I spent years reading and listening to friends talk about Lost and how great it was etc. etc. My buddy Spencer has graduate study level theories about the show's mythology(!!), but I just never got on the bus. Then I was behind. Then I just thought I'll wait till later. Then, later arrived. It's riveting, isn't it?
Sadly, Sleestaks never arrived and for this guy, the best I can say about Lost is it's mediocre. The much heralded first season is on par with the first seasons of Alias or Heroes, which is to say good and entertaining, but not groundbreaking. When I saw the polar bear, my mind wasn't blown I was just like, "why the f*** is there a polar bear? That's stupid." Since S1 didn't have the same effect on me as others, I also didn't notice the drop off (moaned about online) to the subsequent seasons 2 and 3. I just knew getting through them was becoming a chore.
One of my biggest pet peeves is when shows try to generate those big reveal moments. "It was the butler!" DUM DUMMM!!!! Lost commits this offense every 10 minutes. The music cues are ridiculous. I'm not saying I'm better than 80% of the world's population, but that segment seems to enjoy being told when to feel anxiety through heavy handed music. I do not. It offends me. Not only does Lost do this, but the reveal moments are, for the most part, pretty weak. I won't even say "pretty," I'll do what they wouldn't do and go out on a limb and say they are extremely weak, trite stunts that if they were performed on a comedy stage would incite heckles of "hack" from the green room. The only "oh shit" moment I had in the entire first season was when I thought, "hey, it would be neat if the teacher dude holding the dynamite blew up right now" and then he actually blew up. So, the only thing that incited me to exclaim out loud was my own premonition.
I'm not gonna say it's not without its moments, but Lost suffers from what most of American broadcast TV suffers from these days; too much content. The money making machine at ABC saw dollar signs and went with it, but those 25 episodes of S1 could've easily been told in 16. I have a feeling the entire 120 run could be done in 60. There's a lot of wasted space and that leads to those weak reveal moments that irked me so.
As far as the overall mythology arc goes, I should probably hold judgement until I'm done. I will say that when you're dealing with shows with these big, sweeping mythologies you have to touch base with something that did it really well, like The X-Files. X-Files had a brilliant mythology that carried through the entire run, but it was also a show developed to use that mythology when necessary. It didn't hang it's hat on "The Syndicate." There were weeks without mention or maybe a coda-esque nod before Fox switched over to Dark Angel. The show wasn't swallowed by this "mytharc," it was just another storytelling tool. Through three seasons, all I see from Lost is mythology! They even use their character development moments to drive home the mythos, straining against all common sense to tie every person together like the final 300 feet of It's A Small World. I understand that is a selling point to a lot of fans, but color me bored.
So, I sit at a crossroads with Lost. Halfway through on seasons, a little over on episode numbers and the will to go on is weak. Trusted colleagues have told me it is worth it, but they said the same thing about the first season and well, we know my feelings on that. Time to consider that Lost is not my thing. If you loved it, great. I don't really have a desire to hear why your right and I'm wrong, because what most critics and board trolls like to forget is, we're both right. Opinions are opinions. Right now, mine is low. Maybe it will get better as I move forward, maybe not. Either way, today I'm not into the hype.
P.S. Neither am I into the hype today!! It is nearly 5 months since I wrote the above thoughts and I have yet to go back and start up with S4. The truth is, I'm not going to. With the advent of Netflix streaming there have been shows I have just torn through, shows I couldn't wait to watch more of, staying up late or foregoing a shower to squeeze more into my eye sockets. Friday Night Lights for example. I downed that thing in 8 days and loved every second! I don't feel that with Lost, so sadly, we are breaking up for good.
I don't have the time to waste on something I am so apathetic about. I tried, but it's not me Lost, it's you. Don't stay in touch, which should be easy in purgatory or wherever you are since they don't have a phone or internet access unless the writer's need one and then they'll have someone trip over a mysterious hatch. In any case, I've changed the locks. Farewell Hobbit! Farewell Party of Five! So long guy from Kama Sutra! And I'll miss you least of all scene chewing Admiral from JAG!! Alright, enough hyperbole for today. Lost, my tribe has spoken. See ya!
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