This is the first in what I hope will be a series of articles examining TV shows I enjoy. I'm not making a concerted effort to keep spoilers out, so be aware. If you find it boring as hell, just tell me and I'll stop.
A plane violently crashes on an island. The survivors quickly realise that they are - wait for it - lost. Not only that, but there are strange things happening on the island they now call home.
When that plane goes down it kicks off one of the smartest shows to come along in a good long while.
Lost is not an easy show. It is not a show for the casual viewer. It demands your attention. It demands your brain. It is not for everyone and it is not an overstatement that you must watch every episode - in the correct order - to enjoy it.
That's why I love it.
All too often television talks down to the viewer, with episodes endlessly recapping the basic concept or setting a status quo that will never change.
Lost is smart and it isn't afraid to treat its audience as smart. It expects something from you - your brain. Rising to the challenge is what makes it so enjoyable.
Each epsiode of Lost follows a basic structure. The main story features the current-day trials of the crash survivors as they struggle to survive on the island. This is intercut with a series of flashbacks into the lives of one character each week. In the best episodes these two stories are connected - the past affecting the present before your eyes. It's a masterstroke of storytelling that keeps the action current while keying into the characters. You care about these people because you know so much about them.
Much of the intrigue stems from the mysterious island. The castaways encounter out of place animals, a tribe of people who were already there, a mysterious monster made of smoke and man-made hatches in the ground. It's a slow burn. Patience is required as mysteries established in season one have yet to be answered. This leads to much of the criticism that is leveled at the show - that nothing really happens and mysterious are never answered. Honestly? There's truth to that. You either enjoy the ride and the joy of constant theorising or you don't. If you need things wrapped up quickly and obviously then this isn't the island for you.
Early in the run when things were at their murkiest, it was the characters that drew me in. Their flashback-driven development was the main selling point while they struggled with basic issues such as survival and hope for rescue.
As the mystery has deepened and more has been revealed the balance has changed and the plot has taken over from the characters. Now we know who these people are we are truly invested in what's happening to them - so that shifts into focus. The pace is quickening and - with an audience trained to be drip fed - the newest season is giving us whiplash with its quick pacing. Season 4 is now only two episodes in and is already pushing as one of my favourites. No momentum has been lost between seasons, as was the case in previous years.
What I love about the show can be summed up by the season three finale.
By then the flashback device was beginning to grow somewhat stale. Most of the surprises and insights to be gleamed had gone by and links were becoming purely thematical. The finale turned it all on its head by revealing in its closing moments that we were watching a flashforward - to a time when some surivors had escaped the island, and were having a crummy time. That's why Lost is so good. The end-of-season twist was not one of story, but one of format, and it was more exciting than 100 bombs in the Summer Bay diner. It also subverted the expectation that the show's natural conclusion would be an escape/resuce from the island, by jumping past that and making clear that the story was not over.
The island action was crisp and exciting, giving each cast member a chance to shine and paying off tension that had built for seasons.
How should you watch it? On DVD. In a marathon watching as many episodes as possible back-to-back.
Stefan tells stories, writes about stories and tells stories about stories.
2 comments:
Lost is brilliant. Now that they have an end in site and some sort of plan, I think the show can only go forward from here. Last years first half was really annoying - focusing on Jack, I think one of the worst characters on the show really annoyed me but it was good to see much more of Ben and the others. And the fact they probably know as little as the plane survivors to whats going on.
Have you seen last weeks episode? There were some clever Star Wars references all through the episode.
I hate this show.
It goes on and on and on, and gets nowhere and then you miss a couple of episodes and you're the one who's lost!
I hate it.
And has anybody gone to the toilet on this show? Did they make latrines when they first crash landed? Do you know how fast dysentry and other tropical nasties can spread without good hygiene? Just thought I'd get that off my chest.
I still hate it.
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