"LOST"

I love "LOST". It's a phenomenal, original, epic story. One with a large, richly diverse, and extraordinarily talented cast. This week "LOST" aired its midseason finale. The show will return in February and air continuous episodes with no repeats. The main reason for this is because "LOST" pulls pitiful ratings during a repeat. So ABC has decided to scrap repeats all together and use the timeslot to introduce a new series (something called "Daybreak" starring Taye Diggs). It's funny, but what makes "LOST" so entertaining, intense, and clever is ultimately limiting its broadcast viewership. "LOST" tells the epic journey of plane crash victims as they survive and explore a mysterious island. There are of course multiple dimensions to this complex story, from the conspiratorial syndicate called "the others" to the lush backstories that bring insight to the various main characters as well as uncover how the characters are ultimately connected. Suffice it to say, it is a long, continuous, detailed, sophisticated, delicate story. One that is slowly unraveled, albeit with plenty of action and suspense, over multiple seasons. So while it is not impossible for a viewer to follow along with the show in the middle of a season or without viewing the vast majority of episodes, it is rather difficult. This means new viewers are rather rare, especially midseason, because it takes a rather large investment to get caught up with the show. The vast, vast majority of "LOST" viewers are dedicated fans who have seen virtually every episode. Since these fans do not miss a new episode, they rarely watch repeats, which results in the very low ratings a repeat episode gets. There's another way in which the show's intricate, epic story limits viewership. Some of the dedicated viewers are going to lose their patience with the show and simply stop watching. So while "LOST" opened to such popularity and fanfare in its debut season, from here on out it is going to slowly dwindle in viewership because its complex story makes it difficult to attract new viewers and its long pace causes impatient viewers to give up regular viewing. Fortunately, I doubt this means the show will ever be canceled. It still is relatively popular and does quite well in DVD sales. Also, I've read the creators will complete the series in six seasons. The erosion of viewership by season 6 doesn't seem to be astronomical. And in any case, I'm sure they would complete the show on DVD.

For me, "LOST" is both an exceptional sci-fi thriller and an intense, touching human drama. I'd describe "HEROES" in the same way, but as a lighter version. Both shows, because of their sci-fi subject matter and themes, lend themselves, at times, to melodrama (you certainly see this a bit more in "HEROES"). But, to a certain degree, that's to be expected.

****NOTE: From here on out there will be spoilers. Please beware.

Anyway, I'm just curious as to which characters are people's favorites. And which backstorylines do people find most interesting. I'm a huge Jack fan. I was surprised to hear on Slowly Boiling Frog that many fans actually don't like Jack. Early in the show, for a short time, I leaned towards Locke. The actor who plays Locke was on "THE X-FILES" and I really enjoyed his "The Island will tell us the answers" spooky spirituality. But he got a little crazy and irrational rather fast. And I felt bad that I betrayed Jack --- never again! Lol. I also like how Sayid has progressed and his backstory was very interesting. I like Jack's backstory but I think it got a little weak, especially his obsession over his ex-wife. Perhaps I can't see Jack's faults. But I think that's because he doesn't have any, lol. Sun and Kim are a cute couple but, at first, I wasn't a big fan of their backstory because Sun's father was such a villain. But then it turned out Sun was cheating. And their backstory got a lot more interesting. And how buff is Kim? That guy is ripped. I don't know who is buffer, Kim or Kate. Out of the newer characters, I'm a fan of Desmond. I'm looking forward to seeing more of this mysterious character and his backstory, brother. Anyway, if you're also a fan of "LOST" who are your favorite characters and backstories?

And, finally, I have a major plot question. If Ben and The Others can get things from outside the island (like the World Series tape) AND they claim to have a way to get Jack off the island (and presumably Michael and Walt utilized this option to get off the island), then why wouldn't Ben use this option to get off the island and have his tumor removed?

PS - For those of you wondering who Jacob is, I think I know. After scanning a few forums, I believe Jacob is this guy --- who is also Patchy. The forum link leds to the website Lostpedia, which seems like a wonderful resource.