Lost

First I watched four seasons “week after week" and then, years later, I watched all six seasons all at once. Although Lost can be faulted for many things (mostly rightly), it can also be praised to the heavens for a lot of other things (mostly rightly). The evolution of each season in terms of narrative methods, style, genre, topic, form... Simply everything is done in a way that nobody has attempted before; especially not for a non-cable station that relies heavily on viewer figures. Each season is completely different, not always necessarily good, but Lost doesn’t suffer from the “same thing over and over, just in a different jacket" syndrome. Where the first series made do with a few characters and their struggle for survival somewhere on a beach in the South Pacific, a couple of acres of jungle, slow storytelling and flashbacks, a couple of seasons later it continues with an almost unbearable number of characters, global scale, breakneck pace, no flashbacks, several time levels of storytelling (Nolan must love it) etc. It is evident that the first two seasons are completely separate from the others, as if, after their success, the creators came up with an integrated concept for “how it is ALL going to be from now on", so they knew what to put where “so that it would all fit together", while before that this wasn’t the case at all. So the separate events (especially during season five) work faultlessly in terms of episodes as of season three, but in the context of the first two seasons, in places they are pretty hard to come to terms with as far as logic is concerned. The series suffered some rather weak interludes (filler episodes during season three, the first half of season five and a considerable section of season six), as well as enjoying some stronger periods (season one, a period comprising four episodes in season three and the entire season four and the end of season five). In the first half, it was often needlessly dragged out, while in the second half an episode or so on top would have benefited things. It should have ended after season four which, with a couple of changes, would have made a satisfying end (season five as well), or conversely it should have had an extra season, because the finale leaves a lot of unsuitable loose ends. It’s just full of contradictions. Why it works and what carries it along despite some weaker periods are the characters. It is the characters that make this worth watching at all and all of the most powerful moments are thanks to them. Because these moments aren’t a matter of twists or revelations, but they are simply emotional passages. Primarily it isn’t an action adventure mystery sci-fi series, that is all secondary, but it’s about the characters. And they are the reason why I kept watching for so many years, even though more than once it got on my nerves; the characters are the reason why I plan to watch it again in the future. Purely objectively I should give it four stars, but... I just have a weakness for Lost and for Giacchino and his top notch six years of toil on this series, and I can think of nothing but praise for it. _____ Season one (5/5): At first sight it might seem that another variation on the theme of “survivors on a desert island" has nothing to offer, but that would be a mistake in this case. It’s like if you describe Twin Peaks as simply twenty episodes about the investigation of a murder in a small town; who would want to watch something like that, huh? Season two (4/5): To start off with, the creators turn everything upside down and so this season has a completely different feeling than the one before it... But still, underneath everything this is still good old Lost. Season three (4/5): Right from the very start the creators show you that this is going to be in a different spirit. But that’s not really how it works here. It’s still good, but you’ve seen it all before and it’s almost a waste of screen space. It’s not actually boring, but clearly yesterday’s warmed up porridge full of pointless flashbacks. You even start thinking that maybe it’s not worth your valuable time. But sometime around episode eight it kicks off from the bottom and the quality begins to rise, at first slowly, but then pretty fast, with the last few episodes of the season turning into the very best that the creators have given us so far. But at times it seems that they should have condensed the story down from three episodes into one. At times. Season four (5/5): ... and, lo and behold, that’s what they did. Fewer episodes per season meant unusually perfect episodes, because they got rid of the filler. Breakneck pacing, that is what season four is about. No need to mention the change in concept and style, that would be repeating myself, so I’ll shorten things to saying that this is the best season after season one. This one is so good that if it answered a couple more questions, this would have made a respectable and mainly absolute ending to the series. Season five (4/5): Not at all bad, but somewhere completely different than I wanted it to be. There are many unforgettable sequences here, but the pace is so relaxed that many of the episodes could be much shorter. But it’s nice that the creators stuck to the motto “what happened happened, and it happened like it always did" which is pretty rare (and never on such a scale, and never before did it make sense). The final quartet of episodes is first rate - something we have never seen in Lost before, which improves the overall impression. Season six (3/5): "I promise I'll tell you everything." When I said I didn’t like the direction taken in the preceding season, while having some qualities, this season the same applies twofold. Developments on the island are rather confused (although they have their moments, as usual in the second half of the season) and this season drags on by the inclusion of countless flashbacks; this is an elegant way of getting out of the problems, although it only works if you care about the characters at all. But if you didn’t, you wouldn’t be watching season six, would you? The problem of this season is the duality of good and evil, because the “good" is represented here by an all-powerful elite that doesn’t hesitate to wreck lives, while the “bad" is presented as quite understandable free will pushed into being evil, preventing any steps of “good" from being taken, which is bad for everybody else. In terms of story, the finale is similar to what I wrote somewhere before, but the aim here isn’t to resolve everything (although I think that everything has already been explained; here it is less about being necessary and meaningful and logical, but more about feelings instead). This season is centered around respectful farewell to the characters, which works perfectly all the way to the finale. But then along something happened that shouldn’t have... The events on the island itself are decently wrapped up, but the second storyline not at all. And the events captured on the bonus, spoof episode on the DVD Epilogue: The New Man in Charge (5/5)? I’ll just say this: if ABC gets around to it, I want to be there to see it. (12/10/2005) (less) (more)

Right, after season one, which ends unsurprisingly with a cliffhanger, I can say with a clear conscience that I have been completed enchanted by this series, I’m Lost. Ingenious layering of atmosphere, mystery and excellently delivered storytelling are its main pluses. The acting performances are more than excellent, mainly Terry O’Quinn and Josh Holloway made the greatest impression on me (and paradoxically the main start here, Matthew Fox, made the least impression, but luckily he gets better as things progress, so we’ll se :-). Abrams really struck gold. Again. I have more complaint aimed at TV Nova which already aired the show just once a week (breakneck speed, I don’t think) and now, in a stroke of genius, they rescheduled its spot to an hour later. Excellent work. No wonder the viewing figures are falling. What more is there to say? I’m waiting impatiently for season two... In season two we get more or less what we got in season one, but this time it’s lost the moment of surprise. Although... Lost? It depends how you look at it. Surprise is the last thing that Lost is lacking. Let’s just say that now we got to know all the characters. No longer do we say “that doctor", but Jack (by the way, he really has got better and stopped being that squeaky clean George Washington type), no longer “that girl", but now Kate. Quite simply, what else is there to find out about these familiar characters? And that’s where the magic lies! There is a whole lot that we don’t know and have no idea about (or we have an idea, but as usual we’re wrong ;). The new characters that arrive on the scene, for instance Mr Eko and Anna Lucia (I was very happy with Michelle Rodriguez) intensify the pretty tense atmosphere even more (mainly toward the end). The last episode really took my breath away (unsurprisingly) and some issues raised in various discussion forums, that I previously ridiculed, are slowly beginning to niggle away at my brain. I’m looking forward to season three like a little boy to Christmas... Season three doesn’t start very well and more than a sci-fi/drama/horror it seems more like a tired telenovela. In comparison with the competition, the quality level is still a solid average, but “average" is no longer enough with Lost. One of the positive things at the beginning are quotes from or references to Stephen King who turns out to be a huge fan of the series (and the creators of Lost are huge King fans, too :). Somewhere around the seventh or eighth episode, season three sort of splits in two and from the episode with Desmond and onward, it offers the best that we’ve seen so far. And I think that the last 3 to 4 episodes are just the tops and I nod my head in appreciation at the creator’s guts to go quite THAT far in the last minutes of the final episode. After all, apart from a particular “thing", the series could end very nicely here (it’s true that a lot of questions would remain unanswered, but it could). You see, it’s like this. After watching season three, the two seasons preceding seem almost pathetic. I can’t wait for season four... Missing Pieces, which were issued just to view on cellphone, are all very well, but they don’t come out with anything earth-shattering. Apart from one important thing, sensibly not revealed until the last episode. And I admit that this “thing"made a satisfied smile break out across my face and again cranked up my expectations for season four right to the maximum... So season four considerably improved its entire storytelling concept and slightly lightened the tone of the whole series. A lot more is happening now than ever before. New people arriving in boats, glimpses of the future, revealing the past. All of this has had a beneficial effect on Lost. By far the best episode (maybe even of the entire series) was completely stolen by Desmond (The Constant) and even though the finale wasn’t as punchy as the ones before it, it was certainly extremely important. Although we haven’t moved on very far in time. I’m already racking my brains over what the fifth season will bring... Season five perfectly satisfied my expectations and tries harder than anytime before. Glimpses into the past reveal plenty of answers and while also posing more and more questions. I was a little disappointed that Desmond received less space, but frankly, I didn’t notice that his absence particularly mattered. All of the main characters undergo an evolution that I would never have expected. Jack, Locke, Sawyer, Ben, all these guys, just Faraday was a little in the background. In the last episode the creators keep their promise that everything was just a little different than we thought. And Jacob played a really large part in that, but not a word more. This is going to be a darn long year... In the last season six everything starts to become more foreboding and the final reckoning is really effective. A lot of things ended up more or less as I expected, but many of them surprised me just the way I like a season of Lost. I am really pleased that my favorite, Desmond, played a small, but damn important role in the events of the final episodes and stole one of the best scenes of the series. Kate finally revealed what her task was and Jack handled the ending with flying colors and, despite not liking him in season one, I found myself nodding my head at how cool he is. Throughout the series I kept on glimpsing Stephen King and getting occasional views of my favorite saga, The Dark Tower, and so I’m happy, I have already trodden this path myself and I’m glad that I could go along it again, just slightly differently. In a different format, you might say. And to conclude? Good and bad clash again in a never-ending match and for all of you who has a bit of a child still napping inside them, or if your fantasies haven’t crumbled under the weight of the obligations of life, this show is a dream come true. See you in the next life, brother. (29/10/2006) (less) (more)