Elizabeth

By Elizabeth Sharp

Lost Without Lost

Posted January 11, 2008

When I was a freshman in college, I bought my first television set against my will.

I say "against my will" because I wasn't much of a TV watcher, except for the occasional episode of Seinfeld or Cheers on TBS late at night. But my best friend and roommate, Molly, had bought the DVD player, and it was only fair that I agree to purchase the other half of our dorm entertainment system.

Those first few years, my TV was pretty inactive. I'd watch a little Saved By the Bell or Dawson's Creek before heading off to class, and late at night, we'd tune into The Daily Show. But besides that, my TV spent most of its early life quiet and usually dusty on a shelf.

Today, that TV resides in my apartment here in Little Rock. It isn't much. I don't have cable. I might get rabbit ears one day, but I doubt it. It doesn't have a flat screen or fancy speakers.

But really, it doesn't matter. I don't watch TV to keep up with the news or view America's Next Top Model reruns on VH1. My TV has been called to a much, much higher purpose: To play Lost on an almost-continuous loop until Season Four starts on January 31.

If you've seen Lost, you know that it's quite easily the best thing to hit planet earth since Jesus Christ himself.

If you haven't seen Lost, you are lame. Stop reading this blog right now, go to Blockbuster, rent season one, redeem yourself, and then get back to me. I know I sound harsh, but believe me, once you've seen it, you'll understand.

As ashamed as I am to admit it now, I was extremely reluctant to start watching Lost. The last TV show that had been recommended to me so frequently and adamantly was 24, and I’d been really, really unimpressed with Kiefer Sutherland's on-screen shenanigans. But my sister and her husband kept pestering me about Lost, so I finally broke down and decided to rent season one.

That weekend, I think the only times I moved away from my TV were to shower and sleep. I watched the whole thing - 24 one-hour episodes - in less than 48 hours. The same thing happened with season two.

And for Christmas, my brother gave me the much-awaited season three on DVD. I finished it sometime last week, and it’s been difficult. This is the first time that I haven’t been able to rush out to the movie store and pick up the next disc. Nope, I’m just going to have to wait patiently with the rest of America for season four to start.

In the mean time, I’ve started watching season three again. And this time, I’m taking notes – no joke. Last night, I watched the first three episodes, and with a keen eye and a pen and note pad at the ready, I was able to pick up on a lot of things that I had overlooked the first time around.

Most notably:

In the first episode…

- In the beginning, why did we see Jack and Kate removing Band-Aids from injections, but we don’t see Sawyer doing the same? Did he not get an injection? And if so, why not? Will there be effects from the injections that crop up later in the show?

- When Kate and Ben are talking at breakfast, how does Ben know that Kate is only going to be with them for a specific time – two weeks? And did Karl’s escape plan, which removed him from the other cage, effect Kate’s destiny with the Others?

In the second episode...

- When and where did Sun learn how to sail a boat?! Something tells me that Jin didn’t teach his wife how to sail.

- What are Kate and Sawyer helping to build?

In the third episode...

- Eddie’s wearing a Geronimo Jackson t-shirt. I’m starting to notice a recurring theme with Geronimo Jackson. Any reason for this?

- Why is there a toy truck in the polar bear’s cave?

I’m fully planning on resuming my note-taking this weekend. In the mean-time, please share your theories…