They are the faithful legions of
hit show “Lost,” one of the most active, diligent and fervent fan bases
in television who had to be here Saturday night for a special preview
of their favorite program, which begins its inexorable march toward a
long-awaited conclusion after six riveting seasons.
In the end, about 12,000 descended on a
beach to be the first to view the opening hour of the show’s final
season premiere, which airs nationally Tuesday. Many camped out
overnight in the rain to land the best spots on the sand to learn fresh
revelations about the survivors of Oceanic flight 815.
But, a yearning for new knowledge about the deep
mysteries of the show was just part of it. This group, some of whom
landed on the island after coaxing early graduation and birthday
presents or begging for donations on Facebook, discovered a new sense
of community among the others.
After having come to know each other mostly by
screen names and Twitter handles where they’d weigh every line of
dialogue, investigate every “Easter egg,” and scrutinize every literary
reference, they used the event as the ultimate in-person meet-up. Six
years after the island mystery launched, the show’s virtual community
has become a tangible one.
“I love the show, but it’s not the show that keeps us going,” said
who co-hosts a popular podcast called “The Transmission,” with his
wife, Jen. “It’s what you’re seeing here. They feel like friends, even
though we’ve never met them and they’ve been riding along with us for
four or five years. I seriously doubt there will be another TV show
that will create this kind of fandom.”
Surely, when “Lost” was created, this was not part of the plan. Executive producers
confounding Dharma Initiative, the elusive smoke monster, and that
wacky time traveling. Neither could foresee the show’s fans would
become such an integral part of their professional lives.
“It’s a little bit, I think, like the story you hear
people say when you ask them ‘how did you and your wife meet?'” Cuse
said. “Well, we were friends and we hung out enough and, after a while,
we realized we’d fallen in love. We were doing weird things on the show
and we were interested in people’s feedback. And, suddenly, the
Internet existed as a medium to allow us to interact and pretty soon we
were engaged in this dialogue with the fans that turned out to be a
really meaningful part of our experience as show runners.”
Lindelof, who calls himself a “
as Whedon cultivated an online relationship with viewers until “Buffy”
went off the air in 2003.
By the time “Lost” premiered a year later, the
Internet was emerging as an entertainment medium and its rabid global
following had a cozy place to convene and theorize. Lindelof and Cuse
seized the moment, participating in chats and podcasts, creating
original content on “Lost” Web sites, and also alternative “Lost”
experiences in print and online.
“The Net dropped the barrier and helped us create
what we felt is a more direct communication,” Lindelof said. “But at
the same time, it’s not like fans are coming into our office and
hanging out with us. We just realized that there was a community out
there who really wanted to dial into the show in a more intimate level
than a lot of other people and it makes us excited to facilitate that
for them.”
But who are these voracious fans that have affectionately nicknamed the two show runners “Darlton”? They are people such as
Or sorority sisters
“It’s so intelligent and addictive,” said Johnson, of
“As soon as you get a little bit of that taste, you have to know more.
It’s somewhat of an abusive relationship where you’re being told you’re
wrong over and over again.”
It’s about the puzzle of it all, theorizes
podcasts — “Lost” devotees who traveled from as far away as
“I think people are drawn to things they can’t figure out,” she said.
“I’ve been into shows before but there’s never been this level of
storytelling and there’s never been anything this intriguing.”
“I hope they leave some questions unanswered so that
the story can live on forever,” said Bertelsen, who traveled alone and
camped out for nine hours before the premiere with other members of
Ozawa’s group, including 56-year-old
“It’s a once-in-a-lifetime kind of thing,” said
who attended the screening and noted that the success of “Lost” is
measured beyond Nielsen ratings. Although “Lost” has never attracted
the audience that the network’s other top hits have, and some viewers
gave up because of its notoriously complex plotting, its value extends
beyond the TV screen.
“I think it’s captured people the way no other show
has,” he added. “Grey’s Anatomy” and “Desperate Housewives” “are
fantastic and people are passionate about them, but this has a
different sense about it.”
So what if every second of “Lost” footage is pored
over around the globe, and every creative decision dissected and
studied to death? “Darlton” wouldn’t have it any other way.
“As a writer, I think it’s great that there are
certain writers like J.D. Salinger who really appreciate writing in a
vacuum,” Cuse said. “But I think most writers want to feel that people
appreciate what they’ve written. So, for us, it’s beyond a dream come
true that people not only care about what we write, but that they
actually scrutinize what we write. That’s maybe the greatest thing that
can happen to you as a writer.”
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