Yeah! Nothing gets the bad taste of lame “Indiana Jones” sequels out of my mouth faster than the prospects of watching three full hours of “Lost” tonight! OK, technically, there are only two new hours of show, but ABC is re-airing the episode from two weeks ago with “new footage” so you know we’ll watch that too!
Now, for those of you still making your way through the previous season’s DVD collections at home — Mom and Courtney — I know you’ll get the urge to skip the horribly uneven Season Three and get to the meat of Season Four. But resist that urge! For while Season Three sucked ass most of the time, there are some moments of true greatness and I think Season Four plays better because of it.
But if you are a little behind in your “Lost” viewing (for whatever reason), I should also advise you to STOP READING NOW as I wouldn’t wanna spoil anything for you. That said, here we go…
First off, while Season Three of “Lost” played like the last years of J.J. Abram’s wildly uneven “Alias” — which we loved for two seasons and then truly despised for two more! — Season Four has been pitch-perfect at every turn.
Shocking, exciting and sometimes, even heartbreakingly beautiful — did you not shed a tear when Sun and Hurley visited Jin’s grave? Wow…sad! — this season on “Lost” has been the best yet.
Whether it’s the fact that the strike-shortened seaon forced the writers to trim the fat on this last batch of episodes or knowing that the show will end after two more 17-episode seasons, the writing this year has rocked hard!
I missed a bunch of episodes while in Santa Fe and every time I talked to Christine on the phone about it, she was literally flipping out: “Hurry home! You gotta watch these so we can talk about them!” So, once I got home, I planted myself in front of that Tivo and watched all five episodes in a row. And let me tell ya, Christine was right…Season Four was on fire!!
Seriously, not since “The X-Files” or that first magical season of “Twin Peaks” have I been so excited about a TV show’s mythology. And though they didn’t have fan sites — or even the internet for that matter! — when “Peaks” first aired, I have even taken to religiously following some of the “Lostie” theory and picture sites online. I know, nerd-tastic!
Speaking of, if you really want your brain to hurt, check out the time travel theories and timelines on TimeLoopTheory.com. I read through the whole thing the other night and my head was swimming. If even one of this dude’s theories are true…wow, just…wow.
For me, the mythology on “Lost” has always been compelling, but in this past season, it has taken the show in whole new directions — time travel, the idea of a “constant”, the “Oceanic Six”, Jacob and the other half-dead inhabitants of his cabin, etc. — that are just kind of…jaw-dropping. Really!
When the curiously-ageless Richard showed up in the flashbacks to visit a young John Locke and saw his child-like drawing of the island’s black smoke. Holy crap!! We just about fell off the couch screaming!
And when Richard then proceeded to give little Locke a strange Dalai Lama-like reincarnation test — he presented Locke with a knife, a compass, a comic book and a vial of sand and asked him to pick which items were his — we were mesmerized. The fact that John failed the test was even more compelling. What the hell does all this all mean?
Hopefully we’ll get some answers tonight, but with two seasons left to go, I kind of doubt it. But with the show operating on all cylinders, as it has all season, I ‘m sure they’ll give us something juicy to savor over the long summer break.
And even though we don’t have any grand plans for a Dharma Initiative Party — which looks and sounds like a blast! — with the prospect of John Locke “moving the island” on tonight’s episode, we are bracing ourselves for some pretty crackling good action on “Lost” tonight!
Ooo, gotta go…the show’s starting. Yes, we have a Tivo, but this is one show that demands “live viewing”. So, see ya in my next flash-forward…
make. see. eat. do. 