Nocturnal (web series)

Nocturnal is a supernatural serial drama in the tradition of the classic Dark Shadows and the more recent NBC serial Passions. The series premiered on the internet in March 2007, and new webisodes continue to appear every month on its eponymous web site.

Plot synopsis

Shot on location in and around Pittsburgh, PA, (though the city has never been explicitly named) the series revolves around the mysterious circumstances surrounding the murder of a young woman named Natalie Brew (who, curiously enough, has never appeared in a single webisode).

Not unlike Twin Peaks, the identity of Natalie's killer is one of the series' overarching mysteries. And, as police investigators Archer Reilly and Sarah Pennington discover, there is no shortage of suspects. Did she run afoul of the wealthy and powerful Hawthorne family—led by its patriarch Jebediah—whose power came as a result of dealings with dark forces? Or was she another in the seemingly endless victims of Dr. Ulrich Von Der Linn, a vampire masquerading as a hypnotherapist?

Nocturnal (novel)

Nocturnal is a novel and podcast by author Scott Sigler. The novel was originally released in 2007 in podcast format, with a print format releasing in 2012 by Crown Publishing with some elements from the original version altered.

Plot

The book is set in San Francisco and is narrated from multiple perspectives, largely that of Bryan Clauser, a homicide detective known for his calm, cold demeanor. This is in stark contrast to the personality of his partner Lawrence "Pookie" Chang, who spends much of his time making wise-cracks and writing the series bible for a TV series he's developing. The two come across a series of ritualistic murders that appear to be initially unconnected but eventually prove to be related to a teenager by the name of Rex Deprovdechuk. During all of the murders Bryan and Rex both have a series of dreams where they see bizarre, monstrous people murdering the victims in the name of an as yet unknown king. Unbeknownst to the others, the monsters have kidnapped multiple individuals including the homeless junkie Aggie James.

Nocturnal (instrument)

A nocturnal is an instrument used to determine the local time based on the relative positions of two or more stars in the night sky. Sometimes called a "horologium nocturnum" (time instrument for night) or nocturlabe (in French and occasionally used by English writers), it is related to the astrolabe and sun dial. Knowing the time is important in piloting for calculating tides and some nocturnals incorporate tide charts for important ports.

Even if the nightly course of the stars has been known since antiquity, the mentions of a dedicated instrument for its measurement are not found before the Middle Ages. The earlier image presenting the use of a nocturnal is in a manuscript dated from the 12th century.Raymond Lull repeatedly described the use of a sphaera horarum noctis ou astrolabium nocturnum.

With Martín Cortés de Albacar's book Arte de Navegar, published in 1551 the name and the instrument gained a larger popularity

It was described also c. 1530 by Peter Apianus in his Cosmographicus Liber republished later by Gemma Frisius with a widely circulated illustration of the instrument while being used by an observer.

? (Lost)

"?", typically pronounced "Question Mark" is the 46th episode of Lost and the 21st episode of the second season. The episode was directed by Deran Sarafian, and written by Damon Lindelof and Carlton Cuse. It first aired on May 10, 2006, on ABC. The character of Mr. Eko is featured in the episode's flashbacks.

Plot

Flashbacks

Eko is a priest in Australia. An associate gives him a counterfeit passport before he is sent to investigate a miracle of a drowned young girl, named Charlotte, coming back to life on the autopsy table. At first, it appears that the miracle is genuine. Eko then consults the girl's father, Richard Malkin, the psychic that Claire visited in "Raised by Another". Malkin claims that the girl survived naturally (probably thanks to the mammalian diving reflex, which is more pronounced in young individuals), and that Charlotte and her mother are simply pretending that there was a miracle because they resent the fact that he is a fraudulent psychic. Eko reports that a miracle did not take place. In the final flashback, Eko is confronted by Charlotte at the airport, who tells him that she saw Yemi while she was between the worlds and that his brother is proud of him. Angered, Eko starts to yell at Charlotte, who is interrupted by Libby, asking if everything was all right.

Lost (season 1)

The first season of the television series Lost commenced airing in the United States and Canada on September 22, 2004, concluded on May 25, 2005, and contained 25 episodes. It introduces the 48 survivors of a plane that broke apart in mid-air, scattering them on a remote island somewhere in the South Pacific. Forced to work together to survive, they come to realize it is no ordinary island.

The first season aired Wednesdays at 8:00 pm in the United States. In addition to the 25 regular episodes, a special, "Lost: The Journey", was aired on April 27, 2005, between the 20th and 21st episodes of the season. The season was released on DVD as a seven disc boxed set under the title of Lost: The Complete First Season on September 6, 2005 by Buena Vista Home Entertainment.

Crew

The season was produced by Touchstone Television (now ABC Studios), Bad Robot Productions and Grass Skirt Productions and was aired on the ABC Network in the U.S. The executive producers were co-creator J. J. Abrams, co-creator Damon Lindelof, Bryan Burk, Jack Bender and Carlton Cuse with Jesse Alexander and Jeff Pinkner serving as executive consultants. The staff writers were Abrams, Lindelof, Cuse, Alexander, Pinkner, co-executive producer David Fury, supervising producer Javier Grillo-Marxuach, producer Leonard Dick, producers Edward Kitsis & Adam Horowitz, co-producer Jennifer M. Johnson and story editor Paul Dini. Some of the first season's episodes were written or co-written by writers on a freelance basis. The regular directors throughout the season were J. J. Abrams, Jack Bender, Stephen Williams, Tucker Gates, Greg Yaitanes and Kevin Hooks. Its incidental music was composed by Michael Giacchino. Abrams, Lindelof and Cuse served as the season's show runners.

The End (Lost)

"The End" is the series finale of the ABC television series Lost, consisting of the 17th and 18th episodes of season 6. It is also the 120th and 121st episodes overall. As the final episode, it was first aired in the eastern United States and eastern Canada, and then aired simultaneously in the western United States, western Canada, and eight other countries.

The finale was written by co-creator/executive producer Damon Lindelof and executive producer Carlton Cuse, and directed by executive producer Jack Bender. Unlike the previous season finales, which were two hours long with advertisements, the series finale was expanded by half an hour, running two and a half hours starting at 9 pm Eastern Daylight Time, with a retrospective of the past six seasons running for two hours, starting at 7 pm.

"The End" was watched by 13.5 million Americans and received a strongly polarized response from both fans and critics. Reviewers from the Chicago Tribune and IGN called it the best episode of the season and praised its emotion and character. Negative reviews from the Los Angeles Times and The Philadelphia Inquirer criticized the finale for answering so few of the series' questions. Web site Metacritic gave "The End" a score of 74 out of 100, suggesting "mostly positive reviews", while The Guardian and The Daily Telegraph reported mostly negative reviews.