By TERRY MORROW
Monday, February 05, 2007
It's far too soon to say if "Lost" (returning 10 p.m., EST/PST, Wednesday, ABC) has returned to form. But judging only by the opener, it's safe to assume that giving up on "Lost" might not be a good idea at this point.
Sure the island adventure has been one grand tease for over a year now, but this 2007 opener proves that "Lost" is more than just the big central mystery.
This is an inspired hour of television, showcasing the show's best and meatiest characters _ Jack, Kate and Sawyer.
It's dangerous, fast, thrilling and elusive.
"Lost" is trying to please its alienated fans, but the 2007 opener doesn't provide answers to the mysteries they are impatient to find answers to.
So if "Lost" is too coy for you, this return, which launches 16 consecutive new episodes, will not be satisfying. However, that doesn't mean this isn't one heck of a roller coaster ride in every other respect.
In fact, "Lost" is back in fine form, a high-octane ride, quickly paced and just as engaging as a character study. (This week's flashback involves Juliet, the wayward nurse who is among those villainous Others. This will only prove to be a wise move if the rumored Jack/Juliet romance develops later in the series.)
If "Lost" is going to tease us, it is at least doing it with great style, as evidenced in tonight's opener.
Picking up at the exact point it left us in the fall, Jack (Matthew Fox) is trying to hold Ben and the Others at bay in the operating room, and hoping Kate (Evangeline Lily) and Sawyer (Josh Holloway, who has carved out one of TV's greatest anti-heroes ever) can escape their captors.
But it doesn't take long until he learns his plot is backfiring: Kate and Sawyer have nowhere to go.
As "Lost" hours go, this is one of the better ones, if only for the chance to see movement _ that's physical movement, not plot development _ occur.
There's also indication that last fall's sticking-with-The-Others-too-long story will shift focus, delivering us back to the island and our favorite castaways.
If you have stayed with "Lost" for this long, you might as well stay for the rest of the ride. Giving up now would only mean you've wasted several hours on a story that has yet to be fully realized.
Yes, it can be frustrating, but "Lost" is, apparently, willing to give us a thrill here and there to appease us.
And that's more than almost any series is willing to do this far into its run.
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