LOST Review

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     Very few shows in history can claim that they revolutionized television; LOST is a member of this small elite.  LOST pushed the limits on what was expected of a traditional network drama, and changed the way that fans respond to television forever.  For 6 years and over 100 episodes, the show's creators and runners never sacrificed their vision, never catered to the "lowest common denominator".  They made a show that was intelligent, thought-provoking, hilarious, heartfelt, emotional, and truly original in its entirety.  A show that could not be pigeonholed, could not be described in a single sentence.  (Try and explaining LOST in one sentence to a non-LOST fan, it's impossible).  The greatest network drama of all time in this blogger's humble opinion, this is LOST



     LOST focused on the lives of the "castaways" the survivors of the crash of Oceanic Flight 815 en route from Sydney to Los Angeles, onto a "mysterious" tropical island.  The series chronicled their efforts to survive on the island and discover its mysteries, as well as a deeper, more spiritual purpose.  Featuring one of the largest and most diverse casts in television history, it would take far too much time to accurately describe each one.  Instead, I would like to describe the series as a whole, to avoid as few spoilers as possible.  This is one show where knowing as little as possible about what happens is a bonus.  LOST is a very "twist"-centered show, and knowing the twists ahead of time is no fun.  So non-LOST fans, please skip ahead of the next few paragraphs, as I will be reviewing each season as a whole, and it will contain SPOILERS.  So unless you want everything about LOST spoiled to you, please skip ahead until you see "Spoilers Over".



*SPOILERS BEGIN"

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Season 1: Widely hailed by many to be the best season of LOST, this was the season that started it all.  All the mysteries, all the romances, all the "OH MY GOSH!" moments, began right here.  This season's primary purpose was to introduce the numerous characters and their tumultuous back-stories to us, through the use of flashbacks.  We also learned that the castaways were not alone on the island, with both human and non-human inhabitants.  Many standout episodes here including, "Pilot", "Confidence Man", "Solitary", "All the Best Cowboys Have Daddy Issues", "Deus Ex Machina", "Exodus, and one of my personal favorites of any television show "Walkabout".  This season was widely acclaimed by critics and the public, averaging over 17 millions viewers and winning an Emmy for Best Drama.

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Season 2: Season 2 introduced us to the "Hatch", the mysterious object Locke and Boone had found in the jungle, that was the focus of much of Season 1's tension.  Inside we found not only a person, but an entire secret scientific organization, known as "The Dharma Initiative".  This season also introduced to the survivors of the tail section of the plane, who had been living in their own camp on a different side of the island.  This season continued with the flashbacks, and added even more mysteries to the already large number.  Some exemplary episodes include "Man of Science, Man of Faith", "The 23rd Psalm", "The Long Con", "Lockdown",  and the best episode of the season, the season finale 2-parter "Live Together, Die Alone"  This is the season where LOST reached it's peak number of viewers, and then subsequent drop-off.  This season was deemed a lesser season of LOST, and was not nominated for a Best Drama Emmy.

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Season 3: Season 3 is a unique season of LOST.  It includes some of the worst and best episodes of LOST.  Early season 3 terrible is quite mediocre and muddled, while some episodes, such as "Stranger in a Strange Land", "Par Avion" (My most hated LOST epiosde), and "Expose" (Widely considered the worst episode of LOST), are downright unwatchable.  The LOST showrunners, Damon Lindelof and Carlton Cuse, had lost focus of the series, and it was being drowned in unsolved mysteries and unresolved plotlines.  Halfway through, they decided that they would end the show after 3 more season in May 2010, a revolutionary idea for a still-popular show.  This re-energized the show's creators, and the latter half of Season 3 contains some of their best episodes.  Some standouts include "Flashes Before Their Eyes", "The Brig", "The Man Behind The Curtain", "Greatest Hits", and the other contender for my favorite episode of LOST ever, the season 3 finale "Through the Looking Glass".  This season introduced us to the "Others", the original inhabitants of their island, and their mysterious leader Benjamin Linus (My favorite character on this show).   The first half of this season was critically ravaged, while the second half was critically acclaimed.

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Season 4: Season 4 is my favorite season of the show.  Season 4 introduced us to the flashforwards, showing the character's lives in the future, instead of the past.  It also introduced to the "Freighter Crew", a scientific team from a freighter stationed off the island, who had come there to extract Ben Linus.  This was much to the castaway's dismay and confusion, who thought that the freighter was there to rescue them.  Many exemplary episodes in LOST's shortest season including "The Beginning of the End", "The Constant" (Widely considered the best LOST episode ever), "The Shape of Things to Come", "Something Nice Back Home", "Cabin Fever", and "There's No Place Like Home". This season was critically acclaimed, and once again resulted in LOST being nominated for a Best Drama Emmy.

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Season 5: The pentulimate season of LOST was very different.  The season began with some of the castaways the "Oceanic 6", off the island, seeking a way to come back.  This season also featured extensize use of time travel as a story telling device.  It was the season that re-introduced the Dharma Initiative, and introduced the centuries-old conflict between the island leader Jacob and the mysterious "Man in Black".  Some standout episodes include "Jughead", "316", "The Life and Death of Jeremy Bentham", "Dead is Dead",  "The Variable", and the explosive 2-parter "The Incident".  This season continued LOST's declince in viewers, but was once again nominated for a Best Drama Emmy.

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Season 6: The controversial final season of LOST, which set out to wrap up the show's plotlines and many mysteries to the satisfaction of the fans.  This of course was impossible.  There was no way the creators could answer every single question, and many would probably not satisfy the imagination of many of the fans.  Yet, in my opinion, the final season of LOST succeeded in wrapping up several mysteries as well as giving our character's lives a wonderful conclusion.  Some stand out episodes include "The Substitute", "Lighthouse", "Dr. Linus", "Ab Aeterno" "Happily Ever After", "Everybody Loves Hugo", and "The End', the hotly debated series finale.  I have mixed feelings about the LOST finale.  I felt it was a wonderful way to wrap up the series, with all the characters together in "heaven".  I loved all the reunions, and I loved the closing shot of Jack dying.  It was pretty emotional. But numerous things in the finale, such as the whole "uncorking of the island" thing, seemed more allegorical then physical, and just confused me.  And since I know there will be no resolution, it makes me kind of sad.  But nevertheless, it was an action-packed emotional episode.



*SPOILERS OVER*

    I can honestly say that LOST changed my life. I have never before followed a show so religiously and devotedly as I did with LOST.  Friends of mine can testify that I ALWAYS talk about this show, and they were relieved when this show was over so I would stop talking about it.  I argued about LOST, wrote about LOST, read blogs about LOST.  I even incorporated LOST into one of my 9th grade English essays.  I have friends hundreds of miles away that I still keep in contact with because of LOST.  LOST is my favorite show ever, and I doubt any show will ever take its place.
    Even if you are not a fan of LOST, its hard to disagree about its impact.  It made genre television popular again, and made a statement that genre television (e.g. sci-fi and fantasy) is just as good as traditional shows.  It won numerous accolades for acting and writing, and was widely considered one of the best shows on television.  It dealt with many themes such as science vs. faith, destiny vs. chance, and redemption.  It was more then a show about people on an island.  It was a show about people, just like us, who had some of the same problems we did.  Bad father relationships, addiction, marital issues, an obsession with "fixing people".  They were able to realize their flaws and fix them in order to become better people.  LOST taught us that people aren't perfect, but all are capable of redemption.  That's what LOST was about all along.  Not about the mysteries or the intrigue, but the characters.  Live Together, Die Alone.