Today I’d like to say something about the TV show “LOST”, or, as the ABC network puts it, L O S T.

Emily and I have found great joy in watching this show together. We are united by our love of sitting and doing nothing while the children sleep. Emily gets to exercise her seemingly instant understanding of knotty fiction as she explains basic plot development to me. I’m much more comfortable in a non-fiction setting. That’s why we work well together. Plus, we like the same TV show.

I first saw LOST on ABC back in the olden days of Season 3. And olden days they were, especially compared to what we know now that the series is over. After seeing just one episode, an episode that was chock full of antics from Ben and faithspeak from Locke as well as references to this strange DHARMA phenomenon, I knew I’d be in. And I was. Not long after, Emily joined team L O S T. We got H O O K E D. (See what I did there?)

But we had to catch up with our new family of LOST fans. This meant putting down the big bucks to rent earlier seasons. I would guess that we contributed to Blockbuster keeping their lights on for at least a few more days, especially at $4 per disc. Wow. Thanks, Netflix. I just realized that you’re great.

After catching up and watching seasons 1 through 3 (back to back, no less), it was time to enter into season 4 with both feet. The biggest challenge was waiting for an entire W E E K to pass between episodes. Watching LOST on DVD offers a certain luxury that traditional network TV just can’t match. Again, Netflix — thanks, buddy.

We tracked together through the last seasons. Emily and I sat and watched, gasped audibly, looked at each other with furrowed brow regularly and then discussed. Later that week we would compare our predictions for the next episode. I would rush home from work to be there right at 9pm, because missing even one eye-opening scene start could be detrimental, like only having 99 out of 100 puzzle pieces. Oh, and by the way – that puzzle says “L O S T”.
(See what I did there?)

The puzzle is now complete. LOST is D O N E. As it turns out, it was just a scripted TV show. Emily had to use little words to explain to me that it wasn’t a reality show –Survivor Aloha — after all. Oh.

OK.

We’re going to watch it again (three times a lady, Netflix) and probably gasp audibly again and again. It’s chock full of intelligence, wit, multifaceted references and rewards. LOST led me to read new books, think about cultural history, consider physics and even buy a Daniel Faraday-style notebook.

To put it simply, LOST is a great show. I’m sad that it’s over and glad that it ended well. I guess that some shows end bittersweetly. I mean… B I T T E R S W E E T L Y.