It’s not a good sign when I have to actively pull my butt off the chair and go get the DVDs to watch them. With other movies I’d just be excited, pull them off the shelf, and pop ‘em in. Why is this? Because Lost is involved. I have to get involved. I don’t always feel like getting involved. And it isn’t even with the plotline. Not as much as it is with the characters. They’re a lot more fun. Lost is kind of like crack in that I have a good time when I’m on it, but after a long time of cold turkey, I don’t particularly want to start up again.

Now that I’ve offended some people, let’s get to the storyline. Lost is a television series about a large group of people that have survived a plane crash on a seemingly deserted island. This is season 2 of that series, the next 24 episodes. Now that we know who the characters are and have a good understanding of their past lives and demons, it’s time to get things a little more ruffled.

The first season left off with Michael, his son Walt, Sawyer (*drool*), and Jin sailing away from the island on a homemade raft in the hopes of being rescued. But instead Walt was abducted and the raft was blown up, with Jin nowhere in sight and Sawyer shot. Meanwhile, on the island Jack, Kate, Locke, and Hurley have used old dynamite to blow open the door to the hatch Locke and Boone found. But what’s inside?

In the second season, a lot more things come about that will confuse you, and yet others that will answer some questions. It’s hard to give any kind of summary at all because there is just a ridiculous amount of stuff going on with nearly every episode containing something major. So instead I’ve compiled a small list of things you will want to know.

What questions will be answered in this season (among other things):
• What is inside the hatch.
• What happens to Michael, Sawyer, and Jin.
• What happened to the tail end of the plane and the people inside it.
• What Kate did to get her wanted by a U.S. Marshall.
• Whether or not Charlie will finally get over his heroine issues.
• What happened to Claire when she was abducted the first season.
• Who in this season lives, who dies, and who is a traitor.
• What happens to Walt.
• A little more information about the hatch, Dharma, and the button is revealed.
• Why the plane crashed in the first place.

What questions you will have after this season:
• What the heck was that white light?
• Who are the Others?
• What’s with the vaccine/sickness stuff?
• Are Desmond, Locke, and Mr. Eko still alive? (of course if you’ve seen any commercials for the season currently on TV, you probably already have some of those answers)
• What will happen to Kate, Jack, and Sawyer?
• Where did all that extra food come from?
• Will we ever get to know what the deal is with that black smoke stuff?
• Do we ever get to know how the hell did a huge pirate ship get in the middle of the jungle?
• Just who is watching the island?
• Will we ever know why Libby was in a mental institution considering her current state at the end of the series?

It feels like a bit of equal give and take by this season. Though we do learn more about the hatch, its purpose, and other things about the island, there is still much we don’t know and more questions that arise, leaving a feeling of, “Ok, I know that much…but still…” You get to see more character connections (6 degrees of separation taken to an extreme almost), which is cool, but starting to get a little out of control, unless there is some underlying meaning; i.e. they are all brought to the island on purpose due to their connections, etc. etc. because it is pretty weird that all these people that are connected so easily all happen to be on the same plane.

As for the characters, they are the main reason I watch the show (because it's obvious no one is going to get major answers until near the end of the show's life), but they have some attributes of their own and you may start out clapping your hands for one person and then be weirded out by that same person several episodes later. So here’s a kind of summary of what you might expect. This is all my personal opinion, so you may not feel the same way…

Characters that will annoy you:
Jack – The man started to get on my nerves in a big way. First he doesn’t want to be in charge, now he’s pretty much decided to be in charge of everything and orders people around, and can fly off the handle without thinking properly. He can get rather tyrant-ish and acts on emotion more than he should. His brain seems to malfunction all the time, because even after Sayid was right about something major, Jack keeps second guessing everything when it’s so freaking obvious you just want to smack him in the face.

Kate - She was more annoying in the first season and in the first several episodes of this season, but has since toned it down. She tries to act all tough when in fact she’s pretty darn weak and seems to be a little messed up in the head.

Ana Lucia - Again, more issues, has too much suppressed rage that she lets out at all the wrong times, and makes a lot of dumb, irrational decisions. She was cool for a little while, but then she started to bug me.

Claire - Mostly because she’s been inconsistent. “I don’t trust Charlie!” Yet she does. “Stay away from me and my baby!” And yet a few episodes later (which I think is like, maybe a week), she’s let him back into her little area and going so far as to give him a little kiss. Too much estrogen? Is that why the character doesn’t make much sense in the ways of thought processes?

Michael - You overboard, psychotic father you. I can understand the “Do everything you can to get your son back” thing but there is such a thing as too much. I lost my sympathy for him when he got all that blood on his hands.

Charlie - My beloved Charlie was one of my favorites – until he too started getting weird. He didn’t annoy me so much as bum me out. He kept lying, kept making bad decisions, and in general, just not being a likeable character, even if you are able to sympathize with him a little bit. But he redeemed himself a little near the end.

Characters that are still awesome:
Locke - Let’s face it, Locke is a cool guy. He’s not perfect, and he has his issues, but at least he knows how to keep them in check 99% of the time (unlike some other people) and stays level-headed in just about any situation, which only helps to emphasize Jack’s occasional wild idiocy. Locke is definitely one of my favorites.

Sawyer - Aside from the fact that I’d like to carry Josh Holloway off to a deserted island of my own, the character of Sawyer is great mostly because he’s been the most consistent. Sure, he’s got his issues too, and though he may not have made his peace with all of them, he’s still Sawyer, the con man, with more catchphrases than junk Mary Poppins has in her bag. You can always count on Sawyer for a good time.

Jin - He went from annoyingly proud Korean guy (you’re on a deserted island – you don’t have room to be proud anymore dude), to more relaxed, friendly guy. Now he’s a part of the group and a lot cooler.

Sayid - I’m cool with Sayid and I support basically all his decisions because he’s been wrong very few times. Knowing more of his past now, I am more accepting of his character and he can do whatever he likes to a captive Other…(shut up Jack, you idiot).

Hurley & Libby - Just two enjoyable characters that are helpful as much as they are bright and chipper.

Shot in Hawaii, it is great that all this jungle is real instead of computer generated or on a set. Seeing a faraway shot gives you an idea of how big this island is supposed to be, so it’s more understandable that the characters don’t go romping about very far very often. The inside of the hatch is a big set, but it’s a really good one, so kudos on that. The attention to detail is quite impressive, and do you want to know a secret? This is actually info from the seventh disc; the beeping sound for when the 4 minute timer starts to count down is the beep a grocery scanner makes. Beep. Beep. Cool idea.

The computer graphics that do show up are about as good as you’re going to get with television, and that’s only when they do pop up, so it’s really no big deal. Not like the boar in the first season, which I might add, were nonexistent in this season. Makes me wonder where they went. And as usual, the music is as freaky this season as it was last season. I kept watching these at night, and after my second 4-episode marathon, I decided I wasn’t going to do it anymore. It was creeping me out too much. Yeah. Just the music.

This lovely package comes with 7 discs total. 6 of these contain the 24 episodes, so 4 per disc. The final disc has all the extras, from bloopers (which were pretty good – Charlie and Sayid making out anyone? Sawyer confessing his love to Jack? People forgetting their lines? It’s especially weird seeing someone like Locke not know what he’s supposed to say next, haha) to information about the hatch. There’s a little hidden bit about Dharma cookies and how they’re made, but you have to find the right, secret spot to click on the main menu. I had no idea, but I knew there was supposed to be something else the way the disc began and was described by that guy doing the Dharma station orientations, so I made a point to look. I think I’m weird like that…

Anyway, as usual I’m not all goo-goo about Lost and it takes a lot of effort on my part to actually sit down and watch the series. I see the ads on TV and find myself even less inclined to continue because I know it’s just going to get weirder and make even less sense. We get the idea that it’s some big scientific thingy going on, but there’s still plenty of strangeness going on to make you wonder what the underlying catch is. I only recommend this to people seriously interested in starting and continuing the series. Unless you plan on being a die hard fan, it’s not really worth your time, as interesting as it is. I’m not going to go out and buy the 3rd series, but if my sister were to (and she very well might), and I ever end up in possession of it, then yeah, I might as well. Besides, it would be another chance to see Sawyer in action, and who wouldn’t want to see that? Whoo hoo!

NT

Lost - The Complete First Season

Recommended:
No

Viewing Format: DVD
Video Occasion: Better than Watching TV