San Diego Comic-Con - Day 3

Our third day, Saturday, was a doozie. The girls had one panel that was non-negotiable and I had two panels that were non-negotiable. Can you guess our day's targets? Let's pretend you guess correctly...Good job! You are correct! They were Lost and True Blood. You're so good it's scary! You just won a years supply of turtlewax! Now, aren't you glad you played?

Anyhow, back to the blog at hand...

The final Lost Comic-Con panel was at 11am Saturday morning. Apparently people started lining up the night before (lucky ducks got to meet Damon and Carlton!) but since I'm only half a loony-toon, I got up at 6am Saturday morning (Tina and Katie aren't Lost fans, so they got to sleep in) and was in line by 7am-ish. I had a few hundred people in front of me but overall, I liked my seating chances. From what I had heard, Hall H could hold about 6,500 people. I knew it would be a madhouse, but since I was only one person, I knew I could probably sneak to the front and find a single seat that was pretty close to the stage. The four-hour line wasn't that bad actually. We were lined up in a grassy area and the weather was cool and beautiful, so most people just plopped their rumps down, brought out a book or comic, and enjoyed the scenery. I thought it was a swell idea, so I did the same (and called Corrie and my mom to fill them in on all the days activities) and before I knew it, we were being moved into the Hall. I didn't know it at the time, but as I walked in and chose what direction to take (this was seriously the BIGGEST room I had ever been in - it was like the size of a baseball field), I was choosing whether I would be right next to the fan questions line, and therefore right next to, as yet unknown, awesomeness, or on the opposite side of the room from said awesomeness. Fate took me to the opposite side and therefore hates me for no reason at all that I can tell. Later I would pout when Jorge and Michael Emerson showed up on the otherside of the room for the (fake) fan questions. Still, I was able to get a pretty close seat, if a little off-center from the stage. By 11am, I was in heaven. I figure that most of you have probably already seen most of the panel online, so I won't waste everyone's time by doing a in-depth run-through. Instead, here are a few tidbits that you may not know about:

- When walking into the Hall, we were given small posters. They were very simple - all white with the LOST logo and "The Final Season" written on them. I was sneaky and grabbed two. One is now hanging on the last available wall space in my room and the other is somewhere in Brett's new apartment.

- Each actor was introduced in a unique and fun way. No other panel I saw was anything like this panel. Jorge Garcia (Hurley) was in line for fan questions and was then joined in line by Michael Emerson (Ben). The part you may not have seen was the introduction to Nestor Carbonell (Richard Albert):

Fan question: Does Richard Albert wear eyeliner?

Damon and Carlton: Well, since you mention it - we have another guest joining us. Let's go backstage and have him come out and join us.

A cameraman goes backstage and we watch as the camera peeks around a corner, showing Nestor Carbonell at a vanity table, staring at himself in the mirror and pumping himself up for his walk onto the stage. He grabs some eyeliner and starts gingerly applying it to his beautiful eyes. After a second he stops, having noticed the color isn't the one he requested, goes into a fit (something about "amateur hour"), discovers the camera and cameraman, goes into another fit, rushes the cameraman and ends up running onstage.

It was AWESOME!

- Josh Holloway (fake) tazers Damon to get a hold of the (fake) final script pages of the final Lost episode. Michael Emerson reads it for the audience (because Josh can't read) and it turns out to be a really crappy Heroes script. Laughs all around.

- The final video brought tears to my eyes. It was a montage of all the dead of Lost. The last bit was long and torturous, showing our favorite, Charlie. As it ends, Dominic Monaghan walks onstage! He's up there for only 30 seconds, waving to the screaming crowd and then the panel is over.

Favorite Moment:

When Josh Holloway (fake) tazers Damon and then a minute later finds him up and drinking his water. Josh says something like "You better go back to sleep! I will tazer you again!". Priceless.

Scoop/Spoilers:

- We were shown a couple videos - one was a commercial for that chicken joint that Hurley owns, showing Hurley and him saying "I've had nothing but GOOD luck since I won the lottery" and another commercial for Oceanic, promoting "30 years of perfect flying" or something like that. End theory: The bomb DID restart the timeline, where no crash occurred.

- The arrival of Dominic at the end pretty much confirmed that he would be in some episodes next season and that was all later confirmed again. The same goes for Elizabeth Mitchell (Juliet), Ian Somerhalder (Boone) and Jeremy Davies (Faraday). Woo and HOO!

Panels missed for Lost:

- Chuck (so sad, I heard it was an awesome panel). Also, later I saw the whole cast signing autographs, but more on that later.

- Eastwick - It was a screening of the pilot for the new show and also a Q&A panel. Not a big loss, but I was curious to see the pilot.

So, after wandering, awed and fulfilled, away from Hall H, I realized had a good hour to walk around before I expected Tina and Katie to arrive. I hadn't had nearly enough time to look around the Exhibition halls and seeing how I was the only one of us that could stand the hall (seriously, it was totally worth the crowds), the unexpected time alone was a boon. I excitedly made my way back to the always teeming, always bright and loud and overwhelming and wondrous Exhibition Hall. As I mentioned before, even four whole days wouldn't be long enough to see everything and so one hour was barely enough time for me to walk the first quarter of ONE of the halls (I think there were two or three big ones). Once again, all I could do was stare and bump into people. I was able to see Jon Favreau as he was being interviewed and that was pretty cool. As I wandered closer to the WB booth, the crowds got completely unmanageable. I went in a different direction to avoid those crowds and eventually looped back to find the WHOLE cast of Chuck lining the square WB water tower. I made like a ridiculous, obnoxious fangirl, raised my camera as high as I could hold it and got some pictures. My main target was actually Adam Baldwin (he of Angel and Firefly fame) and I got a couple pictures but I was so focused on getting the pictures that I didn't actually get to see that much of him.

Less than an hour after I stepped into the Hall, Tina called me to tell me she was getting into line for the 5:15pm True Blood panel. Keep in mind, it was only about 1pm or so at this point. It's almost impossible to sneak into line to join anyone (I was able to do it about two times, using the bathroom as an excuse. Seriously, what are they gonna do?!) since the line goes outside and then back inside again and all the doors are guarded. So, instead of staying in the hall as I longed to do, I joined Tina in line and later Katie was able to sweet-talk her way outside to join us. In line, we passed Eric McCormack doing an interview in an odd, shaded area at the side of the building. I wanted to tell him I was sorry about Trust Me, but we were inside before I could express my condolences or even snap a picture.

By 2:30pm we were in the room, sitting out the last 15 minutes of the Simpsons panel. I understood about .05% of what they were talking about. *Shrug* After that panel, we moved closer and sat through the pilot screening of the new show "V". It wasn't bad and it had a lot of familiar faces. After the screening, Elizabeth Mitchell (Juliet from Lost), Scott Wolff, Morena Baccarin (Firefly, Serenity) and others came onstage for the Q&A. Scott Wolff's dimples were, as Michael Ausiello later put it, "a force of nature" and everyone else was very charming and they all seemed genuinely excited about the show. Another plus - Alan Tudyk guest stars in the pilot and its always lovely to see his face.

After V was the Fringe panel, which I was excited about, if only to get to see Joshua Jackson. This ended up being a great panel. Anna Torv, Joshua Jackson, John Noble and Jasika Nicole joined the panel, along with J.J. Abrams collaborators Alex Kurtzman and Roberto Orci. John Noble and Joshua Jackson could not stop smiling and since it was Joshua's first time at Comic-Con, he was overwhelmed by the amount of people and the support for the show. He was absolutely adorable and seemed totally excited about being there. John Noble also seemed excited and couldn't say enough good things about his co-stars. Anna Torv was, well...Anna Torv. Sorry guys, my mind was thoroughly engaged with the boys. It really turned into the Josh and John show and I don't remember a whole lot about what was talked about.

Favorite Moment:

When Joshua realized that the crowd pretty much screamed at anything they would say, he says, "Let me try one thing...RUTABAGA"! The crowd roars and he just cannot stop grinning from ear to ear.

Scoop/Spoilers:

Like I said, I don't remember much but...it seems like next season will only touch on TWO universes, our own and the one that Olivia walks into at the end of last season (the one with the Twin Towers still standing).

Sidebar: This is how much of a nerd I am - I actually typed Two Towers (as in Lord of the Rings) before I realized I meant Twin Towers. Oy.

So finally, we come to the non-negotiable Saturday panel. Katie put down her Harry Potter novel (which she had been reading through the last two panels), Tina and I wiggled to readjusted our numb butt-cheeks and we were ready for one of the hottest casts on television. As each cast member was introduced and walked onstage, the room got louder and louder. Alexander Skarsgard (Eric), Deborah Ann Woll (Jessica), Sam Trammell (Sam), Nelsan Ellis (LaFayette), Charlanne Harris (the author of the book series), Rutina Wesley (Tara), Michelle Forbes (Maryann), Alan Ball (the creator), Stephen Moyer (Bill) and Anna Paquin (Sookie). It was the largest panel we attended the whole of the Con (I think) and it was AWESOME. I really need another word for awesome, I think I am using it too often...

Anyway, I honestly can't remember most of the details, there were just too many people on the panel, but I do remember that Alexander had to apologize to Stephen for openly admiring Anna's "good looks" and hoping for a Eric/Sookie romance due to said "good looks" in answer to a fan question. Anna and Stephen were cute (and aware that everyone in the room was focused on them) but even though they sat next to each other, there was no obvious PDA. But I would bet my left ankle that they were playing footsie under the table. We got to watch a special Comic-Con preview of upcoming episodes and I cannot express how excited everyone got after watching it. Most of the fan questions were aimed at Alexander (mostly the gals, duh), Nelsan, Alan Ball and Stephen Moyer (again, the giggling girls). However, it was Deborah who stole the audience's hearts. She was the cutest thing imaginable. Tall, skinny, beautiful pale skin with that red hair, and sweetest thing you'll ever meet. Which leads me to my favorite moment...

Favorite Moment:

Deborah Ann Woll (in the cutest little sundress) sweetly says, "This is my first time here and I'm sorry if I'm a little nervous...". Everyone claps at her to show their support and Alexander, who is sitting next to her, puts his arm around her, pats her shoulder and smiles reassuringly at her. The moderator says to Deborah something like, "Every girl in the audience wishes she were you right now". Alexander smiles humbly and Deborah laughs in delight as the female members of the audience roar in agreement. I'm not at all ashamed to say that I screamed right along with them. Alexander is most definitely swoon-worthy.

Scoop/Spoilers:

In an unexpectedly direct answer from Ball, he bluntly says "yes" to a fan who asked if the Bill/Sookie/Eric love triangle would unfold in the show like it does in the books. I have no idea what that means, but I'm thinking Eric might eventually get what he's secretly wishing for...Hummmmm.......

Panels Missed for True Blood:

- Bram Stoker: The Joss Whedon of His Day? Come on, that had to have been an awesome panel!

- Glee (sad, but not a terrible, terrible loss)

- Sony Pictures - Zombieland and 2012. Could care less about Zombieland, but wouldn't have minded seeing 2012. Just another movie panel sacrificed for television.

- Heroes. This was a BIG ouchie. BIG BIG.

- The Boondock Saints II. With Julie Benz. Would have been cool to check out.

- Iron Man 2. Another BIG ouchie. I heard the footage shown was pretty awesome. I was not at all happy about missing this one.

- The Vampire Diaries. Yikes, another one I hated to miss. It included a screening of the pilot, which I am really curious to see. But True Blood vamps trump Vampire Diaries vamps. Sorry Paul Wesley and Ian Somerhalder!

And there ended our third day at Comic-Con. We left the convention center after the True Blood panel and made our way back our hotel to spend WAY too much money on WAY too much Italian food for three girls. And at the same time, we missed all the coolest parties. Lame!

Day 4 coming soon!