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Through the Looking Glass

To spare everyone who doesn't watch LOST, I've held back on talking too much about the show. Well, after watching season three's finale and reading Noel's right-on post about it (and the show in general), I couldn't hold back any longer. Assuming you've seen the episode, read on. If not, skip the next paragraph.

Frankly, I don't know where this show will go from here. There were definitely pros and cons with this flash forward twist, but it seems like a sensible step forward. I think it's funny that the big game-changer was just a slight change in the show's formula. But it worked. Quite a few things that had been brewing for the entire series were paid off in this episode, but there's so much else that remains unanswered. Again, there are all sorts of possibilities with where the next season begins. Alas, I'll have to wait until a few weeks before I turn 29 to find this out.

Yes, the show will not return until February 2008. I will have plenty of time to go back over the first three seasons and connect some more dots. That's what's so great about the show: the more information you find out with later episodes, older episodes show more easter eggs. In other words, you're rewarded for paying attention and watching every episode. This is definitely not normal TV and I'm so thankful for this. It's made me actually actively turn on the TV again -- something I wasn't so sure would happen.

Since Seinfeld went off the air, the only show I really got into was Six Feet Under. I found the first two seasons incredibly dense, smart and most of all, human. Yet when the third season moved forward by making the main characters less and less likable, I slowly lost the desire to play catch-up. I still haven't seen the later seasons. I think that's what really deepened my distaste for following a serialized show.

I heard raves about LOST when it first premiered. Friends of mine were incredibly hooked and a few recommended I watch it. I resisted, but when I caught a summary episode one Saturday night, I grew really intrigued. A show about deeper stuff more than just the things that go bump in the night and who's doing who? A show that deals with the kind of philosophy and sociology that I frequently think about? I thought this was not possible, especially with a network television show.

My fandom for the show grew with the more episodes I watched. Watching older episodes to catch up, my fandom was cemented. I will say though, having to put up with the annoying complainers, groaners and pundits has been frustrating. It's one thing to politely disagree with a friend, family member or co-worker about the season or a certain episode. Yet hearing moans and groans from people I don't really know can be draining. They want more answers, but also more mysteries and more character development at the same time. What people post on message boards and blogs right after a show can bring out the worst in them. And these are the people who speak up and get counted.

Well, for us LOST fans, it's like the book we've been reading was taken out our hands when we reached the 150-page mark. We want to read more, but we have some trepidation along with nagging curiosity. Think of it this way: we've made it through three seasons and we're still engaged. You can't say that about a lot of TV shows and I'm glad. It's this trait that makes LOST so special and a cut above.

Comments

Anonymous said…
Eric & I have pretty much come to the conclusion that Lost is one of the, if not THE best show on television. The suspense is just mind-blowing.

My prediction after watching the season finale - Naomi's "freighter" is going to bring a whole new set of "others" to the island. I don't think Ben was lying about that. We knew he wouldn't have the three men killed either because he's stated before that "they are not killers".

I knew that Juliet wasn't all that bad. She's still mysterious but I think ultimately, she really wants to get off the island and she's going to stick with whoever might make that possible for her.

Locke. Hmmmm...he's just got some crazy stuff going on. Eric thinks that HE is Jacob. I'm not sure. I think they might be linked some how and that's why Ben felt threatened.

I'm dying to know who was in that casket. Still mulling over that one.

I loved it that Jack had called Kate and that was some foreshadowing there. I knew it wasn't his ex-wife that he called, that would have been too obvious. I got a bit confused though because his father was mentioned a few times and his father died BEFORE the plane crashed. So, were they just talking about him to throw us off? Did his father come back to life when they crashed on the island? Because you know that Jack was flying his father's body back to the states. Arrrggghhh!

February won't come fast enough, that's for damn sure. I've never been this intrigued by a t.v. show before.
J said…
I have a theory (my mind goes off on a tangent here, singing the lyrics to the musical episode of Buffy...please forgive me)...I'm trying to figure out WHY Jack was so devistated by the newspaper clipping...why would he care SO MUCH? It wasn't Juliet in the casket, because some websites have shown the clipping, and it was a man. Maybe Michael? Not sure.

Anyway, my theory, which will probably be proven wrong, is that since their rescue, the survivors have been committing suicide...and that the guilt of being the one to help them escape has been too much for Jack. Michael, or whomever, isn't the first, just the latest. We'll have to see what comes of that.

I really, really think the whole 'looking forward' thing is tres cool.

Locke being Jacob would make sense, because why else would he care if folks are rescued? I mean, he can stay there and walk on his leggy-legs all he wants, but why trap the rest of the castaways? The Jacob connection would kind of answer that.

LOVE Lost.

Do you guys watch BSG? I'm not into Sci Fi, but it's REALLY good.

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