One obvious thing is that when watching LOST one-episode per week (like when the show was broadcast) and watching the entire series with all episodes back-to-back (I did it over the course of about a month) you get entirely different experiences. The broadcast schedule gives you a lot of time to analyze and pick apart individual episodes. When you watch the show as a single viewing event, you see more of a flow and coherence to the show. Some might say that LOST is like a single 122.5 hour movie, but I don’t think that is quite right. Each season has its own flavor and uniqueness....so I would say it is closer to being 6 long movies. So, my approach to this write-up is to tackle each season individually, and then close with some final thoughts. Unlike my in-season analyses, I did not take notes during this viewing marathon, so everything you are reading is less-detail oriented and more trying to discuss the big picture. Also, instead of photo’s, I’m going to try to tie in some videos of the great LOST moments.
Season 1 for LOST was groundbreaking. It was a Neilson ratings success, garnered high critical praise, and won awards (notably the Emmy for Best Drama Series). What is truly remarkable is that if you were to compare the Season 1 story with that of, say, Season 5, you would be hard pressed to believe it is the same show. Yet, somehow it all works. The reason that it works was the decision for Season 1 to focus on the characters instead of the mythology. The creators of LOST understood that in order for any of the science-fiction/fantasy storylines to work, you needed to be strongly invested in these characters. This is why LOST succeeded and why other recent high-concept network shows (“Flash Forward”, “The Event”, and “V”) have failed.
Let’s first look at the “Pilot” episode. Some might describe this episode as a “story about a plane crash”. However, I would argue that more correctly, it is a “story about THE SURVIVORS of a plane crash”. And more specifically, it is story of one survivor: Jack Shephard. Notice the iconic start of the series is Jack opening his eye (the beginning) and being alone in the middle of the jungle. The series could have just as easily started with a special effects shot of the plane crash....but it was important to focus the audience on Jack. Notice too that throughout the frantic opening 20 minutes of this episode, the focus is almost exclusively on Jack and his actions helping the other survivors. By the time we get to the first commercial, we are all fans of Jack.
Throughout the rest of the season, each episode focuses on one of the survivors, through on-island storytelling interspersed with off-island flashbacks. This was an effective and unprecedented way for us to establish an emotional connection to our characters:
Jack: The spinal surgeon with daddy issues
Kate: The fugitive with a heart of gold
Locke: The paraplegic healed by the island
Sawyer: The con-man with a vendetta
Sayid: The torturer with a romantic side
Hurley: The cursed lottery winner
Sun: The subservient wife
Jin: The Korean mobster
Claire: The single pregnant girl
Charlie: The heroin addicted rock star
Michael: The absentee father with new responsibilities
Walt: The son of a father he never knew
Shannon: A self-absorbed bitch
Boone: The rich kid with an unhealthy obsession with his step-sister
While getting to know the characters, we also got to know the island. There were polar bears, whispers in the jungle, a monster, a pair of skeletons holding back and white stones, and a crazy French woman. All of these mysterious things on the island established the early framework for the island mythology, but moreover they were vehicles for the characters to better establish their identities.
Season 1 does such an amazing job of establishing the characters, that the 3 hour season finale (“Exodus, Part 1” and “Exodus, Part 2”) has us completely emotionally invested: the launching of the raft, recounting the boarding of Oceanic 815, the kidnapping of Aaron, the abduction of Walt, and the opening of the hatch. These 3 hours are as good as anything that has ever been on TV.
However, even Season 1 had its issues. Michael, Jin, Shannon and Boone, were all fairly weak characters. Three were disposed of and one, Jin, was evolved into a much deeper and more likeable character. There were also some storylines that were abandoned.....most notably, the flirtatious relationship between Michael and Sun. But, as with any show, some things work and others don’t.
Another item that created somewhat of a problem for the show was the casting of Walt. It wasn’t that Malcolm David Kelly was a bad actor (he was fine), but rather that he was too old to play the part. At the time of the crash, Walt was supposed to be 10 years old. By the time the pilot had aired, MDK was 12 years and 8 months old. This explains why Walt was largely absent from season 2 and barely appeared throughout the rest of the show (and when he did it seemed awkward). By the time the show ended, DMK was 18 years old, when only 3 years had passed in island time. My guess is that if a younger boy were cast, the show would have further explored what made Walt “special”. (With that said, the DVD extra, entitled “The New Man in Charge” brings some closure to the Walt story).
Overall though, Season 1 is the rock that the rest of the series was built upon.
Season 2 on the other hand is somewhat of an enigma. If you were to ask me what the weakest season of LOST was, Season 2 would be my answer. But then, when I look back, on it, there were some great moments: we are introduced to the tail section survivors, we learn about the DHARMA Initiative, we meet Benjamin Linus (as Henry Gale) and Desmond, and Michael shockingly shoots Ana Lucia and Libby. I think the reason this season suffers somewhat is because so much time is spent inside the Swan Station. It has a very dank, claustrophobic feel for much of the season, after being on a beach for almost all of Season 1.
You can tell from the brilliant opening scene (Desmond going about his daily routine to Cass Elliot’s “Make Your Own Kind of Music”) that the show was not going to sit on the formula from Season 1, but rather show you that there is much more going on beneath the surface....both literally and figuratively.
Season 2 is where criticism began that the show just introduced questions and not answers. In my opinion, this is completely unjustified based on the facts. The big mystery of Season 1 was, what is in the hatch? By the end of Season 2, you pretty much know everything about the hatch (including what happens when you don’t push the button). We got a better sense of what The Others were (although there was quite a bit of misdirection there). We learned the entire story of the tail section survivors.
As I mentioned above, each season plays like it’s own story...and Season 2 is the Swan Station story. It begins with Desmond in the hatch and ends with Desmond in the hatch. And once again, we get a cliffhanger (the abduction of Jack, Kate, and Sawyer) that sets up Season 3.
Season 3 is where LOST really began to lose viewers. It is unfortunate, because if more had hung in they would have seen the series shift gears mid-way through the season with some really strong storytelling, climaxing in the best four episode run in the show (“The Brig”, “The Man Behind the Curtain”, “Greatest Hits” and “Through the Looking Glass”).
The reasons for the show’s Season 3 woes were partly network-driven and partly writer-driven. ABC aired the first 6 episodes of Season 3 from Oct 4 through November 8 and then went into a 13-week hiatus, before resuming in February. When you combine that with these first 6 episodes primarily focusing on Jack, Kate, and Sawyer in cages, you had a recipe for ratings disaster. This is a perfect example of where the show works infinitely better watching the episodes on DVD/Blu-ray. These episodes don’t seem slow at all when you watch them this way. Granted, they are not the strongest set of episodes, but when you watch them strung together, Kate and Sawyer are off Hydra Island before you know it.
Season 3 is really the story of The Others (again....this is a MAJOR mystery that gets an entire season devoted to it). The opening is an epic mind-bender, revealing that The Others aren’t really savages, but rather live in a “town”-like setting in the middle of the jungle. When they did the pull-back reveal of the village in the middle of the island with the wreckage of Oceanic 815 on two sides of the island, I better the most prevalent word spoken in America was “WOW!”
As I said, Season 3 is the story of The Others....and specifically, we get to focus in on Ben Linus and a new character, Juliet. It should come as no surprise to anyone who has read my LOST musings, that Ben is my favorite character. While he is certainly a villain, no other character (although John Locke is damn close) commands our attention more when they are on screen than Ben. Ironically, I was never a big fan of Juliet. I think it was because she was so convincing in Season 3 as someone who could not be trusted, that I always had a nagging feeling she would screw over our heroes.
The biggest down-side of Season 3, in my opinion, was the introduction of Nikki and Paulo as regulars. What a gigantic miscalculation by the writers to bring in new characters who were supposed to have been with the survivors all along. Now throughout the series, fans have generally embraced new characters, but there was just something about these two that screamed Cousin Oliver.....they just didn’t fit. Luckily, they were quickly dispatched.
To me, Season 3, is right up there with the best seasons. In fact if you throw out “Stranger in a Strange Land” (Jack gets a tattoo) and “Expose” (the Nikki and Paulo episode), Season 3 might actually be the best season of Lost. And the Season 3 finale, “Through the Looking Glass”, is amazingly good. When they reveal that Jack and Kate are of the island (“We have to go back, Kate!”)....it was perhaps the biggest mind-blowing moment in TV history. Incredible. And the rest of that finale was damned great too. Charlie’s death scene was easily one of the very best scene’s ever on the show. I still get a lump in my throat anytime I see the words, “NOT PENNY’S BOAT”.
Season 4 is somewhat of an oddball season, because it was shortened to only 13 episodes. In some ways this made it very tight from a storytelling standpoint, because there was no room for filler episodes (a frequent complaint of fans). You never really feel like there is a wasted moment. However, on the other hand, the flashforwards (which were the primary device used this season) were not as compelling as the flashbacks. However, two things were done really well in regard to this. One was the gradual reveal of the identity of each member of the Oceanic Six. The second was the waiting until the end of Season 4 to reveal how they Oceanic Six got off the island. Again, while the season works well enough as part of the series, this individual season provides the complete story of the Oceanic Six.
Also, in stark contrast to the Nikki and Paulo additions of Season 3, Season 4’s freighter crew (specifically Daniel, Frank, Miles, and Charlotte) were welcome additions to the cast. The freighter storyline was really good and became a nice vehicle for action sequences. And the freighter also became the setting for one of the shows most critically acclaimed episodes.....”The Constant”. While without question, the most “science-fictiony” episode thus far, it is the romantic final scene between Desmond and Penny that is about a perfectly constructed and emotionally grounded as anything you will ever see.
I think you’d be hard pressed to find anyone who would call Season 4 their favorite, but is really solid all the way through.
Season 5 is probably my favorite. And even if you like others better, there really isn’t a season that it more fun. It is really divided into two halves. The first half it goes all-out science fiction, with time-travel and figuring how to return to the island. The second half of the Season tells the story of the DHARMA Initiative, where surprise-of-surprises our Losties were members. This was an incredibly brilliant turn of events. The DHARMA storyline was really a gift to the hardcore fans, because it gave them a view into one of the chapters of island history that had been on the minds of fans since Season 2. It also gave us some of the funniest scenes ever on the show.
One of the other great things about Season 5 is that I don’t think there is one bad episode all season. It is strong from start to finish and I’d even venture to say that it has more great non-finale episodes than any other season. “Jughead”, “316”, “The Life and Death of Jeremy Bentham”. “LeFleur”, “Dead is Dead”, and “The Variable” are all amazing episodes. By the time we got to Season 5, the casual fans were all gone and the episodes were written just for the LOST-nuts.
If you put a gun to my head and asked me my favorite LOST episode, I’d probably have to say it was the Season 5 finale, “The Incident”. For me it, it gives you a lot of everything that made LOST great: mythology, emotions, and action. It blew me away the first time I saw it and it still does. The Statue, Jacob, the Man-in-Black, Locke’s body, Ben murdering Jacob, the Incident, and of course, the bomb. Amazing!
And the detonation of that bomb lead us into Season 6....which was without question, the most polarizing season. Admittedly, Season 6 was very confusing the first time around....primarily due to the flashsideways. On first viewing, I enjoyed the flashsideways, but found them to be frustrating, because there were not leading where I thought they were supposed to be going. Going back and rewatching that season, with the knowledge of what the flashsideways really were, I actually found them even more enjoyable, and in fact quite brilliant.
I had heard the writers say that Season 6 would be a lot like Season 1 and that is true in that instead of advancing the plot, the flashsideways add a layer to the story that is not all that different from the flashbacks of Season 1. And again, when you watch this season as consecutive episodes, rather than waiting a week in between, it flows much better and feels like a coherent story that is introduced in the Season 6 premiere and closed with the season finale.
Also, I want to particularly point out an episode that I was disappointed with the first time around.....”Across the Sea”. This was the story of Jacob and the Man-in-Black. I knew this episode was coming before I watched it and set myself up with expectations for something different. However, given some distance and watching this episode in the context of the complete story, I actually think this was a brilliant episode that works perfectly. The mythology of the island was tricky to handle, because the more you say, the less impressive it feels. I think the writers did a great job of explaining a good amount, while leaving enough of it open ended for personal interpretation. It is a tough balancing act, but I think they pulled it off.
I’m not going to go into any detail about the series finale, “The End”. I wrote over 40 pages about that episode and believe I’ve said all I can about it. I do think it was a brilliant episode and a fitting conclusion to the show. I get that many people did not like the way it ended (specifically, the stuff inside the church), but in my opinion, it hit the right emotional notes. Season 1 was about the characters and the show ends concluding those characters’ stories. The island and the mythology established the setting and theme, but the story was really about THE SURVIVORS of a plane crash.
And if you still needed some answers to mysteries, the DVD/Blu-rays sets include the feature, “The New Man in Charge”, a 12-minute epilogue to the series which tries to answer some lingering fan questions , such as, “Where did the DHARMA food drops come from?”, “Why is up with the pregnancy issues?” and “What was Walt’s Fate?” I would have posted a link to it on youtube, but it has been removed for copyright infringement. So I guess you will have to buy the DVDs or Blu-rays!
It is one year later and I really miss LOST. Since the show ended, I haven’t found anything that is even close to as good as LOST. I’ve gone back to watch other series that I never watched the first time around. I’ve really enjoyed “Buffy the Vampire Slayer”, “Supernatural” and “Dexter”, but none moves me like LOST. Even when writing this up, I’m getting excited to watch it all again. I’m sure it will be an annual thing with me for a long time. Like Star Wars or Lord of the Rings.....I’ll find myself returning to the island.....because I “...have to go back!”
