More glorious “Lost” fan-baiting

Yesterday, we talked about the series of Lost “Missing Pieces” web episodes. Today, I want to bring your attention to another manner in which Lost’s producers have been baiting (placating?) fans in the recent weeks leading up to the premiere of season four (which, in case you live in complete, desolate seclusion, is TOMORROW!!). I’m talking about “Find 815“, the second “alternate reality game” (or ARG) shedding light on and adding more questions to the ever-growing Lost mythology. These ARGs take place primarily online and consist of different videos, e-mails and other clues leading to fresh fodder for Lost-ophiles, the idea being that we’re observing and/or taking part in events that are corresponding with (and therefore part of) the story lines on the actual television show Lost.

The first Lost ARG, known as “The Lost Experience“, took place (in the most literal sense) in 2006 and centered around the story line of a young woman searching for answers about the mysterious Hanso Foundation. The current ARG focuses on the quest of a former Oceanic Airlines employee who wants to know what happened to Oceanic flight 815 — because his flight-attendant girlfriend was one of those on board. Apparently, the game is set to culminate in the hours before Lost’s season four premiere, leading one to assume that a semi-major revelation may be in store. [Here's a great website with continuous updates about "Find 815".]

As always, if you don’t care about Lost, you may feel that you just wasted several minutes of your incredibly precious time by reading the preceding text. But since you’ve made it this far, I’m assuming, dear reader, that either you’re just as big a Lost fan as I, or else you’re searching for some kind of path to cultural enlightenment, and you think I might just be able to cast some light on the trail. Either way, click on some of the preceding links to find out more.

Lost: Missing Pieces — baiting the fans and making them like it

If, dear reader, you feel you may not know me as well as you desire, there is really only one thing you need to know right now: I love Lost. The television show, that is, in which a group of plane crash survivors try to come to terms with the mysterious happenings taking place on the Pacific island on which they’re stranded. In recent weeks, much of my time has been devoted to fan sites about the show (despite E.J.’s constant deriding), and it’s because this Thursday, the show will return from a nine-month hiatus with the premiere of season four, and I am beyond ecstatic. But more on that later.

In the past few months, Lost’s producers have kept fans baited by a series of 13 two- to three-minute web episodes (or “mobisodes”, as they’re sometimes called) featuring new, tantalizing scenes from story lines from the show’s previous three seasons. Titled “Missing Pieces”, they have ranged from the seemingly pointless to the amusing to the suspenseful, but none have been as potentially mind-blowing as the final installment, seen here. I’m not going to try explaining it to you; either you watch the show and you’ll understand, or you don’t and you couldn’t care less. There’s not much middle ground. This final one may be my favorite of the bunch, though it’s in a dead heat with this one. You can watch all 13 here or here.