With Series 3 of Lost well past the half-way mark, with last week’s screening of Episode 14, entitled Expose, what better time to examine a series that supposedly should be winding down, considering that its creators always claimed that they envisaged only 4 seasons. Be warned, there’s plenty of SPOILERS for those not au fait with the U.S screenings.

A criticism that has been aimed at the show since its inception is the debatable imbalance between the mysterious and the ridiculous. Many claim that its mystery is simply a cynical ploy to keep people watching in the hope that the mystery will be revealed. There are plenty of examples of this, the most obvious being the big monster that terrorised the heroes from Day 1. We’ve seen it in the form of a giant Polar Bear, and mostly in the form of a cloud of smoke. It has already killed, but besides that we know nothing.

The claim that the mysteries are just empty attempts to ensure attention can be strengthened with the show seemingly replacing unanswered questions with more mysterious issues. What about Walt, for example? The first series seemed to display Walt as some sort of psychic being, someone who certainly knew more than he should of, and possessing abnormal powers (e.g. the bird crashing into his house in Australia, appearing in visions). But as we all know, he’s out of the picture, and instead the focus is drawn to the Others (that said, Walt and Michael are rumoured [be warned, there's big SPOILERS in the link]to return in Series 4). Instead we’re preoccupied with Desmond’s psychic abilities. There’s countless more examples of unanswered questions throughout the series, and it’s starting to get infuriating. It’s diminishing ratings are already proof that we as an audience are getting impatient, and switching over to the mysteries of Heroes.

So what of Season 3? Well, we are getting to know more about the island, that a group known as the Dharma Initiative set up camp to explore anomalies in electro-magnetism. These anomalies seem to relate to issues such as Locke’s ability to walk, considering he broke his back before crashing on the island. But Dharma is long gone, and instead the group known as The Others are taking over the decrepit scientific stations placed around the island. Rumour has it that in a few weeks time we’re going to be treated to an episode where the flashback focuses on the history of the Dharma Initiative, which may tell all.

Season 3 also gave itself a couple of Poochies. It introduced us to Nikki and Paulo, who were part of the original group. But now they want to be involved in the action. Or so it seemed. While they gradually got involved in the lives of the main cast, Expose featured them extensively. It summarised their lives on the island, as well as their shady past. Neither of which were of any interest, especially the oh-so smart idea of weaving in major events over the past 3 series in the periphery of their interaction. Fortunately, the show’s producers seem to have realised how uninteresting their characters were, and had them buried alive.

But there leads us to another problem. The show is filled with padding episodes throughout each series. Hurley’s were amusing at first, and now are distracting, though he is one of the more enjoyable characters. I’m sick of Sun and Jin, and they have yet another flashback before Series 3 is over. The same goes for Claire‘s episodes, whose revelation the other week that she’s Jack’s half-sister is utterly pointless. And then Expose was a frustrating diversion from the really interesting story, that of Locke, Kate, and Sayid in the suburban home of the Others.

That said, I’m still watching the show avidly. I’m not enjoying it as much as last year, when I ended up partaking in the Lost Experience online game (which was so rewarding as to explain the significance of the numbers). But there’s much to speculate, such as whether the island is a dream-come-true entity like Solyaris (as with the appearance of Locke‘s conman nemesis), or whether there’s a corporate force whose power is beyond our comprehension (e.g. that the Others found Locke’s fake-dad and brought him to the island). But that’s the enjoyable mystery, the elements to debate around the water cooler. If the show is to remain as fascinating as it once was, it needs to cut out the diverting, annoying crap, like introducing Desmond’s lover as knowing about the island and its occurrences at the end of Season 2, and still not returning to it 14-plus episodes later, and focus on the first thousand enigmas originally posed.

Following Daryl’s post a while back, here’s a few of the mysteries I’d like Lost to start explaining over the next 6 or so episodes:

• What ever happened to Michael and Walt?
• Why was Claire abducted and why were the Others so adamant about getting her back?
• What is the smoke monster all about?
• Who is Penelope, how does she know about the island?
• What is the history of the Dharma Initiative? What did they set out to achieve on the island? And if they are not the Others, who are the Others?
• What the hell was that statue (above) and why did it have four toes?