For me, the most interesting part of the discussion we had in class last Thursday was the idea of omniscience or the lack thereof in Lost.  I was really captured by this idea that although we, the collective viewer often discover much about the island and it’s inhabitants (old and new) at a similar rate to the protagonists like Jack, Kate, Sawyer, and Locke, the show’s exposition of narrative enables us to learn more and more about each individual during each new episode.  Thus, as Jason stated, we quickly become more knowledgable than any single character on the island.  However, at the same time there is so much that still must be discovered in the narrative past, present and future that often we are even more overwealmed than the characters.  When thinking about all of this, I began to imagine myself as a writer on the show.  Although I don’t consider writing to be one of my stronger skills in the world of film and television I couldn’t help but think of how much fun it could be to be writing for this show.  Despite the simple concept of the show, the collection of characters and almost perfect exposition of narrive creates an incredible depth to draw from.  People always comment on how they can’t believe that Prison Break is on its fourth season – and everyone always agrees because the name and concept of the show seem so one-dimensional.  But is Lost really that different.  Maybe if they’d named the show something like “Stuck on an Island” or “Plane Crash” or whatever the Prison Break equivalent might be then people would be saying the same things about Lost.  In fact one could even argue that the setting of Lost is even more restrictive than that of Prison Break, assuming that in Prison Break they’re actively escaping.  In Lost, they haven’t moved (with the exception of time) in the shows existence.

In thinking of this, I realized how much emphasis this places on the three things – The Flashback, The Flashforward and the ability to introduce new, interesting characters despite the presummedly restricted setting.  In the beginning, the flashbacks are crucial for the viewer to begin to understand the shows principle characters in relation to each other and the real world.  As the show progresses, the Flashforward is introduced and opens up the use of time in both directions.  This is also important as is reveals that a “rescue” from the island takes place eventually.  Lastly, the character development of both ‘The others’ and the crew from the ship, the Kahana.  It’s strange that I know writing for the show would be incredibley difficult and stressful and yet each time when I finish watching an episode I’m convinced that the narrative and plot development seem so easy and logical that I could have written it myself.  I guess creative hindsight is 20/20 but I would obviously love to sit in on a week or two or writing and see how it all comes together.