Really Lost

Last year, we got the first season of Lost on DVD and were instantly hooked. These guys sure know how to hold an audience. But for me the hold is weakening as we begin watching the second seson, as it becomes increasingly clear that all these people escaped from a Sidney psyche ward.

Flight 815 was a ship of fools.

If you were wrecked on a desert island with a bunch of strangers, what would be the first thing you would do? Normal people would TALK to each other, find out each others' pasts and skills, the way you do on a trans-Continental flight that DOESN'T crash. Strangers on planes get more intimate in 10 hours than some friends do over a lifetime. You'd give an effort at working together. That might break down, and it would definitely have its ups and downs, but you'd give it an effort. "All for one, one for all" and "we're all in this together." That's the spirit.

But no, everybody keeps all secrets to himself, frequently withholding crucial information until it's too late. And they all go off in separate directions and resent anyone who tries to take responsibility for organizing and leading them. Is that how you would act? Of course not, because you're not crazy.

What would you do if you thought your son was being held captive in a dangerous jungle? Why, you'd tear off into the jungle by yourself, shouting for him at the top of your lungs. And what would your friends do? They wouldn't sit down for a few seconds and organize a systematic search. Not at all. They'd tear off after you, shouting your name.

And what about the romantic matchups. Kate with Sawyer? C'mon - he's dirty, rude, a whiner, almost totally useless to everybody else, not the kind of guy who's going to hang around long-term. Granted, he is funny if you like cruel gallows humor. And maybe Kate just likes the bad boys. Which only proves she's nuts.

And Sayid with Shannon? Sayid is a great character - shrewd, rational, calm, courageous, skilled, a fighter when he needs to be, exotically Middle Eastern, the kind of guy you'd want with you on a desert island full of high-tech equipment that needs to be kept in good repair; plus, he's got the best hair on the show. So what's he doing falling in love with the most annoyingly spoiled little rich girl on TV? She complains all the time that people thinks she's useless. There's a reason people think that, and we all know what it is.

After the first few episodes of season two, it appears that Mr Eko is a pastor of some sort. That's good news. Maybe he can give these people courtship advice and the long-term counseling they all need. It looks as if they are going to have plenty of time to work through their neuroses.

posted by Peter J. Leithart on Thursday, September 21, 2006 at 06:11 AM

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