There were no press opportunities and I did not take notes; I simply enjoyed and absorbed the conversation…

We attended a free lecture at Stanford tonight called The Philosophy of Lost, featuring Michael Emerson as the guest of honor. 

A few fascinating tidbits from Emerson (most of which I posted on Twitter earlier):

• His only real regret was that they never had time to explore the Ben and Annie story, and that we never had the chance to find out what happened to her.

• In Season 3, he thought that Jacob ordered Ben to kidnap specific people because they were candidates…for artificial insemination. 

• When he read the script for the scene where Ben kills his father, he said to himself, “wow, I have to do THAT?!”

• He was very satisfied with both the Lost finale and that Ben was “left on the bench of eternity.”

• In Season 6, at night after particularly long days on set, the cast would get a bit punchy and make each other laugh. For example, “oh look - Jack plugged the island with a pacifier.”

• They did in fact film Ben’s flash sideways awakening/island memory moment, while he was perusing Alex’s yearbook. He said that something in that scene revealed too much, so they cut it out and did not include it in the episode! [sidenote/wishful thinking from Jo: perhaps they’ll include it on an ultra-deluxe anniversary box set someday]

I recorded a brief video where Emerson addresses a question about his time on the island as the #2 man in charge under Hurley’s leadership (apologies for the quality/appearance of the footage; it was taken on my iPhone). 

Emerson is an extremely articulate, intelligent speaker with amazing stage presence, and is also a huge fan of the show and its many interpretations. Overall, it was a very enjoyable evening in an intimate setting with fellow Lost fans. It is quite clear that the road to letting go continues, for all of us.