Wasting no time at all, Lost launches its sixth and ultimate season by immediately burdening viewers with massive, mind blowing new mysteries. Thankfully, alongside new questions come answers to all-time favorites, namely who or what exactly is that impostor waltzing about the island in John Locke’s body, and what’s the deal with the ash surrounding Jacob’s cabin? Believe it or not, this information overload occurs within the first ten minutes of the LA X’s former half. Needless to say you’d better practice being utterly shocked now, lest a stray “OH!” or “WHAT?!” escape you during pertinent dialogue delivery. You don’t want to have to wait until commercials for your buddy to explain what’s going on.
Lost is kicking it old school this season, jumping between island events and what appears to be a reset of the first season’s off-island story. Was the plan to stop Oceanic 815 from crashing a success? I can’t say. Not because I can’t spell it, but because I can’t be the “Snape kills Dumbledore” guy. I will however let slip that Oceanic 815 does fly again, and some very interesting conversations take place on board. The plane’s fate is something you’ll have to tune in to unveil.
Where Lost’s sixth season differentiates itself from past deliveries is in the narrative device (and amount of smoke). The first three seasons primarily focus on developing characters through flashback storytelling. Not until the end of season three was the flashforward introduced, and that spawned an entirely new TV series. Thankfully the same didn’t hold true for season five’s time traveling plot evolution; as much as I enjoyed the chaos, I’m grateful I’ll no longer be worrying about how Hurley plans to get his “improved” Empire script to George Lucas. Precisely how is the story being told this year? Well, appearances can be deceiving, so I won’t say Lost has reverted to classic flashbacks. Executive producers Damon Lindelof and Carlton Cuse have repeatedly claimed to have ditched all forms of flashing, be it forward, backward, sideways, or in public places. Are we seeing an alternate reality? A mirror universe? The inside of the magic box? Some serious retroactive continuity? Half the fun of watching this season’s events unfold will be determining the actuality of this mysterious shift in storytelling, until the answer swiftly smacks us upside the head.
What with death being an unfortunate side effect of life, some characters inevitably won’t be tagging along for the island festivities. In fact, early on in the episode a few redshirts bite the dust hard before a recent cast addition sees his exit. Again, this is all happening near the beginning of the episode, leaving room for surprise character appearances and interactions for later on. It’s clear that the goal of LA X, Part 1 was to rocket out of season five’s stay in 1977, now tackling the fundamental dispute between the island’s nefarious force (the Man in Black) and peaceable protector (Jacob) and how Jack, Kate, Sawyer, Hurley, etc. factor into the grand scheme. So far I’d say team Darlton is succeeding.
Lost is poised to go down in history as television’s greatest science fiction drama regardless of whether it continues along the same keel presented in LA X, Part 1. The excitement of fast revelations will leave you wholly content, just long enough to enjoy sweet satisfaction before having a thousand-piece puzzle dropped onto your lap. And knowing Damon and Carlton, only the most essential pieces are missing – the edges. How long it takes for the outer structure of the show to appear is unknown to me, but loyal fans have waited this long; another 18 episodes is a walk in the jungle. Lost promises to continue presenting compelling character stories, insight, and intrigue, slowly filling the gaps between focal thematic elements and finally shedding light on the deepest roots of island mythology. Remember: being dead on Lost hardly negates a character from the show, and this holds truer than ever for season six. Take care to double wrap your mind, because come tonight, it will be fucked.
