"Guys...where are we?"

I haven’t been watching many movies lately for one reason. Lost. I got the first season on DVD for Christmas (thanks Shauna!) and we decided to start watching it about a week ago. I don’t think I’ve really done anything else since…

I remember hearing all the hype about the show last year and figured it was just like any other new television series. Of all the new shows that come out every year one of them has to be the best and I just figured Lost was it. Nothing more than that. When it became available to buy on DVD, Shauna and I thought it would probably be worth owning, simply because of all the good things we had heard about it. Now, having seen the entire first season, I can see what all the hype was about. I think it is the single best television show I have seen in years. Perhaps ever.

The premise is seemingly simple. The pilot episode opens with a plane crash on a tropical island. The first frantic moments focus on the survivors attempting to make sense of what has happened and help those still stuck in the wreckage. The next frantic moments have the survivors exploring the island, looking for any way to find help. This was pretty much all I knew about the show before I started watching and I honestly thought that was all it was going to be about. Well, it’s not that kind of show. If you’ve seen it, you know what I mean. If you haven’t, come over and watch the first episode and you’ll quickly know what I mean.

This show must be watched. That’s the secret behind its incredible success. Lost has great characters, delivered by great performances, but a lot of other successful shows have that too. Lost has incredible production value, often looking like something you would see in a movie theatre instead of on a television network. But then, shows like CSI, Las Vegas and 24 also have pretty high production costs. In the end, the quality that sets Lost apart is that it must be watched. Not a single episode leaves you without several questions so intriguing that you’ll find yourself watching the next episode right away, if you have the DVD, or going insane waiting a whole week for the next one to air. Lost is rife with mystery, suspense, tension and plenty of ‘what the hell is going on’ moments.

That being said, I really can’t tell you anything more about it. You must watch it. I guess it stands to reason that there are some people out there who don’t like the show, but I’d say it’s a small minority. Chances are you’ll not only enjoy Lost, you’ll find yourself sucked in with the rest of us, unable to eat, sleep or breathe until you watch just five minutes more. And then five minutes more. And so on. And it’s not just the events on the island that will intrigue you. The show makes wonderful use of numerous flashbacks, showing the characters lives and events before the doomed flight of Oceanic 815. This combination keeps you guessing in both directions. Where did the characters come from? Who were they before the crash? What’s going to happen to them next?

There’s just too much going on in Lost to accurately put it into words. And there’s a lot more going on in the show than first meets the eyes. After learning something in Episode 18 you’ll want to go back and watch the first 17 episodes again to pick up on the subtle references contained therein. This is a well thought out, brilliantly written show. The plot is simple and yet more complex than you can possibly imagine.

My only gripe is that Season Two is already underway and I haven’t watched a single episode. I’m going to have to wait for it to come out on DVD sometime in the next year. When it does, I’ll have to book a week off work so I can catch up.

Get Lost.