I had been looking forward to it for weeks, months … Ever since the intensity of last season’s finale seemingly blew up and faded to white when Juliet set off the bomb.
I got positively psyched for the new season when my friend John visited a couple weekends ago and we watched the first few episodes of season one. I had been reading all of the news articles that popped up in my e-mail (though I refuse to read anything with spoilers). And I was up until 12:30 a.m. Tuesday, re-watching the finale on my laptop, laying in bed before falling asleep.
I was so pumped. The working hours couldn’t go fast enough on Tuesday.
And when seven o’clock rolled around, everything else stopped. My computer got turned off. My work was put away, and I was cemented in my chair to watch the premiere event … “Lost” is one of the rare television shows that gets my full attention that way.
I was practically giddy when the series recap concluded with the final scene of last season’s finale, and it rolled seamlessly into the premiere episode. My heart was beating hard with anticipation.
When Jack appeared on the plane to Los Angeles, I couldn’t help but smile at the wonder of it all -- his plan somehow working, the survivors being transported off the island, and the crash never happening (Check out this video of a side-by-side look of the plane scenes from the pilot and last night’s episode.)
… And yet, I sort of squirmed at the scene of Desmond -- who hadn’t been on the original plane! -- not remembering Jack. It felt so wrong for them not to recognize each other!
When Kate woke up on a tree limb, the distorted sound made me think something was wrong with my TV. I grew frustrated and was ready to turn the channel before realizing the distortion was actually a device to simulate Kate’s ringing ears in the aftermath of the explosion … All I could think then was “What is going on now!?”
For the duration of the two-hour episode, I sat mesmerized, trying to process everything that was happening …
And when it was over, my initial reaction was disappointment …
Which, after thinking about it, is more likely a branch of my utter confusion. Which -- as frustrating as it can be -- is what makes “Lost” so gripping.
I have sooo many questions …
Like why was the island under water?! … Who is fake Locke!? And why does he turn into the smoke monster!? … Why was Desmond on the plane? (I, too, wondered about Penelope) … How did Sayid come back to life!? … How did Juliet know “it” worked!? … And why were there so many dang commercials!?!
To pull from the EW recap of the episode, which recapped everything swimmingly -- as usual -- I was looking for some continuity with the past. “Clean slate castaways would have negated our (five-year) investment in their redemption.”
It turns out we got a good dose of continuity and another side of questions.
Other impressions from last night's episode …
I thought the first hour was better than the second hour. I was bored with the second hour -- although I did appreciate the scene with Jack and Locke "meeting" in the airport and bonding over their lost luggage.
It struck me as I watched the scene at the temple -- specifically when the new others found the cross in the guitar case -- that anyone watching for the first time might think it’s really cheesy. That first scene at the temple almost had me laughing. To quote EW’s recap again …
I can't imagine anyone who stopped watching after season 1 or 2 coming back to the series with this episode and not thinking, ''Temples? Magic springs? Circles of ash that keep smokey demons at bay? What the hell happened to this show?!''
Here are some good “Lost” feeders …
a The Washington Post
a EW’s Totally ‘Lost’
Here's some other good reads, a couple of which are holdovers from the end of last season ...
a Near the end of 'Lost,' what's been found along the way
a ‘Lost,’ Nearing End, Nods to the Beginning
a Believe it or not: ‘Lost’ has embraced its over-the-top implausibility - and so have we
a 15 Must-Answer Mysteries
a Pre-Season 5 ‘Lost' Finale Q&A With Show Runners Carlton Cuse & Damon Lindelof
No comments:
Post a Comment