In Defense of Lost - A Spoiler Free Look

Lost is a series which is as close to marmite as you can get, a true 'love it or hate it' show! I don't mind admitting that I was among the 'love it' brigade. I have all six seasons on DVD and I regularly re watch them. I even have the Lost Encyclopedia, such is my love for the show. While bear a lot of love for Lost, I can understand why it is beyond a lot of people. It is mental, the most barmiest of shows. There has never been a series like it and there probably never will be again. Also, that ending! What the hell was all of that about? I 'get' the ending. I totally understand it and I accept it. I also think that it was the only way the show could've ended! Anyway, I'll touch on 'that ending' in a future post. In the mean time I've got to convince you all to watch the damn show so here goes!

Lost was epic in its scope!

Firstly, I don't think that anyone can deny that Lost heralded  a dawn which brought many popular shows to our screen! Lost was the first 'movie-like' TV show, a series which redefined what it meant to make television shows. Suddenly everyone wanted to make event television. Had Lost not been a success then Once Upon A Time would almost certainly have remained in the heads of its creators. Adam Horowitz and Edward Kitsis were writers on Lost and it's their success on that show which convinced ABC to give Once Upon A Time a shot (a show equally as mental as Lost when you think about it). Yes, 24 came before Lost and there's no denying the influence that show has had. Lost was different though. It was epic in its stunts (which other show has featured the immediate aftermath of an airline crash in its pilot episode) and it was endless in its questions. It got people hooked and it created a cult following not seen before.

The mythology of lost stretched far
beyond what we saw on screen.

One of the big draws to Lost was its mythology, a feature which many other shows can only dream of. It is more than what we see on screen! It has a history that stretches back to the Romans and a future that extends far beyond the end of the show. The thing is that we are only ever spoon fed tit-bits which means that a lot of the show is based on our own interpretations and that is no bad thing. Which other show has provided as much discussion as Lost? The internet is full of web pages and forums discussing Lost and its concepts.

It is a show about life and death, about hope and love and about that age old argument of science versus faith. Above all though it's a show about redemption. All of our characters find themselves on that plane for different reasons but they are all searching for redemption of some kind. Aside from the actual characters, the island is also a character in itself. It has a history which the show only really touches on. That makes it a show ideal to be drawn from when writing fan-fiction!

The Doctor, a man who can change his face and travels in
a little blue box makes more sense than a magic island?

Ok, so it did get a bit crazy and there were times when the show perhaps lost its way. When it was good though it was beyond great! Its a show which requires multiple viewings to really get an understanding of and it's a show which does take time. One of the most common complaints I hear from the 'hate it' brigade is that "It doesn't make sense". These are of course the same people who love Vampire Diaries (because of course vampires make total sense) and Doctor Who (a time traveling alien who traverses the entirety of time and space in a blue box that's bigger on the inside than the outside). They were avid viewers of Heroes (a show where people with powers are hunted by a psychopath who eats their brains in order to gain their powers) and they never miss the latest marvel films (featuring a man who turns green and gains 500 Ibs when hes angry, a Norse god and a super-soldier from WW2)! Don't get me wrong, I love marvel, thought Heroes was great and I'm a self confessed whovian. The point I'm trying to make is that the whole 'it doesn't make sense' argument is invalid because it makes about as much sense as half of what we watch!

Give it a go, you won't be disappointed!

Give it a try and I guarantee that you'll be hooked by the end of season 1. Season 2's a bit slow in parts and the early part of season 3 takes a bit of getting through but the rewards are there. It is a show that needs you to stick with it, a show that needs you to leave any preconceptions at the door. Just watch it, enjoy it and what ever you do, suspend any ideas of reality you may have!

The Suicide Squad Trailer - A Closer Peek

Comic Con saw a number of things this year but one of the most eagerly awaited (aside from the Batman Vs Superman: Dawn of Justice trailer)was the premiere of the Suicide Squad trailer. I'll admit to being a little bit underwhelmed by the fuss over Suicide Squad before I saw the trailer. The casting of Jared Leto as the Joker was a big concern for me. Since the trailer my anticipation level has spiked though so I took a closer look.

00:06.40

"It's taken some work but I finally have them. The worst of the worst." explains Amanda Waller. In the comic books she has often been responsible for directing the suicide squad missions so it's no surprise to see her taking center stage here. "Let's just say I put them in a hole and threw away the hole." she then replies when asked where she has them.

00:34.57

It then becomes apparent that some of them have super powers with the first direct link to the wider DC universe being made when Waller explains "I have seen things. Maybe Superman was some kind of beacon for them to creep back from the shadows." This first glimpse at Carla Delevingne's Enchantress suggests that flashbacks could play a role in the finished film with us perhaps seeing how the 'worst of the worst' became just that!

01:04.97

Then we get our first glimpse of Margot Robbie as the deranged and damaged Harley Quinn, a haunting version of the Bee Gees hit I Started a Joke beginning to play.

01:27.67

We then see a number of other characters all locked in their cells including an angry looking Will Smith as Deadshot before the frightening Killer Croc makes his bow. Loving the Hannibal Lector look here. Also, its interesting how the characters appear to be at different levels of incarceration!

01:43.82

And here they are, the suicide squad in all their psychopathic beauty.

01:46.80

 "So that's it ah, we're the patsy's.We're some kind of suicide squad." Deadshot asks. By this point in the trailer it's becoming clear who the major players are in the squad with Deadshot and Harley Quinn receiving most of the attention.

01:57.03

At this point we also get to see the characters beyond their reputation. Deadshot hugs a little girl (almost certainly his daughter) and Rick Flagg cosies up to a woman. This is good because it shows that these traditional villains are being rounded out rather than being portrayed as out and out bad guys. They have families and this could also be one of the ways Waller controls the suicide squad.

02:19:00

Our first glimpse of The Joker, all be it just a gloved hand. This clip suggests that we'll see how Harley Quinn became who she is. Traditionally, Harley Quinn was a psychiatrist at Arkham Asylum who became infatuated by The Joker. Going by the trailer, her descent into insanity could have a very dark theme with The Joker appearing to torture her!

02:23.33

And here it is, the definative proof that Suicide Squad will be cannon in the DC Universe alongside Batman Vs Superman: Dawn of Justice. Ben Afflecks Batman riding the roof of Harley Quinns (and also the Jokers?) car! This is almost certainly a flashback, possibly showing how Harley Quinn was captured in the first place.

02:43.57

And Jared Letos iteration of The Joker makes his grand entrance! Jack Nicholson was gangster, Heath Ledger was terrorist and now we have Jared Leto, the pure crazy version of Batmans greatest foe! The look is spot on, the voice is spot on and all my doubts are no more!

02:48.3

Our final shot of the trailer is notable for one thing, the absence of The Joker. This has been the case for much of the protional material though with The Joker seeming seperate from the other 'worst of the worst' characters. Does this mean that The Joker is the films big bad rather than being an actual Suicide Squad member? That would certainly mix things up considering a certain Harley Quinns devotion to him.



All in all, you can't not be excited for this film! I love the fact that it's going to be a part of the wider cinematic universe. Rather than going completely head to head with Marvel, Warner Bros are setting up a much darker world with DC. Gone is the campness and gothic nature of the Batman of old, gone is the all American feel of the Superman of old. Here we have a gritier, meatier, more dangerous world which immediately sets it apart from Marvel...in a good way I might add! Rather than endlessly discussing which is better, DC or Marvel, maybe we should be discussing their differences and celebrating them! This trailer certainly shows that Suicide Squad will be about as far from Marvel as you can get! If you need the proof, why not take a look at the whole trailer below!