Frustration with 'Lost' is fun times
Fernando Madrigal
Arts | 2/13/08
My last column was on HBO's "The Wire" and its main character: Baltimore. My second favorite show also uses its location as the driving force behind its plot: "Lost."
In most desert island stories ("Gilligans's Island," "Survivor," "Cast Away," "Robinson Crusoe," etc.), the island is the setting, not really posing a threat to the characters outside of weather, animals and maybe some ignorant portrayals of the natives. On "Lost," the island has pulled the castaways into its grasp and holds many mysteries that unravel over the course of the series (i.e. What is in the hatch? What is the smoke monster? Why did the plane crash? Who are the others? Why can Locke walk?)
I'm not sure if I want the answers to these questions. Every time a question is answered, it raises three or four more questions about the nature of the island, the connection between the characters or just what the heck is going on with the show. It is the most fun you'll have being frustrated.
The story of the survivors (and other inhabitants of the island we meet along the way) is told mostly in flashback. Typically, each episode is dedicated to one character surviving on the island and we see he/she before they boarded Oceanic Flight 815. The fun is not only in getting to know the characters before they got to the island, but figuring out the connections between characters.
At the end of the third season, "Lost" changed up the formula. During the season finale, it was revealed that Jack's flashback wasn't a flashback; it was a flash forward. Now as the fourth season begins, we see some castaways in the future, off the island. Some people might think that the spoils the fun. We have been waiting four years to see them get off the island and now we know that they do.
But the fun is not in how do they get off the island, but how did they go from point A to point B and what happens in between. The best example of this is the star of the show, Jack. Ever since the plane crashed, his only concern was getting everyone rescued and off the island. In the flash forward that ended last season, we see him a broken man, taking flights regularly and hoping the plane will crash on the island again.
"Lost" follows in the tradition of mystery shows such as "Twin Peaks" and "The X-Files," where you never really know what's going on. Just when you find out what something is, the how and why are right behind it and the answers might not come until a season or two later.
The creators of "Lost" are in the unique situation of having an end date for their show. Through negotiations with ABC, they have planned out three more seasons, to wrap everything up and answer all the questions. After that, I can't imagine having so much fun being frustrated.
In most desert island stories ("Gilligans's Island," "Survivor," "Cast Away," "Robinson Crusoe," etc.), the island is the setting, not really posing a threat to the characters outside of weather, animals and maybe some ignorant portrayals of the natives. On "Lost," the island has pulled the castaways into its grasp and holds many mysteries that unravel over the course of the series (i.e. What is in the hatch? What is the smoke monster? Why did the plane crash? Who are the others? Why can Locke walk?)
I'm not sure if I want the answers to these questions. Every time a question is answered, it raises three or four more questions about the nature of the island, the connection between the characters or just what the heck is going on with the show. It is the most fun you'll have being frustrated.
The story of the survivors (and other inhabitants of the island we meet along the way) is told mostly in flashback. Typically, each episode is dedicated to one character surviving on the island and we see he/she before they boarded Oceanic Flight 815. The fun is not only in getting to know the characters before they got to the island, but figuring out the connections between characters.
At the end of the third season, "Lost" changed up the formula. During the season finale, it was revealed that Jack's flashback wasn't a flashback; it was a flash forward. Now as the fourth season begins, we see some castaways in the future, off the island. Some people might think that the spoils the fun. We have been waiting four years to see them get off the island and now we know that they do.
But the fun is not in how do they get off the island, but how did they go from point A to point B and what happens in between. The best example of this is the star of the show, Jack. Ever since the plane crashed, his only concern was getting everyone rescued and off the island. In the flash forward that ended last season, we see him a broken man, taking flights regularly and hoping the plane will crash on the island again.
"Lost" follows in the tradition of mystery shows such as "Twin Peaks" and "The X-Files," where you never really know what's going on. Just when you find out what something is, the how and why are right behind it and the answers might not come until a season or two later.
The creators of "Lost" are in the unique situation of having an end date for their show. Through negotiations with ABC, they have planned out three more seasons, to wrap everything up and answer all the questions. After that, I can't imagine having so much fun being frustrated.
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