ON LOST

Yesterday was an exciting day to be an American. But today...I may be more excited about today (in the short term) than yesterday. Tonight, you see, is the season premiere of the fifth season of "Lost" on ABC. I was thinking last night about why I enjoyed Lost, and here are some reasons I came up with:

* Complex mysterious plot - TMQ's Gregg Easterbrook claims that the show is easy to write for because nothing that happens needs to make sense. I remain confident that some of the things that "don't make sense" WILL make sense by the end of the show's run. The writers will find a way to explain the smoke monster, the giant statue foot, etc. And it all will make sense within the context of the show. This isn't to say it will make sense within the context of the actual world in which we live. But then, "The Hills" doesn't make any sense within the context of the actual world in which I live.

* Character development - We have seen characters grow and change on the island. But the kicker with Lost is that we also get to see characters change from how they were BEFORE the island. Locke was kind of a loser in the real world; on the island, he's an alpha male. Kate's conflicting feelings toward love and relationships. Hurley's sanity. Fantastic stuff, all of it, and the audience keeps getting more and more informed, and therefore, more and more interested.

* Near-misses - This is one of the things that kills me about Robert Jordan's books, or Terry Goodkind's. The characters keep just missing one another; if they were to meet, things would be drastically altered. I have an example from Lost that's perfect here, but since my friend Chuck is just starting to watch Lost, I'll have to wait until he gets to episode 13 of season 3 ("The Man From Tallahassee") before I can say anything. In any event, like in many sitcoms, if characters would communicate a little more, problems would be solved more quickly. If people were honest with one another...but I suppose the real world doesn't work that way either.

* Coincidences - Tom Robbins said in "Even Cowgirls Get The Blues" that there are no such things as coincidences. But the overlap between characters, the appearances of tertiary characters and references...it rewards the loyal viewer (or the loyal reader of "Lostpedia").

* Stephen King likes it - This isn't the be-all, end-all for me, but it makes me feel vindicated that someone who knows so much about telling a story thinks that this is a fantastic story.

* Evangeline Lilly, Emilie de Ravin, Yunjin Kim, Beverly Mitchell - Yowza.

Look, I was never in a position to watch "The Wire." And I missed out on "Battlestar Galactica." So I'm going to say that Lost is brilliant television, possibly the best show on television, and I'm glad I can watch new episodes tonight.

Sit around and watch TV? Yes I can! (Wait...that was yesterday.)