That right, it’s back. This week, televisions most infuriating series will return for its fifth season, and what a return it is. I have already seen the episode (through undisclosed methods), and here are my thoughts Awesome.
I think that at this point we just have to accept that Lost is now a balls out sci-fi show. I believe that the slump the show experienced during season 3 was due to the fact that the producers weren’t confident enough to go forward with anything that might be deemed too ‘hokey’. Last year they toyed with the ideas of time manipulation and paranormal abilities, and then in the season finale the Island literally vanish into thin air. Now, in the premiere of the shows penultimate season, the writers have thrown caution to the wind, and have provided viewers with one of the strongest episodes in over two years. They have also begun to explain mysteries from years ago, although you have to be a pretty die hard fan to pick up on then. Then again, I don’t think there are any casual Lost fans left.
Last season saw six of the survivors of Oceanic 815 escape from the Island just moments before it disappeared. Flash forward three years, and we find our heroes facing difficult times. Jack is addicted to prescription medication and is suicidal, Kate is raising another woman’s child, Hurley is living in a mental institution, Sun has teamed up with the enemy and Sayid is killing people for a living. And of course, good old Ben is trying desperately to get them all to return before “bad things happen.” This season opens like the others with a massive reveal featuring one of the shows best new characters, the obsessive physicist Daniel Faraday. The term ‘flashback’ appears to be no longer relevant; instead we follow two different narratives. In 2007, the Oceanic Six are facing new and mysterious threats, while back on the island, those left behind find themselves jumping randomly through time. This new device is really great, as it gives fans of the show a change to relive classic moments from a different perspective, as well as shedding new light into some of the Islands biggest mysteries.
A lot of the characters get reinvigorated in this new season. Another major problem the show had begun to suffer from was that the flashbacks were fast becoming uninteresting and irrelevant. Sayid had becoming my least favourite character on the show due to his boring back-story, but he is now a complete badass (watch out for the dishwasher scene) The uneasy alliance that Jack and Ben (played magnificently as usual by Michael Emerson) strike up provides some compelling scenes, and of course Hurley is as awesome as ever, providing comic relief even in the darkest of moments (and there are some seriously dark moments.) Daniel, Miles and Charlotte, who last season felt completely extraneous, are now getting some proper air time, and the constant bickering between Sawyer and Miles is very entertaining. Characters long missing such as the never aging Richard Alpert and the mysterious time travelling Ms Hawking return, adding yet another layer to the shows complex mythology.
This episode isn’t going to hook any new fans, and it probably won’t convince anyone to start watching again. But it is a wild ride for the faithful fans, and should be enough to convince those whose faith in the show is wanning that they creators know exactly what they are doing. Now that Lost has a definitive end date (2010), they are done stalling, and have delivered a bolt of energy into the show, which remains one of the most interesting and original programs on television.
The season premiere of Lost will air in Australia at 10:30pm on Wednesday February 11th on Channel Seven.
I in no way condone the streaming of television programs via the internet. However, if it was a life and death situation, I would recommend lost-streams.com (which has the first four episodes) :)
