Beth: You can't go anywhere on the Internet this week without stumbling over a blog post about the end of LOST. I guess I don't really need to contribute to the hype, but I'd like to at least share a few of my thoughts about the show's ending.
In 2004, when LOST premiered, it was unlike any other television show I'd ever seen. I didn't start watching right from the beginning; if I remember correctly, it was on at the same time as another show I watched regularly, although for the life of me I can't recall now what it was. But I was hooked as soon as I saw that group of survivors on that beautiful beach, as soon as I saw Sawyer shoot that polar bear, as soon as I saw Locke with that somehow sinister orange slice in his mouth. There are people who say that the magic of LOST is in its mythology, but I disagree. The real magic of LOST, for me, has always been in the complexity of its characters. On LOST, as in life, no one is ever all good or all bad. Rather, there are an infinite number of shades of gray. That's what kept me coming back week after week, and what has kept me hanging on to the very, final end.
It's been a 6-year journey to get to this point. LOST has had its ups and downs, and to my mind it never quite regained its footing after the giddy excitement of the first couple of seasons. I think the show suffered after JJ Abrams left, although it's still likely one of the best shows on television. Even when I've been annoyed with the show this season (for reasons I won't start to list here or I'll never stop), I've stuck around because I have been in this for the long haul. LOST has been more than just a show, it's been the medium through which I've made some wonderful friends, truly some of the most fabulous people I know. It's been the medium through which I learned something new with almost every episode; this show requires more concentration than anything I've ever watched outside of a documentary. It's been the medium through which I became part of a larger entity: the LOST nation. This is a group of fans whose attention to detail would put even the most anal retentive person to shame. And I have been proud to be one of their number since the fall of 2004.
It's been equal parts thrilling, frustrating, exhilarating, and exhausting to be a LOST fan. And by Sunday night, it will all be over. But oh, what a ride it's been.
6 comments:
Hey there M & E,
I think you summed it up nicely. LOST is not a show that you watch, it's a show that you experience. You have your ups and down and emotions run high while experiencing LOST and I for one will be pretty bummed out that this experience is coming to an end. Later!
Aw Beth, I love ya. *hugs*
I think you said it perfectly - it's much more than just a show, it's an experience. And if you're lucky, that experience led you to some great people. And I was damn lucky. ;) Thank you for making my LOST experience 4,815,162,342 times better than it would be alone.
So, what are we gonna watch next?
I've never seen the series but I'm going to get them, from series one, on Netflix. I may have to give up blogging for awhile.
Beth/Edna: Oh Carmen, I envy you the chance to get to watch LOST as it's brand new to you. That first season was really something special. I hope you enjoy it, let me know what you think. :)
Metallman, thanks for stopping by! I'm also sad that it's ending, although on some level we all knew it couldn't go on forever. Even knowing this was going to be the last season, it's still hard to imagine that after tomorrow night, there will be no more new LOST episodes to look forward to.
TRoss, much love to you too and thanks for stopping by (and for my AWESOME Sawyer keychain). I'd say we were both pretty lucky to have met through the show. :D Gosh, I don't know what we're going to watch next. Supernatural is ending next year, but maybe there will be something new and exciting to catch our interest. JJ Abrams has a new show for next season, The Undercovers, that I'm looking forward to. But really, nothing will ever match up to the glee of experiencing LOST as it unfolded.
YAY!! and I will weep when it is all over. And probably weep throughout. One of the best stories ever told, IMO, and I am both excited and sad for Sunday's finale.
Beth, I have truly enjoyed the entire ride. While I love the science and faith-based mythos, I always come back to this show reflecting its amazingly rich characters, astonishing backdrops and rooted stories of struggle and redemption.
I didn't expect all of the quantum physics fully explained, or all of the religious origins to be discussed, or all of the questions reolved. However, I did expect the ending to forever engrave the memories of these characters and their emotional journey upon my mind, and they did this amazingly well. (Yay Charlie, Claire & Aaron!)
While I am sad for the end of an incredible show, I am happy for a finale that I will never forget, and for friends with whom I have shared it for the last 6 years. I will not let that be LOST as we move forward to new topics, and new shows.
While few shows will ever stand up to the totality of LOST, I am really enjoying Fringe for my genre viewing, and Parenthood for mre typical fare. (In fact Parenthood provides some voice to autism!)
Thank you always for a great read, and thank you in advance for many more future reads. May the camerederie never be LOST, and may smiles always be given with dimples...
-Mang/Earl/Yoda
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