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Title:
LOST: The Complete Second Season: The Extended Experience
Region:
One
Genre:
Sci-fi, Mystery Drama Thriller TV Series
Stars: Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje, Naveen Andrews, Emilie de Ravin, Matthew Fox, Jorge Garcia, Maggie Grace, Josh Holloway, Daniel Dae Kim, Yoon-jin Kim, Evangeline Lilly, Dominic Monaghan, Michelle Rodriguez, Terry O'Quinn, Harold Perrineau Jr, and Cynthia Watros
Guest Stars: Mira Furlan, Ian Somerhalder, Michael Emerson, Henry Ian Cusick, Malcolm David Kelley, Clancy Brown, Rachel Ticotin, Bruce Davison, and Katey Sagal,
Executive
Producers: J.J. Abrams, Damon Lindelof, Bryan Burk, Carlton Cuse, and Jack
Bender
Feature
length: 1056 minutes
Extras:
LOST Flashbacks, The Official LOST Connections, Secrets From The Hatch,
Mysteries, Theories, And Conspiracies, LOST On Location, Fire + Water,
Deleted Scenes, Bloopers, Channel 4 UK TV Spot, Episode Commentaries, and Easter
eggs
Languages:
English Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround Sound and Dolby Surround Sound
Subtitles:
English Subtitles For The Deaf And Hearing Impaired
Packaging:
7-Disc Digipack Gatefold Within A Plastic Coated Slipcase
Sound:
Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround Sound and Dolby Surround Sound
Year
of DVD Release: 2006
Home
Video Distributor: Buena Vista Home Entertainment
TV
Rating: TV 14 V
Reviewer:
Mark A. Rivera
What
can be said about LOST that has not been said already? The series along
with the re-imagined Battlestar
Galactica and the new Doctor
Who are among the best of the sci-fi drama, mystery, adventure,
thriller, and lets face it, soap operas on television. It is a show that hooks
you in week after week and sometimes even the reruns are worth seeing again and
often the reruns are better than anything new or otherwise broadcasting against
it. Serialized drama is not an easy sell and LOST will go down in
television history with the wave of sci-fi programs and so forth that did not
depend upon makeup effects, costumes, or even have anything truly monstrous or
alien about it. Hit shows like Smallville,
where there are no superhero costumes, or the new Battlestar Galactica,
where there does not appear to be any extra terrestrial sentient life forms
outside of humans and the humanoid cylons, and LOST, where the unknown
creature is more of an Id monster like disembodied consciousness of sorts are
about as strange as it gets because these shows represent the character drama
without monsters as opposed to shows from the 1990s like The X-Files,
which featured teases and glimpses of all sorts of creatures. Personally I think
all of these shows owe a debt of thanks to J. Michael Straczynski’s Babylon
5, which against the odds presented a classic space opera with many
influences and serialized storytelling over a five-year arc with a beginning,
middle and end as if it were a novel for television. Babylon 5 was the
only genre show that featured serialized storytelling when it first began, but
now virtually every kind of show on TV, regardless of genre is in some part
serialized. This practice will change again eventually until another ten years
have passed and we look back at LOST with the same nostalgia we have for Star
Trek: The Next Generation or Quantum Leap. In fact I remember when
those were the only two sci-fi shows on television with first run episodes. LOST
is fully accessible for viewers who are not sci-fi fans at all. Ultimately the
storylines are far more character driven with flashbacks and mysteries that
appear to be growing an ever expanding tapestry that hopefully will one day make
sense without leaving any plot holes. I’d hate to see LOST become
another Twin Peaks, which seemed to spiral out of control until nothing
really mattered because a lot of it had simply got just too weird of it’s own
good.
Audiences
like to feel smart and enjoy a good mystery, but they hate to be made to feel as
though it has been a waste of time and ultimately only time will tell
along with the show’s eventual resolution whether or not LOST will be
something that can be revisited from beginning to end for years to come or if it
is simply a one trick pony that may not be worth revisiting once the mysteries
are resolved so lets hope whenever the series ends, we get a true television
classic in every sense of the word and not a case of the been there and done
that sort of thing. Each season of LOST is supposed to represent one
month on the island, at least so far. This season saw the survivors from the
tail end of the plane reunite with the survivors from the other end with some
tragic results. It opened up some new mysteries about the Others and answered a
few questions regarding what was inside the hatch and so forth while introducing
a whole lot of new questions to be answered too.
Whether
it is through DVD or watching episodes on ABC’s website, there are plenty of
ways to catch up with LOST that include the periodic summary episodes
that feature some narration over clips from previous episodes. The best way to
enjoy and appreciate LOST as a whole is on DVD through the season one and
two DVD sets. In some ways I find this DVD set to be somewhat less ambitious
than the first set, which featured
surprising extras and seamless branching of behind the scenes footage for the
commentary regarding the pilot episode. This DVD set is still very good with
excellent picture and sound quality and a seventh DVD dedicated to bonus
features too. It just doesn’t feel quite as exciting as the original box set
for the first season. All of the second season episodes are presented in their
16 by 9 enhanced (1.78:1) aspect ratios, which is how they are broadcast on ABC
HD. The English Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround Soundtrack that accompanied the HD
broadcasts are included along with the English Dolby Surround Sound that
accompanied standard definition broadcasts and English Subtitles for the Deaf
and Hearing Impaired encoded as options.
Like the previous set, the interactive menus are screenshots from various second season locations on the Island with the show’s haunting score and animated transitions and all of the interactive menus are easy to navigate. Within the box set is an insert booklet with short episode summaries and details of the disc contents and bonus features. Episode length audio commentaries are provided on disc one for the second season premiere “Man Of Science. Man Of Faith” with Executive Producers Damon Lindelof, Bryan Burk, and Carlton Cuse and of all the commentaries, it is the most interesting and informative with the three Executive Producer’s second commentary on disc three for “The 23rd Psalm” particularly strong too. I never knew there were hidden images within the monster that Mr. Eko (Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje) stared down that related to his past with images of things we have yet to see that may appear in future seasons. Director Paul Edwards, the Director of Photography, and Costar Evangeline Lilly provide commentary for “What Kate Did” on disc three as well while Actors Daniel Dae Kim, Yoon-jin Kim and series Writers Elizabeth Sarnoff and Christian M. Kim provide an episode length commentary on disc four for “The Whole Truth.” Finally Director Jack Bender and Costars Jorge Garcia and Cynthia Watros provide episode length audio commentary for “Dave” on disc five. There are no episode length commentaries on discs two or six. I was really hoping for one for the second season finale too.
I understand why the seventh disc filled with the bonus features is made to look like a super 8mm Dharma Initiative orientation complete with the same Asian Actor giving the viewer instructions, but that scratchy film noise really gets on my nerves. With the exception of the beautiful Channel 4 UK promo (1:05) presented in 16 by 9 enhanced (1.78:1) widescreen and directed by David LaChapelle, practically all of the other extra value materials are presented in a (1.33:1) aspect ratio. Personally I enjoyed the UK TV spot and found it to be my favorite feature on disc seven. Why can’t they make cool TV spots like that here?
The extra features are divided into three phases or categories. Under the heading “Observation” one will discover a documentary about the making of an episode entitled “Fire + Water” (31:44), which gives an enlightening look at how an episode of LOST is produced from concept to completion. Then there is a companion piece entitled “LOST on Location” (44:43), which gives shorter, but never the less in-depth looks into the making of ten of the second season’s episodes. The last featurette in this section is “The World According To Sawyer” (4:30) where cast members discuss the signature character’s “Sawyerisms,” which have become so frequent that it is easy to forget they are there at all. In fact I watch the show when new episodes air on a regular basis and I already just take them for granted. In phase two entitled “Conditioning” viewers get two unused flashbacks under the headings “The Wake” (1:27) and “The New Au Pair” (1:07). Then there is a reel of 14 deleted scenes that can be viewed individually or as one reel (19:15) and a reel of bloopers (4:05) as well as the above-mentioned Channel 4 UK Promo TV spot (1:05). Aside from the UK TV spot, I found all of these extra features to be largely unnecessary since they don’t add anything to the official storyline or reveal any interesting possibilities that might have taken the show in a totally different direction from where it is today.
The final portion is an interactive (1.78:1) tree of sorts that follows the theory of six degrees of separation otherwise known as centrality and invites the user to explore the theory using the LOST characters. If you have the time and are a super fan, then I think you might want to try this out. It wasn’t “lost” upon me by the way that J.J. Abrams latest TV series to air on ABC is called 6 degrees by the way… Finally there is a featurette where people involved with and uninvolved with the show discuss their theories about what is really going on (10:16) and there’s also an insider’s look at the secrets of the hatch (15:46) the filmmakers designed with hidden meanings and more. There are a few Easter eggs on the DVD as well I don’t know where they all are, but when I found one and the Asian guy from the film strip told me I would be rewarded, I wanted to kick my TV in when I got a featurette about the making of the Dharma Initiative cookies used on the set (1:13) and not some great exclusive revelation or clue about the coming season.
Sneak peaks that can be viewed individually or as one reel through a “Play All” feature (14:39) that include Mel Gibson’s “Apocalypto”, “Heart Of The Game”, “Pirates Of The Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest”, “Scrubs Season 2”, “Desperate Housewives Season 2”, “Home Improvement Season 5”, “Grey’s Anatomy Season 2”, “ALIAS: The Fifth and Final Season” and a “LOST” ABC television spot conclude the bonus materials within this 7-disc set. On the outer side of the seven-disc digipack gatefold there are the words “The Truth Will Be Revealed,” which reminds me of “The Truth Is Out There” from The X-Files. I only hope that when it is, it was worth the investment. “LOST: The Complete Second Season: The Extended Experience” on DVD box set is available now at retailers on and offline courtesy of Buena Vista Home Entertainment and watch the third season premiere of LOST on Wednesday, October 4, 2006, at 9pm (ET/PT) only on ABC.
© Copyright 2006 By Mark A. Rivera
All Rights Reserved.
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