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Rating: Country: USA Release Date: June 16, 2009 Distributor: Buena Vista Cast: · Matthew Fox · Evangeline Lilly · Josh Holloway · Terry O'Quinn · Daniel Dae Kim · Yunjin Kim Related Sites: · Lost Grade: A

After five seasons of the hit television exploration of metaphysical angst, stepping back and revisiting the season that started it all provides an interesting context, and even offers a few pleasant reminders of just what it was that was so appealing about the show in the first place. Sure, many of the flashback sequences are clunky and expositional, and some of the dialogue is flat out mealy, but there is no denying the effectiveness of the storytelling and handling of mystery-based tension. This first season is presented as a mosaic of interweaving seemingly connected lives, with strange chance encounters off the island and unlikely coincidences ensuring that all of these “lost” souls would eventually wind up in the same place at the same time. Of course, it’s all relative to perspective and ideologue, as smartly presented through theologically relevant characterizations. But, like life itself, all “thinkers” are determined to find out just what it all means, despite the fact that only Bernard and Rose seem to have it all figured out.

In leadership roles, we have Jack Shepherd (Matthew Fox), our pragmatic doctor and man of science who believes in free will, along with John Locke (Terry O’Quinn), a man of empirical logic, who can naturally interpret man’s innate tendencies towards conflict and reason, but remains an open source for information, interpreting the world and reasoning with it as it presents itself. Perhaps this is why it is surprising to see that the episode titled “Tabula Rasa” is Kate-centric -- speaking of Kate “Austen” (Evangeline Lilly), whose passionate tendencies, roaming sensibilities and sense of realism might align her with a certain 19th century, similarly named, female author.

While one of the terrorists associated with the United 93 airline highjack during the whole September 11th debacle was named Jarrah, the similarly named Sayid Jarrah (Naveen Andrews) isn’t so glibly presented, being a soldier and killer who believes in upholding values through violence if necessary. Another main character, Charlie Pace (Dominic Monaghan), a failed musician and drug addict, may share ideologies with 18th Century English philosopher Jordan Scott Pace, who, like John Locke, was an empiricist in the school of Hume (who comes in season two), but is remembered for his musings on love, which suggest that Christian love is the antithesis of its irony and passion.

Sticking with all things philosophical, Hugo “Hurley” Reyes (Jorge Garcia), the lottery winning social butterfly with a phobia of numbers, often makes fun of structured interpretations of external stimuli, adopting a more practical explanation for things that isn’t necessarily conceived in the world-to-mind manner that empiricists suggest. Some might say this sounds a bit like modern philosopher Susan Hurley. Claire Littleton (Emilie de Ravin), on the other hand, the unhappily pregnant Australian who reluctantly believes in spirituality despite adopting a more pragmatic approach to a given scenario, doesn’t seem to have a theoretical connection, given the physicist with a similar name has far too little in common with her to warrant connection. Perhaps the fatalist’s name is quite literally in reference to her pregnant predicament.

It doesn’t take a genius to figure out that James Sawyer (Josh Holloway) has something to do with the selfish and irresponsible Tom Sawyer, given that Sawyer often has good intentions and a romantic core, but proves a frequent thorn in the side for his more theologically driven island-mates. Also problematic is Michael Dawson (Harold Perrineau) and his son Walt (Malcolm David Kelley), who, one might assume, was based on Christian philosopher Christopher Dawson, who wrote about the importance of the Catholic church in history and strongly influence T.S. Eliot. Maybe this is why Michael is so whiny, lazy and desperate to uphold his Christian family obligations, regardless of how ridiculous that struggle might be.

Jin Kwon (Daniel Dae Kim) upholds notions of honour and tradition, while wife Sun (Yunjin Kim) struggles to break away from it. Rounding out the cast of characters is Boone (Ian Somerhalder) and Shannon (Maggie Grace), siblings by marriage with an unorthodox relationship. Trying to equate Boone with Daniel Boone, the American pioneer, might be a bit of a stretch, although, in season one Boone does do his best to explore the island, albeit in a dippy way.

With all of these similar, yet conflicting and relative, perspectives, the show is clearly concerned with exploring the meaning of life and world purpose. Season one is more concerned with examining these characters and understanding how they perceive things in relation to the unexplained phenomena on the island, rather than the bigger picture. But each season gravitates further from the immediate scope of these characters, trying to answer the questions they have about conflict, mortality and identity. Strangely enough, it seems that whenever a character finds some form of personal enlightenment, they die. It seems only logical that they will all learn that this constant running around was a waste of time, as it’s all about the journey and the memories you have in the end, regardless of what it all means.

Metaphysics aside, season one introduces these plane crash survivors to the island where they discover polar bears, a mysterious hatch, a lone French woman, a smoke monster and insidious “others”. It’s a great ride, and the mixture of character back-story, in the form of flashbacks, to provide dramatic tension and urgency in the immediate island scenario, gives the show a constant emotional punch that leaves one always wanting more.

While the Blu-ray release boasts a 1080p High Definition transfer of the first season, it is the uncompressed 5.1 Dolby Digital sound that has a notable difference. The clarity and booming bass is impressive, even if the occasionally murky picture is merely decent. To be fair, this reasonable picture transfer seems to have more to do with the source material and some occasional budget limitations than the actual work done on the picture itself.

All of the special features included with the DVD release are present on the 7-disc Blu-ray set. Firstly, there are five commentary tracks on the pilot episodes, “Walkabout”, “The Moth” and “Hearts & Minds”, which feature anecdotes about the shows structure and interactions with the network, along with a dissection of the “Walkabout” episode, and a convivial chat with Dominic Monaghan about “The Moth”.

The bulk of the special features rely on the shows conception and initial execution, as outlined in the “Departure” section of supplements. “The Genesis of Lost” outlines the shows last minute conceptualization and execution of the series by JJ Abrams and a bewildered Damon Lindelof, while “Designing a Disaster” offers a brief look at the filming of the plane crash sequence. “Before they were Lost” presents an extended look at the casting process and how each character came to be and “Welcome to Oahu” gives us a half-hour look at the filming of the pilot. These latter features are perhaps the most engaging of the box set. Also included in this section is some photography by Matthew Fox and some glimpses of the cast at Comicon.

“Lost on Location” offers tidbits and insights on the design of several episodes, while the missing flashbacks feature Claire and Sayid in the airport. There are a batch of deleted scenes and bloopers included, in addition to a Jimmy Kimmel set visit, a panel session with the Museum of Television and Radio, and a brief look at Charlie’s band, Drive Shaft.

There are a couple of Easter Eggs on the menu discs as well, including Danielle Rousseau’s recorded transmissions and a look at Terry O’Quinn filming the orange peel scene.

Technology fans might enjoy the “Seasonplay” option, which allows viewers to put a tag on their viewing progress, rather than wasting time with the fast-forward button when they return days later.