ABC’s hit drama “Lost” premiered Wednesday night at 9 p.m.ET. This is the show’s fifth season. If "Lost" showrunners Damon Lindelof and Carlton Cuse are right by introducing a new storytelling "device," we should prepare ourselves for another mind-blowing experience this season beginning with the two-hour premiere: "Because You Left" and The Lie."
"Lost" addicts have been waiting eight long months for a new episode – so Wednesday night’s season premiere is cause for celebration. It also presents the chance to rehash and refresh memories of the labyrinthine plots surrounding TV's favorite castaways.
The charismatic (and possibly supernatural) evil genius Ben Linus (Michael Emerson) spent the latter part of season four insisting the island be moved to protect it from the less charismatic – though equally evil – industrialist Charles Widmore (Alan Dale).
Longtime viewers may have assumed that Ben wasn't speaking metaphorically, but no one could have guessed he'd accomplish his goal by turning a giant wooden wheel in a cavern deep beneath the tropical island.
Moreover he show's producers are promising that Sawyer, played by Josh Holloway, will play a more up-close-and-personal role this year. Fans won't be complaining about that news.
In case you’ve been living under a rock, “Lost” is a show that garnered an average of 16 million viewers per episode on ABC during its first year and it follows the lives of plane crash survivors on a mysterious tropical island, after a commercial passenger jet flying between Sydney, Australia and Los Angeles, United States crashes somewhere in the South Pacific. Each episode typically features a primary storyline on the island as well as a secondary storyline from another point in a character's life. The series was created by Damon Lindelof, J. J. Abrams and Jeffrey Lieber, and is filmed primarily on location in Oahu, Hawaii. The pilot episode was first broadcast on September 22, 2004. Since then, four seasons have aired.
“Lost” had so much success because it tackles complex themes like redemption, an ordered universe, and the literal sins of the fathers with an untidy approach that fits the messy subject matter. No easy answers are offered. Characters take one step forward and two steps back as they try to grasp their purpose and overcome personal weaknesses.
Due to the writers' strike, the fourth season lasted only 14 episodes, consisting of the 8 pre-strike episodes already filmed and aired, and 6 post-strike episodes. This season focuses on the survivors dealing with the arrival of people from the freighter Kahana, which has come to the Island, and the escape of the Oceanic Six (their post-island deeds being shown in flashforwards).
Beginning with the 2007–2008 television season, the final 48 episodes would have been aired as three seasons with 16 episodes each, with “Lost” concluding in its sixth season. Due to the writers strike, the fourth season featured 14 episodes, and Seasons 5 and 6 will have 17 episodes each. So there’s one more to go before the great and so very undesired end.
Returning to this current fifth season, according to Lindelof, it "is about why [the people who have left the island] need to get back". Also, season five will feature significantly fewer flashbacks and flashforwards.
