"Lost" The Lie (2009)

Director:

Jack Bender

Writers:

Jeffrey Lieber (creator) and
J.J. Abrams (creator) ...
(more)

TV Series:

"Lost" (2004)

Original Air Date:

21 January 2009 (Season 5, Episode 2)

Genre:

Adventure | Drama | Mystery | Sci-Fi | Thriller

Plot:

While Ben and Jack try to round the Oceanic 6 up, Sayid and Hurley are on the run from the law. Meanwhile, back on the island, the survivors, still skipping through time, come under attack.

Plot Keywords:

Plane Crash | Doctor | Survival | Flashback | South Pacific

Cast

Naveen Andrews	...	Sayid Jarrah
Henry Ian Cusick	...	Desmond Hume
Jeremy Davies	...	Daniel Faraday
Michael Emerson	...	Ben Linus
Matthew Fox	...	Jack Shephard
Jorge Garcia	...	Hugo 'Hurley' Reyes
Josh Holloway	...	James 'Sawyer' Ford
Daniel Dae Kim	...	Jin Kwon (credit only) (also archive footage)
Yunjin Kim	...	Sun Kwon
Ken Leung	...	Miles Straume
Evangeline Lilly	...	Kate Austen
Rebecca Mader	...	Charlotte Lewis
Elizabeth Mitchell	...	Juliet Burke
Terry O'Quinn	...	John Locke
Michelle Rodriguez	...	Ana Lucia Cortez
Sam Anderson	...	Bernard Nadler
L. Scott Caldwell	...	Rose Nadler
Jeff Fahey	...	Frank Lapidus
Lillian Hurst	...	Carmen Reyes
Mary Mara	...	Jill
Cheech Marin	...	David Reyes
Sonya Walger	...	Penelope Widmore
Sean Whalen	...	Neil
Matthew Alan	...	Cunningham
William Blanchette	...	Aaron
Tom Connolly	...	Young Charles Widmore
James Jeremiah	...	Detective
Dana Sorman	...	Darlene
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Todd Bryant	...	Mattingly (uncredited)
Fionnula Flanagan	...	Eloise Hawking (uncredited)
Madison	...	Vincent the Dog (uncredited)

Directed by
Jack Bender

Writing credits
Jeffrey Lieber		(creator) and
J.J. Abrams		(creator) &
Damon Lindelof		(creator)
Edward Kitsis		(written by) &
Adam Horowitz		(written by)

Produced by
J.J. Abrams	....	executive producer
Jack Bender	....	executive producer
Bryan Burk	....	executive producer
Patricia Churchill	....	producer (as Pat Churchill)
Carlton Cuse	....	executive producer
Ra'uf Glasgow	....	producer
Jean Higgins	....	co-executive producer
Adam Horowitz	....	executive producer
Melinda Hsu	....	co-producer (as Melinda Hsu Taylor)
Edward Kitsis	....	executive producer
Amanda Lencioni	....	associate producer
Damon Lindelof	....	executive producer
Greggory Nations	....	co-producer
Noreen O'Toole	....	associate producer
Elizabeth Sarnoff	....	co-executive producer
Richard Peter Schroer	....	co-producer
Samantha Thomas	....	co-producer
Jim Triplett	....	associate producer
Brian K. Vaughan	....	producer
Stephen Williams	....	co-executive producer
Paul Zbyszewski	....	supervising producer

Original Music by
Michael Giacchino

Cinematography by
Edward J. Pei		(director of photography) (as Edward Pei)

Film Editing by
Mark Goldman		(as Mark J. Goldman)

Casting by
April Webster

Production Design by
Jonathan A. Carlson

Art Direction by
Tim Beach

Set Decoration by
Julieann Getman

Costume Design by
Roland Sanchez

Makeup Department
Emily Katz	....	makeup department supervisor
Steve LaPorte	....	makeup department head
Doreen F. Schultz	....	department head hair stylist

Production Management
Patricia Churchill	....	unit production manager (as Pat Churchill)
Mary Courtney	....	production supervisor

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Carla Bowen	....	second assistant director
Richard E. Gershman	....	first assistant director (as Richard Gershman)

Art Department
Robert Scott Kyker	....	property master (as Rob Kyker)
Michael Crowe	....	construction coordinator (uncredited)
Jennings Fowler	....	prop assistant (uncredited)
Craig Hoffmann	....	assistant props (uncredited)
Gary Nakano	....	graphic designer (uncredited)
Jeanina Vasilescu	....	assistant art director (uncredited)

Sound Department
Robert J. Anderson Jr.	....	production sound mixer (as Robert Anderson)
Thomas DeGorter	....	supervising sound editor (as Thomas E. deGorter)
Paula Fairfield	....	sound designer
Paula Fairfield	....	sound effects editor
Ken King	....	production sound mixer: second unit
Frank Morrone	....	re-recording mixer
Carla Murray	....	sound designer
Carla Murray	....	sound effects editor
Scott Weber	....	re-recording mixer
Goeun Lee	....	foley cueing (uncredited)

Special Effects by
Archie Ahuna	....	special effects supervisor (as Archie K. Ahuna)

Visual Effects by
Davy Nethercutt	....	digital compositor
Mitch Suskin	....	visual effects supervisor
Ron Barr	....	Smoke artist: Outback Post (uncredited)
Edward M. Ruiz II	....	visual effects: Eden FX (uncredited)

Stunts
Michael Trisler	....	stunt coordinator
Todd Bryant	....	stunt double (uncredited)
Jayson Dumenigo	....	utility stunts (uncredited)
Kim Robert Koscki	....	stunt double: Burning Frogert (uncredited)
Eric Linden	....	utility stunts (uncredited)
Thom Williams	....	stunt double: Jorge Garcia (uncredited)

Camera and Electrical Department
Mark Kalaugher	....	chief lighting technician (as Mark 'Kiwi' Kalaugher)
Tommy Lohmann	....	camera operator
Michael Rintoul	....	camera operator
Mike Schwake	....	key grip (as Michael Schwake)
Bill Draheim	....	grip (uncredited)

Casting Department
Veronica Collins	....	casting (as Veronica Collins Rooney)
Rachel Sutton	....	casting: Hawaii (as Rachel W. Sutton)

Costume and Wardrobe Department
Anthony J. Scarano	....	costume supervisor (as Anthony Scarano)
Aaron Millsap	....	set costumer (uncredited)

Editorial Department
David Eisenberg	....	assistant editor
Jamie Kaye Wheeler	....	post-production coordinator

Music Department
Alex Levy	....	music editor

Other crew
Elizabeth S. Barton	....	script supervisor (as Elizabeth Barton)
Julie Carlson	....	production staff
Jessica Cole	....	talent coordinator (as Jess Cole)
Brian Evans	....	production staff: first assistant accountant
Gina Hendrick	....	production accountant
Norman Kali	....	production staff
Bob Leatham	....	production staff
William F. Matthews	....	production staff (as William 'Bill' Matthews)
Tony Nagy	....	production staff
Serge Nofield	....	production staff
Concepcion Saucedo	....	production coordinator
Jim Triplett	....	location manager
April Wenger	....	production staff
Cory Bird	....	production staff (uncredited)
Jim Galasso	....	production staff (uncredited)
Christina Garner	....	second assistant accountant (uncredited)
Matt Goldstein	....	stand-in (uncredited)
Matthew Goodwin	....	key set production assistant (uncredited)
Andrea Gruber	....	international publicist (uncredited)
Josie Kavadoy	....	production staff (uncredited)
Brandon King	....	production staff (uncredited)
Rupa Magge	....	production staff (uncredited)
Sonya Masinovsky	....	production staff (uncredited)
Adam Nussdorf	....	production staff (uncredited)
Mike Schaub	....	production staff (uncredited)

Production Companies

• Bad Robot
• ABC Studios

Distributors

• American Broadcasting Company (ABC) (2009) (USA) (TV)
• Canadian Television (CTV) (2009) (Canada) (TV)
• 7 Network (2009) (Australia) (TV)
• AXN (2009) (Hungary) (TV)
• Fox (2009) (Germany) (TV)
• Kabel 1 (2010) (Germany) (TV)
• Net5 (2009) (Netherlands) (TV)

Other Companies

• Digital Vortechs  Avid HD Editing Equipment Provided By
• PostWorks  picture post production (as Postworks Los Angeles)

Runtime:

42 min | Germany:41 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.78 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Certification:

Australia:M | Germany:16 | Netherlands:12 | USA:TV-14

Filming Locations:

O'ahu, Hawaii, USA

Company:

Bad Robot

Trivia:

When Ben stops by the butcher shop to hide John's body, the number that he takes in line is "342." This is another reference to the mythical island "numbers."

Goofs:

Continuity: In the chapel, Ben blows out and puts down the same match twice.

Quotes:

John Locke: James. Juliet. Nice to see ya.

Movie Connections:

References The Godfather (1972)

Soundtrack:

Dream Police

A slower and less complex episode than the one which came before, but certainly not inferior

Although nearly all critics who reviewed the first two episodes of the fifth season of "Lost" disagree with me, I genuinely think "The Lie" was the superior episode out of the two aired tonight. "Because You Left" did what it had to do extremely well, but exposition and setup are two necessary evils and not things which usually turn out too well (although "Lost" has been remarkably good at handling both, with some exceptions of course). "The Lie" settles down a bit (both literally since the island didn't shift in time several times) to continue telling the story and telling it well. Some have said this episode felt more like filler than the first. I disagree. In fact, as far as the overall story goes, "The Lie" probably achieved more progress than "Because You Left" did.

"The Lie" is one of Hurley's best episodes as a character. Every action of his here is somehow related to something we know about him already, but at the same time there is new conviction in him, and a loss of innocence which is both tragic and refreshing. Hurley is still great comic relief, but now his character is more than just that. The shift started in season four, with Hurley's several disturbing and depressing appearances where he was all doom and gloom. He's gotten past that now, and there is something oddly touching about the mixture of the comic relief Hurley and the deeply wounded and hurt Hurley, hurt by his experiences on the island and the lie he has been telling since he got off it. A brilliant mixture of the two was on display when Hurley gave his summary of the events on the island. Very funny and sweet, and also a nice acknowledgement by the writers of how ludicrous this show is on paper, but soon tragedy enters the exact same scene when we realize the gravity of what this means to Hurley as a person (we, as detached viewers, can endlessly debate and laugh about the show's labyrinthine plot, but the repercussions for the characters involved aren't anything to laugh about), and laughter turns into dramatic involvement. A brilliant bit of writing, and some great acting as well.

Although most of the focus is on the Oceanic 6, there was much of interest on the island also, especially the attack on the survivors by an as yet unidentified group. I'm guessing they're related to DHARMA or The Others in some way or the other, but I'm not going to bother theorizing just yet. Charlotte and Daniel's interaction is very interesting, and Miles' behavior is as amusingly jerk-like as ever. It's pretty obvious that this season is going to prominently and heavily feature adventure storytelling, and it's a good sign that they mixed that with strong character writing (especially for Hurley) so early on in the season. Even the scene with AnaLucia, so potentially silly, was good. The episode isn't entirely without its flaws, however, Frogurt's scene goes on for a tad bit too long, and doesn't quite capture the Arzt feeling they were obviously going for there, and Ben's stalking around clad in black and looking mysterious started losing its effect near the end. Glad to see Ms. Hawking back, although honestly the convenient fashion choices made by certain characters (in addition to awkward digital masking of their voices) when the writers are trying to keep you waiting in suspense for some sort of reveal are getting a bit tiresome.

"The Lie", while it had a dark and tragic undertone, and while most of what happened was nothing to laugh about, is one of the funniest episodes of "Lost" to date. Hurley's t-shirt, the concise summary of the show's events thus far (proving once and for all that you can explain "Lost" to the un-initiated in a concise manner, although you'll probably put them off watching it for good as a result), and really much of the dialogue here is absolutely excellent. Edward Kitsis and Adam Horowitz are really slowly turning into two of my favorite writers on TV. It's remarkable how far they've come from their early work, and most notable about much of their work is just how good so much of the dialogue is. Funny, charming, and yet effective in continuing the story and providing some genuine surprises, "The Lie" is perhaps not perfect, but it made for an excellent opening to season five along with "Because You Left", despite being very different to that episode.