The latest season of Lost premiered on February 2nd, aka Groundhog Day. It was a joke, a cheeky clue for the audience. Because they introduced a major plot device in the premiere. It’s come to be known as the “flash-sideways” narrative and it’s essentially a big “what-if.” What if the characters had a chance to do it all over again? What if the circumstances were different – no island, no smoke monster, no Geronimo Jackson spinning on the turntable? What would have happened to these poorly reared, trigger-happy pawns of science and faith? The answer seems to be that their pesky destinies would have eventually tracked them down anyway. In a week, the series will come to a close, and hopefully we’ll have a better idea about what exactly is at play. But if Lost peddles anything, it peddles ambiguity. And the faithful aren’t shy about hitting the bulletin boards to shout their opinions and theories. The internet might bust a spring or two in the hours after the finale.
I can say with a certain amount of confidence that most people will not be discussing Groundhog Day. The wink-wink-nudge-nudge premier date will be just another piece of Lost trivia, no more significant than the Hurley Bird. The date was a reference to the movie, of course, and on the surface it doesn’t seem to be much more than that. We’ve all seen the movie. A cynical weatherman played by Bill Murray lives the same day over again and again, until he finally gets it right and becomes a man who can love and play the piano.
I remember when Groundhog Day came out. It was a hit, though it barely beat forgettable fare like Dave and Cool Runnings at the box office. Critics thought it was enjoyable and clever, though they hardly thought it was earth-shattering. A better than average comedy – not much more. Over 15 years later, Groundhog Day has become not just a favorite of the revisionist cineast, but a genuine classic. The Writer’s Guild considers it the 27th greatest screenplay ever written. The New York Times even put it in a list of the Ten Best American Movies. Of the 1990s? No. Of all time! Say what you will about the existential implications of the film, about searching for meaning in our post-9/11 world. It makes for a good term paper, but I don’t think that’s the reason the film has gained such a following of late. The reason is TBS.
If you turned to the cable station TBS in the late 90’s and early 00’s, it’s likely you would have seen Groundhog Day on more than a few occasions. TBS syndicated it and played the grooves off the thing. Over time, the film worked its way into the DNA of many a channel surfer. The more familiar you became with it, the more you enjoyed it, because it was offering you the experience of its main character. You were living the film over again and again. You began to anticipate plot points (Ned Ryerson punch in 3, 2…), and the exact words and inflections of the dialogue (“Too early for flapjacks?” ”
I’m curious how you rate the series finales of The Sopranos and The Wire. Was the final scene of The Sopranos a cop out, the creators ending it without choosing a fate for Tony, or was it brilliant and original? And did the end of The Wire live up to and do service to what came before, or was it a little too soft or sentimental? What degree of ambiguity do we want in endings? And what are some of your favorite TV swan songs? For me, the final episode of the British Office is the epitome of an ending “natual, honest, and earned.”
Sopranos cut to black wasn’t a total cop-out, but I would have preferred a fade to black. The “did he or didn’t he get shot” debate never interested me. I was fine with life goes on. The Wire felt a bit too soft and a bit rushed, but I’m not sure what should have been done differently. I guess I was expecting a bit more tragedy. British Office was definitely as close to perfection as I’ve seen. I’m heartbroken that Deadwood never got its chance to have a genuine finale. As bad as Season 2 of Twin Peaks got, I have to give Lynch credit for the finale, which was the strangest, ballsiest thing ever on network television. One of my faves is Strangers With Candy, where they tear down the school to build a Strip Mall (or “something better”). Comedy Central replaced the show with something called Strip Mall, which may have lasted 3-4 episodes?
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