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« Ausiello Report
Exclusive: Lost Execs React to Latest Death!
I can't believe the smoke monster killed Mr. Eko!
Sure, the stick-toting warlord wasn't exactly my favorite character, but he was a fascinating creature, not to mention one of the last remaining survivors of that cursed tail section. Why did Eko have to go? That's a question for Lost boys Damon Lindelof and Carlton Cuse, who addressed Eko's passing — and the exit of his portrayer, Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje — in an interview with yours truly earlier this week.
Ausiello: Another actor leaves Lost just months after he's pulled over in Hawaii for a traffic violation. This is the part where you guys tell me there's absolutely no connection.
Carlton Cuse: We actually work very closely with the Honolulu police department, and they have final script approval.
Damon Lindelof: Look, we feel very strongly about traffic violations, no matter how minor they are. All we can say is that Evangeline Lilly got a parking ticket last week, and she better not count her chickens.
Lindelof: The honest answer is, this story was sailing for months before his brush with the law — which was widely blown up by the press. What actually happened is not anything remotely illegal. (FYI: The charges were later dropped.)
Cuse: When Adewale came on the show, he didn’t want to make a long-term commitment to a series. We love him and so we agreed that he would come on the show and then we would find a time in which his arc would come to an end. And we sort of felt after a lot of conversations with him — most of which took place at the end of the spring last year — that we would finish his character somewhere in [these first] six episodes. And as we started talking about what was going to really help the drama of these six episodes, we thought, "Well, this is the perfect place to do it." As we said, we all kind of went into this [with the idea] that it was only going to be for a limited period of time.
Ausiello: It's no secret that Adewale wasn't the most beloved cast member. Did that play any role in his departure? [FYI: In next week's issue of TV Guide magazine — on sale Nov. 9 — my colleague, Shawna Malcom, reports that, per multiple sources, the 39-year-old actor had become an increasingly difficult presence on set, refusing to film scenes as scripted, insisting on rewrites and even "demanding" several times to be released from his contract.]
Lindelof: We don't really talk about anything other than the creative decisions made on the show. If you’re hearing it from other people, you’re not hearing that from us. Not to mention, we're in L.A. So we would never let that kind of thing determine the creative direction of the show. We’re all in the service of the story.
For more from Damon and Carlton, you may want to check out next Wednesday's 100th Ask Ausiello. Because they may be two of the very special guests I've been alluding to. And in lieu of an expensive gift, they may be giving me some major-ass prattle about the rest of the season. (Tee-hee.)
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Nov 1, 2006 10:11 PM
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Worst death ever. This show is jumping the Dharma shark.
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Nov 1, 2006 10:11 PM
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hmmmm...I was always ambivilant about his character. I don't think I'll really miss him. Honestly my thought during that scene was "So, that's how the Pilot died?".
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Nov 1, 2006 10:13 PM
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So.... Jack is all set to kill of Ben, and the monster pretended to be a dead brother... has this monster pretended to be horses, and sanitariom hallucinations as well?
But, I waited all this time clicking on the Ausiello blog to get a snippet of info....very dissappointing...
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Nov 1, 2006 10:13 PM
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I actually liked this episode. It didn't feel AS much like "Diet Lost", as the past episodes had been. Maybe it was the inclusion of multiple story lines?
I must say, I'm glad that they all but confirmed that the smoke monster is a shape-shifter. I had wondered about that myself for some time now, but there were so many allusions to that tonight, it seems all but inevitable that the same scary smoke monster may very well be UndeadJacksDad, and perhaps even Sawyer's pet hog.
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Nov 1, 2006 10:14 PM
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Thanks for the scoop. I tend to believe that the character was intended to be limited, especially since all of the tailies are effectively being used up and disposed of.
Meanwhile, I'm more interested to know what you thought of the Juliet and Jack scene with the videotape. Fascinating.
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Nov 1, 2006 10:15 PM
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Mike, I love ya, but Tailies are not major characters. I've been getting a lot of bad "teasers" and misleading spoilers. Not just from you. I guess I'm gonna have to stop reading these things all together, I have been disappointed so many times by hyped up teasers that turn out to be lame.
Also now that we know it's not Julie that dies on DH, and most likely not Edie, that means all the spoilers that said this character has been with the show the whole time must be lies?? What's up with all this?
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Nov 1, 2006 10:15 PM
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Talking about jumping the dharma shark has jumped the shark..
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Nov 1, 2006 10:17 PM
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I actually liked the whole epi. Held my interest and was a nice follow up with the smoke monster. Guess that Bernard is next then all the tail-ys will be gone. Bye Eko--you were one of my favorites
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Nov 1, 2006 10:17 PM
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I don't quite get this death. Eko had a standoff with the creature previously and it left him alone. Now it goes all "Pulp Fiction" on him. I thought the character was very intriguing, and will miss him, but why cast people who only want short term roles as the Tailies? This is becoming too pat an answer and I don't think I buy it.
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Nov 1, 2006 10:18 PM
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I really don't know who I am more disappointed in: The Lost execs for creating this hokey death of Mr Eko or your hype about the shocking episode and how astonished you were of who it was! I also do not like the new additions to the cast and really was irked by comments that they made - as if they had been present on the island the entire time. Instead of adding more characters, how about paying more attention to the characters you started with.
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Nov 1, 2006 10:21 PM
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"Jump the Shark" is absolutely meaningless anymore. I don't even think the people who say it even know what the hell they are saying anymore, just that they don't like such and such. Christ, it's becoming more of a cliche that "I was blown away."
I thought this was a fine episode, a great send off for Eko, and strong final performance for Adewele.
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Nov 1, 2006 10:23 PM
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I don't think Michael was misleading anyone. AAA's Eko is, er... was, a major character and he was a series regular.
I just don't see the point of killing off the Tailies. Should Rose hand over that chocolate bar to Bernard now?
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Nov 1, 2006 10:24 PM
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The whole 'smoke slamming Eko against the trees' was a bit unexpected. I kept hoping Eko wasn't the person who was going to die. He was actually one of my favorite characters.
His "spiritual" beliefs, very much like John's and Rose's, and freakish connection to the island, were a much needed balance to the whole ensemble.
I'll definitely miss him and thought there could have been lots more to tell about Mr. Eko.
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Nov 1, 2006 10:26 PM
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TO TJJ50:
Originally, when Eko faced off with the Smokey, he did so without any fear, remorse or regret.
This time, when Eko faced off against Smokey Disguised as Yemi, he did so without fear but he did not repent for his sins. When Smokey-Yemi told Eko he was not speaking to his brother, Eko became agitated. Whe he came upon Smokey, this time he was fearful and started praying. At which point Smokey "killed" him.
This was forshadowed earlier in the episode when Locke & Eko "compared notes" on Smokey: Locke said he saw a bright light, something beautiful. Eko said that he saw "something different." The difference was that Eko was not only not repentent, he was also not fearful, just as Locke wasn't fearful.
This time, after he confronted Smokey-As-Yemi, things were "different."
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Nov 1, 2006 10:28 PM
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