my TV pleasure: Lost

Above image by Edwin Ushiro from Lost Underground Art Show


I am just going to post my brief thoughts:

What occurred to me while thinking about the most recent episode, (episode 615 "Across the Sea")is how LOST mankind is. (If you are not a LOST fan and have never seen the show, DO NOT start on that episode!) When I began watching the series, all I could think about was the characters being mysteriously, yet simply lost. Like Tom Hanks in Cast Away. Just lost as in "off the map."

Then over the course of season 1, when more of the island and its other inhabitants were revealed, I thought, Is the island like that of Dr. Moreau? Or is this show something like "The Most Dangerous Game?" Then, many people thought the castaways were supernaturally Lost. That possibly the island is purgatory, or hell, or some kind of wormhole to a parallel universe?

Now I am beginning to see it as a morality tale of sorts. Mankind is seen as LOST, where even the seemingly good characters must do something bad, like the purges and such.

I can't help but think of aspects of the Old Testament Bible.

* * *
Another LOST fan named Gracie wrote on Nikki Stafford's blog:

"Everyone, it seems has their own theory regarding Lost. Ok, so take your theory for just one second and set it aside. Within the first ten or fifteen minutes of Lost: Season Six, the writers wanted us to know that this island is underwater. They showed it to us. Everything as we last saw it, just now under the sea. Now can anyone pick back up their theory and apply it to an island that we know is underwater?
Anyone?"

I think she made an excellent point, that many of us LOST fans are forgetting.

Now it occurs to me as all the characters and threads are being woven together like the tapestry on Jacob's & his Mother's loom, weaving a bigger picture but I'm not sure how it will all turn out! But the ride has been fun and exciting. Only one more hour episode and then a 2.5 hour series finale to go.

Sympathy for the Devils

I was going to chide my grown niece on facebook for posting about how she couldn't wait to watch the latest incarnation of Melrose Place. Then I paused for two reasons. First, because God seemed to be reminding my heart that I watch shows a lot "worse" than Melrose Place. Secondly, she deleted a post on her wall, in which I was teasing her "and kids today and their horrible taste in music" on facebook. Oh, she was going to a Brittney Spears concert for heaven's sake! (I even posted my old man smiley to emphasize the fact that I was teasing and acknowledging the generation gap, and that I was, perhaps, a fuddy-dud. I think, she didn't get it. I love her anyway!)

OK, back to TV shows that showcase naughty behaviour. Melrose Place and all the soap operas were never part of my "must see" entertainment universe. I recall watching Dallas with my parents when I was a kid and I remember the hype around all that. As a young adult I watched the same soaps or "stories" my mother and grandmother watched, and then leaned into my own tastes. I loved Star Trek, in all it's incarnations. I loved ER and Homicide: Life on the Street. Those were the shows I recall anticipating each week. I suppose besides the sci-fi stuff, I like things that are a little more gritty and realistic rather than the glamorous world most soaps are set in.

If you've schelleped around this blog, or know me, then you probably know LOST is my favorite TV show. And it isn't a "bad" show, as far immoral and illegal activity are an integral part of the show and characters, like The Sopranos, The Shield, and other shows of that edgy nature. Though there are some baddies in Lost's cast of characters. It's more of a sci-fi drama. Melrose is a soap opera, probably with adultery, fornication, ruthless power plays, and back-stabbing antics galore. But it probably pales in comparison to my other favorite entertainment du jour: Sons of Anarchy. It is a TV show about a really bad biker gang. They break all the commandments. And then some. It's definitely a rated "R" show, not for the kids and certainly not for everyone. My favorite character is the biker mama, Gemma. At first she seemed like a ruthless Lady Macbeth, but this season has seen layers and layers peeled away from her, and even some tenderheartedness toward God and forgiveness themes in her. It's a very interesting show.

So I have been mulling over the notion for quite a while now: Why do I like shows like that? Goodfellas is one of my favorite movies, and that's about gangsters, and don't get me started on The Godfather (epic & classic). Is it because I get to safely see a lifestyle that is so utterly foreign to my own? Is it because the themes of good and evil are biblical, fascinating, and it's simply a modern take on drama more ancient than Shakespeare, who is obviously an influence? Maybe it's escapist amusement. Maybe it's all of that. If you've read the bible, particularly the Old Testament, it is filled with many depictions of un-holy behaviour of all sordid sorts. So then, bonna-fide soap operas, or the "stories," as my Mom and grandmother called them, just aren't my cup of tea. But the bad behaviour of bikers and gangsters, and all the drama that unfolds around that, well put the kids to bed and pass the popcorn.

LOST

I love it. Currently my favorite show. I was blown away by last season's episodes, especially the last three, and realizing back then I wasn't going to have anymore Lost until 2010 had me jonesing! I so wanted to do the Lost re-watch this summer that I read about last spring on Nikki Stafford's interesting blog about her favorite TV shows.

My re-watch plan was foiled by a few factors. My local video rental store has only seasons 2, 3, 4 and possibly 5 (can't remember). In Central Florida, our previous home, that wouldn't have been a big deal, because there would have been about 10 other rental places and libraries I could have gone to. Now that we live on an island and in a small town, there aren't many other options.

Big Daddy missed my various hints at wanting season 1 on DVD as a gift, for any gift-giving occasion the spring and summer held. Since our finances ultra-tight, I couldn't allow myself to just get it without having a reason. He did surprise me with it for my birthday in October! By then I was so busy and distracted by everything else (hey-I'm a mom of 3 and a new pre-school teacher!), I had forgotten, and it was really a nice surprise! I still haven't began a re-watch yet, and I'm not sure if by now I/we could squeeze in watching all the previous seasons episodes before the new and final season begins in "early 2010."

Anybody else out there want to do a a re-watch with me, beginning sometime soon?


Check out Jorge Garcia's blog here. He plays the character Hurley- he's one of our favorites on Lost and he's got a fine blog over there.