Lost Countdown: No. 10 (Updated with corrections and pics)

So long have I been waiting for the return of my favourite show (just in case you haven't been paying attention, it's Lost) that it became one of the reasons I co-created this blog, so that I have somewhere to go on and on and on about it (sorry, Canyon and Masticator). One thing I wanted to do was lead up to the premiere of the fourth season with a list of things I love about it, but time and chores have obstructed me, and the truncated nature of the season, caused by the writer's strike, has made its return a bittersweet event. Nevertheless, here is number ten in my countdown of Reasons To Love Lost:

The Awesome Character Actors In The Supporting Cast:

Just like Deadwood, the cast of Lost is not only enormous, but filled with familiar faces of character actors of huge talent and/or nerd value. In season three we saw appearances by Robin Weigert, Jon Gries, Samantha Mathis, Nestor Carbonell, Cheech Marin, King of Awesome Nathan Fillion, and even Billy Dee Williams. I love that showriters Edward Kitsis and Adam Horowitz are such nerds that on the commentary for Exposé, the episode where we "meet" Mr. LeShade for the first time, they admit they and showrunners Carlton Cuse and Damon Lindelof got the costume designer to ensure the colours of his clothes matched those of Lando Calrissian in his Bespin Cloud City attire from The Empire Strikes Back. That's quality nerdery.

Best of all, due to the flashback nature of the show (more on that later), many of these actors can possibly come back in the future. John Terry, who plays Christian Shephard, and William Mapother*, who was so brilliant as the creepy Ethan Rom, were only meant to be in a couple of episodes but keep coming back in flashbacks because the showrunners love their work so much. Maybe we'll even see Michael Bowen and Paula "Trixie" Malcomson again.


What makes me even happier is the way the main cast, many of whom seemed to be so much less interesting than the incidental cast, have grown so much over the last three years that they are now often on a par with the guest stars, if not better. More on that later as well.

So, my list begins with a quick post, but that's what happens when you begin playing Bioshock midway through the night and everything goes wrong, what with the brilliance and atmosphere and addictiveness and satire of Objectivism. More annoying Lost bleatings to come, dear reader! Only a few days to go! Aiiiiieeeeeee!

* Edited to add: In my hurry with my first attempt at this post I mashed up William Mapother's name with that of his cousin Tom Cruise, and called him Thomas Mapother (which, of course, is Cruise's real name). A terrible crime for a supposed Lost fan, but I was punished by dreaming about Cruise during the night, talking about how unhappy he was filming Valkyrie in Germany, which would be uncharacteristically rude if it actually happened outside my head.