Tuesday, November 8, 2005

4 8 15 16 23 42

A few days after we (i.e., Mr. Octopus of Octopus Grigori, aka my husband) arrived in LA six weeks ago, we found ourselves in the Burbank Circuit City buying the first season of Lost on DVD. Our friends had given it a unanimous thumbs up and we needed something to distract us from the mounds of moving boxes that were waiting for us back at the new apartment. Little did we know that we would soon be sucked into these DVDs-- watching one episode after another, like kids who can't stop eating their Halloween candy, up to six episodes in a day.



Each episode was riveting, creepy, engrossing. For those who haven't seen the show, Lost begins when a transpacific flight from Sydney to Los Angeles runs a thousand miles off course and crashes on a (seemingly) deserted island in the South Pacific. About forty passengers survive. Each episode includes back story of one of the fifteen or so main characters (i.e., the doctor, the fugitive, the heroin addict, the Iraqi soldier, the beautiful siblings, the confidence man, the paralyzed guy, the Korean couple, the pregnant Aussie, the father and his son, and my current favorite, the fat guy who won the lottery with six very special numbers-- 4, 8, 15, 16, 23 and 42). Just as these are no ordinary passengers (or are they?), this is no ordinary island-- full of wild boars, a polar bear, a French scientist who has been stranded there for over sixteen years, strange sounds and even stranger "people" known as The Others. Many questions about the characters and the island remain unanswered, which is part of the thrill of watching.

Now that we have plowed through the first season, we have begun watching the second season with gusto on network TV. The second season has been disappointing, in part because of the sting of commercial interruptions, but also because the story has lost its suspense and focus on survival and rescue and getting along (oftentimes painfully) with the other surivivors. The urgent need of getting off the island and protecting themselves from The Others, two dominant themes from the first season, have given way to exploring the mysterious interior of the land. The core group of survivors has been broken apart into several groups doing different things; the loss of interaction has made the show disjointed. Lost's new direction may prove deliciously engrossing in the end, but for me it has fallen flat. And I don't think I'm alone, because the producers began hyping tomorrow's episode three weeks ago as one where one of the main characters won't survive. Gasp.



The weekly entertainment magazines that you read while waiting to check out at the grocery store have been speculating on who will go. The favorite, it seems, is Shannon, the sister half of the beautiful siblings. I put my money on her, too. She hasn't spoken in several episodes, and because her brother died last season and she put the brakes on hooking up with Sayid, the Iraqi, there's isn't much of a story line for her (I think). Sorry Shannon, I think you're getting the boot.

10 comments:

Octopus Grigori said...

That's a good guess. I was going to say Sawyer, but they would lose all those Southern viewers.

Also, why does this season suck so much?

chanchow said...

They can't kill Sawyer because he's the hottest guy on the show. He also has huge personal problems, which is enough material for several episodes. There's a lot of potential there. He's showing himself to have a noble side, and we always like to see the good emerge from an otherwise bad egg. Plus, we need to see if he hooks up with the fugitive or the bossy bully girl.

Anonymous said...

Lost is the one with the tremendously believable plane crash, where the plane crashes for no apparent reason, the main characters survive without a scratch and this guy gets sucked into a detached jet engine, which despite the impact and despite being detached from any source of fuel still manages to be running at full blast without moving from the spot. Right?

Sorry, couldn't resist.

Eternal anti-TV grumpy smurf.
aka MK

Octopus Grigori said...

Umm, I'd like to lodge a complaint: Why aren't New Octopus Grigori (www.octopusg.blogspot.com) or Octopus Grigori Classic (www.livejournal.com/users/rciaodree) featured links on this site?

Show the Octopus some love!

chanchow said...

Eternal anti-TV grumpy smurf: I can tell from your very detailed and critical comment that you watch the show religiously. Admit you love it!

Anonymous said...

You dare to claim Sawyer is hotter than Furley? Sawyer is a b-cup at best my friend, whereas Furley is off the scale (in more than one form of measurement).

chanchow said...

What's wrong with a b-cup? Most studies say that that is ideal.

Anonymous said...

Errmm... actually I don't watch any shows, given that I don't own a TV (A very liberating feeling, I might add). I did see the part of the trailer online, though, that showed the crash sequence. It was widely passed around in aviation circles given the ludicrous lack of realism.

MK

Octopus Grigori said...

But, have you ever actually been in a supernaturally induced plane crash onto a spooky island populated with polar bears and zombies?

Anonymous said...

Has anyone? .... My point exactly.