Lost Week: Yunjin Kim Spills About Sun's Life On (and Off!) the Island
Yunjin Kim is in the house dishing about an interesting scene in Sun's future and answering your fan questions about the connection between the Paik family and Hanso, the mindset of the Oceanic Six off the Island and whether or not Sun and her baby have really escaped from anything at all…Press play above to get the goods!
Criminal Minds Bosses Answer Your Q's About Reid, Rossi and the Show's Return
This show's so good it's…Criminal.
Okay, that was a pretty lame pun, but it's still true. Over the course of the past season, Criminal Minds has turned into just about our fave procedural on the air. So, now that the strike's over and Criminal's genius writers' minds are back at work, it seems a good time to check in with the show's bosses, Ed Bernero and Charles S. Carroll, to get answers to your fan questions about what's in store for the gang, in particular Reid, Hotch, Garcia and that new guy, Rossi.
Read on to find out who's off the junk, who's getting busy and what else is in store for the show when it returns in April…
How are you doing as things ramp up again? Do you foresee any complications? Have you found all of your writers in whatever corners of the world they were in?
Ed Bernero: Yeah, everybody's back. This is Ed speaking, by the way. I'm the one with the real Chicago-y accent. Charles is much more cosmopolitan than me. Everybody's back, and we are planning on being up and shooting by Thurs., Feb. 21. Unlike some of these other shows, we always kind of planned for the strike to end. In a lot of ways for us, it's like we went home on a Friday and came back on a Monday, and we're just ready to go.
Charles Carroll: We're going to have seven new episodes to finish out this season, and I think that's probably one more than the other shows will be able to do.
Fab. Do you guys mind answering some fan Q's?
E.B.: Anything you want to ask. Go for it.
Mala05: What are the chances of seeing Nick Brendon again?
E.B.: Kevin Lynch, that's Nick's character's name, is going to be in the first episode back. You will see a little Kevin-Garcia action. It's going to be really fun.
Leo32: Joe Mantegna's character (David Rossi) is not connecting with the rest of group. He seems shifty. Is there anything he's hiding in his past that we should be wary of, or can we trust him with the gang?
E.B.: It's not something to be wary of, but the very first episode back is going to go a long way from solving that problem. Rossi has a difficult time trusting and came out of a place where everybody worked alone. So, he needs to kind of learn how to trust this family.
Natalie: Do you think Joe Mantegna will be back next year? Did you plan the character as a continuing character?
E.B.: Yeah, absolutely he'll be back. We love Joe.
C.C.: He's great to work with.
C3May: Whatever happened with Reid's drug addiction? Did it just suddenly go away?
E.B.: Let me put it this way: It was something we thought on a drawing board was a better idea than it became. I don't think that the format of the show really supported following Reid's character around being drug addicted. I think that it ultimately was a better idea theoretically than it ended up being in practice. So, I think we just kind of…he got better.
C.C.: We just say he's sober now.
Jenna: What's going to happen with Hotch and his estranged wife? And are we going to see more of that?
E.B.: There's going to be more of Hotch's marriage, which is not going to go well. Well, what we want to show is a bit of the price that the people who do these jobs have to pay for doing it. Some of the price is sometimes a broken home. It's unbelievable that all these questions are actually going to be addressed in the first episode back.
Speaking of broken homes and breaking things, I personally have to fast-forward through all the scenes where all the victims are being victimized because I just can't watch. I know it's meant to be gruesome so it's effective, but a lot of the critics have taken that and sort of run with it as being the only part of the show that's worth addressing. Do you ever find yourself concerned with those scenes?
E.B.: Yeah, we actually are very concerned about those scenes. There's a lot of discussion that goes into how much we want to include, how much is actually necessary, and I think, frankly, sometimes we've gone too far in our depiction of things. It's pretty much a razor's edge over really portraying what's happening out there and still being responsible. It's a constant struggle to know just exactly where that line is.
C.C.: There's a lot of discussion among us about the level of violence in the show, we're trying to figure out how to address that. I think if you make a show about these horrible crimes, you kind of want to show the effects on the victims and the family's victims.
Finally, I know you guys are pretty close with your fans, is there anything you want to say to them after the strike or just going forward?
C.C.: Come back!
E.B.: I just thank them, as usual, for their patience and for their unbelievable support. We have the most incredible group of fans I've ever seen. They are so engaged and supportive, and I'm just glad we're back making the show for everybody. By the way, Ringo Starr met Joe Mantegna the other night at the Grammys, and he loves Criminal Minds. It's his favorite show.
Dude, a Beatle watches your show.
E.B.: How cool are we?
Pretty freakin' cool! Got more Q's, wishes and wants for the last seven episodes of Criminal Minds season three? Post 'em in Comments!
—With reporting by Jennifer Godwin
Battlestar Blowout: Ron Moore Answers You!
It's Friday, folks, which some (like moi) might like to call "Thanks Frak It's Battlestar Day." The show is completely rocking this season and is thisclose to its fall finale (the second-to-last episode airs tonight). So, to celebrate, we checked in with the big brain behind the Sci Fi Channel's gritty, sexy, smarty-pants series for the latest scoop on Starbuck, Apollo and those pesky Cylons!
I'm talking, of course, about creator and executive producer Ronald D. Moore, who is answering everything you always wanted to know about Battlestar Galactica and weren't afraid to ask ('cause you did—via email, to me).
If you aren't already a BSG addict, read this for some insight in the best psychotic-killer-robot show on TV, and then tune in for the truly fraktabulous fall finale next Friday, Dec. 15 on Sci Fi. Be warned, though, some of this Q&A gets a little spoilery, so if you don't want the fraktastic surprises ruined, proceed carefully.
KV: First, let me say, this season has been amazing.
Thank you.
KV: And as you know, we have fan questions for you. Lots and lots of fan questions. So, let's dig in. First, from Roguegirl: Will we ever find out why baby Hera is the shape of things to come?
Yes, we will—but probably not until close to the end of the series.
KV: Someone just walked past my office and heard I was interviewing you, and now I have a Post-it note here that says, "Ask him if Lucy Lawless is dreaming or if she really does kill herself!"
In the shows we've seen, yes, she is killing herself over and over again.
Daragirl: Where are you headed with the storyline about Starbuck's (Katee Sackhoff) daughter? Does it have anything to do with the upcoming flashback with Starbuck and her mother?
It does not—and we have pretty much wrapped up the storyline about Starbuck's surrogate daughter. We did have some more storylines developed about Casey and Starbuck's relationship with the little girl, but we abandoned them along the way. Actually, we don't have plans to see Casey again this season.
KV: Okay, bye, little girl.
She went off to live with Boxy—a reference from the miniseries—there was a little boy Boxy that was never seen again.
Kbroxmysox: Are Adama (Edward James Olmos) and Roslin (Mary McDonnell) going to become more than friends and associates?
We are going to play around with that a little bit. In some upcoming episodes they are going to start dancing around the idea that maybe/maybe not there is something here. We're not going for full-blown romance, but there could be something in the offing.
Uryadone: Are we going to see a return of the mysticism in the future? Does the show deal with President Roslin's seeming abandonment of her role as the leader of the prophecies?
You will definitely see both of those things.
nacho77: Will Anders (Michael Trucco) have a new storyline without Kara?
Yes, he will. It's later in the season, and it's sort of hard to describe—he starts his own storyline in the latter half of the season.
KV: This is my favorite question. Kbroxmysox asks, "What the frak is going on with Baltar (James Callis) and Six (Tricia Helfer)?" And just from me, do you feel like it's just important that they are together, or do the writers spend a lot time on the mechanics of chips and fantasies and who's in whose head?
We kind of do both—we play both sides of the line so she can argue that she is a chip in his head or that she is a manifestation of his unconscious or she is a guardian angel from some other power. The trick of the show is to never really answer that question, because she is more interesting if you don't know who she is and exactly what she's all about. But, internally, we do have an idea why she is there and why she is telling Baltar certain things at certain times. And there is a connection to why Caprica Six needs her own Fantasy Baltar as well.
Martin: Does Six love Gaius, and does he love her, as they have claimed?
Does Fantasy Six or does Caprica Six?
KV: You tell me.
I think it is genuine. Both the Six he knew—the woman he actually knew on Caprica—and the manifestations both share the same characteristic in that they really want Baltar to love them. That's a key idea of hers. Whether Baltar loves her goes to the question of "Can Baltar love anyone?" That is an open question, even now.
KV: Off that. There has been a lot of discussion about hybrids. Helo (Tahmoh Penikett) and Sharon (Grace Park) were able to have a baby on the grounds, allegedly, that they brought love into the equation. If Six and Gaius love each other, could they have another hybrid baby?
You would think. But clearly they have been having sex for a while, and we played with the idea on New Caprica that Baltar was having performance problems, and we used to even have some dialogue about her frustration about the fact she wasn't getting pregnant—and she does want to have a baby. If Baltar is saying he loves her, and she's not getting pregnant, it seems to put the lie to what he has said.
Menamarie: Do Cylons get older, or do they always stay the same age?
That's a good question! We've talked about it internally, as well, but we don't really have an answer for that. On camera they don't look like they are aging, so we haven't had to deal with it. [Laughs.]
Ninjakat: Do we ever see the remaining five Cylons and find out the backstory of why the seven we know don't speak of them?
Yes, we will—I can't even really tell you when it will happen, but I can tell you it will definitely happen.
Nacho77: Are the five secret Cylons newer models or older models?
You are going to find out—that's a hard question to answer. The final five Cylons are different than the other Cylons, but I don't want to give away if they are newer or older or what their relationship is to the other Cylons. That's one of the mysteries we are teasing out over the course of a lot of episodes.
Menamarie: Is the ragtag fleet going to encounter any other signposts or interesting artifacts left by the 13th Colony that point the way to Earth?
Yes, they will, and that happens this season.
KV: As a follow-up, do you believe that the 13th Colony was intentionally poisoning Cylons that might be toddling past their beacons?
No, that is an interesting theory, but that wasn't ever what we talked about. It was a genuine accident.
KV: In the vein of War of the Worlds, bacteria…
Yeah, it was more along those lines.
Annmys: What can we expect for season 3.5?
We are going to see some interesting things: We meet Adama's wife for the first time, in an unusual way, and see who his ex-wife is and the roots of why they were divorced and the problems Lee had growing up. There are some big stand-alone episodes, including one for Helo, and one for Tyrol (Aaron Douglas), and there's a really pivotal episode with Starbuck, sort of a fighter-plane episode about her. Beyond that, it starts to wrap up into our finale, and there is a three-part episode that gets us to the end of the season. By then, we will have major revelations and some major plot turns.
KV: Would you guys do something again like the webisodes during the hiatus between seasons two and three?
We haven't talked about it yet, because there are still some problems between studios and the Writers Guild. So, as of now, there is nothing planned.
Annmys: As the producer and writer in charge, do you know how the show ends?
Yes, I do. I have an idea where we should end the series, and the question is how long the story, I think, can go from here to there.
KV: How long would you like to carry on?
It's so hard. By the end of the season I'm like, "How many more of these can we get out?" And then sure enough, we think of a whole lot more in the writers' room—but at least a couple more years.
KV: Is there anything else you want the people to know about Battlestar Galactica?
The biggest thing to be aware of is that in the spring, we are moving to Sunday nights at 10.
And may the Gods of Kobol bring BSG very excellent ratings in its new time slot, bring you all brand-new TiVos for Chrismukkah and everybody a little peace on Earth. Amen. (Er…so say we all!)
Go Live with Lost at Comic-Con!
The time has come for Damon Lindelof and Carlton Cuse to end their radio silence about Lost (thank God!). This afternoon, live at Comic-Con, the powers that be behind the show we love will take the stage to answer fan questions about what went down during that finale and what to expect from season four.
I, Dr. Anna Graham, am here live in the ballroom, ready, willing and able to repeat the sounding joy (direct to you) when they start dishing from the stage. So, I have a deal for you: You hit the reload button a lot, beginning at 5 p.m. PT, and I’ll post frequently, for the duration, to deliver everything there is to know about our favorite show! Get it? Got it? Good.
Exclusive sneak preview: “The survival of the Island is now at stake.” Oh yeah…
4:19 p.m.: If you're the kind of person who gets upset because someone told you Harold Perrineau is coming back to Lost, you don't want to read any further into this liveblog. Fair warning…Meanwhile, the room is almost full. If you're reading this on your CrackBerry at the Convention Center, you might want to haul your butt in here now.
4:46 p.m.: The room is pretty much full, but I hear if you get to the Inkworks booth downstairs sooner rather than later, you can pick up tickets to the Darlton postpanel autograph session.
5:06 p.m.: "Are you ready?" asks the lady. Yes, let's go!
5:11 p.m.: A clip show of season three begins; Michael Emerson calls the Others a "rebel sect." I suspect this is from the DVD. Also, the fans are crazy-loud right now.
5:12 p.m.: More clip show: "By the time you see this I will be dead," says M.C. Gainey, before coexecutive producers Eddie Kitsis and Adam Horowitz make a funny tribute to the unsung Others (your Lukes and your Jasons).
5:13 p.m.: More clip show: Holloway is saying something onscreen, but the screaming in the room drowns him out. Voice-over: "The survival of the Island is now at stake." Told ya! Then it's over.
5:14 p.m.: Lost executive producers Damon Lindelof and Carlton Cuse (aka D.L. and C.C.) are here! There might not be any microphones, however. Oops, the mikes are mute.
5:15 p.m.: Yay, they can speak now.
5:16 p.m.: Lost videogame footage; don't care, sorry, I just do the television.
5:18 p.m.: D.L., regarding flashbacks: "Ever so slowly going the way of the dodo on the real show."
5:19 p.m.: D.L. confession: "Carlton and I, we're drunk, first off." He continues with a tribute to the fans, saying the fans are the reason there's an ending coming. Season four starts in February, and it runs 16 eps straight.
5:20 p.m.: They have a bell. Damon can ring it if Carlton says too much, Carlton can do the same to Damon. This is their overdisclosure fail-safe.
5:22 p.m.: People are invited to get in the questions line. Earlier we were warned via loudspeaker to not be crazy when addressing the panel, as in don't ask for them to have your babies, hug you or give you a job. As people are getting in line, Damon says, "If hugs are inappropriate, well, then I don't ever want to come here again."
5:23 p.m.: Now comes the Q&A portion of the evening. Dude wants to know about season three's violent turn. (I'm for it, thanks for asking.) Dude wants the powers that be to promise that the Others aren't the good guys. No promises are forthcoming.
5:24 p.m.: Carlton says they wanted a showdown, and that involved a body count. Damon says our guys are more violent but prettier. "When Sawyer is punching you in the face, you're like, More please, you're so attractive, can you take your shirt off please?" But when Friendly does it, it's relentless violence. Says Damon, "If the violence stays intense, it will at least be perpetrated by catastrophically good-looking people."
5:26 p.m.: Writing is a collaborative process. Every writer has their own favorite character. Eddie and Adam love Hurley and Charlie and all the minor characters; Eddie pitched the van idea for Hurley, which connected with the Ben patricide storyline.
5:27 p.m.: Lindelof says, "We have the best job in the world."
5:28 p.m.: Where's Michael? They address the stupid reporter riot yesterday and wanted to announce here that Harold is returning as Michael Dawson, but they tell the questioner they're not talking about how or when he returns.
5:30 p.m.: Damon wants to know why we're being so nice, and then they tell us there are more flashforwards coming. Carlton says flashbacks and flashforwards are both on the show going forward. "How far forward" and "with whom" are the Q's.
5:31 p.m.: Will Jack and Claire find out they are related? Carlton rings the bell on Damon, but Damon nods furiously. The crowd goes wild.
5:33 p.m.: Someone wants to know if we'll be seeing more Dharma sharks. Without addressing the fish issue directly, Carlton says, "You may be learning more about Dharma sooner than you ever imagined." Oh, I smell a clip coming tonight. Apparently, check back at 5:58 (or below at 6:07). Carlton rings the bell.
5:34 p.m.: DVD is out Dec. 11, and no reruns are expected. Why won't anyone listen to me—no one watches or airs reruns anymore! This is a JenFact! Trust me, people!
5:35 p.m.: Did Ben get caught by Rousseau on purpose? Did Ben kill the real Henry Gale? Damon says he will answer one of those questions. The asker chooses the capture question. Carlton: "He got caught by accident." Damon volunteers this, regarding Ben vs. Henry Gale: "They had words."
5:39 p.m.: They were running out of plausible flashback material, so it was time to switch gears into flashfowards. The end date allowed them the certainty necessary to add that element into the show without further antagonizing fans. Carlton: "What you saw with Kate and Jack was not the end of the show." Damon: "The show has never really been about getting off the Island…There's this whole chapter of the story that takes place off the Island." Outstanding!
5:41 p.m.: Chick wants to know when Michael is coming back. She's yelling now, Damon yells back, it's very cute. (Harold's totally here.) And now: "Ladies and gentlemen, Harold Perrineau." Ha!
5:43 p.m.: Harold is taking Q's. Damon says, "Harold is the first and only actor who has left the show as part of a grander design to come back." Uh-huh.
5:44 p.m.: Harold says, "Finally, it has all worked out…really excited to go back to Hawaii." Carlton, regarding poor crazy Michael, "He took some extreme actions." Michael's story is about the power of the Island to be redemptive. And this won't be a quick pop by Redemption Island; Harold is a series regular. TOLD. YOU. Michael returns early in the fourth season, or so says Damon.
5:45 p.m.: Dude ignores Harold to ask about Rachel Blake. Carlton says Rachel probably won't be on the Island.
5:47 p.m.: Damon says the benefit of only doing 16 episodes (versus 22) a year is they can do more ancillary "awesome" stuff.
5:48 p.m.: Someone asks what Damon and Carlton want to do in their post-Lost retirement. They don't think about it because the show is too all-consuming.
5:51 p.m.: Damon: "It's every writer's, actor's and storyteller's dream to have a dialogue with people who are watching a story you're telling. I wouldn't want to make a mistake of trying to chase something like Lost again. Might just write a pamphlet. Or a grocery list."
5:51 p.m.: Dude says he likes Richard Alpert; Damon and Carlton say (I paraphrase) don't get too attached to him, because Nestor Carbonell's on CBS' Cane.
5:52 p.m.: They're writing episode one, but it's still untitled.
5:53 p.m.: "What questions are fans not asking that we ought to be?" Carlton: "Who's in the coffin?" and rings the bell on himself. D.L. and C.C. ask Harold, "Who do you think is in the coffin?" Harold thinks it's the person with the teenage son…probably Locke! Damon would ask, "Who's on that freighter out there, and what do they want out of the Island?" Carlton would ask, "Okay, Kate and Jack got off the Island? Did anybody else get off the Island?"
5:53 p.m.: Five minutes to go in the session, three minutes until the clip, or so we are told.
5:56 p.m.: Wasted question; we knew the answer: The falling dude from Hurley's building was not Locke.
5:56 p.m.: Libby time! There have been hints she worked for Dharma, so when do we find out what is up with Libby? Carlton: "It is our intention to get to Libby's story this year, and we think you will be happy when we finish that." Damon: "You're not barking up the wrong tree."
5:57 p.m.: Will there be a Danielle flashback soon? Damon: "There are important things going on in that story, and they have to synch up." They'll do that synching in this season or next.
5:58 p.m.: They'll have written through episode 15 or 16 by the time we see the premiere, which is to say, try not to get too drunk on spoilers before the season even begins.
6:01 p.m.: A fan named Aaron asks, "Can I call the monster Cerberus?" Damon says…[nerdiness follows] On the blast-door map, C.V. stood for Cerberus Vents. "That's Dharma's name for it, maybe. Cerberus is one of its names." Damon: "Aaron, may I call you Cerberus?" Aaron-Cerberus: "The monster seems kind of seems like it represents judgment. Why did Eko have to die?" Damon: "The whole deal with the monster will be definitely answered." Carlton: "[The monster answer is] not going to be 10 seconds of blank tape." Ooh, David Chase burn.
6:04 p.m.: No more Q's for us. H.P., D.L. and C.C. have a group hug. Feel the love—I know I do.
6:05 p.m.: Shooting starts in four weeks.
6:05 p.m.: Our superspecial Comic-Con exclusive clip was "discovered" in "Narvik, Norway."
6:06 p.m.: Aw, I think he likes us. Damon: "This is literally the highlight of our year…This show was born out of the Con. We do it for you and with you."
6:07 p.m.: The promised clip is one of the station orientation films, hosted by Marvin Candle under an alias. The footage begins with him getting his makeup done and smoothing down his Dharma labcoat. Bunnies! It's about bunnies! Bunny #15, to be specific. Marvin, who calls himself Dr. Edgar Halifax in this film, identifies it as station six, the Orchid. He says the viewer has probably realized by now that he or she is not working at a mere botanical research unit. He apologizes for making him or her lie to friends and family members about the nature of the work. He mentions something that sounds like "Kasimir effect" and cites the "unique properties of the Island." Then there's one of Jacob's subliminal messages. It may have been some variation on "as Jacob loves you." Then there's a bunny riot. One of the station's alarms blares, Dr. Halifax/Marvin panics. There's an intercut clip of someone riding a bicycle. The clip is inserted upside-down, and the rider appears to be in the village green of Otherville…And then, amid the chaos (perhaps this is the Incident?), the filmstrip slides off the reel.
6:08 p.m.: That's all, folks. Our exit soundtrack is "Got Myself a Gun" from the Sopranos credits. Clue, or just Muzak? You tell me.
Love, luck and lollipops, kids; see you in another life (brotha).
Update: Hey folks, here's the Orchid station video on YouTube. Enjoy!