LOST!! THE WIRE!! DEADWOOD!! TRUE BLOOD!! RAWHIDE!! SWINGTOWN!! FUTURAMA!! HercVault!!

I am – Hercules!!
“We both know I can’t do that.” -- Ben Linus

The fourth season of “Lost” proved one of the two best seasons of what I deem one of the greatest series ever forged. Seven reasons to love season four: 1) It finally scaled back on the flashbacks, a development fans had been clamoring for since season one. Flashforwards, first introduced in the spectacular third-season finale, came to dominate and almost always proved more interesting than season four’s residual flashback episodes. 2) This was the first season produced subsequent to the famous decision to set a 2010 end date for the series. As a consequence, there are suddenly a lot fewer stories about stuff like Jack’s tattoo. 3) It was the first full season for funnybook writer Brian K. Vaughn (“Y: The Last Man”) and the second for Drew Goddard (“Buffy The Vampire Slayer,” “Angel,” “Cloverfield”). The duo, who teamed to script the stellar season-four episodes “Confirmed Dead” and “The Shape of Things To Come,” have done wonders shoring up the faltering series’ scripting. 4) The Orchid, Dharma’s Station 6, turned out to be the coolest thing ever. 5) The freighter’s doctor was in two places at the same time. 6) New characters like suspicious scientist Daniel Faraday and sarcastic psychic Miles Straume injected all sorts of welcome new energy, a terrific trade-off for the increasingly irksome Charlie Pace, who -- once he got off the horse -- turned out to be the dullest rock star on the planet. 7) Ben Linus, a character we didn’t meet until late in season two, in season four decisively eclipsed Locke and Jack as the series’ most compelling character. COMMENTARIES: * 4.1 “The Beginning of the End.” Actors Evangeline Lilly and Jorge Garcia. * 4.5 “The Constant.” Showrunners Carlton Cuse & Damon Lindelof and editor Mark Goldman. * 4.7 “Ji Yeon.” Actors Daniel Dae Kim & Junjin Kim, and director Stephen Semel. * 4.13-4.14 “There’s No Place Like Home (Part 2).” Cuse & Lindelof. (Their first finale commentary.) Learn that Charlotte’s backstory was one of those delayed from season four to season five due to the writers’ strike. DELETED SCENES: * “Thinking Ahead” (:45) Sawyer asks Juliet what name she’s going to use when they all get rescued. * “Lucky Guess” (1:46) Miles encounters The Others’ sci-fi fence. * “‘I Know Chicken’” (1:12) Hurley learns Kate and Sawyer boned. * “Unpopular Decision” (:43) Ben learns of Kate’s banishment. * “Desert Stash” (1:02) An intriguing one. Ben, apparently soon after teleporting, retrieves well-hidden cash and passports from behind a rock. A man lies nearby. * “Claire’s Vision” (:47) Another intriguing one. Claire, post-explosion, sees her father and asks Hurley, “Are we dead?” * “Trust” (:54) Kate discusses Jack’s condition with Juliet. * “Church Arrival” (:50) Sayid, with Nadia, reunites with Hurley and Kate. * “Lost Journal” (:26) Daniel asks Miles if he’s seen his journal. LOST: MISSING PIECES (MOBISODES): * “King of the Castle” (2:03) Written by Brian K. Vaughn. As a wheelchair-bound Ben and Jack play chess in Othertown, Ben says Jack may one day decide he wants to return to the island. * “Jack, Meet Ethan. Ethan? Jack.” (2:34) Written by Damon Lindelof. The Others’ spy brings Jack a suitcase full of prescription meds. * “The Adventures of Hurley & Frogurt” (1:55) Written by Edward Kitsis & Adam Horowitz. A fellow castaway asks if Hurley has designs on Libby. * “Room 23” (1:18) Written by Elizabeth Sarnoff. Ben and Juliet discuss Walt’s strange powers. * “Buried Secrets” (3:21) Written by Christina M. Kim. Michael catches Sun with a California driver’s license. * “Operation Sleeper” (3:02) Written by Brian K. Vaughn. Juliet reveals to Jack that she’s still working for Ben and why. * “The Watch” (2:34) Written by Carlton Cuse. On the eve of Jack’s wedding, Christian gives Jack his own father’s timepiece – as well as a piece of advice. * “Jin Has A Temper Tantrum On The Golf Course” (2:10) Written by Drew Goddard. As Hurley and Michael look on, their Korean friend indulges a Happy Gilmore moment. * “The Envelope” (1:58) Written by J.J. Abrams & Damon Lindelof. Juliet tells another she smells trouble in Other City. * “The Deal” (2:56) Written by Elizabeth Sarnoff. Juliet gives Michael his marching orders. * “Tropical Depression” (2:54) Written by Carlton Cuse. Dr. Arzt spills his guts to Michael. * “Arzt & Crafts” (2:25) Written by Damon Lindelof. Dr. Arzt pitches beach-dwelling to Hurley, Michael and the Kwans. * “So It Begins” (2:05) Written by Drew Goddard. Minutes after the crash of 815, Christian Shepherd tells Walt’s pet to find Jack. OTHER EXTRAS: * “SeasonPlay” (Blu-ray only) When engaged, this feature miraculously allows viewers to find exactly where they stopped watching, even if they remove the disc and don’t bother with it again for 19 years. Most wonderfully, it remembers that you’ve already watched the FBI warning and does not force you to give it another gander. * “Lost in 8:15” (8:12) A hilariously monotonous female narrator recaps the first three seasons of the show, with emphasis on the end of season three. * “The Right To Bear Arms” (11:15) Learn that script coordinator Gregg Nations in Los Angeles is charged with keeping track of where all the many firearms are at any given moment. Learn that the military rifle Sawyer carries is really heavy. * “The Freighter Folk” (12:40) A look at Daniel Faraday, Miles Straum, Charlotte Lewis, Frank Lapidus, Naomi Dorrit and Martin Keamy. Learn that these characters were inspired by “Jurassic Park.” L. Scott Caldwell asks why Faraday wore that necktie to the island. Learn that Charlotte Staples Lewis was named for Clive Staples Lewis, who wrote the “Narnia” books. Learn that Lapidus was an afterthought, a character created when writers realized they needed a pilot to get the team to the island. Showrunner Carlton Cuse calls the other (doomed) freighter people “freighter fodder.” * “The Island Backlot” (17:52) Writers and cast discuss how Hawaii doubles for so many other lands. Hint: some incredible computer effects are a big help. (Some of the before-effects and after-effects comparisons are jaw-dropping.) Learn that J.J. Abrams considered shooting the series in Los Angeles or New Zealand. Learn crew members like to surf at lunch. Learn that 12 tons of ice were deployed on Honolulu streets to simulate Berlin in winter. Learn that bark is often wrapped around palm trees. Learn that soldiers’ blog sites helped the production recreate Iraq. * “The Oceanic Six: A Conspiracy Of Lies” (21:16) A nicely assembled mockumentary suggests (rather convincingly) that Jack, Kate, Hurley, Sayid and Sun may be giant liars, and undoubtedly sets up some of the key conflicts in season five. An aviation expert points out that wide-body jets have never successfully landed on water prior to the Oceanic crash. A nutrition expert suggests the survivors’ lack of weight loss after 108 days is suspicious. The Australian airport official who locked Kate in an airport jail the night before the 815’s crash claims there was no way Kate was six months pregnant at the time. A physician remarks that Aaron was much too big to be only five weeks old. Greg Grunberg and his mustache cameo. * “Offshore Shoot” (7:50) Learn that the real freighter’s name is The Kahana. Learn that producers were going to shoot in its real engine room until they realized how hot it was down there. See the many puke buckets set out for the crew. * “Soundtrack of Survival: Composing For Character, Conflict & The Crash” (26:21) Tim Simonek conducts the Honolulu Pops (who all wear matching Hawaiian shirts) performing Michael Giaccchino’s extraordinary score in the open-air Waikiki Shell. Learn that “Lost” is one of the few shows left that employs non-synthesized music. Terry O’Quinn reads a bottle full of letters “written” my the island’s characters. Learn that Giaccchino had to reorchestrate to accommodate the Pops, which is a larger orchestra than the one he usually works with. * “Giacchino in the Script” (3:23) Learn that Giacchino is frequently referenced by name in the cues for music written into the scripts. (Blu-ray edition only.) * “The Others Theme” (5:48) See the Honolulu pops play the whole thing. (Blu-ray edition only.) * “Messages In A Bottle” (6:56) Terry O’Quinn reads letters written in the voices of what I’ll call “background survivors.” (Blu-ray edition only.) * “Lost on Location: The Beginning of the End” (4:20) See crew members build the hill of papayas that opened season four and learn why it had to be built twice. * “Lost on Location: Confirmed Dead” (4:34) Learn that Charlotte’s upside-down introduction was shot in front of a bluescreen, even though Rebecca Mader did agree to hang from a real tree. * “Lost on Location: The Constant” (5:25) Learn that a professor from the University of Hawaii came down to write the formulas on Daniel’s chalkboard. * “Lost on Location: The Constant” (5:22) Learn that Elizabeth Mitchell and Rebecca Mader’s stunt doubles are both really cute. * “Lost on Location: Meet Kevin Johnson” (4:14) See how happy Cynthia Watros, Marsha Thomason, Fisher Stevens and M.C. Gainey are to play their dead characters. * “Lost on Location: The Shape Of Things To Come” (7:43) Learn that Josh Halloway is not a fan of blood squibs. * “Lost on Location: Cabin Fever” (4:51) See the mechanics behind Keamy’s slashing of the ship doctor’s throat. * “Lost on Location: There’s No Place Like Home Part 2” (5:23) Learn photos of the Oceanic Six were appended to a map of Dharma Island to help choreograph their locations during the events of the season finale. * “Course of the Future: The Definitive Flash Forwards” (52:49) My favorite extra on the set. When viewers arrange certain flash-forward scenes in chronological order, they’re rewarded with more flash-forward scenes in chronological order, starting with the Oceanic Six paddling to the island fishing village and ending with the guy in the coffin. Learn that Ben had his confrontation with Widmore just before Hurley crashed the papayas. And that Kate had her trial subsequent to those events. The Blu-ray edition includes text script excerpts and a short introduction by showrunners Carlton Cuse and Damon Lindelof, pretending to speak to us from the future. * “Lost Bloopers” (3:22) The actors are caught doing things they weren’t supposed to. * The disc menus are typically evocative. They depict: Disc One: Jack in his filthy apartment. Disc Two: The exterior of Jacob’s cabin. Disc Three: The deck of the freighter. Disc Four: Daniel and Charlotte on the beach. Disc Five: The basement of The Orchid.

Alan Moore, Patton Oswalt and a lot of other people think “The Wire” is the finest American TV series ever forged, and you can pick the whole thing up today at $135, which works out to a mere $27 per season. Individual seasons sell for about $39 a pop, so you’re saving a whopping $60. The song about keeping the devil down in the hole was written by Tom Waits.

People seem to like “Deadwood” as well. At $105, it’s $35 per season. Seasons can be bought separately for $39.50, so you’re saving $13.50. A buck’s a buck! I have no idea if these series sets carry any extras beyond those on the individual season sets, but I do know the individual sets for both series are thick with extras.

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