Wednesday, March 29, 2006

Getting Lost

I don't even want to reveal how much time I have wasted as a result of having borrowed season one of Lost from Sarah.

Let's just say she lent it on Saturday and I'm now on disc four. The end of disc four.

Okay.

This is why I could never be trusted around serious drugs.

But it's great, addictive. I would suggest throwing in a few more tidbits of what people actually have to set up to survive on an island (cf. Robinson Crusoe) cause weird ingenuity is always fun, but that's a minor quibble. For the most part it's madly weird and great and the cute hobbit is especially great: cute, hobbity, and v. funny (cf. diary-reading). And some truly enjoyable backstory twists.

But the most fun for me is not wondering what's going to happen next, but what the writers are going to come up with next and that's actually, for me, the entertaining aspect of this. I've been so story fixated lately that I watch the show going: okay, they have three directions this story could go, which one will they pick? And then they pick something I haven't even thought of.

Touche.

6 comments:

Norman said...

This is exactly how I got hooked on LOST. One of my students in my episodic television class said something like "Whoah. You mean you've never seen LOST. Check this out."

And then he handed me the season one DVD. A few days later, I emerged.

The problem with this approach though, is that this is basically the only good way to see a show like this. We've been watching season two and it totally blows compared to season one. Some of that might be the plots, but a large part has to do with waiting one or two or three or more weeks to see the next episode. It gives us too much time to emerge into the light.

Never a good place to be when you're dealing with a series as silly as LOST.

My advice -- wait until the season two DVD comes out before watching any of this year's show.

SHL said...

See, I find season 2 better. It's more complex I think..for me I guess the Ta-dah!s and the reveals are more satisfying though sometimes predictable...the formula does become familiar. But I think the writers are pretty wicked in that they know exactly what you - the *intelligent* viewer - are going to try to predict in each case, so then they develop two or even three new truths, thereby forcing a powerful Ta-Dah!
Plus, without saying anything really that will spoil: season two has some good shifts/arcs in our main characters. Ch-ch-changes.
But A-L has GOT to go.

robyn said...

Yeah. The great thing about not having access to television programming is that the only way I plan to watch season two of Lost is on DVD.

Did I mention how much I love the "Canadians as bad guys" theme, by the way? "You know, Ethan, the Canadian!"

It's great because it is so true to life.

Anonymous said...

This show makes me cringe. I can't watch it at all! The cheap suspense kills me!

SHL said...

the cheap suspense is what it's all about!!!
because then sometimes, when you are expecting it to keep on being cheap, it all of a sudden isnt and that, dear girl, that is satisfying.

And Robyn - season two is accesible via iTunes. I know. I am downloading last night's episode right now. I can burn them to DVD for yeh. When you're ready.

JEB said...

"Lost" = the new Buffy. Ask K. McN.

Interpret (or celebrate) as you will.

Me, I'm sticking to Ronco infomercials and watching twigs float downstream.