Well, random co-worker, all I've got to say is that I hope you're right. Here's why:
Season six of LOST might have been the most anticipated event of my life. Actually, starting there, let's just go through the top ten most anticipated events in my life, off the top of my head:
10. The Release of Madden Football 2008 (for the PS2) - because, coming off the Super Bowl loss, I was psyched to return kicks with Devin Hester for the first time. Let's just say that the fact they changed the game to make kick returns very difficult, and punt returns impossible might have been a bit of a letdown.
9. The Release of "Stand Up" by Dave Matthews Band - It had been a number of years without an album, I had just driven my sister to prom (chauffeur for the night), and the album had been released that day. I was psyched. I bought it. I tried to talk myself into it. It's still not very good. Because of this album I was extremely hesitant to be excited for 2009's "Big Whiskey and the GrooGrux King." Which was awesome. So, really, "Stand Up" ruined two experiences for me. Thanks for getting overly political guys...
8. ROAD TRIP!!! - I was pretty excited to drive across the country with three of my best friends following high school. With multiple car breakdowns, a right hook to the face, and the successful convincing of one member that we had a mail order bride awaiting him in Vegas ... let's just say that this one probably lived up to expectations as well as could have been expected.
7. 2nd Date, 2007 - We'll leave it vague for obvious reasons. A huge success at the time, things looked promising, and then went all 8th inning, game 6 2003 on me ... now this is steadily moving down the list. But it's still doing better than my anticipation for the Cubs season in 2003 ... I've already forgotten about that (Alex Gonzalez ... ugh)
6. Leaving for College - Getting into the "I had trouble sleeping the night before" territory. Little did I know how much my life would change in those four years, but even through the ups and downs it was generally a success.
5. Jr. High - Now, the night before Middle School? ... that was a "I can't sleep!!!" moment. I was so psyched, so nervous, so unsure ... little did I know that the roughest years of my life would ensue. Man, Jr. High sucks. I agree with a girl I went out with, who said "they should just let kids stay home starting in sixth grade, then let them come back in High School." She's a teacher, by the way...
4. LOST Season 6 - More on this in a minute...
3. Christmas 1993 - Or it could have been 1992 or 1994 ... but it was when I was still living in South Bend. On Christmas Eve of whatever particular year it was I COULD NOT SLEEP. I saw every hour, on the hour, waiting for Christmas morning. And I got a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle play set. One of the few things on this list that unequivocally lived up to the hype.
2. The Release of "The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King" in theaters - I camped out, saw the midnight show, went back the next night, saw it again ... ended up seeing it somewhere in the neighborhood of seven or eight times in the theater. This one surpassed the expectations. Sheer brilliance.
1. Bears - Colts Superbowl - Two weeks of buildup, of analyzing the game, of figuring how exactly how the Bears could beat the ponies ... all thrown away because: A) Cedric Benson is a wuss, B) Rex Grossman sucks, and C) Lovie Smith is incompetent. I'm getting sick... (at least my Tracy Porter jersey has finally shipped!!!)
Anyway, back to LOST (with it now properly placed in my pantheon of buildup) ... seriously, what the heck? The following five seasons had set up a riveting tale, with all the pieces in place for an epic finale, and what have they accomplished through four episodes?
1: They have introduced a ton of new characters, confusing the plot when they need to be simplifying it towards the end.
2: They have begun dividing the world into good versus evil, but only by confusing who is good and who is not.
3: They have split into what they are stupidly calling a "flash-sideways," but what I will intelligently call a parallel universe.
4: They have completely discarded the three most intriguing characters by either killing them off (Jacob) or seemingly forgetting about them (Ben, Richard).
So, in other words, they have completely let me (use your Teddy KGB voice) unsatisfied. The parallel universe aspect seems to be overkill; after successfully using a flash-back, then seamlessly transitioning into utilizing flash-forwards it seems that they have just gotten greedy, thinking "hey, we've never done this before." To steal the words of Ian Malcolm (of Jurassic Park fame) they were so caught up on if they could, they didn't stop to think if they should. Seriously guys, all we really want is answers, not more questions. You keep telling me that "the time for questions is over" on every stinking promotion ... and then you give me more questions!
Beyond the parallel universe issues, they have centered the plot around characters that nobody really cares about anymore: primarily Jack, Kate, and Sayid. All three of these characters have run their course, but because they are the show's "big stars" they don't have the guts to do what needed to be done and kill one of them off to stir the pot. They've done it before; R.I.P. Charlie; but for some reason they seem slow to do it again. Let's not forget that Charlie, along with Jack and Kate, was prominently featured on the case to Season 1 ... and now he's gone. It could have been done again, and it should have been done again at the end of Season 5 (now enter a bunch of "but Sayid did die" complaining. I know he "died." I wanted his character gone, though, not just "I'm dead, I'm back" junk).
All of this aside, there are still 12 episodes to salvage this, and we know that it is pretty likely, as random co-worker reminded me, that quite a few people (particularly new characters) will bite the dust. Also, Josh Holloway has turned in some of the finest TV acting I've seen in a long time this year, which has made the show quite a bit better when he's on screen. Give the man an Emmy now, please. I still have hope that things can be salvaged, and that we will see Richard and Ben factor back in, and that the questions will have answers ... but this is starting to feel like Matrix II to me. When the first Matrix ended I wasn't enthralled, but I gave it a pass due to the possibility there would be two more to make sense of it all. When Matrix II ended I withheld my judgment knowing that a third would probably make sense of it all. When I left the theater following Matrix III ... well, let's just say I hope that I don't leave Season 6 of LOST with that same feeling. I've said for the past year and a half that the show has set itself up to be the greatest TV show of all time, or the biggest disappointment of all time. Perhaps they are just setting us up, reeling us in, only to blow our minds. I hope they do. If they don't I might be inclined to bust the windows out of the lighthouse.
(Editor's Note: After reviewing the list of top ten most anticipated things in my life, I have concluded that very rarely do things I eagerly anticipate end up working out as well as I had hoped. In fact, by my count, my top ten only went 3 for 10 on an outright win scale. Ain't life funny?
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