Lost - Season 4
I found this show much different then most people. I have a vague memory of the pilot episode and then made a decision that I did not like this show and actively shunned it based on absolutely nothing. Then the writers strike happened and most shows were done putting out new episodes, but Lost had a late premiere date so season 4 got my attention on a week to week basis. Even amongst avid fans season 4 was highly anticipated because of the 'game changing' season 3 finale that revealed that the characters had gotten off the island and now needed to get back in the shows first 'Flash-Forward' which later had Joseph Fienes inserted in it and became instantly boring.
The universe and story telling of Lost had just been entirely flipped for the loyal viewers but for me I was watching for the first time. Now the island events were happening in the past, the flashes were telling us where these people end up, each week revealing another castaway that made it back to the real world and the trouble that came with the impending fame. This season even introduced four new freighter characters who had a traditional flashback episode, and added to the mythology of the show.
Obviously in a show this serialized and mythologized each season is just a chapter in a larger book. I selected season 4 because there was a conciseness and structure of story telling is one that no other season pulled off (save season 1, before this show became a true sci-fi show). This season had two time lines working toward the conclusion. The first was on the island where the character were closer then ever to going home and choosing different alliances between Jack, Lock, and the supposed saviors from the freighter, for their best opportunity. The second time line stared in the first episode the furthest in the future of the show and worked progressively backward to the moment they returned home. Once we learned that Jack, Kate, Sayid, Aaron, Hurley, and Sun were the ones who made it off the island, every scene on the island that separated these characters created greater tension.
The series also took it second big dip into the world of time travel that would end up defining the 5th season in the oft praised episode 'The Constant'. Desmond does not seem to have to follow the time travel rules the show has set and has become the one true wild card in story telling for this show, but in The Constant, that wild card was used to tell a very sweet intricately told love story. Desmond's 2004 consciousness slipped away as his 1996 self would slip into his 2004 body. Only one of his bodies would hold his conscience and the empty Desmond risk passing out and eventually worse. That is unless he can find a constant, something important in his life that covered the 8 years of time between the two bodies. That constant was Penny, the love of his life, who had not given up hope of his survival since he had been lost on the island. It all culminates in a teary phone call fit for the end of a romantic movie. As a single episode, it was a fun sci fi gimmick to tell a love story, for the series, it thrust the next big plot point in this serialized show. The balance of good episodes and the overall mythology of the show was always a consideration of the show, but season 4 was the first season after the announcement of an end date and the momentum of each episode showed that cohesion.
Between the tragic destiny of Locke, the creepy game playing of Ben, and the conflict of the Keamy and the freighter folk from keeping the castaways from getting off the island, the season all built to an impressive visual finish. The Island disappeared. Our two time lines came together and lead to the complete vanishing of the island. So if season 4 is just one chapter of a book, it was a well structured one that lead me to find out what happened before and interested to know how it will finish. And since this is sci fi, we all know the ending will suck, but it will be fun getting there.
Defining episodes; Cabin Fever, The Constant
