Thursday, January 19, 2006

A small Lost gab

What makes Lost so addictive?
     
The first time I saw Lost was in Anchorage, Alaska. I saw the promos for it, and decided to check it out; though I spent most of the two hour pilot divided between watching the show and talking to Bev. I didn’t get a feel for who was who, and I thought it wasn’t going to be worth following, but I gave it another shot the following week. After the first flashback, I was hooked…but why?

I think it is because of the characters of this show. If the writers know what is good for them, they had better not lose sight of the fact that this is a character-driven show, even if it means that you have to account for all 14 or so main characters (plus the 4 or 5 semi-regulars). However, that doesn’t mean to say that the plot elements on the show are to be tossed by the wayside; oh no! Perish the thought! It is simply that while the plot elements thus far are quite intriguing, what makes it all tick is the character interaction to these plot elements.

So, what has happened on the show in the past season? It’s…well…almost impossible to tell without watching it. One can tell of the island events, but that’s only half the story if you don’t know the flashbacks to life events that helped shape each character and influence their reaction to the island events. The Cliffnotes version is…the plane crashes, everyone sees weird stuff happening on the island, monsters uproot trees, polar bears attack, fights occur, people begin to pull together, an infiltrator tries to steal a pregnant girl, and gets wasted by a drug addict for his trouble, a hatch is discovered and when opened, a Scotsman is found….a PIRATE SHIP is found inland (almost forgot about that), and the people in the tail end of the plane meet up with the main people.

That doesn’t even begin to do it justice. Go to www.televisionwithoutpity.com and read up on the Lost recaps to see what exactly is what. I’m not here to recap.

I’d be hard-pressed to give you a fave character. If I were forced, I’d say it’s a tie between Locke and Eko at this stage…I would have said Locke before Eko came along, but now it’s a tie…however, the characters I like the best besides those two are Sun (hot!), Sayid, and Jin. I liked Michael, and I guess I still do, but his nutjob actions recently are kind of making me less sympathetic…I like Hurley but I need some more interaction between his storyline and the island storyline to get him on a higher level of concern. I’m interested in most of the other storylines to see how they interact with the island story but my least fave character is Kate. Not that I hate the acting (because I don’t) but she is just an annoying character as portayed in this episode past. I don’t want to get rid of her though. Yet. I used to be annoyed by Sawyer, but his redemption thread is getting interesting and I think after one more flashback for him, he’ll be up on my list. Jack, I’m conflicted about. He’s the leader, his flashbacks are interesting, he’s involved in a lot of the stuff that goes on…but brotha needs a chill pill.

I don’t hate Ana Lucia like many others do. I’m willing to wait and see what goes on with her later.

While I didn’t hate Boone or Shannon, I agree that they were the least likely to be missed if they died. I fear that Claire is headed into the same region right now, since she’s had the baby and nothing much has been said of that. At least Charlie’s episode next week should have something to say about that…oh yeah, Charlie! Brotha needs a smack upside the head so he’ll stop doing smack…but I’m intrigued by his character, I’ll see where it goes.

Do not mess with the Others. Who are they anyways? I do believe that they are the de Groots (the leaders) but who are the other people?

And finally, the deux ex machina characters, who pop up at various times as plot catalysts…like Desmond and Danielle. No flashbacks for them, but they have their own story to tell…

Can’t wait to see what’s next!

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