Since last May, fans of ABC's serial drama "Lost" have been waiting anxiously for the arrival of its sixth and final season. After Season Five's dramatic "fade to white" ending, viewers were left without any knowledge of what happened to the characters they loved, having to wait out the time between the two seasons in doubt.
The Season Five finale presented a multitude of new questions, something that followers of the show have come to expect. When they detonated the H−bomb in 1977, did the Losties really prevent the crash of Oceanic Flight 815 in the first place? On the opposite side, could it be possible that they simply just blew a bomb up in their faces?
Last Tuesday, the answers to these questions exploded onto TV screens around the globe with the premiere of the final season of "Lost."
Cryptically entitled "LA X" (note the space!), this season's premiere pulled out all the stops. It was a thoroughly entertaining two hours of television, filled with the innovative sci−fi elements and character drama that characterize the show. Also known as a show that poses more questions than it answers, "Lost" continues to offer up more new and confusing concepts for fans to grapple with.
Opening in the time after the detonation of the bomb, this season of "Lost" presents the concept of dual realities. The creators of "Lost" are offering up two different timelines: one in which detonating the bomb worked, and one in which it did not. This new storytelling device, which co−creator Damon Lindelof has humorously dubbed the "flash−sideways," allows the show to explore the potential outcome of Flight 815 landing at Los Angeles International Airport, while simultaneously allowing fans to see previously established story arcs run their course.
One perk of this dual reality is the reemergence of characters who have died over the course of the show's tenure. Boone (Ian Somerhalder) and Charlie (Dominic Monaghan) are just two of the characters who reemerge on the reset Oceanic Flight 815. Another character who returned for the premiere was the long absent Claire (Emilie de Ravin), who also appeared in the crash−less parallel reality.
For Season Six, the main source of conflict on the show is moving far beyond squabbles between the different factions on the island. Jacob, the mystical leader of the Others, has been murdered. His rival, the mysterious Man in Black, who has now taken the form of dead character John Locke, is asserting his newfound power. One of the big revelations in the premiere was that this enemy of Jacob is in fact the strange Smoke Monster viewers have been wondering about since episode one.
If there's one criticism to be made about "Lost," it is that the show's writers occasionally lack creativity in dialogue. Entering Season Six, scenes that include reused lines like, "We need to talk to you alone," tend to ring stale after five years. On the whole, however, the innovative nature of the show's content and the excellent performances delivered by the cast generally compensate for these recycled lines.
Given the extremely plot−based, serial nature of this show, new viewers would be foolish to enter the show in Season Six. The wealth of detail presented in "Lost" requires a long−term commitment to the program. Diehard viewers will attest that the ride is definitely worth taking, as long as one starts from the beginning by watching Season One.
Emotionally riveting, action−packed and mysterious as always, "Lost" Season Six looks to be filled with a few new questions and a whole lot of answers. The final season won't draw many new viewers, but this is of minimal importance to the producers of the show. At this point, "Lost" is looking to please its committed international fan base. Judging by last Tuesday's premiere, it seems as if the final season of "Lost" will do just that.
