LOST

Since I just  finished watching LOST, after watching the whole thing over the last few months I feel it is time to write my review of the series. I know I am a bit late on the bandwagon, but I was really resisting watching it and finally succumbed. So. There are a lot of things which I actually liked about the show, mainly, I liked the flashbacks /flash forwards/ different timelines etc. I heard a lot of people complaining about this but I always fall for this kind of story telling because I feel like there is something realistic about it, not the alternate timelines exactly, but I feel like we tend to experience life somewhat out of order. Yes, obviously, we live our lives consecutively but we also look back on our lives and memories with the knowledge we now have, and, furthermore, when we meet someone new we don’t learn about them in an ordered or consecutive fashion. So, revealing the characters in bits and pieces is quite a realistic and interesting device .However, I did get annoyed by the sound effect which always signaled these flashes. I think that myself, and other audience members, are intelligent enough to figure out that hey-they were in the jungle and now they aren’t-must be a flashback! 

As  a child of the 90’s I grew up with the X-Files and I think that the same thing that worked for the X-files works for LOST that is, the idea of -what if we’re just  floating around unaware of CRAZY things going on?  What if you crashed on an island and not only found a lot of weird animals and mangos but a weird corporation from the seventies, a smoke monster, and some guy in eyeliner that doesn’t age? When I was briefly a film student I read an article which explained that we can understand films and television shows because we have dreams which function in a similar way. I think that in a sense shows like LOST work because they have that dreamlike quality, which is to say, a lot of weird things happening that don’t need explanation because it’s  LOST. However, even though on one hand I like this, on the other there were moments of sheer incredulity and me wanting to smash my laptop. Michael was the bane of my existence for the first few seasons. Basically all he did was yell gratingly and, yeah, I guess the idea was that he just wanted to save his son and a person will be compromised when trying to save a child but could anyone have done it in a more annoying way? AND basically he’s a big jerk and screws things up for everyone and no one even gets to kick his ass.

 I guess that watching a series back to back is probably unwise because one gets to feel the full force of the clichés, musical montages, and artistic devices. I mean, after a while the touching ‘being reunited’ scenes provided more a sense of déjà vu and less a sense of being, in any way, moved. You really want to get into it when the characters come up with a plan to get off the island, or set the timeline straight or etc. but come on, we’ve seen Gilligan’s Island, we know they aren’t going to get off the island. One is left wanting to yell at the television- DON’T DO IT, IT WON’T WORK, THIS IS ONLY THE SECOND SEASON! And just like Mulder was never going to find his sister, the islanders are never going to find answers. Furthermore, of course, each episode has to end with twist or mystery but most often they take so long in getting back to the mystery that by the time it’s solved, you do not even care, nor remember.

The key to success on a show like this is to leave as much to the imagination as possible. And LOST did this surprisingly well. There were a lot of scenes which were just plain creepy: skeletons in caves, mysterious temples, weird dreams-or were they? Magical numbers, coincidences, etc. The feeling of the show was well crafted and for this I give them two thumbs up.

It’s also interesting to note the difference in cultural climate from the beginning of the show to its finale, and the present. In 2004 when the show began, the multi-cultural cast was noteworthy. As someone who started watching it in 2010 I didn’t even notice this until someone pointed it out to me. Something, which I think says something about cultural views and what’s shown on television. It also tells us what kind of political and social climate there was when the show began. As this isn’t an article about that we won’t go there, but it does demonstrate how art affects life and life affects art.

Lastly, let’s talk about the finale. The finale is arguably the most important part of any show, because, let’s face it, even if you were less than a fan, everyone suddenly wants to know what happened, who ended up with who, etc. Not only that but you are suddenly overcome with nostalgia for the show, as if it’s an old friend who’s been lurking around, always there for you. Considering this, how did LOST stack up? First of all there were a lot of cheesy montages and flashbacks to the previous seasons which is a must. Basically, I love musical montages and if there’s anything that gets me going, it s a musical montage. Secretly, I believe that everyone loves musical montages, even if they vehemently deny it. With that in mind, the LOST finale did not disappoint. Also, bringing back all the dead characters was a brilliant move because seeing dead characters is always a touching homage to the first seasons. However, unfortunately, the finale also, did not make any sense. Half way through I started to think Frodo was about to show up and lead them all to Mordor to destroy the ring, er, John Locke,  er the smoke monster. In fact the whole subplot of the two brothers warring over the Island was altogether ill-advised. I was on board with the idea of people, ideas, corporations etc fighting over the island but then these two show up, in a sort of half assed Biblical reference that isn’t really a Biblical reference at all. And the little plug thing in the ‘heart of the island’ was overall a pretty half hearted attempt to resolve the show. Up untill that point you sort of thought the smoke monster was a kind of good guy, towing a harsh line, but suddenly he represents all the tiki-tiki evil in the world?  And, of course you had to imagine that they were all dead, or in a dream. All I can say is, thank goodness they didn’t go down the dream road. However, the dead road just sort of went to a bad place. They all meet up, but they are in a timeless, heaven-y church thing WHERE ONE OF THEM HAS A BABY WHICH MAKES NO SENSE AT ALL UNLESSTHE BABY DIED WHICH WAS NEVER MENTIONED. Anyway.  So they all meet up after having lived long and good lives-we assume, since we are never told anything, and everyone is with their Island dream partner and rah, rah, rah. Oh and Jack’s dad tells them everything they experienced was real…but., what? Are there two realities that are accidentally meeting? Is one of them purgatory? Who can know? The problem with a show like LOST is that it was never meant to end. You had to keep watching because, yeah, the twists were good, and, being on an island and uncovering it’s mysteries is a good enough plotline without it being a magic, time travelling island, but inevitably you have to give answers and the answers that anyone can logically, or illogically come up with are not as good as the unknown. I am assuming that some of the twists thrown in were never meant to be answered, they were just there to be creepy, and fuel the idea of the island as being otherworldly, so when they were forced to give an answer it just couldn’t be done in a good way.

In conclusion-love it or hate, LOST is a part of cultural vernacular now, and with good reason. Maybe it’s a cliché but in a time of cultural strife LOST was trying to say-COME ON GUYS, THERE ARE BIGGER FISH TO FRY.

Overall ratings (out of 10)
Quality of escape plans hatched- -10
Political Correctness- 10/10
Creepiness factor-8/10
Fromage-6/10—a fair amount
Eyeliner-11/10
Time travel theories—10, made negatory sense