Is Evangeline Lily auditioning for fall pilots?

Apparently, Zap2it.com reported that Evangeline Lily was auditioning for fall pilots.

So, no Kate in season 6.

Except, Evangeline Lily isn't audtioning, says her rep.

She's not leaving the show? Kate's not dying?

So says Evangeline Lily: "I am very happy on Lost and have no reason to look anywhere else for a home."

But according to Korbi, who originally reported that Evangeline was auditioning, the network won't confirm or deny anything.

Recaps of 'Jeremy Bentham'

Here's what Doc Jensen had to say.

And E! Online's Watch with Kristin.

Kristin also reports that Malcolm David Kelley (Walt) is interested in returning for Season 6. No plans have been made. But Malcolm, like us, thinks there are some unanswered question about Walt that, well, need answering. (NO SPOILERS HERE)

Here's The Washington Post's recap and the chat.

What did you think of 'The Life and Death of Jeremy Bentham?'

Ben killed Locke! Locke's alive?!?!?!?

What changed for Ben that he went from talking Locke down to strangling him? Was it Jin being alive or the mention of Mrs. Hawking?

WAAAAAAAAAAALLLLLT!

Well, we're now seven episodes into the season.

What did you think of tonight's episode and the season so far?

A little preshow reading

Doc Jensen has once again given us a little reading before we see tonight's epsiode.

He calls it The Keys to Locke.

Jeremy Bentham was a 18th century English ethicist and founding father of legal positivism, which stands in opposition to natural law, which was promoted by...17th century English philosopher John Locke, one of the founding fathers of the so-called Age of Reason. Locke was a deist (i.e., a creator God) who believed that man had certain intrinsic, unalienable rights; his philosophy was capable of integrating science and faith. Bentham said: BWA-HAHAAH! He thought natural law was ''nonsense on stilts.'' Bentham is a very post-God thinker: He believed the only rights a man had were the rights society gave him.
DOC JENSEN ANALYSIS: The castaway formerly known as Locke has chosen a namesake that literally mocks his previous namesake. Last week, Man of Science Jack switched teams: He became a Man of Faith. Is John Locke/Jeremy Bentham about to do a worldview flip-flop himself?

There's video, teases and corrections to last week's column.

Be sure to check out EW's Lost Untangled videos on the first page. They recap last
week's show and talk about the season so far.

Sneak peeks at 5.07: 'Jeremy Bentham'

This week's episode is "The Life and Death of Jeremy Bentham." And just from the title, Losties know it's all about what happens to John Locke after he adjusts the Frozen Donkey Wheel and sends the surviving Strandaways into one more timeflash (which apparently leaves them stuck back in the Dharma Initiative era).

Presumably we'll see how Locke ended up in that coffin. Maybe we'll even find out what happened to his corpse when Ajira 316 passed over the Island last week and the Oceanic 5 were, apparently, timeflashed right out of the airplane.

Of course, this being Lost, one must ask: Is Locke really dead? Ben certainly avoided answering that question when Jack asked. Surely it can't be a coincidence that Locke's face looked more whiskery last week, in the butcher shop's meat locker, than it did at the Hoffs-Drawlar funeral parlor. We're guessing the late Locke's about to join his pal, Dr. Christian Shephard, as a reincarnated inhabitant of Craphole Island.

If you're spoiler-ready, check out the three sneak-peek videos that were released today in advance of the show (airing Wednesday on ABC, 8 p.m. Central).

Recapping 5.06: "316"

Check out Doc Jensen's episode recap, which is called Keeping the Faith. The literary references keep coming. He probably has one of the most in-depth analysis of the show out there.

They're back. Back where they belong. Back where we want them to be. Nearly 21 months after Jack first bellowed ''We have to go back!'', the Oceanic 6 (minus Aaron, and don't ask why, or else Kate won't kiss you) finally undertook the perilous journey back to the place they never should have left — back to The Island, back to their ''mythic estate,'' to borrow a phrase from James Joyce's Ulysses, which last night's episode had the audacity to namedrop. For now, we only know of three who successfully fell to Earth — all the way to The Island's Dharma Initiative past, no less. There's Jack, blinking awake as he did in Lost's very first episode, this time looking not hopelessly lost, but gloriously born again. There's Kate, whose motivations for making the return trip were deliberately kept from us (all the better for a future flashback episode, my dears).

And here's what E! Online's Watch With Kristin had to say: (At the bottom of the page after you click the link, there are a few spoilers. Don't read anything after the notable quotes section, if you prefer to view Lost with virgin eyes.)

• Easter Eggs: (Attention, English professors: Next time you're trying to explain "intertextuality" to your students, just bring up Lost, and they'll get it right quick...)


• Ben was reading James Joyce's Ulysses, which is, of course, a psychedelic Irish novel that had a few Easter Eggs of its own and was based on the ancient myth of Odysseus, a lost sailor who is kept from his love, Penelope, by a series of wildly unbelievable but nonetheless thrilling adventures.


• Commenter Jules tipped us off to a C.S. Lewis nod: "Did anyone notice The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe reference with the Lamppost Station? They came out of the wardrobe at the lamppost, and it was where they knew they could get back to their world."


• Christian Shephard's white shoes/black shoes situation continues the show's flirtation with those constrasting colors.

And The Washington Post has this analysis. (They have a chat at 2 p.m. Central Time. Will post when it ends.)

What did you think of "316?" (aka "We're not going to Guam, are we?)"

What did you think?

What suprised you?

Is Mrs. Hawking good or bad or somewhere in between? Loved when Mrs. Hawking said Ben was "probably" lying?

What did you think of that Jack and Kate kiss? It seemed a little, well, desperate.

Line of the night had to be from the returning Frank Lapidus, who said "We're not going to Guam, are we?"

Think he'll turn up on the island?

A little prep work for viewing 5.06, entitled "316"

I wouldn't exactly call it homework, but this essay by Doc Jensen at Entertainment Weekly provides a bit of insight into what we'll be seeing tonight.

The C.S. Lewis connection continues with parallels being drawn between Lost and The Chronicles of Narnia. Check out this excerpt from the sequel to Chronicles of Narnia, Prince Caspian.

''I felt just the same,'' said Edmund in a breathless voice. ''As if I were being dragged along. A most frightful pulling — ugh! It's beginning again!... All catch hands and keep together! This is magic — I can tell by the feeling. Quick!''

Here's more from the article:

From the book The Magician's Nephew:

In this mythology-revealing installment, the book's child heroes find a pair of matching magical yellow rings in an ancient box from Atlantis. The kids think that the rings give them the power to transport themselves to Narnia — and they do. But the story reveals that the rings belong to Narnia, and because they do, they want to return there.
LINK TO LOST: Thematically, the off-Island castaways are like the rings, wanting/needing to be returned. In ''This Place Is Death,'' Sun received a gold band — Jin's wedding ring — which inspired/compelled her to return to the Island.

THE LAMP-POST
From the books
The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe and The Magician's Nephew (SPOILER ALERT!) One of the most iconic landmarks in Lewis' Narnia saga, the lamp-post is an eternally lit street light located in the enchanted woods of the Lantern Wastes. After Lucy pushes her way through the wardrobe closet that leads into the Lantern Wastes, the lamp-post is the first marker she encounters. It literally lights her way into Narnia.
LINK TO LOST: As you will learn tonight — unless you've already had this spoiled for you in the teaser clip ABC has posted online — ''The Lamp-Post'' is the name of an off-Island Dharma station that the weird science enclave used to find the Island. It is certainly located in an unlikely place — you know it better as the computer lab underneath Ms. Hawking's church.

Sneak peaks for episode 5.06

Check out two clips from Wednesday's show, courtsey of E!Online's Watch with Kristin.

All I will say is that there's kissing.

Recap Lost 5.05: This Place is Death

Here's what Doc Jensen at Entertainment Weekly had to say. He has some pretty intense observations about what it all means and time travel. It's very compelling but you might have to think a bit more than usual as your read.

And E!Online's Watch With Kristin.

Here's what TV Guide and The Washington Post had to say.

Is Jack's dad actually Jacob?

Line of the night, uttered by Christian Shepherd (aka possibly Jacob): "Since when did listening to him get you anywhere worth a damn?" (speaking of Ben)

Thoughts?

So, how did it go?

What did you think of episode Five?

Was it what you expected? What surprised you?

Will Ben ever not get his way?

What do you think about the smoke monster?

Remember, your comments post in real time, so you will be able to respond to each other's thoughts and questions.

Can't wait until tonight for your Lost fix?

Check out these video clips from tonight's episode, courtesy of Watch With Kristin at E!Online.

One clip is Sun-centric and the other is about Jin.

Tonight, Sun finds out Jin's alive. And the smoke monster returns. So does a pregnant Rousseau.

Wonder what Smokey is up to? Killing, no doubt.

Will we find out why the smoke monster sounds mechanical? Kind of like riding a wooden roller coaster.

A bit of Watch With Kristin Lost scoopage

This is taken from Watch with Kristin's most recent chat on E!Online:

Amy in Portland, Ore.: Is Jin really back on Lost?

He really is, and Daniel Dae Kim really is still a series regular. Yay! My source tells me "He's not going anywhere," meaning, off the show. But of course, Jin is going lots of places! He's stuck a good two decades in the past right now with preggo Rousseau. Our East Coast correspondent, Breanne Heldman, met up with DDK at New York's ComicCon (lucky girl) today, and he hinted that the Rousseau storyline would last for a while, saying, "She's around, let's put it that way." And get this. When asked if Jin will learn French, Daniel said slyly, "Who's to say he doesn't already know it?" We get the feeling he may already speak it, so this could be the beginning of une belle amitié (a beautiful friendship!) for young Rousseau and Jin.

Margo in Acton, Mass.: Will Jin and Sun reunite?

"Definitely," a source close to the show tells me. "And it may be sooner than you think." DDK says: "That, I think, you'll be surprised if and when you see it." I'm expecting lots of tears—onscreen and off (i.e. mine).

DapperGirl in Atlanta: Lost!

Lance Reddick (now on Fringe) tells us he's coming back to Lost in the Feb. 25 episode. So get ready for more Matthew Abaddon freakiness!

Max in Syracuse, N.Y.: On Lost, is it just me or does it seem like Charlotte and Daniel knew each other before they got on the Island?

Ding, ding! I think you're on to something. Here's what Rebecca Mader herself told me on their relationship: "They must have a history. Because it's like they just got to this island and all of a sudden they appear to have—he apparently loves her, he's in love with her, which is huge." Hopefully we'll find out about it soon since someone is kicking the bucket this week, and it very well could be Charlotte.

Mary in Miami: Will Charlotte die?

Rebecca Mader told me she's safe for now, but the emphasis was a bit too strong on the "for now" for my liking, and I'm hearing she may have been released from the show at some point to shoot a movie with George Clooney. (Yeah, we shouldn't feel too sorry for her if that's the case, but I personally hope she's sticking around!)

Check out the producers' podcasts

If you’re not listening to producers Damon and Carlton’s podcasts at abc.com, you should be.

They are quite the comedy duo. And sometimes they actually answer a fan question.

Here’s what they said this week in the episode recorded Monday and posted Thursday. Beware minor spoilers.

This week’s episode title was in fact referring to the book, “The Little Prince.”

Rose and Bernard survived the flaming arrow attack. As did Vincent (who is the one character that the producers say will surely live until the series’ end).

Resurrection (remember the vanagram?) is an ongoing theme this season. The hieroglyphs in the donkey wheel cave cannot be literally translated, but they reflect the notion of resurrection.

(thanks to Lost fan Beth for this post)

EW: Why season 5 of Lost is about letting 'its freak flag fly'

Here's a look at Entertainment Weekly's take on Season 5 of Lost and all its wackiness. Season 5 is about, as exec producer Damon Lindelof says:

'' ... the show has gotten to that point where it had to let its freak flag fly. It needed to announce, 'You wanna know what the Island is? You wanna know why these people were brought to the Island? You wanna know what their purpose for being there is? Well, it might be a little weirder than you would've hoped.'''

You totally know you're reading this.

The Little Prince analysis

Great observations in the comments section in the post below this one. (photo at right is from the book,The Little Prince. Read below for explanation)

What do others have to say?

Watch With Kristin at E!Online says the episode was "a veritable museum of Lost awesomeness" and ponders if Jack can be trusted.

Here's what The Washington Post says. The Post also had chat this afternoon to discuss the show. Happens every week at 2 p.m. Central time.

Let's talk about those Sun documents. With the help of DVR pause and the screengrabs, it would appear Sun was having a woman followed. The subject is referred to as "she." The papers also mention a person named Lee Chin, who the subject says committed suicide. And the subject apparently also accuses the tracker -- who calls the subject -- of pretending to be Melissa.

...
The only Melissa we know is John Locke's foster sister.

Doc Jensen at Entertainment Weekly praises the episode for slowing down and letting the characters talk about the weird stuff going on around them. "It was like a long sip from a canteen full of cold water offered by a kind new friend after being lost at sea for who-knows-how-long. And yes, that was a Jin is alive! reference," he says.

He also outlines each flash of the islandsers in case you were confused.

The episode was called ''The Little Prince,'' no doubt named after the novella by Antoine de Saint-Exupery. It's about an alien boy who crashes in the Sahara and meets another castaway, a French pilot, who becomes responsible for the boy's welfare as his health erodes and his angst intensifies with the realization that he was never supposed to leave his magical little meteorite home, his community, and his one true love — his constant. Like the book, last night's Lost doted on themes of friendship, loyalty, sacrifice, community, and commitment. Those values were repeated throughout the night through so many like-minded lines. ''It's about protecting the ones we love.'' ''Are you with me?'' ''I have always been with you.'' ''It's what any friend would do.'' ''This
is all happening because they left. I think it will stop if I can bring them back.'' ''We are responsible for your actions.'' ''This baby is all of us.'' ''It doesn't matter what I want.'' (By contrast, we were made to distrust Ben thanks to a line issued by Sayid that articulates the total opposite of these values: ''The only side he's on is his own.'')
In his book, Saint-Exupery articulates all of these sentiments with one classic line: ''You become responsible for what you tame.'' The word ''tame,'' we are told, simply means ''to create ties.'' For me, last night's Lost was all about the taming thing.

Episode 4: What did you think?

So, what did you think of Epsiode 4, The Little Prince?

Discuss.

If you're here right after the show, stick around.

Your posts appear in real time, so there's a chance to ask and answer questions and respond to theories.

Here's a quick hit recap from Entertainment Weekly. More to come later.

Did you see Ben’s van? The words on the side said “Rainier-Canton.” That’s an anagram for…. reincarnation! Is there hope for corpse Locke to rise
again?

Need a Lost fix? Check out these video sneak peaks from episode 4

Check out these four videos from the upcoming episode, The Little Prince.

Thoughts?

This episode will apparently be Kate-centric.

Are viewers being misdirected about Aaron?

Are the clues that point to Aaron's sinisterness really a miscue meant to distract us?

That's what Doc Jenson at Entertainment Weekly proposes.

Check it out.

Hurley tells Jack that he's been spending his days hanging with Ghost Charlie on the Santa Rosa lawn. He also says Charlie has a message for Jack: ''You're not supposed to raise him.'' We immediately get interpretation from Hurley — ''Do you think he means Aaron?'' Given Jack's intensifying anxiety about becoming a husband to Kate and father to Aaron, we are inclined to bite on Hurley's altogether reasonable analysis — just like perch chomping on bait.
...
Teary-eyed Claire gets in her face and yells: ''Don't bring him back, Kate! Don't you dare bring him back!'' And then Kate wakes up. Yep, it was a nightmare, though clearly, we are supposed to take it seriously as an omen. Again, given the context of both the scenes, it is sensible to assume that Claire is talking about Aaron. Or is she?

Two warnings from two spectral entities about a specific person never referred to by name, only the deliberately unspecified pronoun ''him.'' In both cases, the ''him'' would seem to be Aaron. But what if they were referring to someone else? Look again at the warnings, but ignore the ''he'' and instead note the verbs:

''You're not supposed to RAISE him. Don't BRING HIM BACK, Kate. Don't you dare BRING HIM BACK.''

My theory? Jack isn't being dissuaded from raising children. And Kate isn't being beseeched to keep Aaron away from the Island. No, both of these characters are being told the same thing: They are being warned against resurrecting a dead man.
You're not supposed to raise him ... FROM THE DEAD. Don't you dare bring him back ... TO LIFE.

Perhaps you think I'm nutty. Maybe you think I'm projecting onto the show instead of decoding the show itself. If so, well, what else is new? But if you think I'm onto something — or at least game to entertain this something that I'm onto — you may now be wondering, Okay, If Charlie and Claire were begging Jack and Kate not to facilitate a resurrection, whose resurrection are we talking about?