"Lost" in thought: Reading between the lines

Tonight's Desmond-centric episode, "The Constant," pledges to use the "Lost" time-travel plot device in a similar way to "Flashes Before Your Eyes" from Season Three. A lot of scientific mumbo-jumbo also seems to be making the rounds following a somewhat disappointing "Eggtown" episode, though perhaps tonight's enhanced offering will add a few useful nuggets to the ever-evolving conversation. Either way, it's a Desmond episode. And who doesn't love that Scottish monk turned boat-race crash survivor?

From a USA Today interview with Henry Ian Cusick:

Q: The last time we saw Desmond, he and Sayid were being taken by helicopter to the freighter, but it had been taking an unusually long time to arrive. What's up with that?

A: There's a reason for that, and you'll find that out in this episode. And you'll find out why it's so difficult to get to the island.

Q: With whom do we see Desmond interact?

A: You will see (Desmond's love) Penny and her father, Charles Widmore. You will also see Desmond back in the military. And you'll also meet a whole new bunch of guys on the freighter, who have been a whole lot of fun to work with.

Q: We are learning one by one who make up the Oceanic Six, so far revealed to be Jack, Hurley, Sayid, Kate and maybe (the show's not confirming) baby Aaron. Since Desmond was never on Flight 815, can we assume he does not turn out to be one of the six?

A: That's what all of us were trying to figure out when we were receiving the scripts. I think it suddenly dawned on us that you had to be an original passenger on the plane that went down to be an Oceanic Six.

Q: So tell us. Who is Ben's man on the freighter?

A: You find out, but not for a few episodes.

Other interesting links:

Who you gonna call? Miles the Ghostbuster: Worth checking out is the DocArzt blog, which recaps a deleted scene from an advanced viewing of "The Economist" featuring Miles, Kate and Sayid at the dreaded security fence. More confirmation that Miles has some interesting powers ...

She blinded me with science: Entertainment Weekly is knee-deep in talk about wormholes, with this passage particularly interesting:

"If you're a sci-fi nut, you know all about wormholes, a theoretical phenomenon in space-time that can connect one point in time to another. (Igor) Novikov speculated that wormholes could mature into ''natural time machines.'' If the Island is basically ground zero for a small, localized wormhole, then it's very possible that Dharma was to create a kind of quantum switchboard, connecting calls between Island present and the future or the past. I wonder if the name ''Miles Straum'' is another clue nodding in the direction of wormhole theory. The producers say ''Miles Straum'' was meant to sound like ''maelstrom,'' which is a massive, monstrous whirlpool in the middle of an ocean. Not a bad analogy for a wormhole in the South Pacific, eh?"

Take a look, it's in a book: Can you imagine taking a college course that discussed all the parallels between literature and "Lost"? This awesome, occassionally long-winded Powells book blog is essentially what it would be like.

Terry O'Quinn is a bit of a bad-ass: Finally, this AP interview with our favorite bald-headed rebel is somewhat revealing. Though it would be expected that not everyone in the"Lost" cast would be hanging out off-camera in Hawaii, O'Quinn seems to have deliberately avoided mentioning Matthew Fox among his list of cast faves. Hmmm? A dedicated attempt by O'Quinn to stay in character as John Locke? Or is real friction part of what makes the character dynamics extra interesting on the show? Heck, maybe Fox is just a total diva. Or maybe he just reminds Locke of his drunk Uncle Bob. You decide.

AP: You've said you found Locke's button-pushing phase in the hatch frustrating. What's it like playing the character now?

O'Quinn: I like the present situation somewhat more. Although in the next few episodes people are about to see he sort of stalls again. But he has this - it seems to be his pattern. He finds something, it activates him, he goes until he hits a roadblock and he stalls and he waits for something to happen, he gets frustrated, he gets angry and then something happens and he runs along for a while. They've always kept it interesting - well, sometimes not, sometimes frustrating - but that's what happens with the character.

AP: You've had other disagreements with the writers.

O'Quinn: At the end of Season 3 Locke throws a knife into Naomi's back and I said, 'This really hurts me, It's so not typical and it's so out of character and it seemed gratuitous.' I made the biggest stink I ever made with (executive producers) Damon Lindelof and Carlton Cuse and they said, 'Look, Locke believes he was doing the right thing. His life was saved, he's been told, he's been instructed. He believes that this is the most dangerous person in the world right now and he does what he does. Do it.' I said, 'Well, you know, if I stab her in the back couldn't I at least shoot Jack in the knee or something?'

AP: What's it like working with such a large cast?

O'Quinn: One of the nice things about this cast, this size of cast, you get a new episode and you go, 'Oh great, now I get to work this little arc with Michael Emerson. We have a lot together. Or with Josh Holloway or Evangeline Lily and it's almost always a pleasure to find out who you're working with. Almost.

AP: Are there some you aren't pleased to work with?

O'Quinn: There've been some rough times but it's very familial in that way. It's like the holidays when you go, 'Oh God, uncle Bob's going to get drunk and abuse my cousin. But we'll get through it.'

-- Thomas Rozwadowski, trozwado@greenbaypressgazette.com