After all the debate over the final episode and entire run of Lost earlier this year, receiving the Complete Collection DVD gives me a chance to validate the case I always made. I always said the answers don’t matter. Don’t try to theorize anything. Whatever they say it is will be what it is. They did more than I ever expected them to, defining what the island was and delivering a resolution between good and evil for the sake of the island itself. Maybe now you can look back over the series without any frustration and just enjoy the ride I went on over the past six years.
The pyramid case is beautiful with shiny gold/bronze looking like it’s been carved long ago. I’m conflicted, do I leave it out and display it, or put it back in the box and keep it mint? Actually, opening the box gave me a little trouble. It’s the sides, don’t worry about taking the sheet with the specs and art off. The extra props are nice. A few island rocks, an ankh, a mini-flashlight. Not that I’m going to take them out of the plastic.
The pyramid’s got some weight to it, although I realized that’s mostly the six DVD packs. Imagine a spindle with 38 discs, then the thick paper stock of the envelopes. I really like the slim cases for all the seasons. You buy a complete series so you don’t have to have six thick boxes on your shelf, so when some sets just package the six boxes together, it doesn’t save you anything over the individuals. That’s part of the incentive for Lost’s package. The character art inside the sleeves is really nice too.
Of course all the new extras are on season six. I’ll weigh in on The New Man in Charge. I like it just like I liked the show all along. It’s got some answers to questions about the Dharma procedure. Again that’s something I didn’t NEED to know but it’s cool to remember it. It also opens more questions about Walt’s life between then and now, but just like any frustrations with the “questions” of lost, any story has elements open to interpretation. That doesn’t mean it’s unanswered. I think the production of the short isn’t quite at the level of the show but how many DVD features get two lead actors and a past lead to star?
A feature on the final season includes other show runners reflecting on the nature of finales. I don’t think all of their comments actually apply to Lost but they probably filmed it before they saw the finale. Otherwise, this feature just recaps the season. The Hero’s Journey is about all the Joseph Campbell stuff. Star Wars is still the ultimate example of Campbell’s theories so Lindelof and Co. relate their twists on the theory to Luke Skywalker. See You in Another Life, Brotha is about the Sideways universe. Kind of pointless to analyze that now that we know what it turned out to be, but they were shot during the different sideways episodes. Lost On Location takes us to six season six sets. Six for six. So mostly redundant stuff for the final extras but the point here is having the complete series of episodes.
The deleted scenes offer some additional color to season six incidents: Alpert’s flashback, Desmond in the well, Kate’s feud with Claire. Nothing that changes the way things end up, but good scenes. The bloopers have some real zany antics on the Sideways Oceanic plane set.
It’s also kind of fun to look back at early season extras. In the first season, Jimmy Kimmel began his humorous interrogation of the show with very superficial jokes, kind of getting all the basics out of the way. The extras were way more focused on production than theory back then. Remember hearing about those Gatherings where the Lostie who starred in the week’s flashback hosted a group viewing? Stopped hearing about those a while ago. This may have been the first time Josh Holloway expressed his fear that Sawyer would die first, so he set about showing his humanity to last through the final season. Those old audition tapes were great though, with everyone reading Sawyer’s lines, and season one audiences asking basic questions about who Kate will hook up with and when will Claire give birth.
They really used to make the DVD menus annoyingly clever so you couldn’t find what you were looking for. I’m glad they cut that out. Like that branching feature on the character connections in season two. Early fan theories were kind and silly before it got all hostile. The Hatch debate actually showed the earliest signs of insurrection, and Damon and Carlton getting more vague and diplomatic. So the Complete Series gives you a chance to re-experience the phenomenon as well as the show itself.
