....the really fun thing about “Lost” is that it certainly keeps you guessing.
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During the 2004-2005 television season, it was practically impossible not to hear about the alphabet network, ABC´s miraculous revival in the TV ratings competition. Fueling the network´s change of fortune is two of television´s biggest hit shows in recent years, suburban dramedy "Desperate Housewives" and the mystery-laden "Lost". Initially pitched as "Castaway: The Series", "Lost" thankfully morphed into a very different beast after JJ Abrams ("Alias") and Damon Lindelof ("Crossing Jordan") were brought in to finesse the entire tone of the show and to generate a workable script. And what a great job they did! In a short amount of time, Abrams and Lindelof have created a series that is quite unlike any television show you have ever seen before. In fact, just the opening sequence in "Lost" alone would literally blow your mind as it exudes the high quality of a theatrical film instead of just the pilot of a TV show.
"Lost" tells the story of a group of survivors from a plane that crash landed on an unknown island under mysterious circumstances. Initially, many within the network, quite understandably, questioned how much interest can one generate from just this basic premise, especially for a TV series that has to last 24 episodes and maybe, even multiple seasons. What is that one hook that would compel your viewers to tune in week after week? Abrams and Lindelof immediately hit upon an ingenious way to keep interest in the show not only high but mounting as the season progresses. What if the island is not what it seems to be? What if it holds some dark and mysterious secret that is painstakingly revealed a little bit at a time? What if the seemingly unconnected survivors each harbor their own little secrets as well? What if somehow some of the survivors are also connected to the island in some unexplained way? What if the crash was not an accident? What exactly is that mysterious giant man-eating monster that occasionally stalks our survivors? What is a polar bear doing on a tropical island? These and many, many other perplexing questions await viewers as the various stories are slowly revealed throughout the season. Strange doesn´t even begin to describe "Lost".
Although the island alone remains a deep and dark mystery throughout the series and a compelling equation in the overall arc of the story, it is actually the strong main cast of characters themselves that provides "Lost" with enough juice to sustain the show. Going through the bonus features on this DVD set reveals that the casting for the show was done pretty much on the fly as the script itself was being written. In fact, some of the characters that fans are now familiar with were not even written into the show yet as the casting was getting underway. To have the resulting group of cast members be so captivating to watch is nothing short of a small miracle. This cast is so awesome that just a facial expression or a brief glance is enough to speak volumes about what the characters are really thinking. Matthew Fox ("Party of Five") leads the cast as Dr. Jack Shepard, a surgeon who has risen to become a sort of de facto leader among this disparate group of survivors. Known simply as Jack, the good doctor, in the aftermath of the crash, helps treat wounded passengers and most importantly, tries to keep everyone calm and organized. Also stranded on the island are Kate (newcomer Evangeline Lilly), Sawyer (Josh Holloway), Sayid (Naveen Andrews), Charlie (Dominic Monghan), Hurley (Jorge Garcia), a very pregnant Claire (Emilie de Ravin), Korean husband and wife pair Jin (Daniel Dae Kim) and Sun (Yun Jin Kim), Locke (Terry O´Quinn from "Alias"), Boone (Ian Somerhalder), Shannon (Maggie Grace), Michael (Harold Perrineau Jr.) and his son Walt (Malcolm David Kelley). And this is about as much that I think I should reveal about these characters as the one thing that "Lost" does extremely well is to slowly let the audience in on the various characters´ backgrounds and sometimes, secrets.
By deliberately pacing the back-stories of these characters in a controlled manner, viewers are challenged to piece together each of the characters´ motivations and actions on the island one small morsel at a time, resulting in some surprising plot twists. As many of the jigsaw pieces begin to come together as the season progressed, the island itself starts to show its true nature, revealing some hidden secrets that only deepens the mystery as to who or what is actually on the island. The season finale literally opens up so many new possibilities that it is impossible to predict what would happen next.
When described as a show about survivors of a plane crash stranded on a deserted island, "Lost" must seem like the dramatic equivalent of "Gilligan´s Island". Just how interesting can it be? To have the characters laze around the beach waiting for rescuers to come must the last thing on the minds of Abrams and Lindelof when they set down to write the script. After the pilot episode was shot and shown to selected audiences, the hype surrounding the show began to grow exponentially. I have been a big fan of "Alias" for a long time and to have JJ Abrams´ name associated with this new and mysterious show more than sold it for me. After watching the 2-hour premiere, I was definitely hooked. In fact, "Lost" became an addiction that one can actually be proud of, something akin to nicotine but without the bad health risks. The end of every episode leaves you wanting more, resulting in some really interesting water-cooler discussions the next day. Speculations began to swirl around what the actual premise behind the show really is. One of the more bizarre predictions (though I would not put this theory past the writers) is that the characters are actually dead and they are in limbo, living the rest of their eternal lives on the island, sort of a halfway house for lost souls. Whether this is true or not, the really fun thing about "Lost" is that it certainly keeps you guessing. Contrary to popular belief that Abrams and Lindelof are making up the various stories as they go along, they have actually teased fans that they already know the end game and where this show is headed. Obviously, you can be sure that they are holding television´s biggest secret very close to their chests. It is a good thing too as without this unknown factor fueling the frenzied interest in the show, "Lost" would not be the success that it is today.
The first season of "Lost" comprises of 24 episodes that are evenly distributed among the following six DVDs:
Disc 1: "Pilot Part 1", "Pilot Part 2", "Tabula Rasa", "Walkabout"
Disc 2: "White Rabbit", "House of the Rising Sun", "The Moth", "Confidence Man"
Disc 3: "Solitary", "Raised By Another", "All The Best Cowboys Have Daddy Issues", "Whatever The Case May Be"
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