Hi guys! Welcome to the Fandom Friday! This is the weekly post where either myself, or a guest blogger, talks about a new fandom. See, I’ve had the experience in my life where I’ve been made fun or put down about my particular fandoms. And that has made me feel pretty crappy. But I’ve also put down other fandoms as well.

So I’ve decided to change that. I’m opening my world up to new fandoms, and the best way to do that is to bring people in to write about various fandoms. We’ve had one about the Mortal Instruments/Infernal Devices written by me, and one on The Big Bang Theory as well, written by Jackie, the brains behind Seeking Bazinga. Last week’s post was by Kathleen, talking all about manga. You can expect more from the Fandom Friday, like My Little Pony, Battlestar Galatica, Star Trek, Comic books, and so much more. I’m very excited about this segment.

This week’s Fandom Friday is by Crystal, all about J.J Abram’s popular show, Lost. Read all about Crystal here:

My name is Crystal, and I’m in my early 30s. I was the slacker nerd throughout high school. I was in the gifted school, but I was constantly on probation because of my grades. I’m currently working on a PhD (and a grant application that makes me want to pull my hair out).

As you can tell, I love Lost. I’m also involved in the Harry Potter fandom and the Doctor Who fandom. I’m a huge Joss Whedon fan! Feel free to challenge me with Firefly. I always have my challenge coin on me. My most recent cos play was Fionna from Adventure Time. I’ve been playing a lot of board games lately. Oh, and I play quidditch! (You can find out all about Crystal’s Quidditch team, the OC Obliviators right here)

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I remember watching the first episode of Lost back in 2004. The hype leading to this new mystery show had both my husband and me intrigued. The problem was that we did not have cable. I know it aired on ABC, but even with our TV antenna completely wrapped in aluminum foil, it was still snowy-looking. We watched the first 4 episodes through staticy snow before we had to give up.

After season 1 was available on DVD, we caught up, got cable, and started watching it weekly. The day after each new episode, I would have “Lost Lunch” with a group of friends (and friends of friends) to discuss the new episode and all of our theories. Occasionally a non-watcher would join us for lunch, and they would hang on our every word as we tried to make connections between older and newer episodes.

To put it shortly, I was a fan.

Why do I tell you all of this? Because I don’t think this experience of fans watching a show all at the same time then getting together for lunch the next day occurs anymore. Lost started before everyone had TiVo. VHS tapes were not as accessible, so you either watched it when it aired, or you had to wait a week to watch the repeat episode before the new episode. Now, more and more people watch episodes when it’s most convenient for them or wait until an entire season is available and watch all the episodes over a weekend. You don’t have time to process, speculate, and theorize with the way we watch TV now.

But I digress. Back to Lost.

The plot of Lost is actually very simple. A plane crashes on a mysterious island, and the survivors of the crash must figure out how to survive on the island. They must live together or die alone. They learn that other people are also on the island. Eventually, through the help of outsiders (people not on the island), some are rescued, but should they leave the island? Through different events, they end up on a plane together again, and (Surprise!) the plane crashes on the same island. This time, they discover the mysteries of the island.

Now all along, I had my theories. First, John Locke had to be bad. He had a cut across his eye that eventually became a scar across his eye. This is the mark of the bad guy. Second, Jack and Locke should have killed Henry Gale in the hatch. I would yell, “Shoot him!” repeatedly at the TV, but they just wouldn’t do it. Imagine how different the show would be if they just would’ve shot him.

The show was a mystery wrapped in an enigma. Curve balls were everywhere. What was up with the polar bear? How does a smoke monster work? Why do babies die? Should they have stayed on the island?

The last season, for those of us that stuck with our island friends, revealed another world. A world in which the plane didn’t crash. A world that was similar, but just a little different, from the world we know. As this sideways world was being revealed, our island friends did, indeed, go back. It’s revealed that [brother] gods controlled the island. That helps explain some of the mystery, but what about the sideways world?

The sideways world was the afterlife. The characters had to find each other in the afterlife. For me, it’s very poetic. It doesn’t exist in worldly time. Hurley is there, but as keeper of the island, he probably lived hundreds of years longer than everyone else. All of that is irrelevant. We see them as the find each other. Their experiences on the island defined them and changed them in such a way that they cross over together and will spend eternity together.

For some of my friends, the sideways world ruined everything. It didn’t answer all the questions the series asked. They “lost” 6 years of their lives to a show without a plan. I disagree!

Now, I freely admit that all of the questions were not answered. In fact, most of the questions were not answered, but that was not the point of the show. The show was about the characters, not the mysteries. People ask, “What was up with Walt?” My answer is, “He was special. He could make things happen. He lived in a world that resembles our world, but it’s not our world” The answer to most questions is simply that’s the way the world is (in the show). I fully accept this as an answer. Other people don’t. They see it as a cop-out, or the writers not knowing how to end the show. Again, I disagree. I believe the over-arching storyline existed from the beginning. I put my faith in Lost from the beginning, and even today, it’s still strong.

In short, Lost was brilliant from beginning to end.

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Thanks Crystal for that SUPER awesome article on Lost. I only watched up to season four so now I’m thinking I should go back and watch all the seasons, if the ending is good like you said!

If you guys are interested in becoming a guest blogger for the Fandom Friday, feel free to email me at whatanerdgirlsays at gmail.com or hit the “contact” tab above