Lost: Season One (TV) 2004-2010

What is all the fuss about Lost?

OK, so, we mised it when it first appeared on Channel 4. And when it was on Sky, when we got hold of Sky, about six months later.

When it first aired in the UK five years ago, other half and I had just returned home from a friend's house when we realised - the damn thing had already started - and IT WAS THE REPEAT!

Then a few weeks after this airdate, word filtered down that the show was all about the twists and turns, that no answers were ever given about their island-stuck-stituation, and that no bugger would explain a single thing about that damn polar bear people kept mentioning.

So, increasingly, it sounded as if Lost was either one great head-tease that messed with your sense of closure, or it was about the best thing out there that constantly defied expectations and surpassed everyday network telly by some margin.And it was all produced by that J J Abrams bloke who did the unashamedly out-there Alias, which hadn't held our attention since season two (basically, Sidney got way too many other people avoidably killed every single episode).

This meant that the show was on hiatus for us until:

a) It was quickly cancelled
b) It ran and ran, and got released on DVD, when we'd buy it only after hearing decent reviews.
c) We saw JJ Abrams' cool movie version of Star Trek, hugely enjoyed Cloverfield, heard good thing about his later show, Fringe, and then watched him hold his own against Joss Whedon at ComicCon 2010. Abrams is less keen on 3D, which among other things really impressed us.

Well, ok, so 'c' wasn't in the original game plan, but the combination of those both 'b' and 'c' persuaded us to give Lost a shot. Not the complete, £250 box set (it's since become a tad cheaper) but, you know, the cheap first season, on beautiful BLU-RAY!

And you know what?

I'm hooked.

How these characters get under your skin is one of the bigger mysteries, and how Jack (Matthew Fox) gets away with looking like a butch Adam Sandler is another question. There's a whole mess of questions, and even after a marathon weekend watching the first season, requiring immediate ordering of the second season ten episodes in, we're barely any clearer on WTF is going on on that little slice of screwed-up paradise. Seriously. What is going on? What???

NO SPOILERS - AND ANY SPOILERS GIVEN IN THE COMMENTS BELOW MAY RESULT IN A LITTLE PIECE OF ME DYING INSIDE. AND THEN BEING THROWN AT YOU...

On the other hand - we really, really don't want to know. I've absolutely no idea where all this is headed. The fact that there's five MORE season of this Russian doll plot baffles me. It's obvious that the show is riffing off old-school serials from the 1930s (hey Flash Gordon) with music that brings me back to original Star Trek, Lost in Space, and all the other goodies that kept ten year olds riveted during the early 1990s at middays, Sundays, on Channel 4. Lost is made with a modern sense of character and style, and continuity. However, it's this slowly unfolding story truly hooks you by using people you want to learn more about each time.

It gets away with its ludicrousness because it - and its characters - know full well that the situation IS ludicrous. But they keep going about daily weirdness anyway, because they need to survive. If it is a dream, none of us want them to wake up. If the island isn't on a spaceship, then what the hell does it all mean? No simple answer, ripped from the Twilight Zone, will ever be enough. So what could it be?

There are SO many mysteries to unlock in Lost it's completely compulsive - and we're already devouring the second season.  So far it's remained satisfyingly frustrating with its teasing, slowly unfolding explanations, and I'm enjoying that hugely - and I think it's pretty clear what that says about me and the other millions of fans!

To masochist Lost fans who actually watched it in real, unpredictable, advert-splatter network time, I salute you! I sincerely hope it's worth the wait. I can't even put any pictures on this blog as I'm afraid that searching for things on Lost are going to bring up 'how it all ended' type snippets. Yes, I'm late to the party, but I'm determined to enjoy myself while I'm there and let it answer questions in its own time.

The most spoiler-safe question I have is, will Hurley ever lose weight on a diet of crab and mangos? Ever?? He might shrink like Peter Jackson did after the Lord of the Rings movies, and be less awesome as a result, just like PJ...

Enough, on with Season 2 - and hopefully a more regular blog roll will be resumed over the next few weeks despite this troubling addiction!