A "Lost" refresher, for those who'd given up on it

The question I get asked more than any other about "Lost" these days is not whether I have seen the two new episodes from this season that ABC put online for critics last month. (I have, plus one more.) Nor am I asked for spoilers, or teasers or thumbnail reviews.

The question I get asked isn't even really a question. It goes something like this: I was really hooked on "Lost" for the first couple of seasons there, but after awhile I just lost interest.

And then they look at me.

Well, what can I say? They have a point. More than any other show currently airing on TV, "Lost" has arguably been punished more harshly for the sin of disappointing its fan base (though "Heroes" is giving it a run for its money this season).

I am here to say, however, that now is the time to rekindle the love. When "Lost" returns tonight with a thoroughly entertaining two-hour barnburner, you will want to be there.

"Lost" lost its way when the producers decided -- or discovered -- that the show was going to be about story. Let's be clear: Storytelling has always set "Lost" apart. In 2004, not long after its debut, I noted that "the show constantly tantalizes viewers, revealing detail after detail about its characters and the weird time warp they seem to have landed in."

AUDIO: Talking "Lost" on WBAL Radio in Baltimore this morning with Shari Elliker

Along the way, though, the storytellers fell in love with their storytelling. By the show's third season, episodes had turned into a game of hide-and-seek with the viewers. ABC didn't help things by trying to stretch new episodes of "Lost" over the entire 39-week season.

Ratings plunged. The producers apologized. They even set an end date for the series: "Lost" would reveal and resolve all its mysteries in 2010.

That simple act of chutzpah combined with rare Hollywood candor -- we're canceling ourselves so ABC doesn't have to -- turned a page for the show. Suddenly, it started to seem like the old "Lost" again. Last season's delicious finale, in which an SS Minnow-sized remnant of castaways were finally rescued, only to suffer something far worse than survivors' guilt, played to critical raves.

But even as "Lost" returns with its best preseason buzz in years and a sensible, "24'-like schedule -- it will air an entire season without repeats between now and May -- winning back the viewer who hasn't tuned in for a couple of years remains a challenge. Some returnees, I expect, will wonder what kind of hornet's nest they've stepped into, at least for a few minutes. The writers, God bless 'em, have made every effort to boil down two years of plot gimmicks and cliffhangers to a bare minimum of exposition, which is doled out in spoonfuls over the first two hours.

Soon, however, even estranged fans will recognize that the focus of "Lost" is back where it belongs: on the characters, specifically the original stars of the show.

There is Sun (Yunjin Kim), back in the power-suit world and still capable -- perhaps more so, since the death of her husband Jin -- of steely resolve belied by her overall vulnerability.

There is Kate (Evangeline Lilly), still running from trouble, only this time with Aaron, Claire's little boy, in tow.

There is John Locke (Terry O'Quinn), who was last seen lying in a coffin. I'm not spoiling anything telling you that he plays a major role in these two episodes, since those are flashbacks and I still have no idea how, or if, he becomes undead. (Truly, though, the man is the You-Killed-Kenny of "Lost.")

There is Hugo (Jorge Garcia), who in the season finale was sprung from a mental institution by Sayid (Naveen Andrews). Plowing into a burger and fries at a drive-thru, he tells his trigger-happy companion, "You know, if you ate more comfort food, maybe you wouldn't go around shooting people."

There is Ben (Michael Emerson), the one truly memorable addition to this show's cast, the unblinking, inscrutable, unsavory leader of the Others, the shadow community that shared the tropical purgatory with the survivors of Oceanic 815. (Years from now, I hope the creators of "Lost" come clean with their audience and admit that if they had a do-over, they would never have burdened their show with this second raft of characters.)

And, of course, there is Jack (Matthew Fox). Everything still does revolve around Jack, and he remains the series' most trustworthy figure -- indeed, in his long-standing skepticism toward the insane goings-on around him, he has served as sort of an advocate for the viewer, who often felt the same way.

Most epics that have ever been told, from Homer on, have been about people trying to get home. It is often unrecognizable once they get there, but home it is all the same. "Battlestar Galactica," which began airing its final 10 episodes last week, delivered the travel-weary crew members back to Earth, only to find that Earth is uninhabitable.

"Lost" has now upped the ante by asking: where's home? Back in civilization? Or on the island? And where exactly are we on this journey, anyway? The new episodes will take time warp to new extremes, and make the fast-forwards and rewinds of season one seem like a quaint relic of the cassette era.

"Time is like a string," the ever-helpful physicist named Daniel Faraday (Jeremy Davies) explains to the ever-impatient Sawyer (Josh Holloway). "We can move forward, we can move back, but we cannot make a new string!"

Well, that certainly heaps new intrigue upon a show that had no shortage of it. But ultimately, the reason to watch "Lost" again is for the characters. They, not a room full of clever screenwriters, are doing the donkey work on the show again. It's great to have them back.

Comments

[Stephen]

I am a fan of Lost and am SO pleased that it’s back on TV in the UK this weekend!!! I have just written a blog entry on the programme and thought you might be interested…

http://thestateofthenationuk.blogspot.com/

[kp]

I am a big fan of Lost and can't wait till tonight. One of the best shows on TV.

[Tim]

Why did you post a spoiler for BSG? Thanks alot!

[A spoiler for an episode that aired seven months ago? You sound like a true fan.--AB]

[Kat]

I'm a huge fan of serialized storytelling but my interest in this show has steadily faded over the years. My main issue was all the new characters they kept throwing at us who sucked up screentime from the originals. Still, I'll probably tune in to see how it all ends.

[matt stechel]

have always loved the show, no show juggles as many balls as amazingly well.... but gotta admit that whole string of eps from season 2 that revolved around (or were connected to) Michelle Rodriguez were um less than perfect. (thank the powers that be that they remedied that right quick, no doubt that the writers' hands were forced i'm sure but the idea of having had her still trucking around the island would not have sat well with me at all, she was a horrible character. but on the other hand the fact that the same slate of episodes did give us Ben so take with one hand/give with the other....goes to show you that the show really was a work in progress...but a tremendous work in progress that have for once on a tv show actually progressed as the last 2 years have gone by!) Viva LOST!

[kmb]

can't stand to be suckered by writers who just want to keep viewers coming back, so they'll write anything to confuse us. this show has been crap from the beginning.