I watched LOST for a long, long time.
Six years of television, which I viewed in five, makes LOST easily the longest television program I have ever watched during its original run. It was quite a ride, one with a good deal of ups and downs, but definitely one I won’t be forgetting anytime soon. When it ended last month, it really felt as if a phase of my life had ended as well. It was a show that entertained me in ways I never thought possible and even managed to create1 some friendships that I would have otherwise never had.
It was a great show.
The ending of the show pleased me. I knew it would be hard to end, but the last scene was brilliant. Now, the build up to that may not have been perfect, but it was honestly better than I expected. When they finally went down to the nitty gritty and explained the island, I knew it wouldn’t please me. It’s one of those things that was probably better left unexplained. Yet, so many people were clamoring for an explanation. Perhaps even I would have been disappointed had there been none.
I do think, although, that perhaps giving an explanation to everything would be a bit too much which is why I’m glad some things weren’t clarified entirely. Leaving me with a few things to still mull about was a good idea. A lot of my enjoyment of the show was not just in the viewing the mysteries, but the thinking about what possible explanation there was. Really, I didn’t care all that much what the explanation was, but it was the process of consuming and then digesting these mysteries that made up a lot of the fun of the show.
That, and the characters. What a cast. Seriously. Never did I love or hate characters as deeply as I did those in LOST. The best part that I’ve only gathered by talking to other viewers of the show is how much they managed to appeal to a wide variety of people. Everyone I know prefers or dislikes characters differently from me. What a wide variety you as a character creator have to make to achieve such a thing!
I’m not going to sit here and bore you with my own theories on the show. I’ve seen enough arguments about the ending already to know that not everyone is going to feel the same way. What I will say, is that if you watched LOST and gave up at some point, jump back in and watch it to the end. I found where the creators of the show ended up to be amazing considering where and what they started with.
And for those of you who have yet to watch it, I do heartily recommend it. You’re lucky because the way it was ended any “spoilers” don’t really ruin the journey, which is easily the best part of LOST. You’re also lucky because I found LOST best watched in clumps, where the starting and stopping was entirely at my discretion. Watching it weekly caused a few annoyances, especially in the earlier seasons where the pacing was not as brisk. Having to wait to watch this show definitely dragged it down for me. But when I was able to take a season and watch it at my own pace, I enjoyed it much, much more. Now that people are able to do that with the entire series, I’d say it is easily the best time to give LOST a shot if you ever had the slightest curiosity.
It’s a long show, but I doubt you’ll regret it. I know I don’t.
- And endanger! [↩]
