Probably one of the most influential sci-fi shows of the 2000's was ABC's Lost (2004-2010). The success of the series (along with Battlestar Galactica) gave rise to serialized shows and spawned a number of imitators, most of which were unable to capitalize on its elements. Despite the praise, the show had a number of flaws (including, but not limited to, the ending) and the unfortunate truth is that most of the imitating shows replicated those flaws rather than the points of the series that made it successful.
The Successes
The Characters: Due to the very premise, Lost lent itself to having a very diverse group of characters. The various opportunities for them made the show's cast one of the largest in fictional television. Unlike shows like Star Trek, where characters have to fit into specific roles in order for the story to work, Lost's characters fluctuated through different roles according to their skill sets, back story, and the situation. Those who could not contribute directly with a skill usually made up for it with great drama. If you asked any Lost fan their favorite character, you'd get a different answer every time.
The Mysteries: As the story was built week by week, the question that plagued every viewer was "Why? How? Who? etc." Questions were built up in every season, which is an unfailing way to maintain ratings. While the payoff may have been disappointing, audiences wouldn't find out the answers until the final episode, at which time they had already devoted six years to the show. In true poker fashion, the writers didn't show their whole hand until it was time to go all in. And then viewers found out they were only holding a pair.
The Flaws
Flashbacks: Every single episode of every single season had a B story that took place in a different time as the A story. For seasons 1, 2, 3, and 5 it was some piece of character back story. Season 4 used flash forwards, which raised the question how certain characters get from point A (the present) to point B (the future). Season 6 used... FTS. Anyways, this storytelling device was used effectively in the pilot and opening episodes by telling how the passengers ended up on the doomed plane, but the flashbacks very quickly lost relevancy and were often just there for the sake of it. Season 4 & 5 shook up the formula and used the flashbacks/forwards to answer new questions about the story. Season 6... FTS.
The Questions: Regardless of how much of the ending was planned, it's very clear that several of the details in between were not. Being one of the first heavily serialized shows, it had the drawback of uncertain payoffs. While the unanswered questions and character arcs drew viewers every week, the sad truth was that not every story went anywhere and not every question got answered. Viewers were left with a sense of incomplete finale, similar to if the show had gotten cancelled prematurely.
The Imitators
Lost influenced television for the rest of the decade. It gave rise to serialized shows with stronger more complex characters. Some shows imitated it's flaws, and suffered for it. Some used the stronger elements, and succeeded to a degree.
Heroes (2006-2010)
This comic style superhero show also relied on a large, diverse cast to carry the story, or rather stories, as each character had their own and occasionally crossed paths with the others. The flashbacks, rather than being shoehorned into every episode, were concentrated into a dedicated flashback episode every season to answer specific questions. The show pulled the best influences from Lost and threw in some from the superhero genre. While the first season pulled in high numbers from this combination, the following seasons slowly lost viewership as the serialized story and constant cliffhangers became unsustainable. It has since been replaced by the more episodic, Alphas.
Damages (2007-present)
Although not a sci-fi show, this legal drama is a masterwork of serialized television. Each 13-episode season tells one complete story. It most resembles Lost's 4th season with various flash forwards used in each episode to raise questions as the A story builds to answering each one. The cast is small, but the characters are highly developed and the actors give fantastic performances. Due to fewer episodes, the story manages to keep continuity errors and unanswered questions to a minimum.
Stargate Universe (2009-2011)
Admittedly, I had not seen Lost when I did my closing review of SGU, but with hindsight, the influences are very clear. A mixed group of people unexpectedly get trapped somewhere with no known way home and limited survival capabilities. The two pilot episodes are nearly the same in a play by play by jumping into the getting lost part and using flashbacks to fill in the rest. The influence of Lost worked mostly against the series. The difficulty of surviving definitely raised the stakes for the characters, but it also resulted in the "supply episodes" I spoke of, which diminished viewers. Also, the diverse characters archetypes of Lost fought against the military or science archetypes of Stargate which led to useless characters (Chloe). With the inclusion of elements from Battlestar Galactica, the series turned into an ill fitting conglomeration of three very different franchises. One can only imagine what the final payoff would have been like.
Defying Gravity (2009)
I give this series a lot of credit for trying to show space travel in a more contemporary setting rather than futuristic. Unfortunately, Lost didn't do this show any favors. For starters, the writers included a mysterious artifact aboard the ship to carry some sort of recurring mystery. The effects of the artifact varied from episode to episode but the bottom line is that it was just one unanswered question, as opposed to Lost, which had several with more added every season. The second issue was the flashbacks (again). This show had two storylines over its run. The A story took place in the present on a ship full of astronauts on a six year mission to seek out new life and new civilizations... I mean to survey the Solar System. The flashback B story took place 5 years earlier as the astronauts underwent their training for the mission. There were two problems with this: 1) the flashback story was more interesting and dramatic than the mission story. 2) the flashbacks didn't really answer any questions that weren't already answered in dialogue. Props to the producers for trying, but they just didn't follow the right example.
Flash Forward (2009)
I didn't see much of this show, so I'm going off post-cancellation reviews. The series used one giant flash forward that all the characters saw and were affected by, which began the serialized story. The series was produced by David S. Goyer (famous for Batman Begins & The Dark Knight) and Brannon Braga (infamous for Star Trek Enterprise). While the show was high in premise, the ratings quickly declined as the various character arcs became muddled and directionless. I didn't start the show from the beginning because I knew the premise alone wouldn't carry a long story, which it didn't.
The Event (2010)
What could have The West Wing with aliens turned into a fragmented multistory series (with flashbacks) and characters that yo-yoed around the story. The flashbacks, again used well in the pilot, became irrelevant a lot faster than they did on Lost. Although the producers dropped them halfway through the series, the damage was done. The "main" character, Sean Walker, was a poorly written loose element in the story, often having no idea what was happening or what the stakes were, which contrasted sharply with the President's story as he tried to deal with the alien presence. The series could have benefited greatly from trimming off all the Lost elements, save serialization, and just focused on the most important characters involved.
Conclusions
I am actually hopeful that the Lost Era is over. It influenced a lot of shows into making bad decisions and the series itself wasn't worth everyone's time. It lacked finality which put fans into pointless debates that will never be resolved. While it gave serialized TV a boost, the final results have not been particularly exciting. (And before any of you point out Battlestar Galactica, please note that the BSG miniseries came out a year before Lost. BSG succeeded on its own merits). Lost is all ride and no climax, but it is a great ride over six seasons. If you are a viewer who can accept or ignore flaws and simply enjoy the characters, I bid you to get lost. This blog isn't really for you, but you can go ahead and watch the series.
No comments:
Post a Comment