Not The Last Of Lost

11:40 AM Posted In , Edit This 0 Comments »
I haven’t written about Lost in a long while, and I suspect I’ll have much to write about it over the next while. Season 6 has been a bit of a mixed bag. The flash sideways were a welcome change / mystery next to the flashforwards of season 4 and the time jumping of season 5.

That being said, two things are disconcerting about this final season. First, that they’ve introduced this new mysterious plot device this late in the game without answering some pretty big questions (did the bomb actually go off, for example). Second, that the creators have gone on record saying they feel their only obligation at the end of the series is to explain how the two timelines converge. I’m not alone in saying, um, no.

Lost is a tricky show in that the reveals kind of demystify the thing, and not in a good way. Just as the infamous episode ‘The Man Behind the Curtain’ showed, seeing the true nature of Ben’s lack of power kind of castrated the character from being as delectably diabolical as he had been up to that point.

So I get the executive producers’ fear of revealing too much, because then you’ll just kind of be like…well that was lame. At the same time, I don’t like the idea that the creators feel like all they have to do is resolve this season. I guess they have answered a bit already – that Jacob drew the castaways to the island by touching them in order for them to potentially replace him as guardian of the…what exactly? The smoke monster? The goodness of humanity? The island itself (why)?

I am ambivalent about so much of the series at this point, as are many people. While the mystery is still a thrill, it’s also a frustration. I recently read the Wired Lost package of information, including an interview with Lindelof & Cuse, and they commented that a show about people living on regular ol’ deserted island would have gotten very old, very fast.

I agree, but only to a point. The science fiction elements of the series are what make it so compelling – but so are the characters and their stories that hooked us in the first place. To that end, the concept of survival is kind of non-existent at this point. When was the last time we saw the castaways actively involved in the process of looking for food, building shelter, or even resting for godsakes! These things just kind of happen now, in the cracks between the action-driven sequences we’re consistently exposed to.

I also feel like it’s a bit late in the game to be introducing the elements of on-island suspense that we’ve been seeing lately. Almost every cliffhanger to date has been wrapped up neatly within the first quarter of the next episode. The castaways were marched away at gunpoint in the last episode, and easily freed within minutes in this week’s “The Candidate” episode. I suppose it was a plot device to get Jack and co. on the Hydra island with the sub, but it still feels like we’re being cheated with faux dramatic endings rather than resolutions.

So far I’m not disappointed at the time I’ve invested in the series. It’s still wildly entertaining and puzzling, but I feel like there will be a collective whooshing of deflated air if the series ends as weakly as people are anticipating it to at this point. That being said, Lost does have the best finales in town…I imagine this season will be no different! It’s just got to be a little better than best.

Here’s hoping!
- Britt’s On

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