To end the week (the last week of no new Lost - squeal!) we have a bumper edition of the LOSTBlog.com interview for you. We put our 16 questions to both Susan and Helena of SKate Outlaws, a forum for fans of the Kate/Sawyer pairing. Visit SKate Outlaws here or follow them on Twitter here.
Q: How long have you been watching Lost?
Susan: I didn’t start watching until the beginning of season 2. All I knew about it was from seeing previews on TV and I only remembered people running through the jungle. But then people at work were talking about it, and it sounded interesting. My friend got me the season 1 DVD and I watched it all in about a week. The first episode I watched “live” was 2x05. That was the season they were playing repeats, so I ended up getting to see 2x01 through 2x04 during the season anyway.
Helena: I've been watching LOST since early 2005 when the Pilot episode was shown on Croatian TV. My initial reaction to it was probably the same as to most Lost fans: Gimme more of this stuff! It was something you don't see every day; interesting characters, intriguing mythology and great writing.
Q: How did Lost get its polar bear claws into you? What about it got you hooked?
Susan: It wasn’t the pilot getting eaten by the “dinosaur”. LOL Yes, I thought it was just going to be like Jurassic Park. I think it was when Sawyer shot the polar bear. They’re on a tropical island, why are there polar bears there? Then the black smoke at the end, meaning there was something other than dinosaurs and polar bears there. At the end of each episode, I wanted to watch the next one.
Helena: While I found the mythology of Lost as interesting as all other aspects of the show, it's definitely the characters and their background that hooked me on Lost. And still keeps me hooked now, while we are awaiting season 6.
Q: Favorite character?
Susan: I can’t pick just one, so it’s a tie between Sawyer and Kate. Of all the characters, they have had the worst childhoods through no fault of their own, and they only want to have a family and be happy.
Helena: Can’t choose one, so I'm just going to name my favorite trio: Kate, Sawyer and Locke.
Q: Least favorite character?
Susan: I think it’s a tie for Jack and Ana Lucia. Jack because he’s stubborn, with an “I’m better than you” and “I’m right, you’re wrong” attitude, especially to Kate. And Ana Lucia because of nothing in particular, just everything bugs me when she’s on screen.
Helena: Stuart Radzinsky.
Q: Favorite episode or season?
Susan: I don’t have a favorite season, because there are parts of every season that I like and parts that I don’t. My favorite episode has to be “I Do”, because IMO that did define Kate’s romantic choice, and Whatever Happened, Happened because that confirmed it. And I love Confidence Man and Outlaws because we see why Sawyer is such a complex character.
Helena: My favorite season was season 1, followed by season 3. It's hard to pick a favorite episode since there has been so many great ones. (Okay, Flashes Before Your Eyes and The Brig.)
Q: Least favorite episode or season?
Susan: I don’t have a least favorite season either, but since I don’t get into the mythology as much as some people, The Constant was one episode I didn’t really care for other than Desmond and Penny’s phone call. A lot of episodes I like the island parts, but the flashbacks or flashforwards I don’t, or vice versa.
Helena: Least favorite season to me was season 4. And to some extent season 5. It felt like it lacked great character-centric episodes. While I don't mind the mythological aspect of the show, the characters' actions in past two seasons were in service of the plot, so I hope that will change in the final season.
Q: Are you Team Jack or Team Locke?
Susan: Team Locke, although his unexplainable faith-based plans don’t usually work any better than Jack’s well thought out scientific plans.
Helena: Team Locke, since day one.
Q: 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?
Susan: It depends… am I from the future and know that the Dharma Initiative is going to be wiped out by Ben? If so, then I’d be one of the 815 survivors and hang out with Hurley. But if I don’t know that they’ll be killed by poison gas, I would love to be part of Dharma. I could relive my teenage years in the 70’s. That would be cool… as long as I could wear a crop top and bell bottoms and platform shoes instead of the jumpsuit.
Helena: That's a tough question. I can rule out the Dharma Initiative right away, since I'm not a big fan of their happy, utopian community. As an 815 survivor, I'd probably end up dead pretty soon as a casualty of not being in the A team. So, definitely an Other. You get to know most of the island's secrets and to hang out with Richard Alpert.
Q: Which character’s demise were you most upset to see happening?
Susan: Charlie. I didn’t really care about him one way or the other until Greatest Hits. They made me like him a lot in that episode, and after that I really didn’t want him to die.
Helena: John Locke's in season 5.
Q: Tell us a bit about the SKate Outlaws forum.
Susan: About a year ago, Helena, Mylene, Magali, Rafaela and I decided to open a forum for fans of Kate and Sawyer. It's called Outlaws Forum, named after the 16th episode of season 1. We just wanted a place where all fans of the Kate/Sawyer pairing can hang out, read the latest news, discuss the episodes and enjoy the show. It is affiliated with our sister site It's About Bunnies and Kate and Sawyer Fanfictions site run by our friend Clarisse. That's our SKate Initiative, so updates you see from @sawyerandkate on Twitter, that's us. After Lost ends, we plan on keeping the forum for at least another year. We have many wonderful friends from all corners of the world who contribute every day with their great posts and show analysis. So, if you love LOST and don't hate SKate, feel free to visit us at http://www.skate-outlaws.com
Q: What are you favorite online Lost communities, blogs, podcasts, etc.?
Susan: I don’t have any favorites, but I read a lot of different message boards and blogs. I listen to Ryan’s Hawaii podcast.
Helena: I'm a frequent visitor at Doc Arzt's site and SL-Lost which are always up-to-date with all the interesting Lost related news. Same as the blog from our great friend Lyly Ford. I also love reading Lost analysis at Karen's Lost Notebook blog and Nikki Stafford's blog.
Q: Tell us something interesting/scary/amusing/downright weird about how your time in the Lost fan-verse has changed your life.
Susan: Lost has taken up too much time in my life. I will miss it when it’s over, but I will be glad to get back to the real world. I see the numbers everywhere. There are times when I look at the clock and it’s 8:23 or 4:15 or something consisting of the numbers. I see the numbers on license plates on cars and on buses. I have taken pictures of stores or signs that have something Lost-related in their names.
Helena: I think this answer should be quite similar to what all other die-hard fans would say. Lost has occupied my life in a way I didn't really expect when I first sat down to watch the Pilot episode. And before you know it, you are going online to discuss the episodes, analyze easter eggs, see are there any other Kate/Sawyer fans crazy about those characters as you are. And suddenly, you are canceling all plans you had on the night Lost airs. So, Lost has changed my life in a way that it has occupied a lot of my free time and it's not always easy to explain it to your friends who are not Losties. But as they say, you have to be one to understand one. It has also definitely made me a lot more patient. When you wait a week to see another episode after a great cliffhanger in the latest episode, not to mention the long hiatuses, you definitely become a person who has a lot more patience than before.
Q: 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?
Susan: I would not be very good at that, unless there was someone else in the elevator who I was talking to about the show in the first place, because I wouldn’t bring it up to someone randomly.
Helena: Why, there's someone who has never seen Lost? Just kidding. I'd probably give that person disc 1 of season 1 DVD (my season 1 extra DVD set) and just ask him to watch the Pilot episode. My work would be done, because next day he would be running to the store to buy all the seasons.
Q: Has watching Lost sparked any creative inspiration in your life, i.e. writing, media, art, etc.?
Susan: I have written a few fan fictions and made a few videos. All really bad. And I make art, or try to. Some of it turns out ok.
Helena: I'm not really a creative person, so sadly no. But I admire a lot of my friends from Skaters' fandom who are great writers, video and art makers.
Q: How do you plan on combatting 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?
Susan: I think we’ll probably all be burnt out right after the show ends, but I think it will continue to be talked about and watched as a whole show afterwards. And every time we watch, we will still see something new that we didn’t notice before.
Helena: Once the Lost characters are found, we will get lost. I think all of us who have spent quite a long time in Lost fandom will always be addicted to this show, even some five, ten years after it ends. So, if anyone finds a solution how to deal with PLDS, patent it.
Q: What do you think will be Lost’s legacy?
Susan: I have no idea. But I think it will be something like Star Trek and Star Wars and people will talk about it and watch it as a set.
Helena: Most of TV critics are debating now what will be Lost's legacy, and since I'm not one, I'm not sure what it will really be in terms of television. Time will show. But I can only say that greatest thing show like Lost will leave behind is its' fans who will put Trekkies and Star Wars fans conventions to shame.
Thank you so much Susan and Helena from everyone at the LOSTBlog.com!
