Lost

           In Lost, narrative complexity is not just a unique format; it practically keeps the audience glued to the screen. Lost doesn’t wait around for you to understand what’s going on. From the first episode, the audience jumps headfirst into the unknown. Episode 1 begins in the midst of the plane crash that leaves the characters stranded on what appears to be a deserted island. Soon, however, as night falls some strange noises and falling trees in the forest hint that things are not what they seem. This is not just a normal survival story.

Then comes the part that makes Lost truly different. The next scene is not the survivors waiting around, wondering what it is they saw and heard. The next scene takes place on the plane, moments before the crash. These flashbacks occur throughout the series and give insight about the characters from what they were doing on the plane to their pasts, long before the flight. This is innovative because not only does the audience see the characters develop after they crash on the island. There is also a kind of “backwards” character development going on, where the audience sees why these characters are the way they are on the island. This means the characters are much more fleshed out than the average television characters and makes their stories more intriguing and important for the audience. You also see the same events from the perspective of different characters. This lets the audience put the pieces together themselves to see the whole complex picture of what is occurring during just one event.

Lost gives as little information as possible at the beginning of the first episode. This makes every bit of detail afterward seem more important and more interesting for the audience. There is so much mystery with so little clues that the viewers simply have  to keep watching to figure out what is going on and what will happen next. The more you watch the more you need to know what is happening on the island. That is why a show like Lost  is so popular. There is no way to get closure without watching the series to the end.