WE HAVE TO GO BACK: One year ago tonight, Lost ended. It is holding up very well in my memory; I miss having something that big to watch (though, to be fair, I guess Game of Thrones has ambition too -- though no one there's insisting we're the good guys!).
There are aspects of the show I never need to see again -- Jack's flashbacks, The Temple, anything with Boone and Shannon, most of the Tailies stuff -- but by and large, this was a show that aimed high in terms of mythology and emotion, and largely delivered. More like that, please?
Sepinwall has some thoughts: "Setting the mysteries and the oblique clues and frustrating answers aside, 'Lost' mattered. 'Lost' was grand and tragic and funny and exciting and a show that felt not quite like anything that had been tried before - and, based on where its ratings were by the end, and the struggles of all the shows to imitate it, one that may be unlike anything we ever see in the future."
I am sure others will disagree, but the year's distance has sort of confirmed for me how satisfying the ending was. The fact that we got no answers to the logistical and metaphysical mysteries was really, for me, overcome by the big emotional payoff we got in The End. RIP LOST.
ReplyDeleteFine, I'll be the one; I LIKED Shannon. Hers was one of the most satisfying character developments over her history on the show, and watching that evil dog lead her to her doom was a horribly tragic development.
ReplyDeleteAnd yes, I liked the ending as well. Some answers, some mysteries...it was life. Plus, the end for Ben was so sad and weird and right.
The only thing I have to say about that @#$@#*& final episode is to steal a line from one of our hosts...we will never speak of this again.
ReplyDeleteThe distance has led me to look at it not as the X on the treasure map, but as more of a bow around a present. It wasn't a giant payoff that we spent six years building to; it wrapped up a wonderful show, one whose scale we may never see again (at least on network tv). And the coda on the final season dvd was just about perfect, if you haven't seen it.
ReplyDeleteWhat I don't get is the people who say that the last episode completely ruined the show for them. It makes me wonder how much they could have even liked the show in the first place.
I wasn't a Lost watcher at all, but I have to admire the fact that "how do you feel exactly oe year after the show ended?" has become an actual Internet meme.
ReplyDeleteI have a friend who is watching the whole series on Netfix for the first time right now. It is so fun to hear him talk about it with him having no idea what's coming. Makes me want to re-watch the whole thing.
ReplyDeleteI'm also going to get to meet Damon Lindelof next month for a work thing. It will be incredibly difficult not to go all fangirl on him.
Totally agree re: Shannon - the effed up relationship with Boone makes people forget about the more important part of her arc.
ReplyDeleteSo if I've never seen any Lost, The Wire, The Sopranos, or Mad Men, and haven't been significantly spoiled on any of them, which should I start watching?
ReplyDeleteAll are worthy, but I'd start with Lost and The Wire. Both pulled me in instantly, but some have said they benefitted from patience with The Wire. Of the two, Lost certainly wastes no time grabbing you within the first minutes of the pilot episode; The Wire's characters and storyline are rolled out at a much more deliberate pace.
ReplyDeleteRoger, my immediate reaction is, I am so envious!
ReplyDelete(Second: The Sopranos.)
Also jealous. I'd second Adam C., but would propose that you watch Lost and The Wire simultaneously. They're very different shows, and a straight diet of The Wire can be somewhat depressing if not leavened by something else. (Not that Lost is always light...)
ReplyDeleteThe Wire, and it's note even close. (You could wait on Mad Men a bit, as the next season isn't going to be here for a while. Excuse me while I sob quietly.) As long as you go into Lost accepting that they had no idea what they were doing and just accept it as an entertaining show, you'll be fine, but looking for deeper meaning/following "clues" from the earlier seasons is a hilarious attempt to make something out of nothing.
ReplyDeleteI'm surprised there are no votes for the Sopranos.
ReplyDeleteI didn't vote. I'd vote for the Sopranos. It's just a lot of television. It really depends on which type of story you want to see.<span> </span>
ReplyDeleteYou're sure it was only a year ago? It feels like longer.
ReplyDeleteSopranos is dead to me. What BULLSHIT they pulled after all that time.
ReplyDeleteLucky you, to have Lost, The Wire, and Mad Men all still ahead of you ... I'd do as Russ suggests, tag-team Lost and The Wire, and then start on Mad Men (since it's going to be so desperately, painfully long till the next season starts). I'd also like to mention Deadwood, because I can't see this group of shows and not think of its Shakespearian dialogue, unrelenting compellingness (is that a word?), and full immersion in its world.