SHAME ON YOU!

You know who you are. You’re the people that bitterly complain that nothing’s happened all season on LOST. And now you don’t watch. You, the fair weather fan, are jeopardizing the one show that’s managed to fill the void in my heart left by the untimely death of Buffy the Vampire Slayer in 2003.

And now another show has bit the dust. Last night we saw the season finale of The OC. I hear you laughing. The OC? Are you serious? That show was lame. No it wasn’t. It was funny, irreverent and utterly ridiculous and I loved it.

To examine why The OC died is to study the evolutionary course of episodic drama. Many a comparison has been made between The OC and its predecessor, Beverly Hills 90210 (hence forth referred to simply as Niners.) Niners lasted for ten years while The OC burnt out in under four. Sure, those final three seasons of Niners were atrocious (Vanessa Marcil as Tori Spelling’s illegitimate half sister/competitive ice skater? Blech) but the story telling was [relatively] strong until the seventh season.

I recently caught several episodes of Niners on the Soap Network and the show doesn’t hold a candle to The OC. The writing is dismal, the outfits, even by early 90’s standards, are comical, and the soundtrack (cheesy guitar riffs, anyone?) is obnoxious. But what Niners had that The OC so tragically lacked was pacing. Those writers managed to drag out the Brenda-Dylan-Kelly love triangle for nearly three seasons. Dylan’s father’s mysterious death in Season 4 was revisited again in Seasons 5 and he was brought back to life in Season 10. On The OC, a love triangle arc could be resolved in under four episodes. Marriages, career changes, arrests, etc… never lasted more than half a season. New characters were introduced and then removed in record time. All of this made for exciting, albeit unrealistic programming, but it didn’t encourage the show’s longevity.

So, what does this have to do with LOST? Many people argue that the writers haven't resolved any of the mysteries central to the show's core. They are frustrated that none of the storylines have yielded new information. That’s called pacing, people. I’ll remind you of another Fox episodic drama, and personal fave of mine, The X-Files. Oh, poor, sweet X-Files. For six, blissful seasons we were teased with black goop, alien-human hybrids and the omnipresent but mysterious Cigarette Smoking Man. Then the movie came out and explained everything. Now all they had to do was prove it. But the magic was gone. We, the viewers, knew too much, and the only thing left to do was change the channel.

Its my belief that LOST’s success is based on its ability to keep the viewer guessing. When a mystery is resolved (i.e. the identity of The Others – Scruffy, Walt-stealing “Zeke” was way scarier than poor, bumbling, possibly gay “Tom”) the balance of power shifts from the writer to the viewer. We now have the information, and if we like the way the narrative is headed, we’ll continue watching. If this new development displeases us, perhaps we’ll stop. But not having any information at all, keeps us intrigued, and that keeps us tuned in on Wednesday nights.

Perhaps the demise of The OC, and the pacing backlash that’s assaulted LOST this season stems from the changing pace of today’s society. We’re no longer content to watch our dramas unfold slowly and thoughtfully. We’ve become fixated on resolution with little regard to how that resolution is achieved. So, my dear, sweet readers: Use those DVRs wisely. Slow down and savor the LOST magic. Because its not always about how the story ends – its about what happened along the way.