Lost in a supernatural adventure & drama mystery series that aired from 2004 to 2010, spanning six seasons and a whopping 121 episodes. It was created by Jeffrey Lieber, J.J. Abrams and Damon Lindelof. Carlton Cuse and Damon Lindelof served as the show’s head writers.
The show follows a large group of survivors that find themselves stuck on an island in the middle of nowhere after a plane crash. The show’s main cast comprises of Evangeline Lilly as Kate Austen, Jorge Garcia as Hugo Reyes, Matthew Fox as Jack Shepherd, Josh Holloway as James Ford, Naveen Andrews as Sayid Jarrah, Dominic Monaghan as Charlie Pace, Michael Emerson as Ben Linus, Terry O’Quinn as John Locke, and Daniel Dae Kim as Jin-Soo Kwon. The show also features a large supporting cast, which was one of the factors for the show’s tremendous cost, the other being its beautiful filming location of Oahu, Hawaii. The pilot episode alone had a budget of over 14 million US dollars, making Lost one of the most expensive (and most profitable) TV shows ever made.
The show went on to receive hundreds of award nominations over its course and won the Emmy Award for Outstanding Drama Series, as well as the Golden Globe Award for Best Drama in 2005 and 2006, respectively. It was praised by critics and viewers alike up until the end of its final season, which received lackluster responses. The reason for this has to do with the show’s mysterious buildup that never came to fruition in the original series. Several mini-episodes were eventually released after the show’s finale, addressing some of the issues with the show’s ending.
Story-wise, the show’s extensive main and supporting cast are forced into staying on a mysterious island for an extended period of time. Everyone has a role to play, whether it’s because of their skillset as a doctor, hunter, fisherman, or because of how their unique personalities have them interact with other characters. While they all essentially begin their island adventure on a clean slate, each character has a troubled past of some sort, and we learn increasingly more about those pasts with every episode. The island, we learn very quickly, isn’t a regular island. Strange things happen on it. People vanish. Mysterious creatures fell trees in the distance. A man who was bound to a wheelchair his whole life can walk upon it.
The group is constantly in search of a way off the island, but their search only raises more and more questions. They sabotage each other constantly, with the group always finding itself in the middle of a complicated web of deceit and manipulation. Some are traumatized by their past to move forward, and others all too happy with the ways things have changed since they found themselves on the island to go back. And the island keeps on giving them more reasons to turn on one another. On the other side of it, with every new set of obstacles, survivors form closer connections with one another.
What’s most interesting about the show is that despite taking place in the same location for six seasons, it always feels interesting to watch. No matter how much it’s explored, the island always has another secret hidden just around the corner. In one episode you might find yourself following three or four separate plotlines, and you never feel lost in them. They’re all easy to follow and they’ll keep you on the edge of your seat for the entire episode. Rarely is there a dull moment in this show, and after having watched over a hundred episodes, you are certain to feel a deep connection with each of its many characters.
The content of each episode is so interesting that you’re bound to think about the show even when you’re not watching it, second-guessing each character’s decisions, wondering about what’s the answer behind some great mystery, or fantasizing about what the characters might do next. All this will play out in your mind alongside the show’s beautifully melancholic and mysterious soundtrack on repeat until you’ve seen it all.
And after you’ve seen it all, you will likely feel you need more of it. More Lost in your life. But all good TV shows have to come to an end. Its ending is the opposite of what the show once represented. There is no payoff for all the supernatural mystery the show’s been building up all this time. The deeply philosophical ending is bitter-sweet if you accept it as is, but it does the show a massive disservice by calling into question everything that’s happened on the island in the span of just a few of its last minutes. The whole experience feels cheapened because of it. You’re left feeling like a kid that has spent the entire day in a chocolate factory, only to have to eat brussels sprouts at the end of it. If you’re looking to move on you may find some satisfaction in the ending’s finality, but that is precisely what wounded me most deeply. There is no going back after this ending, and I feel that betrayed the series’ unending flow of mystery. And despite the show being very long, it ends too soon. It doesn’t give itself the time necessary to wrap up every active plotline, or to fully explore every characters’ purpose on the island, all the interpersonal relationships remain the will-they-won’t-they that they’ve been for six seasons.
I will still happily recommend this show to anyone who hasn’t watched it yet. The show’s not perfect, but they rarely are. Despite its unflattering finale, it’s a show that has become a mystery-genre-defining classic. Whether you’re coming home from work and need something to relax by for a few hours every day, or want to spend a few days binging it nonstop, you will find lots of enjoyment in it.
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