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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.

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Graft is responsible for this transcription. It is one in the series of the Official Lost Podcasts.



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Podcast Summary • Podcast Transcript


Kris White: Hello, and welcome to the Official Lost Podcast hosted by abc.com. Well, as promised, we are back with another podcast before the launch of Season 4. And today we are joined by executive producers Damon Lindelof and Carlton Cuse, and they have a special surprise or two for you guys to celebrate the anniversary of the crash of Flight 815. Here they are.

Carlton Cuse: Hello, Damon.

Damon Lindelof: Hi there, Carlton.

Carlton Cuse: Well, welcome to this very special, surprise, unannounced, heretofore-never-existed podcast.

Damon Lindelof: Is it - is it a surpr - is that why you're wearing that party hat? Because it's a surprise podcast?

Carlton Cuse: That's exactly it, Damon.

Damon Lindelof: Well, color me surprised.

Carlton Cuse: And would you like to tell everybody why we're having a special surprise podcast today?

Damon Lindelof: Well because, um... because, Carlton... uh, on... uh, September uh... twenty... second...?

Carlton Cuse: Yeah, September 22nd.

Damon Lindelof: ...of 2004, Oceanic 815 crashed into areas unbeknownst to the public at large, and we are now celebrating that anniversary with a surprise podcast.

Carlton Cuse: The three year anniversary of the crash of Oceanic 815.

Damon Lindelof: Wow, I can't believe that they've been missing for three years already.

Carlton Cuse: And yet, on the Island, it hasn't really been three years, has it?

Damon Lindelof: Yeah, it's...

Carlton Cuse: I mean, break that down for me. How many days has the show actually taken place over now?

Damon Lindelof: I think as of the end of the third season of the show, they had been on the Island somewhere in the neighborhood of 100 days.

Carlton Cuse: Wow.

Damon Lindelof: So it, you know, it was like...

Carlton Cuse: So it's kind of coming up on Christmas on the Island.

Damon Lindelof: Yeah exactly. It's sort of like mid-December, and you wouldn't know it.

Carlton Cuse: No.

Damon Lindelof: But uh, you know...

Carlton Cuse: No snow.

Damon Lindelof: Of course, the show itself spans a time period much more intensive than that because, you know, starting all the way back - I think the earliest flashback that we've shown so far is Ben being born, which probably happened in the mid-1960's in - near - outside Portland, Washington. And the uh, the...

Carlton Cuse: I think it was Portland, Oregon.

Damon Lindelof: Oh yes, Portland, Oregon. [Carlton chuckles] It's right near Portland, Washington. Ladies and gentlemen...

Carlton Cuse: There was no temporal time-shift of Portland into the state of Washington.

Damon Lindelof: Now... now you are...

Carlton Cuse: Don't worry, Oregonians.

Damon Lindelof: ...you are fully aware of my knowledge of the 48 states. [Carlton chuckles] In any case...

Carlton Cuse: This is why he's not on the Miss Teen America pageant.

Damon Lindelof: I know. But in any case - and we've gone to the future, an undetermined amount of years...

Carlton Cuse: Right.

Damon Lindelof: ...but certainly beyond where we've gone on the Island before.

Carlton Cuse: Sure.

Damon Lindelof: We don't know when that is, but...

Carlton Cuse: Sure, much later.

Damon Lindelof: ...we know they have RAZR phones.

Carlton Cuse: Sure, in the future.

Damon Lindelof: Yes.

Carlton Cuse: Much further.

Damon Lindelof: They have... we know they have RAZR phones and beards.

Carlton Cuse: Exactly.

Damon Lindelof: That's pretty much all we've established.

Carlton Cuse: And those are two important things. Um...

Damon Lindelof: But uh, so, I think maybe we should try to do something exciting for the surprise podcast; on the axis of surprise. The show - people were obviously surprised by the finale, which is very exciting for us 'cause it's so hard to keep secrets on the show. Um, but maybe other than the party hat that you're wearing [Carlton laughs] and the miniature pony that you rode in on, which - I don't even know where you get those things. Um...

Carlton Cuse: I got it... I got it... I traded in my banjo for it. [Kris and Damon laugh]

Damon Lindelof: I think it's an improvement.

Carlton Cuse: But I want my banjo back.

Damon Lindelof: But is there...

Carlton Cuse: The pony... the pony's much higher maintenance.

Damon Lindelof: You could just call the pony "Banjo". [Carlton laughs] And - and that's it. And then I never have...

Carlton Cuse: Strangely, my banjo is named "Pony". [Laughter]

Damon Lindelof: That is... that is not so strange, oddly.

Carlton Cuse: Well I think we also should just kinda break down what's going on. We are not actually sitting on the beach drinking Mai Tais. We are busy in the factory of Lost, pounding out episodes here. Um, we're going to - I think for those of you who didn't hear our grand plan, we are - we're doing 16 episodes a season for the next three years, and then Lost will be over. And... so we are busily at work on the 16 episodes that will comprise Season 4. And we're shooting them and... you know, we don't know exactly when we're going back on the air, but the best estimate we have from ABC is in February, the night and time to be determined. Uh, but...

Damon Lindelof: I'm hoping for 4:00.

Carlton Cuse: 4:00 on Fridays?

Damon Lindelof: 4:00 on Saturday afternoons.

Carlton Cuse: That's good. That's...

Damon Lindelof: Just a nice...

Carlton Cuse: That's gonna be really popular.

Damon Lindelof: Before date night; just sit down and watch. It's a good time slot.

Carlton Cuse: And then are going out for like an early-bird dinner? You know, hoping to get the special rate?

Damon Lindelof: Uh, you can get Surf 'n' Turf for $4.99. So you know, that's how I roll.

Carlton Cuse: Exactly, you know, you and your geriatric - home... homies, right?

Damon Lindelof: You say 'geriatric' like it's a dirty word, Carlton. [Chuckling] Um, but anyway...

Carlton Cuse: So yes...

Damon Lindelof: Yeah, so the writers are all working incredibly hard; we're very excited about the scripts we've got; we've been back in production now since... since the middle of August, roughly; and all the actors are back on the Island working, very excited; we've got a couple new actors...

Carlton Cuse: Yes, we do.

Damon Lindelof: ... working on the show; uh... you know, some new characters to sort of mix it up a little bit in Season 4. Should be fun.

Carlton Cuse: Exactly. So, we thought today - and the reason that we are sounding, perhaps, a little bit different is that we are in a radio booth at ABC with our trusty producer Kris.

Kris White Woo hoo!

Carlton Cuse: And... [Damon and Carlton chuckle] ...so we're going to actually answer some questions, but we're gonna do it a little bit differently today; we're actually gonna call some of our faithful podcast listeners and put them on the air with us, and let them engage in a little dialogue with us and ask them our - their questions directly.

Damon Lindelof: Now of course, they have no... they have no advanced warning that we're about to call them; they don't - hopefully they will remember their questions, because they were submitted via this internet that I keep hearing so much about. [Carlton laughs] So, you know, we'll see if we can work out the technology and make some phone calls; see what we can do about it.

Carlton Cuse: Yeah, I think other than that, we're... you know, we're not gonna say too much more about what's coming up on the show. I mean, we did go to Comic-Con; we had an awesome time. For those of you who didn't read about that, we kind of confirmed that there will be flash-forwards as well as flashbacks in the future of the show, and...

Damon Lindelof: And just regular flashes.

Carlton Cuse: And regular flashes, and... and...

Damon Lindelof: Like a hot flash.

Carlton Cuse: Yeah. Exactly.

Damon Lindelof: [Chuckles] I think I'm having one right now.

Carlton Cuse: But the character of The Flash will not appear on the show.

Damon Lindelof: No, he already has appeared on the show. He was in the pilot when Walt is reading the comic book with the polar bear in it.

Carlton Cuse: Oh yeah, that's true.

Damon Lindelof: So, it looks like you just told a lie, Carlton.

Carlton Cuse: But not...

Damon Lindelof: Well done.

Carlton Cuse: Well I meant like... okay, you know what I meant.

Damon Lindelof: Moving forwards. Congratulations.

Carlton Cuse: Semantically busted. Wow.

Damon Lindelof: There goes the tenuous, uh...

Damon and Carlton: ...trust...

Damon Lindelof: ...that we have built up for so many seasons. So let's make some phone calls.

Carlton Cuse: Okay. Kris, dial up our first Lost listener.

Kris White Alright.

[Lost end credits theme music]

Carlton Cuse: Hi Daphne.

Daphne: Oh my God. Hi.

Damon Lindelof: Hi Daphne. How are ya?

Daphne: How are you guys? This is unreal.

Carlton Cuse: By the way, you have the greatest name. Daph...

Daphne: Oh, thank you.

Carlton Cuse: Can you give us...

Damon Lindelof: Yeah, will you explain the origins?

Daphne: Um, well the last name is my married name. Don't know where the origin is.

Carlton Cuse: Yeah.

Daphne: And um, my first name - thank my parents. I don't really know where the origin of my name is.

Damon Lindelof: I think "Daphne" is a Greek name, and for some reason...

Daphne: You know what - that, it is. You're right.

Damon Lindelof: ...it feels like it was one of the, uh... one of the...

Daphne: She was a goddess, I think.

Damon Lindelof: ...yeah, one of the nymphs, or...

Daphne: And, uh...

Carlton Cuse: You never asked your husband what the origins of "Kicklighter" were?

Daphne: No, because we got divorced so quickly after we were married I didn't have time.

Damon Lindelof: Oh, that's a bummer. But... [Laughter] ...but look, at least you... at least you got a cool name. [Daphne laughs]

Carlton Cuse: Thanks! Let's go down that road, Damon. Thanks a lot.

Damon Lindelof: Exactly.

Carlton Cuse: That's really nice.

Damon Lindelof: Well, you asked the question. [Carlton and Daphne laugh] But uh... so basically here's what's going on.

Daphne: Okay.

Damon Lindelof: We are having a surprise podcast to commemorate the three year anniversary of the crash of Oceanic 815.

Daphne: Right.

Damon Lindelof: Crashed on September 22nd, 2004, although the people on the Island have only been there about 100 days. We figured we would answer some fan questions in person, and going through the massive stack, yours really jumped out at us - and you probably don't have them in front of you - but, even if off the top of your head you wanted to ask Carlton and I a... you know...

Carlton Cuse: She could be carrying them around. You could have them in your pocket.

Daphne: No I think that one of the first - the first one I asked, of course, was about the dreaded 'triangle'.

Damon Lindelof: Mmm.

Daphne: Um, it was about, do you guys - did you... have you guys, from the very beginning, had a definite plan as to Sawyer or Jack, as far as Kate goes? Or do you sort of listen to the audience and the internet polls, and stuff like that? Or have you...

Carlton Cuse: Alright Da...

Daphne: Huh?

Carlton Cuse: Well Daphne, we have to out you. Are you a Jater or are you a Skater?

Daphne: I am a big-time Jater.

Damon Lindelof: Oh wow.

Daphne: Uh-oh, is that bad? [Laughs]

Carlton Cuse: No.

Damon Lindelof: No, it's wonderful. I mean, you know, I - we will say this: one of is a Skater and one of us is a Jater.

Daphne: Mm-hm.

Damon Lindelof: But we will not reveal who is who.

Daphne: Okay.

Damon Lindelof: Um, and... and... but... but uh... that...

Carlton Cuse: It's actu...

Damon Lindelof: ...that doesn't...

Carlton Cuse: Yes...

Damon Lindelof: ...we've both agreed on who she's ultimately gonna end up with, but...

Daphne: Okay.

Carlton Cuse: Yeah.

Damon Lindelof: ...but that doesn't...

Daphne: So yeah, good. I just wanted to know if... 'cause you know all the stuff - I don't know if you know all the stuff that goes on on the internet, and the Skater and Jater wars, or whatever.

Carlton Cuse: What... what's the internet?

[Laughter]

Damon Lindelof: We, uh... but believe it or not...

Carlton Cuse: We've been getting mail. It's been crazy.

Damon Lindelof: ...we've been getting actual mail - letters, which I didn't even know existed...

Daphne: No, have you been getting like sewing kits?

Carlton Cuse: Yes.

Daphne: And skate boards?

Carlton Cuse: From, like, Brazil.

Daphne: Oh yeah.

Carlton Cuse: No skateboards.

Damon Lindelof: No skateboards.

Daphne: I have people send me emails asking me for money 'cause they want to send you sewing kits and all sorts of, you know, little things like that to let you know that the Jaters are still here.

Carlton Cuse: Please know that it's certainly not a resolved situation, by any means.

Daphne: Right. Well good.

Carlton Cuse: Uh... you know, there is... there's many more chapters of this story to come between...

Damon Lindelof: Yeah, this is - while we're on the phone with Daphne, this is actually a good place to sort of officially confirm - you know, although we sort of mentioned it in passing at Comic-Con - that the flash-forward that we see between Jack and Kate at the end of the Season 3 finale is not, by any means, the end of the show.

Daphne: Right.

Damon Lindelof: Um, it... it does happen in the future when they get off the Island, but there is still a whole lot of story to tell beyond that. So although things look grim for them, um...

Daphne: Oh, it's so amazing.

Damon Lindelof: ...there, um...

Carlton Cuse: There's... there's more to come.

Daphne: Oh good.

Damon Lindelof: There is more to come.

Daphne: You guys, this is unreal. I am so, like, psyched that this... that I'm talking to you guys. [Carlton chuckles]

Damon Lindelof: It's uh... we're very psyched to be talking to you.

Daphne: Oh sure you are. [Laughs]

Carlton Cuse: Yeah. So Daphne, what's your next question?

Daphne: Oh, my next question was, as far as the fast forward goes that we saw at the end of Season 3, is that a definite occurrence that takes place? Or is that something that is one possible future that could very possibly be changed, if Jack makes it back to the Island, to maybe be able to change whatever happened?

Carlton Cuse: You know, we're not big fans of the idea of sort of multiple futures, and...

Daphne: Okay. [Chuckles]

Carlton Cuse: ...I think that it kind of robs the story of its stakes, in a certain way. So, you know, we're working very hard to kind of, basically, maintain "the future is the future", and it's not... we're not gonna go back and sort of recast the future by affecting events in the past, and then all of a sudden having a completely different future.

Daphne: Okay.

Damon Lindelof: Yeah you know, we're not saying that, you know, time, and space-time, and the ability to sort of travel through time is not gonna continue to be a motif on the show...

Daphne: Right.

Damon Lindelof: ... but sort of everything we have to say about um, you know, what the effects of time traveling are, is in "Flashes Before Your Eyes".

Daphne: Right.

Damon Lindelof: You know, specifically in the scene between Desmond and Ms. Hawking. The rules that she basically explains to Desmond are the rules that we basically live by in the writers room. You know, on other shows on the air that engage in time travel, whether they be Daybreak, or...

Daphne: I don't watch any other shows. [Carlton and Daphne chuckle]

Damon Lindelof: ...yeah, Journeyman, or Heroes, or whatever... but, you know, basically the future is fixed and...

Carlton Cuse: And not... and not parallel futures.

Damon Lindelof: That's right. It's, you know - Jack and Kate are going to get off the Island, and he is...

Daphne: And Jack is really that miserable. [Laughs]

Damon Lindelof: ...and he is... he is gonna grow a very large beard, and...

Daphne: Oh no! [Laughs]

Damon Lindelof: Yes.

Carlton Cuse: And buy a RAZR phone.

Daphne: That's fine with me. [Laughs]

Damon Lindelof: Yeah, all those things are gonna happen.

Carlton Cuse: You like Jack with a beard?

Daphne: I like Jack any way. [Laughs]

Carlton Cuse: Oh good.

Damon Lindelof: Excellent.

Carlton Cuse: Where are you, by the way, Daphne?

Daphne: Where do I live?

Carlton Cuse: Yes.

Daphne: I live in Sarasota, Florida.

Damon Lindelof: Wow.

Carlton Cuse: Ohh. Very nice.

Daphne: Yeah.

Damon Lindelof: Not knowing much about the geography of Florida, other than where Miami and West Palm Beach are...

Daphne: I'm about four hours... I'm about four hours south of, um - four hours north of Miami.

Carlton Cuse: And you're on the Gulf Coast.

Daphne: Yeah.

Carlton Cuse: I've actually been to Sarasota.

Daphne: Really?

Carlton Cuse: Yeah.

Damon Lindelof: How close are you to Tallahassee? [Kris laughs]

Daphne: Oh gosh, I 'm about maybe six hours.

Carlton Cuse: Good.

Daphne: Yeah.

Damon Lindelof: Have you ever been there?

Daphne: Yeah, mm-hm.

Carlton Cuse: Why?

Damon Lindelof: What do you think? [Chuckles]

Daphne: I, you know... I'm not - I was born here in Sarasota, so I'm not a big Florida lover. [Laughs]

Damon Lindelof: Right. [Chuckles] Well there ya go.

Carlton Cuse: Alright, Daphne. Thanks so much.

Daphne: Thank you so much.

Damon and Carlton: Have a great day.

Daphne: You too.

Damon Lindelof: Bye bye.

Carlton Cuse: Bye.

Daphne: Bye.

[Lost end credits theme music as transition]

Carlton Cuse: Hello, Caleb.

Damon Lindelof: Hello, Mr. Tankersley.

Caleb: Hello.

Damon Lindelof: How are you, sir?

Caleb: I'm just great. How are you?

Damon Lindelof: We're excellent. We... we're having a little bit of a surprise stealth podcast today to commemorate the anniversary of the crash of Oceanic 815 on September 22nd this year, and... your question sort of made the cut and we were hoping that you would ask us in person.

Carlton Cuse: It sounds very windy there, Caleb. Are you mountaineering right now?

Caleb: I'm outside, yeah.

Damon Lindelof: Where... where in the glorious world are you?

Caleb: I live in Missouri.

Damon Lindelof: Oh, excellent. Right on.

Caleb: Um, do you know where Cape Girardeau is?

Carlton Cuse: Um... no.

Damon Lindelof: Who is Kate Gerarda? [Chuckles]

Caleb: It's on the Mississippi.

Damon Lindelof: Oh "Cape".

Caleb: It's south of St. Louis.

Damon Lindelof: Oh excellent. Your second question involved... involved Richard Alpert. Do you remember that one?

Caleb: I do.

Damon Lindelof: Would you be so kind as to ask us so that we can snarkily respond?

Caleb: Well, I was simply wondering - well, I was really fascinated with the character of Richard in the third season; you threw a lot of questions out there; and now Mr. Carbonell is on Cane, which, you know, may or may not continue. But if does, then that means you'll have a little bit of difficulty with filming, you know... and getting him there. So I was just wondering how that'd work; or maybe... Richard wasn't all that important anyway?

Damon Lindelof: You know, your question basically... you know, expresses a certain degree of intelligence about the way that television is made that most people don't have, and that's why we liked it; because people are always wondering why so-and-so doesn't come back, or you know, you make a deal with an actor, for example Ana Lucia; we made a deal with Michelle Rodriguez for one year, which really affected her storyline. Here's a case where we cast Nestor to play Richard Alpert; he appeared in the first episode; we really loved him; wanted him to be sort of Ben's second in command; started ramping up his storyline; obviously dropping several hints in Ben's flashback episode, "The Man Behind the Curtain", about how long Alpert had been on the Island, and that Alpert, in fact, was not one of the members of the DHARMA Initiative, but pre-dated them, and is sort of an original Other, as it were. But around that time that we were in production on that episode, Nestor went off to shoot the pilot for Cane. And Carlton and I were like, "Well you know, it's a pilot; you never know what's gonna happen." You know...

Carlton Cuse: But then they cast Jimmy Smits in it, and then we're like, "Ohhh. That's not good. That's not good at all."

Damon Lindelof: "Oh, wait a minute... I've heard of him." [ironically] But at least they're not doing any promo for it. [Chuckles]

Carlton Cuse: Oh, yeah. No, exact...

Caleb: Yeah, I really haven't seen anything.

Carlton Cuse: No, they actually... [Laughs]

Damon Lindelof: Oh, really?

Carlton Cuse: That was ironic, they were like...

Damon Lindelof: We've been seeing... maybe it's just 'cause we're in L.A., but you know, there are literally Cane posters everywhere.

Carlton Cuse: Yeah.

Caleb: Oh really?

Carlton Cuse: But basically, you know, this is what happens. Real life intervenes when you're doing television, and um... the same thing happened a little bit with Harold Perrineau. I mean, it was always our intention to bring him back, but we couldn't bring him back until we could kinda work out a schedule, and he went off to do the sequel to 28 Days... 28 Days Later, he was also in a pilot...

Caleb: Right.

Carlton Cuse: ...his fortunately did not get picked up. So you know, what we do in this sort of circumstance is we've got Nestor sort of parked; and you know, we hope to get back to his character, but it's gonna really depend on whether that show goes someplace or not; and in the meantime, we have some other story plans, but we just... we've kind of... we've parked him until that situation gets resolved.

Damon Lindelof: You know, and the reality is, is we have a little bit of leeway on Cane, which is that it's produced by ABC Television Studios, even though it's on CBS, and hopefully maybe that... if we're gonna use Richard, hopefully that will give us an opportunity to, you know to... to...

Carlton Cuse: Get him out for an episode, or something.

Damon Lindelof: ...get him for an episode or two.

Caleb: Alright.

Damon Lindelof: But obviously, our plan for Alpert is a little more extensive than that. But as Carlton said, we just had to park it for now.

Caleb: Well, I applaud your maneuvering, so far.

[Chuckling]

Damon Lindelof: We will continue to maneuver to the best of our ability. Do you... who do you watch the show with, out there in Missouri? Do you watch it with friends, or family, or...?

Caleb: I actually have a Lost party every Wednesday at my house.

Damon Lindelof: Awesome.

Caleb: Yeah.

Damon Lindelof: Well, it sounds like we picked the right person to call, then.

Caleb: [Laughs] Right.

Damon Lindelof: Alright.

Carlton Cuse: Well Caleb, thanks for talking to us today, and thanks for watching the show.

Caleb: Oh, thank you so much.

Damon Lindelof: We really appreciate your patience and your fandom, and we really hope you like Season 4, and... like hearing yourself on the podcast , which should be available within the next week or so.

Caleb: Cool. I'm excited. I'm excited for February.

Damon Lindelof: Us too.

Caleb: I can't wait.

Carlton and Damon: Alright, man.

Carlton Cuse: Take care.

Caleb: Alright.

Damon Lindelof: See ya Saturdays at 4:00.

Carlton Cuse: Bye. [Carlton and Damon chuckle]

[Lost end credits theme music as transition]

Carlton Cuse: Hey Ryan, this is Carlton and Damon; welcome to the Official Lost Podcast. We read your questions, we thought they were great, and we wanted to ask you to ask us those questions live, for our podcast.

Damon Lindelof: We are... we are doing a stealth surprise podcast to commemorate the third year anniversary of the crash of Oceanic 815, and you had asked us sort of three fascinating questions that we felt, you know, were legitimate and deserved to be answered in person, or at least over the phone.

Carlton Cuse: Or... or we could be evasive about them quite effectively.

Damon Lindelof: Yes. [Ryan laughs] So... so why don't you... why don't you fire off question number one?

Ryan: Question number one was - is - Nikki and Paulo; is that story really dead? Or is there more to that we didn't see?

Carlton Cuse: They are buried alive, Ryan. They are dead. You know, it was one of those cases where I think, you know, it's like you go to the store and you buy three things for dinner when you're really hungry, and then you get home and you eat one and you go, "Geez, what about the other two?" I mean...

Damon Lindelof: Those two other things were Nikki and Paulo, respectively. [Laughter]

Carlton Cuse: Pretty much sums it up. You know, we had sort of bigger plans for what we were gonna do with them, but then, you know, we got into the season last year and we just really found that we were neglecting our regular characters; and we heard a lot about how we were neglecting our regular characters; and then we were like, "Uh-oh, we just don't think we can be taking time away from Claire and Hurley and Sawyer and Jin and Sun to be doing Nikki and Paulo stories."

Ryan: Right.

Carlton Cuse: So we took their entire sort of arc, and we kind of compressed into that one episode. Now, I'd like to ask you, Ryan, were you... were you a fan? Did - you know, people sort of break down - kinda like, some people love that episode, other people really didn't like it; and just kinda wanna know where you weigh in on that one, the Nikki and Paulo episode.

Damon Lindelof: The one where they... the one where they bought the farm, "Exposé".

Ryan: I... I... I like... I liked it. I liked their story as you were getting into it in Season 2. It was just like new people that were... that were there on the Island, but we didn't hear anybody, sort of like an extra coming to the forefront.

Damon Lindelof: Right.

Ryan: And... and I was glad to see them have their own episode, and then it just kinda shocked me; they died in their one and only episode that they were featured, and it was just like... I didn't quite understand it, you know.

Damon Lindelof: Well, one of the things that we found happening was, you know, aside form what Carlton said, this kinda started with exactly what you just said; which is people were very curious about who the other - the castaways that we never heard from; the ones who were out there with Bernard, you know, making the S.O.S. sign. So we basically came up with this idea for Nikki and Paulo, and sort of had a cool arc for them. But the moment that we introduced them, you know, the fan community and audience at large basically cried foul. So we bagan to come up with an alternate plan to basically cram all the story we had come up with them, and deal with it and resolve it in a faster and more timely manner.

Carlton Cuse: And by 'alternate plan', he means back-pedaling. [Ryan laughs]

Damon Lindelof: Yes, exactly. But you know, we're not too proud of ourselves to know when, you know, when something that we tried didn't work, exactly. And...

Carlton Cuse: But we love the episode; we actually thought it ended up really - we were very proud of it, and we thought it was a cool episode with a neat twist. And as sort of a stand-alone, it was a just - it was a fun story exercise for us to actually pull that one off.

Damon Lindelof: And the worst thing we coulda done was nothing; which is they just melt back into the chorus. At least we basically put them front and center and told their tale.

Carlton Cuse: So anyway Ryan, we have - you have a couple more questions here. But first I'm gonna ask, what do you... what do you do for a living, Ryan?

Ryan: I'm an office manager for a hurricane shutter company.

Damon Lindelof: Oh wow.

Carlton Cuse: Cool.

Ryan: Yeah.

Damon Lindelof: Are there - I assume that's a... that's a pretty good business in West Palm Beach.

Carlton Cuse: So you get like...

Ryan: Oh yeah.

Carlton Cuse: You get like psyched when you see those Category 4 storms coming.

Damon Lindelof: It's an op...

Ryan: [Laughs] Not coming directly our way. We like good scares, you know.

Damon Lindelof: It's an opportunity, though, for a good (sense?).

Ryan: Oh yeah.

Damon Lindelof: Excellent.

Carlton Cuse: I think we definitely need some more hurricane storm shutters on the Lost office windows. [Ryan laughs]

Damon Lindelof: Yes, exactly.

Carlton Cuse: Alright, now question number two; I'll give you a hint if you don't remember, it had to do with a certain character being pregnant.

Ryan: Yep.

Carlton Cuse: And it wasn't Vincent. [Kris and Ryan laugh]

Ryan: Yeah, um, I was curious... are we gonna find out relatively early, hopefully in Season 4, that - is Kate gonna be pregnant with Sawyer's baby?

Damon Lindelof: You will, you know - you definitely will find out if she's pregnant with Sawyer's baby in sort of the first run of episodes. We don't want to be specific, but I'd say prob... you know, if we premiere it in the first week of February, as we're expecting, you would probably have the answer to that question by, you know, the Ides of March.

Carlton Cuse: That's pretty specific, Damon.

Ryan: Cool.

Damon Lindelof: Well it's not that - I mean it could... [Ryan laughs]

Carlton Cuse: You know. Yeah, so like, "No, we won't be specific, but in episode four, you'll know."

Damon Lindelof: No, but you could get it in the first episode, I'm just... I'm just...

Carlton Cuse: I'm not saying it's episode four. It could be episode three...

Damon Lindelof: ...I'm just casting a much wider net.

Carlton Cuse: ...or two. [Ryan laughs]

Damon Lindelof: If Carlton were to say it was episode four, I would not disagree.

Ryan: [Laughs] Excellent.

Carlton Cuse: But I'm not gonna confirm that it's episode four. Okay, third question, Ryan.

Damon Lindelof: And... and... you...

Carlton Cuse: You probably remember that. By the way.

Damon Lindelof: ...you must remember this one.

Ryan: It's... yeah, I think it's the one with Mikhail; if he's still...

Damon Lindelof: That's right, yes.

Ryan: ...we gonna find if he's still alive, or what's his deal?

Carlton Cuse: "The idea of a grenade going off at close range, one would think he's finally dead." [Ryan laughs] Um, I don't like your tone, Ryan. [Laughter]

Damon Lindelof: Yeah, what... what are you implying?

Ryan: Well... you have him... you have him... everybody believed that he died with an arrow in his heart or the sonic fence; and he keeps poppin' up, that it's just... it's just odd, that's all.

Carlton Cuse: Have you ever known any Russians, Ryan? [Kris laughs] Do you know how tough Russians are?

Damon Lindelof: They build those guys to last.

Ryan: [Laughs] I have not. We don't have too many Russians here in West Palm.

Damon Lindelof: What's shocking is, you don't even know how he lost his eye. If you... if you had heard that story, you'd really think we were "bo-GOSS". [Carlton laughing]

Carlton Cuse: [Ryan laughs] I mean, the man... no, Mikhail's dead. He is. But of course you know, in Lost, being dead does not mean you don't work on the show; I mean, look at Christian Shephard - that dude's done ten episodes, and he's been dead.

Ryan: Oh yeah.

Damon Lindelof: That's right. So, you know, we might be seeing some more of Mikhail in the past; but as we've long prided ourselves on: when you die on the Island, you're dead for good.

Carlton Cuse: Until the Zombie Season.

Damon Lindelof: Until the Zombie Season, which unfortunately...

Carlton Cuse: Is not happening.

Damon Lindelof: ...we're never gonna do now, because the show has to end at the end of the sixth year, so...

Carlton Cuse: Oh, like you're disappointed.

Damon Lindelof: ...you'll just have to... [Ryan laughs] ...you'll just have to imagine the Zombie Season: Nikki and Paulo and Mikhail all frolicking. So, were you... were you pleased with the end of the season, to see that Jack and Kate were certainly on the outs with each other?

Ryan: I... I was. I mean, I'm... I'd been a big Juliet fan when she started on Season 3. And I kinda like her getting together with Jack, even though she's kind of still... mysterious, you know?

Damon Lindelof: Yeah, no - we're big Juliet fans ourselves.

Carlton Cuse: Who do you watch the show with, Ryan?

Ryan: Uh, pretty much just by myself because I... [Damon chuckles] ...I was in it from very early on, and my wife just never got into it. I mean, it's kinda hard to jump in the middle, you know what I mean?

Damon Lindelof: That's for sure. Is she like, "Uh, why are you still watching that show?" [Ryan chuckles]

Carlton Cuse: You better be care - look, Damon wants to call her and give him a piece of his mind, okay? [Ryan laughs]

Damon Lindelof: Yeah, exactly. Hey, so one last question for you. Who do you think is in the coffin?

Ryan: Uh... I think it's... I don't know, I think it might be Locke, just because of that tiff they had at the end of Season 3.

Damon Lindelof: Hm. Interesting.

Carlton Cuse: Yeah. That's... that's a good guess; although the guy just won an Emmy, so I don't know. [Ryan laughs]

Damon Lindelof: It's actually "Frogurt", who is... who is the new sock we're introducing this year. [Carlton laughs] And wait 'til - If you like Nikki and Paulo, wait 'til you get a load of his story.

Carlton Cuse: [Laughing] Well Ryan, we'll let you get back to work there. Thanks so much for talkin' to us today.

Ryan: Hey, I appreciate your call.

Damon Lindelof: And thanks for watching the show. We really appreciate it.

Carlton Cuse: Alright, man.

Damon Lindelof: Bye.

Carlton Cuse: Bye.

Ryan: Have a good one.

Carlton Cuse: Well, what did you think about calling viewers live, Damon? Did you think that was good?

Damon Lindelof: I uh... I thought it was awesome to sort of reach out; and everybody seemed really excited, and you know, we're still five months away from the premiere of the show, so... four?

Carlton Cuse: We're hoping to... we're hoping to do this on video at some point, but Kris is working on the technology for that. And we hope that'll be happening as we begin doing our weekly podcasts and Season 4 gets ready to start, but...

Damon Lindelof: And you'll be able to wear your new hat.

Carlton Cuse: Exact... and play the banjo live.

Damon Lindelof: Very exciting. I can't wait to see that. [deep, slow voice] I really, really can't.

Carlton Cuse: You'll have to wear your pants, though.

Damon Lindelof: I think we need to - what we're gonna do: we are now vowing to you in this surpr... we're gonna come up with some new - good new inside jokes for Season 4.

Carlton Cuse: [Chuckles] Yeah, those other ones are done.

Damon Lindelof: I feel... you know...

Carlton Cuse: That's it. That's it, the last you're gonna hear of them is on this surprise podcast.

Damon Lindelof: ...I feel the banjo and the pants-wearing has gone the way of the tail section. [Laughter] It is...

Carlton Cuse: They're done. Okay.

Damon Lindelof: ...it is time to move on and come up with some good new gags. People might not like 'em...

Carlton Cuse: But, they'll be new.

Damon Lindelof: ...but at least they'll be new.

Carlton Cuse: Like New Coke.

Damon Lindelof: Yeah, exactly. I like New Coke.

Carlton Cuse: Yeah. Alright man. Well thanks, Damon. I'll see you soon.

Damon Lindelof: I'll - I guess I'll be talking to you in about five months, or...

Carlton Cuse: Oh, no no...

Damon Lindelof: ...or four minutes. Whichever way... whichever way you wanna....

Carlton Cuse: Anyway, thanks. Thanks for hanging in there during this down period, and we will be back to you guys shortly.

Damon Lindelof: Happy anniversary, Oceanic 815.

[Lost end credits theme music]

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