I finished the first season today. And what’s really happened? Yes, they’re stranded on an island. Yes, we know tidbits about their backgrounds and lives. Yes, we know that the island is mysterious and that they’re not alone. But we knew that in the pilot. And we just don’t know much more now.

The strength of Lost’s storytelling is that it takes a very simple concept – “Castaway as a series”, in the words of the ABC exec who conceived of it – and draws it out in a tremendously compelling way. But the flip side of that is the substance of the most common critique of the show: that despite the edge-of-your-seat adventure, one simply isn’t given answers. Closure. One is being strung along like Charlie Pace with his unshakable heroin addiction. And there are bumps along the way. Star Trek “man in the red shirt” type characters like Arzt where the audience cheers their death (and with it the end of their annoying antics) rather than mourning their loss. Characters who are more melodramatic than believable like the overly-hysterical Claire. People who lack a raison d’etre or a character that one can identify with, like Shannon. But those are quibbles. Overall, the series is undoubtedly quite accomplished in terms of its casting, cinematography, and music – and the Emmy awards in those categories are well deserved.

So, I like it. It’s well made. And if the show pushes me to consider the mysteries which abound in the undiscovered great outdoors, then the show has done its job. Admirably.