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Lost (season 4)
Encyclopedia
The fourth season of the American serial drama
television series
Lost
(also known previously as Lost: The Return)
commenced airing on the American Broadcasting Company
Network in the United States, and on CTV
in Canada on January 31, 2008 and concluded on May 29, 2008. The season continues the stories of a group of over 40 people who have been stranded on a remote island in the South Pacific, after their airplane crashed there more than 90 days prior to the beginning of the season. According to Lost executive producers/writers/show runner
s Damon Lindelof
and Carlton Cuse
, there are two main themes in fourth season: "the castaways' relationship to the freighter folk" and "who gets off the island and the fact that they need to get back". Lost came under scrutiny from critics in its third season, but the fourth season was hailed for its flashforwards, pace and new characters.
The season was originally planned to contain 16 episodes; eight were filmed before the start of the 2007–2008 Writers Guild of America strike
. Following the strike's resolution, it was announced that only five more episodes would be produced to complete the season; however, the season finale's script was so long that network executives approved the production of a 14th episode as part of a three-hour season finale split over two nights. The fourth season aired Tuesdays at 9:00 from January 31 to March 20 and at 10:00 from April 24 to May 15. The two-hour finale aired at 9:00 on May 29. Buena Vista Home Entertainment released the season on DVD
and Blu-ray Disc
under the title Lost: The Complete Fourth Season – The Expanded Experience on December 9, 2008 in Region 1
; however, it was released earlier—on October 20, 2008—in Region 2.
and Grass Skirt Productions. Damon Lindelof and Carlton Cuse served as the season's show runners. The show was primarily filmed in Hawaii with post-production
in Los Angeles. Lindelof and Cuse's fellow executive producers were co-creator J. J. Abrams
, Bryan Burk
and Jack Bender
. The staff writers were Lindelof, Cuse, co-executive producers Edward Kitsis
, Adam Horowitz, and Drew Goddard
, supervising producer Elizabeth Sarnoff
, co-producer Brian K. Vaughan
and executive story editor Christina M. Kim
. The regular directors were Bender and co-executive producer Stephen Williams
.
. The show continues to chronicle the lives of the survivors of the crash of Oceanic Airlines
Flight 815, including their interactions with the island's original inhabitants, whom they refer to as "the Others", and an inauspicious team from a nearby freighter
. Matthew Fox
stars as Dr. Jack Shephard
, the leader of the castaways. Jorge Garcia
plays unlucky millionaire and mentally unstable Hugo "Hurley" Reyes, one of Jack's fellow survivors of 815. Elizabeth Mitchell
portrays fertility specialist Juliet Burke
, a woman recruited by the Others who joins the 815 survivors in the third season and becomes involved in a love square with Jack, Kate and Sawyer. Evangeline Lilly
stars as fugitive Kate Austen
. Jeremy Davies
plays Daniel Faraday
, a socially awkward physicist from the freighter. Terry O'Quinn
plays John Locke
, an 815 survivor with a deep connection to the island
. Josh Holloway
portrays the sardonic 815 survivor James "Sawyer" Ford. Naveen Andrews
acts as 815 survivor Sayid Jarrah
, a former soldier of the Iraqi Republican Guard
. Emilie de Ravin
portrays single new mother Claire Littleton
of Flight 815. Michael Emerson
acts as Ben Linus, the leader of the Others. Rebecca Mader
acts as anthropologist Charlotte Lewis
from the freighter. Daniel Dae Kim plays the non-English speaking Jin Kwon
and Yunjin Kim plays his pregnant wife Sun. Henry Ian Cusick
plays Desmond Hume
, a man who has been living on the island for three years and who has developed the ability to time travel, though this is beyond his control. Ken Leung
portrays Miles Straume
, an arrogant medium
from the freighter. Harold Perrineau acts as Flight 815 survivor Michael Dawson
, who returns aboard the freighter undercover for Ben as a deckhand, after escaping the island in Season 2.
The show regularly features guest stars. Jeff Fahey
plays the freighter's helicopter pilot Frank Lapidus
, while Kevin Durand
acts as Martin Keamy
, the sinister leader of a group of mercenaries
from the freighter that included Anthony Azizi
's character Omar. L. Scott Caldwell
and Sam Anderson
return as 815 married couple Rose Henderson and Bernard Nadler. John Terry
appears as Jack and Claire's deceased father Christian Shephard
. Marsha Thomason
returns as Naomi Dorrit, the first person from the freighter to appear on the island and Marc Vann
plays Ray, the ship's doctor. Alan Dale
acts as Charles Widmore
, the man responsible for sending the freighter to the island. Mira Furlan
portrays Danielle Rousseau
, a marooned island inhabitant of sixteen years, who is reunited with her sixteen-year old daughter, Alex
, played by Tania Raymonde
; Blake Bashoff
plays Alex's boyfriend Karl. Nestor Carbonell
is Richard Alpert
, the ranking Other while Ben is held in captivity. Grant Bowler
acts as Gault, the captain of the freighter, Kahana. Fisher Stevens
and Zoë Bell
play George Minkowski and Regina, two crew members involved with communications. Lance Reddick
's character Matthew Abaddon is introduced as a mysterious man with connections to Naomi, Hurley and Locke.
Former regular cast members return for guest spots. Malcolm David Kelley
reprises the role of Walt Lloyd
, Michael's son, in both flashbacks and flashforwards. Dominic Monaghan
and Cynthia Watros
appear in hallucinations as deceased survivors Charlie Pace
and Libby
.
named Lost the seventh best television series of 2008 and praised the fourth season for "complicat[ing] [Lost] time-and-space-travel story deliciously". Don Williams of BuddyTV
dubbed "The Beginning of the End" "the most anticipated season premiere of the year" and Michael Ausiello
later called the final hour of Lost fourth season "the most anticipated 60 minutes of television all year." American critics were sent screener DVDs of "The Beginning of the End" and "Confirmed Dead" on January 28, 2008. Metacritic
gave the season a Metascore—a weighted average based on the impressions of a select twelve critical reviews—of 87, earning the second highest Metascore in the 2007–2008 television season
after the fifth and final season
of HBO's The Wire
. In a survey conducted by TVWeek
of professional critics, Lost was voted the best show on television in the first half of 2008 "by a wide margin", apparently "crack[ing] the top five on nearly every critic's submission" and receiving "nothing but praise". The May 7, 2007 announcement of a 2010 series end date and the introduction of flashforwards were received favorably by critics, as were the season's new characters. The season earned Lost two Television Critics Association
Award nominations for "Program of the Year" and "Outstanding Achievement in Drama", although it lost to AMC
's Mad Men
. The season has been nominated for a 2008
Writers Guild of America Award
in the category of Dramatic Series.
Throughout the fourth season, Lost continued to slip in the ratings. The season premiered with 18 million American viewers, giving Lost its highest ratings in 17 episodes; however, the size of the audience steadily decreased throughout the season. The eighth episode, which served as the mid-season finale as a result of the writers' strike, brought in 13 million, setting a new series low. The next episode and midseason premiere climbed slightly to 14 million, but the episode after that set the current record for lowest-rated episode in the United States with 13 million people watching. The finale was seen by 14 million, reaching the most viewers since the midseason premiere and making it Lost worst finale yet, ratings-wise. Despite the decline in viewers, Lost consistently ranked within the top 20 programs of the week with one exception. The finale topped the chart, due to its broadcast being over a week after the official end of the television season. ABC Entertainment president Stephen McPherson commented that while he would "love to see the show grow … the reality is that the numbers are pretty good."
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Serial (radio and television)
Serials are series of television programs and radio programs that rely on a continuing plot that unfolds in a sequential episode by episode fashion. Serials typically follow main story arcs that span entire television seasons or even the full run of the series, which distinguishes them from...
television series
Television program
A television program , also called television show, is a segment of content which is intended to be broadcast on television. It may be a one-time production or part of a periodically recurring series...
Lost
Lost (TV series)
Lost is an American television series that originally aired on ABC from September 22, 2004 to May 23, 2010, consisting of six seasons. Lost is a drama series that follows the survivors of the crash of a commercial passenger jet flying between Sydney and Los Angeles, on a mysterious tropical island...
(also known previously as Lost: The Return)
commenced airing on the American Broadcasting Company
American Broadcasting Company
The American Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network. Created in 1943 from the former NBC Blue radio network, ABC is owned by The Walt Disney Company and is part of Disney-ABC Television Group. Its first broadcast on television was in 1948...
Network in the United States, and on CTV
CTV television network
CTV Television Network is a Canadian English language television network and is owned by Bell Media. It is Canada's largest privately-owned network, and has consistently placed as Canada's top-rated network in total viewers and in key demographics since 2002, after several years trailing the rival...
in Canada on January 31, 2008 and concluded on May 29, 2008. The season continues the stories of a group of over 40 people who have been stranded on a remote island in the South Pacific, after their airplane crashed there more than 90 days prior to the beginning of the season. According to Lost executive producers/writers/show runner
Show runner
Showrunner is a term of art originating in the United States and Canadian television industry referring to the person who is responsible for the day-to-day operation of a television seriesalthough such persons generally are credited as an executive producer...
s Damon Lindelof
Damon Lindelof
Damon Laurence Lindelof is an American television writer and executive, most recently noted as the co-creator and executive producer for the television series Lost. He has written for and produced Crossing Jordan, and wrote for Nash Bridges, Wasteland, and the MTV anthology series Undressed...
and Carlton Cuse
Carlton Cuse
Carlton Cuse is an AmericanEmmy Award winning screenwriter and producer, most famous as executive producer andscreenwriter for the American television series Lost for...
, there are two main themes in fourth season: "the castaways' relationship to the freighter folk" and "who gets off the island and the fact that they need to get back". Lost came under scrutiny from critics in its third season, but the fourth season was hailed for its flashforwards, pace and new characters.
The season was originally planned to contain 16 episodes; eight were filmed before the start of the 2007–2008 Writers Guild of America strike
2007–2008 Writers Guild of America strike
The 2007–2008 Writers Guild of America strike, more commonly referred to as simply the Writers' Strike, was a strike by the Writers Guild of America, East and the Writers Guild of America, West ....
. Following the strike's resolution, it was announced that only five more episodes would be produced to complete the season; however, the season finale's script was so long that network executives approved the production of a 14th episode as part of a three-hour season finale split over two nights. The fourth season aired Tuesdays at 9:00 from January 31 to March 20 and at 10:00 from April 24 to May 15. The two-hour finale aired at 9:00 on May 29. Buena Vista Home Entertainment released the season on DVD
DVD
A DVD is an optical disc storage media format, invented and developed by Philips, Sony, Toshiba, and Panasonic in 1995. DVDs offer higher storage capacity than Compact Discs while having the same dimensions....
and Blu-ray Disc
Blu-ray Disc
Blu-ray Disc is an optical disc storage medium designed to supersede the DVD format. The plastic disc is 120 mm in diameter and 1.2 mm thick, the same size as DVDs and CDs. Blu-ray Discs contain 25 GB per layer, with dual layer discs being the norm for feature-length video discs...
under the title Lost: The Complete Fourth Season – The Expanded Experience on December 9, 2008 in Region 1
DVD region code
DVD region codes are a digital-rights management technique designed to allow film distributors to control aspects of a release, including content, release date, and price, according to the region...
; however, it was released earlier—on October 20, 2008—in Region 2.
Crew
The fourth season was produced by ABC Studios, Bad Robot ProductionsBad Robot Productions
Bad Robot Productions is an American film and television production company owned by J. J. Abrams. It is responsible for the television series Alias, Lost, What About Brian, Fringe, Six Degrees, Undercovers, Person of Interest and the feature length films Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol , ...
and Grass Skirt Productions. Damon Lindelof and Carlton Cuse served as the season's show runners. The show was primarily filmed in Hawaii with post-production
Post-production
Post-production is part of filmmaking and the video production process. It occurs in the making of motion pictures, television programs, radio programs, advertising, audio recordings, photography, and digital art...
in Los Angeles. Lindelof and Cuse's fellow executive producers were co-creator J. J. Abrams
J. J. Abrams
Jeffrey Jacob "J. J." Abrams is an American film and television producer, screenwriter, director, actor, and composer. He wrote and produced feature films before co-creating the television series Felicity...
, Bryan Burk
Bryan Burk
Bryan Burk is an American film and television producer, as well as an occasional screenwriter.A graduate of USC's School of Cinema-Television, Bryan Burk began his career working with producers Brad Weston at Columbia Pictures, Ned Tanen at Sony Pictures and John Davis at FOX...
and Jack Bender
Jack Bender
Jack Bender is an American television and film director, actor, television producer and also a screenwriter. Bender was an executive producer and lead director on the ABC television series, Lost. He directed the series finale of Lost. Bender has also directed on other popular shows such as The...
. The staff writers were Lindelof, Cuse, co-executive producers Edward Kitsis
Edward Kitsis
Edward Lawrence Kitsis, also sometimes credited as Eddy Kitsis, is an American screenwriter and producer, best known for his work on the popular American television series, Lost and Once Upon a Time.-Life and career:...
, Adam Horowitz, and Drew Goddard
Drew Goddard
Drew Goddard is an American film and television screenwriter and producer best known for his collaborations with Joss Whedon and J.J. Abrams .Goddard joined the crew of Lost as a freelance writer for the first season in 2004...
, supervising producer Elizabeth Sarnoff
Elizabeth Sarnoff
Elizabeth "Liz" Sarnoff is an American television writer and producer. She has written episodes of NYPD Blue, Crossing Jordan, Deadwood and Lost.-Career:...
, co-producer Brian K. Vaughan
Brian K. Vaughan
Brian Keller Vaughan is an American comic book and television writer. He is best known for the comic book series Y: The Last Man, Ex Machina, Runaways, and Pride of Baghdad, and was one of the principal writers of the television series Lost, during seasons three through five...
and executive story editor Christina M. Kim
Christina M. Kim
Christina M. Kim is an American television writer. In the 2005-06 television season, she joined the writing staff of Lost for the series second season. The staff won the Writers Guild of America Award for Best Dramatic Series at the February 2006 ceremony for their work on the second season. She...
. The regular directors were Bender and co-executive producer Stephen Williams
Stephen Williams (director)
Stephen Williams is a Canadian film and television director. Williams has directed several modern day television programs including work as a regular director on the ABC drama series Lost, where he was also a co-executive producer...
.
Cast
The fourth season featured 16 major roles with star billingBilling (film)
Billing is a performing arts term used in referring to the order and other aspects of how credits are presented for plays, films, television, or other creative works...
. The show continues to chronicle the lives of the survivors of the crash of Oceanic Airlines
Oceanic Airlines
Oceanic Airlines and less frequently Oceanic Airways are fictional airlines used in several films and television programs.The most famous use of this brand is in the TV show Lost, where Oceanic Airlines is featured branded with a highly-stylized logo depicting an Aboriginal dot painting that...
Flight 815, including their interactions with the island's original inhabitants, whom they refer to as "the Others", and an inauspicious team from a nearby freighter
Cargo ship
A cargo ship or freighter is any sort of ship or vessel that carries cargo, goods, and materials from one port to another. Thousands of cargo carriers ply the world's seas and oceans each year; they handle the bulk of international trade...
. Matthew Fox
Matthew Fox (actor)
Matthew Chandler Fox is an American actor. He is mostly known for his role as Charlie Salinger on Party of Five, and for portraying Jack Shephard on the supernatural drama television series Lost.- Early life :...
stars as Dr. Jack Shephard
Jack Shephard
Dr. Jack Shephard is a fictional character and protagonist of the ABC television series Lost played by Matthew Fox. Lost follows the journey of the survivors of Oceanic Airlines flight 815 on a mysterious island and their attempts to survive and escape, slowly uncovering more of the much broader...
, the leader of the castaways. Jorge Garcia
Jorge Garcia
Jorge García is a U.S. actor and comedian. He first came to public attention with his performance as Hector Lopez on the television show Becker and later for his portrayal of Hugo "Hurley" Reyes in the television series Lost. Garcia also performs as a stand-up comedian.-Early life:García was born...
plays unlucky millionaire and mentally unstable Hugo "Hurley" Reyes, one of Jack's fellow survivors of 815. Elizabeth Mitchell
Elizabeth Mitchell
Elizabeth Mitchell , is an American actress/modelwho is known for her roles as Dr. Juliet Burke on ABC's TV series Lost and as FBI agent Erica Evans on V. She has starred in such films as The Santa Clause 2, The Santa Clause 3: The Escape Clause, and Gia.-Early life:Mitchell was born Elizabeth...
portrays fertility specialist Juliet Burke
Juliet Burke
Dr. Juliet Burke is a fictional character on the ABC television series Lost played by Elizabeth Mitchell. Her character was introduced in the third season premiere.- Prior to arrival on the island :...
, a woman recruited by the Others who joins the 815 survivors in the third season and becomes involved in a love square with Jack, Kate and Sawyer. Evangeline Lilly
Evangeline Lilly
Evangeline Lilly is a Canadian actress, best known for her role as Kate Austen in the ABC drama, Lost.-Early life:...
stars as fugitive Kate Austen
Kate Austen
Katherine Anne "Kate" Austen is a fictional character on the ABC television series Lost, played by Canadian actress Evangeline Lilly. She is the de facto female lead...
. Jeremy Davies
Jeremy Davies
Father Jeremy Davies , an English Roman Catholic priest whose parish is based around Old Hall Green, is a former doctor and also a leading exorcist....
plays Daniel Faraday
Daniel Faraday
Dr. Daniel Faraday, often referred to as Dan or simply by his surname, Faraday, is a fictional character on the ABC television series Lost played by Jeremy Davies. Faraday is introduced in the season four premiere as a physicist, suffering from memory loss, and is part of the team aboard the ...
, a socially awkward physicist from the freighter. Terry O'Quinn
Terry O'Quinn
Terry O'Quinn is an American actor, most famous for playing John Locke on the TV series Lost. He made his debut in a 1980 television movie called F.D.R.: The Last Year. Since then, O'Quinn has had minor supporting roles in films and TV movies such as Young Guns, All the Right Moves, Silver Bullet,...
plays John Locke
John Locke (Lost)
John Locke is a fictional character played by Terry O'Quinn on the ABC television series Lost. He is named after English philosopher John Locke...
, an 815 survivor with a deep connection to the island
Mythology of Lost
The television show Lost includes a number of mysterious elements that have been ascribed to science fiction or supernatural phenomena, usually concerning coincidences, synchronicity, déjà vu, temporal and spatial anomalies, paradoxes, and other puzzling phenomena...
. Josh Holloway
Josh Holloway
Joshua Lee "Josh" Holloway is an American actor and model from Free Home, Georgia. He is best known for his role as James "Sawyer" Ford on the American television show Lost.-Early life:...
portrays the sardonic 815 survivor James "Sawyer" Ford. Naveen Andrews
Naveen Andrews
Naveen William Sidney Andrews is a British American actor. He is best known for portraying Kip in the movie The English Patient and Sayid Jarrah on the American television series Lost.-Early life:...
acts as 815 survivor Sayid Jarrah
Sayid Jarrah
Sayid Hassan Jarrah is a character from the ABC show Lost portrayed by Naveen Andrews.-Season 1:Sayid fixes the transceiver recovered from the cockpit, and leads a group into the jungle in order to send out a distress signal. Instead, he picks up a looping message . He tries to locate the...
, a former soldier of the Iraqi Republican Guard
Iraqi Republican Guard
The Iraqi Republican Guard was a branch of the Iraqi military during the presidency of Saddam Hussein. It later became the Republican Guard Corps, and then the Republican Guard Forces Command with its expansion into two corps....
. Emilie de Ravin
Emilie de Ravin
Emilie de Ravin born 27 December 1981)is an Australian actress. She is commonly associated with her roles as Tess Harding on Roswell and Claire Littleton on the ABC drama Lost....
portrays single new mother Claire Littleton
Claire Littleton
Claire Littleton is a fictional character played by Emilie de Ravin on the ABC drama television series Lost, which chronicles the lives of the survivors of a plane crash in the South Pacific. Claire is introduced in the pilot episode as a pregnant crash survivor. She is a series regular until her...
of Flight 815. Michael Emerson
Michael Emerson
Michael Emerson is an American actor who is perhaps best known for his roles as Benjamin Linus on Lost and fictional serial killer William Hinks in The Practice.-Early life:...
acts as Ben Linus, the leader of the Others. Rebecca Mader
Rebecca Mader
Rebecca Leigh Mader is an English actress. She is known for her roles as Morgan Gordon on All My Children and Charlotte Lewis on Lost.-Career:...
acts as anthropologist Charlotte Lewis
Charlotte Lewis (Lost)
Dr. Charlotte Staples Lewis is a fictional character on the American Broadcasting Company television series Lost, played by Rebecca Mader. Charlotte is introduced in the second episode of season four and is a cultural anthropologist on a mission to the island where Oceanic Flight 815 crashed...
from the freighter. Daniel Dae Kim plays the non-English speaking Jin Kwon
Jin-Soo Kwon
Jin-Soo Kwon, better known as "Jin," is a fictional character on the ABC television series Lost played by Daniel Dae Kim.- Prior to the crash :...
and Yunjin Kim plays his pregnant wife Sun. Henry Ian Cusick
Henry Ian Cusick
Henry Ian Cusick is a Scottish-Peruvian actor of stage, television, and film. He is well-known for his role as Desmond Hume on the United States television series Lost, for which he received a Primetime Emmy Award nomination....
plays Desmond Hume
Desmond Hume
Desmond David Hume is a fictional character on the ABC television series Lost portrayed by Henry Ian Cusick. Desmond's name is a tribute to David Hume, the famous empiricist author and philosopher. Desmond was not a passenger of Flight 815. He had been stranded on the island three years prior to...
, a man who has been living on the island for three years and who has developed the ability to time travel, though this is beyond his control. Ken Leung
Ken Leung
Kenneth "Ken" Leung is an American actor best known for his role as Miles Straume in the ABC television series Lost and roles in such films as Shanghai Kiss, Rush Hour, X-Men: The Last Stand, and Saw.-Early life:...
portrays Miles Straume
Miles Straume
Miles Straume is a fictional character played by Ken Leung on the ABC television series Lost. Miles is introduced early in the fourth season as a hotheaded and sarcastic medium as a crew member aboard the freighter called the Kahana that is offshore the island where most of Lost takes place...
, an arrogant medium
Mediumship
Mediumship is described as a form of communication with spirits. It is a practice in religious beliefs such as Spiritualism, Spiritism, Espiritismo, Candomblé, Voodoo and Umbanda.- Concept :...
from the freighter. Harold Perrineau acts as Flight 815 survivor Michael Dawson
Michael Dawson (Lost)
Michael Dawson is a fictional character played by Harold Perrineau on the ABC television series Lost. After losing a custody battle with Susan Lloyd , Michael does not see his son Walt for almost ten years. They reunite when she dies, but on their journey home, their plane crashes on a mysterious...
, who returns aboard the freighter undercover for Ben as a deckhand, after escaping the island in Season 2.
The show regularly features guest stars. Jeff Fahey
Jeff Fahey
Jeffrey David "Jeff" Fahey is an American film and television actor. He has portrayed Captain Frank Lapidus on the ABC series Lost and the title role of Deputy Marshal Winston MacBride on The Marshal.-Early life:...
plays the freighter's helicopter pilot Frank Lapidus
Frank Lapidus
Frank J. Lapidus is a fictional character on the ABC television series Lost played by Jeff Fahey. Frank is introduced in the second episode of season four as a pilot hired on a mission to the island where Oceanic Flight 815 crashed. He aids the survivors of the crash against mercenary Martin Keamy ...
, while Kevin Durand
Kevin Durand
Kevin Serge Durand is a Canadian actor known for his roles as Joshua in Dark Angel, Martin Keamy in Lost, Fred J. Dukes in X-Men Origins: Wolverine, the Archangel Gabriel in Legion, and Little John in Robin Hood....
acts as Martin Keamy
Martin Keamy
First Sergeant Martin Christopher Keamy is a recurring fictional character played by Kevin Durand in the fourth season and sixth season of the American ABC television series Lost. Keamy is introduced in the fifth episode of the fourth season as a crew member aboard the freighter called the Kahana...
, the sinister leader of a group of mercenaries
Mercenary
A mercenary, is a person who takes part in an armed conflict based on the promise of material compensation rather than having a direct interest in, or a legal obligation to, the conflict itself. A non-conscript professional member of a regular army is not considered to be a mercenary although he...
from the freighter that included Anthony Azizi
Anthony Azizi
Anthony Azizi is an American television actor.Born in New York City of Iranian descent, Azizi is mainly known for his television work. He has had recurring roles on 24 as terrorist Mamud Faheen , on 24 as Rafique and on Commander in Chief as presidential aide Vince Taylor...
's character Omar. L. Scott Caldwell
L. Scott Caldwell
Laverne Scott Caldwell is an American actress known for her role as Rose on Lost.This Chicago native started her career in 1978 as a member of the famed Negro Ensemble Company, making her Broadway debut two years later in the Tony Award nominated play Home...
and Sam Anderson
Sam Anderson
Sam Anderson is an American actor.-Early life:Anderson was born in Wahpeton, North Dakota. He is a graduate of the University of North Dakota in Grand Forks. During the 1970s, Sam taught drama at Antelope Valley College in Lancaster, California.-Career:Anderson is perhaps best known for his roles...
return as 815 married couple Rose Henderson and Bernard Nadler. John Terry
John Terry (actor)
John Terry is an American film, television, and stage actor.-Early life:Terry was born in Florida, where he attended Vero Beach High School. He was also educated at the prestigious Loomis Chaffee prep school in Windsor, Connecticut, and began a career building original custom log homes in North...
appears as Jack and Claire's deceased father Christian Shephard
Christian Shephard
Dr. Christian Shephard is a fictional character on the ABC television series Lost played by John Terry. He is the father of lead characters Jack Shephard , who becomes the de facto leader of the survivors of Oceanic 815 after it crashes on an island, and Claire Littleton , another of the survivors...
. Marsha Thomason
Marsha Thomason
Marsha Lisa Thomason is an English actress, who is known in the United States for playing Nessa Holt in the first two seasons of the NBC series Las Vegas, for her recurring role on ABC's Lost as Naomi Dorrit, and for playing FBI agent Diana Berrigan on USA Network's White Collar.-Early...
returns as Naomi Dorrit, the first person from the freighter to appear on the island and Marc Vann
Marc Vann
Marc Vann , is an American actor. He is known for his role as Conrad Ecklie in the CBS television series, CSI: Crime Scene Investigation. Although this role as the agitator of Gil Grissom has earned the character the dislike of CSI fans, Vann himself has a small, but growing fanbase...
plays Ray, the ship's doctor. Alan Dale
Alan Dale
Alan Hugh Dale is a New Zealand actor. As a child, Dale developed a love of theatre and also became a rugby player. After retiring from the sport he took on a number of professions to support his family, before deciding to become a professional actor at the age of 27. With work limited in New...
acts as Charles Widmore
Charles Widmore
Charles Widmore is a fictional character on the ABC television series Lost, which chronicles the lives of over forty people after their plane crashes on a remote island somewhere in the south Pacific. He is primarily portrayed as an older man by Alan Dale; Tom Connolly and David S...
, the man responsible for sending the freighter to the island. Mira Furlan
Mira Furlan
Mira Furlan is a Croatian actress and singer currently residing in the United States. She is well known for her roles as the Minbari Ambassador Delenn on all five seasons of the science fiction television series Babylon 5 , and Danielle Rousseau on Lost.-Early life:Furlan was born to an...
portrays Danielle Rousseau
Danielle Rousseau
Danielle Rousseau is a fictional character on the ABC drama television series Lost, which chronicles the lives of over forty people after their plane crashes on a remote island somewhere in the South Pacific. Croatian actress Mira Furlan plays the scientist who shipwrecks on the island sixteen...
, a marooned island inhabitant of sixteen years, who is reunited with her sixteen-year old daughter, Alex
Alex (Lost)
Alexandra "Alex" Linus is a recurring fictional character on the ABC television series Lost played by Tania Raymonde. She was born 16 years prior to the crash of Oceanic Flight 815, but was taken from her mother, Danielle Rousseau by the Others. She was raised among them, believing her mother to...
, played by Tania Raymonde
Tania Raymonde
Tania Raymonde is an American actress. Raymonde's first prominent casting role was the recurring character of Cynthia Sanders in TV series Malcolm in the Middle between 2000–2003, followed by a popular role as Alex Rousseau in ABC's Lost from 2006 to 2010.She can currently be seen as UTF officer...
; Blake Bashoff
Blake Bashoff
Blake Warren Bashoff is an American television and motion picture actor, known for his role as Moritz Stiefel in Spring Awakening. He has also appeared in a number of guest roles on television series, including the ABC series Lost as Karl Martin.- Life and career :Bashoff was born in Philadelphia,...
plays Alex's boyfriend Karl. Nestor Carbonell
Nestor Carbonell
Nestor Gastón Carbonell is an American actor, known for portraying Richard Alpert in ABC's drama Lost and Mayor Anthony Garcia in the film The Dark Knight...
is Richard Alpert
Richard Alpert (Lost)
Ricardo "Richard" Alpert is a fictional character played by Nestor Carbonell in the American ABC television series Lost. Alpert is introduced in a flashback of the character Juliet Burke , where he claims to be a doctor for a bioscience company called Mittelos Bioscience; he is later revealed to...
, the ranking Other while Ben is held in captivity. Grant Bowler
Grant Bowler
Grant Bowler is a New Zealand actor who has worked in American, Australian and New Zealand films and television.He is known for playing the role of Constable Wayne Patterson in Blue Heelers and also appeared as Wilhelmina Slater's love interest Connor Owens in Ugly Betty.In November 2010, he was...
acts as Gault, the captain of the freighter, Kahana. Fisher Stevens
Fisher Stevens
Fisher Stevens is an American actor, director and producer. His most recent successes include the 2010 Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature for his film The Cove and 2008 Independent Spirit Award for Best Documentary Feature for his film Crazy Love...
and Zoë Bell
Zoë Bell
Zoë E. Bell is a stuntwoman and actress from New Zealand. Some of her most notable stunt work includes doubling for Lucy Lawless on Xena: Warrior Princess and for Uma Thurman in Kill Bill. As an actress, she has appeared both on television and in feature films and also starred in the web series...
play George Minkowski and Regina, two crew members involved with communications. Lance Reddick
Lance Reddick
Lance Reddick is an American theater, film and TV actor and musician born in Baltimore, Maryland. He starred in The Wire as Cedric Daniels, appeared in Oz as Detective Johnny Basil and appeared in the fourth and fifth seasons of Lost. He now has a prominent role in Fringe...
's character Matthew Abaddon is introduced as a mysterious man with connections to Naomi, Hurley and Locke.
Former regular cast members return for guest spots. Malcolm David Kelley
Malcolm David Kelley
Malcolm David Kelley is an American teen actor. He starred in the 2004 film You Got Served as "Li'l Saint". He also appears in the television series Lost as the character Walt Lloyd. A regular cast member in the show's first season , he has appeared only occasionally since due to a dramatic...
reprises the role of Walt Lloyd
Walt Lloyd
Walter "Walt" Lloyd is a fictional character portrayed by Malcolm David Kelley in the American ABC television series Lost. The series follows the lives of over forty survivors of the crash of Oceanic Flight 815. Walt is introduced in the pilot episode as one of the survivors aboard the plane, which...
, Michael's son, in both flashbacks and flashforwards. Dominic Monaghan
Dominic Monaghan
Dominic Bernard Patrick Luke Monaghan is an English actor. He has received international attention from playing Merry in Peter Jackson's adaptation of J. R. R. Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings and for his role as Charlie Pace on the television show Lost....
and Cynthia Watros
Cynthia Watros
Cynthia Michele Watros is an American television actress, who also starred in films and on stage. She is known for her roles as Libby on the ABC TV series Lost, Kellie in The Drew Carey Show, Erin in Titus, and Annie Dutton in Guiding Light...
appear in hallucinations as deceased survivors Charlie Pace
Charlie Pace
Charlie Hieronymus Pace is a fictional character on ABC's Lost, a television series chronicling the lives of plane crash survivors on a mysterious tropical island...
and Libby
Libby (Lost)
Libby is a fictional character on the ABC drama television series Lost, which chronicles the lives of over forty people after their plane crashes on a remote island somewhere in the South Pacific. She is played by American actress Cynthia Watros...
.
Reception
TimeTime (magazine)
Time is an American news magazine. A European edition is published from London. Time Europe covers the Middle East, Africa and, since 2003, Latin America. An Asian edition is based in Hong Kong...
named Lost the seventh best television series of 2008 and praised the fourth season for "complicat[ing] [Lost] time-and-space-travel story deliciously". Don Williams of BuddyTV
BuddyTV
BuddyTV is an entertainment-based website based in Seattle, Washington, which generates content about television programs and sporting events. The website publishes information about celebrity and related entertainment news through a series of articles, entertainment profiles, actor biographies and...
dubbed "The Beginning of the End" "the most anticipated season premiere of the year" and Michael Ausiello
Michael Ausiello
Michael Ausiello is an American television industry journalist and actor. He was a Senior Writer at TV Guide and its companion website, TVGuide.com. On May 28, 2008, Ausiello left TV Guide for Entertainment Weekly and posted his first blog for Entertainment Weekly on July 2, 2008...
later called the final hour of Lost fourth season "the most anticipated 60 minutes of television all year." American critics were sent screener DVDs of "The Beginning of the End" and "Confirmed Dead" on January 28, 2008. Metacritic
Metacritic
Metacritic.com is a website that collates reviews of music albums, games, movies, TV shows and DVDs. For each product, a numerical score from each review is obtained and the total is averaged. An excerpt of each review is provided along with a hyperlink to the source. Three colour codes of Green,...
gave the season a Metascore—a weighted average based on the impressions of a select twelve critical reviews—of 87, earning the second highest Metascore in the 2007–2008 television season
2007–08 United States network television schedule
The following article details the developing fall prime time schedules for the United States' six major English language broadcast networks. Following are lists of what programs have been either renewed or canceled by their networks, the new programs picked up by the networks, and then a schedule...
after the fifth and final season
The Wire (season 5)
The fifth season of the television series The Wire commenced airing in the United States on January 6, 2008, and concluded on March 9, 2008; it contained 10 episodes...
of HBO's The Wire
The Wire (TV series)
The Wire is an American television drama series set and produced in and around Baltimore, Maryland. Created and primarily written by author and former police reporter David Simon, the series was broadcast by the premium cable network HBO in the United States...
. In a survey conducted by TVWeek
TVWeek
TVWeek is a weekly local television entertainment news and listings magazine owned by Canada Wide Media Limited. The magazine is generally sold in the Metro Vancouver area, and is generally slanted towards television and entertainment news and listings for the region.TVWeek once competed with the...
of professional critics, Lost was voted the best show on television in the first half of 2008 "by a wide margin", apparently "crack[ing] the top five on nearly every critic's submission" and receiving "nothing but praise". The May 7, 2007 announcement of a 2010 series end date and the introduction of flashforwards were received favorably by critics, as were the season's new characters. The season earned Lost two Television Critics Association
Television Critics Association
The Television Critics Association is a group of approximately 200 United States and Canadian journalists and columnists who cover television programming...
Award nominations for "Program of the Year" and "Outstanding Achievement in Drama", although it lost to AMC
AMC (TV network)
AMC is a cable television specialty channel that primarily airs movies, along with a limited amount of original programming. The letters originally stood for American Movie Classics; however since 2002, the full name has been deemphasized as a result of a major shift in programming...
's Mad Men
Mad Men
Mad Men is an American dramatic television series created and produced by Matthew Weiner. The series premiered on Sunday evenings on the American cable network AMC and are produced by Lionsgate Television. It premiered on July 19, 2007, and completed its fourth season on October 17, 2010. Each...
. The season has been nominated for a 2008
Writers Guild of America Awards 2008
The 61st Writers Guild of America Awards honored the best film, television, and videogame writers of 2008. Winners were announced on February 7, 2009.-Best Adapted Screenplay:...
Writers Guild of America Award
Writers Guild of America Award
The Writers Guild of America Award for outstanding achievements in film, television, and radio has been presented annually by the Writers Guild of America, East and Writers Guild of America, West since 1949...
in the category of Dramatic Series.
Throughout the fourth season, Lost continued to slip in the ratings. The season premiered with 18 million American viewers, giving Lost its highest ratings in 17 episodes; however, the size of the audience steadily decreased throughout the season. The eighth episode, which served as the mid-season finale as a result of the writers' strike, brought in 13 million, setting a new series low. The next episode and midseason premiere climbed slightly to 14 million, but the episode after that set the current record for lowest-rated episode in the United States with 13 million people watching. The finale was seen by 14 million, reaching the most viewers since the midseason premiere and making it Lost worst finale yet, ratings-wise. Despite the decline in viewers, Lost consistently ranked within the top 20 programs of the week with one exception. The finale topped the chart, due to its broadcast being over a week after the official end of the television season. ABC Entertainment president Stephen McPherson commented that while he would "love to see the show grow … the reality is that the numbers are pretty good."
Episodes
The number in the "№" column refers to the episode's number within the overall series, whereas the number in the "#" column refers to the episode's number within this particular season. "Featured character(s)" refers to the character(s) who is centered on in the episode's flashbacks or flashforwards. "U.S. viewers in millions" refers to the number of Americans in millions who watched the episodes live or recorded them and watched them within seven days of broadcast. A clip-show recapping the first three seasons titled "Lost: Past, Present & Future" preceded the premiere.|-style="color:white"
! style="background-color: #3366FF;" | №
! style="background-color: #3366FF;" | #
! style="background-color: #3366FF;" | Title
! style="background-color: #3366FF;" | Directed by
! style="background-color: #3366FF;" | Written by
! style="background-color: #3366FF;" | Featured
character(s)
! style="background-color: #3366FF;" | U.S. viewers
(million)
! style="background-color: #3366FF;" | Original air date
|}
DVD release
| Lost: The Complete Fourth Season - The Expanded Experience | |||||
| Set Details | Special Features | ||||
|
|
||||
| Release Dates | |||||
| |
|||||
| September 24, 2008 | December 9, 2008 | October 29, 2008 | January 21, 2009 | October 20, 2008 | |
External links
- Lost (season 4) at MetacriticMetacriticMetacritic.com is a website that collates reviews of music albums, games, movies, TV shows and DVDs. For each product, a numerical score from each review is obtained and the total is averaged. An excerpt of each review is provided along with a hyperlink to the source. Three colour codes of Green,...