Lost, One Great Reason To Love SciFi
Intro: Okay, since I broke these up into smaller blogs for each show, hopefully I will do them justice. I will start with the most recent show to air, Lost. I came very late to the Lost party. I had read for years where people touted the show. Amazingly though, nobody I knew suggested it to me as a show I would love until my neighbor and I had a chat over shows in 2009. But, when I finally had the desire to jump in after our chat, they were airing the end of the 5th season and I simply chose to wait, so that all the seasons would be on DVD before starting. (By the way Hollywood, you should take note of that, if you released DVD sets in the summer for shows we might start watching in the fall, you might lure more viewers). So, this past summer while regular TV took a break I started the Lost phenomenon.
Lost might just be the most correctly titled show in the history of television. Certainly at times you will feel quite lost in trying to understand the many twists and turns of the story. But, I think it is actually part of the point and the draw of the show. Haven’t we all felt “lost” at some point in our lives. Sure, over the course of the show, there were plot points and storylines I found irrelevant, distracting, unnecessary or over done. But all shows have those moments. What Lost does exceedingly well is develop the characters and their stories, it shows us how easily our black and white world can turn to shades of gray.
The real signature moment for me came in the last episode of Season 1 between two of the main characters, Jack and Locke:
Locke: That's why you and I don't see eye-to-eye sometimes, Jack -- because you're a man of science.
Jack: Yeah, and what does that make you?
Locke: Me, well, I'm a man of faith. Do you really think all this is an accident -- that we, a group of strangers survived, many of us with just superficial injuries? Do you think we crashed on this place by coincidence -- especially, this place? We were brought here for a purpose, for a reason, all of us. Each one of us was brought here for a reason.
The moment the exchange takes place, you realize the significance of the moment and indeed it serves to accurately frame much of what Lost is really all about.
Throughout all six seasons of the show, there is always tension between faith and science, good and evil, and often you can see the characters flipping in your mind’s eye from good to bad, back to good, back to bad again, and then it starts all over again. Indeed much of the outcome depends on the context. Much like life.
The sixth season though proved to be the very best in my viewpoint. To those fans of the show, these proved to be the pinnacle moments of the series. Okay, SPOILER ALERT! I am now going to comment directly, so if you want to take a chance and watch the show, stop here. If you already watched, well, here is my take on a variety of subjects in the show.
One of the first questions asked is who your favorite character is/was. For me, like many I am certain, it was Hurley. He probably had the purest of motives and hearts. He felt like the most humble and decent of the entire lot. However, personally I identified with the Jack character the most. So many times throughout the show's run, I found myself thinking about the situations and how much I saw eye to eye with Jack. Indeed, the times when he had to make tough decisions, I generally would have made the same choices he did. Ultimately he accepted his fate, and did his duty, making the ultimate sacrifice, willingly to save those he loved most.
Best clue of the show hidden in plain sight for 6 years: Jack’s father. Christian Sheppard. When his name showed up clearly on the side of the box holding his coffin, I can still feel my palm smacking my forehead in an epic, DUH! Moment.
Most annoying character: Michael. For a guy who had clearly not been a parent of any value in his son’s life for such a long time, he became some kind of obsessed, soulless tool and certainly the least likeable of any of the main survivors.
Best parting shot: This is a tough one. I cannot imagine very many dry eyes when Jack goes into the bamboo and chooses to lay down in the exact spot where it all begin again, to literally bring the series full circle, and Vincent comes along to lie with him as his last moments alive unwind. Live Together or Die Alone was a frequent quote/theme throughout the show, and at least Jack did not have to die alone. How many of us have had to be there when a pet gets put down, and what a nice twist on that little bit of life to have the roles reversed.
But I also loved the final moments of life for Sun and Jin. Of all the couples on the show, they certainly had the most to overcome, having been ripped apart for so long. When Jin had a chance to survive, but without his one true love, he simply chose to Die together, rather than live alone. Again, a neat twist on one of the major themes of the show.
The real question for most fans is simple: did you love the ending of the show, or did you hate it? I think for those of us who have a belief rooted in faith, it’s a question of what degree did you enjoy it. For those who dislike, hate or are indifferent about faith, the question is to what degree did they dislike it. I loved the ending of the show. Those final moments when the characters re-connected with those who played key roles in their life, touched (surely the most intimate of the five senses), and experienced the flashbacks to their time together, through the trials and tribulations they faced, through the great moments they spent together, and accepted their decisions, their actions and ultimately their death; it is such a beautiful idea of what might be waiting for us all down the road. Indeed, the final conversation between Jack and his father is vintage TV at its finest.
What did I think the Island and Sideways World were? I think the island was meant to represent a place in the world where good and evil persist in their never ending battle. Our wonderfully flawed characters were brought in to try and be heroes, to help good win the battle. And like all good heroes, they were all flawed in some key way. I think Sideways proved to be a great way to show the waiting area for the after life. Not an area to be judged, but rather as a place where one can wait for those special soulmates in one's life to arrive and where one can prepare to accept one's life and death. As I said above I loved it. If ever a TV show captured what I have believed to be the case in my own heart for what's next, this one certainly came the closest.
So, as you can see, faith played a huge part in the show. Jack, the man of science, ultimately had to become a man of faith to save those he cared about. All in all, a great show.
Lost might just be the most correctly titled show in the history of television. Certainly at times you will feel quite lost in trying to understand the many twists and turns of the story. But, I think it is actually part of the point and the draw of the show. Haven’t we all felt “lost” at some point in our lives. Sure, over the course of the show, there were plot points and storylines I found irrelevant, distracting, unnecessary or over done. But all shows have those moments. What Lost does exceedingly well is develop the characters and their stories, it shows us how easily our black and white world can turn to shades of gray.
The real signature moment for me came in the last episode of Season 1 between two of the main characters, Jack and Locke:
Locke: That's why you and I don't see eye-to-eye sometimes, Jack -- because you're a man of science.
Jack: Yeah, and what does that make you?
Locke: Me, well, I'm a man of faith. Do you really think all this is an accident -- that we, a group of strangers survived, many of us with just superficial injuries? Do you think we crashed on this place by coincidence -- especially, this place? We were brought here for a purpose, for a reason, all of us. Each one of us was brought here for a reason.
The moment the exchange takes place, you realize the significance of the moment and indeed it serves to accurately frame much of what Lost is really all about.
Throughout all six seasons of the show, there is always tension between faith and science, good and evil, and often you can see the characters flipping in your mind’s eye from good to bad, back to good, back to bad again, and then it starts all over again. Indeed much of the outcome depends on the context. Much like life.
The sixth season though proved to be the very best in my viewpoint. To those fans of the show, these proved to be the pinnacle moments of the series. Okay, SPOILER ALERT! I am now going to comment directly, so if you want to take a chance and watch the show, stop here. If you already watched, well, here is my take on a variety of subjects in the show.
One of the first questions asked is who your favorite character is/was. For me, like many I am certain, it was Hurley. He probably had the purest of motives and hearts. He felt like the most humble and decent of the entire lot. However, personally I identified with the Jack character the most. So many times throughout the show's run, I found myself thinking about the situations and how much I saw eye to eye with Jack. Indeed, the times when he had to make tough decisions, I generally would have made the same choices he did. Ultimately he accepted his fate, and did his duty, making the ultimate sacrifice, willingly to save those he loved most.
Best clue of the show hidden in plain sight for 6 years: Jack’s father. Christian Sheppard. When his name showed up clearly on the side of the box holding his coffin, I can still feel my palm smacking my forehead in an epic, DUH! Moment.
Most annoying character: Michael. For a guy who had clearly not been a parent of any value in his son’s life for such a long time, he became some kind of obsessed, soulless tool and certainly the least likeable of any of the main survivors.
Best parting shot: This is a tough one. I cannot imagine very many dry eyes when Jack goes into the bamboo and chooses to lay down in the exact spot where it all begin again, to literally bring the series full circle, and Vincent comes along to lie with him as his last moments alive unwind. Live Together or Die Alone was a frequent quote/theme throughout the show, and at least Jack did not have to die alone. How many of us have had to be there when a pet gets put down, and what a nice twist on that little bit of life to have the roles reversed.
But I also loved the final moments of life for Sun and Jin. Of all the couples on the show, they certainly had the most to overcome, having been ripped apart for so long. When Jin had a chance to survive, but without his one true love, he simply chose to Die together, rather than live alone. Again, a neat twist on one of the major themes of the show.
The real question for most fans is simple: did you love the ending of the show, or did you hate it? I think for those of us who have a belief rooted in faith, it’s a question of what degree did you enjoy it. For those who dislike, hate or are indifferent about faith, the question is to what degree did they dislike it. I loved the ending of the show. Those final moments when the characters re-connected with those who played key roles in their life, touched (surely the most intimate of the five senses), and experienced the flashbacks to their time together, through the trials and tribulations they faced, through the great moments they spent together, and accepted their decisions, their actions and ultimately their death; it is such a beautiful idea of what might be waiting for us all down the road. Indeed, the final conversation between Jack and his father is vintage TV at its finest.
What did I think the Island and Sideways World were? I think the island was meant to represent a place in the world where good and evil persist in their never ending battle. Our wonderfully flawed characters were brought in to try and be heroes, to help good win the battle. And like all good heroes, they were all flawed in some key way. I think Sideways proved to be a great way to show the waiting area for the after life. Not an area to be judged, but rather as a place where one can wait for those special soulmates in one's life to arrive and where one can prepare to accept one's life and death. As I said above I loved it. If ever a TV show captured what I have believed to be the case in my own heart for what's next, this one certainly came the closest.
So, as you can see, faith played a huge part in the show. Jack, the man of science, ultimately had to become a man of faith to save those he cared about. All in all, a great show.
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