| Lost: Missing Pieces | |
|---|---|
 A website banner advertisement | |
| Genre | Drama |
| Directed by | Jack Bender |
| Starring | Michael Emerson Matthew Fox Jorge Garcia Daniel Dae Kim Yunjin Kim Elizabeth Mitchell Harold Perrineau |
| Composer | Michael Giacchino |
| Country of origin | United States |
| Original language | English |
| No. of seasons | 1 |
| No. of episodes | 13(list of episodes) |
| Production | |
| Executive producers | Damon Lindelof Carlton Cuse Barry Jossen J. J. Abrams Bryan Burk Jack Bender Jeff Pinkner |
| Production locations | Oahu,Hawaii |
| Cinematography | John Bartley Michael Bonvillain |
| Editor | Robert Florio |
| Running time | 1–4 minutes |
| Production company | ABC Studios |
| Original release | |
| Network | V CAST ABC.com |
| Release | November 7, 2007 (2007-11-07) – January 28, 2008 (2008-01-28) |
| Related | |
| Lost | |
Lost: Missing Pieces is a series of thirteen video clips ranging in length from one to four minutes that aired during the hiatus between the3rd and4th seasons of thetelevision showLost, from which this series is aspin off.[1] They generally became available toVerizon Wireless users on Mondays from November 2007 to January 2008 and were uploaded ontoABC's website a week later for free streaming.[2] The "mobisodes", or "webisodes", were shot inHonolulu,Hawaii, and produced by the same crew with the same cast as the television series; thus, all content is considered to becanonical.[3]Lost: Missing Pieces were included as special features in the fourth season's 2008 DVD releases.[4]
The project was announced in November 2005 as theLost Video Diaries; however, production was delayed several times due to contractual restrictions.Lost's writer-producers originally proposed the mobisodes as a self-contained story that would focus on two previously unseen characters of theLostfictional universe. These characters would be played by actors who were not part of theScreen Actors Guild; however the entertainment guilds refused to support such a project. After months of unsuccessful negotiating, the series was seemingly shelved by ABC. In June 2007, it was announced that the mobisodes, which would be renamedLost: Missing Pieces, would star the regular characters ofLost in thirteen short video clips unrelated to each other.[5] Twelve scenes were newly shot; one was a deleted scene from the television series. Critical response toLost: Missing Pieces was mixed. The series was nominated for anEmmy Award in 2008.
In November 2005, while the earlysecond season ofLost was airing,The Hollywood Reporter reported that twenty-two mobisodes—each spanning several minutes—were expected to be produced in December for a January 2006 release.[6] Zap2it reported that they would later be present on the second season's DVD set and that six would be exclusive to the DVD.[7] Unlike the television series, it would not be produced byABC Studios (then named Touchstone Television) and would star non-Screen Actors Guild members; however it would be produced under the oversight ofDamon Lindelof andCarlton Cuse, like the television series.[8] In response to fan inquiries aboutLost's approximately thirty background characters, theLost Video Diaries would focus on a self-contained story about two survivors of the crash of Oceanic Flight 815 who had not previously been introduced.[9] TheLos Angeles Times confirmed in January 2006–the month scheduled to launch the series[10]–that the mobisodes would be broadcast on V CAST from Verizon Wireless and that each mobisode would span only two minutes.[11] Verizon would ultimately pay ABC $400,000 for the mobisodes.[12]
Production was delayed when the actors,directors andwriters guilds refused to support thespin-off. A deal previously unheard of was negotiated in April,[13] which allowed guild members involved to collectresiduals.[14] This agreement prompted Lindelof and Cuse to develop a storyline for theVideo Diaries that would includeLost's regular characters, although not all ofLost's regular cast signed contracts. According to Touchstone's executive vice president for production Barry Jossen, who would eventually serve as an executive producer on the mobisodes, "They seem to be under the impression that we'll make millions of dollars and they won't".[12]Variety reported that the mobisodes would be produced and aired alongside the third season ofLost.[15] AtSan Diego Comic-Con in July, Lindelof and Cuse announced that only thirteen mobisodes would be produced. They would run during the third season's winter hiatus, with none saved exclusively for the third season's DVD set.[16] A sneak peek of theVideo Diaries was also shown at Comic-Con. The new premise featuredHurley Reyes (played byJorge Garcia) finding a functionalDharma Initiative video camcorder[17] that had Dharma orientation films on it.[18] In the clip, he filmsKate Austen (Evangeline Lilly) andJames "Sawyer" Ford (Josh Holloway).[19] During the hiatus, no mobisodes were to be found and clips from upcoming episodes calledLost Moments aired instead, on television and then ABC.com.[20] In January 2007,Wizard discovered that ABC was still negotiating the actors' contracts; thus, no mobisodes had been produced, aside from the Comic-Con teaser.[21] In February,Lost'sscript coordinator, responding to a fan question, suspected the mobisodes had seemingly been put on hold indefinitely due to an inability to reach a contract agreement.[22]
In June, Lindelof and Cuse were interviewed byThe Hollywood Reporter and they revealed the ultimate plan for the mobisodes. The mobisodes would air during the hiatus between the third and fourth seasons and would give viewers interesting information that would probably not be found in the show; the average mobisode would only be one and a half minutes long.[23] In the third season, the writers tried to integrate two previously unseen crash survivors namedNikki Fernandez (Kiele Sanchez) andPaulo (Rodrigo Santoro) into the story, but the pair was negatively received for their abrupt appearance and the writers killed them off after seven appearances.[24] Lindelof and Cuse learned from their mistake and decided that the mobisodes would focus on the regularLost cast.[25] The writers were paid $800 per mobisode, whereas the actors received $425 per mobisode. Actors were contracted to receive more money if the mobisode were reused in another medium.[12]
In regard to writing, co-executive producerEdward Kitsis said that "sometimes it was a scene we always wanted to do, a scene that never got shot, sometimes it was just something interesting".[26] "Buried Secrets" revisits thefirst season storylines of sexual tension betweenSun-Hwa Kwon (Yunjin Kim) andMichael Dawson (Harold Perrineau) and the mutual detestation between Sun's husbandJin (Daniel Dae Kim) and Michael.[27] These conflicts were going to be further explored in the first season; however, positive fan reaction to Sun and Jin as a couple and good chemistry between the actors playing Michael and Jin led to the abandonment of the love triangle.[28]Reuters announced in November that the mobisodes would premiere that month.[29] This proved to be true, with "The Watch" appearing suddenly to Verizon customers as the first of theLost: Missing Pieces. A new mobisode would generally become available each Monday and would be released a week later as a free webisode on ABC's website. TheWriters Guild of America strike occurred as the mobisodes were released, due to television writers wanting a deal similar to that achieved forMissing Pieces.[30] Filming was completed in late November.[31] The mobisodes were later released as special features on the DVD andBlu-ray sets ofLost: The Complete Fourth Season – The Expanded Experience in the second half of 2008.
Although it had not always been the plan,[32] theMissing Pieces were produced by ABC Studios. Executive producerJack Bender directed each mobisode, with writing duties divided betweenexecutive producers Lindelof and Cuse,[33][34] supervising producerElizabeth Sarnoff,[35] co-producerBrian K. Vaughan,[36] executive story editorChristina M. Kim,[37] and co-executive producersDrew Goddard,Edward Kitsis, andAdam Horowitz.[38][39] Other crew members included executive producerBryan Burk of post-production and co-executive producer Jean Higgins of physical production. "The Envelope"—a deleted scene from the third-season premiere; the only mobisode not to be originally filmed and written forLost: Missing Pieces[40]—contained additional credits:Jeff Pinkner is an executive producer and executive producerJ. J. Abrams is a co-writer.[41]
TheMissing Pieces retains many of the cast members from the television series. Perrineau plays Michael,[42] who had not been seen since the second season finale.[43]Matthew Fox playsJack Shephard,[44] the leader of the castaways andElizabeth Mitchell portrays his love interest,Juliet Burke.[42] Garcia reprises his role as crash survivor Hurley.[45] Kim and Kim play married couple Jin and Sun.[37]Michael Emerson acts asBen Linus, the leader of the island residents known as the "Others".[44] Guest starsJohn Terry,[46]Daniel Roebuck,[47]William Mapother[48] andJulie Adams[41] reprise their roles ofChristian Shephard,Leslie Arzt,Ethan Rom, andAmelia, respectively.Emilie de Ravin, who playsClaire Littleton, appears solely in archived footage from the television show.[33]Vincent, a dog who survived the plane crash, is played by the dog Pono.[49] Guest starSean Whalen makes his first appearance as the crash survivorNeil "Frogurt".[39] While the second season was airing, the writer-producers confirmed in the April 3, 2006, edition of the OfficialLostPodcast that Frogurt would appear in the late second season,[50] however, he was merely mentionedonce.[51] Frogurt also did not appear in the third season and he became arunning gag in the podcast,[52] with Lindelof and Cuse repeatedly claiming that Frogurt would appear in the show.[53][54] However, Frogurt did appear in thefifth season briefly, but was shot through with flaming arrows shortly after being introduced.[55]
"Prod. no." is short for "production code number", which signifies the order that the mobisodes were produced in and appear on DVD and Blu-ray, which is different from the order that they aired in. "Original air date" refers to the original V CAST airdate. Days are in relation to the day of the crash, which is day 1 and September 22, 2004. All mobisodes are newly written and shot,[3] with the exception of "The Envelope", which is a deleted scene from "A Tale of Two Cities" that was shot on August 9 and 11, 2006,[56] a year before the other mobisodes.[57]
| No. | Title | Directed by | Written by | Featured character(s) | Original release date | Prod. code |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | "The Watch" | Jack Bender | Carlton Cuse | Jack &Christian | November 7, 2007 (2007-11-07) | 107 |
Years before the crash on the day before Jack's wedding withSarah, Jack's father Christian apologizes to Jack for not having been as good a father as he could have been. Christian gives Jack a watch that had been passed down to him by his father. | ||||||
| 2 | "The Adventures of Hurley and Frogurt" | Jack Bender | Edward Kitsis &Adam Horowitz | Hurley &Frogurt | November 13, 2007 (2007-11-13) | 103 |
| 3 | "King of the Castle" | Jack Bender | Brian K. Vaughan | Jack &Ben | November 20, 2007 (2007-11-20) | 101 |
| 4 | "The Deal" | Jack Bender | Elizabeth Sarnoff | Michael &Juliet | November 26, 2007 (2007-11-26) | 110 |
Onday 63, Juliet visits Michael during his captivity with the Others to discuss the necessity to free Walt from the island. | ||||||
| 5 | "Operation: Sleeper" | Jack Bender | Brian K. Vaughan | Jack &Juliet | December 3, 2007 (2007-12-03) | 106 |
On the night ofday 86, Juliet wakes Jack to confess that she has been working with Ben. | ||||||
| 6 | "Room 23" | Jack Bender | Elizabeth Sarnoff | Ben &Juliet | December 11, 2007 (2007-12-11) | 104 |
Sometime duringdays 45 to 49,Walt Lloyd is being kept inRoom 23. Juliet shows Ben several birds that have died outside Room 23. | ||||||
| 7 | "Arzt & Crafts" | Jack Bender | Damon Lindelof | Hurley,Jin,Sun,Michael &Arzt | December 17, 2007 (2007-12-17) | 112 |
Onday 7, Arzt tries to dissuade some of the crash survivors from following Jack by moving into the caves, that is until he hearsthe monster and decides to move there himself. | ||||||
| 8 | "Buried Secrets" | Jack Bender | Christina M. Kim | Jin,Sun &Michael | December 24, 2007 (2007-12-24) | 105 |
Sometime duringdays 6 to 44, while burying her forged driver's license, Sun is discovered by Michael and they almost kiss. | ||||||
| 9 | "Tropical Depression" | Jack Bender | Carlton Cuse | Michael &Arzt | December 31, 2007 (2007-12-31) | 111 |
Onday 43, Arzt confesses to Michael that he lied about the upcoming monsoon season. He also tells him that he was in Australia to meet someone whom he found through Internet dating, but was rejected. | ||||||
| 10 | "Jack, Meet Ethan. Ethan? Jack." | Jack Bender | Damon Lindelof | Jack &Ethan | January 7, 2008 (2008-01-07) | 102 |
Sometime duringday 4, Ethan approaches Jack and gives him a suitcase of medical supplies, and the two discuss the possibility of Claire delivering her baby on the island. Ethan also tells Jack that his wife and baby died in childbirth. | ||||||
| 11 | "Jin Has a Temper-Tantrum on the Golf Course" | Jack Bender | Drew Goddard | Hurley,Jin &Michael | January 14, 2008 (2008-01-14) | 108 |
Onday 41, while playing a game of golf with Michael and Hurley, Jin shouts in frustration about his problems. Matthew Fox is credited for this mobisode, despite not making an appearance. | ||||||
| 12 | "The Envelope" | Jack Bender | Story by : Damon Lindelof Teleplay by :J. J. Abrams & Damon Lindelof | Juliet &Amelia | January 21, 2008 (2008-01-21) | 109 |
Onday 1, Juliet almost shows Amelia, a member of the Others' book club, Ben's x-rays. Ben's feelings for Juliet are hinted at. | ||||||
| 13 | "So It Begins" | Jack Bender | Drew Goddard | Jack,Christian &Vincent | January 28, 2008 (2008-01-28) | 113 |
Just after the crash, onday 1, what appears to be Christian tells Vincent the dog to go and find Jack. The opening scene of thepilot episode is replayed, in which Jack opens his eye and sees Vincent walk by. | ||||||
The finale—"So It Begins"—was submitted to theAcademy of Television Arts & Sciences for Emmy consideration in the "Special Class: Short-Format Live-Action Entertainment Programs" category.[58] Executive producers Damon Lindelof, Carlton Cuse, and Barry Jossen were successful in receiving a nomination on July 17, 2007;[59] however, they lost toSciFi'sBattlestar Galactica: Razor Flashbacks on September 13 at theCreative Arts Emmy Award ceremony of the60th Primetime Emmy Awards.[60] Douglas Durdan of theRichmond Times-Dispatch described "The Watch" "as unsatisfying as it is satisfying" because the reviewer was unsure of which lines were important or if there were any clues to future episodes hidden among the background.[61] After two mobisodes aired,UGO's Jon Lachonis wrote that "the [first two] mobisodes ... have most fans kvetching about the irrelevancy and down rightLost-lessness of the tidbits that are meant to traverse gaps in the story", "it's way too early to dismiss the mobisodes as a complete waste of time, asLost has a long history of righting its own wrongs and the best may certainly be yet to come" and "[Frogurt is] the most annoying person onLost's mystery island".[18] Four mobisodes later, UGO called them "impressive" and said that "they 'look' like full out productions".[62] Larry Dobrow ofAdvertising Age enjoyed the first sixLost: Missing Pieces, describing them as "all entertaining and professionally rendered" and calling the project "a great friggin' idea".[63] Josh Wigler ofWizard wrote that theLost: Missing Pieces are "hit or miss in terms of quality and importance. Some episodes, however, shed some excellent light onLost mythology. ... In terms of flat out fun, it doesn't get much better than 'Jin has a Temper-Tantrum on the Golf Course' ... featuring a frustrated Jin screaming to the high heavens after botching an easy putt against Michael. Unnecessary, yes. Hysterical, absolutely."[64]
MSNBC's Ree Hines reviewed the first sevenMissing Pieces.[65] He wrote that "'The Watch' is basically pointless", "the humor [of 'The Adventures of Hurley and Frogurt'] doesn't work" and "Operation: Sleeper" was deemed "the most useless of the webisodes".[65] Hines said that "King of the Castle" "almost satisfies ... due to ... Ben's deadpan dastardly presence" and "Room 23" is the most promising of the first half of the series.[65] Hines concluded that "the creators fill gaps that don't need filling. The installments fail to form a cohesive stand-alone arc, leaving viewers with little more than a series of fragmented scenes, presumably no better than those left on the cutting-room floor."[65]
Chris Carabott ofIGN reviewed most ofLost: Missing Pieces and has given each a rating out of ten.[66] After four mobisodes aired, he remarked that "these vignettes feel like your average deleted scene—removed for a good reason";[67] however, no mobisode received a score less than 6.5. "The Watch" scored a 7.5 and was called "touching" because Jack and his father have rarely been seen getting along inLost.[68] "The Adventures of Hurley and Frogurt" was given a 6.5 and described as "a funny little moment" and "tragic", in regard to Libby's death.[69] "King of the Castle" received an 8.5. Carabott said that it was well written, "a great performance from [Fox and Emerson]" and worthy of appearing on television.[70] Carabott celebrated Michael's return in "The Deal", but the reviewer noted that "The Deal" "doesn't reveal anything new or exciting at all".[67] "Operation: Sleeper" was rated as a 7.5,[71] as was "Buried Secrets".[72] "Room 23" got an 8 and was described as "definitely the type of new content that we are looking for. It's something that won't be missed by regular viewers but gives a little more insight into the nature of events on the island".[73] "Arzt and Crafts" also got an 8 and was said to have "a cleverly devised title" and was "packed with a healthy amount of humor".[74] "Tropical Depression" received an 8.5, with Carabott calling it "rather pointless ... but cute nonetheless".[75] "Jack, Meet Ethan. Ethan? Jack" scored an 8 and Mapother's acting skills were commended.[76] "Jin Has a Temper-Tantrum on the Golf Course" was deemed "hilarious" and "one of [Lost's] funniest ... moments" and worthy of a 7.5.[77] "The Envelope" was given a 6.5,[78] and "So It Begins" was given a 9—the highest score of any mobisode—and was described as "a shocking new look at the Christian Shephard who appeared to Jack".[79]
Oscar Dahl ofBuddyTV reviewed each mobisode. "The Watch" was called "a fun couple minutes of character work", but "relatively worthless".[80] "The Adventures of Hurley and Frogurt" was thought to be better than "The Watch".[81] "King of the Castle" was reviewed better than the previous two mobisodes and the reviewer noted that "it's a testament to ... Fox and ... Emerson's acting abilities that [it] is so intense".[82] "The Deal" was said to be even better than "King of the Castle".[83] While Dahl "always like[s] what Juliet brings to the table", he thought that "Operation: Sleeper" "serves little purpose".[84] "Room 23" was called the "best mobisode ever".[85] In regard to "Arzt and Crafts", Dahl wrote that "Lindelof wrote this mobisode ... and as a result ... it has the best dialogue of any mobisode so far".[86] He commented that "Tropical Depression" is "not totally superfluous, though the new information isn't very enlightening".[87] Dahl "liked" "Jack, Meet Ethan. Ethan? Jack", but decided "that it's not [Lindelof]'s best work".[88] Dahl wrote that "Jin Has a Temper-Tantrum on the Golf Course" is "a nice little scene", but the reviewer pointed out an inaccuracy in the scene's golf gameplay.[89] When reviewing "The Envelope", Dahl wrote that "The people over atLost have cheated a little bit ... [but] it's still a pretty cool deleted scene".[90] After seeing "So It Begins", Dahl was "not entirely sure what to think" because the reviewer liked "showing the moments before the pilot began" and "doing a mobisode from Vincent's perspective, but adding a supposed-to-be-dead Christian to the mix is confusing".[91]
Ryan McGee ofZap2it also reviewed every mobisode. "The Watch" was described as "anticlimactic".[92] "The Adventures of Hurley and Frogurt" was described as "a little ... lacking", but McGee wrote that "'King of the Castle' proves that brevity is the soul of awesome, with a tense, information-rich two-and-a-half minutes that tingled mySpidey-esquemythology sense the entire time".[93] "The Deal" was received less favourably than the previous installment[94] McGee wrote that "Room 23" was "short but sweet".[95] "Arzt and Crafts" was called "a weak-ish entry" and it was noted that "not everythingLost does turns into Dharma-laced gold, sadly".[96] "Buried Secrets" was described as mediocre.[97] In the review for "Tropical Depression", McGee commented that "It's just not good. At all." and compared its quality to the episode "Stranger in a Strange Land" and the characterPaulo,[98] both of which were negatively received by fans and critics.[99] "Jack, Meet Ethan. Ethan? Jack" had "return[edLost: Missing Pieces] to compelling form", however the title was called "clunky".[97] After watching "So It Begins", McGee wrote that it is "a mobisode so vital, so important that I can't believe that ABC didn't bother to air this [online] before the start of Season 4".[100]
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