Editor's Note: What follows is a post from my sister, The Buckets. -- Joey
Three weeks ago I set out on an arduous journey. I had just returned to San Francisco after my Christmas vacation to visit my family and friends in New York. I was back with little to do and a serious holiday season hangover. My roommate and I had thrown around the idea of getting into the tv show Lost. I don’t know why, because now I really hate myself.
Let's get a few things straight: I love television, and I am hardly a television elitist. Here is a smattering of shows that I watch regularly: Dexter, Mad Men, Big Love, 90210, One Tree Hill, Gossip Girl, The Hills, The City, The Real Housewives of Orange County (Ew, Atlanta), Top Chef, Brothers & Sisters, Survivor, Prison Break. And remember, that is hardly an exhaustive list and does not cover syndicated shows I regularly DVR (i.e. Gilmore Girls). Nor does it include my bedtime shows—the shows I watch on DVD while I fall asleep (i.e. Mary Tyler Moore Show and Felicity). I love TV, and I am willing to watch anything at least mildly entertaining!
I just never got into Lost, though, and it had been for good reason. I have a very certain TV code, a la Dexter Morgan’s killing code. Here are My TV Rules to Live By:
1) Watch from the beginning, or do not watch at all. I like to watch shows from pilot to series finale; it’s all or nothing. Why? Because I like to feel like I’ve been there with the characters, like we’ve grown together. Additionally, how can you truly be an authority on a TV show if you can’t refer to every episode to prove some thesis about said program? How can you feel any ownership or validation as a fan if you aren’t there for the long journey? There is one major (well, now two) exception to this rule in my life—The Office. I love The Office, especially Dwight K. Schrute, but I really feel uncomfortable around die-hard Office fans.
2) Characters not included in the original cast are inherently inferior. I am sorry, but it is virtually impossible for me to care as much about characters who weren’t introduced during season 1 of a show. For example, Mahone is a great character on Prison Break, but I still see him as expendable because he is not part of that original fiber. Brothers & Sisters introducing new characters left and right drives me mad. Pick a group, make it work!
3) Don’t rely upon supernatural occurrences. Realism, people. Give me realism and logic. I have a tough time with some of the more outlandish cases on Grey’s Anatomy.
4) Don’t drop shows. I guess this is really a corollary to #1. Once you’ve committed to a show for at least a season, you can’t stop watching. In the name of full disclosure, I’ve only ever dropped one show—Heroes. It is unwatchable. Although, Bryan Fuller is a genius so maybe it will get better.
5) The fifth rule of Buckets’s code is don’t ever talk about the code. Just kidding. I’ve fallen asleep during Fight Club every time I’ve tried to watch it. I hate Brad Pitt.
Alright, so Lost. Lost violates all four my major tenets. I actually watched the pilot and wasn’t into it, and clearly I have now just started watching. Lost relies upon its new characters perhaps more than anything else. After all, where would this show be now without the primacy of Ben Linus? Juliet Burke (bitch stole my name) is one-third of the estrogen on this show, and she didn’t hit the scene until season 3! Um, Lost has both the most ingenious and infuriating supernatural occurrences. I am willing into buy into the fact that no one gets sick on the island, or they’re not supposed to. I am willing to accept that Walt has some special powers. I am willing to accept that Hurley, Walt, Claire, and Locke can commune with the island. Fine, I’ll take it. But I will not, under no circumstances WHATSOEVER, feel okay with both Anthony Cooper AND Christian Shepherd showing up on the island.
No, those two “facts” of Lost are really not okay. I mean Locke is prone to the supernatural; that was established on Day One of the show. So the “mystery box” that held Anthony Cooper doesn’t bother me as much as I just think it is dumb and laughable. The Christian Shepherd storyline, on the other hand, is infuriating. Are we to believe that every apparition of Christian that Claire and Jack have seen have actually been carnations of Island Spirit Christian? Even in Season 1 when Jack kept seeing Christian? Aside from my bias against the supernatural, this plot development just hurts the show. It seems that they have abandoned the science-versus-magic thread in favor of explained-supernatural-versus-unbelievable-magic. Moreover, Jack as a character is weakened by this development. Instead of being an interesting and complicated man whose relationship with his father is vexed, with whom he never had a proper goodbye, Jack is essentially a victim of the island. And he is significantly less complex. My relationship with Jack is complicated (as all good relationships are!), but now I just feel mad at the writers for robbing me of a nice, tortured, brooding, hot surgeon.
I could probably get over all of these issues with the show. I like the show; I LOVE Desmond, Sawyer, Jack, and Jin; Juliet is pretty good and Sun is decent; Locke may be a nuisance, but I was won over immediately with him in Season 1 because he is such a weird freak; Ben and Locke's scenes are simply fantastic; I really like discussing it with the proprietor of this website; I like watching with my roommate. But here is what I cannot get over: I am just another Lost fan now.
I was just over at Jezebel, and they prepared their thread for a Lost liveblogging event. When this post goes live, the web will be saturated with Lost premiere liveblogs, personal critiques, fan theories, and stills from the two episodes tonight. And who am I? I am just someone who raced through season 1 through 4, someone who loves Jack, someone who doesn’t know anything more about the show than anyone else. I just can’t get over my own #1 rule. From now on, I will enter all group discussions of Lost with feelings of inadequacies. I won’t even be able to retreat into my own mind and remind myself that I love the show more than anyone else. Nor can I say that the show means nothing to me, because I actually do care a lot.
So who am I? I am just another Lost fan.
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