Techtite's TV Reviews!

"One of the best new dramas ABC has offered since NYPD Blue."

---from the review

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This Series Was Chosen as One of Fall's Best New Shows, 2004

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Lost

A Review by Techtite

This is what I'm talking about; a new action drama, with all the promise of three-dimensional characters, dozens (if not hundreds) of plot possibilities, and the promise of any number of plot twists to keep the ball rolling. Lost is not only the best new show of 2004; it's quite frankly one of the first times I've felt this good about a new network series, in a very long time.

The premise is as simple as it is with great potential: a plane has crashed on an apparently desolate island, 1000 miles off course, leaving a spattering of survivors. How these people survived a plane crash that left the hull of the plane a smoldering trash heap is a mystery. How they will survive, and how they can get home, is another one.

Each survivor we've seen so far has a story to tell --and a very interesting one-- with the core of the drama centering on the series' hero, Jack (Matthew Fox). Jack is the man many survivors are turning to for advice, being the only known doctor alive among the survivors. He takes this new role with the perfect amount of apprehension yet responsibility. In short; he's the perfect lead character for this series. The role is perfectly cast, and perfectly written.

This is just one of maybe a dozen three-dimensional characters in this series. Kate (Evangeline Lilly) was in handcuffs prior to the plane's crash; why? Charlie (Dominic Monaghan) hid something in the front restroom of the plane, which he goes out of his way to retrieve; what was it? The plot surprises just keep on coming, culminating in the final episode seen just prior to this review's posting, where one of the castaways (Alias' Terry O'Quinn) is revealed to have been confined to a wheelchair prior to the crash. What's up with that one?

What's great about this series is that even bit players have well done character development. One man's possibly terrorist past is implied. Another pair of survivors speak no English. A young survivor (Roswell's Emilie de Ravin) is in her third trimester of pregnancy. Another survivor seems to be ready to fly off the handle, and is arguably an even bigger threat than the possible terrorist. The plot possibilities here are endless.

It's true that great characters are nothing if not given great predicaments. That said; they have predicaments galore! This beach they crashed on is no mere "Gilligan's Island" wannabe, somewhere in the Pacific. There is a lot of weird stuff going on here, with the biggest (literally) being a sort of invisible beast, stomping whole trees in the distance. Whatever this creature is, it can apparently cloak itself to the underbrush, and what's more, it's not too friendly, having killed the plane's sole surviving pilot, by removing his skin (or...something). This is actually one of many strange beasts in the jungle underbrush, including a polar bear. Yeah, I know what you're asking; what's a polar bear doing on a tropical island? That's what the castaways want to know too.

Gripes...? Not yet. Even the sillier moments of the series can be excused as being due to the characters being under severe stress, in dire circumstances. At one point the series' quasi-heroine, now-refugee Kate, washes herself in her underwear on the beach. This scene was a whole lot of "Look at the hot chick we cast as the lead actress," especially when she's apparently just a walk away from the other castaways. Then again; people under stress do weird things in stressful times. Maybe she just didn't care.

Much like how each episode entices us with little morsels of new knowledge, it is perhaps best to end the review here. Nearly anyone who watches TV is probably already watching this series, so what is the point of a review? Suffice to say that for those who aren't watching it yet --both of you!-- now is the time to do so. This is one of the best serial dramas ABC has offered in many years. Now all ABC has to do is realize what a gold mine they have on their hands, and not (noooo!) stupidly cancel it. If someone does cancel it, though; isn't there some deserted island we can send them to?

                                                                    ---Techtite

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