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Meet Kevin Johnson

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"Meet Kevin Johnson"

"Meet Kevin Johnson" is the eighth episode of the American Broadcasting Company's fourth season of Lost and seventy-seventh episode overall. The episode was written in October and November 2007 by supervising producer Elizabeth Sarnoff and co-producer Brian K. Vaughan and directed in November 2007 by co-executive producer Stephen Williams.[2] The episode's airdate was heavily influenced by the 2007–2008 Writers Guild of America strike and rescheduled several times, ultimately airing on March 20, 2008 on ABC in the United States and on CTV in Canada.[3]

Plot

The narrative of the episode primarily focuses upon Michael Dawson (Harold Perrineau, Jr.). Between the events of the second season finale, "Live Together, Die Alone", and this episode, he becomes a spy on the Kahana, a freighter dispatched to find the Island, at the behest of Benjamin Linus (Michael Emerson).

The beginning of the episode shows two concurrent storylines. One storyline is set at the Barracks, the former home of the Others. During a community meeting, Ben confirms to several members of John Locke's (Terry O'Quinn) faction that Michael is his spy. The second storyline is set on the Kahana. Sayid Jarrah (Naveen Andrews) confronts Michael about his purpose on the freighter.

The episode's narrative is then shown in a continuous flashback. Michael has returned to Manhattan, New York City, and has become estranged from his son Walt. He tries to commit suicide several times; he is unsuccessful, and is told by Tom (M.C. Gainey) that the Island will not allow him to kill himself. Tom gives Michael an assignment: he is to infiltrate the Kahana, owned by entrepreneur Charles Widmore (Alan Dale) (who faked the wreckage that was found in the Sunda Trench), and kill any members on board. He is given a bomb to achieve this purpose. Michael attempts to detonate the bomb; it does not explode, and was used to show Michael that Ben does not wish the death of the unknowing crew members.

Appalled that Michael is working for Ben, Sayid turns him over to the captain of the freighter, Gault (Grant Bowler). The end of the episode focuses upon Danielle Rousseau (Mira Furlan), her daughter Alex (Tania Raymonde), and Alex's boyfriend Karl (Blake Bashoff) travelling towards the "Temple", a sanctuary used by the Others. Along the way, both Karl and Rousseau are shot by hidden assailants. To avoid being shot herself, Alex calls out that she is Ben's daughter.

Production

Casting

The episode marks the second appearance of Libby (Cynthia Watros), since she was murdered in the late second season by Michael. Watros was given star billing in the second season;[4] however, she became the first only starring actress to not receive an episode with flashbacks from her character's perspective as she was killed off late in the season, although she did appear in a few flashbacks of other characters' episodes.[5] While a flashback episode was originally planned for Watros's character Libby in the second season, it did not happen,[6] and despite statements that Watros would appear in flashbacks throughout the third season, this also failed to happen.[7] The writers stated that Libby's mysterious backstory will be revealed through multiple flashbacks of a new character not aboard Oceanic 815 introduced in the fourth or fifth season.[8] In the episode, both of Libby's appearances are hallucinations. The first appearance occurs in a hospital after Michael's suicide attempt; the second occurs when Michael attempts to blow up the freighter.

Filming

Shooting commenced in early November and concluded on November 27, 2007.[9] Because the cast and crew did not have an immediate deadline, filming of this episode was more spread out than usual and did not overlap with the surrounding episodes,[10] although it was produced simultaneously with the Lost: Missing Pieces mobisodes directed by executive producer Jack Bender and one scene from the premiere.[11] Perrineau claims that "we [the cast and crew] busted our butts doing this one [and] it felt like we were making a movie because there's so much stuff that happens in this episode".[12] Evangeline Lilly, who plays Kate Austen, called it "one of the best episodes of the first eight."[13]

Scheduling

The Writers Guild of America went on strike on November 4, 2007[14]—the day that the writers finished editing the final draft of "Meet Kevin Johnson"'s script.[15] The show runners wanted to hold the eight episodes until they were able to produce more of the season[16] because they thought that the eighth episode's "very cool" but inconclusive cliffhanger was not written to end the season,[17] comparing it to "the end of an exciting book chapter [but] not the end of the novel."[18] ABC decided that the eight episodes would air from January to March, regardless of whether any more episodes were produced in the 2007–2008 season.[19] Despite picketing on most days, Cuse, a member of the WGA negotiating committee, continued to oversee post-production from mid-November,[20] until negotiations between the Guild and the AMPTP broke down in early December, after which he boycotted his producing duties on the show until the strike was resolved.[21] After the strike ended on February 12, 2008, the writers pleaded that ABC air "Meet Kevin Johnson" on April 17 with the second pod of episodes[22] due to "the eighth episode [being] non-traditional and the start of something new", according to Cuse.[23] Jorge Garcia, who plays Hurley Reyes, agreed that "it's a pretty shocking end but it doesn't close out the way our previous ones have ended [because] it doesn't have that closure to it [and] ends in a sense of dissonance."[24] Despite this, ABC prioritized scheduling Grey's Anatomy, Ugly Betty and Lost's returns all for April 24 (Lost would have begun broadcasting a week earlier to coincide with the completion of May sweeps).[25]

References

  1. ^ ABC, (March 20, 2008) "'Meet Kevin Johnson' Photos". Retrieved on March 21, 2008.
  2. ^ ABC Medianet, (February 29, 2008) "Sayid Confronts Ben's Spy on the Freighter, and Ben Pleads with Daughter Alex to Flee Locke's Camp to Survive and Impending Attack". Retrieved on February 29, 2008.
  3. ^ ABC Medianet, (March 7, 2008) "Weekly Primetime Program Schedule Grids". Retrieved on March 17, 2008.
  4. ^ Ausiello, Michael, (September 20, 2007) "Lost Resurrects Libby!", TV Guide. Retrieved on September 20, 2007.
  5. ^ Lindelof, Damon (writer), Cuse, Carlton (writer) & Bender, Jack (director). "?". Lost, ABC. Episode 21, season 2. Aired on May 10, 2006.
  6. ^ Raggs, Matt, (January 18, 2006) "The Character of Claire", The Fuselage. Retrieved on August 30, 2007.
  7. ^ Ausiello, Michael, (May 10, 2006) "Why Lost Killed Libby", TV Guide. Retrieved on August 30, 2007.
  8. ^ Jensen, Jeff, (January 31, 2007) "The Isle Files", Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved on August 19, 2007.
  9. ^ Garcia, Jorge, (November 17, 2007) "Lost Production to Shut Down in 10 Days?", DarkUFO. Retrieved on March 18, 2008.
  10. ^ Garcia, Jorge, (November 7, 2007) "Jorge, About Episode 8 and the Strike?", The Fuselage. Retrieved on March 18, 2008.
  11. ^ Higgins, Jean, (February 1, 2008) "Official Lost Video Podcast", ABC. Retrieved on February 2, 2008.
  12. ^ Lang, Derrick J., (March 14, 2008) "Michael's Back on Lost", Associated Press. Retrieved on March 17, 2008.
  13. ^ Perrineau, Harold & Emerson, Michael & Fox, Matthew & Holloway, Josh & Lilly, Evangeline & Garcia, Jorge, (March 8, 2008) "The Official Lost Video Podcast", ABC. Retrieved on March 17, 2008.
  14. ^ McNary, Dave & Littleton, Cynthia, (November 2, 2007) "Writers Call for Strike", Variety. Retrieved on November 3, 2007.
  15. ^ Lindelof, Damon & Cuse, Carlton, (November 5, 2007) "Lost Writers: 'Like Putting Down a Harry Potter Book in the Middle'", Variety. Retrieved on November 8, 2007.
  16. ^ Goldman, Eric, (November 7, 2007) "Writers Strike: Should Lost Air This Season?", IGN. Retrieved on November 8, 2007.
  17. ^ Fernandez, Maria Elena, (December 14, 2008) "Lost Fans: Look Out for That Cliffhanger!", Los Angeles Times. Retrieved on March 18, 2008.
  18. ^ Ausiello, Michael, (November 7, 2008) "Lost, Buffy, Heroes, ER and More!", TV Guide. Retrieved on March 19, 2008.
  19. ^ Grossman, Ben, (November 7, 2007) "Strike Coverage: ABC to Air Partial Season of Lost", Broadcasting & Cable. Retrieved on November 8, 2007.
  20. ^ Hinman, Michael, (November 17, 2007) "Carlton Cuse Crosses Lines, Actors Suspended", SyFy Portal. Retrieved on November 18, 2007.
  21. ^ Cuse, Carlton, (December 3, 2007) "Carlton Cuse Speaks Out in Letter to Members", United Hollywood. Retrieved on February 13, 2008.
  22. ^ Ausiello, Michael, (February 13, 2008) "Exclusive: Lost Finds Post-Grey's Berth!", TV Guide. Retrieved on March 18, 2008.
  23. ^ Albmurder, (February 24, 2008) "Ten Reasons Why Lost is Found", New York Post. Retrieved on March 17, 2008.
  24. ^ Renaud, Jeff, (January 18, 2008) "Paradise Lost: Jorge Garcia", Geek Monthly. Retrieved on March 18, 2008.
  25. ^ ABC Medianet, (February 20, 2008) "ABC Announces the Return of Television's Biggest Hits Shows". Retrieved on March 19, 2008.

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