Get Lost? Neither Do I.

I've been a big fan of the ABC show Lost since the middle of the 1st season. I hadn't even heard of it until one of my friends lent me her tapings of it, and said we had to watch it. I was skeptical because it seems like there's been nothing interesting on T.V. since C.S.I. (which has now jumped the shark, but that's another story), but I was drawn in by the character development and the mystery of the Island.

I love character development--that's one reason why I love the works of Jane Austen, Charles Dickens, and Victor Hugo. I think the way Lost uses flashbacks to develop each character is interesting. Unlike in books, visual media doesn't usually allow you to get inside a character's head, unless a narrator is used and that gets pretty old. But flashbacks tell you where a character's been and can sometimes explain the reasons behind a character's behavior. Even then, I'm sometimes surprised by the actions of a character that I feel I know pretty well. That's one of the great things about Lost is there's always a surprise. Anything could happen, any character could get killed off, and it can be maddening trying to figure out what's going to happen.

I have a hard time picking a favorite Lost character because they're all so interesting and flawed in different ways-- beautiful Kate, an accused murderer and bank robber; Sawyer, the hunky and fast-talking conman with a deathwish; Sayid, the resourceful former Iraqi Republican Guard "communications" expert; Hurly, the large and jolly winner of the lottery; Jack, the type-A personality neurosurgeon; Locke, the paraplegic turned medicine man; Charlie, the washed up rock star and recovering heroin addict; and Sun and Jin, the Korean married couple with relationship issues; Claire, the mother of baby Aaron; and Mr. Echo, the mystical former Nigerian warlord. If there's one major flaw of Lost, it's that there's so many characters to keep track of and there's only so much time that can be devoted to flushing out each one.

Anyway, last night was the second episode of the 3rd season, and was called "The Glass Ballerina" which refers to a figurine that Sun broke as a little girl. To sum it up, Jack, Sawyer, and Kate have been captured by the island's natives (the Others) while Sun, Jin, and Sayid are waiting on the other side of the island in Desmond's sailboat to rendezvous with them. A love-triangle between Kate, Sawyer, and Jack has developed over the past 2 seasons, and the Others seem to be taking advantage of that.

BTW, my favorite scene of the first episode was the look on Sawyer's face when Kate was brought in handcuffed and throw into the cage opposite him. He really loves Kate, as least that's what the actor (Josh Holloway) portrays, and I totally bought into it.

Anyway, Sawyer tries and fails to escape by giving Kate a smooch, and Sun shoots one of the Others as they steal Desmond's boat. In the flashbacks, we learn that Sun had an affair and that Jin was instructed by her father to kill her lover. Jin doesn't kill the guy, but beats him badly and the man commits suicide minutes later. Despite their troubled marriage, we see that Jin and Sun really love each other after Sun narrowly escapes being murdered by the Others on the boat.

Unfortunately, we still don't find out much about the Others, except that they are ruthless killers with a secret agenda for the Losties. Come on! This show can drive you crazy with all the unanswered questions, and the few that are answered are stretched out for a whole season. But I guess that's what keeps me coming back--the hope that the pieces will finally come together and make sense.

For those of you Lost freaks, Lostpedia and Lost-TV are great sites with background on all the chracters, episode summaries, transcripts and message boards.