Lost Without Lost

When I started watching Lost a few months ago I really had no idea what I was about to watch. I thought it was about survivors of a plane wreck trying to get rescued from the island they crashed on. It didn't take long to realize that the show was a bit more complicated than I originally thought. Last week I watched the final episode and by the time the series wrapped up in season six almost all of the questions (finally!!) had been answered. I was going to do an episode-by-episode summary of the show but thought that would take too much time and plus I've been watching this show like 5 years after it first debuted so I thought I was a little behind the ball to do that. Then I was going to do a summary of each season but honestly summing up an entire season is pretty darn difficult too. So much happens with each episode and more questions are asked than ever answered that I thought it would be too hard to sum up each season. I've already done one post on the TV series but thought since I enjoyed the show so much it was worth it to do a second post. Plus I know so much more now than I did when I wrote the first post. Don't worry if the rest of this post doesn't make any sense. If you haven't seen the show it is pretty confusing. Truthfully, things are pretty confusing even if you've seen the show.

Spoiler alert - Below this point major plot events are discussed so read at your own risk.

When the survivors of Oceanic flight 815 landed on the island it was quickly apparent that this was no ordinary island. It was a tropical island yet there were polar bears roaming. And the smoke monster (a pillar of black smoke that lurked in the jungle and sometimes attacked people) made its presence felt in the very first episode. As the people set up camp and worked on getting rescued they eventually ran into another group of people on the island that they called "the others." The others are descendants from the Dharma initiative, a research project from the 1970s designed to study unique electromagnetic properties found at various points on the island. The others took orders from the ageless protector of the island named Jakob and their job was to protect the island. As the crash survivors were trying to protect themselves from the others, they found a secret Dharma hatch which housed a computer where a button had to be pressed every 108 minutes in order to protect the world. As the survivors are arguing if all of this is real, they capture Benjamin Linus, the mortal leader of the others. The others and the survivors clash numerous times, mostly because the others are kidnapping the survivors in order to do experiments on them, mostly fertility experiments as pregnant women have not been able to survive to term on the island. Linus has an intense passion to protect the island, however it quickly becomes apparent that the two groups of people will have to work together in order to survive and protect the island.

The story comes down to the classic good versus evil. Jakob and his brother, the man in black, have two different philosophies regarding the island. Jakob wants to remain on the island in order to protect it. The island serves as the gateway that keeps good and evil in the world balanced and prevents evil from dominating. The man in black desperately wants to leave the island and his departure would allow evil to dominate in the world. The man in black cannot simply just leave the island, however. Specific circumstances must be in place in order for him to leave.

As the survivors and the others are clashing, the man in black is gaining power and momentum in order to kill Jakob and leave the island. Using old Dharma equipment the survivors are able to get a hold of a rescue boat in order to leave the island. However, the boat that arrives is not there to rescue them but instead deliver an army to kill Ben Linus. This is famously revealed when Charlie writes on his hand "Not Penny's Boat." With all of this going on the others and survivors are forced to join forces and Ben does the only thing he can to protect the island and himself - turn the underground wheel which releases enormous amounts of electromagnetic energy, sending the island traveling through time and changing locations as the electromagnetism alters the space-time continuum.



At this point the plot splits into multiple story lines as different characters are followed at different points in their lives. It becomes ultra-confusing but suffice it to say that through a series of back-stories it is revealed that it was not coincidence that the survivors happened to be on the exact plane that crashed. They were placed there by Jakob as he was looking for a replacement to protect the island. The survivors make it back to the island where they defeat the man in black and protect the island. The last episode shows them all gathered in a church where they walk into a bright light, presumably into heaven.

I understand that if you've never seen the show the above summary doesn't make any sense at all. I don't watch much drama on TV but this show is easily the most complex show I've ever seen. The fact that they can have major plot events happen in the very first episode that aren't explained until one of the final episodes of the series is amazing. The way the show asks so many questions and how it reveals the answers slowly over time keeps you coming back for more. I had no idea what I was getting into when I started watching the show but what I got was one of the most intriguing and well written shows I've ever seen. Now that I am finished with the series I am going to miss watching the show, miss the mystery of not knowing what is going on. The real purpose behind this post is that I am not ready to move on with my evening life. I want more Lost. It is an amazing show, and as long as you can handle the science fiction of smoke monsters and time travel, I would recommend it to anyone interested in watching a great TV drama.

Below is an in-depth video summary:




Below is a less in-depth summary:




Below is a collection of Sawyer saying "son of a bitch." It is a bit of a joke among Lost fans because he says it so much.



Below is Juliet, played by Elizabeth Mitchell. Juliet is the reproductive endocrinologist who starts out helping Ben research the fertility issues on the island. She dislikes Ben because he keeps her on the island much longer than he originally promised and she ends up switching from the others to the survivors.