Lost

2/19/21

I watched a good bit of the series in high school, and read about the rest. Last night I watched parts 1 and 2 of the pilot. It's tempting, but I just don't think I can justify the time. It's constant intrigue with, I think, insufficient payoff. I don't think intrigue is intrinsically sufficient payoff. If I remember right, the series incessantly introduces questions, from big to small, and regularly answers some of the smaller ones, after delays, and not all of them, and infrequently answers the bigger ones, maybe once or twice a season. Constantly new questions arising, with delayed and partial answers, and rarely or never answering the major questions. It's a question surplus, I think even after the series finale. That's frustrating and hard to justify, since this is fiction. I could easier justify a question surplus in our reality, for example cosmology or philosophy. I needn't bother with the Island's cosmology -- rather consider my own. Of course, my preoccupation with Tolkien is a counterexample, which I try to exempt very specifically as my one guiltless escape.

Lost is tempting, since I liked it back then, and I'm immediately intrigued again -- but how intrigued? Probably not enough to really care. And how satisfying are the answers? Probably not enough to really care. This says little against Lost as a series, but again (like many recent posts) reflects the medium. TV has never really paid off for me, and even movies must be exceptional. At least I have a history of loving film as a medium. TV I've never really loved nor respected much. A series must be extremely exceptional, which I don't think I've ever met. I remember liking Lost, and it's tempting. Recent experiences like Justice League and even Breaking Bad leave me pessimistic on the intrigue paying off. I need to start learning my lesson. The formula is intrigue, and in Lost's case questions, which breeds addiction, which by definition never pays off, right?

I can get into TV, and even like it, but hardly justify it.