foomandoonian

I've been watching Lost since the beginning and I think it's probably fair to say that the show is less compelling than it was. I hear a lot of dissenting opinions about the show, but in my opinion people aren't being entirely fair.

Lost is suffering from the answers not being as interesting as the questions, but that was inevitable. The mystery has been handled better than any other show I can think of. Remember how sick we got of the ‘black goo’ plot in the X-Files, or how convoluted the twists and turns became in JJ Abrams earlier Alias.

Lost may still prove to be a giant let down, but I see plenty of evidence that the writers have a plan. The difficulty with this type of show is it can only end in a few ways:

1. A Prisoner/Twin Peaks/Quantum Leap style enigmatic riddle of a finale (which will retain the mystery, but piss off most people), or
2. An ‘all is revealed’ ending, which will most likely not live up to the hype that has been generated, or maybe...
3. Premature cancellation!

I expect we'll end up with mostly 2 and a little of 1 for good measure. The writers deserve a lot of credit for keeping up the intrigue for so long without tiring it out. Lost and Battlestar Galactica have produced some of the best SF TV there has ever been, and as a long-standing SF fan, I'm thrilled that we should see two such highly intelligent and complex genre shows come to a satisfying conclusion.

Here is a bonus video from JJ Abrams TED talk, 'The Mystery Box', which will give you an insight into the mind behind Lost.

J.J. Abrams traces his love of the unseen mystery -- the heart of Alias, Lost, and the upcoming Cloverfield -- back to its own magical beginnings, which may or may not include an early obsession with magic, the love of a supportive grandfather, or his own

A response to How bad is Lost? Posted at No Soap, Radio! (and found via Twitter)