Lost: Missing Pieces
Encyclopedia
Lost: Missing Pieces is a series of thirteen video clips ranging in length from one to four minutes that aired during the hiatus between the 3rd and 4th
seasons of the television show
Lost
, from which the series is spun off
. They generally became available to Verizon Wireless
users on Mondays from November 2007 to January 2008 and were uploaded onto the ABC
's website a week later for free streaming. The "mobisodes", which have also been referred to as "webisode
s", were shot in Honolulu, Hawaii
, and produced by the same crew with the same cast as the television series; thus, all content is considered to be canonical
. Lost: Missing Pieces were included as special features in the fourth season's 2008 DVD releases.
The project was announced in November 2005 as the Lost Video Diaries; however, production was delayed several times due to contractual restrictions. Lost' s writer-producers originally proposed the mobisodes as a self-contained story that would focus on two previously unseen characters of the Lost fictional universe
. These characters would be played by actors who were not part of the Screen Actors Guild
; however the entertainment guilds refused to support such a project. After months of unsuccessful negotiating, the series was seemingly shelved by ABC. In June 2007, it was announced that the mobisodes, which would be renamed Lost: Missing Pieces, would star the regular characters of Lost in thirteen short video clips unrelated to each other. Twelve scenes were newly shot; one was a deleted scene from the television series. Critical response to Lost: Missing Pieces was mixed. The series was nominated for an Emmy Award
in 2008.
reported that twenty-two mobisodes—each spanning several minutes—were expected to be produced in December for a January 2006 release. Zap2it reported that they would later be present on the second season's DVD set and that six would be exclusive to the DVD. Unlike the television series, it would not be produced by ABC Studios (known then as "Touchstone Television") and would star non-Screen Actors Guild members; however it would be produced under the oversight of Damon Lindelof
and Carlton Cuse
, like the television series. In response to fan inquiries about Lost' s thirty-odd background characters, the Lost Video Diaries would focus on a self-contained story about two survivors of the crash of Oceanic Flight 815 who had not previously been introduced. The Los Angeles Times
confirmed in January 2006–the month originally scheduled to launch the series–that the mobisodes would be originally broadcast on V CAST
from Verizon Wireless and that each mobisode would span only two minutes. Verizon would ultimately pay ABC $400,000 for the mobisodes.
and writers
guilds refused to support the spin-off
. A deal previously unheard of was negotiated in April, which allowed guild members involved to collect residuals
. This agreement prompted Lindelof and Cuse to develop a storyline for the Video Diaries that would include Lost' s regular characters, although not all of Lost' s regular cast signed contracts. According to Touchstone's executive vice president for production Barry Jossen, who would eventually serve as an executive producer on the mobisodes, "They seem to be under the impression that we'll make millions of dollars and they won't". Variety
reported that the mobisodes would be produced and aired alongside the third season of Lost. At Comic-Con International
in July, Lindelof and Cuse announced that only thirteen mobisodes would be produced. They would run during the third season's winter hiatus, with none saved exclusively for the third season's DVD set. A sneak peek of the Video Diaries was also shown at Comic-Con. The new premise featured Hurley Reyes (played by Jorge Garcia
) finding a functional Dharma Initiative
video camcorder that had Dharma orientation films on it. In the clip, he films Kate Austen
(Evangeline Lilly
) and James "Sawyer" Ford (Josh Holloway
). During the hiatus, no mobisodes were to be found and clips from upcoming episodes called Lost Moments aired instead, on television and then ABC.com. In January 2007, Wizard
discovered that ABC was still negotiating the actors' contracts; thus, no mobisodes had been produced, aside from the Comic-Con teaser. In February, Lost' s script coordinator
responded to a fan question that the mobisodes had seemingly been put on hold indefinitely as he suspected that contracts were unable to be negotiated.
In June, Lindelof and Cuse were interviewed by The Hollywood Reporter and they revealed the ultimate plan for the mobisodes. The mobisodes would air during the hiatus between the third and fourth seasons and would give viewers interesting information that would probably not be found in the show; the average mobisode would only be one and a half minutes long. In the third season, the writers tried to integrate two previously unseen crash survivors named Nikki Fernandez
(Kiele Sanchez
) and Paulo
(Rodrigo Santoro
) into the story, but the pair was negatively received for their abrupt appearance and the writers killed them off after seven appearances. Lindelof and Cuse learned from their mistake and decided that the mobisodes would focus on the regular Lost cast. The writers were paid $800 per mobisode, whereas the actors received $425 per mobisode. Actors were contracted to receive more money if the mobisode were reused in another medium.
said that "sometimes it was a scene we always wanted to do, a scene that never got shot, sometimes it was just something interesting". "Buried Secrets" revisits the first season storylines of sexual tension between Sun-Hwa Kwon (Yunjin Kim) and Michael Dawson
(Harold Perrineau) and the mutual detestation between Sun's husband Jin
(Daniel Dae Kim) and Michael. These conflicts were going to be further explored in the first season; however, positive fan reaction to Sun and Jin as a couple and good chemistry between the actors playing Michael and Jin led to the abandonment of the love triangle. Reuters
announced in November that the mobisodes would premiere that month. This proved to be true, with "The Watch" appearing suddenly to Verizon customers as the first of the Lost: Missing Pieces. A new mobisode would generally become available each Monday and would be released a week later as a free webisode on ABC's website. The Writers Guild of America strike
occurred as the mobisodes were released, due to television writers wanting a deal similar to that achieved for Missing Pieces. Filming was completed in late November. The mobisodes were later released as special features on the DVD and Blu-ray sets of Lost: The Complete Fourth Season – The Expanded Experience in the second half of 2008.
directed each mobisode, with writing duties divided between executive producer
s Lindelof and Cuse, supervising producer Elizabeth Sarnoff
, co-producer Brian K. Vaughan
, executive story editor Christina M. Kim
, and co-executive producers Drew Goddard
, Edward Kitsis
and Adam Horowitz. Other crew members included executive producer Bryan Burk
of post-production and co-executive producer Jean Higgins of physical production. "The Envelope"—a deleted scene from the third season premiere; the only mobisode not to be originally filmed and written for Lost: Missing Pieces—contained additional credits: Jeff Pinkner
is an executive producer and executive producer J. J. Abrams
is a co-writer.
plays Jack Shephard
, the leader of the castaways and Elizabeth Mitchell
portrays his love interest, Juliet Burke
. Garcia reprises his role as crash survivor Hurley. Kim and Kim play married couple Jin and Sun. Michael Emerson
acts as Ben Linus, the leader of the island residents known as the "Others". Guest stars John Terry
, Daniel Roebuck
, William Mapother
and Julie Adams
reprise their roles of Christian Shephard
, Leslie Arzt, Ethan Rom and Amelia, respectively. Emilie de Ravin
, who plays Claire Littleton
, appears solely in archived footage from the television show. Vincent, a dog who survived the plane crash, is played by the dog Pono. Guest star Sean Whalen
makes his first appearance as the crash survivor Neil "Frogurt". While the second season was airing, the writer-producers confirmed in the April 3, 2006 edition of the Official Lost Podcast
that Frogurt would appear in the late second season, however, he was merely mentioned once
. Frogurt also did not appear in the third season and he became a running gag
in the podcast, with Lindelof and Cuse repeatedly claiming that Frogurt would appear in the show. However, Frogurt did appear in the fifth season
briefly, but was shot through with flaming arrows shortly after being introduced.
", which signifies the order that the mobisodes were produced in, which is different from the order that they aired in and appeared on the DVD. "Original airdate" refers to the original V CAST airdate. Days are in relation to the day of the crash, which is day 1 and September 22, 2004. All mobisodes are newly written and shot, with the exception of "The Envelope", which is a deleted scene from "A Tale of Two Cities
" that was shot on August 9 and 11, 2006, a year before the other mobisodes.
's Battlestar Galactica: Razor Flashbacks
on September 13 at the Creative Arts Emmy Award ceremony of the 60th Primetime Emmy Awards
. Douglas Durdan of the Richmond Times-Dispatch
described "The Watch" "as unsatisfying as it is satisfying" because the reviewer was unsure of which lines were important or if there were any clues to future episodes hidden amongst the background. After two mobisodes aired, UGO's Jon Lachonis wrote that "the [first two] mobisodes ... have most fans kvetching about the irrelevancy and down right Lost-lessness of the tidbits that are meant to traverse gaps in the story", "it's way too early to dismiss the mobisodes as a complete waste of time, as Lost has a long history of righting its own wrongs and the best may certainly be yet to come" and "[Frogurt is] the most annoying person on Lost' s mystery island". Four mobisodes later, UGO called them "impressive" and said that "they 'look' like full out productions". Larry Dobrow of Advertising Age
enjoyed the first six Lost: Missing Pieces, describing them as "all entertaining and professionally rendered" and calling the project "a great friggin' idea". Josh Wigler of Wizard
wrote that the Lost: Missing Pieces are "hit or miss in terms of quality and importance. Some episodes, however, shed some excellent light on Lost mythology
. ... In terms of flat out fun, it doesn't get much better than 'Jin has a Temper-Tantrum on the Golf Course' ... featuring a frustrated Jin screaming to the high heavens after botching an easy putt against Michael. Unnecessary, yes. Hysterical, absolutely."
MSNBC
's Ree Hines reviewed the first seven Missing Pieces. He wrote that "'The Watch' is basically pointless", "the humor [of 'The Adventures of Hurley and Frogurt'] doesn't work" and "Operation: Sleeper" was deemed "the most useless of the webisodes". Hines said that "King of the Castle" "almost satisfies ... due to ... Ben's deadpan dastardly presence" and "Room 23" is the most promising of the first half of the series. Hines concluded that "the creators fill gaps that don't need filling. The installments fail to form a cohesive stand-alone arc, leaving viewers with little more than a series of fragmented scenes, presumably no better than those left on the cutting-room floor."
Chris Carabott of IGN
reviewed most of Lost: Missing Pieces and has given each a rating out of ten. After four mobisodes aired, he remarked that "these vignettes feel like your average deleted scene—removed for a good reason"; however, no mobisode received a score less than 6.5. "The Watch" scored a 7.5 and was called "touching" because Jack and his father have rarely been seen getting along in Lost. "The Adventures of Hurley and Frogurt" was given a 6.5 and described as "a funny little moment" and "tragic", in regard to Libby's death. "King of the Castle" received an 8.5. Carabott said that it was well-written, "a great performance from [Fox and Emerson]" and worthy of appearing on television. Carabott celebrated Michael's return in "The Deal", but the reviewer noted that "The Deal" "doesn't reveal anything new or exciting at all". "Operation: Sleeper" was rated as a 7.5, as was "Buried Secrets". "Room 23" got an 8 and was described as "definitely the type of new content that we are looking for. It's something that won't be missed by regular viewers but gives a little more insight into the nature of events on the island". "Arzt and Crafts" also got an 8 and was said to have "a cleverly devised title" and was "packed with a healthy amount of humor". "Tropical Depression" received an 8.5, with Carabott calling it "rather pointless ... but cute nonetheless". "Jack, Meet Ethan. Ethan? Jack" scored an 8 and Mapother's acting skills were commended. "Jin Has a Temper-Tantrum on the Golf Course" was deemed "hilarious" and "one of [Lost' s] funniest ... moments" and worthy of a 7.5. "The Envelope" was given a 6.5, and "So It Begins" was given a 9—the highest score of any mobisode—and was described as "a shocking new look at the Christian Shephard who appeared to Jack".
Oscar Dahl of BuddyTV
reviewed each mobisode. "The Watch" was called "a fun couple minutes of character work", but "relatively worthless". "The Adventures of Hurley and Frogurt" was thought to be better than "The Watch". "King of the Castle" was reviewed better than the previous two mobisodes and the reviewer noted that "it's a testament to ... Fox and ... Emerson's acting abilities that [it] is so intense". "The Deal" was said to be even better than "King of the Castle". While Dahl "always like[s] what Juliet brings to the table", he thought that "Operation: Sleeper" "serves little purpose". "Room 23" was called the "best mobisode ever". In regard to "Arzt and Crafts", Dahl wrote that "Lindelof wrote this mobisode ... and as a result ... it has the best dialogue of any mobisode so far". He commented that "Tropical Depression" is "not totally superfluous, though the new information isn't very enlightening". Dahl "liked" "Jack, Meet Ethan. Ethan? Jack", but decided "that it's not [Lindelof]'s best work". Dahl wrote that "Jin Has a Temper-Tantrum on the Golf Course" is "a nice little scene", but the reviewer pointed out an inaccuracy in the scene's golf gameplay. When reviewing "The Envelope", Dahl wrote that "The people over at Lost have cheated a little bit ... [but] it's still a pretty cool deleted scene". After seeing "So It Begins", Dahl was "not entirely sure what to think" because the reviewer liked "showing the moments before the pilot began" and "doing a mobisode from Vincent's perspective, but adding a supposed-to-be-dead Christian to the mix is confusing".
Ryan McGee of Zap2it
also reviewed every mobisode. "The Watch" was described as "anticlimactic". "The Adventures of Hurley and Frogurt" was described as "a little ... lacking", but McGee wrote that "'King of the Castle' proves that brevity is the soul of awesome, with a tense, information-rich two-and-a-half minutes that tingled my Spidey
-esque mythology
sense the entire time". "The Deal" was received less favourably than the previous installment McGee wrote that "Room 23" was "short but sweet". "Arzt and Crafts" was called "a weak-ish entry" and it was noted that "not everything Lost does turns into Dharma-laced gold, sadly". "Buried Secrets" was described as mediocre. In the review for "Tropical Depression", McGee commented that "It's just not good. At all." and compared its quality to the episode "Stranger in a Strange Land
" and the character Paulo
, both of which were negatively received by fans and critics. "Jack, Meet Ethan. Ethan? Jack" had "return[ed Lost: Missing Pieces] to compelling form", however the title was called "clunky". After watching "So It Begins", McGee wrote that it is "a mobisode so vital, so important that I can't believe that ABC didn't bother to air this [online] before the start of Season 4".
Lost (season 4)
The fourth season of the American serial drama television series Lost commenced airing on the American Broadcasting Company Network in the United States, and on CTV in Canada on January 31, 2008 and concluded on May 29, 2008...
seasons of the television show
Television program
A television program , also called television show, is a segment of content which is intended to be broadcast on television. It may be a one-time production or part of a periodically recurring series...
Lost
Lost (TV series)
Lost is an American television series that originally aired on ABC from September 22, 2004 to May 23, 2010, consisting of six seasons. Lost is a drama series that follows the survivors of the crash of a commercial passenger jet flying between Sydney and Los Angeles, on a mysterious tropical island...
, from which the series is spun off
Spin-off (media)
In media, a spin-off is a radio program, television program, video game, or any narrative work, derived from one or more already existing works, that focuses, in particular, in more detail on one aspect of that original work...
. They generally became available to Verizon Wireless
Verizon Wireless
Cellco Partnership, doing business as Verizon Wireless, is one of the largest mobile network operators in the United States. The network has 107.7 million subscribers as of 2011, making it the largest wireless service provider in America....
users on Mondays from November 2007 to January 2008 and were uploaded onto the ABC
American Broadcasting Company
The American Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network. Created in 1943 from the former NBC Blue radio network, ABC is owned by The Walt Disney Company and is part of Disney-ABC Television Group. Its first broadcast on television was in 1948...
's website a week later for free streaming. The "mobisodes", which have also been referred to as "webisode
Webisode
A webisode is a short episode which airs initially as Internet television, either download or stream as opposed to first airing on broadcast or cable television. The format can be used as a preview, a promotion, as part of a collection of shorts, or a commercial.A webisode can be an episode...
s", were shot in Honolulu, Hawaii
Hawaii
Hawaii is the newest of the 50 U.S. states , and is the only U.S. state made up entirely of islands. It is the northernmost island group in Polynesia, occupying most of an archipelago in the central Pacific Ocean, southwest of the continental United States, southeast of Japan, and northeast of...
, and produced by the same crew with the same cast as the television series; thus, all content is considered to be canonical
Canon (fiction)
In the context of a work of fiction, the term canon denotes the material accepted as "official" in a fictional universe's fan base. It is often contrasted with, or used as the basis for, works of fan fiction, which are not considered canonical...
. Lost: Missing Pieces were included as special features in the fourth season's 2008 DVD releases.
The project was announced in November 2005 as the Lost Video Diaries; however, production was delayed several times due to contractual restrictions. Lost
Fictional universe
A fictional universe is a self-consistent fictional setting with elements that differ from the real world. It may also be called an imagined, constructed or fictional realm ....
. These characters would be played by actors who were not part of the Screen Actors Guild
Screen Actors Guild
The Screen Actors Guild is an American labor union representing over 200,000 film and television principal performers and background performers worldwide...
; however the entertainment guilds refused to support such a project. After months of unsuccessful negotiating, the series was seemingly shelved by ABC. In June 2007, it was announced that the mobisodes, which would be renamed Lost: Missing Pieces, would star the regular characters of Lost in thirteen short video clips unrelated to each other. Twelve scenes were newly shot; one was a deleted scene from the television series. Critical response to Lost: Missing Pieces was mixed. The series was nominated for an Emmy Award
Emmy Award
An Emmy Award, often referred to simply as the Emmy, is a television production award, similar in nature to the Peabody Awards but more focused on entertainment, and is considered the television equivalent to the Academy Awards and the Grammy Awards .A majority of Emmys are presented in various...
in 2008.
Conception
In November 2005, while the early second season of Lost was airing, The Hollywood ReporterThe Hollywood Reporter
Formerly a daily trade magazine, The Hollywood Reporter re-launched in late 2010 as a unique hybrid publication serving the entertainment industry and a consumer audience...
reported that twenty-two mobisodes—each spanning several minutes—were expected to be produced in December for a January 2006 release. Zap2it reported that they would later be present on the second season's DVD set and that six would be exclusive to the DVD. Unlike the television series, it would not be produced by ABC Studios (known then as "Touchstone Television") and would star non-Screen Actors Guild members; however it would be produced under the oversight of Damon Lindelof
Damon Lindelof
Damon Laurence Lindelof is an American television writer and executive, most recently noted as the co-creator and executive producer for the television series Lost. He has written for and produced Crossing Jordan, and wrote for Nash Bridges, Wasteland, and the MTV anthology series Undressed...
and Carlton Cuse
Carlton Cuse
Carlton Cuse is an AmericanEmmy Award winning screenwriter and producer, most famous as executive producer andscreenwriter for the American television series Lost for...
, like the television series. In response to fan inquiries about Lost
Los Angeles Times
The Los Angeles Times is a daily newspaper published in Los Angeles, California, since 1881. It was the second-largest metropolitan newspaper in circulation in the United States in 2008 and the fourth most widely distributed newspaper in the country....
confirmed in January 2006–the month originally scheduled to launch the series–that the mobisodes would be originally broadcast on V CAST
V CAST
V CAST is a 3G EV-DO network created by Verizon Wireless to deliver audio, video, and entertainment content. The typical download speed is between 800 kilobits and 1.4 megabits per second with burst speeds of up to 3.1 megabits per second...
from Verizon Wireless and that each mobisode would span only two minutes. Verizon would ultimately pay ABC $400,000 for the mobisodes.
Postponement
Production was delayed when the actors, directorsDirectors Guild of America
Directors Guild of America is an entertainment labor union which represents the interests of film and television directors in the United States motion picture industry...
and writers
Writers Guild of America
The Writers Guild of America is a generic term referring to the joint efforts of two different US labor unions:* The Writers Guild of America, East , representing TV and film writers East of the Mississippi....
guilds refused to support the spin-off
Spin-off (media)
In media, a spin-off is a radio program, television program, video game, or any narrative work, derived from one or more already existing works, that focuses, in particular, in more detail on one aspect of that original work...
. A deal previously unheard of was negotiated in April, which allowed guild members involved to collect residuals
Residual (entertainment industry)
A residual is a payment made to the creator of performance art for subsequent showings or screenings of the work. A typical use is in the payment of residuals for television reruns. The word is often used in the plural form.-Radio and television:The residual system started in U.S. network radio...
. This agreement prompted Lindelof and Cuse to develop a storyline for the Video Diaries that would include Lost
Variety (magazine)
Variety is an American weekly entertainment-trade magazine founded in New York City, New York, in 1905 by Sime Silverman. With the rise of the importance of the motion-picture industry, Daily Variety, a daily edition based in Los Angeles, California, was founded by Silverman in 1933. In 1998, the...
reported that the mobisodes would be produced and aired alongside the third season of Lost. At Comic-Con International
Comic-Con International
San Diego Comic-Con International, also known as Comic-Con International: San Diego , and commonly known as Comic-Con or the San Diego Comic-Con, was founded as the Golden State Comic Book Convention and later the San Diego Comic Book Convention in 1970 by Shel Dorf and a group of San Diegans...
in July, Lindelof and Cuse announced that only thirteen mobisodes would be produced. They would run during the third season's winter hiatus, with none saved exclusively for the third season's DVD set. A sneak peek of the Video Diaries was also shown at Comic-Con. The new premise featured Hurley Reyes (played by Jorge Garcia
Jorge Garcia
Jorge García is a U.S. actor and comedian. He first came to public attention with his performance as Hector Lopez on the television show Becker and later for his portrayal of Hugo "Hurley" Reyes in the television series Lost. Garcia also performs as a stand-up comedian.-Early life:García was born...
) finding a functional Dharma Initiative
DHARMA Initiative
The Dharma Initiative, also written DHARMA , was a fictional research project featured in the television series Lost. It was introduced in the second season episode "Orientation". In 2008, the Dharma Initiative website was launched. Dharma's interests were directly connected with fringe science...
video camcorder that had Dharma orientation films on it. In the clip, he films Kate Austen
Kate Austen
Katherine Anne "Kate" Austen is a fictional character on the ABC television series Lost, played by Canadian actress Evangeline Lilly. She is the de facto female lead...
(Evangeline Lilly
Evangeline Lilly
Evangeline Lilly is a Canadian actress, best known for her role as Kate Austen in the ABC drama, Lost.-Early life:...
) and James "Sawyer" Ford (Josh Holloway
Josh Holloway
Joshua Lee "Josh" Holloway is an American actor and model from Free Home, Georgia. He is best known for his role as James "Sawyer" Ford on the American television show Lost.-Early life:...
). During the hiatus, no mobisodes were to be found and clips from upcoming episodes called Lost Moments aired instead, on television and then ABC.com. In January 2007, Wizard
Wizard Entertainment
Wizard Entertainment, formerly known as Wizard Press, was a New York-based publisher of Wizard and ToyFare magazines, along with various special issues for each magazine and the annual Toy Wishes holiday guide....
discovered that ABC was still negotiating the actors' contracts; thus, no mobisodes had been produced, aside from the Comic-Con teaser. In February, Lost
Script coordinator
Script Coordinator is a role in the production of a film or television series. The script coordinator is responsible for producing each draft of the script and annotating it for ease of use for the production team....
responded to a fan question that the mobisodes had seemingly been put on hold indefinitely as he suspected that contracts were unable to be negotiated.
Revamp
Nikki and Paulo
Nikki Fernandez and Paulo are fictional characters on the ABC drama television series Lost, which chronicles the lives of over forty people after their plane crashes on a remote island somewhere in the south Pacific...
(Kiele Sanchez
Kiele Sanchez
Kiele Michelle Sanchez is an American actress who stars in the A&E Network drama The Glades. Previously she starred as the second-eldest Sorelli sister, Anne, a therapist in her mid-twenties, in The WB's comedic ensemble drama, Related. She was cast as a co-star in the third season of the ABC...
) and Paulo
Nikki and Paulo
Nikki Fernandez and Paulo are fictional characters on the ABC drama television series Lost, which chronicles the lives of over forty people after their plane crashes on a remote island somewhere in the south Pacific...
(Rodrigo Santoro
Rodrigo Santoro
Rodrigo Junqueira dos Reis Santoro is a Brazilian actor.-Life and career:Santoro was born in Petrópolis, Rio de Janeiro. He is of half Brazilian and half Italian descent. In 1993, as Santoro was studying Journalism at PUC-Rio, he entered the Actor's Workshop of Rede Globo...
) into the story, but the pair was negatively received for their abrupt appearance and the writers killed them off after seven appearances. Lindelof and Cuse learned from their mistake and decided that the mobisodes would focus on the regular Lost cast. The writers were paid $800 per mobisode, whereas the actors received $425 per mobisode. Actors were contracted to receive more money if the mobisode were reused in another medium.
Release
In regard to writing, co-executive producer Edward KitsisEdward Kitsis
Edward Lawrence Kitsis, also sometimes credited as Eddy Kitsis, is an American screenwriter and producer, best known for his work on the popular American television series, Lost and Once Upon a Time.-Life and career:...
said that "sometimes it was a scene we always wanted to do, a scene that never got shot, sometimes it was just something interesting". "Buried Secrets" revisits the first season storylines of sexual tension between Sun-Hwa Kwon (Yunjin Kim) and Michael Dawson
Michael Dawson (Lost)
Michael Dawson is a fictional character played by Harold Perrineau on the ABC television series Lost. After losing a custody battle with Susan Lloyd , Michael does not see his son Walt for almost ten years. They reunite when she dies, but on their journey home, their plane crashes on a mysterious...
(Harold Perrineau) and the mutual detestation between Sun's husband Jin
Jin-Soo Kwon
Jin-Soo Kwon, better known as "Jin," is a fictional character on the ABC television series Lost played by Daniel Dae Kim.- Prior to the crash :...
(Daniel Dae Kim) and Michael. These conflicts were going to be further explored in the first season; however, positive fan reaction to Sun and Jin as a couple and good chemistry between the actors playing Michael and Jin led to the abandonment of the love triangle. Reuters
Reuters
Reuters is a news agency headquartered in New York City. Until 2008 the Reuters news agency formed part of a British independent company, Reuters Group plc, which was also a provider of financial market data...
announced in November that the mobisodes would premiere that month. This proved to be true, with "The Watch" appearing suddenly to Verizon customers as the first of the Lost: Missing Pieces. A new mobisode would generally become available each Monday and would be released a week later as a free webisode on ABC's website. The Writers Guild of America strike
2007–2008 Writers Guild of America strike
The 2007–2008 Writers Guild of America strike, more commonly referred to as simply the Writers' Strike, was a strike by the Writers Guild of America, East and the Writers Guild of America, West ....
occurred as the mobisodes were released, due to television writers wanting a deal similar to that achieved for Missing Pieces. Filming was completed in late November. The mobisodes were later released as special features on the DVD and Blu-ray sets of Lost: The Complete Fourth Season – The Expanded Experience in the second half of 2008.
Crew
Although it had not always been the plan, the Missing Pieces were produced by ABC Studios. Executive producer Jack BenderJack Bender
Jack Bender is an American television and film director, actor, television producer and also a screenwriter. Bender was an executive producer and lead director on the ABC television series, Lost. He directed the series finale of Lost. Bender has also directed on other popular shows such as The...
directed each mobisode, with writing duties divided between executive producer
Executive producer
An executive producer is a producer who is not involved in any technical aspects of the film making or music process, but who is still responsible for the overall production...
s Lindelof and Cuse, supervising producer Elizabeth Sarnoff
Elizabeth Sarnoff
Elizabeth "Liz" Sarnoff is an American television writer and producer. She has written episodes of NYPD Blue, Crossing Jordan, Deadwood and Lost.-Career:...
, co-producer Brian K. Vaughan
Brian K. Vaughan
Brian Keller Vaughan is an American comic book and television writer. He is best known for the comic book series Y: The Last Man, Ex Machina, Runaways, and Pride of Baghdad, and was one of the principal writers of the television series Lost, during seasons three through five...
, executive story editor Christina M. Kim
Christina M. Kim
Christina M. Kim is an American television writer. In the 2005-06 television season, she joined the writing staff of Lost for the series second season. The staff won the Writers Guild of America Award for Best Dramatic Series at the February 2006 ceremony for their work on the second season. She...
, and co-executive producers Drew Goddard
Drew Goddard
Drew Goddard is an American film and television screenwriter and producer best known for his collaborations with Joss Whedon and J.J. Abrams .Goddard joined the crew of Lost as a freelance writer for the first season in 2004...
, Edward Kitsis
Edward Kitsis
Edward Lawrence Kitsis, also sometimes credited as Eddy Kitsis, is an American screenwriter and producer, best known for his work on the popular American television series, Lost and Once Upon a Time.-Life and career:...
and Adam Horowitz. Other crew members included executive producer Bryan Burk
Bryan Burk
Bryan Burk is an American film and television producer, as well as an occasional screenwriter.A graduate of USC's School of Cinema-Television, Bryan Burk began his career working with producers Brad Weston at Columbia Pictures, Ned Tanen at Sony Pictures and John Davis at FOX...
of post-production and co-executive producer Jean Higgins of physical production. "The Envelope"—a deleted scene from the third season premiere; the only mobisode not to be originally filmed and written for Lost: Missing Pieces—contained additional credits: Jeff Pinkner
Jeff Pinkner
Jeff Pinkner is an American television writer and producer. He graduated from Pikesville High School in Baltimore Maryland in 1983. He is known for his work on Alias where he served as executive producer. In 2006 and 2007, he worked as an executive producer and writer for the mystery series Lost...
is an executive producer and executive producer J. J. Abrams
J. J. Abrams
Jeffrey Jacob "J. J." Abrams is an American film and television producer, screenwriter, director, actor, and composer. He wrote and produced feature films before co-creating the television series Felicity...
is a co-writer.
Cast and characters
The Missing Pieces retained many of the cast members from the television series. Perrineau plays Michael, who had not been seen since the second season. Matthew FoxMatthew Fox (actor)
Matthew Chandler Fox is an American actor. He is mostly known for his role as Charlie Salinger on Party of Five, and for portraying Jack Shephard on the supernatural drama television series Lost.- Early life :...
plays Jack Shephard
Jack Shephard
Dr. Jack Shephard is a fictional character and protagonist of the ABC television series Lost played by Matthew Fox. Lost follows the journey of the survivors of Oceanic Airlines flight 815 on a mysterious island and their attempts to survive and escape, slowly uncovering more of the much broader...
, the leader of the castaways and Elizabeth Mitchell
Elizabeth Mitchell
Elizabeth Mitchell , is an American actress/modelwho is known for her roles as Dr. Juliet Burke on ABC's TV series Lost and as FBI agent Erica Evans on V. She has starred in such films as The Santa Clause 2, The Santa Clause 3: The Escape Clause, and Gia.-Early life:Mitchell was born Elizabeth...
portrays his love interest, Juliet Burke
Juliet Burke
Dr. Juliet Burke is a fictional character on the ABC television series Lost played by Elizabeth Mitchell. Her character was introduced in the third season premiere.- Prior to arrival on the island :...
. Garcia reprises his role as crash survivor Hurley. Kim and Kim play married couple Jin and Sun. Michael Emerson
Michael Emerson
Michael Emerson is an American actor who is perhaps best known for his roles as Benjamin Linus on Lost and fictional serial killer William Hinks in The Practice.-Early life:...
acts as Ben Linus, the leader of the island residents known as the "Others". Guest stars John Terry
John Terry (actor)
John Terry is an American film, television, and stage actor.-Early life:Terry was born in Florida, where he attended Vero Beach High School. He was also educated at the prestigious Loomis Chaffee prep school in Windsor, Connecticut, and began a career building original custom log homes in North...
, Daniel Roebuck
Daniel Roebuck
Daniel James Roebuck is an American television film actor, writer and producer, primarily in films, soap operas and television.-Life and career:...
, William Mapother
William Mapother
William Reibert Mapother, Jr. is an American actor and former teacher, perhaps best known for his role as Ethan Rom on the television series Lost.-Personal life:...
and Julie Adams
Julie Adams
Julie Adams is an American film and television actress, sometimes credited as Julia Adams or Betty Adams.-Life and career:...
reprise their roles of Christian Shephard
Christian Shephard
Dr. Christian Shephard is a fictional character on the ABC television series Lost played by John Terry. He is the father of lead characters Jack Shephard , who becomes the de facto leader of the survivors of Oceanic 815 after it crashes on an island, and Claire Littleton , another of the survivors...
, Leslie Arzt, Ethan Rom and Amelia, respectively. Emilie de Ravin
Emilie de Ravin
Emilie de Ravin born 27 December 1981)is an Australian actress. She is commonly associated with her roles as Tess Harding on Roswell and Claire Littleton on the ABC drama Lost....
, who plays Claire Littleton
Claire Littleton
Claire Littleton is a fictional character played by Emilie de Ravin on the ABC drama television series Lost, which chronicles the lives of the survivors of a plane crash in the South Pacific. Claire is introduced in the pilot episode as a pregnant crash survivor. She is a series regular until her...
, appears solely in archived footage from the television show. Vincent, a dog who survived the plane crash, is played by the dog Pono. Guest star Sean Whalen
Sean Whalen
Sean M. Whalen is an American film, television, and stage actor.Whalen was born in Washington D.C. in 1964, the youngest of four children, he was raised in Silver Spring/Olney, Maryland. He attended Sherwood High School and graduated from UCLA. He worked as a waiter while studying and performing...
makes his first appearance as the crash survivor Neil "Frogurt". While the second season was airing, the writer-producers confirmed in the April 3, 2006 edition of the Official Lost Podcast
Podcast
A podcast is a series of digital media files that are released episodically and often downloaded through web syndication...
that Frogurt would appear in the late second season, however, he was merely mentioned once
S.O.S. (Lost)
"S.O.S." is the 19th episode of the second season of Lost and the 44th episode overall. The episode was directed by Eric Laneuville, and written by Steven Maeda and Leonard Dick. It first aired on April 12, 2006 on ABC. The characters of Rose Henderson "S.O.S." is the 19th episode of the second...
. Frogurt also did not appear in the third season and he became a running gag
Running gag
A running gag, or running joke, is a literary device that takes the form of an amusing joke or a comical reference and appears repeatedly throughout a work of literature or other form of storytelling....
in the podcast, with Lindelof and Cuse repeatedly claiming that Frogurt would appear in the show. However, Frogurt did appear in the fifth season
Lost (season 5)
The fifth season of the American serial drama television series Lost commenced airing on the ABC network in the United States and on A in Canada in January 2009, and concluded with a two-hour season finale on May 13, 2009...
briefly, but was shot through with flaming arrows shortly after being introduced.
Mobisodes
"PC" is short for "production code numberProduction code number
A production code number, also known as the production code or episode code is an alphanumeric designation used to uniquely identify episodes within a television series...
", which signifies the order that the mobisodes were produced in, which is different from the order that they aired in and appeared on the DVD. "Original airdate" refers to the original V CAST airdate. Days are in relation to the day of the crash, which is day 1 and September 22, 2004. All mobisodes are newly written and shot, with the exception of "The Envelope", which is a deleted scene from "A Tale of Two Cities
A Tale of Two Cities (Lost)
"A Tale of Two Cities" is the third season premiere, and 50th episode overall, of the American Broadcasting Company's serial drama television series Lost. The episode was written by co-creators/executive producers J. J. Abrams and Damon Lindelof, based on a story by Lindelof and directed by...
" that was shot on August 9 and 11, 2006, a year before the other mobisodes.
| # | Prod. code |
Title | Directed by | Written by | Characters | Original air date |
|---|
Reception
The finale—"So It Begins"—was submitted to the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences for Emmy consideration in the "Special Class: Short-Format Live-Action Entertainment Programs" category. Executive producers Damon Lindelof, Carlton Cuse and Barry Jossen were successful in receiving a nomination on July 17, 2007; however, they lost to SciFiSyfy
Syfy , formerly known as the Sci-Fi Channel and SCI FI, is an American cable television channel featuring science fiction, supernatural, fantasy, reality, paranormal, wrestling, and horror programming. Launched on September 24, 1992, it is part of the entertainment conglomerate NBCUniversal, a...
's Battlestar Galactica: Razor Flashbacks
Battlestar Galactica: Razor Flashbacks
Battlestar Galactica: Razor Flashbacks is a collective title given to a series of seven "webisodes" released in late 2007 in lead up to the television movie Battlestar Galactica: Razor via the world wide web and weekly airing. According to Ronald D...
on September 13 at the Creative Arts Emmy Award ceremony of the 60th Primetime Emmy Awards
60th Primetime Emmy Awards
The 60th Annual Primetime Emmy Awards was held on Sunday, September 21, 2008, at the newly opened Nokia Theatre in Los Angeles, California. They were hosted by Tom Bergeron, Heidi Klum, Howie Mandel, Jeff Probst, and Ryan Seacrest and televised in the United States on ABC.The Creative Arts Awards...
. Douglas Durdan of the Richmond Times-Dispatch
Richmond Times-Dispatch
The Richmond Times-Dispatch is the primary daily newspaper in Richmond the capital of Virginia, United States, and is commonly considered the "newspaper of record" for events occurring in much of the state...
described "The Watch" "as unsatisfying as it is satisfying" because the reviewer was unsure of which lines were important or if there were any clues to future episodes hidden amongst the background. After two mobisodes aired, UGO's Jon Lachonis wrote that "the [first two] mobisodes ... have most fans kvetching about the irrelevancy and down right Lost-lessness of the tidbits that are meant to traverse gaps in the story", "it's way too early to dismiss the mobisodes as a complete waste of time, as Lost has a long history of righting its own wrongs and the best may certainly be yet to come" and "[Frogurt is] the most annoying person on Lost
Advertising Age
Advertising Age is a magazine, delivering news, analysis and data on marketing and media. The magazine was started as a broadsheet newspaper in Chicago in 1930...
enjoyed the first six Lost: Missing Pieces, describing them as "all entertaining and professionally rendered" and calling the project "a great friggin' idea". Josh Wigler of Wizard
Wizard (magazine)
Wizard or Wizard: The Magazine of Comics, Entertainment and Pop Culture was a magazine about comic books, published monthly in the United States by Wizard Entertainment from July 1991 to January 2011...
wrote that the Lost: Missing Pieces are "hit or miss in terms of quality and importance. Some episodes, however, shed some excellent light on Lost mythology
Mythology of Lost
The television show Lost includes a number of mysterious elements that have been ascribed to science fiction or supernatural phenomena, usually concerning coincidences, synchronicity, déjà vu, temporal and spatial anomalies, paradoxes, and other puzzling phenomena...
. ... In terms of flat out fun, it doesn't get much better than 'Jin has a Temper-Tantrum on the Golf Course' ... featuring a frustrated Jin screaming to the high heavens after botching an easy putt against Michael. Unnecessary, yes. Hysterical, absolutely."
MSNBC
MSNBC
MSNBC is a cable news channel based in the United States available in the US, Germany , South Africa, the Middle East and Canada...
's Ree Hines reviewed the first seven Missing Pieces. He wrote that "'The Watch' is basically pointless", "the humor [of 'The Adventures of Hurley and Frogurt'] doesn't work" and "Operation: Sleeper" was deemed "the most useless of the webisodes". Hines said that "King of the Castle" "almost satisfies ... due to ... Ben's deadpan dastardly presence" and "Room 23" is the most promising of the first half of the series. Hines concluded that "the creators fill gaps that don't need filling. The installments fail to form a cohesive stand-alone arc, leaving viewers with little more than a series of fragmented scenes, presumably no better than those left on the cutting-room floor."
Chris Carabott of IGN
IGN
IGN is an entertainment website that focuses on video games, films, music and other media. IGN's main website comprises several specialty sites or "channels", each occupying a subdomain and covering a specific area of entertainment...
reviewed most of Lost: Missing Pieces and has given each a rating out of ten. After four mobisodes aired, he remarked that "these vignettes feel like your average deleted scene—removed for a good reason"; however, no mobisode received a score less than 6.5. "The Watch" scored a 7.5 and was called "touching" because Jack and his father have rarely been seen getting along in Lost. "The Adventures of Hurley and Frogurt" was given a 6.5 and described as "a funny little moment" and "tragic", in regard to Libby's death. "King of the Castle" received an 8.5. Carabott said that it was well-written, "a great performance from [Fox and Emerson]" and worthy of appearing on television. Carabott celebrated Michael's return in "The Deal", but the reviewer noted that "The Deal" "doesn't reveal anything new or exciting at all". "Operation: Sleeper" was rated as a 7.5, as was "Buried Secrets". "Room 23" got an 8 and was described as "definitely the type of new content that we are looking for. It's something that won't be missed by regular viewers but gives a little more insight into the nature of events on the island". "Arzt and Crafts" also got an 8 and was said to have "a cleverly devised title" and was "packed with a healthy amount of humor". "Tropical Depression" received an 8.5, with Carabott calling it "rather pointless ... but cute nonetheless". "Jack, Meet Ethan. Ethan? Jack" scored an 8 and Mapother's acting skills were commended. "Jin Has a Temper-Tantrum on the Golf Course" was deemed "hilarious" and "one of [Lost
Oscar Dahl of BuddyTV
BuddyTV
BuddyTV is an entertainment-based website based in Seattle, Washington, which generates content about television programs and sporting events. The website publishes information about celebrity and related entertainment news through a series of articles, entertainment profiles, actor biographies and...
reviewed each mobisode. "The Watch" was called "a fun couple minutes of character work", but "relatively worthless". "The Adventures of Hurley and Frogurt" was thought to be better than "The Watch". "King of the Castle" was reviewed better than the previous two mobisodes and the reviewer noted that "it's a testament to ... Fox and ... Emerson's acting abilities that [it] is so intense". "The Deal" was said to be even better than "King of the Castle". While Dahl "always like[s] what Juliet brings to the table", he thought that "Operation: Sleeper" "serves little purpose". "Room 23" was called the "best mobisode ever". In regard to "Arzt and Crafts", Dahl wrote that "Lindelof wrote this mobisode ... and as a result ... it has the best dialogue of any mobisode so far". He commented that "Tropical Depression" is "not totally superfluous, though the new information isn't very enlightening". Dahl "liked" "Jack, Meet Ethan. Ethan? Jack", but decided "that it's not [Lindelof]'s best work". Dahl wrote that "Jin Has a Temper-Tantrum on the Golf Course" is "a nice little scene", but the reviewer pointed out an inaccuracy in the scene's golf gameplay. When reviewing "The Envelope", Dahl wrote that "The people over at Lost have cheated a little bit ... [but] it's still a pretty cool deleted scene". After seeing "So It Begins", Dahl was "not entirely sure what to think" because the reviewer liked "showing the moments before the pilot began" and "doing a mobisode from Vincent's perspective, but adding a supposed-to-be-dead Christian to the mix is confusing".
Ryan McGee of Zap2it
Zap2it
Zap2it is an American website and affiliate network that provides news, photos and video, local TV listings and movie showtimes. The site is produced by Tribune Media Services , part of the publishing division of the Chicago-based Tribune Company...
also reviewed every mobisode. "The Watch" was described as "anticlimactic". "The Adventures of Hurley and Frogurt" was described as "a little ... lacking", but McGee wrote that "'King of the Castle' proves that brevity is the soul of awesome, with a tense, information-rich two-and-a-half minutes that tingled my Spidey
Spider-Man
Spider-Man is a fictional Marvel Comics superhero. The character was created by writer-editor Stan Lee and writer-artist Steve Ditko. He first appeared in Amazing Fantasy #15...
-esque mythology
Mythology of Lost
The television show Lost includes a number of mysterious elements that have been ascribed to science fiction or supernatural phenomena, usually concerning coincidences, synchronicity, déjà vu, temporal and spatial anomalies, paradoxes, and other puzzling phenomena...
sense the entire time". "The Deal" was received less favourably than the previous installment McGee wrote that "Room 23" was "short but sweet". "Arzt and Crafts" was called "a weak-ish entry" and it was noted that "not everything Lost does turns into Dharma-laced gold, sadly". "Buried Secrets" was described as mediocre. In the review for "Tropical Depression", McGee commented that "It's just not good. At all." and compared its quality to the episode "Stranger in a Strange Land
Stranger in a Strange Land (Lost)
"Stranger in a Strange Land" is the ninth episode of the third season of the American drama television series Lost, and the show's 58th episode overall. The episode was written by Elizabeth Sarnoff and Christina M. Kim, and directed by Paris Barclay...
" and the character Paulo
Nikki and Paulo
Nikki Fernandez and Paulo are fictional characters on the ABC drama television series Lost, which chronicles the lives of over forty people after their plane crashes on a remote island somewhere in the south Pacific...
, both of which were negatively received by fans and critics. "Jack, Meet Ethan. Ethan? Jack" had "return[ed Lost: Missing Pieces] to compelling form", however the title was called "clunky". After watching "So It Begins", McGee wrote that it is "a mobisode so vital, so important that I can't believe that ABC didn't bother to air this [online] before the start of Season 4".