Lost

June 27, 2004

When I first heard about Lost, I was both intrigued and confused. Any JJ Abrams (Alias, Felicity) is welcome by me but the idea of a show about 48 crash survivors stranded on a tropical island seemed … dumb. After watching the pilot though, it’s pretty clear that Abrams is not dumb, and is many degrees smarter than I am.

The show is still about the crash survivors, but the first episode is focused on a manageable cast of ten, and their introductions are handled deftly. You get to know a little about each one but not enough to feel like you’ve nailed them down to any sort of stereotype, and Abrams gets in enough little swerves to keep everyone dancing a bit. There’s even a Korean couple that speaks no English whatsoever. The big mystery character’s actually the island itself, carrying deeper secrets than any of the survivors.

It’s kind of hard to talk about without really spoiling it, but the show’s a lot more Land of the Lost than Gilligan’s Island, and will probably be the most interesting action hour of the new fall season.

Posted in Idiot Box