- Go here and follow her.
- Go here and add her to your favorites.
- Then go here, and consider donating to her “charity thing”. (eBay swag auction here.) (also as a bonus, you get a free DHARMA Beer Station pin for a $25 donation.) (more information here and here.) (Mo herself plugs this more in her interview, but I also want to put it up here at the top)
Now, since your a LOST fan, you’ve probably already done all three of those steps, and this might be repetitive, but Mo sat down with LOST Executive Producers Damon Lindelof and Carlton Cuse for a whole hour, and posted not just one, not just two, but three transcripts of the entire discussion (if you have a short attention span the summary of this awesome interview is here).
I’ve enjoyed discovering Mo Ryan through her tweets and articles, and she’s a genuine TV fan first, and a professional journalist second (hey, it’s my article, my opinion, and she AWESOME at both!). A self described “hardcore” fan of the Battlestar Galactica series, she is a popular columnist that still has time to tweet back to her twitter followers (like me). I was extremely excited that she agreed to the brutal LOSTblog 16 questions, but I dared her to go DEEP and answer 7 more. And. She. Did. So without further ado, here’s Mo’s interview.
LOSTblog: How long have you been watching Lost? If you’ve been watching since
the pilot, can you remember your initial reaction to it?
Mo:
Oh, absolutely. It was the first fall that I was writing about television full-time. I watched the two-hour pilot that ABC sent and I was absolutely thunderstruck by how good it was. It was exciting and different and it had so many of the things I love about television -- it was chock full of trippy, surreal elements, unusual characters, mysteries and adventure. More than all that, it was just a hell of a good story -- or the start to what appeared to be a hell of a good story.
So of course I thought it would get terrible ratings and die right away! Most of the shows I love the most tend to do badly in the ratings, and I can distinctly recall thinking, before the premiere, that I'd have to be part of a "Save Lost" effort by the show's second week.
It was beyond thrilling to see America and the world embrace the show, especially in that first season. It was just so unlike anything else out there -- popular entertainment that was truly challenging and exciting.
2. How did Lost get its polar bear claws into you? What about it got you hooked?
I think it was two things, really -- the premise and the characters. As for the premise -- well, here's what it was not: It was not set in a law office or a hospital or a morgue or a police station. It was completely unusual and the premise was both simple and complex. "Lost" asked one big question -- what happened to these people and how will they survive? And then it began to layer in all these other questions -- What is the island? Who are the Others? Why do these strange things keep happening? What is the Smoke Monster? Instantly I was drawn into those questions and the distinctive world that the writers started to create.
I'll never forget one of our first glances at the Others -- they didn't show who they were, but there was this ominous setup and then you saw a shot of the teddy bear one of them was carrying. "Who are these people and why does their teddy bear freak me out?" That was one of those moments when I was hooked even more deeply.
As for the second thing, the characters really had me from the word go. I actually remember my reaction at seeing "Walkabout," which is still one of the greatest hours of television I've ever seen. This was the genius of "Lost" in the first couple of seasons, especially -- the flashbacks that told an individual's story and also reflected on his or her predicament on the island. When Locke wiggled his toes in "Walkabout," that's when the show had its hooks into me well and good. It's a tremendous feeling when you're being told a story and you can't predict where the story is going but you know you can't wait to read the next chapter. I love that feeling.
3. Favorite character?
You're going to make me pick? You seem nice but actually you must be pure evil.
[ed – oh yes, my mask slipped. *adjusting*]
OK, if I have to pick, I'd have to say Ben Linus. I know, boo hiss! But Michael Emerson has given one of the greatest performances I've ever seen in any medium. He's been compelling since the show first introduced him, and I've never been less than fully transfixed by Ben. I never know what he's going to do next. He's just an all-time great character and Emerson is a sensational actor.
I'd have to say my second favorite character is Sawyer. Josh Holloway could have just coasted through that part -- when he has his shirt off, it doesn't matter to me if he's acting or just standing there. But from the start, Sawyer has had a lot of layers and a lot of complexity. I may not have loved every single episode in which Sawyer had a prominent role, but if I ever had an issue with the character, it was more to do with the writing than anything else (sometimes the show didn't quite know what to do with Sawyer or with the whole Kate-Sawyer thing, in my opinion).
But in Season 5, Holloway really got a chance to shine and show everything he is capable of. And the Juliet-Sawyer romance is almost up there with Desmond-Penny, in my book, thanks to the terrific performances of the actors involved and the writing of those stories. I also love Desmond, brutha. And Hurley. Arrgh! I love so many of them.
Before cutting myself off, though, I have to give a little shoutout to Pierre Chang/Edgar Halliwax/Marvin Candle/Mark Wickmund. Every time he appears on screen, I'm extremely happy. Francois Chau has done a great job with a small but very memorable (group of) character(s).
4. Least favorite character?
Oh, will everyone come to my house and burn it down if I say Jack? OK, truth be told, I don't hate Jack, but he does irritate me from time to time. But in truth, my least favorite character ever is Ana Lucia. I think that was a case of a major mismatch between the role and the actor. I've liked Michelle Rodriguez in other projects, but I found that most of the Ana Lucia story line grated on me quite a bit.
5. Favorite episode or season?
Favorite episodes (and I wished I'd had time to re-watch all the previous seasons, so this is only a few of the greatest hits): "Pilot Part 1 and 2," "Walkabout," "Exodus Part 1 and 2," "Tricia Tanaka Is Dead," "The Constant," "LaFleur."
Favorite season has to be the first.
6. Least favorite episode or season?
Like almost everyone else, I think "Stranger in a Strange Land" was the worst-ever episode of "Lost." And I'm not going to pile on Season 3, which actually had some good episodes, in my opinion (I've never fully understood all the Season 3 hate. Yes, the middle and second half of the season had some weak points, but there were some episodes I liked a lot and I enjoyed the first half-dozen episodes. I guess that puts me in the minority of "Lost" fans but that's my story and I'm sticking to it.)
7. Are you Team Jack or Team Locke?
Could I be on Team Sawyer? Actually, Team Shirtless Sawyer?
Actually in all truth, I don't know what team I'm on. I think I'm actually on Team Ol' Smokey.
8. If you had to be one of the following, which would it be and why: an 815
survivor, an Other or a member of the Dharma Initiative?
Easy -- I'd be a Dharma Initiative member. I'm pretty besotted with that aspect of the show. I've always been interested in reading about and learning about Utopian communities, whether its the Shakers or the Quakers or the communes of the '60s. People wanting to use science and mystical learning and spiritual beliefs and the powers of the Earth to solve the great mysteries of existence -- well, isn't that an appealing concept? I am very interested in stories about mystical visionaries, mad scientists, eccentrics, cult leaders or anything along those lines. And therefore I'm obsessed with anything and everything to do with the DI. Plus, jumpsuits! What's not to love about jumpsuits!?
9. Which character’s demise were you most upset to see happening?
I adored the character of Daniel Faraday and I was terribly sad to see the character die and to see Jeremy Davies leave the show. Same goes for Charlotte (Rebecca Mader). I was sad to see both of them go. I hope we get to see them again before "Lost" ends.
10. Tell us a bit about your site/blog/podcast, i.e. why you started it, how
it runs, your post-season 6 plans for it, etc.
The last few seasons, I've written day-after recaps/analyses of each "Lost" episode on my site, chicagotribune.com/watcher. I'll do the same this season. I can't believe it's the last season! I so look forward to reading what my fellow "Lost" fans have to say every week.
11. What are you favorite online Lost communities, blogs, podcasts, etc.?
I love reading the day-after analysis from James Poniewozik from Time magazine, Alan Sepinwall from the Star-Ledger, Jeff Jensen from EW, Ryan McGee from Zap2it.com's Guide to Lost and Jo from Get Lost with Jopinionated. Those are my main go-to sites, and I also like to check out what people are saying on the site of Whitney Matheson, who does Pop Candy for USA Today. Oh, and the Onion's AV Club has a lot of great recaps/critics and I like to check that out too.
12. Tell us something interesting/scary/amusing/downright weird about how
your time in the Lost fan-verse has changed your life.
True story, and I hope nobody beats me up (electronically) for telling it.
In May of 2007, I was on a conference call with the executive producers of "Battlestar Galactica." They had famously done a time jump – a flash-forward, if you will -- on their show about a year earlier, and at that point in time, "Lost" had just aired its Season 3 finale, in which the scenes with the bearded Jack were revealed to be a massive flash-forward.
I asked the "Battlestar" producers how they felt about "Lost" appropriating the kind of time-jump "Battlestar" had used. They laughed and said they'd sue the "Lost" folks. It was all very lighthearted.
Now, mind you, the reason I asked was semi-serious -- in January of 2007, I'd been one of several media people interviewing Damon after a "Lost" panel at the Television Critics Association (the panel at which they first floated the idea of giving the show and end date).
Here's what Damon said when asked in January '07 if "Lost" would ever do as “Battlestar Galactica” has done and jump one year forward: “First off, that’s an amazing show, and if we did it people would think we were ripping them off, and they’d be absolutely right. It’s a slippery slope and you have to execute it well, because when ‘Alias’ did it, it was a complete and utter disaster of unmitigated proportions."
Now, the reason I asked the "Battlestar" guys about the "Lost" time-jump was because I thought they might see it as an homage. "Battlestar" does a big time jump in 2006 and it is received very positively -- I wondered if "Lost's" producers had been partly inspired by that? Turns out I don't think Ron Moore or David Eick had been watching "Lost" so they just sort of laughed off the question.
OK, that's a lot of setup. But it's necessary because what happened next was so surreal. Someone on that conference call took out the brief "Lost" exchange between me and the "BSG" producers and posted that audio snippet on a "Lost" fan site. I'd asked a somewhat light-hearted but I think valid question, but the people on that forum, in a not-pleasant way, cast doubt on my intelligence and motives in a way I did not find pleasant.
I wasn't accusing "Lost" of copying any other show -- for all I know, Damon didn't know what they'd be doing in the season finale when he made those remarks about "BSG" in January. In any case, since "Lost" and "BSG" were frequently compared to each other, I thought it was fair to ask about the possible connections between the shows.
The whole experience, when that audio snippet was posted, was really weird. Truth be told, I've really enjoyed interacting with fans on my site and elsewhere. People can get pretty heated in their opinions, but there's nothing I enjoy more than writing up my thoughts and then seeing what everyone else thinks about a really cool twist or emotional episode. But once in a while, people can take things a little too far.
13. You’re in an elevator with someone who has never seen as much as a second of Lost. You got on in the lobby and you’re both headed to the fifteeth floor. How do you convince them to buy and watch all the DVDs before the elevator gets there?
I'll just say, "Watch this show. It'll blow your mind. You'll fall in love with it." That's really all the pitch time I need. You can't describe the show in 20 seconds, you can only tell people that it's like reading a great book.
14. Has watching Lost sparked any creative inspiration in your life, i.e.
writing, media, art, etc.?
Funny you should ask. I am not at all creative myself, but I love seeing the fan creativity that's out there. It's truly astonishing what fans have done with the Dharma logo and with fan art, etc.
My only contribution has been a fundraiser that's going on right now to aid Haiti. I've asked fans of the ABC island to help out another island that is in great need. I've called it Watch Us Care, and it consists of an eBay auction and a direct-giving page to a Haitian medical charity called Partners in Health.
I would love to let your readers know that, through at least Feb. 3, if they donate $25 or more to the Watch Us Care Partners in Health page, they'll get a free Dharma Beer Station pin designed by "Lost" fan Ian Leino (who also made the great Polar Beer shirt that Carlton Cuse was seen wearing at the December "Lost" art show in LA).
So the show inspired me in that way -- to utilize the amazing fandoms that have built up for great shows (so far we've given out both "Chuck" and "Lost" swag via our Partners in Health page) to do some good in the world. It's been an absolute thrill -- truly a high point of my work as a TV critic -- to see fans respond so generously.
The link to the Partners in Health direct giving page is here:
http://act.pih.org/page/outreach/view/haitiearthquake/watchuscare
The link to the eBay auction (which will have new items added to it each
week) is here:
http://shop.ebay.com/moryanwatcher/m.html?_dmd=1&_in_kw=1&_ipg=50&_sop=12&_rdc=1
15. How do you plan on combating PLDS (Post Lost Distress Syndrome) or do you think we’re all destined to end up continuously re-watching our Lost: The Complete Series Ultimate Box Set for the rest of our lives?
I like Option 2! I'm waiting for the Lost Complete Series on Blu-Ray. Then
I'll never leave the house again.
No really, I don't know. "Battlestar Galactica" was one of my favorite shows of all time and I still miss that show, a year after it left the TV scene. The end of "BSG" was the end of an era, and it took me a long time to not feel that gap in my life/brain/job.
But then again, if you don't miss something a lot, you never really loved it, right? So I think mourning for the loss of "Lost" is natural and unavoidable. And maybe for the best. It just shows how much of an impact it had on our lives.
16. What do you think will be Lost’s legacy?
The legacy will be, I hope, that ambitious works can be popular successes. Too many TV networks think way too small. I hope the legacy of "Lost" will be that an out-of-left-field idea, if given proper execution, can be an incredible success.
[ed - Okay, now for the “evil-genius” questions… Muahahahahahaha!]
17. How were you able to contain your inner geek while sitting down with
Damon Lindelof and Carlton Cuse for an hour?
Medication. Large amounts of prescription medication. No, I'm kidding!
My approach to every interview is that I never want to waste the interviewee's time. So I prepare like crazy. I spend days and days thinking through what I will ask about and re-watching shows and going over lists of questions, to the point where I've memorized all the major areas I want to ask about. I usually have a printed list of questions in front of me during an interview, which thankfully I didn't need to refer to much during that lunch because I'd spent a lot of time honing the list.
My basic feeling is that I have a limited amount of time to get information, for myself and for the fans. I want to get as much information as I can, and also really talk in-depth about the interviewee's creative approach to making the show. That's what really motivates me when I interview writers that I admire -- I want to understand what their thinking is when they're creating these works. Sure, getting a scoop or two here and there can be a lot of fun, but what I love most is talking about the making of the show and the storytelling process and what motivates or inspires the actor or writer.
So that's really what I think about. Also, I'm thinking, "Don't say something stupid, nerd!"
18. I loved the lunch transcript between you and Alan Sepinwall (Newark Star-Ledger) @sepinwall and James Poniewozik (Time) @poniewozik, are you hoping to have more such interviews/transcripts in the future?
[here is the link to Two Guys, a Girl, and a Pizza Place (part 2) interveiw in question.]
Oh yes, absolutely. I was pretty blown away at how well that conversation was received. I honestly didn't think people would be that into it but it got a lot of attention and I'm so pleased that people seemed to enjoy it. It was certainly a ton of fun to do the chat with Alan and James. I would jump at the chance to do it again.
19. What is changing in the 'real journalism' world? Can you list some of the good things along with some of the challenging things?
Oh boy, I could write a book about that. I think, for my little corner of the journalism world, we're all being driven to some extent by how many clicks our stories get online. That does change the focus a bit on what we do, or at least it changes either our thinking or the prioritizing of our bosses.
So for me, my job is about balancing all the things I love to do -- in-depth interviews, reviews, current-events driven posts, news, etc -- with what gets traffic online. It's a daily balancing act and it's not always easy to figure out what I should be spending my time on. For one thing, there's way too much TV! It's really hard to keep up with it all. So it's just a matter of going with my gut instincts every day. But fortunately what I do is usually a ton of fun, and I enjoy the challenge.
Though I can't say I enjoy the difficulties the newspaper industry is going through. This is not something I ever write about on my blog, but behind the scenes, 2009 was a very, very difficult year for my paper and there was a lot of turmoil. It was stressful and hard and some days it was difficult to have much motivation. But honestly, getting to write about really amazing show often helps take my mind off the bad stuff on the worst days.
20. LOST fans seem to be a pervasive group. Do you think that LOSTies will be around for a while, even after the show wraps? Like Trekkers (StarTrek) or Browncoats Firefly/Serenity)?
Absolutely! I hope so. There are still X-Files fans and Farscape fans and fans of other shows that keep in touch. I think the Lost community will keep going strong, or at least I hope it will.
21. You have a wonderful interaction with TV fans on Twitter, would you like to comment on the challenges of keeping up with a large Twitter base?
Oh, Twitter is just too much fun sometimes -- the worst thing about Twitter is that I can let myself get very distracted by it. I love interacting with readers that way. Its really fun and immediate and they give me lots of good information and feedback. It's also a way to keep up with what viewers and my fellow critics are interested in. It's really useful to me in my job.
22. What other shows, besides LOST, tickle your fancy?
Oh, I love Party Down, Nurse Jackie, Modern Family, Parks and Recreation, Sons of Anarchy, Big Bang Theory, Chuck, Dollhouse (RIP), Better Off Ted, Damages, V, Mad Men, Friday Night Lights, Supernatural, Burn Notice and True Blood.
23. Last chance for a shoutout to fans of LOST! Open Mike Question.
Above I mentioned one strange encounter with "Lost" fans. But that is SO not the norm, I want everyone to know that my fellow "Lost" fans have been, really and truly, so much fun to meet and hang out with, whether in real life or online. I'll miss them and once the show is gone, I'll miss the intelligent, exciting debates we used to have.
If you asked me what my favorite "Lost" memory was/is, outside of watching
the show itself, it would be this:
I was lucky enough to attend three "Lost" panels at Comic-Con over the last three years. Every time I felt like I was in a room full of friends. The atmosphere and attitudes inside those rooms -- the positive vibrations -- were just so much fun, and it was a trip to see the presentations get more and more elaborate every year. You could tell the "Lost" guys were having as much fun with the whole extravaganza as the fans in the auditorium were.
At the very last "Lost" panel at Comic-Con in 2009, Stewart Kiczek got up to the microphone to ask a question. He'd also asked a question at Comic-Con in 2008, in costume as Hurley. Damon and Carlton had talked about Stew in interviews -- about how cool he was as Hurley and how much they enjoyed his questions. I ran into Stew at Comic-Con in 2009 -- I recognized him from the previous year and with my trusty Flip camera, I interviewed him and put the video interview up on my Web site at 2 am two nights before the "Lost" Comic-Con panel.
Stew talked about how much the show meant to him and why he loved it, and I got to share that with the world via my site. Damon happened to see the video and he said he loved it. It felt like the "Lost" circle of life. If I've helped in any small way facilitate the bond between the show and its fans, then that's just an enormously rewarding byproduct of the fun I've had writing about that crazy island and all its ups and downs.
If you’ve gotten this far and you tweet as @poniwozik or @sepinwall or @EWDocJensen and you want your chance at the LOSTblog interview, DM @LOST_BOSS. If. You. Dare.
And Stewart… *call me man!*
Seriously, Thank you Mo, for your time and very entertaining interview.
