Musings · of · a · Confused · Artist

Let's say you have a TV show. It's about the survivors of a plane crash on an uncharted island. Except it's not a normal island, there's something special about this island. You find a polar bear roaming around, and there's some kind of 'monster' made of smoke. And there are people already on the island, and they have their own elaborate back story. In five seasons you cover the terrain of nearly every kind of suffering imaginable with your characters, you touch upon fate, destiny, life and death, and rebirth. You get into science, and time travel, and mythology.

So, for your last season, you say to your writers, your cast and your crew, "You know what, we're going to take out the main narrative drive of this show. There is no island, there never was an island. The plane never crashed, and the characters just went their merry way and landed safely in Los Angeles."

And thus begins the last season of 'Lost,' with one of the most elaborate choose-your-own-adventure scenarios ever played out on television. On the left is the original reality, with our cast of characters together in the same year, where their actions in the past had no effect on the future and their present situation (except for getting one or two characters killed). And on the right is another reality, one where their actions DID have an effect, so that Oceanic 815 never crashed on the island, allowing them to land safely and play out their various dramas that they were set out to play when they stepped on the plane.

But which is the 'real' reality? Are both equally valid? Does it even matter? Can they effect each other? After the show's forays into quantum theory and space-time travel, these aren't bad questions to ask. But what is surprising is how mesmerizing the new reality is. Even without the island, that central engine of story, you're wondering how their lives are going to play out, if they'll meet each other, and if so, where it'll all lead too. However, one also has to wonder if the only reason you care is because you have seen their experiences on the island. Would you be as invested in the characters if this was the first time you were meeting them? Or would this be another ABC melodrama slated for cancellation after six episodes?

At this point, I'm not going to tell the creators of 'Lost' what they should do, or even attempt to predict what they might pull off in the weeks ahead. Long ago, I decided to just go along for the ride, and with each season, I'm continually surprised how satisfying and exciting the stories end up being. I'm frustrated at times, and I roll my eyes on occasion (time travel?! really?), but I've never left feeling cheated for having invested my time and emotions in the story and characters. Overall, this is what television should aspire to be, allowing groups of inspired talent to show audiences the results of their imaginations. It may not always pull in great ratings, but at least you're left with great television.

And for god's sake, will someone please give Terry O'Quinn an Emmy already?

I just finished watching (re-watching?) 'Lost' Season 5, and I thought it would be time to nerd out and make some predictions/bring up some questions for Season 6, which I'm sure will be completely disproven in the first episode. Spoilers ahead, you've been warned...

1) I've been trying to figure out what happened to John Locke. Obviously, his body is dead, but is the resurrected Locke still Locke? Locke as he should be, confident, strong, a leader? Or is he just the spirit of the 'Man in Black,' who appeared with Jacob at the beginning of the season finale, posing as Locke to gain the people's trust and get close to Jacob? Could he be both?

2) And speaking of the Man in Black, my prediction is that at some point in time he was like Richard, a go between for Jacob and the people who live on the island. But, obviously, he had some falling out with Jacob, leading to Locke's resurrection (and insurrection?). This leads to the question, what exactly is this man's relationship to the island? Is he now the island itself? And why does the island have a special relationship with the dead, like Jack's father Christian and Ben's daughter Alex? Is there some kind of conflict between Jacob and the island? Does this conflict parallel the one between Ben and Widmore?

3) Bernard and Rose are the skeletons that Jack and Kate found in the caves in season 1. (And did anybody else see a similarity between their cabin from the '70's and Jacob's cabin in the present day, the one that Ilana's crew torched?)

4) As for the Incident and the bomb and the time traveling, I really have no idea where that's going, partly because I thought everybody acted like an idiot during the whole thing. I thought the scenario was a little too melodramatic, especially with the Dharma folks like Rasinski and Chang (they're all very emphatic about that 'pocket of energy,' aren't they?). If the whole thing worked, and 815 didn't crash, I'm curious to see how that group of characters end up on the island again, because it clearly has plans for them. I'm really only rooting for Sawyer and Juliet, everybody else I just kind of shrug off nowadays.

So that's where I'm at. My hope is that the series is done with the whole Dharma thing, and will now focus on just WHAT the island is. We know that it has some unique scientific properties when it comes to space-time and what not, but it also is unique mystically, and I think that will be the emphasis this season.

I know, I'm thinking about this waaaaaay too much, but it's fun, and I know you have some ideas as well.

...a new 'Toby & Sara' B-side!

I know, I know, it's not part of the main story. It takes place a couple years before Tracks 1-4 (which I don't think I made very clear, my apologies). But I've been sitting on this thing since December, doing a ton of post-production work with it (word to the wise: blue pencil doesn't work well with the Pentel pocket brush), adding a gray tone, and doing the usual nitpicky things that drive me insane. It isn't perfect, but it is what it is, and the story adds a few more puzzle pieces to Sara's background. 

Eventually, I'll include this in a book. But for now, you can read the whole thing online for FREE!!!

a 'Toby & Sara' B-side: Creme Brulee