Lost Review

"Everything happens for a reason."

POSSIBLE SPOILERS (Though I'll try to keep it to a minimum, being it is a review)

Okay, I've finally decided to settle down and try to write the review, instead of stalling with more analysis' and theories. Once this is finished, there will be no more Lost related posts (though you can almost guarentee I will continue referencing it a lot). I hope this flies by rather quickly, seeing as how I'm combining two things I love writing about: Lost and reviews. Now I'm going in depth on the saga I dedicated three years of my television experience for. I will tell you all what I loved about it and why I think it is so great, and at the same time I will try not to gush too much and make this as standard a review as possible. So, without further introduction, let's get lost.

The story of Lost begins in 2004, when Oceanic Flight 815 crashes on what appears to be a deserted island while flying from Sydney to Los Angeles. Around fifty passengers survive the crash and soon realize that rescue is not coming. While a battle against nature is inevitable, it quickly becomes apparent to the castaways that there are other forces at work on The Island. Tensions rise as the castaways begin to reluctantly unlock the mystery of The Island, ponder who they are at heart, discover what dangers lie in their surroundings, and face trials they could never even imagine. In the middle of this story, the haunted pasts of the primary castaways are explored through flashbacks, revealing hidden natures and flaws in their personalities that could reflect or influence their present troubles. All of this makes for an engrossing, intense, and amazing story.

While the concept was not unfamiliar to television audiences, filmmaker J.J. Abrams (who had great success with the Alias series beforehand) brought Lost (originally titled Nowhere) to its eventual starting point. Shortly after, writer-producers Damon Lindelof and Carlton Cuse took over as the show's primary creative team. And this team took the original idea for the story -- "Cast Away" meets "Survivor" meets "Gilligan's Island" -- and took it to levels beyond all three. Many people think that the creators had no idea where the story was heading and were just making it up as they go along, but cryptic scenes in the beginning suggest there was plan from the beginning. As the mystery is uncovered, the show is allowed to evolve more and more and thus so are the characters. I really love how Lost is a show that doesn't have one particular genre. It can be just as hilarious as it can be dramatic. Season 1 is more than anything a drama, which is what I basically categorize the series as, even moreso than mystery. Season 2 was more of a psychological drama. Season 3 a bit of a conspiracy thriller. Season 4 was like an action adventure. Season 5 total science fiction adventure. Season 6 was undoubtedly a supernatural drama. And it maintains all of these genres throughout the entire series with an almost always balanced level of suspense. So really I am not lying when I say Lost has everything to keep a person interested. The show's primary themes are classic: redemption, destiny, coexistence, self discovery, love. The storytellers can also be thanked for making a story that contains a crazy Island, polar bears, a Monster, long lost scientific experiments, hostile natives, gunbattles, fistfights, explosions, and love triangles and have it be so character driven. If the gallery of strange plot points on this show don't keep people watching, the unique, multi-dimensional, and extremely well developed characters will. So yes, the writing aspect is beloved by me more than anything because it is always brilliant (yes, even the pointless Nikki and Paulo episode, it did have Billy Dee Williams...as himself).

Many shows have a big story that a group of main characters revolve around. Lost is a show that has a group of main characters the big story revolves around, and that is why it is so good. With all of the mysteries that are thrown at us, the real mysteries are the characters, their pasts and their futures. While every episode focuses on one character in particular, there is still time to peak in and out of the lives of everyone else. So we get a lot of development along side warm ups for even more development. That must have been an attractive idea for the cast, having really compelling and fleshed out roles. The acting is one of the shows most extraordinary aspects. It goes without saying that Lost probably would have sucked had it not had such great acting. When I started watching Lost the only actors I knew right off were Harold Perrineau who played Michael and Dominic Monaghan who played Charlie, but as I kept watching I realized that I'd seen just about every one of them somewhere before, and even more recognizable people show up later on in guest roles or otherwise. I'd be writing all day if I went through every one of the great performances on the show. I can say that no matter what incredible things happen, the cast always bring out moments of true heart and sincerity in their characters. As far as ensemble acting goes, Lost is some of the best I've ever seen.

Now for the technical detail. I will get the CGI area out of the way. For the instances CGI has appeared on Lost, it has been pretty hit and miss. In some areas such as the Monster and The Wheel, the effects are pretty simple but very convincing at the same time. Other moments look a little cartoonish, but don't take anything away from the moments. As far as any other special effects go, the rest are great. I love how makeup was always consistant: Ben was beaten to a pulp around the middle of season 5 and remained bruised until the end of season 6, which seemed like a two week period in the show's time. Lost is pretty consistant in regards to most things. The set designs are always interesting. I loved The Swan Hatch interior of season 2 and The Temple of season 6. All of the sets capture the feel they are supposed to and are convincing due to that, especially the castaways' camp. The main and most pivotal location is the Island, which is actually the Hawaiian island of Oahu, which is utilized amazingly to make up the very intricate world of Lost. Even more impressive than that is how Honolulu and other locations in Hawaii is used to place characters in locations all around the world, including Los Angeles, London, Iraq, Miami, Nigeria, South Korea, and of course Austrailia. With the number of locations, the Island being the most beautiful of all, a door is opened for great cinematography. I don't think I'm alone when I say Lost is a show that is breathtaking to look at; some visuals could belong in National Geographic. Aside from a few CG hiccups, Lost's technical detail is just as top notch as the others.

In my closing words, I will say this review does not do the show any justice. Even though it may sound like I think so, I will have to admit that this show won't be for everyone. I know some people who just can't follow it, or find it too confusing (yeah right, try watching The Wire). Others claim to want to watch the show just to figure out the mind bending mysteries. Telling as little as possible about the ending, I will only say what I always say. When it comes to the ending, you are gonna have to decide for yourself why you are watching Lost: for the mysteries or the characters. Some people may feel it is a cheat, others may feel it is very moving. Or both. I don't know. All I know is I loved every minute of it. It is a show I highly recommend, if you couldn't already tell.

Farewell Lost. At least until I rewatch the series after awhile. Which I absolutely will.

This has been a mission accomplished from Your Modest Guru. Thanks for reading.