Lost

I remember when Lost first came on television six years ago. I didn’t watch it. I didn’t feel compelled to watch a drama about people who survived a plane crash on a deserted island. I knew it was a popular show, but popularity does not indicate that I will personally like something. I thought the show was nothing more than an evening soap opera with a setting other than a hospital or police station (which are more common settings for such shows).

After the final season ended, my wife said that several of our friends with tastes similar to our own thought it was one of the best shows ever. We knew we could watch the episodes through our Netflix instant play account (we have a Roku box), so we decided to watch the first episode. Suddenly, I realized I was completely wrong about the show. It was a drama but with strong science fiction and fantasy elements. And the storytelling was amazing.

We raced through the next few episodes, completely hooked to the show. Over the next few weeks, we watched the entire six seasons. Let the kids run around over the weekend, we’ve got Lost to watch. Do dishes and laundry later, there’s more Lost to see. It was an obsession for us. Towards the end, I was looking forward not only to the finale but to getting our life back.

If you haven’t seen Lost, you really should. I will not spoil the show with any details; it’s probably a lot better to watch it without knowing much more than the basic premise. What I will say is that the writers are absolutely brilliant. They envisioned the full series and then wrote each episode to fit within that vision. The method for character development is ingenious, and the pace is great. Honestly, I don’t know how people watched the show for six years and kept their sanity waiting for the next episode to come out.

If you haven’t seen Lost and decide to undertake doing so, I have a few recommendations. First, find someone else who hasn’t seen it and watch it with them. You will want to discuss things, and Google will not be your friend because you might find things you don’t want to find yet. In fact, don’t even type the word “Lost” into Google until you watch the entire series. Second, don’t tell anyone (other than your friend) what you’re doing so that you don’t accidentally hear any plot points. Finally, make sure you have lots of free time because once you get hooked, you’ll want to keep watching.

Lost was one of the best television series I have ever seen, and I don’t think it could ever be duplicated. In fact, I wouldn’t enjoy seeing anyone even attempt something like this again. Is it perfect? No. I understand some of the negative criticism, and I have a few gripes myself, but they don’t take away from an otherwise great show.