10/26
JJ Abrams’ “Lost” had an almost entirely different cast
Story
The survivors of a plane crash are forced to work together to survive on a seemingly deserted tropical island. Find out which stars missed out on one of the most popular series of all time. Sawyer’s character was originally supposed to be an elderly, burly, suit-wearing urban crook from Buffalo, New York. However, when Josh Holloway forgot a line during an audition and then kicked a chair in frustration and swore loudly, the writers liked the innovative edge he brought to Sawyer’s character and decided to write Sawyer as a darker, southern drifter instead. Jin and Sun are married and share the last name “Kwon”, which becomes an important plot point in the final season. However, when Koreans marry, the wife never takes her husband’s surname. In fact, in Korea, you are not even allowed to marry someone with the same last name, except in rare cases.
Then came “Lost”
[line repeated] Desmond Hume: See you in another life, brother. The strange opening credits were made in black and white on his laptop in homage to The Fourth Dimension. Featured in Lost: The Adventure (2005). With the recent ending or cancellation of so many quality series (Friends, Frasier, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Angel) and the decline in quality of many others (The West Wing, Smallville), not to mention the obviously unstable and unpleasant rise. reality TV’ programs, I had almost given up television as a form of entertainment. I seriously considered giving up my TV and cable subscription in favor of a computer monitor and high speed internet connection. I missed the first few episodes, but thanks to BitTorrent I was able to catch up.
Now I’m addicted
There are several things I love about this series, but here’s a short list: 1) Excellent, intelligent, multi-layered writing. There are many mysteries here, and with every answer you get, new questions arise. 2) Rich and complex characters. Just when you think you have a character figured out, you discover something new about them that is often surprising or even shocking. I love seeing different relationships come and go. 3) Good performance. It’s a remarkable cast of mostly seasoned actors with a few newcomers, all of whom do stellar work.
4) Mysterious and exciting environment
Even some episodes featured recognizable and talented actors (eg Mira Furlan, Victoria Hamel). Of the four main story elements you learned in school, plot, character, theme, and setting, the latter is often the poor, neglected cousin. Not here. The island is dangerous, beautiful, terrifying and undeniably intriguing. It’s like a character in itself. Part of the fun of this series will be uncovering the secrets of the island. 5) Thematic depth.
It’s not just a desert island soap opera
There are rich metaphors and themes such as challenges to morality, the nature of communities and civilization, our relationship with nature/environment and spirituality, even mysticism. I am grateful to see this series succeed. All too often lately, I’ve committed to streaming a quality series early on (“Wonderfalls” being the most recent and unfortunate example) only to see a nervous channel cancel it prematurely. I hope that "Lost" will be a long and successful run – if its creators, cast and crew maintain the level of quality demonstrated so far, I’m sure it will be.
