Thoughts on "Lost" (2-part Series Premiere)

[rj_anderson]

I was so not going to start watching this show. I'd heard the buzz, I knew it was J.J. Abrams at the helm, and I had a bad feeling that if I even so much as watched the first episode, I might get hooked. On the other hand, the premise didn't sound that compelling to me off the top of my head, and with such a large ensemble cast I doubted that I'd be seeing the kind of character development I really look for in a show.

Then you started talking about it, plus my brother was bugging me to tell me what I thought, and I sighed to myself and said, "Oh, all right, I'll give it a try."

I finished watching the second hour of the pilot last night. These, then, are my thoughts:

Whoa. The first five minutes were possibly the most intense thing I've ever seen on TV. I actually had to make the window smaller because I couldn't handle watching it on fullscreen.

The cinematography for this show is drop-dead gorgeous, and I was immediately impressed by the acting and the script as well. Everything about this show screams "quality" to me.

It's really creepy, in the best, most Hitchcockian kind of way. I can't stand horror movies, but I do like suspense, and this show seems to hit just the right balance most of the time.

Dominic Monaghan is very, very, un-Merry and very, very amusing. I've never felt the Dom-love, but I'm certainly entertained by the character. I totally called his drug habit, though. How many episodes until he runs out of his stash and has to go cold turkey? That should be fun.

I am so not flying in a plane again. Like, ever.

Terry O'Quinn freaked me out completely with that orange-peel smile in the first part and I was immediately convinced he was the Embodiment of All Evil, but then in the second he seemed almost... likeable. Stop messing with my mind, JJ!

And wah! I must join in yahtzee63's lament for the ever-so-noble and endearing Greg Grunberg. I mean, even if I hadn't read the spoilers I would have known he couldn't last, but it was still traumatic. *sniffle*

Aw, Hurley is a sweetie. And he has hair like my buddy Jack Lynch. Is he going to lose some of that weight over the course of the next two seasons? Because that would be cool, in a realistic kind of way.

Okay, that was more of Kate-not-Beckinsale than I really needed to see. Except--it was a total bargain-basement kind of bra and her underwear didn't match! Finally a female character on TV who isn't always perfectly coordinated and dressed by Victoria's Secret! I was actually kind of happy about that. Except that she really needs to eat a hamburger. Or several.

After Part One I was really quite content, having found none of the male characters especially attractive or compelling. Sure, I was interested to know their backgrounds and where they'd fit into the story, but that was all. Then this week we got to know some of the others, like Boone (whiny girly-looking boy, whatever) and Sawyer (pseudo-macho bigot, more whatever -- although it was pretty cool when he shot the polar bear). And then, of course, Sayid, the token Arabic male, blah diddy blah, and what is up with that hair? Only... then he started very competently repairing that transmitter. And showing a dry sense of humour. And being nice to Hurley. And doing complicated and very important math problems in his head at inhuman speed...

*wibble*

Curse you, JJ.

A polar bear? And sixteen years? Whoa, dude. Seriously?

So now I can't wait for next Wednesday. And I need a Lost icon. Sigh.

ETA: See strikethrough text above. yahtzee63 rules.