by Gunter Chang

Created on: May 02, 2007   Last Updated: May 09, 2007

LOST For Dummies

Do you ever feel late to the party when it comes to intelligently discussing LOST? Are you frequently dazed and confused when someone mentions The Others? You're not alone. Even the most loyal fans can sometimes find themselves "lost" when it comes to speaking coherently about the convoluted primary plot and the host of "here today, gone tomorrow" subplots, subtle clues, Easter eggs and red herrings. If you have never really watched LOST or, heaven forbid, missed a season or two, you may as well try to put together a ham radio set without instructions. Not only will you be shocked, you'll never want to touch the subject again. Before you decide to try one of the many message boards to catch up, you might want to know a little bit of background, at least enough to fake it. Else you may find your cyber-soul devoured by the board gods for restating that which is considered over discussed to the point of nausea. Better yet, don't even post, just read, OK?

Even lurking around reading the boards can be an exercise in patience, sorting through the assorted off topic threads and nebulously entitled theories; or maybe even ensnared in a board battle that makes the conflict between the plane crash survivors and the Others look like "Dancing with the Stars". But with a little knowledge of the main fundamentals, you may find you're able to at least ask an intelligent question in your car pool without sounding like a caveman. And that's the 80% solution: asking and listening. One thing LOST fans love is for someone to ask them what they think is going on. With a little practice, you'll even be able to categorize people by their favorite characters and pet theories while asking the appropriate follow up questions so that the "mark" will never suspect you're totally clueless. What follows are the top 10 things you should know about LOST.

1) Where are they? If you answer you don't know...you're right. Nobody knows! A plane full of people crashes on a mysterious island that no one knows the location of. But, there are people already on the Island nicknamed the Others. If you don't know who the Others are, you're right again! Nobody knows who they are really. See, you're getting caught up already.

2)Who are the primary players? This sounds trickier than it really is. You're thinking, "A plane load of survivors plus a group of Others. I'll never keep all the characters straight." Fortunately for you, the writers have chosen to focus on a select few of the total

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