What a Novel Idea

We're all so close to Lost that it's hard, if not impossible, to step back and review it as you would any TV show. That's the goal of EW.com's Ken Tucker in his new review of Lost - not a recap, not a theory, not commentary, just a review - and as it turns out, it's actually a good show! Duh. He gives the show an A- and says it's the commitment to character along with the mythology that elevates it from other fantasy/mystery/sci-fi shows out there. Again, duh.

This, though, caught my eye:

Here's how much of a Lost non-cultist I am: I thought the fan-despised characters of Nikki and Paulo made sense. I spent parts of Lost's first season saying, "Why don't any of those other tattered survivors in the background ever interact with the stars?" Similarly now, I hope some new characters push aside, however briefly, ones I don't much care about (sorry, soap-opera-y Sun and Jin).

I agree with him. The idea of bringing background characters to the forefront was completely sound - it worked perfectly with Arzt, which everyone forgets. It's the clumsy execution that did Nikki and Paolo in: the writers pretended that our main characters knew them all along, even though the audience didn't. When Nikki randomly appeared for the first time and shouted "Why didn't you tell us this before, Hurley?", they lost the audience for good. And it also didn't help that the duo was simply uninteresting: a whiny couple that look like generically hot models.

Anyway, I know this post feels like it's straight out of 2007, but it's fun to reminisce.

TAGS: Nikki And Paolo
POST TOOLS:

( Add your comments )

Recent Entries:
· Charlotte: The Secret Behind the Emmy Nomination
· Rediscovering Lost
· More Michael Emerson Hubbub

[ READER COMMENTS ]

What a Novel Idea

Add your comments...

We kindly ask that you keep your comments relevant to this blog entry. Abusive or inappropriate comments or comments that are specifically promotional in nature may be removed.