Lost - Season 1 (2004)

Originally Written 

Sunday, August 26, 2007

If Gilligan's Island were a soap opera it would be entitled Lost. Yes, I have finally been sucked into the madness that has everyone talking about polar bears living on a tropical island and mysterious buttons that must be pushed every 108 minutes. While Lost isn't, in my opinion, the greatest show ever made it's definitely smart in terms of sucking you into a highly convoluted and confusing plot and forcing you to continue to return each week in hopes of gaining the slightest amount of information on what's happening on this island.

Lost is a series which follows a large group of survivors who miraculously survive an Oceanic plane crash on their way back from Australia. No one should have survived, and they all know that, but its clear to many people that this isn't an ordinary island. Their surviving the crash is only the beginning of strange occurrences, this mysterious island is home to a slew of explainable circumstances and mysteries. And what's evening more shocking is the fact they're not alone!

Season 1 sets up a cast of main characters by frequently using flashbacks to provide character history. This usually insights the viewer on the character's back-story and tends to open up a lot more unanswered questions. The season also manages to start numerous storylines about previous survivors on the island, mysterious "others" and sealed hatches, don't expect any of these or any other sub-stories to be answered in the near future, this show prides itself on leaving the viewer hanging.

Overall, I have to say the flashbacks are probably the most annoying part of the show, while at times they can be interesting and informative, if you don't like a particular character they can also be quite boring and useless. On many occassions it seems like the flashbacks out weigh the present storyline and I'd rather see more focus on the island than flashbacks. But one thing this show does excel at is involving the viewer. You'll find yourself in a love/hate relationship with a lot of the survivors. One episode you'll love a character and by the end of the season you'll completely hate their guts or vice versa. In the end, while Lost can be a bit tedious at times with flashbacks and confusing storylines it still manages to be an entertaining show that is certain to hook almost anyone.

Top 5 Episodes:

Aired 5/25/05

After completing the building of a raft, four survivors from the island set off to find help for the remaining survivors. Unfortunately they don't make it very far away from the island when they run into a problem; someone doesn't want them to leave. Meanwhile on the island Jack, Locke and Hurley attempt to blow open a mysterious hatch located in the middle of the jungle.

Aired 10/20/04

Jack becomes delirious due to lack of sleep and begins to hallucinate, seeing his father wandering through the jungle. Numerous flashbacks throughout the episode show Jack's final words with his father and explain why Jack was in Australia.

Aired 3/30/05

Locke and Boon continue to attempt to open a mysterious hatch they discovered in the jungle. Flashbacks throughout the episode explain more about Locke's past and the discovery of his father. Locke begins to have visions he believes are linked to the hatch, which show a small biplane crashing into the forest. The two of them located the plane but it's discovery only leads to disaster.

Aired 2/9/05

Claire returns after she being kidnapped by a man named Ethan for over a week. With no memory of the plane crash or anything following it Charlie tries to help Claire regain her memory. Ethan threatens to kill one survivor every day until Claire is returned to him. Jack, Locke, Sayid plan to go after Ethan and put an end to his terrorism. Meanwhile Charlie struggles with memories from heroine withdraws and his shady past.

Aired 12/8/2004

After discovering a man named Ethan was never on the plane, Charlie and Claire go missing. Jack, Kate, Locke and Boon go off to search for Charlie and Claire. Locke and Boon end up finding a mysterious locked hatch in the middle of the jungle; Jack and Kate find Ethan. Throughout the show multiple flashbacks give more background into the dissolving relationship between Jack and his father.

8/10