An outsider’s question about Lost
I watched about a third of the Lost season one and two, mainly because it was on TV at a funny time for us and we kept missing episodes. It looked compelling enough, seemed pretty clever and the discovery of the hatch was all very exciting. But by not seeing all of the episodes it made it near impossible to follow and rather than screw up the whole Lost experience we vowed to avoid the show at all costs and watch it on DVD, the same way we did it with Heroes (season three Heroes is coming - yay!). In the Heroes case it worked out extremely well.
Time has past and the dust has come to settle on the season one DVD set of Lost, the plastic remains unbroken and Tracey and I are no more knowledgable in the ways of ‘the others’ or who the chap down the hatch is and why he was down there. It has been a difficult twelve months for us and we honestly just haven’t gotten around to watching it yet.
No man is an island as they say and it has been hard, make that impossible to avoid all references or advertisements regarding the show. I will say one thing though, it certainly hasn’t actually given anything away as I still have no bloody idea what is going on in that show!
Which is a plus for us but I’m concerned that at some stage I’m going to invest a big slab of time to a show that may or may not be worth it in the long run. The snippets I’ve seen (trying hard not to look though!) have appeared a bit mad, weird stuff has gone on since I last visited the island and that guy doesn’t appear to have lost any weight!?
So my question is, is Lost worth it at this stage or has it already jumped the shark? Please no spoilers, obviously if it even halfway decent I don’t want it ruined. If you feel you can’t control yourself just vote in the poll in the sidebar!!
Speaking of the sidebar you’ll see that Quit Your Day Job has got itself a little advertising, hey I got to get my comic book money somewhere! Anyway if you don’t throw up in misery everytime you visit here think about clicking on one of the ads to give them a bit of value for their money or even throw a couple of cents this way and get some advertising yourself!
Popularity: 19% [?]
go buy season 2 & 3 and catch up with season 4 and get as miserably addicted as I am. It’s worth it! Almost at season 4’s end *gasp*.
Arjans last blog post..Transformers OST
It takes a lot to keep me watching a TV show these days, I’d just rather be off reading a book or a comic. That said, despite a slight dip in season 2/3, Lost has remained essential viewing - and in my humble opinion, the latest season is the best yet. It’s the strongest example of character-driven genre fiction on TV that I can think of - nearly always, these shows are driven by plot and the characters (while entertaining) are just there to service that plot. But Lost lets the characters take the lead, and every flashback, every character aside - it’s all important to the overall picture.
Of course, it’s all subjective - one man’s Lost is another man’s Limp… but I find it one of the only consistently surprising TV shows I’ve ever watched (just when you think you’ve figured out the formula, it goes off in another direction… yet a direction that adds more to the bigger picture of what’s going on).
Rols last blog post..Muso Monday
Arjan - sooooooo you think it’s ok then?
Rol - OK you guys are making me want to crack open that season one set!
that’s a ‘Hell YES!’
Arjans last blog post..Transformers OST
It’s an anomaly, dude. Some people will simply “not get it”. For the others of us, it is a rich, rich show unlike just about any other.
This isn’t a soap opera with a never ending series of “plotlines” that really go nowhere and run ad infinitum. Nor is it an episodic program that wraps up its mysteries in one hour.
This is a novel. One that we hope will not let us down in it’s climax.
As all stories go, it has a 1st act, a second and a third. We are hip deep in the second.
Let me give you a metaphor:
Act One: Get your hero up a tree.
Act Two: throw rocks at him.
Act three: Get him out of the tree.
The writers are still throwing rocks.
When all is said and done, Lost will be unlike any other program in television history. It will be an 80+ episode SINGLE story with many tributaries all of which coalesce in one conclusive season.
If you stick with it, it will pay you off. In 2010. But it will pay you off.
It’s worth it. If you like Battlestar (and really, how could you not?) you will adore Lost.
The pacing is better, the stories richer, and the storytelling form(s) unlike any other on television.
With all the other TV shows I want to catch up on, I’m steering well clear of LOST. Good luck to you though.
Allen - that was a very well thought out arguement for Lost and had I not already been convinced that would have done it nicely.
I have to watch Alias too at some stage, it’s a matter of finding the time!!
I just finished the final episode of The Sopranos yesterday, that was also very very very very worth it.
Arjans last blog post..Transformers OST
I’m hooked on it. The middle of season 3 slowed down a bit in my opinion, but season 4 has definitely been worth sticking with.
Ian, I’ve got to actually quit my day job to see half the shows I’m saving to see. It is a vicious cycle.
I watched Sopranos on and off because it was always very badly scheduled here in Australia. Everything I saw though was pretty good.
Another glowing review for Lost this time from Swollenpickles - all these people whom I respect the opinions off are saying good things about the show so I’m just being convinced over and over!
I should say Lee, I have a love/hate relationship with Lost. I love it, but at the same time hate the fact that any answers we are given just lead to more questions. But then again, that’s probably what has hooked me in.
I’m still figuring out stumped on who or what is Jacob??
swollenpickless last blog post..A list of 17 lists
Swollenpickles - I don’t even know of a Jacob!
If you watch past season one you will… you will…
swollenpickless last blog post..A list of 17 lists