LOST Time

So, I've spent the last week and a half mainlining season 6 of Lost with my family. It was one of the most interesting narrative experiences I have had in a long time. (Or at least since I read The Lord of the Rings back in spring/summer.) However, I must warn you that if you have not watched the show prior to this, you should probably stop reading this post and go read Bull Spec instead, since they're publishing a poem of mine some time at the beginning of next year. (Oh yes. Yes yes yes.)

Anyway, I loved the use of parallel timelines/storylines in their "flash-sideways"s. That was beautifully handled, and a fascinating way to flesh out the characters in ways that are usually reserved for fanon. I loved that the writers were able to find a way to do that for their own show -- and not only to do that, but to make it make sense within the context of the plot. It wasn't just random crap to allow the writers to have a good time (well, okay, most of the show seems to have been that, but in a good way).

And the plot itself I found highly rewarding. Although I had difficulty following it, and it would have taken me a lot longer to figure it out had my little sister not been hanging around to follow it for me, I loved the way they drew it all to a close in a way that had the finality required to end an epic (and it is an epic), but still maintained the open-endedness that has characterized the show. I thought it was awesome, basically.

I didn't just slip in the word "epic" there for kicks. I would honestly consider Lost, in its totality (much of which is distinctly cheesy -- like, rocquefort-level cheesy) to be an incredible epic, easily comparable to The Lord of the Rings. I felt that the way it explored, discarded, inverted, celebrated and, finally, added to, philosophical debate was truly valuable, in terms of modern cultural development. I thought its treatment of very religious subject matter, as well as the idea of what is and is not sacrosanct (I'm thinking in particular of the two-hour finale) was intelligent and stimulating. The audacity of the show's use of blatantly religious symbolism was, frankly, genius:  By specifically referencing religious symbols (such as Charlie's dream of Claire as the Virgin in the first season, I think, as well as the use of the Catholic cathedral as both the headquarters of secret operations by the Dharma initiative), the show's writers deliberately caused viewers to not view the show as being as explicitly religious as it ended up being. (Frankly, if C.S. Lewis had done that as well as it was done on Lost, The Chronicles of Narnia would have brought a lot more children to religion.)

In fine:  Awesome.