Monday, June 6, 2011

Lost Thoughts (aka The Lost Blog)

As some of you know, I'm notorious for not watching television. Oh, I watch movies constantly and I'll watch tv shows on dvd or Netflix. But as for keeping up with a show on a weekly basis? Hell no! I don't have the patience or the discipline to follow through with such a painstaking endeavor.
As some of you may also know, on May 23rd 2010 I went on a very special tirade about one particular show. The show in question is one that I absolutely refused to watch or take any interest in. When I heard how the series ended I mocked fans and friends alike for spending six years of their lives on a show that ended on a very trite, cliche note. Simply because, as many people who know me can testify, I sometimes rebel against things that are oppressively popular. As an example, you would be hard-pressed to find people who don't love the movie Forrest Gump. Meet the exception to that rule. From the moment I saw that film I despised it. But this blog isn't about Forrest Gump and I'm unwilling to waste any more of my time on that subject.
This blog is about the ABC Television series Lost.

Me being me, curiosity finally got the better of me. So over the past several months I watched the show in its entirety (it is available to stream from Netflix Instant Watch). I have to say, the first 2 seasons had me completely and utterly HOOKED. I won't go into plot details but I'm sure most of you know the gist; (a) plane crashes on mysterious island, (b) survivors desperately try to find a way off the island, (c) lots of weird shit happens. Seasons 3 and 4 were very good but not as stellar as the first two seasons. By season 5 my interest was starting to flag and by season six I just wanted to get the show over with and move on.
Don't get me wrong, it was still good. But the things I loved about the show in the beginning were missing. Lost had strayed so far from the things that originally hooked me and held my interest. It veered in such random ways. Obviously the writers were scrambling to stretch out the story line to keep filling up seasons worth of material. Personally I think the show should have been more concise and been maybe 3 seasons long. It would have been a much stronger show.
As for the ending? Did I hate it? No. Did I love it? No. It didn't end quite the same way people had explained it to me when it originally aired. It was definitely a better ending than that. It just seemed too...abrupt. After six VERY LONG seasons I was hoping for something more.
Overall, it was an enjoyable show. Does it deserve to be held in such high regard by legions of obsessive fans? No. Will I ever watch it again? Most likely not. I will say this though. After watching the finale last night, I awoke several times during the night and thought about it. That's something, I suppose. A show that resonates after the viewer has finished with it. That's the makings of good storytelling.


7 comments:

  1. That is pretty much how I feel about it. The first two seasons were great, but after that the show had no idea what it was doing, it got far too caught up in it's own gimmick and forgot how to tell a good story. The last season was awful.

    ReplyDelete
  2. I think this show actually benefitted to be watched once a week over time, when watched back to back its easier to see its flaws. The main problem was when the show started the writers didn't have an endgame. So for the first 3 or so seasons, they had no finish line in mind. I was in the "I love the finale" camp. I personally didn't mind that the show didn't give me all the answers. The show has always been that way, and I grew comfortable with it. Now try the show "Angel" if you can get through the first 3 seasons, the 4th and 5th are excellent.

    ReplyDelete
  3. The last seven minutes of my life.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Is this one of the shows that suffered from the writers strike? I can't remember when that was but I remember it having an impact on several TV series.

    ReplyDelete
  5. That would've been during the 4th season. The season was shorter than any of the others.

    ReplyDelete
  6. My whole life is lost. Only saw bits and pieces. Never watched the show.

    ReplyDelete