I Finished #Lost
Welcome to Overdue Review, where I rant and rave about old TV.
I should get paid to binge-watch shows for a full-time job at the clip I can get through a series. One of my favorite sub-genres of television? The long-off-the-air TV series that everyone else raves about: “The Good Wife,” “Gilmore Girls,” “The Office,” “Parks & Recreation,” “Friday Nights Lights,” “The Wire,” all shows that I watched and fell in love with after their series run.
There’s a different feeling you get from a show by binge-ing it. You absorb everything so fast, and generally get immediate satisfaction when an episode ends on a cliffhanger — no need to wait a whole seven days, just keep going.
Enter “Lost.” It’s always on some critic’s top TV list. People love it and yet talk about the ending with such distain that I kept moving it farther down my watch list. I can only imagine that people were livid after spending six years watching these folks bumble around this weird, sci-fi, fantasy island with polar bears, black smoke and a Hatch with a weird timer. But what better time to watch a series about being stuck on an island that might be hell?
You can read all my “Lost” tweets on these threads: Season 1 | Season 2 | Season 3 | Season 4 | Season 5
I hadn’t expected to be completely over the show before the final season, but Season 5 was the worst season of TV I have ever watched in my life. The time travel stuff was all mucked up together in a blob of pointless charades that fumble all the way to the sixth season. I absolutely hated it. If I’d watched the show live, I’m pretty sure I would have stopped watching by Season 5, Episode 2. (I still watch “Grey’s Anatomy” so who knows, really!) It was actual hell watching those 17 episodes over two days, so I can’t imagine what it was like week-to week. Jack went through all those hijinks in 1970-whatever to get them all off the island, and then IT DIDN’T EVEN WORK.
They truly played ya boy Jack.
TBH, there’s probably nothing that the final season could have done to actually make me like it. I was confused the whole time. By then, there’d been too many new characters, and seemingly nonsensical plotlines for me to even follow what was happening. The character development on the series in the beginning was absolutely stellar, and was driving the storyline forward. Then it felt like by the end, the plot had lost its way (or rather, its many directions). Especially with the flash-forwards, flashbacks and flash-sideways that were happening in the fifth and sixth seasons. All the characters seemed like people you used to know once — and by the end you’re wondering if they’re actually all dead or what. (I literally had to Google to find out.)
The only thing I regret about not watching it live is witnessing the explosion of angry tweets when the finale aired.
TLDR: Season 1 was excellent. Season 2 was really good, but I hated the Hatch timer thing. Season 3 was meh because I couldn’t stand Ben Linus and that damn Paulo storyline was a mess and unnecessary. Season 4 was great because I love Desmond Hume, but I didn’t need any of these new characters especially Daniel Faraday and the ghost whisperer guy. Seasons 5 and 6 no longer exist to me now that I’ve sent this newsletter.
I will now treat “Lost” like I do my all time favorite sitcom, “Martin.” Only seasons 1 through 4 matter.
Black Star Power: Rose Nadler
I fell in love with Rose (L. Scott Caldwell) immediately. Her storyline convinced me that I needed to keep watching. In the pilot, she sits across from Jack in the plane and he promises her everything will be alright. She had been a little nervous, and was alone while her husband, Bernard, was in the back of the plane in the bathroom.
Moments later, the plane crashes.
Jack, after waking up in what I presume is the same spot that ends the series, resuscitates her. And scene after scene, Rose gave me so much life with so few words.
In Episode 4 Rose appears again.
“Rose, you shouldn’t be out here alone. You’re suffering from post-traumatic shock.”
“Aren’t we all?” Rose chimes in.
Jack then tells her that there will be a memorial service later that night. He asks her to speak a few words about her husband. And she says:
I immediately believed her.
In the only good moment of Season 5, Rose and Bernard are hunkered down on a random island. Sawyer, Kate and Juliet come ashore, and off-camera, Rose says, “Oh hell, no!”
“Bernard! …. They found us!”
“Son of a bitch,” Bernard responds.
Rose was caring and a straight-shooter on the island. She only appeared in 24 episodes, but I perked up every time she appeared on screen. She was my absolute favorite character.
Since “Lost,” L. Scott Caldwell has appeared in a number of TV shows in small roles including “Grey’s Anatomy,” “Southland,” “How to Get Away With Murder” and “Queen Sugar.” Most recently, Caldwell has appeared on “All Rise” on CBS.
And! AND!
She is Molly’s mom on “Insecure!”
Commercial break: My sister-friend Dani Kwateng is part of the See In Black initiative, a Black photographers’ collective to support causes promoting Black prosperity. I’m pretty sure I’m about to cop this print.
Random thoughts
I thought “Lost” had dinosaurs in it before I started the series. I was disappointed by those polar bears.
I never want to see Benjamin Linus (Michael Emerson) on a TV show ever again in life. If I see him in the streets……..
WHY DID CLAIRE WEAR THAT TERRIBLE BLONDE WIG ALL THROUGH SEASON 6?
I absolutely hated the music, and I know that’s an unpopular opinion. (Sorry, Michael Giacchino.) Yes, I appreciate an actual orchestra for any score; my former band geek self lives for it. But it sounded so hokey the whole time especially when there was danger afoot. It actually really reminds me of the music on “Survivor.” No subtlety.
I never really wrapped my head around the point of Jacob and his brother’s storyline. And I’d always go get a snack whenever they showed up. I did kinda love that Angela Valdes (Lela Loren) from “Power” was their mother though.
Paulo and that girl. WHY? WHY?
I literally just found out that Walt and Lil’ Saint from “You Got Served” are portrayed by the same actor, Malcolm David Kelley. I am undone. (He’s grown now and cute.)
This video of Sawyer, Michael and Jin rapping and roasting each other is so so so good.
Commercial break:You should sign up for my friend’s newsletter “Leave It To Leonor,” where she gives great recommendations for TV, books, podcasts and more.
What else is on?
Rewatching “Gilmore Girls” with a friend four nights a week; bingeing Season 13 of “Survivor;” “The Chi” is back; trying to catch up on “I May Destroy You;” “Greenleaf” returned with its final season; also my new favorite cute lil’ show right now is “Sweet Magnolias” on Netflix. (Thank you, Leonor!)
WHO’S NEXT?
If you’d like to join my old TV bingeing antics, I’m restarting “The Game,” inspired by that Derwin-Melanie-Janay-inspired storyline on this season of “Insecure.” I loved the series so much when it was on CW, so I’m going to watch just seasons 1 to 3. They are on Hulu if you want to join!
Since I’ve seen “The Game” already, I’m also in need of a new-to-me, old-to-TV show. Some series on my to-watch list: “Mad Men,” “New Girl,” “The Leftovers,” “The Americans,” “Veep,” “Six Feet Under.” Let me know if you have other suggestions and I’ll tweet what I’m watching next.
Thanks for reading!