TV Roundup Endgame: Part Drei
Lost: I think it is fair to say that the second season has not been as well received as the first. I have discussed possible reasons for this on a couple of occasions, but now that the season has come to a close I feel the central problem is akin to what Mark mentioned earlier - a problem of continuity.
Or perhaps I should say, of consequence.
The second season succumbed to a narrative inertia centered around the new hatch status quo. Events occurred in isolated sequence. Actions lacked repercussion.
I was quite excited by "The Long Con." Sawyer was once again intimidating and his bid to be 'the new sherfiff in town' seemed like it would shakeup the beach community from its tranquil complacence. Yet an episode later, Hugo was helping ole James Ford hunt amphibians in the jungle. Or what of Sun being kidnapped and knocked unconscious? Or her pregnancy for that matter? I had forgotten she was expecting because it wasn't referenced until the finale -- eight episodes later (a third of the season).
Mark attributes his mythic amnesia to extra-textural affairs, but I blame it on the writers failing to sign-post or reestablish former action and current consequence (which leads me to believe there was a communication breakdown this season between the plotters and scripters).
While Lost may not have mastered the season finale, I feel the episode was rather successful in-and-of-itself for its reintegration of former plot threads - particularly with Locke finally expressing remorse for his role in Boone's death. [And that four-toed statue, while gratuitous, was pretty cool!]
I do, however, miss the sense of menace the series once had. The threat of infectional insurrection that Rousseau had prophesied. The nebulous monster which once stalked the island. The paranoia of othered infiltration.
And I worry that Lindelof's involvement with Abrams's reboot of the Star Trek franchise may divide his attention. [I have never seen Alias, but the risk of listlessness seems to loom large over any extended Abrams project.]
Like Six Feet Under, Lost may degenerate into a flawed series that coasts on the laurels of its principal season. I just hope Lindelof and Abrams can construct a pyre worthy of the characters they created.
Or perhaps I should say, of consequence.
The second season succumbed to a narrative inertia centered around the new hatch status quo. Events occurred in isolated sequence. Actions lacked repercussion.
I was quite excited by "The Long Con." Sawyer was once again intimidating and his bid to be 'the new sherfiff in town' seemed like it would shakeup the beach community from its tranquil complacence. Yet an episode later, Hugo was helping ole James Ford hunt amphibians in the jungle. Or what of Sun being kidnapped and knocked unconscious? Or her pregnancy for that matter? I had forgotten she was expecting because it wasn't referenced until the finale -- eight episodes later (a third of the season).
Mark attributes his mythic amnesia to extra-textural affairs, but I blame it on the writers failing to sign-post or reestablish former action and current consequence (which leads me to believe there was a communication breakdown this season between the plotters and scripters).
While Lost may not have mastered the season finale, I feel the episode was rather successful in-and-of-itself for its reintegration of former plot threads - particularly with Locke finally expressing remorse for his role in Boone's death. [And that four-toed statue, while gratuitous, was pretty cool!]
I do, however, miss the sense of menace the series once had. The threat of infectional insurrection that Rousseau had prophesied. The nebulous monster which once stalked the island. The paranoia of othered infiltration.
And I worry that Lindelof's involvement with Abrams's reboot of the Star Trek franchise may divide his attention. [I have never seen Alias, but the risk of listlessness seems to loom large over any extended Abrams project.]
Like Six Feet Under, Lost may degenerate into a flawed series that coasts on the laurels of its principal season. I just hope Lindelof and Abrams can construct a pyre worthy of the characters they created.
posted by d l wright at 6/08/2006 09:18:00 PM
1 Comments:
I've thought about it and I have this to say:
I disagree with your interpolation about what it means... Lost has already had a better second season than did Six Feet Under. (And that is with the more rigorous demands of Network versus Pay Cable television.)
I just think they need fewer hiatuses ... hiati (?)... and fewer characters.
Of course, I've also completely forgotten what happened in the season finale as this point.
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