channel hop
While talking about Russia in 1939, soon to be British prime minister Winston Churchill famously described the country as 'a riddle wrapped in a mystery inside an enigma'. One can only wonder what he would have made of Lost (AXN, Mondays at 11pm), which returns this week for a second season. This show has become something of a cultural phenomenon since it debuted in late 2004, garnering huge ratings as viewers tuned in by the boatload to follow the mystery-shrouded fortunes of the castaways. And, depending on your perspective on the slow-burning narrative and labyrinthine plotting, it is either the most riveting or most frustrating show on television.
Beginning with a plane crash on a seemingly deserted island, season one saw the 44 survivors struggling to withstand the rigours of their new home while trying to think of a way to get back to civilisation. A series of flashbacks, meanwhile, revealed snippets of each character's past and implied each has at least one skeleton rattling around in their closet. Most intriguing of all, however, is the suggestion that their being marooned on the island might not have been an accident after all.
After a sensational opening sequence, the plot thickens still further at the start of season two. Dr Jack Shephard (Matthew Fox), John Locke (Terry O'Quinn) and Kate Austen (Evangeline Lilly) make a surprising discovery when they venture into the mysterious shaft after dynamiting it open. Meanwhile, the rest of the camp are increasingly concerned by the possibility there may be 'others' on the island.
As before, each new discovery seems to pose more questions than it answers and anyone who found the first season's gradual pace a chore is unlikely to be swayed by the new series. But for those with the patience to stick with it, there is much to enjoy. The multiple perspectives on events and jumping back and forward in time gives Lost a novel narrative structure, while the action sequences, when they eventually arrive, are expertly milked for tension. Ultimately, your enjoyment of this show depends on how absorbed you are by the island's myriad mysteries. Let's hope the answers are worth the wait.
Also starting on AXN this week is Rescue Me (Tuesdays at midnight). Starring comedian Dennis Leary (above right, centre) as New York fireman Tommy Gavin, this comedy-drama explores the emotional fallout from the September 11 attacks. The hard-drinking Gavin reckons the only person he can talk to about his feelings is his best friend, Jimmy Keefe (James McCaffrey). The only problem is, Keefe died in the Twin Towers.
When not talking to Keefe and the other dead fire victims he sees, Gavin tries his best to win back his estranged wife, bribing his children for information about her new boyfriend and paying his teenage cousin to disrupt the unsuspecting suitor's life with a computer virus. He also takes great delight in playing practical jokes on the station's rookie (Michael Lombardi) and trading bets with his gambling addicted fire chief, Jerry Reilly (Jack McGee).