Who is Evangeline Lilly

Lost - The Complete Third Season

Warning! Major spoiler alert!

I believe that Season Three of LOST is one of those seasons of a show that will have a significant impact on the dynamics of television quite apart from the merits or demerits of the season itself. This is mainly due to various tensions the networks have had in broadcasting serial dramas. Season Two of LOST provoked vast viewer anger over the seemingly endless repeats. All season long they would give us four or five new episodes, only to do three or four repeats. No one knew sometimes if they would be tuning into a repeat or a new episode. To counter this, ABC made the decision to broadcast six episodes in the fall to be followed by sixteen episodes shown without interruption beginning in January. Unfortunately, the six episodes they showed in the fall were almost universally perceived as the weakest group of episodes in the show's run. The results of all this I think will be threefold:

1. In the future, I think the trend with popular serial dramas will be to broadcast shows in uninterrupted hunks. We had already seen this happening with 24. I think after the Season Three debacle with LOST, which saw the show lose a huge number of viewers during its break, this will become far more commonplace.

2. The general perception of the first six episodes of the season was that they dawdled too much, provided too little plot development, and simply didn't advance the narrative sufficiently. Shows tend to learn from the mistakes and failures of other series. Damon Lindelhof of LOST has stated that the writers on the show have attempted to avoid the piling up of mysteries that occurred on TWIN PEAKS and the lack of focus on character rather than plot on THE X-FILES and to emulate the focus on character within the overall narrative that was seen in BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER. I believe in the future that writers on other serial narratives will strive to make sure that the mysteries on a show are being revealed at a good pace. (Just as I think future writers will try to emulate the pace at which this has been done on BATTLESTAR GALACTICA.)

3. There was also a widespread perception that in much of Season Two of LOST and the first six episodes of Season Three, the overall narrative was simply being padded out to ensure a long run for the show. From the beginning looked like a show that needed fewer rather than more seasons to be truly good, but it appeared that with the ratings monster it was in the first two seasons that the powers that be were hoping they could stretch it out to seven or eight seasons instead of five or six. Luckily, the huge backlash against the show following the first six episodes--a backlash that occurred both among everyday fans and among TV critics--seems to have created a reassessment and in the spring it was announced that LOST would be back for three more sixteen-episode seasons. I was delighted with how positively this announcement was greeted by fans and critics alike. I think the result has been for the networks to recognize that certain kinds of series have only a limited potential in terms of the number of episodes that can be produced, that there are certain series that you can really only produce if you anticipate their going four or five or at most six seasons. The other series this is happening with is BATTLESTAR GALACTICA, which like LOST is more or less telling a single story. Both of these are outstanding series that will benefit from a smaller number of series (the debate among the producers of BSG at the moment is whether they need to end the series at the end of Season Four or whether they will need a Season Five). As a negative example there is PRISON BREAK, which currently is threatening to fall apart for lack of any real plan.

The great news about Season Three is that after the long break the show came back as good as ever. If we were rating this as one would rate an ice skater, we'd have to give it a lower rating based on some slips and falls early in its routine. But it rebounded wonderfully and the frustration that most viewers experienced in the fall rarely if ever returned in the spring. Furthermore, they started giving us concrete answers to a host of questions that had been bothering us for ages. We found out all about the others (though not where they originally came from), about the lay out of the island, about the facilities on the island, and a few of -- though by no means all of -- the island's secrets. At the end of the season there were still things we'd like to know about -- Just who is Jacob? What's up with the black smoke? What makes the island so special? What was the genesis of the Dharma Initiative -- but there is no doubt that we knew vastly more than we knew before. There were also many new characters. Ben, whom we knew in Season Two as Henry, was back and became one of the most fascinating characters on the show. And we were introduced to the enigmatic Juliet, whose sad and wistful smile was as impossible to comprehend as the Mona Lisa's. We learned that following the decimation of the hatch at the end of Season Two Desmond experienced visions of the future and seemed doomed to reenacting events. The deep attraction between Jack and Kate was made more explicit even though she ends up furthering things with Sawyer. And as many fans suspected as early as Season One, Locke's father turned out to be the real Sawyer. Our Sawyer coming face-to-face with the real Sawyer was not only one of the highlights of the season but of the entire series.

I want to say something about the finale, but without giving away the details of how the last five minutes of the season changes absolutely everything we know about the series. The changes are, interestingly, not so much in new revelations as in ways that are open for the show to proceed narratively in the future. For the past three seasons the narrative has proceeded in the present with flashbacks to the past of various characters. That is no longer possible. In the future the narrative will of necessity either proceed on the island with flash forwards or will take place in the future with flashbacks to events following the end of Season Three. (Sorry to be vague here, but I really think that one should watch Season Three without knowing what happens at the end of the season to change everything so completely.) I honestly have no idea what way they will proceed. If I had to bet, I would say that the show will continue to use flashbacks, but that the main narrative will proceed in the present. The first three seasons took place pretty much exclusively in the calendar year 2004. I believe Season Four could well take place in 2008 with flashbacks to the previous four years. Regardless, the surprising ending changed everything.

There is one beef I want to make with the show. As much as I love this series, it has to handle the death of characters worse than just about any I have seen. The first series to kill off a substantial number of central and beloved characters was BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER. There had been other deaths on television series, to be sure. The death of Deep Throat at the end of the first season of THE X-FILES was close to unprecedented at the time. Previously characters largely died because they wanted to leave a show, like the death of Edith on ALL IN THE FAMILY or Denise Crosby's departure from STAR TREK: THE NEXT GENERATION. But BUFFY created the habit of killing off key characters. I'm not sure I've ever been so completely shocked at the death of any character on TV as I was when Angel killed Jenny Calendar in Season Two of BUFFY. It shattered the hallowed tradition on TV that you simply don't kill off characters you like. It ushered in a new era on TV to great effect. Suddenly, a new sense of danger was introduced to TV. Before you always knew that all the characters would survive any catastrophe, no matter how dire, simply because that was the nature of TV. But after BUFFY and the way that other series so quickly picked up on its willingness to kill characters, a new sense of precariousness extended to almost every show on TV. And TV was certainly the better for it. One thing that made the deaths on BUFFY so compelling was that each one carried such a great price and had such enormous consequences. All the deaths were exceedingly well done. But this has not been the case on LOST. Perhaps the deaths will be made less meaningless by developments in the final three seasons, though I somehow doubt it. Characters were killed off in almost random fashion. At least there was no real sense about why they were killed off. It seems like someone said, "Well, we need to kill someone off." And some of the deaths seemed to be caused by off screen activities. Michelle Rodgriguez's death in Season Two was thought by many to be in response to a violation of probation that might have required some jail time and impinged on the shooting schedule (she claims she only signed up for one season). In Season Three Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje's great character Mr. Eko was killed reportedly because he was hated by all his fellow cast members and he hated them all in return (some anonymous cast members reported that he was dictatorial to the extent of telling other actors what they should do or how to speak their lines--all reports are that no one was sad to see him leave the set). But even so his death felt like he had been ripped from the show prematurely. And a major death in the season finale felt equally unnecessary. I believe that this will also influence future shows. I think "the body count" is a permanent fixture in any series with an adventure element, but I think that future shows will strive not to make the death of characters as superfluous as they have been in LOST.

The final three seasons will all begin in the winter and be broadcast for sixteen straight weeks with no interruptions. I love this not merely because it means no dead times between episodes but because it puts definite limits on how much time they have left to finish the story. I think most fans of the show feel a lot better about how things are going now than they did last fall. Then the series seemed moribund and seemed almost to be drifting. Now it feels like it is heading somewhere definite. And it ended the season by doing something that all the really great shows do: it took a gigantic risk that changes everything. I look forward with excitement to what happens next. - Robert Moore (Chicago, IL USA)

Release Date: 12/11/2007

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Lost - The Complete Second Season

Season 2 opens exactly where season 1 ended. Jack (Matthew Fox), Kate (Evangeline Lilly), and Locke (Terry O'Quinn) are about to enter the mysterious hatch they've been trying to enter for half the first season. Inside, they find only more mysteries, and a computer that requires their input every 108 minutes. What do they have to input? Those numbers that make Hurley (Jorge Garcia) so incredibly nervous.

Meanwhile, Michael (Harold Perrineau), Jin (Daniel Dae Kim), and Sawyer (Josh Holloway) are adrift in the ocean. "The Others," whoever they are, kidnapped Michael's son Walt (Malcolm David Kelley) and blew up the raft the three were on. When they land back on the island, they discover they aren't the only survivors of their plane crash. People from the tail of the plane are alive and hiding out for fear of "The Others." What does this group want? Why have they been tormenting the tailies?

Over the course of the season, even more questions are raised. Along the way, we do learn what Kate did that put her on the run from the law, where Claire (Emilie de Ravin) went when she disappeared last season, and why the plane crashed that fateful day.

While I loved this season and didn't miss an episode, I found myself disappointed with the first half. Twice in those twelve episodes, they led us up to an exciting point, only to spend the next new episode revealing back-story that we didn't need and only served to slow the story down. Then the next week they moved things forward again. I found these backtracks very frustrating, even for a show famous for their flashbacks.

Things definitely picked up in the second twelve episodes, however. The story began to move forward quickly, still giving us two questions for every answer. I don't find the lack of answers frustrating. I just hope my faith in the producers to answer everything before the show ends is justified.

Three new cast members joined the show this season. Cynthia Watros, Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje, and Michelle Rodriguez played members of the tailies. They proved just as compelling and interesting to watch as the returning cast members from season one. Everyone brings their A game to their role each week, making the story spring to life and drawing me further into the web.

And this DVD set proves just as wonderful as the set from season one. The video is once again sharp wide screen, and the sound is a very full surround. I haven't heard any other TV show make this kind of use of the sound. You are in the show. If I weren't so addicted to watching it every week, it would almost be worth waiting for the season sets, they're that good. All twenty-four episodes are presented on six discs. Along the way, there are five audio commentaries by various members of the cast and crew.

Then there's disc seven. Once again, it is packed full of great bonus material, including deleted scenes, bloopers, character back story filmed for this set, and the making of an episode, to name a few.

While this season wasn't as good as the first season, it is still extremely entertaining and better then many shows currently on the air. You really do want to start with season one before watching this as everything will make much more sense. You will quickly be hooked and counting the days until season three premiers so you can find out what happens next. - Mark Baker (Santa Clarita, CA United States)

Release Date: 09/05/2006

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Lost - The Complete First Season

It is too early to state for certain just how good LOST is compared to the great shows in television history, but by the highest possible standards its first season has to stand out as one of the great seasons in the history of the medium. Season One of LOST was not merely good but great television, and not merely great television but great narrative storytelling. But the impact of LOST goes completely beyond its aesthetic success. Along with another show on ABC (albeit one that I do not care for), DESPERATE HOUSEWIVES, LOST has managed to cause the prodigiously stupid television execs to realize that there is a huge demand for quality scripted television. After years of an endless string of simply awful reality shows, all of the networks suddenly want shows that are written ahead of time and feature casts of actual actors. Although final schedules have not yet been announced, it looks as if the 2005-2006 season is going to have both a dramatic decrease in reality shows and an increase in scripted shows. The stunning success of LOST has played a major role in this sea change.

We have in recent years seen genre shows that were huge hits with critics and managed to generate a passionate cult following. Probably no show was more critically praised than BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER (with hordes of high brow critics preferring it to more respectable hit series like THE SOPRANOS), but at its peak it managed only a small audience. LOST has generated critical praise almost as strong as BUFFY, a core of fans nearly as passionate, but unlike BUFFY managed absolutely stunning ratings. It is one of the few instances in recent television history where what is arguably the best show on TV also managed among the strongest ratings. In fact, LOST would be considered a cult show based on the number of websites that it has inspired and the passion of the fans, except that the ratings instead make it a mainstream hit.

Who would have thought that a series dealing with plane crash survivors on a most unusual island would have been this successful? Before it debuted I remember people joking that it sounded like GILLIGAN'S ISLAND without the humor. But it ended up matching or surpassing the most optimistic expecations, in quality as well as in ratings. The mention of ratings is not gratuitious. So many superb shows have been cancelled in recent years (FIREFLY, WONDERFALLS, DEAD LIKE ME, ANGEL) that there was even a "Save LOST" website started . . . before the show even debuted! Luckily, the ratings have made cancellation seem not only remote but impossible.

It is almost impossible to acknowledge everything that LOST does well in the space allotted here. Above all else, it is a superbly written show, not merely on an episode by episode basis, but in the way all of the episodes mesh with one another. The continuity is the best that I have seen in a long time. For instance, the first time we see one character in the show, she is rubbing her wrist. Later, we learn that she had been a prisoner of a U. S. Marshall and had obviously gotten rid of her handcuffs just before we first met her. Almost any detail like that will be dealt with at a later date. But the scripts are just as strong on character development, humor, excitement, and adventure. I do have a tiny bit of fear about Season Two: former BUFFY and ANGEL writer David Fury, who wrote many of the finest scripts of the year, including "Walkabout," which could very well win Fury an Emmy for best written episode of the year, has left LOST to work this summer on the new FOX series THE INSIDE, before joining 24 as a writer and executive producer.

My initial fear when the show started was that the central cast was perhaps too large, but it turned out to be unjustified, and the great ensemble cast is unquestionably one of the reasons for the show's success.. Yes, there are a lot of characters, and sometimes I wish some were more central than others, but the depth and power of developing the stories of a dozen characters ended up being both unique and exceptionally entertaining. Jack is the titular lead of the show, although show creator J. J. Abrams has confessed that their original idea was to have Jack assume leadership in the first couple of episodes, and then have him die off, forcing the lovely fugitive Kate become the leader for the castaways. But they quickly realized that Matthew Fox's Jack was too valuable a character to toss aside so cavalierly. If there is a second main character, it is Kate, who is performed by a remarkable newcomer, the excruciatingly beautiful Evangeline Lily, who despite virtually no prior experience (I did recently spot her in a very, very tiny role from the first season episode "Kinetic" on SMALLVILLE, where her only task is to kiss her supposed boyfriend). One of the most consistently fascinating characters is John Locke, played by Terry O'Quinn, a veteran television actor familiar to anyone who has seen shows like ALIAS, THE X-FILES, MILLENIUM, and THE WEST WING. Although he has always performed marvelously, LOST has made him a star. Every one of the major characters has his or her own set of fans. Naveen Andrews, for instance, a Londoner of Indian descent, has been a big hit playing Sayid, the former Iraqi soldier, as has Jorge Garcia as Hurley, the obese lottery winner who is as unlucky for others as he is lucky himself. And while Dominic Monaghan shared in the enormous success of THE LORD OF THE RINGS playing one of the Hobbits, he has achieved more individual success as Charlie, the heroin-addicted bass player for the fictional band Driveshaft (one hit wonders famed for their song "You All Everybody"). So rabid are the show's fans that there are websites dedicated to Driveshaft.

Structurally, the narrative shifts between the efforts of the survivors to adapt to and understand the island on which they are marooned and flashbacks that explain the personal history of each character. Some people object to this, wishing instead that they focused exclusively on the events on the island, but I think that this is wrong. If you focused merely on the events on the island, it would be only an adventure story, but through the flashbacks we learn so much about what makes the people tick that the series becomes as much a character study as an adventure. By the end of the season, we get to know the characters so well that we can anticipate how they are going to respond to even the smallest events. We learn very quickly that the island contains a host of mysteries, including invisible monsters whose location and function remain unknown until the end of the season (if we even understand them then), other inhabitants whose intentions seem both sinister and unknown, and a lone insane Frenchwoman named Danielle Rousseau. But there is not much more than we know about the island. Rousseau talks of the Black Rock, but it isn't what we expect when we finally see it. And then there is the metal doorway that Locke discovers in the middle of the jungle. How can it be opened and what lies behind the door? By the end of the season many of the mysteries are explained, but more are left open-ended.

LOST clearly has the potential to be one of the great series in the history of television. The producers are highly ambitious, but so far their execution has matched their aspirations. I read an interview with David Fury before the first episode aired in which he said they had a plot line that runs over several years, so their clearly is a well-conceived storyline. I have only one concern with the show, and that is the executive producer and creator J. J. Abrams. Although he has two prior hit shows, FELICITY and ALIAS, he has had some problems with taking his shows to higher levels. What made BUFFY so extraordinary was that each year they managed to do something new and amazing, even if some fans were disappointed by some directions it headed. But ALIAS has started to disappoint some fans by the fact that it hasn't progressed much beyond what it was in the first season. Instead of doing strikingly new things, Abrams just tends to recycle the same general storyline. And there has not been much of a payoff for all the focus on Ramaldi (for nonfans of ALIAS, a Renaissance genius whose artifacts provide much of the narrative force of the show). Abrams clearly is brilliant at conceiving and initiating great shows, but he has not yet demonstrated that he is a great finisher in the way that Joss Whedon has. I'm forever the optimist, and I believe that Abrams either will come to terms with this or the other creators and executive producers will help LOST get to a place that we will all find satisfying.

Regardless of the future, this nonetheless is one of the most remarkable rookie seasons any television series has ever enjoyed. I'll end with food for thought. THE X-FILES, BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER, ANGEL, and FARSCAPE, to name just a few shows, were much better in their second and third seasons than their first. What if two years from now we are able to say the same of LOST? -- Robert Moore (Chicago, IL USA)

Release Date: 09/06/2005

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The Long Weekend

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ABC News 20/20 Getting "Lost"

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