Lost - Seasons 1-3
"The survivors of a plane crash are forced to work together in order to survive on a seemingly deserted tropical island."
- IMDB
Season 1
I was very young when Lost was making its way as cultural phenomenon. The only thing I really remember from it was the airplane crash premise & the pop culture icon, Jorge Garcia. I have since watched Once Upon a Time & Bates Motel - two shows that I very much obsessed over within the last couple years. I know very well that those same writers, producers, & the creators were top people in making Lost & I recognized their names every time when Lost rolled their opening credits. Given their reputation, I had to move Lost up my watch list. I would've watched it eventually, but I had to jump in sooner given how much I enjoyed their other shows.
I knew this was a show about a bunch of people stranded on an Island, but no one said anything about this supernatural creature hiding in the jungle whispering words in people's heads. This was honestly a genius idea. If you read any of my reviews, I can get frustrated when a show tries to stretch itself to 20+ episodes to fit the demands of network television. But Lost balanced itself perfectly. There are about a dozen central characters around with long histories to explore through flashbacks. Also, the island itself holds so many mysteries; by the end of the first season, we barely learn anything & every discovery comes with a series of questions. Basically, there is just so much going on that by the 25th episode, I was ready for more.
The final few episodes have a bunch of flashbacks to the morning of the disastrous flight. Those scenes made me realize just how much the characters changed from the pilot. Jack says in the early season that "we all died when that plane crashed," as they all became crash survivors rather than who they were before. Most characters had deep character development like Locke, Charlie, & the Kwons'.
I actually really liked Yun & Jin given that there was so much more to them than we initially see. It initially seems like a toxic marriage but then we see how complex Jin was and I ended up rooting for them in the end. Sawyer was definitely written as the hawt bad boy of the bunch, but of course there was more dimension to him as the season went on. Dominic Monaghan as Charlie was joy to watch. I didn't know he was in this show so seeing him filled my hobbit heart. Also Locke was so weird; I think he's totally bonkers. But his story helped us uncover some more mysteries of the island which was interesting.
I also wanna point out a detail that I found interesting. This show was made not too long after the 9/11 attacks that caused people to have a general fear of Arab people taking over commercial Airlines. But it seemed that Lost had a couple counter suggestions. As in "oh, afraid to fly incase the flight gets hijacked by terrorists? Let us show a real reason to get scared of flying in a plane." And "oh, you think all Arabs are terrorists? Well what would you do if you're stranded on the Island and an Arab happens to be one of the smartest people that could effectively contribute to your survival?" These are just interesting story elements for the time.
Season 2
Honestly, Season 2 was not as strong as Season 1. I feel like the show spent more time focusing on drama between characters and the actual interesting plot wasn't given the time it deserved. Like the shadow monster thing was barely in this. I hated the flashbacks. In season 1, the flashbacks helped us get insight on the personal journeys that led everybody here. Season 2 flashbacks gave more exposition than I cared for & I was bored.
I loved the whole discovery of the Hatch, Dharma, and everything in between. The plot about the Others or the Hostiles was also intriguing as every time they were important, they got more mysterious and that trend continued through the season finale. I officially ship Sawyer and Kate. Jack was on the brink of a psychotic breakdown the whole season, like he's already tired of everyone's crap. Jin is now my favorite character. He went from being this abusive husband to this cute Asian dude that loved his wife and gave friendly smiles and hugs to his friends. He's awesome.
While Season 2 was a step down, I'm still so excited going forward to the next season as there’s still so much left in question at this point - like who are these hostiles, what are their intentions, what did they want with Claire's baby, what did they do with Walt, what the hell was Dharma and what was their intentions, what exactly was that electromagnetic anomaly, and how the heck are all these questions gonna get answered?
Season 3
Getting into 3 after disliking 2 was an absolute joy ride. The first 8 episodes alone were better than the entirety of season 2. It did not end there. The whole idea of the Hostiles has been slowly building up through the 2 seasons and completely slams in our faces in season 3 the best way possible. But even as we finally learn more and more about them, more mysteries of the Island are presented and not all these mysteries are fully explored by the end of the season, still making me desire more. When Jack is like "we have to back" I was like yes sir!
How exactly did Locke's dad die and wake up on the island? Does this happen often? Why did Eye Patch guy come back to life twice after being killed? Were the bodies of all the survivors we've come to love actually recovered like parachute lady said? How hasn't Nestor Carbonell's character aged since Ben was a child? And what even is Jacob? Are all the answers to these exact questions connected??? And even going back to questions I had after season 2, not all of them were answered completely. There's still so much I want to learn!
I have some favorite moments of the season. Like that one time Hurley was on this religious expedition to start that one car and go for a joy ride. Him, Sawyer, Jin, and Charlie had such a great time, it was dope. In fact, just any scene with those guys brings joy and solace to my heart with everything else going on. Like when Hurley tricked Sawyer into to being a swell chap by convincing him he will be banished if he does other wise. Or that time he completely annihilated Sawyer at ping pong. I love that one quest when Desmond dragged Charlie, Hurley and Jin into one of his future crap expeditions. Just the fact that Jin had no idea what he was signing up for but was super hyped to go camping with his best buds - quality entertainment. They roasted marshmallows, Charlie fiddled with his guitar, Jin told a spooky story, this was Lost at its peak. Also, you know that one episode about Nikki & Paolo? That was so random. I was so taken out of the plot because I kept thinking were they actually in all those scenes or were they inserted into the narrative for this episode, which ended with them being BURIED ALIVE! These characters were introduced and built up for this, it was so random.
As season 3 ended, there some very satisfactory moments that I felt were built up since season 1. Firstly, Charlie's entire arc was great. He went from a drug addict and completely changed his ways as he cared for Claire & her son so deeply. He sacrificed himself as a hero and I only felt okay with that because he was so accepting of it. Although I totally expect him to come back. Surely Eye Patch man can't get all the resurrections around here. Russo was technically introduced within the first couple of episodes. Not only has her entire story been told, but she has properly reunited with her daughter. While there was this whole love triangle thing going on, it's always been clear to me that Kate and Sawyer were a perfect fit. Season 3 was their season. Trauma from being Hostile captives brought them together; those emotional scenes were some of their best.
Speaking of Sawyer, I loved how he shot that one guy who kidnapped Walt and shot him off the boat in the season 1 finale and also had direct involvement in his imprisonment. It all came full circle as Sawyer got his revenge. As far back as the pilot we had Rose firmly state her belief that her husband was alive. Seeing her reunite with him in season 2 was the most satisfactory moment ever. I just thought I'd drop that in since they both made it through to the third finale. Though Jin's character arc is way more satisfying. I mentioned it before, but comparing season 3 Jin to season 1 Jin - it's basically 2 different people. He's still my favorite character.
Also, Vincent the dog is still alive. Considering he was missing and feared to be dead in the series piolet, this is great news indeed.
Overall Thoughts
Season 1, phenomenal. Season 2, not it. Season 3, Outstanding. It's a large cast of interesting main characters with very diverse backgrounds, stories, and personalities. Honestly one of the most diverse and interesting casts I've seen in many shows. The story is hit or miss, but anything to do with the Island is a solid 10/10. There are so many mysteries around the island form Dharma to the Hostiles to the Shadow Monster, and after 3 seasons, I still want to know more. I'm looking forward to continuing my marathon. I hope the 2nd half to the series ends strongly.
My Rating: ★★★★★★★★☆☆
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