It's not just the TV show that's proving addictive. 'Lost' has spawned a web of tie-ins and spin-offs. As series two draws to a close, Brian Boyd looks at its influence on television, meets some of the cast and offers some clues about series three
Two months ago Hugh McIntrye appeared on the popular US chat show Jimmy Kimmel Live!. McIntrye, the communications director of a big company, was asked for his opinion of the television drama series, Lost. Like a lot of people, he replied that he found the show "confusing". He went on to tell Jimmy Kimmel that the producers of Lost had asked him if they could use his company in the programme's plotline. He refused the request saying that Lost is a work of fiction and that he didn't want his company involved with the show on any level. Hugh McIntyre is the communications director of the Hanso Foundation.
The Hanso Foundation is not happy about how it is portrayed in Lost. It has taken out ads in a number of major-circulation US newspapers denouncing the programme. In an Opus Dei/Da Vinci Code-style skirmish, it has also issued a number of press releases roundly criticising how it is depicted in a much-talked-about new book called Bad Twin. The book was published posthumously after its author, Gary Troup, was killed when the flight he was on from Sydney, Australia to Los Angeles crashed in the mid-Pacific.
But in a twist we should expect from anything to do with Lost, Hugh McIntyre doesn't exist; neither does the Hanso Foundation. Why was a man claiming to be someone who doesn't exist appearing on a prime-time chat show talking about a company that doesn't exist and its putative relationship with a TV series that does exist, albeit as a fictional drama?
You could e-mail McIntrye at hugh.mcintyre@thehansofoundation.org to ask him that very question.
Gary Troup doesn't exist either (yes, his name is an anagram of "purgatory") but his book does. We know it exists because a character on Lost was reading it on the beach the other week. And also because you can walk into Waterstones on Dawson Street and buy it.
Confused? Looking for answers? That's how the people behind Lost want you to feel. Welcome to the brave new world of multi-platform media. It's a place where one media experience is augmented and enhanced by alternate media sources. It's a place where the traditional TV programme has come to a screeching halt and been replaced by a multimedia experience.
It began three years ago with a cunning plan to fight back against the ubiquity and popularity of reality television. One of the original reality TV shows was a US programme called Survivor where a bunch of "look at me" wannabes were dropped on a desert island and left to battle it out among themselves. What if you took the premise of Survivor and turned it into a drama series? Lost was born.
Now one of the most-watched TV programmes in broadcasting history, Lost follows the travails of a group of plane-crash survivors on a mysterious island. By a combination of shrewd casting, mythology-building and a peekaboo storyline, Lost has become so popular that it has generated unprecedented amounts of internet chatter for a fictional show. After each episode is aired, viewers go online and post/blog/e-mail their thoughts on that week's episode.
There was a narrative arc to Lost that revealed itself slowly if ambiguously over the 24-week run of the first series. Those who came late to the party could go to the iTunes music store and download previous episodes to their computer. Websites sprang up to discuss the show's mysteries; clues were dissected for meaning; there were exclusive leaks from the show's scriptwriters; there were official denials of these leaks from the show's producers. Even Irish writer Flann O'Brien got dragged into the media melee when one of his books was featured on the show.
Lost now represents how the TV industry (and by extension, Hollywood) is fighting back against the advent of new technologies which allow people to illegally file-share TV shows and films. Mindful of how the record companies made a complete mess of their fight against the file-sharing of music, they pushed Lost as a multi-platform experiment. Not only can you get the show cheaply, legally and without the threat of viruses on your computer screen, you can also get mini-Lost episodes sent to your mobile phone.
These mobile episodes have never and will never be shown on the TV series; they are small vignettes based on the programme's characters.
Studies have already shown that all the ancillary Lost products and events are succeeding in driving even more traffic to the original programme. The show's producers have freely admitted to creating both fake and official websites, as well as dropping rumours about the storyline into fan chatrooms.
Lost has put in place the plumbing that connects the individual platforms (Lost as a TV show and Lost as a presence on the internet) and it has done that by weaving a web. It is also answering the call for "video on demand", whereby viewers can watch what they want, when they want, where they want and how they want.
Pre-Lost, TV was in a parlous state and in danger of being squeezed by bigger and better new technologies. How richly ironic that a TV programme about survivors has ensured the survival of the TV programme.
• Lost, RTÉ2, Monday, 10pm (repeated Sundays). The final episode of series two is on July 24th. Channel 4 is 10 episodes behind, and broadcasts on Tuesday, 10pm (repeated Sundays). See TV listings for more details
WHATEVER NEXT? SERIES THREE REVEALED
At the end of the final episode of series two - in a manner that will dismiss all speculation that the programme is set in a dream world or purgatory - comes a scene set in the outside world in the present (other outside-world action has been in flashback form). This twist tees up series three which will begin in the US in September and in Ireland later in the year. Series three promises:
1. A full and frank revelation of who "the Others" are.
2. Desmond from the hatch returning as a full-time cast member.
3. That two survivors realise they are brother and sister.
4. To explain the Dharma Initiative did on the island.
5. The reason the survivors haven't been rescued.
EVANGELINE LILLY (KATE): ZERO TO HERO
Before Lost, Evangeline Lilly's career highlight was playing "a high-school girl leaning against a locker" in a non-speaking role in the 2003 film Freddy vs. Jason.
After being cast as Kate, she almost had to turn the role down, as she was having difficulties getting a work visa to enter the US (Lilly is Canadian). In real life she is engaged to Dominic Monaghan (Charlie).
"I had never really worked in anything before, so the success of show has thrown me. I usually get a few stock reactions from people who recognise me as Kate. The first one is 'I found you' - I get that a lot and you sort of have to laugh even if you want to punch them. The other big ones are 'Jack or Sawyer? or 'Are you scared of flying?'.
Sitting down beside someone on a plane can be interesting also. Almost everybody wants to know who or what the monster on the island is. I don't know; none of the cast knows that yet.
"People say Lost has helped revolutionise television and that exactly was the intention of the producers, directors and actors from the very first episode. We really wanted to raise the bar, and now I notice that a good few of the newer TV shows have Lost-type elements to them. We wanted to make it water-cooler TV. And now it's multimedia TV.
"There's so much to it: God, religion, spirituality. What can be considered criminal behaviour and what can be considered not. Also what is good and what is not good. I really love the way that the show can have a scene where you see an Iraqi man torture an American - and a southern state American at that. That's brave.
"Playing Kate has changed me as a person. She's brought certain things out of me and changed my way of being. It's hard work though, I don't think people realise that the episodes are shot just two weeks before they're broadcast."
JORGE GARCIA (HURLEY): MODEL MALE
Of all the Lost actors, he is the most like his on-screen character in terms of speech patterns, accent and mannerisms. If it weren't for Lost, Garcia would be busy with his alternative career choice: a stand-up comedian.
"I've done a fair few open-mic spots and stuff on the Los Angeles comedy scene. It's something I would really like to get back to but now I suppose, I'd be billed as the "guy from Lost" and you'd get all these sweet old ladies in the audience who probably wouldn't appreciate my routine about sex toys. Lost is owned by a Disney company and I'm not a very Disney-style comedian.
"I do try and get some of my own lines into Hurley's script but the part is really well written in the first place. I have got away with some improvisation - there's a certain director who doesn't yell 'cut' immediately and I usually try and do some stuff when he's around. I got something in during the scene where I'm checking all the passengers' name and Ethan is uncovered as not having been on the plane. It was just a small thing but I was thrilled. Would I come and do a gig in Dublin's Comedy Cellar? Sure I would; give me your details.
"The funny thing about me as an actor is that I'm Hispanic - one parent from Cuba, the other Chilean. I'm fluent in Spanish but grew up in the US. Because of my name I used to get called to a lot of auditions and when I arrived it would be to read for the part of a Mexican street gang member. The producers would take one look at me and go 'maybe not'. Then when I go to audition for a middle-America role, they go 'but you're Hispanic'.
"I'm well aware of how the name Hurley is a reference to an Irish sport but that's not the reason why the character got the nickname. Personally, I think he's called Hurley because he's very squeamish - he faints at the sight of blood. Maybe it is to do with hurling up - as in getting sick - but I'm not really sure. It could be another Lost mystery.
"The part of Hurley was originally written for a 50-year-old actor. He was going to be a 'red shirt'. These are the people who are killed off really early in the run. They're called 'red shirts' after the characters in Star Trek - those guys who got killed instantly whenever they visited a new planet.
"The very best thing that has happened to me is that now there is a Hurley action doll in production. The company came to Hawaii to measure me up. Hurley's become a doll - just how cool is that?"
ADEWALE AKINNUOYE-AGBAJE (MR EKO): LAYS DOWN THE LAW
Like Harold Perrineau (who plays Michael), Akinnuoye-Agbaje attracted the attention of Lost producers from his role in the hugely acclaimed HBO prison drama series, Oz. Originally from Nigeria, he grew up in Essex and holds both a Bachelor's and a Master's degree in law from Kings College, University of London. With his cockney accent and free-flowing conversational style, of all the Lost actors I meet, he is the most different to his on-screen character.
"I used to work as a binman so all this is new to me. For some reason, I usually only get offered really intense characters to do, and Mr Eko is no exception there.
"The theme of redemption is really big in this show, and you've seen Eko take a journey, but I really believe that even during his drug smuggling and murdering days, he was still a priest at heart.
"My law background is a huge asset to my acting. Because I was used to devouring and learning off large chunks of law, I never had any problems in learning scripts. And I approach scripts with the same thoroughness and precision that I would bring to a legal case. I like the fact that the producers allowed me to contribute to the building up the character of Eko - the walking stick and the braids were my ideas.
"Would I go for a drink with Eko? I don't know. He would really put you under the spotlight, wouldn't he? I think I'd go for one drink and then make my excuses. I do like him, but we're very, very different.
"I really enjoyed doing his flashback sequences. We had to film the Nigerian flashback sequence in Hawaii. Do you know how difficult it is to round up 200 black extras in Hawaii?"
DOMINIC MONAGHAN (CHARLIE): MY DRUGS HELL
A tattoo on his right arm is the Elvish word "nine". Monaghan found the post-Lord Of The Rings comedown very difficult to deal with.
"I had a minor part in the Lord Of The Rings trilogy and then did a couple of small films that did nothing, and that was it. I thought my career was over. I thought I was Luke Skywalker. I was living in a small house at the bottom of the garden of my manager's house and I didn't even have a phone.
"I was waiting for the phone to ring on a non-existent phone - that's how bad it was. I took a lot of drugs during this time, and drank an awful lot.
"I really was in a wilderness. I did a lot of damaging things to myself. I wasn't addicted, I think. The fog lifted gradually, and then Lost happened.
"What interests me most about the programme is how the question is posed about how would you cope in the situation the survivors find themselves. How would you deal with things, and what would that say about your role in society? Would you be Kate, or Jack, or Charlie or Locke? I think that I would be John Locke - except minus the sinister element. I would observe from a distance and every so often contribute an idea or an opinion.
"Have I a good hangover cure from my drinking days? Yes I do. It's called Pedialyte, and you get it in the US. It's replaces all the electrolytes in your system. It's supposed to be only for children. Pedialyte and, if possible, surfing. Careful on the board though; you don't want to be throwing up."
DANIEL DAE KIM (JIN): SEX ON THE BEACH
Speaking Korean on the show was a big effort for the Korean-born Dae Kim - he had forgotten most of the language, having grown up in the US. He has an on-set voice coach and relies on his co-star, the fluent Korean-speaking Yunjin Kim (Sun).
"It can only be a good thing that an Asian man has such a prominent role on the programme but in the beginning I was getting letters from Asian people accusing me of misrepresenting Korean men because of how I treated my wife.
"There were concerns he was stereotypical and one-dimensional. People used to come up to me in supermarkets and tell me what they thought of how I was treating Sun. But as Jin developed and softened somewhat, the response became a lot more positive. There are a lot more colours to him now.
"I find the whole 'Asian sex symbol' thing really weird. It's flattering, I suppose, but it's not something I ever saw as a career goal. I hope more and more Asian men and women are talked about like that. I'm not sure about the timing but I think all that sex symbol stuff started about the time that Jin first took his shirt off in the show. It's crazy, isn't it?
"But then it's also crazy that people still approach me and talk to me really slowly as if I don't speak English. They also speak really loudly - as if that's going to help.
"Have I ever taken advantage of the fact that a magazine recently called me one of the sexiest men alive? I'm married!
"How much longer will Lost go on for? All I know is that when I got the part, I signed a seven-year contract."