LOST!

Sawyer, first addressing someone by the nickname he gave them (for Hurley: "Staypuff", "Barbar", and "Deepdish") cracks some sarcastic comment.  Sayid gives a militantly-efficient-yet-no-less-dramatic analysis.  Charlie looks confused and asks the cliffhanger question.  Then... Boom! "LOST" appears.

So if the last post was about a show that I love to hate, this weeks is about a show that I just plain love.  I am an unabashed, unashamed, and unfailing Lost fan-atic.  For my birthday my wife blessed me with the first three seasons on DVD.  Watching Jack's eye open and him run through the jungle to get to the dramatic scene of the Oceanic plane crash started the tingly feeling of familiarity.  Hearing the monster in the jungle rampage through the trees as all look on in that essential-to-every-episode Lost look of fear/confusion started my legs jumping for excitement.  And when John sits on the beach as the rain starts pouring and holds his arms out to welcome the water I felt like I had just been invited to a party with all of my best friends after years of absence.

So here are, in no specific order, some of the top reasons why Lost is SOO good.

1. Almost every episode, except a few during seasons 4 and 5, contains in the final minutes the last plot twist you would ever expect--"He's alive?!" "He's dead?" "What does that mean?!" after which you scream during the "Boom - Lost" and lay back on the couch during the credits overcome with mystery and drama and anxiousness for the next episode.
2. Every character is sufficiently deep to contain both light and dark, good and bad.  There is no superhero nor supervillian.  All characters play both sides at one time or another throughout the six seasons.
3. Watching the beginning of the seasons has reminded me how much the characters evolve/devolve throughout the series.  In fact, it's the characters, their growth/falls/loves/deaths that make Lost the wonder it is.
4. The music--oh, the music.  From the creepy growing-whine music that accompanies the opening twisting "Lost" title to the orchestral march music that goes with whatever new adventure "the A-team" is undertaking through the jungle.
5. Flash-backs, flass-forwards, flash-sideways, flash-whichways...you never know what direction you're going until the end of the season.
6. Although previously mentioned, Sawyer's nicknames.  Here's some more: himself="Ghost of Christmas Future", Ben="The artist formerly known as Henry Gale", Charlie="Three men and a baby", Hurley="Three men and a baby" with Charlie and baby Aaron--"I counted Hurley twice".
7. Even though I'm well aware of all of the naysayers, I liked the finale.  A) It take courage in today's world to place religion so overtly at the center of a television show, especially one so popular.  B) I'm okay with the fact that not all mysteries were solved and all questions answered, I mean hey, it's Lost.  C) It made me cry.

So there you go.  Get Lost.