The disappointing fulfillments of Lost

I’m rewatching the first three seasons of Lost. I never got past the mid point of season 3, and before I continue on with 4, 5, and 6, I wanted to remind myself what happened.

Answer: so fucking much happened.

Structurally, Lost is, for the most part, head and shoulders above every serial out there. The problem is, as everyone knows, sustainability. The others were, for two whole seasons, an utterly terrible and terrifying enemy. In season 3, we’re bored of them within 4 episodes.

The thing is, we’re not bored because the there’s no drama, or that there aren’t significant things happening. We’re bored because they didn’t reframe the “box.” I attached J.J. Abrams’ TED talk from a few years back. A good story is a good mystery is a good puzzle—the answer is inside a box within another box within another box.

The first episodes of season 3, we’re shown the inside of the box of the last two seasons—who the others are, where they live, etc., and the new box is … I’m not sure. “What do they want?” “How did they get here?” These are all passing questions, and there’s no great mystery. Dharma is talked about, but doesn’t drive any of the action. Boring.