Lost. When it first came on the air on ABC it was an instant hit with over 100 million viewers over the first few episodes. After spending some time watching the DVD’s for the first time, I can certainly understand why.
Lost begins with a plane crash on a jet traveling from Australia to Los Angeles. The first glimpses of the science fiction orientation of the show occur when we see that close to 50 passengers not only survive the crash, but many of them have barely a bruise on themselves. The cast which, at the time, had at least 14 main characters quickly realizes they have crashed on (what they think) is a deserted island somewhere in the South Pacific. Through conversations with the other cast-aways they realize that one stewardess has survived and she informs them that they had diverted back to Australia due to mechanical difficulties so they were at least 2 hours off course and they have virtually no hope of rescue.
During the first season of the show the writers give us plenty of topics which will continue throughout the entire series. To start we see common science fiction elements (a man in a wheel chair can not only walk, but catch wild boar) as well as human interest elements as each individual has a series of choices to make in order to become a better person or not, such as whether or not to continue using illegal drugs.
By the end of the first season they realize that not only are they not alone on the island, but perhaps the others on the island are not going to be helping them to escape back to civilization.
It is with this backdrop of survival and the fight to leave the island and be rescued that we’re able to peer into our society from a distance and confront some of the common questions we all must answer during our lives. How honest should we be? Are we fundamentally good people? What would you do for your children? How do you value the lives of your family versus a stranger? 10 strangers?
In many ways I believe Lost became such a commercial success because it posed these complicated questions and interesting human interactions. I thoroughly enjoyed the first season, it was unpredictable while offering a unique viewing experience by offering a continual flashback into characters’ lives with one character being featured in each episode.
