It’s been difficult for fans of ABC’s award winning mystery drama LOST to say goodbye to their favorite show. Though a few imitators have come along to try to fill the void in our hearts and minds, there’s just no replacement for a program as vast, intriguing and challenging as it was. Today, six months after the highly controversial series finale aired, three Hollywood.com writers look back at the groundbreaking show and pay respect to its legacy…
Sam Morgan says…
It’s been six months. Six months after the day we waited six years for and now we’re looking back in hindsight to answer two questions: what did we think of the ending of LOST and what did we think of the series as a whole?
For me to answer the last question first, I have to look back at the pilot and compare it to the finale (oh boy, the LOST headaches begin again). Did the series wrap up everything from the first episode in a manner that left us satisfied and answered all of our questions? Of course it didn’t, but what it did manage to do was quite extraordinary. It played with the medium of television in an unprecedented manner. Showrunner’s Damon Lindelof and Carlton Cuse knew exactly what would be thrilling and how to use mystery at the right moments in the allotted time (such as between commercial breaks, episode breaks, and season finales). In fact, they used the elements of surprise, mystery and the unknown so well, they kind of shot themselves in the foot. People got so invested in the mythology that when it came time to wrap things up, audiences were pissed that every piece of the puzzle wasn’t fully fleshed out.
I don’t necessarily think that all our questions were answered in the most satisfying way, but when did LOST ever promise anything like that? It was always a challenging show and the answers that we did get could never possibly live up to the grand conclusions we created for ourselves. Regardless, LOST is still comprised of six seasons of incredible television that many will discover years down the line and that many will re-discover time and time again.
Daniel Hubschman says…
Looking back at the last decade of television, I realize how lucky I am. Not only did I get knee-slapping comedies like The Office and It’s Always Sunny In Philadelphia, but also some of the best dramatic material ever to appear on the networks. Among the handful of series that redefined the scripted hour-long drama was ABC’s LOST, a serialized pop-culture influenced epic experience that got more engrossing as seasons passed. To say that I was a fan is an understatement. I lived and breathed The Island and DHARMA for years with a smile on my face. It was important to me, which is a lot more than I can say about anything else on the tube.
What was it that hooked me (and millions of viewers around the world)? Perhaps it was the scope of the story, which spanned more years than anyone is actually sure of and encompassed a wide range of religious and philosophical beliefs. It was timeless, in that its themes were both universal and personal at different periods. LOST was as much a commentary on the problems plaguing our society as it was a supernatural thriller and I can guarantee that its global success can be mainly attributed to its reflection on ourselves. That’s where the program’s strength always lied; in it’s representation of all people through its characters.
Ah, that’s it. The characters. They are what made LOST so special. Because although not all questions about the history of The Island, the light at the center of it and the significance of the numbers (among many, many OTHERS – pun intended) were answered, our Constant was the Losties – the passengers of Oceanic Flight 815. We discovered the mysteries of The Island along with them all the while learning what made them tick. And you know what? Every viewer was able to find a bit of themselves in Jack, Hurley, Kate, Jin, Claire, etc. Whether you had Daddy issues, legal problems, a run of bad luck or a brush with fate, there was someone on that Island that you could identify with. LOST was never about saving the world from a Smoke Monster. It was about the characters saving themselves from their own misery and flaws. That’s the lesson that everyone should be able to take away from six seasons of suspense and some of the best storytelling of all time.
Eric Sundermann says…
To quote Andy Bernard, there just ain’t nothin’ like “gettin’ my LOST on.” And man, do I miss it.
I miss my theories. I miss the fact that a scene less than five seconds long could change the entire direction of the series. I miss Jack and his constant heavy breathing. I miss Kate and her smokin’ hot body. I miss Desmond calling everyone “brotha.” I miss Jacob’s guidance. I miss the smoke monster. I miss Ben’s manipulation. I miss John Locke’s meditations on fate. I miss arguing with friends about plot points. I miss LOST parties. I miss spending hours on the internet, sifting through each and every theory out there, only to find out in the end that they all were wrong. I miss Hurley’s “Dude.”
But most of all, I miss LOST because it was the first television show, and perhaps the last television show, that truly hooked me. I had to find out what happened next. No, I needed to find out what happened next. Not just because the story was so well written, but rather because I genuinely cared about the characters. They were family — my family. I wanted them to succeed like I want my nephews to succeed. I wanted them to beat the island, however mystical and important it was. And they did — they were victorious. And now, I feel like a proud parent who witnessed their children growing up, graduating and starting a career — and it’s finally time to let go.
