After two weeks of the flat, distinctly un-scary (at least so far...)Supernatural, it was with great delight that I sat down to screen something worlds better. Yes, I was held utterly rapt by last night's Lost season opener. This is a show that *gets* what horror is all about, and the premiere built up the creepy-crawlies by focusing on something relatively small: a long, dark passageway reaching deep into the Earth.
This is a lesson that other TV producers and writers need to learn. It doesn't take a Wendigo or a Lady in White to scare us out of our socks; sometimes, just the idea of a dark tunnel will do. Small things, well handled, generate terror. In Lost, we witnessed Kate, Locke and Shepard stare down this long, black tunnel leading into utter darkness, and the opening in the Earth called up call kinds of primal fears. The presence of this manmade object cut into the earth touched on the notion of claustrophobia; on the fear of being buried alive; on endless descent; and on the fear of what lays in the dark, and more. Perhaps more to the point, the presence of that cave indicated a dark presence; that something else lived on the island and might, in fact, be watching the survivors of flight 815. Lost is so good because it often squeezes suspense out of these seemingly small things, for instance, in last year's finale, a plume of black smoke on the horizon generated a feverish terror for an hour.
Now, some critics (and audiences...) may not approve of Lost's distinctive approach, because - by obsessing on the details - Lost each week provides fans only a tiny piece of "the big story," and viewers today have been taught to be spoon fed information; to have everything presented in a neat package. They want the answers to mysteries all at once. Lost steadfastly refuses to play that game, and as a series is all the stronger for it.
In the opening of its second season, Lost remains one of the best shows on television, because of this dedicated refusal to rush. It doesn't curtail its ambiguity, and it doesn't fall all over itself to explain things. Although some people consider it a sci-fi show, it also boasts that crucial element of horror: the not knowing. Last night's program proved yet again that this series - perhaps unlike any since The X-Files and Millennium - really knows how to scare us. I love the fact that the series is going to take its time doing it, too. The atmosphere of terror, awe and mystery (which reminds of me Space:1999) is ultimately more important than any answer to the island's riddles. It's a classic case of the journey being more important, ultimately, than the destination.
Thank God for Lost. It's going to be one helluva season on that island...
This is a lesson that other TV producers and writers need to learn. It doesn't take a Wendigo or a Lady in White to scare us out of our socks; sometimes, just the idea of a dark tunnel will do. Small things, well handled, generate terror. In Lost, we witnessed Kate, Locke and Shepard stare down this long, black tunnel leading into utter darkness, and the opening in the Earth called up call kinds of primal fears. The presence of this manmade object cut into the earth touched on the notion of claustrophobia; on the fear of being buried alive; on endless descent; and on the fear of what lays in the dark, and more. Perhaps more to the point, the presence of that cave indicated a dark presence; that something else lived on the island and might, in fact, be watching the survivors of flight 815. Lost is so good because it often squeezes suspense out of these seemingly small things, for instance, in last year's finale, a plume of black smoke on the horizon generated a feverish terror for an hour.
Now, some critics (and audiences...) may not approve of Lost's distinctive approach, because - by obsessing on the details - Lost each week provides fans only a tiny piece of "the big story," and viewers today have been taught to be spoon fed information; to have everything presented in a neat package. They want the answers to mysteries all at once. Lost steadfastly refuses to play that game, and as a series is all the stronger for it.
In the opening of its second season, Lost remains one of the best shows on television, because of this dedicated refusal to rush. It doesn't curtail its ambiguity, and it doesn't fall all over itself to explain things. Although some people consider it a sci-fi show, it also boasts that crucial element of horror: the not knowing. Last night's program proved yet again that this series - perhaps unlike any since The X-Files and Millennium - really knows how to scare us. I love the fact that the series is going to take its time doing it, too. The atmosphere of terror, awe and mystery (which reminds of me Space:1999) is ultimately more important than any answer to the island's riddles. It's a classic case of the journey being more important, ultimately, than the destination.
Thank God for Lost. It's going to be one helluva season on that island...
No comments:
Post a Comment