The Fall of LOST

It’s been several weeks now since the fall finale of Lost (3.06- “I Do”), and I’ve spent my time wisely processing the plethora of perils presented (alliteration is such fun). Now, by perils, I do not necessarily mean the precarious situations our favorite (and not-so-favorite) islanders are in. While Sawyer being held at gunpoint, Ben bleeding to death on the operation table, and the one-eyed man on the television in the Pearl Station certainly pose interesting questions for the second half of Season 3 (returning to ABC on Wednesday, February 7th), the perils I’m referencing are the choices the writers and directors and producers are making. Lost’s insistence that the focus remain on Jack, Sawyer, and Kate (henceforth referred to as Jateyer) and the iffy casting choices of the past two years.

I understand as well as the next person that the mainstream audience Lost enjoys holding does actually care about who Kate chooses as her mate. The soap-opera-esque method of love triangle presentation must appeal to some, or else the writers wouldn’t keep going there. That being said, it’s this writer’s humblest of opinions that those of us tuning in for the mystery and other characters are getting the short end of Eko’s Jesus stick. In order to keep me (and I believe others) satisfied, Lost is going to have to amp up the island’s mysterious occurrences and bring us back to some other characters on the island. Here, presented for anyone who wants to respond, is my holiday (Valentine’s Day, perhaps, given the show’s return date) wishlist for the writers of Lost:

• I want to know more about the Dharma Initiative. They were hardly mentioned at all this season, and I believe the discovery of another hatch, complete with instructional video, would be grand.
• I want to find out more about the Mainland Lady we encountered in the finale of Season 2 (“Live Together, Die Alone”). Who is she, really? Why is she researching our island?
• After two and a half seasons of wondering, I want to know, once and for all, how Locke got confined to that damned wheelchair.
• More of the non-Jateyer’s. Hurley, Charlie, Claire, Sayid, Bernard, Rose, Desmond, and even baby Aaron were all grossly underutilized the first half of this season. Hell, Rose and Bernard haven’t even been on-screen!
• Get Libby in some flashbacks! I still curse the writers almost daily for killing her off. Maybe it’s just the psychologist in me, but I found Libby to be one of the most fascinating characters on the whole show.
• I want Ben to live, and I want him to really have it out with Juliet. Even though I’ve been irritated by the show’s focus on that part of the island(s), I do so love Juliet’s cold, calculating ways.
• With Eko gone (and thoughts on that momentarily), it seems like a great time to have someone else meet the resident smoke monster, wouldn’t ya say?
• I don’t want more of New Guy and New Girl who Travel. They are boring, useless, and annoying.
• Finally, for the Season 3 finale (if not sooner), Michael and Walt need to return. There was way too much set-up for Walt’s character for him to simply be gone.

Speaking of Mr. Eko, I can barely express how upset and angered I was by his death. Initially, I believed the things I read online (bad, bad Rachel) and thought Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje had been offed because of a DUI. After reading an interview with Mr. Akinnuoye-Agbaje printed in Entertainment Weekly, I learned that not only did he not have a DUI, but he also was the one who wanted out. His last episode (“The Cost of Living”) and his death were the best way the writers could give him what he wanted. While I do not begrudge him control of his own career, I'm still very irritated that one of Lost’s most fascinating characters is no longer with us. Further, and this speaks to the problem I know a lot of people have had with Lost, I feel I’ve been dragged along for a ride which initially promised a pay-off, or at least a reason, and I’ve been beaten up and let down. What, exactly, was the point of the Tailies? “The Other 48 Days” was one of the dullest episodes of Lost for me, as were all of the episodes focused on re-hashing stories we already knew. I’m now left with the very simple question: What was it for? It seems that the only things accomplished with Ana Lucia, Libby, and Eko were Shannon’s untimely and unnecessary death, Michael’s alignment with the dark side, Hurley’s heartbreak, and the foundation of a church that Charlie helped build. All of these things, if truly plot-essential, could have been done without the introduction of these Tailies, thus extending the time the castaways have spent on the island and devoting more time to those characters most in need. I feel like I barely know Claire and Charlie anymore, and without those Tailies, Michael could have had considerably more personality than revealed by his endlessly screaming “WAAAAAAAAAAALLLLLTTT!!”

Regardless of all of this, Sam Anderson better watch his scripts closely. Bernard is the Tailies’ last hope.

Oh, and for the record? If we must get slammed with the Jateyer triangle, I’m all for Sawyer and Kate. Way hotter smoochin’ and I’m pretty sure my TV almost burst into flames when they finally made with the lovin’!