Like Gilligan’s Island without the slapstick or Survivor with a plot, J.J. Abrams’ latest crashes into your living room each Wednesday night and one can’t help but look in disbelief and wonder.
Lost tells the tale of some 48 survivors of a horrific plane crash, stranded on a tropical island with nothing but their own wits at their disposal.
Only if it were that simple. Although we’ve met only a few in the season opener, these characters have problems that go way beyond just being stranded. There are bickering siblings, an apparent drug addict, a pregnant woman, and a probable prisoner who has now been given a second chance at freedom.
As Alias has shown, nothing is ever simple with Abrams – and it is the dedicated viewer who reaps the rewards.
As if living through a traumatic crash isn’t enough, there’s also the little problem of something lurking in the jungle. Are they really really big elephants? Mechanized killer robots? A genetically created giant Cyclops? Some of those ogres last seen in Where the Wild Things Are?
Only time will tell, with the answer to that and other questions teased out between small details that later may prove to be either quite significant or merely red herrings.
In the first episode, Lost has quickly begun setting up its own unique mythology that may very well place it among other well-loved (or hated, depending on who you ask) cult TV favorites such as Twin Peaks and Carnivale.
While it may be similar in spirit to those shows, it is also thoroughly modern - metaphorically speaking – in this post-911 age: A traumatic plane crash and the reactions of the survivors at ground zero – from those who find an inner strength they didn’t know they had and react heroically, to those who shut down emotionally and resort to denial or petty squabbling, and still others who react with fear and suspicion thus cutting themselves off from the group – all of whom are then made painfully aware of an “unknown terror” just out of sight and reach.
Not only is this good television – usually an oxymoron in my book – but also highly riveting, entertaining and more than a little thought provoking.
Every once in a while, even I’m surprised. This is one such case, and I’m looking forward to even more as the show progresses.
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Article comments
1 - Justene
This review was chosen for Advance.net. You will be able to find it on newspaper sites including Cleveland.com.
2 - Jim Carruthers
Since watching the first half of the pilot (no, not the torn up guy up in the tree) I've been through so many scenarios and possibilties, I've lost count.
Which adds up to one of the best network teevee shows in a couple of years. After a series of disappointments (Kingdom Hospital, I'm looking at you, and continue standing in that corner), "Lost" seems to be smart, clever, and willing to expect the audience to do some work, with the promise of a great reward.
And my current theory? A MMPRPG done for real. But given the ways "Alias" has gone, I'm probably totally wrong.