I Am DB

Over the weekend, I was checking out the To Do list on my DVR, scrolling through to see how far out it went. My eyes roved past listings of 30 Rock, The Office, Scrubs, Big Love…and then came the jolt of excitement: January 21st. New episodes of Lost queued up, ready to go, teasing me with their brief plot synopses. Three hours of Lost: a recap at 8:00, followed by two brand spankin’ new beautiful glorious wondrous episodes – one at 9:00 and a second at 10:00.

I’m still in the midst of re-watching Season Four on DVD. After the exhaustive write-ups I did last season, requiring two complete viewings of each episode and frequent re-watching of certain scenes, you’d think I have them memorized by now. Well, I do. Come on by or give me a call and I will recite any scene from any episode you’d like, complete with accurate accents and inflections.

It’s nice to be going through the season again, and enjoying the episodes back to back. A couple of days ago I watched The Constant, and though I said it last year, let me reiterate what a great and emotional episode that was. The series has deeply invested us in the Desmond/Penny relationship, helped in no small part by the terrific performances of Henry Ian Cusick and Sonya Walger, who have phenomenal chemistry and just look like two people who belong together. When Penny answered Desmond’s call on Christmas Eve and they talked for the first time in years, well…if you didn’t cry even a little, you should schedule an appointment with your doctor ASAP; you might be dead inside.

I’ll hit you next week with a checklist of my big questions (and my small ones too, who are we kidding?) going into Season Five, but for now here are a few character-related tidbits of what’s to come, just for a tease:

• Among the new characters we will meet this season, two in particular are said to be key figures in the overall story, and will factor prominently into the sixth and final season. Remember these names: Caesar and Ilana.

• Remember the woman from the jewelry store who explained Desmond’s flashes to him back in Season Three? Remember later that season when we saw her photograph on the desk of the friar in the monastery where Desmond was living before he met Penny? It’s all about connections on this show, people. We’ll be seeing her again….and more connections will be revealed.

• We’ll see the reappearance of at least one woman who survived the crash but died on the island of a gunshot wound. I can think of three women who fit that description…

• Although she’s not coming back from the dead, we haven’t seen the last of Rousseau.

• Although he may or may not be dead, we haven’t seen the last of Jin either.

• Helicopter pilot Frank Lapidus left the island at the end of Season Four, along with Desmond and the Oceanic Six. We’ll see him again too, though I don’t know to what extent.

The crazy Lost fanatic who writes for Entertainment Weekly – way crazier than I am – posted a new column online yesterday in advance of the season premiere (and like many in the press, he’s already seen the first two new episodes). In it, he mentions five episodes you may want to re-watch as preparation for what’s to come. They include last May’s finale – which ABC is airing tonight, if you want to check it out. He also includes a YouTube video that was shown at last summer’s Comic-Con, which he advises us to check out. I did…and you should. Here’s a link to page two of his piece, where he names the relevant episodes and places the YouTube clip.

If you don’t have access to the other episodes and want to know about the clues he mentions…just ask me. I’ve got it all memorized, remember?

See you back here in a week…