How ‘Lost' are you?

Popular TV series needs to give ‘Lost' viewers a map

May 28, 2008 left me a shattered man. I was sitting in my living room with my jaw inches from the hardwood floor and my left eyebrow raised slightly higher than my right.

I was frozen in time, starring at my television set.

Why the hell was John Locke in that coffin? Where the hell did the island go? And can someone please tell me who the hell is Benjamin Linus?

There was no doubt the writers of the television series “Lost” had left me everything the title infers.


Instead of getting any answers, not one, the season four finale added about a dozen more questions to the list I have for those merciless writers.

“Lost” leader, Matthew Fox plays Doctor Jack Shephard, on the critically acclaimed, Golden Globe winning, popular drama.

Fox recently admitted he is glad that the show is winding down to an end. (The series will end with a sixth season in 2010).

Oh, you think you're tired Matthew? I bet Hawaii is tough. While here I am suffering from mild insomnia every night after your show.

To top that off, one of the directors of the show, Stephen Williams, already hinted that the series finale will be “emotionally treacherous” for fans.

If these last five years have not been emotionally treacherous, I'm facing a nervous breakdown come series finale.

The nerve of these people! I feel like I will be that Steelers fan who had the heart attack in the bar when Jerome Bettis plowed into the end zone to send Pittsburg to Super Bowl XL.

Ok to give justice to my emotions, I should have mentioned at the start if you haven't watched every episode of “Lost,” this article might not make sense.

Beginning in September of 2004, creators Damon Lindelof, J.J Abrams and Jeffrey Lieber have since spit out four seasons and the fifth premiered last Wednesday. (I don't want to talk about it).

But, to get you as lost as everyone else, here: people in flight Oceanic 815 crashed on this mysterious tropical island in the South Pacific, as they were leaving Sydney, Australia en route to Los Angeles, California.

Apparently time is a little different on the island and apparently it is normal for polar bears to be running around, black mist to be killing people, cripples to be getting up and walking, for a Dharma Initiative to exist, women to have trouble giving birth (but females on the plane can survive the crash, give birth 10 minutes later and then look smoking hot the whole series?), cancer patients to be wiped clean of their disease, and a fat man that, quite possibly, is gaining weight!

Did I miss anything? Oh yes! People were already on the island and have a leader (Benjamin Linus) who kind of looks like Radiohead frontman Thom Yorke/Clay Aiken, but I wouldn't be surprised if he could take 1990s Jean Claude Van Damme in a street fight.

Now you know as much as me. (Seriously).

But not only are there those aforementioned questions and curiosities, we have been tortured to remember and dwell on mysteries from the first, second and third seasons that have been left up in the air!

What's the meaning of Hurley's “unlucky” numbers? What was that giant blast that left Desmond running naked through the jungle, predicting the future? Is Jack's dad dead? And why can Hurley see dead people? I will be impressed if the writers can bring half of these crises back into the picture with some answers.

So, why do I watch this show then?

The answer is: I don't know.

I could say some insightful blurb about how the displacement of the characters and their search for salvation, makes you try and find yourself and the things that are important to you but, that's why I watch Gilligan's Island.

It must be the writing.

The amount of confusion they seem to fog everyone with is frustrating but absolutely brilliant.

It's not only fans demanding answers, but with each character being linked to one another by mysterious coincidences, they too are oblivious to much.

And just when you are sitting on the edge of your couch demanding answers, a scene appears that drops a piece of the puzzle in your lap, that a character doesn't have.

The dramatic irony grips you. You begin to get a grip on the show.

But then comes the end of Season Three.

This is where the notorious flashbacks turned into the unannounced flash forwards.

At first we were unaware of this but when it became obvious we were forced to stop looking at the past and studying the present to figure out the future. Season Four pushed us out there with the past and the future but we were left to figure out what happened in the middle, as after 108 days six survivors, and only six (the Oceanic 6), make it off the island.

This is the genius of “Lost.” Just when you think you are back on track you realize you made a wrong turn somewhere, or you missed something and are forced to back track. You now know that they got off the island, but how?

Yes, the series may have left me emotionally unstable at times but the cliff hanger endings have created an exciting escapism in my life.

And what better way to escape than on a hot island where it seems anything is possible.

So with time travel seeming to be the theme of Season Five I will have to overcome the overwhelming frustrations of “Lost” and struggle to survive week to week as the writers torture my imagination as if their job is some sick joke. But, I will endure this entertainment with a smile because that is exactly what it is, entertainment.

And heck, it beats “Gossip Girl.”

Editorial opinions or comments expressed in this online edition of Interrobang newspaper reflect the views of the writer and are not those of the Interrobang or the Fanshawe Student Union. The Interrobang is published weekly by the Fanshawe Student Union at 1001 Fanshawe College Blvd., P.O. Box 7005, London, Ontario, N5Y 5R6 and distributed through the Fanshawe College community. Letters to the editor are welcome. All letters are subject to editing and should be emailed. All letters must be accompanied by contact information. Letters can also be submitted online by clicking here.
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