The Science of Lost

"It kind of boggles our minds, actually," Cuse says. "We never imagined that people would get wrapped up in the intricacies of it to the degree that they have. We really just set out to make a show that we thought was kind of cool and entertaining."

Popular Mechanics has an interesting article (though a tad superficial) about the scientific inspiration behind 'Lost', one of the best shows on TV right now (I keep swapping my favourite crown between this and BSG). Lost has always been a fantastic mixture of character drama, mystery, action, philosophy, and science, but this fourth season has really ramped up the sci-fi aspects of the show. I think it's turning some people off - mainly, the people who watched the show oblivious to the fact that it was sci-fi - but I'm loving it.

As a puzzle show Lost has been a terrific tease, throwing hints here and there and giving fans plenty to ponder. I don't know if the writers will be able to tie things together neatly by the end of the sixth and final season. I hope they will. I'm certain every single detail will not be explained - in fact, I welcome the possibility that when it ends it'll leave some puzzles open to interpretation. Even if they fail in making the conclusion satisfying, it's been one hell of a rewarding ride so far, and I can't wait to see the remaining episodes

Lost - Season 3 (2006-2007)

Lost - Season 3 (2006-2007)

Its second season dipped slightly in terms of quality, but season 3 found 'Lost' firing on all cylinders and back to the greatness of its first. This is now my joint favourite TV show currently on air, together with 'Battlestar Galactica', although I think this season of 'Lost' was arguably of a consistently higher quality than even BSG could maintain. Virtually every episode had me dying to see the next one.

At the end of Season 2, Jack (Matthew Fox), Sawyer (Josh Holloway), and Kate (Evengeline Lilly) were in the clutches of the mysterious 'Others', a group ostensibly led by a man named Ben Linus (Michael Emerson), while Hurley (Jorge Garcia) had been released to warn the Losties to stay away. John (Terry O'Quinn), Eko (Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje), and Desmond (Henry Ian Cusick) were in the hatch with the strange magnetic anomaly being triggered and turning the sky purple, forcing Desmond to turn the 'failsafe' key. Charlie (Dominic Monaghan) and Claire (Emilie de Ravin) were safe on the beach, while Sayid (Naveen Andrews), Jin (Daniel Dae Kim), and Sun (Yunjin Kim) were on Desmond's boat trying to help Jack.

As with the previous seasons, the opening minutes of the first episode reveal the focus of the show. The first was about the survivors on the beach and the second was about the hatch; the third season is all about the 'Others'. The opening third of the season is split between the incarceration and manipulation of Jack, Kate, and Sawyer by the Others in a Dharma station called the Hydra, and the activities back on the beach involving everyone else. Beyond the first third, well, things twist and turn spectacularly and there is a lot of incident. There is a fracturing of narratives throughout the season as the focus jumps back and forth between the main group of Losties, the Others, and smaller groups who go off questing on their own. Most of the episodes tie in with the overall story with only a few being standalone, but those are also quite good (if not as propulsive) and add to the texture of the world and to the characters. Summarizing the events of a show like Lost, where there are myriad events that add details to the big picture layer by layer while fleshing out the characters and their relationships, would be counterproductive, so I'm going to leave it at that.

As always, the recurring themes of the show - faith vs science, free will vs fate / destiny, father figure relationships, and contrition - make themselves felt on a regular basis. In typical Lost fashion, a lot of details about the Dharma Initiative, the Hostiles, and the island's secrets are provided in the midst of introducing new mysteries, leaving viewers with plenty to chew on without giving everything away. The final episode is indeed terrific and climactic, and sets up all kinds of interesting possibilities for the next season. The storyline really seems to be coming together now, and has a cohesive quality that indicates that the writers have a good idea where they're going and how everything is going to end up; this is a conclusion that I couldn't have arrived at with quite as much confidence based on the first two seasons. It bodes well for the remaining 48 episodes, though I hope the ultimate resolution manages to live up to the standards the show has set for itself!

Despite my skepticism about the flashbacks remaining compelling for a third season, they do so for the most part. There are some nice variations on the flashback format that diverge from the norm, such as several flashbacks to events on the island itself. The characters we know and love are as well written as ever, and while their personalities are familiar the situations they are thrown into are fresh and manage to avoid things from becoming overly predictable (though some predictability from the characters is, and should be, expected by now). One complaint I had with last season has thankfully been addressed, and that's the relegation of supporting characters. It's still there to an extent, but this time round everyone pops up at routine intervals to make their presence felt, occasionally getting involved in events in a big way. The introduction of new regular characters Ben and Juliet (Elizabeth Mitchell) adds tremendously to the dynamic of the show; they have an enigmatic presence and interesting and completely unique backstories, and their proclivity for mindgames and questionable actions ratchets up the suspicion and hostility levels of the Losties to all new highs.

The cast is, predictably enough, as good as the last two seasons! Honestly, I can't point at any one of these actors and say they performed poorly, as they each acquit themselves well while bringing something unique to the table. There are a few who stand out though - the newcomers, Michael Emerson and Elizabeth Mitchell, are fantastic and it's amazing how compelling they are despite being, ostensibly, the villains. From the regulars, Josh Holloway steals the show at every turn with his sardonic attitude and wisecracks, and his Sawyer is now my favourite character. Terry O'Quinn is also excellent in the role of Locke, a character that you can love and hate with equal measure. Naveen Andrews as Sayid continues to be the pragmatic badass, and it was nice to see more of him after his limited presence in season 2. I must also mention Dominic Monaghan and Henry Ian Cusick, each of whom is great on their own but together make a terrific team full of fun banter (the British slang and Cusick's accent adds a lot of charm to their relationship, brutha!).

I'm not going to bother dwelling on the production values, which are up to the same high standards of the earlier seasons. I was pleased to note, however, that music plays a bigger role this season than the last; the lack of Giachhino's engaging music was another of my complaints regarding season 2.

Season 3 of 'Lost' is fantastic; sure, there are niggles here and there, such as the Nikki / Paulo moments (two additions to the group who are ultimately dealt with quite satisfactorily!), but they are few and far between. Overall, this is as good as the first season and an improvement over the second. 'Lost' continues to deliver an engaging and addictive mixture of character drama, action, adventure, comedy, romance, and mystery; the wait for Season 4 is going to be bloody interminable!

Season 3 of Lost Ends Spectacularly!

Whoa! The fantastic third season of Lost, which I've just finished watching, ends with one of the best season ending cliffhangers I've ever seen. I had a few complaints about the second season, but this season is quite a bit stronger, with the last half in particular being absolutely riveting. A lot of things are explained, other things are hinted at, and in typical Lost fashion, a whole new boatload of questions are raised. The show-runners claim to have the story all laid out now and will be doling it out over another 48 episodes (3 seasons of 16 episodes each), and based on how things are starting to come together I don't doubt their claims.

Surprisingly, despite my skepticism about the writers' ability to keep the flashbacks interesting, they managed to do so with aplomb. The introduction of two major new and compelling characters helped. The final episode saw the departure of one of my favourite characters in moving and heroic fashion. The episode also hints at all kinds of possibilities, with a potential new structure for the show and a new story thread that one couldn't possibly have seen coming. It's going to be a long wait till early 2008, that's for sure... More detailed thoughts on this season to come later...

Also, who the hell was in that bloody coffin???

Lost - Season 2 (2005-2006)

Lost - Season 2 (2005-2006)

'Lost' had an absolutely brilliant first season that blew me away. The whole premise, the characters, the mystery, the style... all fantastic. It was almost inevitable that the second season wouldn't quite live up to the first after that start. It comes reasonably close in terms of overall quality; the only weakness is in the pacing of the first two-thirds of the season, which seems to drag its feet and give a lot of characters who featured prominently in Season 1 the short-shrift.

Season 2 begins right where 1 left off, with Michael's (Harrold Perrineau) son Walt (Malcolm David Kelley) kidnapped by the mysterious 'Others' and he, Sawyer (Josh Holloway), and Jin (Daniel Dae Kim) stranded at sea. They manage to make it to shore, where they're captured by a group led by Ana Lucia (Michelle Rodriguez) and Mr. Eko (Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje). This group turns out to be survivors of the tail section of Oceanic Flight 815, and they're a little paranoid because their group has been attacked several times by the 'Others'. There's a lot of friction between the 'Tailies' and the three of them, but they guide them towards the main camp on the other side of the island nonetheless.

Meanwhile Jack (Matthew Fox), John Locke (Terry O'Quinn), Kate (Evangeline Lilly), and Hurley (Jorge Garcia) had just blown open the door to the hatch. Inside the hatch they find a complex where a man named Desmond (Henry Ian Cusick) has been entering the mysterious numbers into a computer and pushing a button every 108 minutes to supposedly prevent a major catastrophe. This situation once again brings to a head the theme of science versus faith, as Jack believes the whole thing to be meaningless while John believes it to be their destiny to keep pushing the button. Desmond promptly runs off when the hatch computer breaks down; Sayid (Naveen Andrews) manages to fix it in time to press the button, and Jack and John reach an agreement to continue to push the button. The hatch turns out to be a facility built by an organization called the 'Dharma Initiative', and it exists solely to prevent this supposed catastrophe from taking place.

That's roughly the first few episodes. The major storylines that play out in this season are the mystery of the hatch and what its purpose truly is, and the threat of the Others, with whom the survivors clash on several occasions. Major subplots include the capture of one of the Others, Michael's quest to get back his son, the integration of the Tailies into the group, and the power struggle between Jack and John. And of course the myriad relationships and character interactions that elevate Lost from just a mystery show to a mystery show with considerable dramatic depth. The flashbacks detailing the character's lives before the crash are still there, complete with the mysterious crossing of paths that implies that their presence together on the island is no mere coincidence.

For the most part, these stories play out satisfactorily, with each episode adding new details, sometimes explaining a few things while raising new questions. The overall storyline is addictive stuff, and the characters are always interesting. The last third of the season is outstanding and ends yet again on an excellent cliffhanger. The new characters are welcome additions, with each one being distinctive and adding to the web of relationships. And yet there are problems that peg back the show - the first two-thirds feel dragged out at times, and there are some weak filler episodes (Charlie's one in particular comes to mind) that really kill the show's momentum. Some of the flashbacks this time around feel irrelevant to the main storylines. This is mainly because in the first season the supporting characters like Claire (Emilie de Ravin), Sun (Yunjin Kim), Charlie (Dominic Monahan), Sayed, and Shannon (Maggie Grace) had more to do and were part of major events, whereas in this season they only register on occasion, sometimes all but completely disappearing for episodes at a stretch. This results in their flashbacks and current actions feeling tacked on.

Another annoyance is the inconsistency of characters, which was present to an extent in season 1 as well; this time around, Locke and Eko seemed to have perfected swinging wildly from serene and assured in one episode to manic in another and back again as part of their routine. Also, the characters seem to have fractured too much. I find it hard to believe that - given the situation they're in - they wouldn't form more alliances and cliques. There's a strange tendency for characters to keep major information to themselves on a regular basis. Don't they ever hold group discussions at all? The social order established shortly after the crash has quietly disappeared, and while it may be true that they've all settled into a routine and don't need leadership or roles, the weird goings on on the island ought to be enough to get these people to be a little more proactive and concerned about their situation. And is no one interested in the hatch except for a handful of the elite who get to live in relative luxury with beds, bathrooms, and a kitchen?

Phew! So much negativity, but I love the show! Everything else about it is terrific - the acting, writing, directing, production values - which is why the flaws stand out so much more starkly, especially after the near perfect first season. It's still a great show, with the last third or so redeeming the season, and the recent news of 16 episode seasons and a definitive ending have given me confidence that the show will have a satisfactory run and won't peter out like, say, The X-Files. I can't wait to watch season 3.

[One final note of negativity - the music isn't as good as the first season, in fact it's barely there. In season one it had so much presence. Ah well...]

Lost will actually end!

The TV series 'Lost' is one of my favourites, featuring an incredibly appealing set of misfit characters and a terrific concept. My main qualm with the show is in its plotting - it's been laying on mystery after mystery without really giving any answers (at least, upto season 2, which is as far as I've got), and I was beginning to suspect that it may head the way of the X-Files and become entangled in its own mythology.

The news today is that the show will end with Season 6. The show's creators have signed a deal that guarantees that it will end at that point. Each of the remaining three seasons will be only 16 episodes long. This is great news for two reasons. Firstly, as with the brilliant Babylon 5, having an end goal will tighten the storytelling and give it some clear direction while allowing for the mysteries to be resolved (if it goes on indefinitely, they can never truly explain most of the mysteries). Secondly, fewer episodes per season means fewer filler episodes and more care taken with the episodes that are produced. The more TV I've watched, the more I've observed that shows with 20+ episodes per season almost always have a few poor episodes to meet their quota, while shows with fewer episodes tend to be stronger throughout.

My one remaining doubt regarding 'Lost' is the use of flashbacks, a hallmark of the show. I love the flashbacks, the way they flesh out the characters and deepen the mysteries of the island. The thing is, there are only so many they can do before it starts to grow tiresome and less relevant to the main storyline. I can already see this happening to some extent in Season 2, where they're sort of reaching for ways to maintain a connection between the characters' pasts and the present.

In any event, my major issues with the show have been addressed and I can accept a few more years of flashbacks (especially when they are compelling mini-stories in and of themselves). I can't wait to see how it all ends...

**UPDATED**
Devin at Chud has a good write up on this, where he states:

A word for those who complain that the show doesn’t answer any questions or solve any mysteries: it does. In a major way. But what upsets some folks is that the answers keep bringing up new questions and mysteries – which, one assumes, is the whole point of a show marketed as a mystery from the start.

It's a fair point, and I think my initial statement about the show not giving any answers was a bit harsh. BUT, upto the end of Season 2 (can't comment on Season 3, it may reveal a lot more), these answers have been few and slow in coming. The hatch has been revealed, as has its function (sort of), and so have 'the others', but the show has taken up a lot of time while still leaving a lot up in the air. I guess my issue is with the pace with which things happen, something the last few seasons (and season 3, or so I've heard) ought to resolve.