I just finished watching LOST for the second time. While many people have mocked and ridiculed me for this decision, I'm totally ok with it. Sure, it was an enormous time commitment, but, in the end, I feel like I learned a few things and I feel like it wasn't time totally wasted. In this, the first of what could potentially be a series of blogs, I'll do my best to explain to you haters why I still love LOST, four and a half years later.
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Let's start at the beginning.
When LOST first aired, way back in 2004, I didn't want to watch it. I didn't really know much about it; I just knew that tons of people loved it and, for that reason alone, I didn't want anything to do with it. I'm a rebel like that. I did a pretty good job of actively avoiding the show, but I did find myself up late one night watching some recap episode while I was down at Snow College. The recap meant nothing to me. Some little kid got kidnapped and it ended with some guys staring down a hole with a broken ladder. Big whoop. Didn't care.
When I came home from my LDS mission in 2008, my family had been watching LOST, renting the seasons on DVD one disc at a time from Blockbuster. (FYI, Blockbuster used to be this popular video store where people could go rent movies... It doesn't exist anymore.) Again, I tried my best not to watch it and usually found myself trying to figure out what this thing called "Facebook" was whilst my mom and siblings watched in the family room.
I remember one specific episode while my family was in the middle Season Three when I kept hearing a song called "Shambala" by Three Dog Night. I didn't know what was going on, but I had loved that song for years. For the first time, I figured that if they were playing 'Shambala,' that show couldn't be that bad...My brother Austin would often watch episodes down in our basement at night, just outside my bedroom, and I found myself checking the show out from time to time. He would explain to me this weird phenomenon about how pregnant women kept dying on the Island, which I thought was pretty strange. Nonetheless, it intrigued me enough for me to actually sit down and watch a full episode.
The first full episode I watched was called "Expose." It focused on two characters named Nikki and Paolo. I remembered something about diamonds and them being buried alive. Later, I would hear that episode described as "terrible," "pointless" and "the worst episode" of the whole series. But hey, I didn't know any better, so it didn't bother me too much.
Within a couple shows, I was hooked, but my problem was that I jumped in head-first in the middle of the third season. I wanted to learn about all the stuff I'd missed, so, starting with Episode One - I kid you not - I looked up episode summaries on Wikipedia and read about every single episode until I was caught up. If something sounded really important or crazy, I looked the episode up on Hulu (which, believe it or not, used to be completely free) and, before I knew it, I was all caught up with my family.
I continued watching with Austin until he left on his mission later that year, then continued watching with my siblings Amy and Cody. My mom pretty much watched on her own when she had time in her busy schedule. Austin had the ending spoiled for him at some point and never watched all the way to the end. But for Amy, Cody and I, LOST became a weekly tradition, complete with gummy bears and mint Oreos, as we anxiously awaited the fate of Jack, Kate, Sawyer, Locke and the rest of the rag-tag crew of Survivors.
In May 2009, LOST came to its controversial end. I know of very few programs that have ever been so hotly debated or polarizing. For me and my siblings, I think the ending sat just fine at first. A few days later, the adrenaline wore off and I realized that there were a few things that I didn't think the writers adequately resolved and whatnot, but, overall, I honestly didn't mind the ending that much. On the other hand, to this day, my mother hates - absolutely despises - LOST. She will never watch another second of it in her entire life. Certainly, there are others just like her all around the world.But why was LOST's tremendously loyal fan base so divided by the conclusion? I think there were a few contributing factors:
- Not enough answers: Of course, the main thing that people will always go back to is the argument that there were too many loose ends. The show, detractors say, simply raised too many questions in the first five seasons to possibly answer all of them by the end of the series.
- The fate of the Survivors: I won't spoil it here, but I inevitably will throughout the course of these blogs, so be ye warned. I think a lot of people didn't like how it ended. My mom calls it a "cop out." This is the really hard thing about series finales - you can never please 100% of viewers. Has it ever happened before? I doubt it. But, especially with a show like LOST, somebody was bound to be unhappy.
- Too confusing: Time travel almost always leads to two things - confusion and plot holes. Such were the complaints of many LOST fans during Seasons Four through Six. Lots of time jumps, lots of confusion. Admittedly, things got a little crazy. And, admittedly, it's not easy to keep track of all the whos, whens and wheres.
Obviously, that bulleted list is not all-inclusive. If there's a reason why you hated LOST that wasn't listed above, I'd love to hear it (and debate it).
I understand these concerns. I really do. I had some of the same concerns, myself. I was actually pretty reluctant to start the series over again because I didn't want to be let down, but, years ago, I bought all the seasons on DVD and many of them were still wrapped in the plastic. That, ladies and gentlemen, is what I like to call "a waste of money." I'd feel horrible if I just left the box sets sitting on the shelf for the rest of my life, so I knew I'd have to watch them eventually. It was just a matter of time.
At length, I decided that the time had come to give the series another shot. But this time around, in hopes that I could somehow subside a few of my long-standing questions and concerns, I decided I'd take notes. Along with my trusty notebook (and a very good sport in one Daniella Varas), I began at the beginning, watching the episodes that I had once read about on Wikipedia. Four and a half months later, I finished the show with about 25 pages of notes and a greater understanding of the story and all of its complexity. And you know what? I didn't hate it the second time through, either.
In my notes, I kept track of a handful of things (some of which were much more noteworthy than others):
- First and foremost, I wrote down all of my questions and answers, when they occurred.
- I wrote down all the connections I could find between the Survivors (off-Island connections and any meaningful on-Island interactions)
- I kept track of why the Survivors were flying from Sydney to Los Angeles.
- I listened for terms describing why the Survivors were special.
- After realizing that many of the Survivors have hallucinations while on the Island, I kept track of which characters were having these visions.
- I couldn't help but laugh at all of the Survivors who tripped and fell on their faces during the series.
- Ben Linus has got to be one of the most frequently beaten characters in all of television... so I kept track of how many times Ben got beat up.
- At one point, I decided to write down profound quotes or phrases that succinctly describe certain characters.
- I marked significant deaths of major characters.
- I wrote down any religious symbolism that I noticed throughout the series.
- I made a list of similarities between Oceanic 815 and Ajira 316.
- And I also kept track of a few other things that I won't list right now, as not to give away any premature spoilers.
I found that my notebook helped me keep track of important, pivotal moments in the series. I also found that most of my questions this time around were, in fact, answered - and the ones that weren't really weren't that important to begin with (like whether or not anybody got the SOS message that Claire sent with that bird in Season Three). I get why many of you mocked me for being such a nerd about it - and I wouldn't recommend that anybody else watch the show that way - but, for me, it was ultimately beneficial and helped me have an enhanced experience as I watched.
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Now, on to the big question: why do I still love LOST?
- I love LOST because, if nothing else, it is one of the most complex dramas in the history of entertainment. With its unique, complex cast and their backstories (and future-stories and side-stories), there was always something interesting and new going on. It gave me people to like and people to dislike. (For the record, I never liked Kate or Juliet. Never.) It gave me reasons to laugh and (almost) a couple reasons to cry. In general, it was vague, but it did so in a way that promoted eager investigation, and often tied in many hints, clues and Easter eggs that provided a payoff for longtime fans with a keen eye. On occasion, I would look something up on Lostpedia, merely out of curiosity, but was quickly intimidated by the sheer magnitude of facts and trivia compiled by super-smart viewers. Too much information.
- I love LOST because its tragic tale of hope, in a sort of sickening way, made me feel connected to the characters. In some ways, I think most people who watch the show can relate to a couple of the Survivors, and, as such, we relate to them and want them to succeed. Those castaways had some really depressing lives and it made me wish better circumstances for them. That was something great about LOST. There were many characters that I came to love - and I grew emotionally invested in the outcome of the story. Toward the end of the series, although I was happy that my months-long binge watching had come to an end, I felt a small sense of sadness that the story was almost over. I'm not going to go as far as to say that these fictional people were my friends, but... you know... kind of.
- I love LOST because, deep down, it is a story of redemption. The rivalry between Jack Shephard and John Locke is fascinating. In many ways, the two couldn't be more different. It was the series-long struggle between the "man of science" versus the "man of faith." Jack thought with his head. Locke thought with his heart. Both of them acted hastily their fair share of times, often to the dismay and detriment of their fellow castaways. What really interested me this second time through was their interactions during Season Six. Contrary to their typical characters, both men find a new sense of purpose in the final season and realize that they weren't always right all of the time. Jack develops faith and Locke has to rely on science. There's a lot more that goes into it (and the topic may eventually earn a blog post of its own), but watching Jack and Locke - and Hurley and Sawyer and Ben and a host of others - find redemption as their journeys came to an end was satisfying to me.
- I love LOST because of its symbolism. I remember sitting at home during the initial airing of Season Six and finding myself enthralled by the "good versus evil" storyline. As a member of (and teacher in) the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, I'm a firm believer that the gospel can be found all throughout pop culture. As I re-watched the series with that belief firmly in mind, I was able to find many more instances of symbolism (religious and otherwise), and that, to me, was pretty cool. It's not just a story, fun and fancy free. There's some deep, profound stuff in there, too.
- I love LOST because of its cliffhangers. I've always had a hard time watching sitcoms and programs with standalone episodes because I feel like there is nothing driving those shows forward. I used to watch The Mentalist, for instance, but gave up on it after a couple seasons because it was like there were a dozen episodes where the guy goes around and solves random crimes and then the final two episodes of the season resumed the "Red John" story. I felt like I could miss an episode here or there and really not be missing out on anything. With LOST, you've got to watch every single episode (even the one about Nikki and Paolo), because, if not, you're going to be missing an important piece of the puzzle. Every episode felt significant - and the final 10 minutes of each week were often pivotal as the show moved forward.
- Finally, I love LOST because of the impact of its characters on TV culture. LOST references are all over the place - and so are members of the cast. Jorge Garcia starred in the short-lived FOX drama "Alcatraz" and has also had humorous guest spots on shows like "How I Met Your Mother." Matthew Fox and Saïd Taghmaoui co-starred in one of my favorite movies, "Vantage Point." Josh Holloway lasted about five minutes in "Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol." I can't watch the "Hobbit" movies without remembering how much I can't stand Evangeline Lilly. Michael Emerson is in "Person of Interest," Daniel Dae Kim is in "Hawaii Five-O," Nestor Carbonell is the mayor of Gotham City and a bunch of other LOST alumni can be seen in guest spots in a ton of different programs and movies. Just like Daniel Radcliffe unsuccessfully trying to shed his "Harry Potter" label, those actors and actresses will always be LOST to me. Additionally, the numbers 4, 8, 15, 16, 23 and 42 will never be the same. I tweet them out every time I fly into LAX (true story) - and every now and again you'll hear jokes about Oceanic Airlines (Daniella heard one on "White Collar" a couple weeks ago, for instance).
- I love LOST because the conclusion was a bit open-ended. It didn't spell every little thing out, but I think I'm ok with that. Open-ended conclusions require a bit of imagination on the viewer's end, and that's a good thing. Thinking allows the viewer to make up their own mind about how things ended. There are still a few things that I totally don't understand about LOST, but that's all right. It gives me something to talk about. (Oh wait, nobody wants to talk to me about LOST, for some reason...) There will always be speculation about what happened and what didn't happen and why things were a certain way - and maybe that's how they wanted it. It divided the fan base in a major, major way, but the cast and crew seem to be at peace with it, so maybe that's how they like it. It wasn't a totally happy, warm and fuzzy ending, but, I mean, with a show as depressing and tense as that one was, what were you honestly expecting?
Those are just some of the reasons why I still love LOST. I could go one and on about smaller moments, like the time when Sawyer referred to Frank Lapidus as the pilot who looked like he walked of the set of a Burt Reynolds movie, but I won't. Doing so wouldn't help any of you truly understand my appreciation of this series, so I won't bore you any further.
Personally, I don't feel like the time I spent re-watching LOST was a waste, as my dear mother insists. Also, I'm not going to beg you all to sit down and watch it from start to finish. All I recommend is that those of you who watched LOST and hated it maybe soften your stance a little bit and that those of you who refuse to watch it for whatever reason think about giving it a chance somewhere down the line. Life is long and you've got to watch a new TV show at some point. Consider these blogs my recommendation.
With that being said, and with this being the first in a series of many LOST blogs to come, full, detailed spoilers will be sure to follow in the forthcoming installments, consider this fair warning.
I had a great time re-watching LOST and really need to thank Daniella Varas for taking one for the team and sitting through it all with me. That's a very big commitment and I'm incredibly glad that I didn't have to do it all by my lonesome.
All hail, LOST, one of the greatest TV shows of all time. ...and to those of you who read this entire post and will continue reading, I say...
"Namaste... and good luck."
