Other Titles in the Smart Pop Series Taking the Red Pill Science, Philosophy and Religion in The Matrix Seven Seasons of Buffy Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers Discuss Their Favorite Television Show Five Seasons of Angel Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers Discuss Their Favorite Vampire What Would Sipowicz Do? Race, Rights and Redemption in NYPD Blue Stepping through the Stargate Science, Archaeology and the Military in Stargate SG-1 The Anthology at the End of the Universe Leading Science Fiction Authors on Douglas Adams’ Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy Finding Serenity Anti-heroes, Lost Shepherds and Space Hookers in Joss Whedon’s Firefly The War of the Worlds Fresh Perspectives on the H. G. Wells Classic Alias Assumed Sex, Lies and SD-6 Navigating the Golden Compass Religion, Science and Dæmonology in Philip Pullman’s His Dark Materials Farscape Forever! Sex, Drugs and Killer Muppets Flirting with Pride and Prejudice Fresh Perspectives on the Original Chick-Lit Masterpiece Revisiting Narnia Fantasy, Myth and Religion in C. S. Lewis’ Chronicles Totally Charmed Demons, Whitelighters and the Power of Three King Kong Is Back! An Unauthorized Look at One Humongous Ape Mapping the World of Harry Potter Science Fiction and Fantasy Authors Explore the Bestselling Fantasy Series of All Time The Psychology of the Simpsons D’oh! The Unauthorized X-Men SF and Comic Writers on Mutants, Prejudice and Adamantium Survival, Baggage and Starting Over in J. J. Abrams’ LOST EDITED BY ORSON SCOTT CARD BENBELLA BOOKS, INC. Dallas, Texas This publication has not been prepared, approved, or licensed by any entity that created or produced the popular television program Lost. “Game Theory” Copyright © 2006 by Joyce Millman “Staying Lost” Copyright © 2006 by Charlie W. Starr “The Same Damn Island” Copyright © 2006 by Adam-Troy Castro “The Lost Book Club” Copyright © 2006 by Bill Spangler “Oceanic Tales: Have You Been Framed?” Copyright © 2006 by Yvonne Jocks “All Hail Hurley!” Copyright © 2006 by Nick Mamatas “Lost in Love: A Romance Writer Takes On the Love Stories in Lost” Copyright © 2006 by Lani Diane Rich “There Are No Coincidences: Making Meaning in Lost” Copyright © 2006 by Leah Wilson “Cosmic Vertigo on the Isle of Lost” Copyright © 2006 by Barry Vacker “Doubt, Descartes, and Evil Geniuses” Copyright © 2006 by Robert Burke Richardson “Oops: A Review of Survivability of Passengers in the Plane Crash, First Episode of the Television Series Lost” Copyright © 2006 by Clayton Davis “Lost Connections” Copyright © 2006 by G. O. Likeskill “Double-Locked” Copyright © 2006 by Amy Berner “The Art of Leadership” Copyright © 2006 by Glenn Yeffeth “Who’s Who and What’s What for Everybody Who Is . . . Lost” Copyright © 2006 by Wayne Allen Sallee Additional Materials Copyright © Orson Scott Card All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles or reviews. BenBella Books, Inc. 6440 N. Central Expressway, Suite 617 Dallas, TX 75206 www.benbellabooks.com Send feedback to [email protected] Printed in the United States of America 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Getting Lost : survival, baggage, and starting over in J.J. Abrams’ Lost / edited by Orson Scott Card. p. cm. ISBN 1-932100-78-4 1. Lost (Television program) I. Card, Orson Scott. PN1992.77.L67G48 2006 791.45'72—dc22 2006012226 Proofreading by Stacia Seaman & Jennifer Thomason Cover design by Todd Michael Bushman Text design and composition by John Reinhardt Book Design Printed by Victor Graphics, Inc. Distributed by Independent Publishers Group To order call (800) 888-4741 • www.ipgbook.com For media inquiries and special sales contact Yara Abuata at [email protected] Contents Introduction 1 OrsOn scOtt card Game Theory 21 JOyce MillMan Staying Lost 29 charlie W. starr The Same Damn Island 37 adaM-trOy castrO The Lost Book Club 45 Bill spangler Oceanic Tales: Have You Been Framed? 55 evelyn vaughn All Hail Hurley! 65 nick MaMatas Lost in Love 75 lani diane rich There Are No Coincidences 85 leigh adaMs Wright Cosmic Vertigo on the Isle of Lost 91 Barry vacker vii GETTING LOST Doubt, Descartes, and Evil Geniuses 109 rOBert Burke richardsOn Oops 119 claytOn davis Lost Connections 125 g. O. likeskill Double-Locked 145 aMy Berner viii The Art of Leadership 163 glenn yeffeth Who’s Who and What’s What for Everybody Who Is . . . Lost 171 Wayne allen sallee Introduction ORSON SCOTT CARD What Is Lost Good For? Back in 1998, my son Geoffrey and I came up with a group of propos- als for television series to pitch to various producers and networks. At the time, Geoffrey was writing under the name “Rob Porter” to try to avoid son-of-better-known-author syndrome. One of Geoffrey’s ideas was expressed in a mere two paragraphs: Lost rOB lee pOrter and OrsOn scOtt card One hour drama series (fantasy adventure): Survivors of the crash of an L.A.-to-New-York flight soon realize that they are not where they ought to be—maybe not even on Earth. Jungle, desert, medieval vil- lages, modern towns where people have never heard of America—they want only to go home, but it’s the one place they can’t find. Robinson Crusoe in Oz. This idea is dangerous—it could easily degenerate into Gilligan’s Is- land or Lost in Space. But if properly developed, this story would allow an ensemble of characters to grow, develop relationships with each other, and face important moral dilemmas as they struggle to understand where 1 GETTING LOST they are each week and how to get back to reality. Star Trek with civil- ians—and without having to fake any space stuff. We even copyrighted this little prospectus, back in 1997. No, I’m not claiming that we had even a trace of influence on the Lindelof/Lieber/Abrams TV series that this book explores and cel- ebrates; nobody’s going to get sued. My point is merely that what makes this series work is not the idea—or at least not just the idea. Because the idea was “in the air.” Indeed, one might even say that it was obvious. But not so obvious that just anybody could have done it. In fact, there are so many ways to do it badly that I made the decision not to 2 push this idea or pursue it beyond the handful of people we showed those paragraphs to. I knew enough about writing to know that this would be almost impossible to pull off, not just for me and Geoffrey, but for anyone. That’s why it seems almost a miracle that it has been done so well in the series Lost. How Television Series Work When television began, it sounded the death knell of the fiction mag- azine. People turned from the quick read of the Redbook or Argosy short story to the equally quick, but much cheaper and easier-to-ab- sorb, half- and one-hour episodes of television. The trouble was that, until recently, television simply didn’t deliver the full range of what newspaper and magazine fiction used to give its audience. That’s because what triumphed in television was the series. There had been fiction series before—indeed, America had long supported the Nancy Drew, Hardy Boys, and other series aimed at kids. But when a story had to be broken up into once-a-week epi- sodes on television, it forced certain structural decisions. There was no way to build a word-of-mouth audience for a one- shot teleplay. In those days before videotape, when something aired, it was over. If you saw it and loved it, good for you—and too bad for any of your friends you might tell about it, because it would never be aired again.