Will Lost sink or swim this year? Can the castaways maintain the show’s red-hot status and avoid the sharks, both literal and figurative, that surround them? Only time and Wednesday’s premiere will tell us.The greatest fear I have is that the show paradoxically becomes a victim of its own success. I love the drawn out mysteries – to a point. I was a huge fan of the X-Files, but by the time it came to revealing the secrets of why the aliens were on Earth, what happened to Mulder’s sister and who was the father of Scully’s baby, I no longer cared. I had moved on to the latest hot, new show in the timeslot – Alias – which is Lost creator J.J. Abrams’ previous hit. There is a lesson there and I hope they realize it.
There are a myriad of big questions to be answered (why are they on the island? what do the numbers mean? what’s healing the castaways?) but here are a few that I hope will be touched on soon:
- How was Locke paralyzed? We’ve gone two seasons and had multiple flashbacks with him but they have ignored a central part of his character.
- What’s with Lostzilla? Is the smoke monster the same thing that ate the pilot in the premiere, what Locke called the eye of the island?
- If Jack is the only surgeon on the island, how will he ever get the giant stick removed from his ass?
There is a great recap on Entertainment Weekly, but for the diehards may I recommend my friend Nikki Stafford’s recently published book Finding Lost. Nikki has analyzed every episode of the past two seasons and, more impressively, read every book that was referenced on the show from Dickens's Our Mutual Friend to Dostoevsky's The Brothers Karamazov. I only suffered through reading Bad Twin, so I have no idea how she managed.Nikki also blogs Nik at Night, which I don’t think she does enough of, but I forgive her because she not only watches more TV than I do, but she also finds time to write about it, all while having a two-year-old. There was a good interview with her in The Star this weekend and a blog interview from last week, among other things.
If you happen to be in Toronto tomorrow night (Oct. 3 ), the official book launch takes place at Type Books, 883 Queen Ste. West, from 6:30-8:30 p.m. If you can’t make that, watch for her on eTalk Daily, tomorrow at 7 p.m.
I have to admit that I have concerns about Lost, too. I think my biggest concern is that sometimes science fiction and fantasy shows (a category I feel safe putting Lost in) sometimes lose steam around the third season. It happened with the original Star Trek. With The X-Files it took a bit longer, but I'd say it wasn't the show it used to be by about the 6th season. I just hope this doesn't happen with Lost and that they can maintain a fairly high level of quality for the entirety of the show's run.
ReplyDeleteSo how is Lost working out for you? I'm enjoying being reintroduced to the characters - it almost feels like what came before isn't so relavent. A new beginning for the castaways, so to speak.
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