‘Lost’ offers rare
combo of thrills and acting
J.J. Abrams's castaway TV drama "Lost" is a mysterious, often terrifying, sometimes confusing thrill ride, compelling enough to make you want to stay aboard but only if you suspend a bit of reality to accept the premise.
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But the L-1011 is a thousand miles off course and so far out of radio contact that the survivors -- led by a good-guy physician named Jack ("Party of Five's" Matthew Fox) -- eventually realize they're stranded. After survivors escape the smoking, cracked fuselage and gather their wits, they realize they're not alone, hearing something huge in the nearby valley crushing and shaking trees.
With a large ensemble cast, the series pilot quickly establishes who the good and bad guys are, not only in post-crash scenes but in flashbacks during the doomed plane ride.
Kate (Evangeline Lilly), the female lead, is friendly, assertive and adventurous; Charlie (Dominic Monaghan) is the drummer for a once-famous rock band called Driveshaft. He's also a heroin addict.
Plus-size Hurley (Jorge Garcia) is "Lost's" main comic relief, realistically funny in desperate straits; Sayid (Naveen Andrews) is a friendly and competent veteran of Iraq's Republican Guard; Sawyer (Josh Holloway) is the stereotypical ugly American; Shannon (Maggie Grace) is Cordelia Chase, a bikini-clad blonde who tans at the crash site while others mount rescue plans; Claire (Emilie DeRaven) is nine months pregnant; Michael (Harold Perrineau Jr.) is a father just becoming acquainted with his young son, Walt (Malcolm David Kelley), who just lost his mother to cancer; Jin (Daniel Dae Kim) and Sun (Yoon-jin Kim) are Korean nationals unable to speak English; and Locke (Terry O'Quinn) is the oldest survivor.
Abrams and co-executive producer/creator Damon Lindelof weave an interesting web of intrigue, without slipshod manipulation. Some surprises come early, keeping viewers as alert as the castaways.
Like Steven Spielberg, Abrams taps into our primal fears of desertion, monsters and being lost. The first episode doesn't even venture into the ocean. Who knows what lurks there?
Abrams/Lindelof tweak our sense of reality, challenge our notion of what can't possibly happen -- or can it? -- then envelops the audience with good writing and acting.
Oahu is a shining star in this series, but an island this lush, with beautiful white sand beaches (Mokuleia) could not go undiscovered.
You may also wonder how anyone could have survived such a crash. Three incidents stand out and I only mention them so parents can judge whether keiki should watch:
After survivors leave the burning fuselage, a man is sucked through one of the plane's giant turbines; during the flight turbulence cracks off the tail section sucking more passengers out; and the injured pilot (Greg Grunberg) is munched by something enormous but unseen, with blood splattering fuselage windows.
Future "Lost" plots likely will include flashbacks on each main character and conflicts among the disparate mix of characters.
"Lost" is an inspired drama mixing wildness, weirdness and whimsy that will test the creators' ability to avoid getting stranded in castaway clichés. If they do this, count on "Lost's" survivors not being rescued for a very long time.
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