Why I Love Lost

13 Reasons I Love LOST.

LOST is my favorite show. I totally love it. In honor of it coming back on tonight, here are thirteen reasons I love it.

1) Intrigue. From the first episode we are hooked into wondering who these people are, where they are, and why they crashed. With every answered question comes about twenty more which keeps you pulled into the show.


2) Delicious characterization. Despite its enormous ensemble cast, most characters are fleshed out through flashbacks (though we’ve veered into flash forwards now) in situations that mirror their current experiences on the island. There is development and growth and remarkable consistency.

3) An epic love story. I love the Desmond/Penny arc. There is a grace, tolerance, and tenderness to their love story that is so hard to capture and depict. I love epic love stories.

4) Excellent use of music. Music can be overdone or underdone in the suspense arena, but is delightfully thematic and perfectly used in the show.



5) Smoking. Hot. I love the way his character is written. It’s funny, because it’s easy to forget about him until a Sayid-centric episode comes along and then I remember all over again why he’s one of my favorites.

6) Multi-ethnic cast. LOST is in the groove of globalization with a cast that hails from many different parts of the world. While this opens up a delightful myriad of storylines it also feels like an authentic representation of our world and enables us to see beyond national borders and care about characters for their innate humanity.

7) Inner connectivity. In our isolationist world it is tempting to forget that we each play a role in someone else’s story. We are not isolated and we are not alone. I feel this is beautifully represented on LOST.

8) Creative story-telling techniques. Although well known for using flashbacks to tell a story, LOST is not afraid to take risks, and mix it up a little.

9) Literary Love. Sawyer is a voracious reader, and books are everywhere on the island, in addition to literary allusions throughout the show. The Others had a book club for crying out loud. It is a bit of a relief to see the world of reading encouraged and portrayed so positively on television.

10) Philosophical ideas are tackled with depth. The great thing about high concept shows is that you must delve into the core issues of life. I feel it must be a lot of the appeal of fantasy and science fiction….when you’re building a world you have to set the parameters for what will work in that universe, which leads to an exploration of these ideas. These ideas are definitely explored on LOST—sometimes over something as small as pushing a button.

11) Everything has meaning. This show is all about the pay-off. Seemingly insignificant storylines or details are often bought back in later episodes. It's so fun to watch, and makes me hope the same is true of my own life.

12) Beautiful Scenery. I can't get over it. For such a horrible situation to be in, it sure is beautiful.

13) Definite End. They know where they're going with the story and even know the final scene. Of course, we used to think the final word of Harry Potter was decided and it changed. But I like knowing it's not going to carry on indefinitely into the ridiculous a la the X-files.

Agree? Disagree? Do you love LOST? Why?