Lost

I've been really happy with the return of new TV shows, but now of course comes the necessary wind-down of the abbreviated season, with promos already cropping up for "Next week's season finale!" and we'll be back to the same sad drivel as during the writers' strike. (Yes, I know, much of the new stuff can still be considered "drivel," but now it's balanced with some likable drivel as well.)

I am a "Lost" junkie and so was ecstatic when the season started in January with episodes made pre-strike, followed by a relatively short break before the new post-strike episodes. The creators have a commitment from the network for an end date, which means that everything is focused and zipping steadily toward a planned ending, and that would be great enough, but the strike has meant that there are even fewer episodes left to get there, so it's a very wild ride indeed. Luckily I have a few friends who need to talk the previous night's episode every Friday morning, and once or twice in the intervening days as we gear up for what might be next.

I also watched the first three seasons on DVD while doing much of the packing of my old apartment so I would be caught up for the January season premiere, which means I've been living with "Lost" for awhile now. Although I'd seen every one of those older episodes, seeing them again, with the knowledge gained later, was really like seeing them for the first time. (Except for some of the more tedious non-island mythology flashbacks - how many episodes did we need to figure out why Jack's marriage failed? Which is exactly why the faster-paced seasons rock.)

All of this is to say that when this season ends in a few weeks I will be sad. (I wanted to say I'd be lost, but that's too goofy even for me.) (Except that I just did say it.) (ugh.)