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Whatever Happened, Happened? So, What’s Going to Happen? By Nathan Cone
As Lost winds its way down for the final season (premiering February 2, 2010 on ABC), it's a good time to take a look at season five of the show. I've made no secret of it being my favorite, primarily for its perfect combination of sci-fi intrigue and character development. Now the show is available on DVD and Blu-ray, and it’s always entertaining to revisit the previous season before the next arrives. As season five opens, our familiar group of castaways has been split in two: there's the "Oceanic 6," so dubbed by the media because they somehow managed to miraculously survive the crash of Oceanic 815 and return to civilization. The remaining survivors are still on the Island. But there's a problem; the island (or is it the characters themselves?) keep skipping through time. Humans aren't exactly used to riding a giant broken record, and the time skipping eventually has tragic consequences. Season five of Lost asks the audience to swallow some real whoppers in the service of the story. Heretofore we've been subjected to polar bears on a tropical island, a gigantic super-magnetic hatch in the ground, a series of important yet seemingly random numbers, a secret society, hieroglyphics, and a smoke monster. And now, time travel. It's enough to break that poor Dharma camel's back. What better to do than to have a little fun with the whole thing? In the episode "What Happened, Happened," two of the show's more endearing and hotheaded characters, respectively, Hurley and Miles, debate the issue: MILES: What the hell are you doing, Tubby? But seriously, where Lost has always excelled is in its character development. The show is just as much about the morality and redemption of its characters as it is about shadowy conspiracies. And in season five, one of the greatest turnarounds on the show takes place. Sawyer, played by Josh Holloway, began the series in 2004 as a con man. He looked out only for himself. He stole, cheated and lied his way through life to survive. But now, separated from the show’s hero, Jack (Matthew Fox), he's forced into a leadership position. That he excels in his new role is a pleasant surprise. Over the course of season five, Sawyer finds his place as a security chief in the Dharma Initiative circa 1977, and settles into a comfortable and loving relationship with Juliet Burke (Elizabeth Mitchell). The tranquility doesn't last forever, of course, but it's telling just how much the man has changed when we see that he's willing to put his job and life in jeopardy to spring Sayid from the brig. Viewers with long memories may remember that Sayid once tortured Sawyer during the first season of the show over stolen property. Another character that takes on new dimensions during season five of Lost is John Locke (Terry O'Quinn). Locke has always been something of a lost soul himself, despite his belief in destiny, that the Island brought him there for a reason. But throughout season five, he has a new drive to him, a singularity of mind that one recognizes as malicious only after the final episode of the season is over. Re-watching those episodes (in essence, the second half of Season Five) now brings added dimension to Locke’s dialogue with the other characters.
Season five ends with a bang, quite literally. Will a catastrophic event reset the space-time continuum? What’s to become of the survivors of Oceanic 815 that were stuck on the Island in 1977? Will they ever reconnect with their counterparts in the present day? Which also leads me to wonder if Sun will ever reunite with Jin? Poor Sun, she wasn’t given much to do this season other than constantly ask variations on “Have you seen my husband?” or, “How do I find Jin?” Here’s hoping their story wraps up happily at the end of season six, even if others don’t fare so well. Matthew Fox has already hinted that the show will end “in an incredibly powerful, very sad and beautiful way.” I can do sad and beautiful, and I’m looking forward to the final season of Lost, one of the most emotionally and intellectually satisfying programs of the past decade. LOST ON BLU-RAY/DVDSeason five of Lost on DVD and Blu-ray features several unique bonus features, a few of which deserve special note. Of the standard “behind the scenes” features, one, “Making Up for LOST Time,” shows how the creative team behind the show manages to juggle multiple storylines. As on the Season four DVD and Blu-ray set, another mockumentary has been included. Last year, it was a conspiracy-theory program in the tradition of the Internet sensation “Loose Change.” This year, there’s a thirty-minute show, “Mysteries of the Universe,” ostensibly broadcast by ABC in the early 1980s, in the tradition of real-life programs like “In Search Of” or “Unsolved Mysteries.” The show doesn’t offer any real clues to deciphering Lost, but it is fun to watch, and comes complete with VHS tape edits. Finally, Blu-ray users can enjoy enhanced content through their player’s connection to the Internet. Using BD Live technology, users can log on to www.lostuniversity.org, register as a “student,” and take courses from genuine real-life Ph.D. professors that will give them more insight into the show’s many literary, scientific, and historical references. I’m currently enrolled in a Physics course, a Philosophy course, and a foreign language course. I even have a reading list, class notes, and homework. The Lost University even has a mascot – The Polar Bear! COURSE EXAMPLE: PHY 101: INTRODUCTORY PHYSICS OF TIME TRAVEL Back to the main Cinema Tuesdays Reviews page More about the Cinema Tuesdays series  |
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