chbryan
02-24-2007, 05:23 PM
At some point during the second season, I asked a couple of friends of mine that watch Lost, if they remembered Twin Peaks' flameout, because I had the feeling that the same fate was awaiting Lost.
The problem for me has not been just how they'll keep the mystery strung along; last season, and part of this season, the individual episodes have seemed weaker. I haven't felt the same desire to have second viewings like I once did. (Although, I did twice watch this past week's episode about Jack, and the preceding week's episode about Desmond.)
Part of it is what I've come to think of as the "JJ Abrams Pattern". I watched Felicity on DVD (Netflix leads to some strange choices sometimes), and I could see a change in the quality of the show at the time when Abrams was concentrating on Alias. Likewise, Alias changed when Lost came along, and Lost declined when Mission Impossible 3 was in production. I don't know if he has any real involvement in Lost now.
(And yet he had time to direct this week's episode of The Office!)
About the only show on television that I think really seems to get the serialized mystery effect right (at least structurally) is 24. Most Big Plot Points are tied up by the end of a season, seeds planted for the future, but a viewer could jump in at the beginning of a season and follow along.
Some weeks back, it was reported that that Damon Lindelof and Carlton Cuse were approaching ABC with the idea of setting an end date for the show -- around it's 100th episode. I hope they do.
A bit of extraneous info: Damon Lindelof was a big fan of Watchmen. (http://www.ew.com/ew/article/0,,1120854,00.html) Maybe deep down he sees the value in a limited series.
The problem for me has not been just how they'll keep the mystery strung along; last season, and part of this season, the individual episodes have seemed weaker. I haven't felt the same desire to have second viewings like I once did. (Although, I did twice watch this past week's episode about Jack, and the preceding week's episode about Desmond.)
Part of it is what I've come to think of as the "JJ Abrams Pattern". I watched Felicity on DVD (Netflix leads to some strange choices sometimes), and I could see a change in the quality of the show at the time when Abrams was concentrating on Alias. Likewise, Alias changed when Lost came along, and Lost declined when Mission Impossible 3 was in production. I don't know if he has any real involvement in Lost now.
(And yet he had time to direct this week's episode of The Office!)
About the only show on television that I think really seems to get the serialized mystery effect right (at least structurally) is 24. Most Big Plot Points are tied up by the end of a season, seeds planted for the future, but a viewer could jump in at the beginning of a season and follow along.
Some weeks back, it was reported that that Damon Lindelof and Carlton Cuse were approaching ABC with the idea of setting an end date for the show -- around it's 100th episode. I hope they do.
A bit of extraneous info: Damon Lindelof was a big fan of Watchmen. (http://www.ew.com/ew/article/0,,1120854,00.html) Maybe deep down he sees the value in a limited series.