Why ‘Once Upon a Time’ Is the New ‘Lost’ : Part Deux

Article first published as Why ‘Once Upon a Time’ Is the New ‘Lost’ : Part Deux on Blogcritics.

I began my Jerome-ing the TV Landscape column just about a year ago, and for my 25th column, I decided to go back and revisit the very first. Entitled Why Once Upon a Time Is the New Lost, it examines the similarities between the ABC shows, which share writers and producers. After watching last night’s Once Upon a Time mid-season finale, the parallels are even more striking, providing new fodder to muse over, without repeating the same points as before.

At the end of season three of Lost, the Oceanic Six left the island. This was a huge deal because it took many of the main characters home and turned a corner in the storytelling, focusing less on the characters’ pasts and more on the present and future. In fact, when talking about the series as a whole, this makes a very specific break, and Lost can be discussed as two separate halves that fit together nicely.

Once Upon a Time is only midway through its third year, but something very similar has happened. As the most recent episode ends, Emma (Jennifer Morrison) and Henry (Jared Gilmore) leave Storybrooke, their memories wiped, and everyone else returns to the Enchant Forest. This effectively find the characters split up and returning home, which obviously ruins the premise of the show.

“We have to go back!”

Those words, echoed repeatedly by Jack (Matthew Fox) on Lost apply. The aforementioned episode doesn’t even close out before Hook (Colin O’Donoghue) is knocking on Emma’s door, trying to tell her that the family she doesn’t remember is in danger. Emma is the Savior, as Jack was, and they have to be where the action is in order to save the day. I don’t know how Emma will get back and if that journey will be quick (it’s likely to be a great deal easier for her than it was for Jack, though both south places not on any map), but that has to be an immediate focus when the show is next on the air.

A hero’s accomplishments are not just given, they must be earned. Emma has done a few notable things, such as breaking the original curse, but she hasn’t really lived up to her power or potential yet. I do not know if this will be her moment, but it seems an opportune time, based on the tiny bit of magic we’ve seen her produce before now and her being in a unique position, outside of the Enchanted Forest, to do things those within surely cannot.

Plus, Emma’s choice between Hook and Neal (Michael Raymond-James) is eerily similar to Kate’s (Evangeline Lilly) decision of Jack or Sawyer (Josh Holloway). You could compare Emma to Jack, who had Kate or Juliet (Elizabeth Mitchell), but the swarthy, smarmy Hook is absolutely a Sawyer, so I like the first triangle better.

This entire fall run, in which a number of main characters were in Neverland instead of Storybrooke, feels like when several of the castaways went back in time and worked for the Dharma Initiative in the 1970s. They were separated from their friends, but their actions were still relevant to the normal setting. They were in an unfamiliar place, but adapted as they needed to in order to get by, biding their time until they could get home.

Of course, the daddy of all comparisons is that of daddy issues. Lost‘s Jack and Christian (John Terry) have nothing on Rumple (Robert Carlyle) and Peter Pan (Robbie Kay). There is some death and disapproval involved, but the most similar thing about both is that a father and son just can’t get along, since one show takes things to a whole other plane above the other. A plane that won’t crash like Oceanic 815 did.

Emilie de Ravin was benched twice. Granted, Lost left her out her for an entire season and Once Upon a Time just skipped most of the fall episodes, but still, she was missing and her absence was felt.

Lastly, as OUAT fans saw in the preview for the spring return, Rebecca Mader, a Lost alum, will be playing the Wicked Witch of the West. Funnily enough, Lost also contained Wizard of Oz references, with Ben (Michael Emerson) originally claiming his name was Henry Gale.

Sadly, Once Upon a Time still falls short of Lost. Even in the best of episodes, there are usually lots of places to poke holes in the writing or the continuity on OUAT. Yet, it remains an entertaining series, so should it never rise to Lost‘s lofty heights, it doesn’t shame its forefather, either.

Lost finale leaves many viewers elated, confused

     ABC's Lost, arguably a significant cultural phenomenon, came to an end last night after six seasons with the two and a half hour long episode, "The End".  The ending was cryptic, as much of the show had been, and today theories are debated back and forth around water coolers and over the web.  Was the island real?  Did any of it happen?  Was it purgatory?  Where did they go at the end?  Why wasn't Michael (Harold Perrineau) at the church?  Why was Penny (Sonya Walger) there?  No one knows the answers for sure, and with Damon Lindelof and Carlton Cuse, the show's creative force, taking a media break, no one is likely to know anytime soon.  But that doesn't stop anyone from trying to figure it out.

     The episode centered, as most of the series has, on Jack (Matthew Fox).  After taking up Jacob's (Mark Pellegrino) mantle as island protector, he gave up his life to save the island.  The series began with Jack's opening in the jungle, and ended with that same eye closing in death in the same spot.  Vincent the dog was there, too, making it a perfect bookend.

     I always thought Jack the too obvious choice for the job, and wanted to see Hurley (Jorge Garcia) get it.  I was not disappointed then when Jack handed the reigns to Hurley just before his sacrifice.  Even better, Ben (Michael Emerson) was chosen as Hurley's number two guy, giving him both a happy ending and a position he had always desired.  Though sadly we did not get to see how Hurley and Ben fared, it was revealed that they seemed to do a good job together.  Even more curious, what happened to the six survivors who left the island on the plane?

     In the alternate world, things ended in a much more satisfying way.  Each island dweller remembered their time during the series, though it seemed to have never happened in this reality.  It brought them together and reunited all the couples of the show, including ones separated by death.  Most notable was Sawyer (Josh Holloway) and Juliet (Elizabeth Mitchell), which left Kate (Evangeline Lilly) for Jack, and prevented anyone from losing love altogether.

     Many of the major recurring characters and dead main characters appeared, all of them with their names added to the opening credits under "Starring", making for a lengthy list, and hardly leaving anyone to be listed as "Guest starring".  It ended with almost everyone important gathered together in a church, a bright light taking them on the next place.  Each had great moments in the finale, but unfortunately, I do not have time to touch on everyone in this article.

     My theory is that they all died in the original plane crash, and that the island was a way for them to sort out their flaws and learn to rely on one another.  Most of the main characters that died over the run had a breakthrough shortly before they passed.  Also, Christian (John Terry) said that they had created this place, and though he may have meant the church they were gathering in, I took it to mean the island and that world.  What cemented the theory for me was the grim shots of the lifeless plane wreckage over the ending credits, showing no survivors.  But feel free to make your own theories and debate them.  Until CUse and Lindelof come forward, that's all we can hope to do.  The only real mystery left without any hint was, what ever happened to Walt (Malcolm David Kelley)?

Lost wows, saddens, as things wrap up

    Last night's episode of ABC's Lost, "The Candidate", like most this season, blew my socks off.  Or it would have, had I been wearing socks.  The story is winding down with just two more installments before the series finale, which airs on a Sunday, mind you, instead of the usual Tuesday, so don't miss it.  Also, it was announced today that the finale will be TWO AND A HALF HOURS long!!!  Gone are the single-character stories, though a large part of the flash sideways this week was Jack (Matthew Fox) attempting to help Locke (Terry O'Quinn).  But on the island, everyone is gearing up for a big showdown, and more than couple of characters left the island for good.

     The biggest, most emotionally moving death scene that Lost has delivered in years concerned that Kwons, Sun (Yunjin Kim) and Jin (Daniel Dae Kim, no relation).  Hours after being reunited, the two having been separated in the world and the time line for over three years, Jin refused to leave Sun to die.  And so he stayed in the sinking submarine with her, allowing them to pass from the world together.  It was incredibly sad, a fitting ending to two of the original cast.  Sure, moments later we saw sideways Jin alive and well walking down the hall of a hospital.  But in the story of the show as we know it, he's gone.

     Which begs the question.  Is the flash sideways our happy ending?  Most of the main characters of Lost have died over the years, but almost every single one has been revealed to be alive and well, usually happier, in the sideways universe.  With only nine main characters left on the island, perhaps this odd parallel is as close to satisfying closure as we are going to get for many.

     Speaking of the nine, Jack, Sawyer (Josh Holloway), Kate (Evangeline Lilly), and Hurley (Jorge Garcia) crawled out of the watery death trap and onto the beach.  These four, along with Locke, who has been recast as the big villain, have always been the core of the series.  They seem unlikely to die, at least not until the finale.  The other four did not star in all six seasons, although Desmond appeared in all six, and only one was in this week's episode.  Ben (Michael Emerson) and Richard (Nestor Carbonell) seem likely to simply pop up and get a little icing before disappearing.  Claire (Emilie de Ravin) could go either way, as she seems to be the henchwoman of Locke.  And Desmond (Henry Ian Cusick), perhaps my favorite character, surely figures very prominently into the end, but even his use will probably be up an hour or two before the curtain.  It's sad to see these important, but not quite essential, characters in their swan songs, but in a show as sweeping as Lost, it's time to lose them so we can wind it all down.

     Original cast member Sayid (Naveen Andrews) also bowed out in heroic self-sacrifice, although not much was said about it afterwards.  My biggest regret was the quick, apparent death of Frank (Jeff Fahey), who had more to do in previous seasons, when he wasn't a main character, and then all we saw of his demise was a door slam into him.  He has to be dead, or he would have attempted to help our heroes, but it was a sad, dismissive way to go.  I wish he had gone out earlier, in some better fashion.

     The final season of Lost will continue for two more Tuesdays at 9pm, and then conclude on Sunday, May 23th on ABC.

Lost leaving viewers more... well, lost

     Four hours of the final season of ABC's Lost have already been aired in the last three weeks, which is about a quarter of the season.  Despite being promised many answers as the season progresses, so far there is much more confusion than explanation.  We saw the island on the bottom of the sea, and as many expected, Oceanic 815 landed without problem at LAX in 2004.  However, our favorite castaways are also still on the island, clearly not at the bottom of the ocean, and I have no idea why.  Gone are the flashbacks, flash forwards, and time jumps, but here to stay is presumably either alternate realities or parallel dimensions.

     The people that landed in Los Angeles are clearly not the same ones we met throughout the series.  There are a number of differences in their lives from the ones we previously saw.  Hurley (Jorge Garcia) is lucky, not unlucky.  John Locke (Terry O'Quinn) is planning a wedding to his fiance, Helen (Katey Sagal, Married With Children, Sons of Anarchy, Futurama) and seemingly getting along with his father.  And the paths of our beloved characters keep crossing uncontrollably.  Kate (Evangeline Lilly) unwittingly kidnaps Claire (Emilie de Ravin) during her escape from the police.  Locke talks to Jack (Matthew Fox) at baggage claim, then after seeking work from Hurley and Rose (L. Scott Caldwell), he runs into Benjamin Linus (Michael Emerson) while substitute teaching.  Seemingly it is destiny that they meet.

     Also curious is that the episodes featuring certain characters are airing in the same order as in the first season.  First we had a hodge podge in the two hour premiere, then Kate was the first standard episode, and Locke was second.  Following that logic, Jack and then the Kwans (Daniel Dae Kim and Yunjin Kim) should be next.  Of course, not every character from the first season is still starring, and there are plenty of new ones, so it seems doubtful this pattern will last.

    Back on the island in 2007, the Smoke Monster posing as Locke showed Sawyer (Josh Holloway) a list of names of the survivors that Jacob (Mark Pellegrino) had written on a rock, and most were crossed out.  All the names left were people Jacob was shown visiting throughout their lives in last season's finale. Except he visited Kate, and she wasn't on the list.  And all six of Hurley's lottery numbers were taken, so it must be significant that she isn't there, not just a simple edit mistake.  Is she something special and different, or did Jacob just not find her worthy when he visited her?  And does Kwon refer to Sun or Jin, and if it is Jin, is that why Sun wasn't tossed back to the 70's with everyone else?  Not only that, Jacob had a thing for J names, as the numbers in question name Jack, John, James, Jin (maybe), and Jarrah (Naveen Andrews).  But that leaves out Hurley, though Hugo can be spelled with a J for Spanish names.  All are male, too.  Also, screen caps reveal Claire's last name as #313, Charlie's (Dominic Monaghan) as #195, and other last names from island characters, including Linus and Goodspeed, which could refer to several people.  Why?  Weird.

     Lots more questions and answers await, and Lost will continue to air Tuesdays at 9pm on ABC.