Up All Night- The Growing Prysocks

LOST: A Retrospective

Today marks the end of an era. Six years of speculation, drama, suspense, and eyerolling over certain characters (hey remember Nikki and Paulo?), comes to an end. LOST has been in the background during a period of my life that's included many highlights and important transitions. In that past six years I've graduated from college, earned a master's degree, married the love of my life, moved to a new place, and started a career.

(Note: This blog contains spoilers from previous seasons, but I assume you either already know what happens, or don't watch it and therefore don't care.)

LOST started for me at the premiere. It was September of 2004 and I was starting my junior year of college. The previous spring was spent in Oxford, traipsing all over Europe with people who would eventually become lifelong friends. Two such friends, Val and Lara, were the biggest Lord of the Rings fans I know, and probably still are. That series ended the previous winter and the actors were all moving on. Val and Lara were excited that the 0h-so-dreamy Dominic Monaghan was going to be on a new show about an island and a plane crash. So their excitement rubbed off on me and I was indirectly convinced to give the pilot a try.

It was a Wednesday night and my roommate was out, so I got my dinner and sat down to watch. I very hesitantly eased into the pilot, only tuning in because I didn't really know what else to watch. What started out as giving the show a few minutes turned into getting sucked into the entire two-hour premiere.

A chaotic plane crash. Explosions. Diverse characters. Sounds and movement in the trees, Jurassic Park style. Smart dialogue. Dramatic speeches. Mysterious circumstances and people.
Redneck shooting a polar bear in the jungle. Strange radio transmission. "Guys, where are we?"

INSTANTLY HOOKED

The pilot established intriguing characters and also had sci-fi elements that always grab my attention. After the pilot, some from our Oxford group started watching it together, which isn't really saying that much since we never needed an excuse to get together. Eventually, Stephanie jumped on the bandwagon as well, during the second season. I conveniently taped every episode (this was before the days of Hulu) and so she borrowed them from me to catch up. And also because she was totally crushing on me and wanted to get my attention. (Me = oblivious)

Season two ended and we found out that Benry actually was an Other all along, and that Desmond caused the plane crash. After that was graduation and all of my Oxford LOST-watching friends moved on and scattered to various places. By this time, I was engaged to Steph (I guess the "borrowing tapes" strategy worked) and we were beginning to plan our wedding. For season three, we started watching LOST with some friends of our from undergrad. The first six episodes of season three were pretty intense, and looking back it almost seems like it's own mini-season.

The final of those episodes was "I Do", which was one of my favorites and one of the most intense. This episode was a favorite because it had Nathan Fillion, whom I may or may not have a man crush on. That was the episode that ended with Jack screaming, "Kate, d***it, RUN!"

.....and then we had to wait through a three month hiatus in suspense. The other memorable part of that episode was when Kate says, "Taco night? I don't do taco night!" Because she's flighty and fears commitment. After that episode, the friends we were watching it with started talking about taco night.

And half an hour later we were still talking about taco night. "Why are we still talking about taco night??" Steph said. So, from then on, our LOST gatherings with that group became known as "Taco Night." We even made a Facebook group to coordinate and organize.

And then most of those friends had to go and move to Dallas! The nerve.....

So once again, we were without LOST friends. We kept trying to talk about it with our life group friends, only to remember that they weren't into it. Yet.....

They eventually came around somehow and started borrowing our DVDs. (This is one important reason why we buy tv shows on DVD, to share with friends.) Of course when they got to season three they had much less appreciation for "I Do."

Watching "I Do" live:
"OMG! I have to wait three months to see what happens??? What torture!!"

Watching "I Do" on DVD later:
"Hey, that's crazy! Ok, next episode."

Anyway, we shared LOST with our life group for while and it was very good. Then we had to go and move to Virginia! The nerve......

Lacking LOST friends out here has been rough. Especially when we cancelled our cable, our HD antenna decided not to pick up ABC, and we started having to watch it on Hulu the next day. (By the way, the cable company still hasn't gotten the memo that we cancelled our cable, so I can watch it live tonight.) Feeling the absence of friends has made me realize why LOST is so special to me. The show itself is amazing and it's been fun getting to know all of the characters. But the real reason that LOST is special is because of the people I've been blessed to share it with. The characters and "OMG!" moments serve as a means to a greater end. The show itself is like Jacob, bringing people together for a reason. One reason is simply to speculate and geek out over theories and ideas. In addition to that, LOST for me has been a means of sharing an experience with the people that I care about. This is why I will miss LOST. There will be other shows and experiences to share with people, but LOST is connected to many happy memories and special friendships that I will always cherish.

So tonight, with my wife out of town and no other LOST friends around, I will be watching the entire LOST extravaganza, alone. (I'll be connected through the internet and will likely be chatting with Steph, though.) While watching alone is somewhat sad, it does have "agreeable symmetry," as Jane Smith might say. I'll be watching the final episode under similar circumstances in which I watched the first. Except that tonight, I have six years of fun and friendships to remember as I finally learn where the heck this show has been going this whole time.

"The End" will be bittersweet, but I find the cliche to be true- it's about the journey, not the destination. That might be helpful to keep in mind if the show doesn't end the way you're hoping or expecting tonight.

In honor of Charlie Pace, here is my personal "Greatest Hits' on LOST, episodes, quotes, and moments:
"Live together, die alone" speech, Rose and Bernard reuniting, the first polar bear kill, "I can't believe he fell for the wookie prisoner trick", making fun of Michael whine about "my boy", making fun of Claire whine about "my baybee", Charlie (in general and his "Greatest Hits" episode), "Teresa falls up the stairs, Teresa falls down the stairs" (creepy!), "Who am I to question taller ghost Walt?", Hurley's morale boosting episodes, Roger Workman, Faraday's looks of pained exasperation, "I know how to get a dang fishbiscuit", any episode focused on Desmond- especially "The Constant", Nikki and Paulo ("Razzle dazzle!"), the computer screen "Dad?" moment from season two, Hurley and Libby, Jacob's visits to people, the smoke monster, Charlie and Claire's peanut butter, turnip head, Sun and Jin's fake-out birth episode, making fun of Jack for wanting to fix everything, making fun of Kate for being flaky, Sayid killing people with his legs, and finally,

"See you in another life, brother."

Bonus: Check out today's LOST-themed Cake Wrecks

Super Bonus: This video is brilliant. The rapping is a little cheesy, but the lyrics are well crafted and provide a good expression of how myself and others may feel about the end. They also do a pretty good job of turning original LOST music into a hip-hop track.


Song(s) of the day:
"The End" by The Doors
"You All Everybody" by Driveshaft
"Make Your Own Kind of Music" by Mama Cass
"Dharma Lady" by Geronimo Jackson