initiative needs to label their fish biscuits, 'cause God forbid, the polar bear is like, "Hey, where can I get another fish biscuit like this? Oh." I'm starting to think that Dharma Initiative were egotistical maniacs, they stick their names on everything.

Elizabeth Mitchell: I think you're right.

Damon Lindelof: Sawyer should be like, "This ain't Dharma water!" [mock spitting] And spit it out. [Mitchell laughs]

Elizabeth Mitchell: Oh, look.

Damon Lindelof: This is a great moment.

Elizabeth Mitchell: Oh, it is beautiful. They do the most beautiful work together. Ohh... And he doesn't know what happened and she's in a dress. Oh, his heart's breaking.

Damon Lindelof: Ahh, that's nice of you. That's a J. J. Abrams line all the way.

Elizabeth Mitchell: [laughs] I swear, that's freaking funny.

Damon Lindelof: If anybody appreciates a blow-dry, it's J.J.

Elizabeth Mitchell: He should be on the cover of a romance novel. It's... Oh, J.J. He's so nice. l had no idea, but he's so nice.

Damon Lindelof: He sure is.

Elizabeth Mitchell: Oh, guys. Oh, this is sad.

Damon Lindelof: Nothing like a good joke to break the ice. [Mitchell laughing]

Damon Lindelof: He doesn't like that.

Elizabeth Mitchell: Oh, my God. No. Ohh.

Damon Lindelof: This is a perfect example of awesome acting, because we write the dialogue here, but all the great stuff is happening around the lines, you know, it's all these looks that they're throwing at each other.

Elizabeth Mitchell: Yeah, they did. They got an amazing thing. They are so much fun to watch.

Damon Lindelof: I like that she covers her mouth there. It's kind of like, it's this sort of demure moment in the midst of complete and utter insanity.

Elizabeth Mitchell: It really is. It's just lovely. And you get back to these two. Oh, dear. [groaning] [Mitchell snickers]

Elizabeth Mitchell: Now I look like the high school principal.

Damon Lindelof: So can you elaborate just a little more on when you met Matthew? Obviously, he had kind of read the script. You came down there. You alluded to the fact that you sort of iced him. ls that really how it went down? When did you, when did you...?

Elizabeth Mitchell: No, I didn't necessarily ice him. I said a few words to him that were kind words. And he said a few words to me that were kind words, and then for the remainder of the episode, we didn't speak to each other except to talk about the scenes. And it was incredibly helpful because, uh, all of it was just Jack and Juliet. l have no, I had no idea who Matthew was. He had no idea who I was. So it was just us. And I have to say, as odd as that sounds, it was incredibly, uh, it made it, made things a lot easier.

Damon Lindelof: And what was your experience like with Josh? Was it, uh, was it wildly different?

Elizabeth Mitchell: Oh, Josh. [laughs] l think he probably heard from Matthew that I was kind of dry, so Josh might have been a little afraid. But he was, he was really quite lovely, and, and l was still very much in the stages of, you know, we weren't sure where Juliet was coming from. So, again, a few kind words and a few kind words and then, l kind of backed off a little and let everyone do their thing. But, uh, it's a little different now. [laughs]

Damon Lindelof: Every season we obviously introduce new characters onto the show. And there's this infrastructure down in Hawaii. Obviously, these guys have been down there since, you know, since we shot the pilot. So they're their own kind of, you know, they're the, you know, they're the seniors, and you're coming in kind of as a freshman. It's almost like in this case, because they're the Others, and they've actually been on the island longer than the castaways, it's not like the tail section. So it's almost like what's... What I love about the dynamic is kind of Juliet is the senior and Jack is the freshman, even though we've never seen her before.

Elizabeth Mitchell: You know your crew and you know how they are. And they are the most giving group of people. So they were very lovely to let me come in and kind of be this person. They definitely gave, gave the power to me, which was so, so nice of them. But it, it made it work. But it's a nice dynamic. l think it... It's a great way to come into a show, 'cause you're not trying to be one of them. You're something else entirely. Ohh. l thought he was so, so delicious in this, in this episode. He just wowed me.

Damon Lindelof: Would you say he is as delicious as a grilled cheese sandwich?

Elizabeth Mitchell: Oh, maybe even more, Damon, maybe even more.

Damon Lindelof: Wow. What do you think would happen if you put a toothpick in Matthew? [Mitchell laughs] Oh, let's not go there. [Mitchell laughing]

Damon Lindelof: We actually moved the positioning of this flashback in the show, as we so often do in editing, and, you know, I love that, l love that it's like, it's just, in that she basically asked that question, now you show all this stuff 'cause you're kind of wondering, you know, how this all ended up. And here is where, you know...

Elizabeth Mitchell: And now he finds out what he did to his father.

Damon Lindelof: It's excruciating.

Elizabeth Mitchell: Oh, God. It's so heartbreaking, this. I'm so surprised that Matthew didn't get nominated for something here. l really thought this episode was exemplary.

Damon Lindelof: Um, I don't think he, uh, I don't think this episode was, uh, you know, this qualifies for this year coming up. So, you know, maybe he did get nominated and we just don't realize it yet, 'cause we're doing this...

Elizabeth Mitchell: Just don't know yet. I thought he was so good.

Damon Lindelof: He does awesome work.

Damon Lindelof: He's already got all those trophies. So, you know... What do you need another one for?

Elizabeth Mitchell: Slam dancing. It doesn't matter who he is. It just matters who you're not.

Damon Lindelof: I love that. I love that she, l love that she delivers that line in such anguish. It's, like, not mean at all.

Elizabeth Mitchell: She just, she's so good. ...he was so drunk I could hardly understand him.

Damon Lindelof: And you can see his reaction there. It's like she just pulled a hair out of his... I don't know, some place that it hurts a lot.

Elizabeth Mitchell: Hmm, something, Some place way under the skin.

Damon Lindelof: And I love that we don't even see this guy. He doesn't matter. He's just a... That's, that's what the story was supposed to be about, but, and here we go. This breaks my heart every time.

Elizabeth Mitchell: Me too.

Damon Lindelof: 'Cause she knows what he's gonna ask.

Elizabeth Mitchell: Yeah, she does.

Damon Lindelof: And I'm not sure Juliet actually knows that for a fact. l think it's just like l, and your performance, I think it's kind of like, l know this is what you need to hear, buddy, and I'm gonna give it to you, not because I'm trying to coerce you, but it's because you need something good.

Elizabeth Mitchell: It's a human thing. Yeah. Yeah, it's a human thing at this point. That's where she starts to like him, I think.

Damon Lindelof: I think that plays when she steps out into the hallway, 'cause there's this tremendous sense of guilt hanging over her already when she talks to Ben.

Elizabeth Mitchell: Oh, it's awful.

Damon Lindelof: It's kind of like, "All right, I did it. I'm not happy about it. You bastard. But it's done."

Elizabeth Mitchell: Yeah. But it's done.

Damon Lindelof: Great shot. There.

Elizabeth Mitchell: Jeez. Well, he's such a big guy, and to see him like that is so hard.

Damon Lindelof: He'll get those Others, though. He'll get them good.

Elizabeth Mitchell: I think he might. l have a feeling. [laughs]

Damon Lindelof: It is cool to watch this episode and realize that Jack and Juliet kind of gang-up and join forces to take all these bastards out by the end of the season. And this is the beginning.

Elizabeth Mitchell: Yeah. Yeah. No, I really like that. l also really like that he, he starts to trust her. [Mitchell groans]

Damon Lindelof: By the way, when in doubt, go off on Michael Emerson's eyes. You can't go wrong there.

Elizabeth Mitchell: Go off... are you kidding? Michael Emerson, uh, is amazing.

Damon Lindelof: Schroer. OK, so... Goodbye, everybody. Thank you...

Elizabeth Mitchell: Goodbye.

Damon Lindelof: ...for listening to our completely non-informative dithering. Um, at least speaking personally.

Elizabeth Mitchell: Our Mystery Science 3000?

Damon Lindelof: Exactly.

Elizabeth Mitchell: I can dither with the best.

Damon Lindelof: I don't even know what dither means. Sounds like what we were doing.

Elizabeth Mitchell: Dither's a great word. It does sound like what we're doing here. Thank you, Damon. That was fun.

Damon Lindelof: Thank you, Elizabeth. You rock.

Elizabeth Mitchell: Bad Robot. You rock too, Damon, honestly.

Damon Lindelof: I'll see you real soon.

Elizabeth Mitchell: Bye.

Damon Lindelof: Bye-bye.

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