Season Finale Season: Lost
First of all, if have yet to watch the Lost finale, it’d probably be best to read this post later.
Second, if you don’t watch at all, let me take this moment to beg you to start– and not even in a “do yourself a favor and watch the 48 aired episodes on DVD over the summer” way. As the clock struck 11pm edt last night, people who have been watching the show for two years were left pondering a situation in which, basically, everything we thought we knew was ever so gently turned on its side (though not on its head, as no moment was exceptionally shocking, just momentum changing– which is almost better for a show like this). In other words, this is the absolute PERFECT time to just jump right in. Sure, the die-hards will say, “Rick, that’s &%$#’in crazy! Of course you need to watch the previous episodes. It’s a show about characters and we’ve had over 40 hours to learn about them,” but those people are total nerds are not to be believed! I go on after the jump below…
It all comes down to adapting to the medium. No one would ever start reading a novel at chapter six, or walk into a movie during the third reel (are movies still shown on reels?), but television is not a book or a movie. Narrative TV is expansive. A show’s popularity dictates how long the story will be told, and so no matter how much planning is done by the creative team behind it, they will never fully construct the perfect narrative structure. At best they can plot out a season’s arc and maybe (hopefully) a general arc for where they’d like the series to go down the road.
This year Lost seemed to do everything in its power (or out of its power) to drive away as many viewers as possible. It started with the introduction of cast members that everyone basically hated. Then they put the focus of the show on those new, hated, cast members for what seemed like weeks on end, slowly driving the casual fans away one by one all while teasing us with mythologies that seemed more and more frustrating with each passing episode. The ratings began to sink.
It didn’t help that the show’s production calendar called for a two-weeks-on/two-weeks-off airing schedule. No one knew if the show was a rerun or not (well, someone did). And then, the FOX network pulled out the ultimate $70-barrel-of-oil on the fire move by having a show that combines all the intrigue of Desperate Housewives and Lost without any of the production costs and quickly began siphoning off whatever viewers were still on the fence. American Idol killed Lost this year. It’s a national sensation that gains in popularity every year–hardly a fair fight against a show whose trendiness had all but melted away while slowly confusing what casual viewers it had left.
I stress ‘casual viewers’ because Lost does have the advantage of having such a rabit fan following that it will always be a hit, just never as big as it was in the first season (Lost premiered this year at #4 with around 25 million viewers and was last seen in the lower ranks of the top 20 with some 14 million views).
So it is with all of this baggage we go into the final two hours. From moment one it was Desmonded– I mean DESTINED– to be great. In terms of bang for you buck, there was no other finale in the ‘05-’06 television season the delivered as much satisfaction as this year’s Lost finale (which totally made up for the two-hours-to-nowhere that we were greeted with last season). The back story involved that sly Irishman, Desmond, who we last saw running into the jungle in episode one of this year. In what will probably be remembered as the greatest invisible twist in television history this bit-player, this footnote to an already established series, managed to suddenly and without fanfare become the singular driving force behind not only the future narrative, but what could possibly be the ultimate answer to the island’s mystery– and as far as any of us know HE COULD ALREADY BE DEAD.
That is why jumping on Lost next season will work. There was such a sea-change in momentum any information you don’t all ready know can simply be aquired through general observation (and hell, if you dig the show, perhaps it will be motivation enough for checking out the first seasons on DVD).
The point is there has to be a statute of limitations on spoilers. Most people are not like me and can sit down in front of a television for 4 days “catching up” on entire runs of television series, and its naive to think that a show can only appeal (or survive) on whatever audience was there with the pilot. The Lost creators know this and they meticulously crafted a season-ender that answered questions, posed new ones, and most importantly positioned the show simultaneously in a solid middle as well as a new beginning in its narrative.
So we’ll see you in September.
Tags: ABC, American Idol, FOX, Lost, Season Finale
May 26th, 2006 at 12:23 pm
They live on BULLETS.
May 26th, 2006 at 6:53 pm
Take me, for example. The only 2 episodes I’ve watched are the first and last episodes of the second season. Yes– NONE of the first season whatsoever. I didn’t even watch the “catch-up” episode.
SPOILERS below, so, y’know…
I basically saw the beginning and end of Desmond’s character and nothing in between. But with a little explaining from my mom, I was filled in with a lot of the smaller things. Of course, the question being: is Desmond actually dead? When Charlie returned to the camp after the blast, it seemed like the notion of Desmond and the others being dead didn’t occur to him when everyone asked what happened.
Ah, and the last 2 minutes. You have 2 or 3 guys who are clearly camped out in the arctic(???) for the sole purpose of waiting for Desmond’s “signal.” They were WAITING for it. This is NUTS!!!!!!! Was Desmond’s desperate act of faith a psychological test of some sorts and ultimately his gateway out of the island?
And it’s clear “the Others” know exactly what the island is and how to escape it (which begs the question, why don’t they?). That one dude got his son back and was told he’d be rescued if he just headed in one direction and never spoke of the island. Was that his “test”?
I just see a pattern in that each character seems to be challenged in some way and must ultimately make some very weighty decisions to decide their fate. I’m very excited about renting the seasons on DVD and seeing things for myself, and I do understand that, as insane as it sounds, it is a show that can be picked up without seeing previous ones, as long as you pay close attention.
There is something to be said for experiencing the character development, though, and I think the viewer would be sorely missing key points in the characters’ lives– something that would help understand where they’re coming from and why they are making the decisions they’re making in this whole maze of questions.
That said, I can’t wait for season 3.