Floppyhead – Digital Media and Streaming

This post is alittle off-topic for my site but it is my blog so what the heck. I have been a big fan of ABC’s Lost but I am becoming less interested with every flashback. As the third season progresses, I am beginning to see more and more parallels to Twin Peaks, the briefly popular show in the 1990’s about who killed Laura Palmer. By the time Twin Peaks wrapped up, nobody cared. I think the same thing could happen to “Lost.”

Twin Peaks quickly died after in two seasons after a meteoric rise, suffering from the following issues:

• The serial nature of the show made it difficult for casual viewers to follow the story. These viewers focused on the Laura Palmer murder mystery thread, and got angrier and angrier that the murderer was not being revealed.
• The plot kept getting weirder and weirder, diving into the supernatural. “Who killed Laura Palmer” was almost a side story after a while.
• ABC completely mismanaged the show by continuing to move Twin Peaks’s schedule around and put the show on hiatus during the second season, and ratings continually declined.

The bullets above could easily describe “Lost” as well. Tonight aired the Fall Finale and the show won’t be back on until February 7th, almost 3 months from now. Very few questions were answered and very few plotlines resolved. The plot is beginning to feel drawn out. I am not all the interested in seeing if Ben survives surgery or not. Last season was plagued by repeats and long periods without new episodes. Weeks go by with nothing significant happening on the show and then plot lines get dropped abruptly. Take Mr. Ecko for instance. He was killed suddenly and somewhat randomly. What exactly was the point of that character? New characters are constantly being added without meaningful plotlines. I think “Lost” has alienated the casual viewer with it’s increasingly complicated storyline and lack of resolution. Nothing is answered while new questions are raised.

Tivo and DVD sales have extended the show’s lifespan in comparison to Twin Peaks. It is easier to catch every episode unlike 15 years ago. I am curious to see what the ratings will be when the show comes back in three months. Ratings have been down this year for the show and I wonder if they will keep sinking come February.