LOST: The Complete Fourth Season – The Expanded Experience

J.J. Abrams’ LOST has received its share of criticism regarding pacing; heck, it could be argued that the majority of season two could probably have been compressed to just several hours—and nearly every episode merely raised more questions, while providing very few answers (which is apparently a well-known trend of Abrams’ work, however ingenious it may be). Near the latter half of season three, there was some indication that all of this was to change, however, as more and more of the bizarre sci-fi underpinnings of the series began to surface ever more rapidly in the form of some long-awaited revelations. Season four further accelerated this trend with some of the most eventful and downright creative writing we’ve seen on the show to date. In fact, despite its truncated length due to the writers’ strike—just fourteen episodes, including the triple-length finale—many fans swear it’s their favorite season yet (in fact, the final two upcoming seasons will only share seventeen episodes apiece). Still, with 30% less LOST, is this Blu-ray set really worth the cash?

A little quantum mechanics never hurt anybody

With its considerably friendlier pace, season four is sure to revive many a critic’s interest in the show. The material grows ever more complex, however, and—without spoiling anything—the show claims a firm spot in the sci-fi genre with some pretty crazy developments this season. We’re also inundated by the LOST team’s latest darling: flash-forwards. While LOST is renowned for its requisite flashbacks every episode to help build a character’s history, in order to keep the formula interesting we’ve now ceased exploring the survivors’ past and are instead focusing squarely on the future. Naturally, these interstitial segments are displayed in seemingly random order throughout the season, so the chronology is intentionally elusive (however, one particular special feature on this set does a really good job of making sense of it all if you’re finding yourself bewildered).

Character development decelerates to facilitate a quicker tempo, and this results in some of the wildest and absolutely best episodes of the series yet. Having said that, we are introduced to some new characters—the so-called “freighter folk,” who quite clearly have their own agenda and are driven by a mysterious set of ulterior motives well beyond any thought of actually rescuing the stranded. Each of these new characters is well-suited to the role and their addition provides yet another layer of complexity to an already gripping story.

Here are my picks for best of the season (some spoilers follow in the descriptions, though as always, I’ve done my best to keep them minimally impacting):

• The Constant – This could quite possibly be the best LOST episode to date. As Desmond and the gang are taking a helicopter away from the island, they hit some unexplained turbulence, which sends Desmond traveling through more than just space. Massive revelations and allusions to even grander concepts abound, rendering this one of the most outstanding 42-minute stories of the series. Bravo!

• The Shape of Things to Come – A certain sequence of events finally leads Ben to crack—and his instability rises to an entirely new level. Flashes to the future illustrate Sayid sharing a common interest with Ben, who is hell-bent on bringing his mysterious adversary to justice. This is an eventful and gripping episode.

• There’s No Place Like Home – At over two hours in length, this massive season finale includes some of the most mind-twisting shockers of the series thus far. Which begs the question: are the writers really going to be able to tie all of this together in the end into a nice, cohesive package, or are we going to be left with myriad loose ends dangling about? One thing’s for certain: the metaphysical turn the show has taken in season four allows for much more explanatory restitution than was previously thought possible. But we won’t get into all of that here, as it would spoil the fun.

In totality, although you’re getting considerably fewer episodes than with the other collections, what’s here is of notably higher quality than, say, season two or the first half of season three. So even though it’s over prematurely, chances are you’ll enjoy this set nearly as much as the first—and that’s saying a lot. Of course, considering that you’re watching this on Blu-ray format and the first season is not (yet) available in high-def home video… that makes a colossal difference as well. The 1080p video and 5.1 audio are pristine as usual; this is one of the absolute best high-def experiences available.

Season four of LOST is proof again that this is the best that network television drama has to offer. The production quality is consistently film-grade and the acting is shockingly convincing. And although it’s perhaps hit some rocky spots throughout the past couple of seasons, the storytelling and imagination are still second to none. If you’re not already a fan of the show, I highly recommend you pick up the first couple of seasons and start watching… because judging by what Abrams, Lieber, and Lindelof have created here, we’re in for an explosive final two seasons. Nothing else on television compares.

Get Lost in a Sea of Extras

Another way this set attempts to compensate for its brevity is through special features. Here, we’ve got even more of the usual supplemental content on one massive Blu-ray disc, which amounts to over four hours of 1080i extras. The Blu-ray set specifically boasts a few additional extras over the DVD version; those are indicated in the list below. Here’s a breakdown of what to expect:

• Audio Commentary Tracks – There are four of these total.

  • The Beginning of the End – Commentary by Evangeline Lilly (Kate) and Jorge Garcia (Hurley) – Evangeline and Jorge’s commentary here is hilarious and insightful alike. This is one of my favorite ones of the set, even though it isn’t as informative as some of the others.

  • The Constant – Commentary by Editor Mark Goldman, Co-Creator/Executive Producer Damon Linelof, and Executive Producer Carlton Cuse – The creators of the episode explain how this episode breaks with LOST convention and focuses solely on a single character—and reveals a ton of previously-ambiguous information in the process. The unorthodox method of editing is also addressed. This commentary, much like the episode, is probably the best one here.

  • Ji Yeon – Commentary by Director Stephen Semel, Daniel Dae Kim (Jin), and Yunjin Kim (Sun) – Another lively commentary with plenty of exclusive information from both the actors and director.

  • There’s No Place Like Home (Part 2) – Commentary by Executive Producers Damon Lindelof and Carlton Cuse – Keep in mind that only the second segment of the triple-length season finale includes commentary… but the collective executive producers do a pretty good job of making this seem like a special contribution by addressing how difficult it is to arrange a commentary in such short order following the completion of a season. Damon and Carlton have a great sense of humor and it’s clear that they enjoy working together on the show. This commentary is equally entertaining and, as expected, quite edifying.

• LOST In 8:15 – Just as it says—this is all of the major plot points to date compressed into an 8-minute, fifteen-second segment. Keep in mind that this is meant mostly to be humorous (there are even jokes thrown in with the narration) and is clearly intended for people who already follow the show. Having said that, however, it’s actually still quite informative, and it may prove useful considering the… well… rather extended wait in between seasons.

• LOST: On Location (about 45 minutes) – As always, this series of several in-depth mini-docs about individual episodes is filled with tantalizing interviews with the cast and intriguing analysis from nearly all the major actors and writers. It’s the ultimate behind-the-scenes look at the production of the show, and as always, it’s easily among the best of the features included.

• The Island Backlot: Lost in Hawaii (17:53) – A great look into how the visual effects department transforms Hawaii into anywhere and everywhere. Did you know the entire show is shot there?

• The Right to Bear Arms (11:15) – A quick look at how the limited supply of guns in the show changed hands in the earlier seasons. This is fun, but nothing really fascinating, of course. However, things get a little more interesting when a prop artist is brought into the picture to discuss the specifics behind the selections.

• Soundtrack of Survival: Composing for Character, Conflict, and the Crash (26:21) – Spend time with musical mastermind Michael Giacchino, who walks us through every aspect of the composing process, from how he felt composing for such a catastrophic premise to his habit of intentionally ignoring the scripts until it’s time to write the music for them. Giacchino also explains how each character and even many situations all feature their own musical theme, which is a wonderful (yet painstaking) approach to sucking the audience into the experience and evoking oddly familiar emotions at the proper time. Finally, we get to see the Honolulu Pops performing some of the music. This is one of the coolest unique features on the set.

• More from the Symphony (Blu-ray Exclusive) – The first two of these are clips of the LOST Symphony show in Honolulu, while the last one is a quick clip of several writers acknowledging how terribly important Giacchino’s contributions to the show are (they even reference him in the script regularly, suggesting his work as a vital element to the formulation of the scene). All three of the clips are exclusive to the Blu-ray version of the collection.

  • The Others Theme (5:48)

  • Messages in a Bottle (6:56)

  • Giacchino in the Script (3:23)

• Course of the Future: The Definitive Interactive Flash-Forwards (Blu-ray Exclusive) – This begins with a short puzzle game where you must arrange a series of ten flash-forward clips from the show in the proper chronological order. Once you succeed, you’ll be taken to the real meat of the feature (which is also available on the DVD version of the set): a menu where you can view flash-forwards from any of the Oceanic Six, plus Ben, individually, or play all of the flash-forwards in chronologically-correct order. Finally, there’s a wonderful 56-minute chronological compilation of all the flash-forwards complete with an introduction by the cast discussing their take on the situation.

• The Oceanic Six: A Conspiracy of Lies (21:16) – A Loose Change-esque video regarding the conspiracy surrounding the survivors (which, as is clear to all viewers, is true). It’s brewed with a strong tinge of satire, obviously feeding on the success of such viral internet phenomena and poking fun at the rogue investigatory measures of their authors.

• The Freighter Folk (12:40) – Biographies from the writers and directors of the people who arrived on the island from the freighter; there’s some pretty interesting tidbits in here about how they got their names and why they were chosen!

• Offshore Shoot (7:50) – A short featurette about the filming of the footage on the freighter (which was actually an old rusty ship named the Kahana). The crew describes how glamorous it felt to be doing a show in the middle of the ocean on a ship.

• Lost: Missing Pieces (Mobisodes) (31:22) – Short, two-to-three minute supplemental clips that are actually available on ABC’s web site. However, here, they’re much better quality, and it’s great to be able to watch them back to back. This feature isn’t even listed on the packaging.

• Deleted Scenes (9:11) – Deleted scenes are always better when they’re from a television series as time constraints really are king in this sector of the industry. Having said that, they’re still deleted for a reason.

• LOST Bloopers (3:22) – These are mildly amusing, but it’s honestly a pretty thin collection for an entire season of filming.

The Blu-ray edition also receives the exclusive SeasonPlay feature, which allows you to stop watching the show at any time and even eject the disc without losing your place (the player will remind you upon booting any of the discs next time).  And naturally, there’s the assortment of Easter eggs as well. I managed to locate a couple, so rest assured they’re still here. The presentation on these discs is good as well, though not exactly flashy: you get your typical series of LOST-themed menus in various creepy environments, and the menu skinning actually changes from time to time, which is eerie and cool all at once.