Review of ABCs new series, Lost

Well, I decided to start into a new TV series last night… ABCs new Jurassic/Dark Angel/Castaway series, “Lost”. I’m not a TV watcher at all really, but this one caught my interest.

I’m not sure what to make of it yet. The first episode doesn’t really give you much to go by in the way of a story or a complete understanding of the atmosphere, and this is really the whole point. You are supposed to feel what the castaways are feeling… a huge sense of what-the-heck-is-going-on-here. I have a feeling that fans of the X-Files or Dark Angel who might dismiss this one right off will kick themselves later on.

The general premise is that a bunch of people, around 48 or so, have crash landed (in what looks like a Boeing 767) on a tropical island with no immediate hope of rescue. They quickly realize that there is something HUGE and monstrous (T-Rex sized) on the island that is walking through the forests smashing down trees. The weird part (besides the possibility of a dinosaur being alive in today’s world) is that the creature makes very cool sounds that sound extremely metallic and thunderous. Almost like a giant walking robot.

So the peeps on the island have to worry about getting rescued as well as worry about not getting eaten or stepped on by Mr. Monster. Nobody gets to see the monster in the entire first episode… and I would wager that we won’t even see it next episode either.

The monster does apparently “eat” the pilot when he commits a rather typical horror-movie style blunder by sticking his head out of an open window with the monster right outside. I think that the show wants to make it seem like he was eaten, when in fact he was probably just grabbed and mauled. They are trying to make us all think “dinosaur” when I believe the monster will end up being “robot” or mechanical. At one point, one of the women castaways says that the Monster sounds “very familiar” and that she lives in Brooklyn or something. This is a clue.

Apparently, in the next episode the castaways find a gun and some handcuffs. And when they attempt to transmit on a radio, they find that someone else is sending out signals from the island.

I think what we have here is a show that can very easily jump-the-shark within a few episodes. Right now I’m completely set up to expect a truly original story from “Lost”. However, not having much faith in the originality of modern TV programming, the few obvious paths that the show will undoubtedly take will be typical… these include:

1) Secret military installation building and testing futuristic weaponry and/or super-soldiers. It’s alomst certainly going to be this option.

2) Genetic lab experiments gone wrong. Or this one.

3) Jurassic Park wanna-be… dinosaurs grown for profit.

I’m hoping that the show will NOT be one of these. If it turns out to be one of these I’ll probably stop watching rather quickly. I’m looking for an explanation that I have never thought of before… something that completely catches me unaware. An alien base or something would be pretty cool.

Things I didn’t like about the first episode:

1) Excessive camera shake. Why, why, why? I’m talking EXTREMELY EXCESSIVE (just like my use of caps). There were times when I had to look away because I couldn’t see anything anyway… the imagine was so blurry and bouncing.

2) Excessive use of typical, predictable events…

a) Guy getting sucked into plane engine (cool, but completely expected).

b) Pilot sticking head out window (completely retarded).

c) Pregnant lady as part of castaways (how many times must we go through this).

d) Stupid human behavior. They are in a huge, metallic, enclosed fuselage, but when the monster arrives they choose to dart out of this protective enclosure and run for it. They would have been MUCH safer just staying where they were.

3) Typical characters… the brat girl, the deranged evil-for-no-reason guy (like Dr. Smith from Lost in Space), the hero doctor, the love interest, the quirky English dude for comedy, the initially selfish but later on community-accepting asian couple, the gentle giant, and a large supply of “guys in red shirts” that are disposable as Monster Chow.

Things I liked:

1) The post-plane crash scene. Pretty cool for a made-for-TV effort. Nice, but unrealistic, touch with the running engine.

2) The pre-crash sequence. Contains subtle clues that the plane crash might not have been an accident. The main characters see, but quickly dismiss, a man running forward through the cabin. Then we hear an explosion. None of the castaways realize or even care at this point that the plane may have been sabotaged… but I’m sure this will surface in future episodes.

3) The Monster sounds.

4) The flailing trees.

Anyway… I’m looking forward to the next episode. But I’m still wary of the fact that this show is extremely fragile right now and will almost certainly jump the shark for me within the first episodes.

Whatever happens… just PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE don’t let it involve vampires or zombies. Damn am I sick of those!