TV Watch: Lost In Time

So let's call it - last night's episode of Lost clearly outlines that any hope of providing a plausible scientific explanation for the events on the island is gone. Oh, sure, the polar bear, smoke monster and mysterious purple sky were good indicators. Desmond's ability to tell the future, naturally, was a huge tack in this direction.

Time travelling back to your previous life only to be returned by the smack of a cricket bat? Neatly avoiding all the improbablity of being whisked away before an explosion/implosion of crater-like proportions.

Clearly - the hatch was being powered by an Infinite Improbability Drive. Locke is lucky he wasn't turned into a futon.

So Arthur Dent jokes aside ... it's clear that the producers and writers have keened in on the fan disapproval of constantly avoiding answering anything. They're being extremely cautious about their approach though - now showing us two flashbacks which reveal more directly some of the actual workings behind the island. With Juliet, we saw an uncanny ability to determine the death of an individual and with Desmond someone shows the ability to know the future as well as an explanation that some things are simply fate.

Course - to me that seems contradictory. You can't will someone in front of bus and accept that everything is fate and inherently immutable. So not surprisingly, Gray Haired Lady wasn't telling Desmond everything.

And what's with people on this island not throttling Others for information? If some shopkeep knew my fate and it involved pressing a button for three years - I might so willing as to beat an explanation out of her.

Maybe, though, just maybe, the show about salvation is taking steps to its own. They stil feel shy about pulling back the layers of the onion, to use the mystery metaphor. I'm certainly not saying I want everything explained in a two hour special - but at this point the show needs to prove it has real meat on its bones. These last two episodes show they might be willing to change the format up a little, not always rely on background story drama and do just that. Next week, hopefully, we'll see for sure.






tagged: television, lost