Lost - Didn't want to like it....
May. 29th, 2005 05:52 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
retro_eidas Said roommate pulled a rather dirty trick on me... she got me season one for my birthday (claiming she couldn't think of anything else... poor girl was more desperate than I thought). I felt rather obligated to watch as she was so kindly offering to watch them with me so I wouldn't be confused. Or that was her excuse anyway, I think she just wanted to make sure I watched the DVDs. Just to be clear (although not like it couldn't be figured out as it is). I'm not sure how clandestine I'm being, probably not at all (not that it matters though, it's not like I have the same service anyway), but I'm sure y'all are aware, I'm not talking about exactly legal copies of the show. So, no, I don't have connections or anything... just naughty friends.
I like the show. A lot. However, the show does feel like it's walking on a razor thin rope and it could easily lose it's balance. The out-there sci-fi elements are distinct, but, as yet, aren't completely overwhelming (like "Alias" if it better handled Rambaldi)... but it does feel like a dam about to burst. A hovering black mist if you will. There are these glaring moments something is definitely wrong in Mudville... but the most part, the show presents itself like a good standard drama. Meandering around the TWOP threads, Shakespeare's The Tempest, Stephen King's The Langoliers / The Stand / Dark Tower and Lord of the Flies are mentioned frequently describing the show. L'Engle's A Wrinkle in Time actually cameoed. It seems the show, on the outside, is a drama (likely containing some metaphor for society, a la Lord of the Flies)... but underneath, there's something most definitely odd. The mysterious, mystic island story isn't a new one in fiction by any means and it seems JJA is heading squarely down that road (moreso than Lord of the Flies). JJA could have the intrepid survivors all caught in (or travelled through) some kind of limbo or alternate dimension, if he chose (A Wrinkle in Time possibly a clue to this?). An ominous 'IT' always looming in the darkness. Thus this story could at it's core be an age-old (underlying) battle of good versus evil. However, it's what JJA does (or doesn't) do that concerns me.
My experience with JJA shows (and why I didn't really want to get invested in "Lost")? I don't know if that's more me or JJA, but with "Felicity" and "Alias", I hung on until about the beginnings of season 3... then the shows just lost me. It's almost like the shows began struggling in finding innovativeness in the storytelling and there were rapidly mounting questions and not nearly enough answers (what answers they did give... meh). Anvilicious, singular and cliche are some words that pop up pretty quickly in my recollection of both their third seasons. Maybe they were always to a degree (my more elitist "All television is crap" friends certainly think so), but "Lost" is one of JJA's best freshman shows yet imo. It also seems the most complex. Which, also, unfortunately could lead to it falling the hardest. I can see any number of ways where "Lost" could go totally batshit insane without any semblance of structure (or all these great fan speculations - which the material seems like it should accomodate - end up all for not). These sci-fi elements alone are at a precarious balance... and, arguably, "Alias" had/has the stronger cast and/or some strong staples acting-wise (Victor Garber, Lena Olin, Ron Rifkin and guest stars like John Hannah, Gina Torres, Isabella Rosselini, are fantastic to watch). Maybe I'm being fatalistic, but the show seems like it's teetering between exciting / intriguing (even esoteric in some POVs).... to totally ridiculous quicker than you can say 'sekritly EVOL Mrs. Vaughn'. I'd like to hope JJA and writing team keep a tighter hold on this show than they did the previous, but maybe someone also needs to tell JJA the Mission: Impossible series has LONG since jumped the shark. "Lost" would be a much worthier candidate to focus his energies on. With how consistently intriguing and complex this show could be, he and his team probably should focus all his energies on it.
I like the show. A lot. However, the show does feel like it's walking on a razor thin rope and it could easily lose it's balance. The out-there sci-fi elements are distinct, but, as yet, aren't completely overwhelming (like "Alias" if it better handled Rambaldi)... but it does feel like a dam about to burst. A hovering black mist if you will. There are these glaring moments something is definitely wrong in Mudville... but the most part, the show presents itself like a good standard drama. Meandering around the TWOP threads, Shakespeare's The Tempest, Stephen King's The Langoliers / The Stand / Dark Tower and Lord of the Flies are mentioned frequently describing the show. L'Engle's A Wrinkle in Time actually cameoed. It seems the show, on the outside, is a drama (likely containing some metaphor for society, a la Lord of the Flies)... but underneath, there's something most definitely odd. The mysterious, mystic island story isn't a new one in fiction by any means and it seems JJA is heading squarely down that road (moreso than Lord of the Flies). JJA could have the intrepid survivors all caught in (or travelled through) some kind of limbo or alternate dimension, if he chose (A Wrinkle in Time possibly a clue to this?). An ominous 'IT' always looming in the darkness. Thus this story could at it's core be an age-old (underlying) battle of good versus evil. However, it's what JJA does (or doesn't) do that concerns me.
My experience with JJA shows (and why I didn't really want to get invested in "Lost")? I don't know if that's more me or JJA, but with "Felicity" and "Alias", I hung on until about the beginnings of season 3... then the shows just lost me. It's almost like the shows began struggling in finding innovativeness in the storytelling and there were rapidly mounting questions and not nearly enough answers (what answers they did give... meh). Anvilicious, singular and cliche are some words that pop up pretty quickly in my recollection of both their third seasons. Maybe they were always to a degree (my more elitist "All television is crap" friends certainly think so), but "Lost" is one of JJA's best freshman shows yet imo. It also seems the most complex. Which, also, unfortunately could lead to it falling the hardest. I can see any number of ways where "Lost" could go totally batshit insane without any semblance of structure (or all these great fan speculations - which the material seems like it should accomodate - end up all for not). These sci-fi elements alone are at a precarious balance... and, arguably, "Alias" had/has the stronger cast and/or some strong staples acting-wise (Victor Garber, Lena Olin, Ron Rifkin and guest stars like John Hannah, Gina Torres, Isabella Rosselini, are fantastic to watch). Maybe I'm being fatalistic, but the show seems like it's teetering between exciting / intriguing (even esoteric in some POVs).... to totally ridiculous quicker than you can say 'sekritly EVOL Mrs. Vaughn'. I'd like to hope JJA and writing team keep a tighter hold on this show than they did the previous, but maybe someone also needs to tell JJA the Mission: Impossible series has LONG since jumped the shark. "Lost" would be a much worthier candidate to focus his energies on. With how consistently intriguing and complex this show could be, he and his team probably should focus all his energies on it.
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
no subject
Date: 2005-05-30 09:23 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2005-06-02 04:54 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2005-06-02 07:58 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2005-06-02 04:46 pm (UTC)