The Lost Experience – Failure of plot, success of commercialism

“The Lost Experience”, a creation of ABC and their advertising partners, was to be an immersive portal for “Lost” viewers to be part of a tiny, lurid slice of the “Lost” universe. In the beginning, it was the story of The Hanso Foundation, a seemingly benevolent corporation with a dark secret, a secret that a mysterious hacker named Persephone was intent to reveal.

There were codes to be solved, clues to follow, and a mystery to solve. As time went on, the millions of followers of the game came to know the good guys and bad guys of the game: The hacker Persephone was really the waifish Rachel Blake, on a personal mission to bring down the man; the defiant conspiracy radio-show jock DJ Dan, whose nemesis was -- you guessed it -- The Hanso Foundation; Alvar Hanso himself, the super rich head of the foundation which bears his namesake mysteriously missing; Thomas Mittlewerk, man of science with a shady past. The allusions to “Lost” were often tenuous at best, but tantalizing to fans of the series hopeful for a glimpse into the universe of the show.
Over the summer, an agonizingly slow exposition revealed the following story: A mathematician created a formula for predicting the end of mankind. His work was eventually suppressed, even a book by the famed author Gary Troup (who also wrote "Bad Twin", the manuscript of which made a cameo on “Lost” during season two) has disappeared, but unbeknownst to everyone, the formula had been solved, and human kind had precious little time left.

The output from the equation was a set of factors 4,8,15,16,23,42, numbers known very well to “Lost” fans. If you could change a factor, you could prevent the end of mankind. Enter the Hanso Foundation. Hanso developed a research project on a remote island and named it Dharma, which stands for Department of Heuristics And Research on Material Applications. Dharma was not successful in affecting any of the factors, and humankind was doomed setting the stage for Mittlewerk's hanso foundation coup.
The nefarious Mittlewerk, now possessing with a deadly virus disguised as a vaccine, sat out to affect one factor that he felt was within his control: the population. Reduce the population by 30%, and you upset the balance of the equation.
Rachel uncovered this plot with a series of video blog entries that chronicled her trip around the world in pursuit of the truth. She finally discovered it in Sri Lankha as she taped Mittlewerk instructing a team of Hanso cronies on how to carry out tests of the deadly vaccine, disguising it as an inoculation.
Eventually, along with the help of a Hanso mole, Rachel made her way to Hanso himself who confirmed the evil plan, and the fact that he was Rachel's father. Rachel brought the video to the authorities and they tried to capture Mittlewerk but were met with an office rigged to explode. The evil Mittlewerk has escaped, vowing to continue his work to save humankind.
And that, as they is, is all folks.

“Lost” fan’s reaction to the story and the execution has been overwhelmingly negative. For starters, the game was held over for several weeks between the release of the Srti Lankha video (which players had to assemble by finding an exhaustive seventy codes) and the finale that took place on a DJ Dan "live" podcast and was plagued with uninteresting callins, technical glitches, and an actress playing "Rachel" who just didn't seem to have her heart in it. For the “Lost Experience” finale to do nothing more but recap what we already knew then move from a Star Wars cliché’ to a finale that cries "sequel" was not exactly the payoff that fans who had invested hundreds of hours into the game were looking for.
If there is one success to the game it would seem to be the way advertisers were able to integrate themselves into the flow of the game. Verizon, Sprite, Jeep, Monster.com, amongst others, had prominent product placement throughout. It could be argued that the word "sprite" was used more in the aggregate of game dialogue then the word "Dharma".
And despite promises to explain the numbers and various other issues of the show, the game creates a meta-fictional conundrum. Since the show also exists within the universe of the game, Dharma, Hanso, et al as known in the game are not the same entities as those in “Lost”, which are merely fictional representations; representations that, if Ms. Blake is to be believed, are made to glorify Hanso and their work. Given this duplicity, we cannot be sure that any of the Hanso/Dharma/Numbers exposition is relevant to the series at all. If anything, by including the show as a work of fiction within the game they have insulated themselves from intruding on the continuity of the show. A clever maneuver for sure, the show writers have no obligation to provide a link between the game and the series and vice-versa.
That is really all I have to say. As with “Lost”, the theories surrounding “The Lost Experience” proved to be more interesting than the actual plot; but I think there is little question that it could have been done better.

-BuddyTV

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Related Information of Interest:

The Untimely Death of Music Videos On TV
In 1986 music was forever changed with the debut of MTV. In the twenty years
since, music videos have become a way for the artists to express themselves
visually. When music videos first came out, it was mostly just the musician or
band playing the song--today music videos are more akin to mini movies featuring famous actors and actresses. The very
first music video played on MTV was “Video Killed the Radio Star” by the Buggles,
and in a sense it was true. Most bands have a music video before the ink has
even dried on the recording contract. MTV may have been the first music videos
channel, but definitely not the last. There are now several channels that show
music videos like MTV, VH1, GAC and Fuse TV just to name a few.

MTV now offers 4 different music video channels--MTV, MTV2, MTV hits, and MTVu.
MTV also has its own awards show just for music videos. VH1 caters to adult
contemporary music videos, GAC is the MTV for country music videos. Fuse TV is a
relatively new channel and focuses more on rock and metal music videos. The
newest kid on the block is The Tube Music Network, it features mostly mainstream
rock and indie rock videos. It is a throwback to the early days of MTV, a video
channel that actually plays music videos.

One of the most notorious musicians known for her controversial music videos is
Madonna. Madonna’s video for “Like a Prayer” in the late 80’s caused an uproar
with the Christian community over the depiction of an African-American Jesus who
kisses Madonna and featured Madonna dancing in front of a field of burning
crosses. Her music video of “Justify my Love” in the early 90’s was so
controversial that MTV banned the music video from the lineup. Perhaps the most
controversial genre of music videos currently are the rap and hip-hop music
videos, which typically feature scantily clad women, sexual situations,
violence, and drugs. It seems as though musicians are constantly competing for
the most extreme of music videos, whether it is sexual content, special effects,
obscurity or violence there are always music videos who push the envelope just a
little bit further.

John Fair is a noted producer and author. He resides in the United States and contributes to www.CampusRights.net

The best of the best I have ever watched
Watching DVDs is one of my most favorite past times. It relieves my stress, brings me to a lighter mood and can even ease the problems I have. Three of the best stories from the past that really catch my attention and even touch my heart are The Six Million Dollar Man, Married with Children and Voltron the Defender of the Universe. These three have different themes, each of this DVDs have its own original stories that could give impact to your lives and make you learn things, no matter how simple or complex it may seem. The Six Million Dollar Man DVD focuses on the story of Colonel Steve Austin. As he was testing an aircraft, he crashes and got badly injured. He is an astronaut and test pilot. OSI, a covert government agency is willing to help him and pay for all the expenses for his prosthetics. He lost his legs, eye and arm. The new prosthetics which is made of Bionics will make him faster, better and stronger. But in return OSI want him to become their cover agent. Married with Children focuses on the life of Al Bundy who is a former High school player, who is now a salesman. Peggy his wife always terrified and nag him. They have two children namely Kelly who is gorgeous and attractive and Bud their son who is not so popular but indeed very smart. Voltron the Defender of the Universe focuses on the legend of Voltron. He was a mighty robot, who is loved by good and feared by evil. Peace invaded the galaxy and as well as the planet earth. An alliance was formed at Earth, The Galaxy Alliance. You can get original copies of these DVDs and other stories from the past at TvDvdPlanet. In addition, you can expect high quality products from them with a 100% guarantee. Affordable prices of these DVDs await you.

Donna Dyan Dayrit is a member of Search Engine Optimization (SEO) Specialists for TvDvdPlanet www.tvdvdplanet.com

Curb The TV Habit In 3 Easy Steps
So you're not quite ready to throw the TV away, but you're limiting the time spent viewing television in your home? Here are some easy tips that have worked for me.

1) Identify when and why you watch and change your habits

Do you usually turn the tube on when you get home from work? Why? Do you turn it on in the late afternoon when the kids get home? Why?

Sometimes the TV goes on when we're tired or bored. If you're tired, you either need to: get more sleep or get more exercise. So instead of automatically flipping on the television, why not go for a 10 minute walk to refresh yourself? Or, take a nap!

If you're turning on the TV to "zone out" and decompress after a busy day, try developing a new, healthier habit.

Some examples:

Brew a nice cup of hot tea and drink it slowly.
Write in a journal.
Put your feet up on the couch and listen to music.
Do crossword puzzles (a recent study showed that people who do crosswords on a regular basis are less likely to get Alzheimer's disease.)

2) Make TV watching inconvenient.

A TV does not belong in the bedroom! Keeping one there is bad for a marriage and bad for your love life! It also contributes to insomnia. Put the television in an inconvenient place like the basement. Unplug it. Cover it with a blanket.

3) Give up cable.

I decided a long time ago that I would never have cable. I can think of about a thousand other ways to spend $50 a month (Starbucks, anyone?) plus my husband would probably spend all his time watching the Discovery channel instead of talking to me!

If you live in a semi-rural area, you might not even get any channels if you cancel your cable service. But that would be a good thing if you're trying to limit TV! You can use the TV as a "movie machine" and rent DVDs so that you can at least control the content better.

Here's to turning off the TV and turning on life!

InsteadofTV.com is a valuable resource for families wanting to kick the TV habit. Sign up for your free "101 Things To Do Instead of TV" at www.InsteadofTV.com

Watching TV Has Never Been More Fun
Have you ever found yourself yelling at the TV after your team just made a boneheaded play and realize there is no one else to share your pain? Or, overcome with emotion when your favorite character died on the O.C., Lost, or 24 and realize there’s not another soul in the room that cares? Have you ever been so engrossed in a show that you would have given anything to be able to interact with the producers, writers, or even the actors? For the past 70 years, television has primarily been an anti-social, one-way device, without an outlet for social interactivity. Well, now that’s changed. Meet BuddyTV.

As more and more people get broadband Internet connections and put computers in their TV rooms (or laptops on their, well, laps) the notion of television as a one-way street is no longer reasonable. While you watch your favorite show, celebrities, experts, friends, family or (possibly) mortal enemies may be providing live commentary at BuddyTV. Everything imaginable is available; live video, live audio, live text, and interactive polls are all part of the BuddyTV experience. In fact, you can broadcast your own, private, live commentary to all your friends and neighbors. The television experience is now a communal one, where people can interact and socialize with both their friends and celebrities.

Television is never going away and it still draws enormous worldwide audiences; the most popular shows in the US drive over 30MM viewers per show. As the world becomes smaller and the global community continues to effortlessly reach across borders and oceans, television must adapt and become a community hub whose programming brings people closer together. It is happening today and it’s exciting, with BuddyTV leading the charge. Watching TV has never been more fun and exciting. Try BuddyTV out and ask youself this: Is this the next evolution of TV?

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