Lost

Created by: Jeffrey Lieber, J. J. Abrams, Damon Lindelof 

Executive producers: J. J. Abrams, Damon Lindelof, Bryan Burk, and others 

Starring: (Oh my goodness, a lot of people)

Naveen Andrews (Sayid), Emilie de Ravin (Claire), Matthew Fox (Jack), Jorge Garcia (Hurley), Maggie Grace (Shannon), Josh Holloway (Sawyer), Malcolm Kelley (Walt), Daniel Kim (Jin), Yunjin Kim (Sun), Evangeline Lily (Kate), Dominic Monaghan (Charlie), Terry O'Quinn (John), Harold Perrineau (Michael), Ian Somerhalder (Boone), Michelle Rodriguez (Ana), Cynthia Watros (Libby), Henry Cusick (Desmond), Michael Emerson (Benjamin), Elizabeth Mitchell (Juliet), Jeremy Davies (Daniel), Ken Leung (Miles), Rebecca Mader (Charlotte), Nestor Carbonell (Richard), Jeffrey Fahey (Frank) 

For the record, everyone in that "Starring" section played (what I consider to be) an important, memorable role for the series as a whole. 

Yeah, there were a lot! 

Similar to Heroes, Lost has a special place in my heart. It came out during as similar time period as Heroes and both of these were some of the first series that I truly, intentionally followed. And.... unfortunately, both series also started out incredible, but slowly petered out. 

I think that from beginning to end, Lost's greatest intrigue was in its incredibly mystery. Where are they? Who's out there? And what is going on? From the beginning we could tell that there was more to this island than met the eye: a polar bear wandered onto the beach, ethereal mechanical sounds are heard inland at night, and John discovers a mysterious locked metal hatch a little ways from the beach. While the season does a great job establishing the main cast through flashbacks and present-day actions, these little mysterious nudge the viewer into further curiosity of just what lies on or in this island. 

And these mysteries grow gloriously deeper in the second season. Honestly, I think that on the whole, the entire series is best remembered by Desmond's hatch, pressing the button, and the mysterious (again) sequence of numbers. In later seasons, we're introduced to the ever-deeper mysteries of the Dharma Initiative, Smoke Monster, the Others, the Looking Glass, and Jacob; almost all of which connect somehow back to that hatch. It's a truly fascinating mythology and discovering it slowly over the course of the series was both delicious and maddening. 

My favorite characters were probably Charlie, Claire, and Juliet, though I can barely remember why as I write this *laughs* I just know I associate very fond memories of those actors based on this series. I do remember that each of them fought for honorable causes and against difficult odds. In fact, I think Juliet switched sides in an honorable direction; being introduced as a member of the Others and then siding with them toward the end. If I remember right, she's the only character to do that, and that left a keen mark on me. Plus, both Juliet and Charlie had sacrificial, untimely deaths that benefited others, which also earns them a gold star from me! 

Although it's true that the storytelling felt more muddled toward the later seasons, especially the final two with their flash-forwards and odd timelines, I don't think it dropped the quality of the series as a whole. The first four-or-so season still stand out to me as shining, pristine examples of great storytelling, awing cliffhangers, wonderful character development, masterful subplots tied together, and gripping drama and action. 

But, all those things said, I don't think I'll muddle my own blog with fuzzy recollections (like I may have made the mistake of in my Heroes blog). I only watched this series once and that was during its actual air time, which was quite a few years ago as I write this -- and I haven't taken much time to reflect back on it significantly since. Therefore, my memory is full of holes. 

But I feel that the fact that this series does stand out singularly as a landmark in television history and my own life is a testament to its marvel in writing and acting. 

Thank you, Jeffrey Lieber, J. J. Abrams, and Damon Lindelof!