Do you have a comfort show?
You know; that series you put on after a hectic day to bring you back into your comfort zone.
For a couple of years my go to comfort show was Gilmore Girls. I love the comedy, eccentric characters, and emphasis on friendship. But, there was something missing; mysticism.
And then, I found Lost. Well, I re-found Lost, because of course I had heard of Lost before. It is very often called the greatest Sci-Fi show of all time, or at least the best of the early 2000's. I am here to confirm that this is indeed true - or at least to me. With an ensemble cast of amazing characters, complex relationships, flashbacks, flash forwards, flashes to parallel realities, mystery, and that much desired element of mysticism.
There really isn't much of a need to review Lost.
Like ... who hasn't heard of this ground-breaking show?
There is a chance that Lost fans out there haven't heard that there is an extensive behind-the-scenes show about the making of Lost. It is full of insights into the production of the show, sometimes filling in gaps in the plot, and has quickly become my new "comfort show".
I am going to try my best to keep this post spoiler free for anyone who has yet to finish the series. But, really, this post is for all of the Lost fans out there who didn't know that there is much, much more to the fandom than seasons 1 to 6 that aired in the early 2000's. There is a whole list of extra Lost content that originally aired on TV between seasons as well as tons of cannon clips and an epilogue explaining what occurred post finale originally found on the season 6 DVD set.
Today though, I want to talk about Lost: Behind the Scenes. You can find the entire playlist here on YouTube They are conveniently divided up by season so you can, if you wish, watch the behind the scenes by season of the show, or watch them once you have finished the series as I did.
There are a few things that I really love about this peak at the making of Lost. One is that I enjoyed seeing the actor's reflections on their characters and how they identified with the persona they were playing. What is really interesting to me is that the actor's themselves weren't privy to any more information than what was written in the script.
Just like the viewers they had only guesses as to where the story was going.
Something else I love is hearing the commentary from the creators and writer's of the show. This is especially interesting watching the first episode "Before They Were Lost" which shows the process of casting the actors. The creators of the show had a few characters in mind: Jack, Sawyer, and Kate for example, while other roles were transformed and even created based on the actors that showed up for audition. The character of Charlie is a great example. He was meant to be a middle-aged has-been-rocker, and ended up being much youngeer, in his 20's, because they were so impressed by Dominic Monaghan (of LOTR movies fame).
And the characters of Sun and Jin were invented based on the reading of Yunjin Kim who originally auditioned for Kate. Even Kate herself was altered once they had an actor. She was originally supposed to be more like Rose and her turbulent backstory was written after the pilot was filmed.
And there are many more character's that were formed as the show went on like Mr. Eko who shows up in season two. The first glimpse of Mr. Eko gives us "wild man" vibes and it isn't even clear if he speaks English or can speak at all. Then, as the season continues we see a very complicated character whose instinct for survival leads him to use aspect of his past identities to help unravel mysteries of the island.
I would go on but, as I said, I want to keep this spoiler free :)
I have so much more to say. There are all the "Missing Pieces" "Dharma Initiative" videos and the Epilogue to discuss. But, the clock is ticking, time is nearly up and I must go push that button...
Oh no! too late!!