Saturday, November 15, 2008

Casting Spoiler: Patrick Fischler

I don't usually report on spoilers. Recently, however, a deep throat within the Lost production empire clued me into a casting spoiler with some potentially interesting implications for the direction of the show. I have it on good authority that Patrick Fischler of AMC's critically acclaimed Mad Men will be playing a character in episode 5x08, which is currently filming in Hawaii.



Fischler is an extremely talented actor whose work on Mad Men was recently praised in a New York Times Magazine story about the show. My source was uncertain what role Fischler would play on Lost, but I do have my own speculation. Something about Fischler's nervous energy reminds me of Daniel Faraday, who's so ably portrayed by Jeremy Davies.



That brings me to the above-mentioned implications for the direction of the show. The casting call for episode 5x08 mentions a "[s]mart, hippy-ish, well-trained doctor who finds himself thrown into a situation outside of his medical experience and has to adjust." Many, myself included, have been hoping the hippy reference means we'll be seeing more Dharma flashbacks this season.

The Fischler spoiler supports this speculation, albeit indirectly and with some inferential leaps. Remember the recent Comic-Con video wherein we met Dr. Pierre Chang? The voice off-camera who converses with Chang sounds an awful lot like Daniel Faraday. At the time, I suggested that Dan the Man might eventually travel back in time, becoming Chang's "reliable source."

Now, however, I have to wonder. What if Fischler, who reminds me of Daniel Faraday, will instead be playing his father, a Dharma Initiative doctor?

UPDATE: I've learned that Fischler will not, in fact, be playing the hippy-ish (hopefully Dharma) doctor in episode 5x08. Instead, he will be one of the two characters in "corporate security," though I'm unsure which. Either way, it looks unlikely he'll be Daniel Faraday's daddy. Oh well, it was a great speculation for the 24 hours it lasted...

7 comments:

Capcom said...

That's very interesting casting news! I don't remember seeing Fischler in anything before Mad Men, but he was so good in that, he'll be great on Lost, I'm sure.

To me it sounded like there could have been two different male voices on the Cheng vid. But if it's Dan's father, that would be interesting as well, and give a link for Dan to the island similar to Charlotte's. :-)

Bigmouth said...

Capcom: Yes, Fischler should be a great addition to the show. Unfortunately, I was wrong about him possibly playing the doctor -- he'll be one of the "corporate security" types mentioned in the casting call.

But that doesn't mean the character we saw in Chang's transmission can't be Faraday's father. One interesting possibility I've been pondering is that Dan will mind travel back into his dad's body during the Dharma Initiative.

Capcom said...

Oh, now there's a good idea! :-o

Wayne Allen Sallee said...

Hey, Bigmouth! Hope you've been good, I've stayed busy with a few ghostwriting gigs. I've been going by the assumption that Faraday alone goes back in spacetime because of where he was when the Island moved. Why did it have to move to the time Ben moved to? What if the Island went back in time to the early 70s, thus becoming visible for Hanso to send the Dharma Initiative to conduct experiments? Hanso knows the Island can move, I'm guessing because at one point his ancestor Alvar had to have mentioned the Island appearing under the Black Rock, thus grounding it. Will that make Locke, Juliet, Sawyer, et al., the Hostiles? I know this can't truly work, obviously because of the majority of Dharma Stations still existing. But what if, somehow, the Dharma leftovers from 2004 are gone. What if the reason that Ben wants them back on the Island is because Locke & the Others (and the others) stopped the Purge? I can kind of see the "two Islands" overlapping, but what if the spacetime thing plays into it, and maybe the extra Island moves away when Benthem leaves (by FDW? By the sub he obviously submerged & not blew up)? I suppose if I had to think the entire group is in the 70s, that they witness the arrival of Dharma, but leave before Ben & Dad show (or not, hmnnn), and if that extra Island phases out, so does any evidence of what Dharma creates. I may be way off, but I think with all the course corrections and space time fluctuations, I could almost believe that the Island we know became the Island they knew.

lil-bee said...

Hey guys! Long time! Read some of your posts BM, still going eh =P

I loved the little Quantum Cafe =D

Can't wait to read more of your stuff ... btw, do you watch Fringe? What are your thoughts?? =O

annebeth said...

I too think that the island is unstuck in time. You can see a new flash (appearing by night) in one of the promo's.

Another idea I have is that maibe the whole island isn't in one time, but different parts of the island are in different times. That could explain all the different years the losties appear to be in (from the black rock to 2001 and perhaps even season 1 events)

Bigmouth said...

annebeth: I've taken the liberty of reposting your comment on my post The Island Needs a Constant. I'll respond to it over there...