In the summer of 2004, I was watching television one day when a preview seized my attention. A plane crash. An uncharted island. Dom Monaghan. Lost. I was riveted. “I am soooo watching that show when it comes out!” I exclaimed. For two months or something close to it, the same. Every time I saw the preview, I declared my love for this show I had not yet seen, this show that recalled Lord of the Flies, Treasure Island, Gilligan’s Island, Swiss Family Robinson and every other lost-on-an-island story I could think of but promised to be potentially more intriguing than the rest. And yes, it was a chance to see Dom again. Post-LotR score - Billy: Seed of Chucky. Dom: Lost. Sorry, Billy, I think you’ve got some catching up to do.

Anyway, I rubbed my palms together in anticipation every time the commercial was on. But by the time they got around to actually airing the pilot, I was back to an almost-full-time work schedule that included a lot of closing shifts, so wouldn’t you just know that I was stuck at the mall while the first episode was on? I asked my brother to tape it for me off the computer. He did. But when I went to watch it… It didn’t work! Next week, same scenario. Went to work, tape failed. It was beginning to look like some force was preventing me from watching this show I’d been looking forward to for weeks, much as some force seemingly drew the odd assemblage of characters to this mysterious island. Weeks of working Wednesday nights stretched ahead of me. I threw up my hands and decided to wait for the DVD.

By the time the DVD rolled around, I had other things to think about, and I didn’t run right out and try to rent it. In fact, I didn’t get around to catching up until last month, when my friend got the first half of the season from the library and brought it over. I got halfway through the season with her in half a week, but the other half of the season remained on a waiting list. I was going to have to try to be patient. I finally got my satisfaction this week after her brother, a huge Lost fan, got the first season for his birthday and promptly lent it to me so I could finish off the season. The trouble now, of course, is that I’m halfway through this season - which I also tried and failed to tape. I think there’s a message in here somewhere… So I’m faced with a dilemma: watch the second half first or wait until the DVD for the second season comes out before I watch any of it. Oh, the agony!

Opening Remarks

Lost begins with a horrific plane crash. Fiery fragments litter the beach, and it’s up to the strongest of the survivors to help the seriously injured out of harm’s way. Chief among these is Jack, a doctor who is fiercely determined not to let anyone else die. He emerges as the leader of this ragamuffin group almost immediately. (Jack, incidentally, is the name of the antagonist in Lord of the Flies, but I don’t expect this has any significance - though in grand Hawkeye fashion he seems about to lose his marbles by the end of the season, and if the leader goes nuts then anything can happen…) We don’t know what happened to cause the plane to crash, but we do know by the end of the first episode that the rescue parties searching for the wreckage are a thousand miles away. It seems the nearly 50 survivors of the crash are going to be on the island for a while. Moreover, if they’re going to survive, they’re going to have to figure out how to get along. While this isn’t a problem for most of the group, there are a few personality clashes that don’t seem likely to simply dissipate.

I love ensemble dramas. I’ve noticed a large cast of main characters is something all my favorite shows have in common: Star Trek (original and next generation), The New Adventures of Winnie-the-Pooh, M*A*S*H. There may be one character that stands out as the leading man, but all the others are developed to a very satisfying degree. In Lost, we quickly discover that all the survivors, at least those with whom we become intimately acquainted, have secrets. We get to know them on the island, but we gain valuable insight into their personalities and motivations through a series of flashbacks. The show’s unique format dictates that in all but a couple episodes, one character becomes the focal point, and as we observe how that character deals with whatever challenge the island presents, we also are given a glimpse of the strange circumstances that brought him or her to this point. Eerily, it seems at least half of the main characters are responsible, directly or indirectly, for someone’s death. Could it be that their presence on the island is a punishment? And what of the deaths we witness after the crash? Seven, by my count. How many more will follow?

I find it fascinating that when the show was cast, only three characters had been written. Most of the characters were created specifically for actors whose auditions particularly impressed creator J. J. Abrams. It shouldn’t be too surprising, then, that this cast is so strong since its members are mostly slipping into custom roles that probably contain strong elements of their own personalities. It might seem that a dozen significant characters would be hard to keep track of, but they are all so different and so compelling that we get to know them right away and soon it is difficult to imagine the show without any one of them - though we’ll have to adjust, since the island is full of dangers and casualties are virtually inevitable. But it’s the cross each individual must bear and the way all these unique personalities interact with one another that keeps us hooked on the show episode after episode. No matter how enigmatic this island is, we wouldn’t wait around to see its mysteries unfold if we didn’t care about anyone who was living there. When all the distractions of everyday life are stripped away, when everyone is down to the bare bones of survival, that’s when you really learn what kind of stuff people are made of. For the most part, encouragingly, Abrams seems more in line with Gene Roddenberry and Larry Gelbart than William Golding. In spite of their often sordid pasts, these are fundamentally decent people. Petty differences give way to tolerance and understanding, to working together for the greater good. This is one of the most deeply flawed yet altruistic casts of characters to grace any television show. At least so far…

Main Characters

Jack Shepard (Matthew Fox) - The hero. There are many heroic deeds by various characters throughout the show, but Jack is the most obvious person to occupy that role. He’s a doctor, so saving lives is his job, and as soon as the plane crashes he’s rescuing survivors and delegating responsibilities to others who are relatively uninjured. If anyone can be considered the main character in this show, it’s him, though early drafts of the show called for him to meet his demise at the end of the first episode. He’s a brooder who always looks like he has the weight of the world on his shoulders, and in a sense he does, since he’s decided it is his job, and his alone, to protect everyone on this island from its many dangers. When he can’t, it sends him into a tailspin of despair from which he cannot extricate himself. This is when others must step up to the challenge of rallying him. While he is not the only survivor capable of leading this group, he appears to be the only doctor, and as such he is indispensable. His stubborn insistence on playing Superman is both his greatest strength and weakness. At some point, he has to learn to let go.

Kate Austen (Evangeline Lilly) - Gosh, this girl looked familiar when I first watched the show. When I realized why, I reeled a bit. How does an actress go from tormenting us nightly with irritating Livelinks commercials to playing the leading lady on a hit television series? I’m impressed. And disappointed. And inspired. But enough about Evangeline’s big break. Kate is a strong young woman, a good complement to Jack, to whom she appears romantically linked, though she also seems attracted to bad-boy Sawyer in spite of the fact that most of their interactions with each other involve arguing. I suspect this will be one of the prevailing questions of the series, much like the question of whether Hermione is going to end up with Harry or Ron. Yes, there are a lot of romantic angles to be explored on this show, though so far they usually take a backseat to more pressing matters, such as how to get off the island and how to survive in the meantime. Kate is instrumental in the latter endeavor. A maverick and tomboy, she is well equipped for life in the outdoors and often accompanies Jack on scouting missions. She’s not particularly interested in leaving the island, however. She’s spent most of her life running, and she was a fugitive on the flight. The U. S. Marshall who accompanied her describes her as a dangerous criminal, and to some extent her flashbacks confirm this. But they also indicate that she cares about people, and landing on this island is an opportunity to reinvent herself with this attribute as her primary focus.

John Locke (Terry O’Quinn) - The oldest of the characters and very likely the most intriguing. It seems Locke’s whole life has been leading up to this point. Although the flashbacks in the first season show him in mundane jobs - a toy store and some sort of corporate wasteland - he knows more about how to handle himself in the wilderness than anyone of the other survivors. An expert tracker, he takes on the responsibility of hunting boar once the plane’s food runs out. The inclusion of the boars, incidentally, strikes me as an unmistakable nod to Lord of the Flies. There is also a monster here, though it appears to be very real rather than a figment of the crash victims’ imaginations. However, Locke provides a link between the boars and the monster. This master boar hunter has looked the beast in the eye, and they seem to have an understanding. Certainly Locke knows much more about the island than a stranger should, and his knowledge is often unnerving. He also has an uncanny ability to read people, and while he sometimes seems a comforting sage, at other times something very sinister appears to lurk behind his smile. Though I tend to trust him, he also makes me uneasy, and certainly it seems there is a great deal we have yet to learn about him. The first revelation about him is one of the most startling events in the first season, and it confirms the notion that this is a most unusual island and that his landing here was not accidental.

Sawyer Ford (Josh Holloway) - Along with Jack and Kate, Sawyer’s character has been around longer than any of the others. That must mean he’s important. When we first meet him, the temptation is to pin the antagonist label on his right away. He’s crass and argumentative and can’t seem to get along with anybody. He’s also a hoarder, retrieving as much loot as he possibly can and stashing it away for himself. In the first few episodes, he comes across as quite a jerk, though the treatment he receives at the hands of the others is unfair. He’s the first of the crash victims to kill another after landing on the island, though preventing a polar bear from attacking seems like a forgivable offense. (Incidentally, why are there polar bears on a tropical island? A nod to the Iceberg Hermit? And short on food as they are, why don’t they try to eat the bear? Speaking of books I read in middle school, hooray for Sawyer reading Watership Down! I took that as an early indication that he wasn‘t so bad after all.) They turn him into a scapegoat and an outcast, assigning blame to him for events he had nothing to do with, which breeds further resentment on his end. But as the season progresses, he seems to mellow out a bit and the others aren‘t so quick to pin everything on him. He’s still sarcastic and surly much of the time, but he seems determined to make a positive difference where he can… as long as it doesn’t inconvenience him too much.

Charlie Pace (Dominic Monaghan) - Half the reason I wanted to watch the show in the first place. I was smitten with Merry and Pippin in Lord of the Rings, and interviews and commentaries reviewed revealed Dom and Billy to be just about as fun and charming as their on-screen counterparts. It doesn’t hurt that those were those natural accents. Anyway, the premise of Lost was intriguing, but Dom’s presence stepped it up a notch. Once I heard a bit more about his character, I was afraid I wouldn’t like him that much, but my worries proved unfounded as soon as I began to watch the show. Charlie is a washed-up, heroin-addicted rock star His band, Driveshaft, has been defunct for months, since his brother - who got him hooked on the drug in the first place - cleaned up his act and started a family. When the show starts, Charlie wanders around in a daze, barely aware of his surroundings. He has only a tiny bit of heroin left, so he must come to grips with the fact that a painful withdrawal is coming. At least this affords him an opportunity to finally get clean, because he’s certainly not going to find any more heroin on this island… right? Charlie is also at a disadvantage because he has no obvious skills like most of the others, aside from musical talent, which isn’t very practical for helping them out of their situation. He feels rather useless until he befriends Claire and takes it upon himself to make her tenure on the island as comfortable as possible. This is a guy who has made a lot of mistakes, but he’s incredibly sweet and courageous by nature, and for him, the island may be just the chance he needed to turn his life around. As much as I love Merry, he’s overshadowed by Pippin. Nobody outshines Charlie as far as I’m concerned. He’s the victim of a fast-paced, modern lifestyle, but he is a hobbit at heart.

Claire Littleton (Emilie de Ravin) - A gentle and compassionate young Aussie, she is very pregnant when she lands on the island. We see something of her caring nature early on when she attempts to find personal information about those who did not survive the crash and holds a memorial service for them. She is frustrated that she is unable to do much for the group physically, and past experience makes her wary of Charlie’s affections. She comes to trust him, however, and it seems he may prove instrumental in her most important role of raising this child she had planned to give up for adoption. Events on the island and in the flashback suggest that this will be no ordinary baby, and it will be up to her to see that he remains untainted by the corruptive forces that threaten.

Hurley Reyes (Jorge Garcia) - My favorite character after Charlie, and probably the one with whom I most identify. Hurley is a big guy, a gentle giant who at first glance reminded me of Hagrid. Mellow and squeamish, he’s a very altruistic fellow whose goal in life is to make other people’s lives better. His contributions on the island are many. He’s a peacemaker and a keen observer, and he comes up with several ideas that turn out to be quite useful, both for recreational and survival purposes. It’s rare that we see him agitated, but when we do it’s because something is haunting him, an eerie connection to the island whose significance is yet to be fully revealed.

Sayid Jarrah (Naveen Andrew) - A former Iraqi army officer, Sayid is an experienced torturer, though he now regrets many of the actions of his past. However, as a communications officer, he picked up many skills that prove useful on the island. His first major task is to attempt to locate the source of a spooky transmission while shielding himself from Sawyer, who seems convinced that he is a terrorist. But he gets along well enough with others on the island, and his expertise comes in very handy. His presence is especially interesting given our current conflict with Iraq and rampant suspicions about anyone of Arabic ethnicity.

Michael Dawson (Harold Perrineau Jr.) - A quick-tempered man who is desperately trying to forge a meaningful relationship with his estranged 10-year-old son. His overprotective nature annoys young Walt, who resents the fact that he wasn’t a part of his life for so long. It also causes conflicts on the island, particularly with Locke, whose friendship with Walt irritates Michael, and Jin, the husband of Sun, the Korean woman Michael befriends in spite of the language barrier. In spite of his tendency toward anger, he is also willing to admit when he has made a mistake. Moreover, his skills as an artist also extend to architecture, so he is able to aid in the construction of dwellings as well as undertake his own special project to help him get off the island for good.

Walt Lloyd (Malcolm David Kelley) - Having recently experienced the death of his mother and only just met his biological father since their separation when he was a baby, Walt is extremely unsettled and bitter when he comes to the island. He wants little to do with his father, especially when he keeps bossing him around and trying to keep him from associating with the one person who seems to understand him. His agitation decreases when he is reunited with his dog Vincent, but he still has a long way to go before he accepts his father as a true parent. We learn that Walt is “special” but don’t really know what that means. The fact that no one can beat him in backgammon despite his lack of familiarity with the game before the island may provide a clue. There is clearly something unusual about this boy. For Walt, the island begins to feel like a real home, to which he is more suited than all the places he’s lived before, and in spite of its dangers, he would rather stay where he is than keep moving.

Sun Kwon (Yunjin Kim) - This Korean woman is mild-mannered and soft-spoken. In the beginning, she associates almost exclusively with her husband Jin, to whom she is submissive. But she begins to form a bond with Michael after he asks her to keep an eye on Walt, and eventually he is the first to know the massive secret she has kept from her husband. Sun has a deep knowledge of plants and herbs, which allows her to develop a garden useful both for medicine and food. She is a gentle woman, but she has many issues to work out with her husband before they can truly be a team on this island.

Jin Kwon (Daniel Dae Kim) - Sun’s husband initially comes across as cold and demanding. He insists that he and Sun take care of each other and separate themselves from the rest of the group, but this plan begins to fail when he and Michael lock heads over a misunderstanding. This animosity escalates throughout the season, but once it is resolved he and Michael are able to work together, and he proves a very diligent laborer. He seems happiest when he starts to interact with the others on the island and make himself useful, particularly as the primary catcher of fish, but he remains haunted by the wrong turn his life took back in Korea and wonders whether there’s any way to make up for it. Incidentally, I have to give Kim extra credit for acting in a language he hadn’t spoken regularly for years. The language barrier does nothing to prevent us from getting to know the Kwons; they are just as vital and interesting as those whose native language is English.

Boone Carlisle (Ian Somerhalder) - From the first episode, we see Boone desperately trying to find a purpose on the island. He wants to be a hero, but Jack keeps undermining his efforts, intentionally or not. He has a peculiar relationship with his sister, of whom he is fiercely protective yet with whom he can’t seem to stop arguing. He derides her for not making more of an effort to be useful on the island, while she gets angry when he puts himself in harm’s way. There seems to be something askew in how they relate to one another; perhaps their explanation of their relationship is not entirely to be trusted. Frustrated by Jack’s insistence on doing everything himself, he apprentices himself to Locke, an alternate leader. The two of them share in a secret that may hold the key to Boone’s desire to have a purpose, though achieving it may be more difficult than he had anticipated.

Shannon Rutherford (Maggie Grace) - Of all the main characters, she probably irritates me most, though there are sympathetic aspects to her character. She spends most of her time acting rather spoiled, sunbathing or complaining while doing little to contribute. At first she figures she doesn’t need to do anything but wait around to be rescued. Boone’s taunts motivate her to join an exploration party, however, and during the trek she learns that she does possess one especially useful skill: the ability to speak and read French. This becomes even more useful later, when she works with Sayid to translate several papers that may lead to the revelation of a great mystery while also allowing her to develop a life on this island separate from Boone.

In Closing

Lost is a brilliantly written and acted show. None of the cast members is a weak link, and there is the tantalizing prospect of up to a couple dozen “new” characters emerging from the rest of the crash victims, not to mention those who were on the island before this plane crashed. The lack of modern amenities, aside from a few things recovered from the wreckage, ups the ante and means that in order for them to survive, everyone must dig deep to discover the best they have to offer. While the inclusion of so many people causes conflicts, if they can all learn to interact peaceably they have among them the skills to make a relatively comfortable life for themselves in this strange new environment, all the while attempting to learn more about the island and whether there is any real hope of getting back to the lives they left behind - and whether that’s something they actually want to do.

There are many mysteries on this island, and every answer leads to many more questions. There must be a grand plan already in place because everything fits together so intricately, and we must be building toward a conclusion that will satisfy everyone’s curiosity. That must be a hard task, however, because each episode provides a piece of the puzzle, yet no one knows yet how long the show will run. Will the writers eventually have to clutter the series with episodes that do nothing to advance the plot, or will they be forced to end a hit show long before fans are tired of it? How long can the enigmas of the island deepen, even as they gradually unravel? We’ll have to wait and see.

The special features here are decent but not remarkable. We get a few commentaries and behind-the-scenes peeks, some bloopers, a handful of deleted scenes. Of the ones I watched before returning the set to my friend, I would most recommend Jimmy Kimmel’s trip to the set to talk with members of the cast and crew. It is most amusing. Otherwise, the first season offers 24 amazing episodes and leaves viewers hungry for more. If you haven’t already latched onto the phenomenon, get ahold of the show on DVD if you can. Once you start watching, you’ll be Lost without it.

Parodies:
Bohemian Rhapsody
I Am a Rock
White Christmas
Christmas Canon Rock
We Wish You a Merry Christmas
Christmas in Killarney
Henry the Eighth
Sweet Baby James
The Only Living Boy in New York
Here, There and Everywhere
He Was My Brother
For Baby (For Bobbie)
Sloop John B.
When I'm 64
The Longest Time
Run for the Roses
You Don't Bring Me Flowers Anymore
Eye of the Tiger
Girls Just Wanna Have Fun
Leader of the Band
Same Old Lang Syne
Cat's in the Cradle

Charlie figure
Locke figure

Season Two

Recommended:
Yes

Viewing Format: DVD