Lost - did it measure against the hype?

Dewey

Minimalistic
This thread is for anyone, but I'm particularly interested in those in UK. If you saw Lost on Wednesday night - I'm interested to know what you thought about it. After all the hype, was it as you had expected?

Of course, if you are American, and saw the whole series; without giving away the plot, was it as good as you thought it would be?
 

Dewey

Minimalistic
Lost

Lost is the new TV series to come to our screens after a long time of waiting and anticipation. The critics have been raving about it, and it has been near impossible to leave home without being exposed to some sort of advertising for the series; but Lost was eventually broadcast to the UK audience on Wednesday night earning this week’s highest TV ratings heading well into the millions. Throughout this debate, we will determine if this really was “must see” television and whether or not it can satisfy the hype throughout the following weeks.

The “Lost” project is an ambitious one. The two hour pilot episode had a production budget of $12 million, which is high for a TV series. With a plot based around survivors of a plane crash being stranded on a desert island, the concept is not completely new. The idea has been used in various forms of popular culture; the most recent being the movie Castaway starring Tom Hanks. Although some same principles apply, there are two distinct differences between Lost and Castaway in that the movie featured a sole-survivor totally isolated. This new TV series features a group of 48 survivors with a shared experience in that they are all in the same situation. As the passengers are from a diverse range of backgrounds and personalities, only time will determine whether sharing the island with one another will become a help or a hindrance.

Also, the movie provided us with a sense of closure within a two hour duration. Lost will be shown over a period of weeks. There are more than 20 episodes still to come. It will come as no surprise that by the time we finally get closure on this, it will almost be Christmas. Whether or not the entire original audience will still be watching the show by them is another matter.

To keep this going for many weeks, the “Lost” production team are using a technique of only releasing small amounts of key information in each episode in order to keep an heir of suspense. Details such as where the plane was travelling to and from and the reason it crashed has not yet been established. All we know is that they have crashed on a small island somewhere near Fiji. But more importantly, we don’t understand the mystery of why there is a polar bear on a tropical island. Very bizarre; this will be revealed, I’m sure. But we will have to wait. These are just a few of the unanswered questions we all have that will maintain our interest for future episodes.

As for first impressions, there is a lot happening in the early scenes to keep our eyes entertained. We can easily draw a contrast between the initial shot of the idyllic surroundings of the island to which we would all love to vacation and the gentle waves crashing against the shoreline. It’s a scene of bliss. That is until the camera pans slightly to the left and we witness a scene of horror and mayhem of the part wreckage of the aircraft still in flames, where passengers are still escaping. In true Hollywood style, we are treated to visual delights such as burning fuel and a man getting sucked into the engine. Both of which leading to huge explosion sequences.

The actual crash scene is played in a series of flashbacks that frequent the episodes. Each one focussing its attention to what one of the survivors was doing the moments before impact. No doubt we will probably see the plane crash from 48 human perspectives.

All of the crash survivors play their own role in responding to the crisis. The central character (at least in the first episode) is a doctor named Jack Shephard (Matthew Fox); who is more than pivotal in the survival of others during the early scenes. Without him, most of the 48 survivors would be dead. Again, with Hollywood clichés, there is a constant need for aa hero figure. Dr Jack also has a miniature bottle of vodka in his jacket pocket that the stewardess gave him shortly before the crash occurred. According to an ABC press release, this vodka will prove vital in a later episode where he has to carry out an operation on another passenger.

Thrown into this mix of drama are a range of characters including a middle-eastern man whom is first accused of having something to do with the crash, a heroin-sniffing musician, a heavily pregnant woman and a convicted criminal. The interaction between each will provide gripping scenarios.

Not all survivors are proactive in seeking survival. Amongst them is a bratty blonde haired girl named Shannon Rutherford, played by Maggie Grace that is taking her time on the island as a vacation. She is sunbathing, giving herself pedicures and even got on her bathing costume from her luggage – convinced that they are not stranded and that help will soon arrive. Only when time passes will she face reality with a hard thrust. It seems the burning wreckage and the stench of rotting corpses is not doing it at present.

One problem with the cast of Lost is that they are too good looking. Out of the 48 survivors, only one is ugly. The rest are hunky men and young, beautiful, stunning goddesses. I almost wish I had taken this flight myself. Beauty is seemingly a top priority for huge TV shows like Lost, they want to appeal to a wide range of audiences, and I predict they will do this by throwing in some sex scenes in later episodes. Trust me, it is only a matter of time before we see stunning Shannon take her top off.

What I have a real problem with is that the cast still look ‘cat-walk’ worthy despite supposedly being stranded on the island for two days and being exposed to numerous elements such as explosions, heavy rain and no real way of getting washed. I for one would sure like to know how they do it!

Another negative element to Lost is that none of the characters bothers to turn on a cell phone at any point of the first episode. In reality, one would assume that after escaping the burning plane, and establish that they are safe, switching on a phone and attempting to make a call would be a top priority. But saying that, if this had been done, they would no longer be “lost”, and thus the entire premise for the series would not happen.

More Follows.....
 

Ryebeach

Moderator
Ah, another of my favorite series. I won't say too much as I don't want to give anything away. In general though, last summer when I was reading all about the new shows debuting that fall, I stumbled upon the brief snippet about LOST in TV Guide. It was slightly intruiging as it came from the creator of Alias and the premise sounded good but I thought to myself how on earth are they going to sustain this show for more than the pilot. 40 plus characters???? Stranded on an island??? Images of Giligan's Island were shooting through my head!! :eek: :D I had my doubts so I crossed it off my must see list. Then the night it premiered last September, I was switching throught the channels and landed upon the pilot. I was totally blown away with the scenes, the characters and the scale of the project which is something I'd never seen before on TV. It was huge and I couldn't take my eyes off it. I was hooked from there on out and the show never let me down once during the 25 episodes in season 1. :cool:
 

Wemboy

New member
Well i watched the first episode and tried to watch the second, but i had to turn off at the point at which some women said, "that's not a normal bear, that's...a polar bear!" What an absolute pile of excrement (words to that effect anyway), i thought.:) But then again, i might have to give the show another chance, because i think perhaps i'm viewing the show in too superficial a way, and that if i give it my full attention maybe it will yield some greater depth. I hope so, because after episode three, if i still don't "get it" then i'm switching off and never watching again, 25 episodes is a big commitment after all!

This has nothing to do with audience figures, the old 20million viewers can't be wrong type of thing; because that many people frequently act in completely stupid and inexplicable ways. I just honestly think i must be missing something, so i'm going to give the show one more chance.

@Dewey: I think that thing about the cast being all supermodels is actually something to do with the mystery, can't say for sure but i'm almost certain it was mentioned in an article i half-read about the show. This is why i think that some of what seems on the face of it to be completely absurd about the show will actually turn out to be incorporated into the plot.
 

Ryebeach

Moderator
Wemboy said:
Well i watched the first episode and tried to watch the second, but i had to turn off at the point at which some women said, "that's not a normal bear, that's...a polar bear!"
I know what you mean. With LOST season 1, I did have to suspend belief on occasion to fully enjoy the show. Once I did that though, I ended up enjoying it even more. :)
 

arach

New member
I saw some episodes, but lost interest in it. Still, I would want to know what that beast was that killed everyone and stuff.. but anyway, I had better things to do than watch that show. Like... stuff.... whatever. Somehow I got bored by it. Too many clichés. Too unnatural. One Superman guy, a really hot chick which turns out to be a really hot chick that fled from prison, two chinese people, a black guy, etc etc... you know what I mean? That's just boooooorihiing. :rolleyes:
 

Dewey

Minimalistic
To relate “Lost” to the school of psychology, the portrayal of the characters and thair experiences can be used to back Maslow’s “Hierarchy of Needs” theory.

In short, Abraham Maslow (1908 – 1970) devised a system to determine our priority of human needs. These range in complexity starting from the basic needs of physiological (survival) needs to social needs to self actualisation at the top of his pyramid. In accordance to the theory, we are all seeking ways to make the transition to the next level in an upwards direction. In order to do this, we must first fully satisfy the current level beforehand. We are all diverse, in that we are at different levels, and very few people in this world will ever reach that top level of self actualisation.

Maslow also co-ordinated theoretical studies in order to determine that our needs vary in accordance with cultural factors, human evolution and geography to name just three.

If we were to ever find ourselves in a plane crash situation, like those in “Lost”, regardless of which level of Maslow’s hierarchy we were at beforehand, we would all plummet to the base level. The TV show captures this element with effectiveness in the behaviour of the surviving business-class passengers. Their reluctance to make the adjustment from gratifying their ego with the drinking of champagne and sitting in comfortable seats whilst in flight to the sudden striving to survive. Their priorities are now to find food and shelter – general survival. The fact that trey have been plunged into this situation in a relatively short period of time, is how the discourse conflicts can occur. Whether they were travelling in coach or first class – all survivors are in the same situation. Diversity only occurs as we move back up the higher levels of Maslow’s hierarchy.

Cultural studies has generally been about seeking theory to back up how humans are different in terms of many factors including creed, colour, religion, education, class and status. “Lost” helps establish how in a crisis such as a plane crash situation, we can all become the same.


D N
 

Emrysgirl

New member
I haven't seen the show, so can't really say much about that.

But, in more general situations, would everyone really be the same or would the heirarchy just shift? I think instead of classifying themselves by wealth or success, they'd start classifying themselves by strength or by (God, I hate this term) leadership skills. It's not that there wouldn't be standards, it's just that the standards would change.

And, what's DN?
 

Wemboy

New member
Ryebeach said:
I know what you mean. With LOST season 1, I did have to suspend belief on occasion to fully enjoy the show. Once I did that though, I ended up enjoying it even more. :)
Well i watched episodes one and two again and I think i'm as good as hooked! I still find it hard to suspend disbelief on some occasions but now that i've been able to concentrate and try to pick up some little details within the episodes it's far more watchable.

@Dewey: interesting piece of analysis, personally i've enjoyed watching the cultural attitudes of the various characters change. For instance, the different attitudes that they have shown to Saiid, the former Iraqi soldier. The fat guy (sorry i don't know his name and that's the easiest way to differentiate him from the rest of the cast), would probably have had an image of Saddam's troops as somehow evil, but given the chance to relate to him on a human level, on to one, he is forced to reassess. On the other hand, there is another character who automatically assumes that Saiid's middle eastern appearance could make him responsible for the crash; maybe his prejudices will also alter.

To link it back to your analysis, they must realise that they are all at the base level, and that their many differences cease to have such an impact. To survive the characters must resign their status aspirations and pull together. Yet already people seem to resent the doctor's adoption of a leadership role.
 
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