MAKING UP FOR LOST TIMEEdit

I discovered LOST late... I watched my first episode right after season 5 was broadcast. I had no idea that this little TV show was going to change my perspective on everything. It's a series of great complexity and depth, one of the most narratively rich in the history of the medium.

LOST...

• Perfectly captures the zeitgeist
• Rewards in spades on each re-watch
• Is very funny when it needs to be
• Is beautiful and spectacularly emotional when it needs to be
• Uses a seemingly inanimate Island as its central character - and does so in a way that is believable
• Is a masterpiece of demonstrative drama
• Never caters to the lowest common denominator by spoon feeding us every detail and instead dares to respect our intelligence and ability to work things out for ourselves

• Requires us to be active participants instead of passive attendants
• Focuses on characters properly by making them all flawed, failing and messy - just like you and me
• Intentionally disorients the viewer so as to break us in much the same way as the characters in the story in order to come out at the other side a new version of our former self
• Makes us believe we're watching a six season mystery - then boldly turns that around in the final minutes as we realise it was actually about the characters (and by extension, us) as well us much deeper themes and meanings the whole time

• Is PERFECT because of, and not in spite of, its imperfections
• Single-handedly lifted the standard of what we expect from television! FOREVER!!!
• Is the best story ever told!

I'm thankful this site exists for its contribution to my understanding of the most rewarding 121 TV hours of all time. Best of all, it has given me a place to interact with other people who are just as passionate about it as me.

LOST is important to me because it's about me - just like it's about you and everyone you know. Through the myriad of characters, it taps deep into the fibre of our being. We have strong connections with them because they are us. In more ways than most of us care to admit.

As Ben said...