I have to talk about LOST (with spoilers)

Never in the history of TV has there been an anomaly like LOST. I sincerely mean that.

It's changed since the first season. It's still a 'WTF?' show, but not like it was when it debuted in 2004. It has a mystical, epic quality to it that has developed over time. Where most dramas succumb to stupid theatrics and soap opera-esque situations and dialogue, LOST has gotten better with each succeding season.

"Time to die."

The Season 3 finale was a momentous occasion for me. Ever since the show came back from hiatus, it's been perfect. Perfect. Especially since the first six episodes of the third season underwhelmed me (other than a few moments, such as, say, when we discover The Others have a village and the Red Sox moment). There hasn't been a weak link in the 1Characters have been developed in shocking and emotionally draining ways, there has been a perfect balance between action and meditation, and the epic quality of the show has grown exponentially. Gone are the days of such mysteries of "what's in the hatch?" or "what's with the polar bears?". Now it all feel much...bigger. More important. It makes me think about the characters as if they were real, and that their (unbelievably far-fetched) situations seem plausible.

I don't update this blog as much as I used to. I know, I know. Please stop crying. I felt compelled to here, though. The finale floored me. I don't know if it ever reached the orgasmic levels of awe that the final fifteen minutes of Season 2's finale did, but it was brilliant. Seeing shit actually blow up in the first fifteen minutes, the tension of the "one minute" between Jack and Ben, Charlie's sacrifice, the revelation that getting rescued is the worst thing that could possibly happen, Hurley kicking ass and Sawyer quickly turning around and executing Mr. Friendly, the "Not Penny's Boat" message Charlie gives to Desmond as he is dying, and the ultimate revelation that at least Jack and Kate make it off the island, is enough to get me into a tizzy for a few days. Guess what, it has.

This series really hits me. Sure, I love the intensity and emotional resonance that THE SHIELD, NIP/TUCK, and 24 bring to the table, but they've got nothing on LOST. While everything else either dips or belly flops into melodrama, LOST always clicks with me. Even the bottom of the barrel (I'm looking at you--pre-hiatus Season 3) is better than 90% of the crap that is on TV (I'm looking at you, erm, everything). The acting, the character development on both the island and in the flashbacks (Locke, Jack, and Kate are three of the five best characters on TV, right alongside Jack Bauer and J.D. Dorian), and the way the characters react to the extraordinary situations they find themselves in every day while the haunting score plays in the background, make for an emotionally devastating hour of television. I actually welled up three times during the finale alone (Charlie, the "one minute", anyone?).

So yeah, to recap: I love LOST, superlative superlative, superlative, the end. And now I have to wait another eight months to see a new episode. It'll be worth it, though.