Getting hopelessly Lost

When it comes to television, I'm only slightly more liberal than the Amish. Am that way with most things actually for that matter. I don't desire to spend any time on something unless I'm totally convinced that doing so is not only not a waste of my time, but is enlightening and edifying somehow. I don't want to be merely "entertained"... I want to have to think about it too.

If I'm writing a lot about Lost lately, it's only 'cuz I'm just now finally getting hooked on this show, after a year of this somehow being under my radar. And I can't believe that I've been missing something so good. THIS is a show for the thinking person. It's the rare find that entertains without catering to the least common denominator by insulting the viewer's intelligence. And shows like that have been darned too few and far between.

For the past few days Lisa and I have been watching all the episodes in the Season 1 DVD set that we got for Christmas. Tonight was time for number six, "House of the Rising Sun", focusing on the Korean couple Sun and Jin. It's a good story. But the one that's been on my mind the most since we watched it Sunday has been "Walkabout", the first (of many I hope) episodes centering on Locke... who's emerging as my very favorite character on the show. I've been a fan of Terry O'Quinn for a pretty long time now, ever since he played Peter Watts on Millennium, and it's so delightful to see him given such a deep role that's showcasing all his talents. Every scene he's been in has been nothing short of captivating. If Jack is coming out as the leader of the group, Locke is definitely becoming its spiritual center, or at least the cipher between the survivors and the island.

So this is what we watched tonight, after a very few minutes of American Idol that made it pretty clear it was gonna be little more than plain ol' nastiness all around. Maybe some funny stuff happened, I don't know... but I'm glad we got to watch something instead that will stick with us for a lot longer. I just can't wait to get to Hurley's episode (which is supposed to be in this set somewhere) and to find out more about the mysterious John Locke.