Lost without Lost

Okay so Lost is officially history. No new episodes ever again. Yes, I will be re-watching the entire series over and over until I die, but no new Lost. None. No more. Ever. I am not having withdrawal symptoms yet, but at the same time its only been 2 days since it finished.

Lost going off the air is like losing a good friend. Its not like a friend died; I can buy the DVD set and sleep with it next to me in bed, I mean, watch it over and over again. But when there is something great in your life that you enjoy and all of sudden it is no longer there, its a little sad.

(Feel free to make fun of me before you continue reading).

I love good storytelling and Lost is some of the best storytelling I've ever experienced. It was always a hybrid between TV and film. Sure there were some things that didn't ever make sense and inconsistencies now and then. There were even episodes that I didn't like. But what matters is the big huge story that the creators were weaving. It transcended the inidividual parts to form a truly astonishing whole.

The storytelling was so good that most episodes I was riveted to my seat. I cried more than once during Lost's 6 year run. I remember some episodes so clearly and even their titles. The episodes have titles? Yes, like Greatest Hits or The Constant, two of may favorites.

So why did I love Lost so much? I do love the sci-fi elements and the idea that fantastic things happened on the show. But as I watched the finale, what I realized is that I had grown to love and care for these fictional characters. When Charlie and Claire had their moment of mutual realization, I cried. No lie, I did.

I use Lost to mark certain events and periods of the past 6 years of my life. When Lost started 6 years ago, Jo and I were living in Morocco. We heard about this awesome new J.J. Abrams (Alias, Cloverfield, Star Trek) show about a plane crash. Having been Alias and J.J. Abrams fans for years, we figured Lost would be good. We were right. I knew from watching the first episode that this would be a great show. If only I'd known then how amazing it would turn out to be! Since we were in Morocco, we would download the episodes and watch them with out laptop hooked up to the TV.

During Season 3, we were living in Pennsylvania and hosting a small group. I insisted on not having group on Lost night. That worked well for a while, but halfway through the season there was a break of several months. When it came back on again, it was on small group night. So we had to record it and watch it after group. What a hardship to have to sit through small group knowing that Lost was on and I wasn't watching it!

Then when I was unemployed, looking for a job, and we were living in my in-laws' basement in VA, Lost was one of the things that helped make life interesting. As pathetic as that sounds, it's true. My in-laws have a huge projection screen TV in their basement (like 5 feet wide) and I would turn off all the lights and drink beer while watching Lost on the big screen.

There are so many more things I could say about Lost, but since nobody is reading this anyway, I'll quit now. Goodbye Lost. At least goodbye to any chance of new Lost. So many unanswered questions, so much to still think about. So long Desmond. Farewell Sawyer. Goodbye Kate. Godspeed Vincent. Au Revoir Lost. Now I can have my life back. Until I start watching the whole series again.