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In Too Deep To Leave 'Lost' Now

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The Tampa Tribune

Published: January 30, 2008

"Lost" returns tonight on ABC.

I know I'm supposed to be thrilled.

Part of me is, I guess. But deep inside, doubt grows. "Lost" now resembles significant others I remember from my single days. I know it's someone I need to quit but can't, even though all my friends say I should. I'm starting to have trouble remembering why I was so into this relationship. I haven't understood a thing that was going on for months.

Maybe I'm just too lazy to move on. Or a sucker.

I've watched every episode of "Lost," from the moment Jack opened his eyes, saw the dog and things started getting weird. I watched Kate fall in love with one man and get it on with another. I watched Jack struggle with leadership, Hurley struggle with voices in his head, Locke struggle with metaphysics and Charlie struggle with not being annoying (a battle he, uh, "lost").

And yes, I was around last May, God help me, for Charlie's "palm message" and "resurrected Russian man" and the "flash forward."

In short, I have been there for this show, man. And I've logged time on the Internet reading message boards, trying to figure this thing out and reading posts about the "seven planes of existence." I even stopped writing this very paragraph for 20 minutes so I could read the latest theory from the Internet's Lostpedia, which involved "Lost" actually taking place on the moon. A second moon, one that orbits inside the Earth. Of course.

That's commitment. Or I need to be committed. Whatever.

I wrote about this once before, back at the beginning of Season 2, when I had just gotten hooked by this show after watching the Season 1 DVD. I equated the show with "The X-Files," a show that had great promise and then crashed and burned, leaving more unanswered questions than the Warren Commission report. Not a satisfying experience.

Then I heard from "Lost" producer Carlton Cuse, who assured me the writers know where they are going and that there would be no "black oil aliens"-type chicanery, a reference to a plot line in "The X-Files" that I found particularly annoying. I kept watching.

But now, I don't know. Last season's finale left old questions unanswered. For example, we still don't know what the black smoke is, exactly, or who controls it. And why was Walt talking backward that one episode? Speaking of Walt, where are he and his dad, Michael? Why do some people see dead people and some don't? How did the island heal Locke and Rose?

And hey, where have Rose and her husband, Bernard, gone? They just seemed to disappear last season. How does a regional manager at a box company (Locke) know so much about guns, knives, jungle tracking and blowing up submarines? Why did the smoke monster kill Eco? What did the Bible verses on Eco's "Jesus stick" mean?

And we still don't even know exactly what the numbers - 4, 8, 15, 16, 23, 42 - mean, either.

The finale also raised new questions, such as: If Naomi was not sent by Penelope, how did she know Penelope was looking for Desmond? How is "future Kate" driving around in Los Angeles when she has a murder charge against her? Who is the dead person in the obituary?

I could go on. Sometimes I do. It makes me and all the people around me crazy.

In addition to all these questions, there is the issue of there having been an eight-month wait for the next installment. And now there's a writers strike and some questions about how many episodes will actually be shown this spring.

All this leads to the only logical conclusion: I should get while the gettin' is good.

So of course I'll tune in tonight.

Sucker.

Kevin Walker can be reached at kwalker@tampatrib.com or (813) 259-7975.

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