LOST The Complete Fourth Season is out on DVD and Blu-ray and if you’ve been following the show since the first season, this past season was the one where the show’s basic formula was turned on its side and recreated by way of flash forwards. Granted we really saw our first flash forward in the cliffhanger of season three but that was really our intro of what to expect with season four.
Season Four was in effect our introduction to the freighter people. Where “Tailies” and Others have come before there were now the freighter people. Like most other characters and groups we are left wondering all season and maybe beyond who these people are and what they represent in regards to being friends or foes. Best of all it’s the kind of subject that fans can debate the merits of individual characters and we tend to like the “bad” guys as much as the “good” guys.
This is a show where you can still see Matthew Fox’s Jack as the heroic leader even though his stubbornness has probably lead to more negative consequences then say Michael Emerson’s Ben whose downright manipulative and creepy schemes have.
The first hook of the season was finding out the 6 of the cast members would be getting off the island and finding out who the six would be. The next intrigue was asking what that meant for the remaining characters not leaving the island? Dead? Missing? Something else?
Mysteries:
Beyond these very tangible mysteries were the bigger mysteries like:
Who were the freighter people? Who sent them? Were they here to help or hinder our cast of refugees?
Who was Ben’s person on the boat?
Could Faraday be creepier then Ben?
Whats the deal with dead people on the island?
Is Hurley really crazy?
Will we ever learn if Annie (aka Bens childhood friend) was/is indeed Libby or Charlotte?
Whats the deal with Walt?
Will we really ever understand the black smoke “monster”?
Is time travel a component to this story? If so is this a good or bad thing?
Will the show really be able to wrap up essential loose end in the equivalent of a season of 26 episodes over the next two years?
I honestly have never lost interest in the show even though I know there are some who consider this show just a bit too out there and some of us are suspicious that the creative minds behind the show are not entirely sure they know where they are ultimately going.
I have faith. I think they have some goals but like any work of art it has a way of taking on a life of its own along the way.
The story has yet to get dull and the characters are so rich with stories and I’m a sucker for any story that leaves me guessing and wanting more each time out. I sit watching most television see the forthcoming scenes two to three ahead because storytelling is somewhat formula and few writers know how to produce original unconventional plots that still have a cohesive thread of continuity.
Lost has managed to grow its cast of characters without outgrowing the borders of the TV screen like a certain NBC ensemble show featuring “heroes” has. It’s just a multi-leveled show that can be enjoyed by those who like serialized adventure/dramas, science fiction, and or by those like me who appreciate all of that but relish the greater depth of mystery developed around the individual characters and the bigger collective story as a whole that I think might not be as separate as it might at first appear.
Extras
The Bonus Features of LOST The Complete Fourth Season on Blu-ray are what we have come to expect from prior Complete Season sets: Deleted Scenes, Bonus Footage mostly from content that had been part of the online series of “missing pieces”, bloopers and behind the scenes type stuff in this case focusing on the music, the set design, the freighter cast and story and one new or modified segment that seemed to replace the familiar Dharma Training films. A Documentary on the Conspiracy of Lies regarding the Oceanic Six.
It is made with the purposely bad stereotypical voiceover narrative one might find in a low budget documentary that I at first took tongue in cheek as the evidence is stacked against the claims of the six of how their ordeal had taken place. About three or four minutes in, I found myself seriously debating the issues raised by the documentary and laughing that they had gotten me to buy into the debate and realizing how silly that was since as a longtime viewer I actually know what happened and when, contrary to the cover story and the “conspiracy”.
All in all a very satisfying Blu-ray set.
There have been some great deals out there for the holidays, and my set came with a buy this get $20 off on Season Three coupon stuck to the front, so really you can’t lose.
ComicsOnline gives LOST The Complete Fourth Season on Blu-ray disc 5 out of 5 frozen donkey wheels.
