Axiom’s Edge Science Fiction and Fantasy

[Editor's note:  Way back in the nascent days of this site, Johnny Jay ran a review of a strange new show that had recently shown up on ABC called Lost.  Following is what he wrote after having watched the first four episodes.  Note that in reference to his comment on the “wasteland that is network television”, for Fall 2004 when the show debuted, the only other Science Fiction and Fantasy shows on the Prime Time network schedule were Charmed, Smallville, and the final season of Star Trek: Enterprise (Alias would show up with its fourth season in January). -PSW]

Are you Lost yet?
By John J. Joex

Rating: 4 out of 5 Start (after 4 Episodes)

While ABC’s new Wednesday night offering Lost may not exactly be science fiction, it definitely has appeal to fans of the genre.  Best described as X-Files meets Survivor, it has an air of creepiness with a sufficient dose of the unusual to satisfy those looking for some trace of science fiction and fantasy across the wasteland that is network television.

The basic premise involves a group of people who have survived a plane crash on a deserted island.  Their jumbo jet veers off course then plummets to its fate, splitting into three sections before crashing to the ground.  48 people from the middle section survived while no one in the nose of the plane made it (at least not for long) and the fate of those in the tail section is unknown.

The survivors have no idea of their location, but they quickly discover that their island refuge has plenty of mysteries.  They pick up a sixteen year old signal in French from previous castaways, they encounter and kill a polar bear, and they flee from a monster which has thus far remained out of sight (and which also devoured the pilot who was the sole survivor from the front section of the aircraft). [Editor's note: the pilot was played by Greg Grunberg who would move on to Heroes two seasons later.]

The survivors of the crash make up an eclectic bunch.  The show has so far only focused on fourteen of the survivors who range from a doctor to a rock star to a former member of the Iraqi Republican guard to a fugitive.  Many of these people appear to have troubled pasts that they would prefer not to share with their fellow castaways.

It sounds like a strange combination of themes and characters, but the creative team of J.J. Abrams and Damon Lindelof manage to pull it off.  The various personalities blend well together through interaction and conflict, and the series avoids the pitfalls of soap opera clichés.  Best characters so far:  Hurley, the chubby guy who appears to be around for comic relief but who is developed well enough to avoid being a buffoon.  Sayid, the electronics expert who formerly served in Saddam Hussein’s Republican Guard.  Kate, the hot babe refugee (Space 1999 fans may have recognized Nick Tate, a.k.a. Allen Carter, in the flash back scenes that showed how she came to be on the ill-fated flight).  Locke, Terry O’Quin (Millennium, X-Files) playing a mysterious character who at first appears to be a government agent of some sort but who in truth has a much different history.

So far the stories have been tight, engaging, and challenging.  The writers have just scratched the surface of the story possibilities for the core fourteen survivors, and since there are an additional 34 survivors (that we know of), plenty of potential exists for additional storylines.  In addition to that, there is the story behind the mysterious island that these people inhabit.  This will play out as the series progresses and the producers insist that a scientific explanation exists for all of the island’s mysteries (and that the monster is not a dinosaur).  I can see where they have one to two good seasons worth of material here, but it is hard to imagine that the series could be dragged out beyond that and still maintain its quality.

Lost may at first seem like a strange choice for a network which has shown particular contempt toward the sci fi/fantasy genre (witness how they yanked last year’s promising Veritas: The Quest from the air after only a handful of airings).  However, it comes from J.J. Abrams who has had some success with Alias, and it crosses enough genre lines to avoid either the science fiction or fantasy tag that often equates to terminal sentence on the major networks.

Buy Seasons 1-4 of Lost on DVD at the Axiom’s Edge Webstore: