The Beginning of the End: The Final Season of ABC's LOST

A plane crash, a monster, and countless hours of suspense later…Lost is coming to an end. It has been a wild ride, a ride that I’m beginning to see not every television show allows you to take. I mean this show is a rarity; for starters the ending was planned from the beginning and the writers have somehow maintained a consistent narrative that has yet to contradict itself.

Then there was that glorious cinematography, especially the first season with all of its gorgeous beach sunsets. It set the bar for network television, the same way HBO shows did for cable. The writing was good (not as good in the fifth season, but good enough), the acting has always been phenomenal (excluding that fifth season again, in my opinion), and it incorporated literature like no other show ever has. It has always been intellectual than other shows (think a sci-fi Frasier.... but really not at all) Example: some of its characters were named after famed philosophers (Locke, Rousseau, and Alpert to name a few). In short, Lost dared to be complex, dared to test the intellect of its audience, and in return became a pop culture phenomenon with a devoted cult.

Now pop culture phenomenon’s are something I’m no stranger to, Harry Potter, Star Wars, and thirtysomething have all have caught my ‘creative interest’ at some point but it was years, sometimes decades (in Star Wars case) after they originally came out. But for once, I’m part of a pop culture phenomenon during its original run and I’ve enjoyed every minute of it. With Harry Potter, I wasn’t allowed to read it during its first printing and with Star Wars I was not even out of the womb when it hit theaters in 1960-something. But I’ve watched Lost since day one! Now you see, the show’s main topic is fate and when I think about it, you could argue that fate brought me to the show. I should not have been home the night in premiered, but I was sick and had the TV all to myself…who’s to say it wasn’t fate?

One reason I’ve always adored Lost is because of its spiritual topics: fate/destiny, science versus faith and the influence our decisions have on others lives. The show encapsulated so many ideas for me, in one single hour almost every topic I’ve ever been interested was presented in a wide-screen format…and I as well as the world, ate it up.

Now after five seasons, it is coming to an end. The creators behind the show, Damon Lindelof and Carlton Cuse, have stated that they have planned the ending from the very beginning…thus I expect a certain amount of closure and conclusive answers. One reason people have been giving up on the show (viewership has actually steadily declined over its five years) is because it has given very few answers. Mysteries that were presented in season one (those skeletons in the cave for instance) have yet to be answered and it seems some mysteries may never be answered, due to contract disputes and such. But I love the mystery, but only because they say they have answers. If they had mysteries but were making up it as they go, I’d hate it…but that doesn’t seem to be the case.

So on this Saturday afternoon I wait in anticipation for the season to begin and to have my countless questions answered. What is the Monster, why is Richard Alpert seemingly immortal, what are those darn numbers (4 8 15 16 23 42), and what is going to happen to Locke? To say I’m excited is an unholy understatement

Now to end on a less-than-happy note, my friend John said that when he finished Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows (the finale of the series), he asked himself, “Ok, what next?” Sadly, this is what I will ask myself as well, when that finale fades to black and the Lost logo comes on screen one last time: What next? It’s corny but true, but television-wise I’ll be lost without it.