A mysterious locked capsule falls into Phineas and Ferb’s back yard and they struggle to open it, only to discover they have unleashed something they cannot control.
Meanwhile, Perry learns that Dr. Doofenshmirtz has been abducted and tracks him to Seattle where another evil scientist, Professor Mystery, has his own sinister plan.
You might not learn the secrets behind Lost‘s smoke monster or find out who in the heck built the island’s giant four-toed statue when you watch “Lost in Danville,” but this special episode of Phineas and Ferb features a story by Lost co-creator Damon Lindelof. And it does answer one very important question: Who is Peter the Panda’s nemesis?
Lindelof, a longtime fan of Phineas and Ferb, brought this mystery to the show’s creators and executive producers, Dan Povenmire and Jeff “Swampy” Marsh, who thought it wasn’t just a provocative question but a story that Lindelof should help craft. Lindelof began watching Phineas and Ferb at the recommendation of his wife and son. “The show invites in newcomers, but it also rewards the people looking at the details. There are just so many Easter eggs packed into each one,” Damon points out, adding, “As a writer, I became totally enraptured in it to the point that I was watching episodes and my son would say, ‘I’ve already seen this one,’ and I was like, ‘I’ll watch it!'”
Writing an episode of Phineas and Ferb most assuredly upped Lindelof’s street cred with his son, but Povenmire and Marsh confess that they felt a bit of a boost from working with the man who introduced Hurley and the Dharma Initiative to the world. “Damon actually came to Comic-Con with us two years ago and moderated our panel, which we sort of kept as a secret because we felt it would be a really fun surprise,” Povenmire explains. “At Comic-Con, that’s quite a get, to have Damon show up for something like that and he was just there asking us questions and stuff. It was really fun.”
“It was just a fancy way to get my questions answered,” Lindelof jokes.
Once Lindelof agreed to come on board, Povenmire and Marsh led him through their process. “He came in and brainstormed with us and we sent him off to do an outline,” Povenmire recalls.
“I think that one of the most exciting times in my career was being in a place where I felt slightly uncomfortable and had to please my bosses,” Lindelof remembers. “I think that when you’re running your own show you sort of lose the thrill of the pitch and you’re just being pitched to.” Lindelof unabashedly credits the Phineas and Ferb writers with doing all of the “heavy lifting” and making all of his jokes funnier, confessing, “I felt like it was going to be really important to be able to laugh at myself and understand that I have a great profound pride in Lost, but to sort of wink a little and have this guy [Peter the Panda’s mysterious nemesis] embody the idea of what are the effects of not revealing your master plan to people was something that we felt was a very rich vein for comedy.”
Lost fans will find much to laugh at in the 11-minute story. “Lost in Danville” includes time travel, a giant polar bear, and an unopenable hatch. Povenmire acknowledges, “We sort of assumed there would be people who watch the episode specifically because of Damon, thinking, ‘Oh, I’ll watch this because I liked Lost.’ And so we put the capsule in. There’s a lot that [Damon] threw in to let us have fun with that.” And in return, Povenmire and Marsh allowed Lindelof to help reveal a key piece of his favorite character’s backstory.
So, while the special episode may not feature the Oceanic 6, the Danville 2 will be front and center when “Lost in Danville” premieres Monday, September 29, at 7:30 p.m. ET/PT on Disney XD.
