LOST: THE POSITIVES

One of the commentators predictions was that LOST fans would be debating the series for years and years after its end.  Well, that has not occurred; most LOST fan blogs have faded away or gone into web tombstones. The clear reason for this anticipation to disconnect was Season 6 and the run-up to the finale.  It separated long time LOST fans into two camps: those who loved the ending and those who hated it. There were very few diplomats in the middle.

Since we have discussed the episodes during the reboot (reruns on extended cable) during the past year, this site is at its own transition period. Thus, the new header graphic.

So we will take a sporadic look back at the bigger issues that encapsulated the series. We will begin with THE POSITIVES:

1. There were several stellar performances by several actors in the series, especially Michael Emerson and Terry O'Quinn.

2. The grand scale of the series was a return to the sweeping miniseries of the 1970s television. The structure of each episode building up the last to foreshadow future events was the hook that caught many viewers early on in the series. The epic setting of a tropical island infused with science fiction mystery and danger kept the core audience in the show until the end.

3. The initial premise of surviving a plane crash and then surviving on a mysterious island was an appealing concept. The original ABC executives wanted a show that combined Survivor and Robinson Crusoe; JJ Abrams was brought on board when he said "why not add a monster" to the equation.

4. The show kept to its original themes, to an extreme. The characters had their own personal secrets and demons which were revealed slowly in flashbacks. The characters also had major personality flaws such as "daddy issues," "criminal behavior" and "compulsive lying."

5. The diversity of the cast allowed fans to become attached to characters. The most popular character was Hurley, played by Jorge Garcia. In some ways, he evolved into the proxy for the show's viewers. He was the observer to the action that swirled around him. And like us, he questioned what was going on.

6. TPTB claimed that the show was all about the characters. Character development was the driving force for show which culminated in the happy ending finale. People who enjoyed the ending scene will tell you that they believe the struggles and redemptive moments of sacrifice should have rewarded the characters in their vision of the afterlife.

7. The series created one of the first and largest on-line show communities in television history. It spawned fan sites, fan discussion, fan theories, fan fiction and fan treatises in form of books or collection of columns. It created a cottage industry for some people whose lives revolved around the show from week to week. And through these relationships, many new friendships were created between community members as a result of their connection to the show.

8. For many viewers, the emotional roller coaster ride was a complex examination of  faith, hope, romance and the power of redemption through belief in the best of what moves mankind. In some respects, many critics found it appealing that the show, even at its climax, allowed each viewer to make a personal determination of the end. The show did not give one final answer, but many more questions which for some, did not really matter.

9. No matter how you viewed The End, it did represent a clear and final closure for the series.

10. LOST was one of the few series that made you think. It made you want to go out and research what you saw on the small screen. I learned about ancient Egyptian myth and religious beliefs as a result of trying to figure out the clues in the show. Other people learned about physics, quantum mechanics, wormholes, space-time theories, etc. And those discussions were like college bull sessions - - - the debates will endless but respectful. It made many fans into researchers and theorists. It made the show last for more than an hour each week to a daily dissection of the last episode or last season. It is extremely rare for a show to have a rabid fan base break apart the mythology of a show while it is in progress (which seems to happen more with science fiction shows than any other norm.)