It had been my intention to watch the very first episode of Lost. I forgot. I also forgot to set the VCR to record it. After missing the next few episodes as well and believing, rightly as it turned out, that the show would be best viewed chronologically and in full, I gave up trying to watch the show on broadcast TV. Instead, I would catch up after the first season was released on DVD. That didn't quite work as planned, either, as I didn't manage to completely catch up for four years. I finished watching the final episode of season four the day before the fifth season began. This time, I programmed the DVR to record the series and haven't missed a episode since.
That first episode set the tone and style for each episode to come. The show almost always begins with a close up of a specific character, many times just of the character's eyes. As the character takes in his situation, the audience takes it in as well. This is almost always followed by a flurry of action, a revelation of some kind then the opening title. While each episode generally advances the overall story arc, different characters are also featured, including flashbacks to the character's back story and, in later episodes, flashes forward to future events. Most episodes end with a twist or a cliff hanger, after which the screen immediately goes black. On the mysterious island of Lost, it's an effective format.
And the island very definitely is mysterious. Characters who wander into the jungle hear whispering sounds coming from all around them. Unknown monsters chase characters. The truly mysterious smoke monster kills some who survived the crash. The island is already inhabited by the frightening Others, who attack under cover of darkness, taking children and pregnant women. A concrete hatch is discovered but cannot be opened. On the hatch is written a string of numbers one character used to win the lottery, starting a long run of bad luck for everyone around him. A character who was taking the body of his late father home not only sees his father on the island, he has conversations with him.
As the seasons pass, some of those initial mysteries are solved while other, more perplexing mysteries arise. Original characters die or even escape from the island. New characters appear to replace them. And some of them die, too. Entering the final season, I'm not even sure all of the primary seven characters who have been around since the beginning – Jack, Kate, Sawyer, Hurley, Sayid, Jin and Sun – will survive the end of the series. To my mind, this is a good thing, as perilous situations are filled with tension because the audience has learned that major characters may very well die.
Here we are with 17 episodes left in the series and a whole lot more questions than we started with. The producers say they'll answer the questions affecting the individual characters but not all of the overall questions. So, which questions do you think they'll answer?
Will Jack find out what happened to his father?
Will Kate be allowed to go free?
Will Kate pick Jack or Sawyer or neither of them?
What the heck is the smoke monster and why is it walking around looking like John Locke?
What was the Darma Initiative looking for on the island?
Who the heck is Richard and why doesn't he age?
Will everyone get off the island? Wait, they are off the island! Except they aren't. How can that be?
What's single biggest mystery you'd like to see resolved? What's the most stupid or the one you care nothing about? Or do you even care about Lost at all? And why does all of this sound like a soap opera with an exotic setting?
Let the arguments begin.
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