‘Television’s most talked about
show’ is a marketing-tag thrown around
so often it has become redundant. In the case of LOST, however, it is
true; firstly for being an irrefutably superior drama, and secondly,
because the series asks the audience to fill in the mysterious blanks,
something that has enraged almost as many viewers as it enthralled. Testament
to the show’s strength are the theories that surround it: Are the
characters already dead? Are they part of an elaborate experiment? And
am I guaranteed to win the lottery with those numbers? But the main question
is: will the show eventually collapse under the mystery that drives it?
Alarming, also, is the rapid ascent / descent of mystery-driven television shows, such as Twin Peaks – David Lynch’s murder mystery with supernatural elements; first season a worldwide success, the second season ‘too strange’, everyone loses interest. Also, The X-Files, the conspiracy / supernatural storyline attracts millions of viewers, the show runs too long, people get confused, lose interest, the main characters sneak off after the seventh series… For fans of LOST, it leaves an ominous feeling of ‘uh-oh’.
For now, though, we can marvel at one of the most exciting, mysterious, forbidding, and genuinely addictive debut seasons in the history of television. Undoubtedly, the production values; the score, cinematography and scope of the series are unrivalled, and refreshingly, the budget is comparable only to the barrage of invigorating ideas it allows. The show also manages to be partially topical, pushing many boundaries and passing quite a few envelopes for mainstream entertainment: having fourteen main characters, relying on flashbacks as narrative development, leaving events / unanswered through long periods of time, touching on fantastic elements without ever losing a sense of realism, creating a heroic character as an ex-Iraqi solider…
Many of the actors involved, particularly Jack (Matthew Fox), Kate (Evangeline Lilly) and Sawyer (Josh Holloway) have gone from fresh-faced nobodies to being the emotional anchors of show, requiring some intensive acting mettle. Credit must be given to the creators for believing in their cast, all of which hit their acting plateau correctly. Matthew Fox is a particular success as the heroic doctor-come- leader, as Co-Creator J.J. Abrams was originally keen to cast Michael Keaton to play the part, and have Jack killed off in the pilot episode.
The show may have its imperfections, the dependency of the character flashbacks could well prove exhausted in future episodes. But encouragingly, elements and subtle character interactions are explained in later episodes, suggesting the creators are not running the show on blind luck, and do have ‘the plan’ already developed. The Complete Season One release, rather than the annoyingly truncated Parts One & Two will allow for closer inspection, and perhaps some more indication to where the show is headed.
Those worried about the show’s future, and whether we’ll finally be given ‘the answers’, may be watching for the wrong reasons, the best the audience can do is be enchanted by the quality and superb mystery that surrounds the show's first season, which looks unlikely to be bettered. Nevertheless, you’ll still be desperate for a taste of Season Two. What exactly did Kate do? Roll on Spring.