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“LOST” :
1: not made use of, won, or claimed
2 a: no longer possessed b : no longer known
3: ruined or destroyed physically or morally
4 a: taken away or beyond reach or attainment
5 a: unable to find the way b : no longer
visible c : lacking assurance or self-confidence
6: not appreciated or understood
These are the various meaning for the
word “LOST” as offered up by
the Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary. I
would like to add two more. 7. A ridiculously
popular TV series currently airing on ABC.
8. How audiences of said series felt after
watching the 1st season finale……
and again after the entire 2nd season and
the 3rd, 4th and 5th.
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When “Lost” originally began airing,
I was one of the many who jumped on board to catch
the very first episode. I was already a fan of
the work of series creator J.J. Abrams, the master
mind behind the often brilliant, yet often times
puzzling “Alias.” Not entirely sure
that lightning would strike twice for Abrams,
I figured I’d at least have to give it a
try. After all, the concept alone sounded intriguing.
In the series, a plane has crashed on a deserted
island, stranding a fairly large group of survivors.
As opposed to re-hashing “Gilligan’s
Island”, Abrams opted to populate the island
with all manner of mysterious creatures, apparitions
and bogeymen. And as if that wasn’t enough,
each of the main characters appeared to be hiding
something about their past.
In the opening of the first episode, we saw the
main character, Dr. Jack Shepard (Matthew Fox),
regaining consciousness. We followed him as he
stumbled through brushes, totally disoriented.
Within seconds he was plunged into the nightmarish
scenario of a beach covered in plane wreckage
and strewn with bodies, both alive and dead. I
was ‘sucked’ into the series almost
immediately, especially when (within the first
few minutes) a survivor is shockingly ‘sucked’
into a still spinning plane engine.
I continued to watch “Lost” throughout
the first half of the season, and was amazed at
how intricately each of the main character’s
stories were woven together. On top of that I
was kept on my mental toes by trying to track
all of the mysterious events that were happening,
hoping I could somehow figure out the “Big
Picture.” Were they all dead an in some
purgatory? Were they part of some experiment?
I couldn’t figure out what was going on,
and so it seemed was the way of things for most
viewers. The answers to all the questions posed
by the series has continued to be the ‘water
cooler’ talk of the nation, and now even
as we are gearing up for a 6th season to begin
airing we are still no closer to finding them
out.
Recently, the 5th season DVD set came across
my desk (though I wish it could have been a Bluray
version, which has a lot more extras) and I settled
in to watch the 16 episodes that made it up. (The
producers opted to make these last couple of seasons
much shorter to allow for the overall plotline
to remain tighter.) Let me say that this season,
though every bit as convoluted as what has come
before, is a must watch if you are at all a fan.
A handful of questions…. Well, ok…
maybe one question… is answered throughout,
but to be honest it really doesn’t matter
as everything that happens changes those answers.
One of the biggest questions that hit us this
season is, “Is time travel possible?”
And I’m not talking flashbacks and flash
forwards, but honest to gosh travellin’
through time. I wish I could say more, but every
moment of “Lost” continues to be a
spoiler if plotlines are described. You just have
to watch it.
What I can tell you is there are a fair number
of decent special features offered up on this
5-disc set. There seems to be a little bit less
than what has been included in sets past, but
still, they are worthwhile. This time around we
only have two commentaries. The first one comes
on the premiere episode “Because You Left”
and is delivered by executive producers Damon
Lindelof and Carlton Cuse, with the second one
being on “He’s Our You” and
delivered by executive producers Edward Kitsis
and Adam Horowitz. Both are very entertaining
and informative commentaries, making viewers wish
there were more available. You’ll also find
a set of bloopers, which are always well worth
the few minutes offered, as well as some VERY
interesting deleted scenes.
In “Building 23 and Beyond”, actor
Michael Emerson (Ben) gives us a tour of the show’s
production offices, while “An Epic Day with
Richard Alpert” follows actor Nestor Carbonell
through a little bit of his day filming the 5th
Season Finale. “Lost on Location”
is one of the better features as it focuses on
behind the scenes footage of some of the more
exciting sequences of the season. “Making
Up for Lost Time” includes interviews with
Lindelof and Cruse (as well as some of the cast
and crew members) as they discuss time travel
in how it relates to the series and how difficult
it was to keep up with the continuity in shooting
some of these scenes. The best feature I save
for last. “Mysteries of the Universe”
is a mock TV- Special, reminiscent of “In
Search of…”, that investigates the
myth of the Dharma Initiative. It’s a brilliant
piece that is fun to watch.
Now that I’ve finally caught up with the
5th season and am still as confused overall as
the rest of the country, I’m still looking
forward to the start of the 6th (and as I understand,
final season) season and the hopes that at least
some of my questions will finally get answered.
Episodes:
Because You Left
The Lie
Jughead
The Little Prince
This Place is Death
316
The Life and Death of Jeremy Bentham
LaFleur
Namaste
He’s Our You
Whatever Happened, Happened
Dead is Dead
Some Like it Hoth
The Variable
Follow the Leader
The Incident
Starring: Naveen Andrews, Emilie de Ravin, Matthew
Fox, Jorge Garcia, Maggie Grace, Josh Holloway,
Yoon-jin Kim, Daniel Dae Kim, Evangeline Lilly,
Terry O'Quinn
Extras: Audio Commentaries on Two Episodes; Blooper
Reel; Deleted Scenes; Building 23 and Beyond;
An Epic Day with Richard Alpert; Lost on Location;
Making Up for Lost Time; Mysteries of the Universe
Specifications: Widescreen, Dolby Digital 5.1
Surround Sound
Studio: Buena Vista
Release Date: 12/8/2009
Region 1
MPAA Rating: NR
http://video.movies.go.com/tvondvdhits/lost_s5/index.html
We'll give Lost: Season 5 a B.
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