By: E · May 30, 2008

In 2001, 24 debuted on FOX and pushed this mentality on American television in a big way, and though I’ve never really been a big fan of 24, I can’t help but respect the impact it had on modern (i.e. 21st century) television. Having a show that hinges on weekly devotion is a tough needle to thread. If the audience isn’t in from the get go, most likely they won’t dip their feet in the water midseason or, if the reviews turn out to be less than stellar, ever. But 24 had the right blend of star power, great gimmick, mindless suspense, and topical USA rah-rah that it just worked, and arguably still does. Ever since then, you can feel the ripples in the direction the big networks (and even cable networks) have gone with shows. 

I’ve been trying to figure out what in my head is a more satisfying experience, watching a serial drama like say, The Wire, where the shows are linked really only through each season (sure there’s spillover, with a MONSTROUSLY big payoff if you stick through all five, but they are mostly standalone chapters in a linked universe); or a show like Lost, where the nature of the story really makes it necessary to stick through EVERY. SINGLE. EPISODE. And I know it’s like comparing apples and bananas, but…that’s what we’re here for, right?

I’ve gushed about The Wire before (and still will at the drop of a hat), because it truly was the first time I saw a show build up a universe both for the sake of the story, but also for the sake of the overall impact the show had in the end. You can look at other shows that have large amounts of continuity, and I’ll use West Wing since it’s maybe the only U.S. show that didn’t get cancelled that I stuck with through every season. Sure, the show had ongoing stories that were built around the 22 episode seasons, but in the end, it was a document of two terms of a presidency, in the end President Barlet stepped down, President Santos stepped up, life went on as we know it. The Wire is like the West Wing in a lot of ways on its surface. But in the West Wing universe, the only payoff you get for sticking through all seven seasons is to see President Bartlet’s final day. With The Wire, you get a message on the futility of humanity’s efforts against our base desires in a way where you cannot believe you didn’t see it coming the whole time. You were being fooled the whole time in thinking you were learning new stories, but in reality you were being given the keys to all the old stories the whole time. I’d be more specific (because fuck spoilers), but I know for a fact that Y is in the process of watching it so I have to be vague. But I will say that the “ahhh!” moment you get in the closing montage is one that still gives me goosebumps when I think about it to this day. 

Now that I’ve gone back and caught up with the Lost season 4 finale, I have been amazed at the amount of goodwill this show continues to build up while most fans begrudgingly admit that it hides the ball as much as it reveals itself to us. I’m not a Lost apologist (Lostpologist?) by any means, in fact I was the very person who nearly gave up on it during the snoozefest of the first half of Season 3, but also begrudgingly admit that this show is quite simply, as good as it gets when it comes to meaty television. This is especially true lately when all the necessary but sometimes  dragging episodes (get back to the island! when will they get to the fireworks factory?!?) of character backstory development are finito, and every episode is just straight up facepunches of awesomeness. Last night’s two hour finale gave us answers, and for the first time in a while with a Lost season finale, gave us questions that were less “arr?” than they were “huh!” Translation, it may still be mysterious, but I think we’re all starting to see why everything we’ve seen was necessary up to now. We’re talking about a show that’s taken over 80 hours of screentime to build up ONE singular story (yeah yeah, all the off island stories, but whatever, IT’S ALL ONE STORY), and though I may have said differently in the past, I’m willing to admit that most, if not nearly ALL of it, was totally necessary (even though the Wire did it in about 60 eps, and to date, is the best use of plot economy I’ve ever experienced period). 

But just keep in mind, we’re in a day and age where these kinds of stories are possible to see…and in the case of Lost, basically free of charge on network television, when it wasn’t too long ago that everything on tv was episodic sitcoms and hour long episodic dramas. And last night’s season finale should make us all pause and be thankful for that. And now with a lengthy hiatus in front of us, the more pertinent question is to all of the unitiated…how much longer are you going to wait to get caught up?