“So they may be gorgeous…”
“Take the noose off your ambition”
– Red Hot Chili Peppers
The above quote comes from the song “Throw Away Your Television” – bitterly ironic since Lost is has now got me addicted to mine like a baby crying for its bottle. But let’s begin at the beginning.
Lost season 1 was a TV phenomenon. Everyone was talking about it and it was only natural that I watched. And I enjoyed that first series. I did – it was never going to be one of my top ten shows but it was so watchable and the mysteries kept you coming back for more. Good stuff. And then that second season…
What a mess. All of a sudden, the show became slow, turgid and not at all fun to watch. Mysteries were not answered – there were just more mysteries piled on top of others. It became a frustrating fan experience. And, bizarrely enough, we all knew why. Because Lost was a network TV show, it had to be planned to last 7, 8, 9 or more years, or however long the show was popular and profitable. Watch ER now after 15 years and there aren’t many familiar faces from the early years. People quit the hospital, got promotions or got other jobs, retired, etc. However, on Lost, every character has a destiny, a purpose. They can’t just have everyone leave and get a new planeload of passengers to crash there for season 12. Jack, Kate, Sawyer, etc are there for the long haul and those who have come and gone in the last five years have all played their part in the mythology of the island.
Right after this poor season and with the beginning of season 3 I was ready to drop Lost like a bad habit. Season 3 starts sooooo slowly, with our heroes trapped in cages for what feels like months. I pretty much only kept up with the show at this time out of convenience. It was on Sundays at 10, so what else was I going to be doing? I’m glad I stuck with it, though boy, am I glad I stuck with it. Because then the sun broke through the clouds and Lost became worth watching again. The fight-back began around episodes 13 (“The Man from Tallahassee”) and 14 (“Exposé”), both of which showcased what Lost does best. “Tallahassee” was a brilliant mythology episode, linking the pasts of Locke and Sawyer and bringing satisfying closure to the two characters with the most interesting back-stories. “Exposé” was an incredible stand-alone episode dominated by the nobody characters of Nikki and Paolo. This one show placed away from the main business of the island was the nearest Lost could come to something like Buffy’s musical episode or Dr House being stuck on a plane. Something that breaks the weekly formula and is a hell of a lot of fun to boot.
I was enjoying Lost again and season 3 ended with one hell of a cliff-hanger – we were no longer seeing a flash-back, but a flash-forward. We were off the island. Even better, the producers announced would have 3 more 16-episode seasons and that was all. No longer would they be straining at the leash to keep things open indefinitely – the storywriters could get on with telling their story. Or in other words, take the noose off their ambition.
Suitably, season 4 started like a freight train and never let up. Reduced to 14 episodes by the strike, it was fast, funny and sleek. Lost was not the lumbering dinosaur of TV shows anymore; leave that to the stumbling, stuttering, misguided “Heroes”. Remember when Heroes started? Oh, how they laughed at Lost. So many quotes along the lines “we’ve got writers who actually know where they’re heading, we won’t start mysteries that we can’t answer, blah, blah, blah” – how well did that work out for you? It very soon turned into a sticky turd of a show, just as Lost found its sea legs again. Special mention here should go to the episode “The Constant” (episode 5), which is simply mind-blowing TV and to the introduction of Daniel Faraday (Jeremy Davies), an instant favourite character of mine.
Daniel Faraday
Season 4 never really put a foot wrong and really blew the cobwebs off, just at the time when shows can often become stale. And getting rid of the flashbacks (which could be deathly boring in the early years – Jack, Charlie, Sun and Jin, yes I’m referring to those ones) has been a massive boost to getting on with things. But I still wasn’t prepared how just how addictive season 5 would be. The time-travelling conceit that this latest season was built on could’ve been a ‘jump the shark’ moment, but instead it feels like exactly what needed to happen. There’s no other show I can compare it to.
Now I’m not saying it’s a Sopranos or a West Wing in terms of quality, but I honestly can’t think of another show that has the mix of action-adventure, science-fiction, romance, humour and a self-created mythology that all ties together so well. The show now feels like it has a depth to it and that it’s building towards something vital. They are so many threads, themes and ideas within the show that it is now impossible to boil it down to essentials. Every character has their own motives and beliefs – everyone is essential to the overall tapestry. No one feels like a supporting character anymore. I haven’t even mentioned Sayid, Ben, Juliet, Michael (and God knows who else), all of whom have contributed to a great cast in the most fascinating and addictive show being broadcast on TV right now.
I like Lost. There, I admitted it.
