Dear Creators of Lost,

Lost was a great idea. I loved watching the ups and downs of a bunch of survivors on a stranded island. We’ve all imagined what it would be like: who we’d want to be stranded with, what CD we’d want to bring, how beautiful and peaceful, yet terrifying it all would be. It was great to see a well-written drama about a timeless fantasy.

Then it got kind of mysterious. That was cool. Because…the whole ‘lost on a deserted island’ thing can start to get old, and we’d start to wonder why the plane was packed with so many tarps — who knew planes stowed away endless amounts of tarps? And my, those are crafty everyday civilians. Look at how Locke just upped and used bamboo to make a store-quality crib? Boy, water bottles are sure sturdy if they can survive a fiery crash.

Then it got really mysterious. Still kinda fun and I liked trying to figure out all those crazy questions.

Then it got all mysterious. And there was no more engaging narrative, no more development of characters, no more side stories about love and hope and death and compassion.

Then it was just an endless stream of episodes where you just created more questions and never really answered any.

But — I’ll hand it to ya, that season finale made me think perhaps my dutiful watching of a show I no longer liked just may have been worth it. The finale sure was a zinger that left my jaw dropped and my eyes bulging as I squealed maniacally and jumped up and down on the sofa.

Then…this season. More questions than answers. Again. No resolutions, no explanations, no character development, not much plot. Just…questions. Although I’m sure there’s a great drinking game there (look– another confusing twist, everybody drink!), all I can do is groan and sigh.

The writers’ strike has been hard. Hard for writers, hard for production crews, and hard for people liking to relax in front of the TV at night. But perhaps it’s also an opportunity to look at your show, gather together all those writers and creators who, in darkened rooms, wired on coffee and donuts thinking up subtext and twists and connection (I imagine color coded sticky notes and strings zigzagging around a room). Gather together, take a deep breath, and try wrapping up one or two of those lose plots lines…withOUT unraveling another.

Sincerely,

The Verisimilitude Family