TV Show Review: Lost - Season 1

Stars: 5 out of 5
Pros: Great writing, acting; intriguing story
Cons: I first had to watch these episodes one episode at a time
Bottom Line:
Plane crash, survival
A mysterious island
You won't stop watching




Once You Start, You'll Lose Time to This Series

On a routine flight from Australia to Los Angeles, an Oceanic Airlines flight crashes. The survivors find themselves on an uncharted island, miles off course. If anyone is looking for them, they are looking in the wrong place.

If it were a matter of simple surviving, these survivors might have had a chance. But that's not all there is. A strange creature kills the pilot. A group finds a radio signal calling for help that's been going for years. And this group is not alone on the island.

Of course, as the group settles in, they get to know each other, and relationships begin to develop. Other relationships begin to fall apart in the stress of the situation. And everybody has a story, which is told to us in flashbacks, complimenting the action on the island.

I tuned in for the first season of Lost for many reasons. Survivors on an island always interest me. And I'm a big fan of ALIAS, also from one of the creators of this show. I was hooked from the beginning and couldn't wait to tune in each week to see what was going to happen. With 14 main characters, some only get a scene or two in some episodes, but we might learn about them in the next episode with a series of flashbacks.

Everybody seems to have their favorite characters. Many people tuned in for Dominic Monaghan, fresh off of LORD OF THE RINGS. Matthew Fox was also a well-known name before hand. Personally, I was thrilled to see Daniel Dae Kim, who I've been watching show up on various shows since his days on CRUSADE. And I've also enjoyed seeing Mira Furlan from BABYLON 5 on another show, even if it's only as a guest star.

It seems the more we learn about the characters, the more questions that are asked.  Some people find that frustrating. The season finale leaves us with no answers to the questions we've had all season, and the number of questions have only increased. Personally, I don't expect all the answers until the show is over, so I'm willing to wait out the ride, hoping that Abrams won't give in to pressure to give us answers like he did in ALIAS. I also hope we get answers before the show ends and it's not dragged out needlessly.

So, is the set worth it for fans of the show? Absolutely! The show is presented in wide screen, which was what it was shot for. The surround sound is incredible. You can hear the bugs in the jungle or the waves on the shore. Yet the sound effects aren't overwhelming. They're just right to make you feel like you're there. There are five commentary tracks with various members of the cast and crew. And the seventh disc is nothing but bonus material, with documentaries on the creation of the series, casting (with interesting casting videos, sometimes of an actor auditioning for another roll), and creating the pilot. For fun, there's information on Driveshaft and bloopers. Plus nineteen minutes of deleted scenes. The set itself looks nice, but the way the discs are set in the case makes three of them hard to get out. You have to move out the one in front to get to the one behind. It's not a big issue, but it is annoying.

This shows combines an intriguing story with interesting characters and great writing and acting. Be sure to have season 2 handy when you're done with season one of Lost.