HT New York Magazine; photo illustration by Everett Bogue
(Guest post by Greg Forster)
It’s a special “great interregnum” edition of Get Lost!
I figured I would pick up our Lost feature and write about the coming season, what with the recent release of several promo videos for season 5, including this two-minute sneak peek . . .
. . . about which I think the only thing that needs to be said is: you can’t get that kind of court order without disclosing your name, morons. Would it have been so hard to come up with a more plausible way to conceal the identity of the forces behind the order? Maybe have somebody do it under a fake name? This is like last season when Sun supposedly bought her father’s company with the Oceanic court settlement. I know Lost has sometimes been aimless, but when did it get just plain dumb?
But anyway, as I started watching the trailers, which are mostly made up of clips from last season, and as I read over the final installment of our Get Lost feature from last season, especially the discussion in the comment thread, I came to a moment of revelation.
I have no idea what’s been going on on Lost.
And I don’t just mean in the season finale. I have virtually no memory of the entire season 4. Just now, when I mentioned Sun buying her father’s company? I didn’t remember that until I went back and read Jay’s last Get Lost post, where it’s mentioned in the comments. And right now almost the only other things I can remember from season 4 are the ones that were prompted by the season 5 promos I just watched.
This is weird, because I remember season 3 pretty well, even though it’s older, and (like all other sentient life forms) I liked season 4 a lot better than season 3. What gives?
I have a theory, and it’s not a comforting one. Everyone breathed a collective sigh of relief when we saw the last few episodes of season 3 and it became clear that the creators had gotten the message: the plot needs closure. The questions need to be answered. And as season 4 progressed, it seemed ever more clear that the creators were no longer just stringing us along (as I think it’s pretty clear they were in season 3, and probably were by at least season 2) but were moving things toward a satisfying conclusion.
But is it too little, too late? Was season 4 really as good as we thought it was? Or was J.J. Abrams just playing with our heads again?
You know, the more I think about it, the more I’m convined that man has some kind of mind control power. I kept watching Alias all the way to the end of the final season, but in retrospect, I have no idea why. This must be what people feel like on Star Trek after some alien has possessed them and made them sabotage the ship – they stumble around the brig asking “what the heck was I doing?” (So I guess they got the right man to direct the big comeback picture for the Trek franchise, huh?)
During season 4, we thought we had broken Abrams’ evil mind control spell. But was that just what he wanted us to think? (And if so, how could we know?)
By two-thrids of the way through season 3, which is where it started moving back from the brink, this show had accumulated a lot of amorphous mystery. If season 4 was really doing such a great job of pulling it all together, wouldn’t I remember it? Any of it?
So I’m sending out a bleg to all you Lost fans out there. Do you remember season 4, and does it seem as good to you now as it did in May? Is the show really any less aimless now than it was, say, at the end of season 2?
In the meantime, my “we’re all J.J. Abrams’ zombie slaves” theory does give me one reason for hope. Alias may have reeked for two straight seasons, but the big finale did in fact draw together the many loose ends of the convoluted plot in a highly satisfying way. So maybe we have grounds for hope that we’ll get the same from Lost – and clearly we aren’t going through a two-year reekfest on the way there.
Jay P. Greene's Blog 
I honestly can’t say there has ever been a memorable moment in that show…though I watch it.
Battlestar Galactica is way better anyway.
There was a lot of good stuff in season 4. It’s just hard to recall it because of the exceptionally long break. If I think about it for a little while, I remember a few exciting plots from the last season: 1) the importance of Aaron in the chain of succession in ruling the island — why is he special? is it a good thing or a bad thing to be special? 2) setting the stage for more off-island conflict between Ben and Charles Widmore — who is really good and who’s bad (my money is on Ben being good) 3) progress in the faith/passion vs. cool science debate — Jack, the advocate of cool science, clearly is losing the debate to Locke’s faith and Sawyer’s passion. There’s a lot more. In fact, the overwhelming number of themes also makes it hard to recall each individual one.
Also, a brief comment on the trailer — The people who show up at the door saying they have a court order may not really have a court order. It’s like people who flash badges. So, it may not be as dumb as Greg worries.
Of course, I could be saying all of theis because J.J. Abrams ordered me to.
Oh, and one other thing that I expect (and dread) is that Ben is going to try to kill Penney to take revenge for the killing of his daughter.
But if the reason I don’t remember is because of the time lag, why do I remember season 3 so much better?
You know, I think there’s a flaw with my J.J. Abrams mind control theory. If Abrams were controlling us, he would never allow us to realize it. We would . . . uh . . . what was I just saying? Never mind.
This is a dumb question, but have you watched some seasons more than others? Just thinking of the obvious. Personally, I really need the recaps, and I have for every season. There is just too much to remember.
On the larger issue of Lost and the constant debate about where it is going: My position is that, yes, I would like there to be a resolution and I would like for all loose ends to be tied, but my affection for the show is not dependent on such an outcome. I am kind of fed up with so many people (my mother, my brother) complaining about Lost because they never get any answers and can’t figure it out. You know what, THAT’S WHY IT’S GOOD. If you want a story that’s easy to follow and always has a nice and tidy contrived ending, then you are free to wacth every other show on television. The quality of this show is not dependent upon making sense or a final resolution. To me success has already been achieved for four seasons–for four seasons I was entertained, confused, and intrigued. To keep up a compelling mystery for this long, to twist and turn in so many ways so far is a feat in itself. I watched and I enjoyed. I am not holding out for a great ending or answers–that would just be a bonus at this point.