When the first episode of LOST hit the air on 9-22-04, I thought it was "Lord of the Flies-Adult Version." By the time that first episode ended two hours later, I knew there was WAY more to it. And I was hooked.
Over the years, it made so many ludicrous things seem perfectly reasonable by via great storytelling. In no particular order, here are just a few examples (FYI, what follows is technically full of spoilers if you have never seen the show but they won't necessarily make sense without other plot points):
-Polar Bears running around on a tropical island. Because they escaped their cages on the other island a short boat ride away.
-Survivors of the crash had their cancer and paralysis cured.
-Island natives who lived in a nice village full of modern technology, but kidnapped kids and pregnant women while disguised as backwards neanderthal looking people for mysterious purposes.
-An underground "hatch" that had a countdown clock that had to be reset every 108 minutes by entering a specific sequence of numbers and pushing a button. And if you don't press the button? The world would end.
-A character who is so untrusting that he dug up two bodies and found their wallets and driver's licenses to prove a "bad guy" is lying.
-The Island can be moved to save it from destruction by others by turning a frozen wheel well underground. And when that happens, those on the island start jumping through time.
-A trail of smoke called the "Smoke Monster" that can show up, read thoughts, shapeshift into different bodies, and kill at will if needed.
-A seemingly invincible dog that survived the plane crash and all of the craziness around him time after time.
And those bullet points just cover what the tiniest bit of what happened on the island. The Flashbacks in each episode slowly told the backstories of the survivors and linked perfectly with happenings on the Island. So well in fact, that the flashbacks changed twice into even better storytelling devices.
Even with all of the crazy happenings and mixing in of science fiction, LOST is probably ultimately a show about the basic argument of Science vs Faith and Free Will vs. Destiny. I say probably because unlike other shows LOST hasn't ever come out and told you what you are supposed to think. There is never a scene where a character sits down another to explain something event by event. Mysteries are revealed with answers that answer the issue while raising more questions.
That open-endedness has only made some (like me) even more intrigued. Of course it has turned others off, but that's ok. Those that love LOST go above and beyond. Has there every been a show that has an almost 6900 article online encyclopedia for anything and everything about the show created purely by fans? You could literally spend days on Lostpedia reading anything from episode recaps to timelines of events, to quotes and theories. How about another show that produced 10+ page recaps on Entertainment Weekly.com (Totally LOST) that are filled with obscure literary references, philosophical theories, and religious links? And there are plenty more theories and analysis here, here, here, and here. No show has been embraced and made for the internet like LOST.
All in all, there was never a show like LOST before and probably never will be again. Networks are just not going to take the risk when they can greenlight shows like CSI: Insert City Name here and get solid ratings.
The finale Sunday is going to be a sad day.
