Lost Season 4 Box Set Review

The survivors from Oceanic flight 815 have made it off the island...but is it for good? Tomorrow marks the release date for LOST: The Complete Fourth Season - The Expanded Experience in DVD and Blu-ray Hi-Def from Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment. I was given the opportunity to get an advanced copy and sat down and force fed myself hours upon hours of this DVD. Let's back up a bit here and give you some background info. I've never seen an episode of LOST before, and although I had heard some good reviews on tv and the internet, I never took an interest in catching the show. After watching over 14 hours of this show, my lack of interest hasn't changed. The season has aired, and you've likely seen it, but if you haven't, heres a quick review of what happened.

Season 4 of Lost follows the survivors of Flight 815 almost 3 months after crashing on a remote island in the south pacific. They have endured fighting against each other, monsters, and the inhabitants of the island, whom they call "the others", but now as a freighter ship gets closer and rescue seems imminent, they find out they are in more danger from the very ones they thought were there to rescue them. There are many flashbacks and flashforwards throughout this season, and although I was a newcomer to the series, was often able to keep up and figure out when and where things fit in. Throughout, we are hinted towards who is part of the "Oceanic Six", the six survivors who make it off the island to rescue, and their uncontrollable desires to return to the island. In the end, the freighter is blown up, the island is moved and six that survive make a pact to lie about what happened to protect the remaining survivors on the island. But they still have that nagging desire to return to the island.... The story often seems incredibly randomized and some parts of the stories seem to be a stretch to fill a hole, rather than become part of a coherent plot.

There are still so many huge mysteries that haven't been answered, and yet more have been pilled on top. It quickly becomes apparent that the writers have lost their focus and have started to rely on merely throwing random twists and tricks in the mix to keep viewers interested, which doesn't work. Honestly, the story has potential, and definitely needed to move forward on the track that it did, but it seems some of the foreshadowing of the future stories is weak. The Season starts out on a strong note, but eventually loses steam and loses consistency. The Cinematography is not very consistant either. There are times were the shots are beautiful, the lighting is perfect or the tone is very well set, the development is well done and everyone looks good or appropriate. There are however, a few moments or shots that fall short of professional cinematography and looks closer to something we made in high-school and has an almost grainy low-budget feel to it. They are minor shots, or angles, but they definitely affected the overall feel, and contributed to the lack of consistency.

The most entertaining part of this DVD was watching the bonus feature "LOST in 8:15". It is an overview show of the entire first 3 seasons in only 8:15. It moves really quickly, but it's overly simplistic narrative is actually incredibly funny! I had to watch it a couple of times to catch it all, but was definitely entertaining. The best thing about a season 5 is knowing there will be a LOST Season 4 in 8:15. Overall, the season is lacklustre, but it does have a few redeaming moments, story lines, and action. Some of the mysteries are very intriguing and kept in the forefront enough to keep you captivated. The season finale felt closer to a series finale if there wasn't all the hinting about the oceanic six's uncontrollable desire to return to the island. That seemed like a desperate ploy at the end of the series to extend the series into a 5th season, and give it more life. Personally, I think some serious self-reflection will be needed by the series producers to resurrect this into a popular show, that extends beyond the hardcore fan. I fear it will go the way of other shows with a small, but strong cult-like following such as Veronica Mars, arrested development or dead like me. That is, cancelled before they had a chance to really get good