I’m addicted to Lost. Lostpedia here, on the Numbers business.

It started when I breezily picked up the DVD at FilmYard last month. At this point I’m an iTunes season pass holder. D’oh! 3 seasons in a few weeks, there you go. My crush on Naveen Andrews and Josh Halloway hasn’t damped, but let’s say I’m looking forward to a month and a half of no lost weekends.

A few episodes in I started having that yen, that yen to close narrative loops. That’s the quicksand with this show- they introduce teasing little bits of plot and you want to watch to get it resolved. Not big questions- I could care less who the mysterious monster is, or what the purpose of the Dharma Initiative is, but more just to know- how did Locke get handicapped? Did Claire’s baby get injected with something nasty?

I get very scared with Lost too. The writers of Lost have picked up a good boogeyman. Friend’s boyfriend at dinner the other night mentioned that he found it melodramatic. Since then I have realized all of the silly drama- the deep looks and held responses right before a cut. In total, though, it’s very fine writing.

Some great moments:
– an “other” interrupts Ben and Juliette arguing, and says “Am I interrupting something?” It was a great way to introduce a love triangle- other shows would do it too heavy handed, but I think these writers did it in an appropriately subtle way, while still communicating the wheedling pathetic nature of being the 3rd wheel (that being the speaker).
– Desmond finding a letter from his girlfriend in the Dickens novel. It was a good way of tying up a narrative arc. Lost, for all of it’s accusations of having loose ends, does wrap up a few each episode, and I appreciate that.
– Kate experiences the entire crash- Jack doesn’t. I like that parallel narrative experience. Makes the viewer thing: is it a good thing to experience it, or do we all just wish we blacked out?
– Another good parallel storytelling moment is how Ana Lucia and Jack both work with their parents, and Ana even says at one point, something to the effect that working with your parent is a bad idea. I like that they reveal it, it’s not bashed over your head, but that there’s a lot going on in the dynamic as well, if you care to look.

Jumping The Shark…

Some friends mentioned the other day at lunch that Mr. Eko’s death was the moment when it jumped the shark. I just watched that episode and don’t think so. I think that when other people- extras- in the plane crash start getting lines, that’s the moment that I was getting a bit tired of the loose end and story arc resolution cycle.

Lost and Feminism…
My mom criticizes the show for the fact that the women have too much make-up on. Granted, Sun and Kate get lip gloss, Claire and Rose don’t get as much and Shannon was the all time winner of the full make-up kit (but that was in character, at least). I’m not as bothered by that- the fact that the hero-circle is never concerned about food or shitting does kind of make it more the soap opera that it is. Not that I want to see them do it, but … Ana Lucia’s low-rises were quite unrealistic as well. She can fight in those? Michelle Rodriguez as Ana Lucia, and Evangeline Lilly as Kate- they are great athletic role models, tho, and in general I give them the lip gloss in exchange for female characters that can shoot/climb trees/ knock people out. Can’t really stand Juliette- I think it’s the way she lowers her eyelids every time she answers a question, and the insane amount of botox & facelifting- makes her look like a Desperate Housewife.