Why do I love LOSTEdit

It was long ago since I last became a TV serial junkie. so I've asked myself a number of times how that could happen at this day and age. And it's gradually become clearer, especially during the somewhat lackluster season 3, by comparison.

So here we go:

1. LOST is different. It is the survivor-drama gone sci-fi gone epic, of sorts. I know that this different feeling is what got me hooked in the first place, and it took a good while before I was able to single out any other thing I liked about it.
2. The Mystery. LOST seems to appeal to people with imagination. Not all of them very vivid, but note how things are not spelled out – only occassionally, and that would be the lows of the show. I watched an excellent presentation by LOST creator JJ Abrams where he explained the driving force behind his TV productions, and most fitting to LOST. Turns out, he's made an intentional move to keep story elements untold, only showing fragments. He did not invent this mode of storytelling to be sure, but he managed to do it just the right way. Of course, JJ is pretty much out of the picture by now but fortunately LOST's got an awesome writing team in Damon Lindelof and Carlton Cuse.
3. LOST goes outside the box. This is actually the thing that sets it most apart from contemporary TV dramas. The writers have made a thing out of building up towards a certain resolution, playing on various preconceptions, only to turn things around, sometimes over again. It gets dull every now and then, but never predictable. And predictability happens to be my biggest turn-off to all kinds of storytelling.
4. LOST is beautiful. The island scenes with lush vegetation, sunlight pouring through leaves and surf rolling in. Even the nighttime chase stuff looks awesome. The sets are cool for the most part as well, and almost stand up to scrutiny from a sci-fi nerd. Whoever that would be.

MapEdit

Check out my 3D island map! Larger version available on my site.