Why I Love LOST: The Payoff

Now, I love LOST. That is not to say I haven't gotten frustrated at times, but overall I'm pretty happy with it. It's like reading a long novel, or series of novels. You don't get a payoff immediately, but it does come and usually it's better because of the build up.

Case in point: One of my favorite authors is Tom Clancy. In Cardinal of the Kremlin, set in the mid-1980s, he introduced a character named John Clark. All we really know about him at that point is that he's one of those guys who does the sort of things we never hear about on the news unless something goes terribly wrong - and sometimes not even then. He is also found in Clear and Present Danger and Sum of All Fears.

In 1993, Without Remorse was published. It is the story of John Kelly, code named John Clark. This book is set about 1970, at the height of the Vietnam War. Kelly is friendly with a particular member of the Coast Guard. He's a former Navy Seal, one of the first, recovering from the shocking death of his pregnant wife and later the brutal murder of his girlfriend. Because of who she had been and who killed her, Kelly is also wanted for the murders of several, well, pimps. Though most of those hunting him think the world is better off without the men he's killed, he still must be brought to justice. A boat race ensues and his Coastie friend sees his ship go down and Kelly die.

He's reborn as John Clark, black ops specialist for the CIA - the original Jack Bauer, if you will. Well over 20 years later, in Debt of Honor, the two meet again, in one of the ultimate payoffs. Needing a place to conduct operations on the Mariana Islands, Kelly/Clark is reunited with his friend - the only one on the islands able to get word out about the Japanese takeover. When the two come face to face, the Coastie does everything but pass out, finally bringing himself to utter two words. "You're dead."

Now, if you read the books as they came out, the payoff only took about 2 years as Debt of Honor was published only two years after Without Remorse, and you wouldn't have all the other books in the middle - unless you reread them all, of course. Others, like me, didn't read them until later. Since Without Remorse is the first book chronologically, I read it first. Several thousand pages and months later, the payoff came.

LOST is the same way. It's not a procedural drama where almost everything is wrapped up in a neat little bow at the end of an hour - with only the occasional "To Be Continued" - usually coming either in a sweeps month or at the end of the season. LOST is always a "To Be Continued" show. There's no reason for them to actually put it on the screen. It's one big, long story that will take about 5 seasons to tell well, if one listens to the producers. In fact, they've tried to negotiate just that with ABC. An end point. All good stories have a beginning, a middle, and an end. Television shows that go on too long generally have a good beginning that hooks people and a middle that seems to stretch into eternity, followed by an ending that either nobody cares about or is so contrived that it makes those who stuck it out to the end mad and feel cheated. X-Files is an oft-cited example of a show that went on too long. Was it truly X-File without David Duchovny , who only appeared in two episodes the last season - one of them uncredited?

I, for one, am content to let them tell the story. I may rant and rave from time to time, and some episodes are certainly better than others, but overall, I trust the producers. They've stated publicly that they never ask a question on the show without knowing the answer. When Locke and Boone first found the hatch, they knew there was a guy down there, pushing a button. I have to trust them. Otherwise, I've wasted three years of my TV viewing life.

Now, if we get to the finale and there's some kid staring at a snow globe... then I'll be mad.