Blog Cleanup

I'm starting to get excited about LOST again. I'm planning to start rewatching the series on September 22, something I haven't done since 2014. I bought all of the seasons on Blu-ray within the last few years, so that is how I am going to watch the episodes. I don't have any specific plans to do anything on this blog while I rewatch, but I am preparing for that possibility. And one of the first things I did was to clean up the blog. I got rid of most of the posts I made between 2009-2014. Nearly all of them had picture or videos that were no longer available to be displayed, or links that no longer worked. Many posts were about projects the cast and crew of LOST were doing after the show ended, that have either long come out, or never happened. I also shared a lot of links that were promoting other people who weren't me. Also, the bulk of my activity of the blog were from when I was 18-20, so some of the stuff just made me cringe. So I went through and reverted nearly everything to a draft. It's not completely gone, and I might try to see if there is anything I can republish at a later time. But for now, all of my legacy content has been marked as a "Classic Post". Also, I updated the layout of this blog to match other TV blogs I started after this one.

Again, I don't have any specific plans to do anything here during my rewatch. I made plans in 2014, but never ended up doing anything, so I'm not going to make the same mistake twice. Not that I have any readers to make promises to. At this point I'm just running this blog for me.

How many episode in the entire series of LOST?

It seems like a question that should have a simple answer. But with LOST, there are never any simple answers. I want to start a full series binge soon, and I'm trying to figure out about when it will end based on if I start my rewatch on September 22 and watch one episode a day.

When LOST was broadcast, the Season 1 finale "Exodus (Part 2)", the Season 2 finale "Live Together, Die Alone", the Season 4 finale "There's No Place Like Home (Part 2)", the Season 5 finale "The Incident", and the Season 6 premiere "LA X" were all broadcast as two hour episodes. The DVDs replicate this and include the episodes as full double-length episodes.

On streaming services like Hulu or Freevee, the Season 1 finale is split into Part 2 and Part 3, the Season 2 finale is split into Part 1 and Part 2, the Season 4 finale is split into Part 2 and Part 3, the Season 5 finale is split into Part 1 and Part 2, and the Season 6 premiere is split into Part 1 and Part 2. Splitting the episodes is better for binging, but does not replicate the original broadcast experience.

Now this is where it gets weird. I recently bought the Blu-rays of each season, and that is how I am going to be doing my rewatch. I assumed that they'd be the same as the DVDs, but I decided to check, and it's a good thing I did. Seasons 3-6 were released alongside their DVD counterparts, so the episodes are the same. Seasons 1 and 2 were released on Blu-ray four and three years later, respectively, than their DVD counterparts. Season 1's Blu-ray has "Exodus (Part 2)" and "Exodus (Part 3)". Season 2's Blu-ray has "Live Together, Die Alone (Part 1)" and "Live Together, Die Alone (Part 2)".

When making my tentative rewatch schedule, I based it on 115 episodes. I guess I can stick to that, and just watch "Exodus (Parts 2 & 3)" and "Live Together, Die Alone (Parts 1 & 2)" in one sitting. I just wonder why the Season 1 & 2 Blu-rays edit episodes that weren't edited on the DVDs. But it's LOST, raising more questions that don't have answers.

Note 1: Episode 5.14 "The Variable" is officially recognized as the 100th episode. If you were to go by the DVD episode count, "LA X" would be considered the 100th episode.

Note 2: Wikipedia considers "The End" as being two episodes, even though it was broadcast as one episode and included on DVD, Blu-ray, and most streaming services as one episode. Hulu is the exception, editing "The End" into two episodes, leaving a lot of scenes out, and also including the full uncut episode.

This post was cross-posted to Reddit.