Countdown to 'Lost': Season 3 DVD easter eggs

The "Lost" season 3 DVD set hit shelves a little over a month ago now, which means any fan worth his Dharma Initiative-issued beans will have scoured every nook and cranny of every episode, searching for hidden clues to the secrets of the island. "Lost" is well-known for planting "easter eggs" throughout the show -- my favorite being the shark stamped with the Dharma logo in season 2 -- that give hardcore followers pieces of an ever-expanding puzzle.

But the egg hunt doesn't stop with the show. If you want to get really crazy, every DVD set has approximately 108 million hidden bon mots scattered throughout. Mostly they're behind-the-scenes featurettes -- some insightful, some just silly -- but every now and then you'll come across something ... unsettling. The best example of this is on disc 7 of season 3, where hapless egg-hunters stumble across the full-length brainwashing video that the Others used on Karl in episode 307. The 3-minute "Clockwork Orange" freak-o-rama cobbles bizarre imagery, screeching music, and flashes of "inspirational" phrases, such as "God loves you as he loved Jacob." I don't recommend watching it straight through, or you'll end up barefoot in the woods, kidnapping pregnant women.

I didn't find, and have never been able to find, all the easter eggs by myself. Luckily there are far more intrepid explorers at work on the Internet, and they're willing to share the spoils of their search. The good people at Lostpedia -- the best source for anything "Lost," period -- have compiled a handy-dandy list for us egg-challenged fans. Now you too will be able to watch Dominic Monaghan (Charlie) and Jorge Garcia (Hurley) discuss their between-takes Scrabble match, and how Dominic manages to cheat. Or discover just what went into making those nasty-looking fish biscuits that Sawyer seemed to enjoy so much.

One amusing easter egg on the main menu of disc 3 features a television with Juliet (Elizabeth Mitchell) holding the signs from episode 305, asking Jack to kill Ben. If you wait, she'll hold up a sign that says, "By the way, your wife is much prettier than me." This easter egg is simply ridiculous, because no one is prettier than Elizabeth Mitchell.

The DVDs and subsequent easter-egg hunt are a great way to tide yourself over until the premiere of the new season on Jan. 31. As a bonus, executive producer J.J. Abrams' highly anticipated creature feature "Cloverfield" opens Friday. The movie -- supposedly about a monster attacking New York City, but really, with the amount of secrecy surrounding it, could be about anything -- was co-produced by "Lost" showrunner Bryan Burk and written by sometime "Lost" scribe Drew Goddard. And seeing as how director Abrams thanked the Dharma Initiative in the end credits for "Mission: Impossible 3," you'd best keep your eyes peeled for some "Lost" goodies in "Cloverfield" as well.

-- Adam Reinhard, lifeisfunnybutnothahafunny@gmail.com

Spoiler warning! Don't watch this season 4 preview if you haven't seen all of season 3!