LOST (TV SERIES) - Blu-ray review

The second season of "Lost" proved one thing for certain: there's nothing insular about the island on which the passengers of Oceanic Flight 815 crash-landed. Nothing is static. Characters come and go, as if there were a conduit to the mainland. And that's one reason why the show remained fresh and addictive. The other reasons were the same ones that made the first season such a runaway success: perfect casting and pacing, tons of unanswered questions and cliffhangers, interesting character backstories, and conflicts among the passengers . . . and with other creatures and humans on the island as well. A supernatural element kept it from being the nighttime soap opera that it might have been, and Season Two began with a cast that used to be unknowns who now had fan followings, and they continue to shine bright.

Season Two was just as strong as the first, and for proof one need look no farther than the Emmys. Though "Lost" couldn't duplicate its Outstanding Dramatic Series win from the previous year, the show still received nine nominations-for Outstanding Writing, Special Visual Effects, Single-Camera Sound Mixing, Single-Camera Picture Editing, Directing, Cinematography, Casting, and Guest Actor (Henry Ian Cusick).

Cusick is the big new character this season, playing someone who was working for a mysterious (what else?) progressive socio-scientific organization that established the DHARMA Initiative. The hatch that was discovered in Season One takes center stage, but it's not the only portal. This season fans are introduced to a group called the Others who live on the other side of the island, and it turns out that they were not the only survivors of the 815 crash. The new group includes Anna-Lucia Cortez (Michelle Rodriguez), Mr. Eko (Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje), and a psychologist named Libby (Cynthia Watros). This season Sayid (Naveen Andrews), who was once a member of the Iraqi Republican Guard, returns to the main group with a weird prisoner (Michael Emerson), and . . . . Well, I won't spoil things by giving plot specifics, but suffice it to say that whatever relationships and contentiousness (especially between enigmatic hunter Locke and the doctor-leader, Jack) emerged in Season One continued to develop in Season Two as the castaways realize that they're far from alone on the island.

Among characters returning this season are Dr. Jack Shephard (Matthew Fox), who has emerged as a rival leader; Hugo "Hurley" Reyes (Jorge Garcia), a large fellow who calls everyone "Dude" and was "cursed" by a big lottery win; Sawyer (Josh Holloway), the bad boy women always fall for; Kate Austen (Evangeline Lilly), a fugitive; Shannon (Maggie Grace), who lost her brother to the island; Claire (Emilie de Ravin), who gave birth on the island; Charlie Pace (Dominic Monaghan), a has-been rock star junkie; a Korean couple who don't speak English and aren't exactly in a blissful state of marriage (Daniel Dae Kim and Yunjin Kim as Jin and Sun Kwon); a father and son who don't exactly connect (Harold Perrineau and Malcolm David Kelley); and the man who rose like a phoenix from the ashes of his wheelchair and now rises to become Jack's nemesis of sorts, John Locke (Terry O'Quinn).

Creators Damon Linidelof, J.J. Abrams, and Jeffrey Lieber seem to have a firm sense of where they want to take this show, and that partly accounts for the show's success. There's suspense, there's plenty of questions raised, plenty of tension among the characters, and an overriding sense of wonder that pervades "Lost," much of it attributable to the show's supernatural elements.

Once again, ABC-TV and Disney provide an excellent package that's missing just one thing: a list of the episodes, so fans can remember which disc they left off on--or maybe Disney thinks the show is so addictive that everyone is going to watch it nonstop from beginning to end. Twenty-four episodes are included, and I'll list them here (see, Disney, it's not that hard!):

"Man of Science, Man of Faith"
"Adrift"
"Orientation"
"Everybody Hates Hugo"
". . . And Found"
"Abandoned"
"The Other 48 Days"
"Collision"
"What Kate Did"
"The 23rd Psalm"
"The Hunting Party"
"Fire + Water"
"The Long Con"
"One of Them"
"Maternity Leave"
"The Whole Truth"
"Lockdown"
"Dave"
"S.O.S."
"Two for the Road"
"?"
"Three Minutes"
"Live Together, Die Alone" Pts. 1 & 2

As with Season One, there isn't a stinker among them. Sure, it gets a little melodramatic at times, but "Lost" Season Two remains top-notch entertainment with drop-dead gorgeous Hawaiian location scenery.

Video:
A sticker on this Blu-ray reads, "Blu-ray takes the experience of LOST to a whole new level," a quote that's attributed to executive producers Damon Lindelof and Carlton Cruse. I'd have to agree. "Lost" is amazing in 1080p. The AVC/MPEG-4 transfer is an excellent one, with bold and luxurious colors, and detail that's astoundingly sharp and pristine without appearing overprocessed. Add a nice sense of 3-dimensionality--so much so that at times the characters seem to pop off the screen--and you get a 1.78:1 widescreen presentation that's really remarkable. You can see every blade of jungle grass in almost absurd clarity.

Audio:
I love PCM, and this English PCM uncompressed 5.1 (48kHz/16-bit) soundtrack rocks! Like the picture, the sound is so pure that you can't imagine it streaming any clearer or more precise than it is here. Additional soundtrack options are English and French Dolby Digital 5.1, and Spanish Dolby Digital 2.0. Subtitles are in English SDH, French, and Spanish.

Extras:
As with the other Blu-rays of "Lost," this season comes in a double-wide blue jewel case with plastic pages that hold seven single-sided discs. There's a cardboard slipcase to hold it, and advertising inserts.

There are so many episodes that I have to admit I'm less enthusiastic about audio commentaries on a TV series than I am a single film, but these are nice to have as references and fall-backs for fans of the show. After the sixth and final season is released on Blu-ray, it will probably be fun to go back and get the cast and filmmaker comments.

Five commentary tracks are included. On "Man of Science, Man of Faith," executive producers Damon Lindelof, Carlton Cuse, Bryan Burk, and Jack Bender share, among other things, the genesis of the hatch that seems to dominate the plot early-on. Evangeline Lilly fans will enjoy listening to her as she joins episode director Paul Edwards and photography director Michael Bonvillain on the "What Kate Did" track. "The 23rd Psalm was nominated for an Emmy, and it's nice to hear from Cuse and Lindelof, who wrote the episode, and co-executive producer Bryan Burk. "The Whole Truth" brings in some writers (Elizabeth Sarnoff and Christina M. Kim) and features actors Yunjin Kim and Daniel Dae Kim, while "Dave" offers actors Jorge Garcia and Cynthia Watros (Libby).

As with the DVD, the bulk of the bonus features are on disc seven. Included are several "Lost" flashbacks that didn't make the final cut and 14 deleted scenes (with optional commentary) that are much shorter. "The Official LOST Connections" is a visual guide that maps out the connections between characters (in case you weren't paying attention to the flashbacks). "Secrets from the Hatch" lets viewers explore the mysterious "Swan." "Mysteries, Theories and Conspiracies" gives you the skinny on The Virgin Mary, Hanso, and Snow Globes. "LOST: On Location" takes you behind the scenes for on-set antics. And two other features are episode-specific: "The World According to Sawyer" and "Fire & Water." Rounding out the bonus features is a blooper reel (which includes on-set pranks) and a promotional trailer. All of the bonus features are packaged within a Dharma Initiative instructional film and divided into three phases, all of which may be cute enough but a little tiresome when all you want to do is watch a bonus feature.

Bottom Line:
"Lost" Season Two may not have scored at the Emmys, but it kept fans hooked, and it looks stunning on Blu-ray.