Lost is almost here

[spicedogs]

Series goes back to beach to make up for 'Lost' time

Feb. 4, 2007 12:00 AM

 

Lost returns from its three-month absence this week, and I'm ready for some action.

Actually, I've seen Wednesday's episode, the first of 16 that will air without hiatus (the reason for all that time off), and while there is a fair amount of running around and shooting and yelling and whatnot, in the end we're not too far from back where we started.

To be fair, things are set in motion that would allow the show to get back to its ensemble-cast roots - you know, the thing that made us like it in the first place - as early as the following week's episode.

Sure hope so. Because patience isn't endless, and I'm getting to the end of mine.

"The reality is, Jake, Kate and Sawyer's time on the Others' island, on Alcatraz Island, is officially over at the end of Episode Six as a result of what Jack does," said Damon Lindelof, one of Lost's executive producers. "Now we're spinning back towards the beach community and telling a lot of those stories. It doesn't mean that we are abandoning the other story line by any stretch of the imagination. It's just we're not committing as much screen time to the telling of that story once we get our hero characters back together."

Dude, don't tease. Because we can't wait forever.

Lost is a true original, a show that at its best combines drama, humor, action, mystery and fantasy in ways not normally seen on television. Its ambition is such that at times its reach exceeds its grasp, but, to mangle Robert Browning, what are "sweeps" for?

The first episodes before the break this season, however, spent far too much time focusing on Jack, Sawyer and Kate on the Others' island, evidently just as a ruse to persuade Jack to operate on Ben. The first few minutes of the season kicked off in great fashion: the plane crash seen from the Others' point of view. Michael Emerson continues to do great work as Ben, and Juliet is certainly an intriguing addition to the show. But it quickly became apparent that for those first episodes, Lost would take place mostly on the second island, while Hurley, Locke, Sayid, Charlie and others would go underutilized.

"I think as actors we like to act, so we like when we get our chances to do it," said Jorge Garcia, who plays Hurley. "Like any job, sometimes you also like a week off."

As viewers, we don't.

Carlton Cuse, another executive producer, thinks the show hasn't gotten a fair shake this season.

"If we only showed you the first six episodes of last year, you'd probably be saying, 'Has the show become about the tail-section people?' " he said. "Those characters are basically now all dead. And by the time we got on through the entire season last year, we felt like we covered everyone's story. I think the same will be true when you see the entire third season."

We'll find out, beginning Wednesday.

It is a quandary. The thing that can make a great television series more enjoyable than, say, a feature film, is that you don't have to jam-pack all your ideas into a couple of hours. With luck, you can take six or seven years.

On the other hand, the thing that can make a film more satisfying is that you don't have to wait more than a couple of hours to find out what happens. (I'm not counting the Star Wars saga, which tested the limits of patience and the theory that some things are worth waiting for.)

Keeping a serialized TV show going for years is a tricky balancing act. Like every other fan, I want to know what the secret of the island is. Just not yet. Lost throws out clues like a politician throws out promises. We want answers to the questions the show asks. We need them. Just not too many, or the magic's gone. Be careful what you wish for and all that.

In other words, it's almost impossible to satisfy everyone.

"If we started really giving answers about what is the nature of this island, what is the sort of innate underlying meaning of the numbers, those things are sort of series-ending questions," Cuse said. "I think once the mythology of those is made explicit . . . the mystery goes out of the show."

If that happens, we're left with a big-budget version of Gilligan's Island. But it has to happen sometime. It has been well-publicized that the producers are starting to think about when Lost should end.

"That's one of the things we're in discussions with the network about right now, is picking an end point to the show," Cuse said. "I think that once we do that, a lot of the anxiety and a lot of these questions . . . will go away."

Of course, then the show will, too. And no one's ready for that.

What we want instead is forward movement, a few answers, the usual amount of agonizing Lost fun along the way.

But most of all we want the gang back together, on the beach.

And while they're at it, I wouldn't mind seeing another polar bear.



Read Goodykoontz's blog and comment at goodyblog.azcentral.com.

Comments

[(Anonymous)]

I'm actually kind of happy to hear about this. I would like to see more of Locke and Hurley. I'm thinkinig that Ben is going to be out of it for awhile (unless in flashbacks) which really sucks. The Juliet flashback will be nice too but heading back to the beach will be nice.

Katie

www.katiescrazyride.com

[angelcure.livejournal.com]

Oh, I'm really glad that they're going back to the beach. As much as I love Ben, the captivity story line really wasn't interesting. We need them all back together at the beach. Then maybe, just maybe, the show may be again as interesting as it used to be on season one.

[hauntingdream.livejournal.com]

I am only waiting for the beginning of season three, but I'm looking forward to see lots of Ben. The only thing that is a pity, is that Locke won't appear until episode three. Locke is my favorite character, then comes Ben. *ducks*

I think the captivity part will be very interesting, but after a few episodes of that, I think that if they balance towards the beach more, that will be better. I need my Locke too, you see :-)

I've seen a screencap of Juliet sitting next to Ben who is still on his stomach in the operating room and the wound is still open. She looks sad. Jack and Tom are upstairs watching from the window.
That does not look good! Is Ben going to die after all?
You can find the cap in the Not in Portland section on lost-media.com.
Tell me it isn't true... :-(