LOST

Ever been in a relationship where everything was just roses and daydreams in the beginning? Where you were in love and all was right in the world, even when you’re beloved “accidentally” left his socks lying around your bedroom? Remember that? Remember telling yourself that was cute? Then, remember after dating for about a year or so, you discover that his sweaty sweat socks don’t smell like roses after all, but are just----sweaty sweat socks, and the “cute”? Yea. Long gone.

Well, that’s where I’ve been with LOST, ABC’s show about Oceanic Flight 815’s dramatic crash and subsequent survivors’ hijincks on a remote island.
At first, it was the best thing going on t.v. It had it all.
Dramatic opening? Check.
Intriguing characters with convoluted backstories? Check.
Mystery? Inuendo? Gorgeous Scenery? Check. Check. Check.
I was in serious t.v. show crush.

I loved it. I looked forward to it. I couldn’t wait to find out how things were going to resolve themselves. I was deeply intrigued about the polar bears…and the scary black seemingly sentient fog. WOO!, So scary! So mysterious! I was in love----not for the first time ( Quantum Leap fills that place pretty solidly)…but in t.v. love, nevertheless.

After a bit, waiting for a semblance of plot advancement seemed fruitless.

LOST got lost in the department of backstory. Every week we got more and more backstory on various characters----and though that was interesting—it didn’t progress the story of our hapless strandees. Would they get off the island? Find out what the Dharma Initiative was? Find out what the hell was up with the scary, black sentient fog? Identify the source of the women’s unsuccessful pregnancies? So much left to answer. AND NOTHING FORTHCOMING.

So, I fell out of love with LOST. And, like many people evaluating where the relationship is going, . I stayed in it. Just not as enthusiastically as before. Maybe the relationship was worth saving? If only LOST would give me a sign that it really cared. As it was, eyeballing Jack and Sayid was nice, but it was far from enough to make me commit.

Truth be told, I stopped watching LOST for a while. Or I’d just watch it occasionally. I needed “space”, you know? I’d read, walk the dog, and watch a movie, anything. Eventually, my boyfriend talked me into watching the show again---, saying each time “This is the last time I’ll watch LOST”. (I even think he meant it. A little. Though he was as frustrated as I was, he just couldn’t stop watching. “Hopeful” is the word.)

FINALLY our patience paid off, and the last half of this season has been really interesting. Interesting and informative. Do we know who the Dharma Initiative was? Yep. Did someone finally get so tired of the anxiousness, that they just punched the hell outta an “other”? Yes. THANK YOU. Did Henry Gale/Ben/(---ah, hell, let’s call him BENRY)really kill all those people? Maybe. Do the women of the island really die when they get pregnant there? Yes. All good things to know.
But now there are lots of new questions…Will Locke die, or the island heal him? Is the Island a type of sentient Gaia, expressing itself through Benry? Are the island’s inhabitants really in the original garden of Eden? Is this all Benry’s imagination? Did everyone on Oceanic Flight 815 really die? What are the hostiles really up to? Now that the woman from the rescue mission is there, will crewmates from her ship come looking for her? So, good questions all, and all worth answering.

-(Nicely, the show’s script writers have promised us a resolution in three seasons, 16 episodes each, as well---so it promises to be more concise, and to have a defined ending. And forgive me, but I am just that easy. That comforts me. They also promise that the inhabitants are not in purgatory, FYI).

Another thing that has happened with continued watching of the show is that I have changed my expectations a bit. I’m a little happier just to get a good weekly story, instead of the much desired culmination of Hot. Plot. Action. ( Ahem. ) Do I want to live in the department of Backstory.? No. Still want the action? OF COURSE. But I’ll accept snugglebunnies for now.(i.e. I”ll tolerate the backstory of the hostiles, and of Jakob.)
My expectations are little less on the in love side, and a little more on the loving side. Sweaty Socks? Okay. Just put them in the laundry hamper. Let’s lay down a few ground rules, and all will be well.

With three episodes remaining in the season---I’m expecting love to come again.