Enough has been written about Lost to fill the completely underwhelming Temple fifty times over -- seriously, of all the disappointing reveals on the show, that might be the biggest; it should have looked awesome and not like an extra set from Legend of the Seeker. Still, from the production values, to the use of the Internet to form a community, to the entire storyline, Lost was literally like nothing television had ever seen before. This is despite the fact that it cribs from almost every geek pop culture landmark from the last 35 years. And now that Lost is ending -- in less than 12 hours! -- it seems fitting that it's leaving the world with one more question: Where will the next Lost come from?
Well, the short answer to that question is "nowhere." The problem with once-in-a-generation television events is that they're once-in-a-generation television events. Lost broke the mold on Lost-like shows. Of course, that hasn't stopped networks from trying to capture lightning in a bottle a second time -- hey, Invasion, Threshold, FlashForward and V -- but obviously their efforts havn't worked.
And that's not surprising: There isn't one thing that helped make Lost into Lost, so it's impossible to recreate. You can argue that the series worked because the initial characters were so sharply drawn, but then you'd be discounting the contribution of the actors. You can say the performances were so vivid -- with few exceptions, this has been one of the better acted series to air on television in the last decade -- but then you'd be discounting the mystery. You can say the mystery kept people invested, but then you'd be discounting the well-developed human emotions. In typical Lost fashion, one answer leads to eight other lingering strands and queries. And just as long as C.J. Cregg isn't involved, that's fine with me.
Unfortunately for television executives, that isn't fine for them. They need to find another Lost just like Jacob needed to find another, well, Jacob. Still, once the series flashes that final L O S T logo tonight, it's over. And it will be until a network stumbles onto the next zeitgeist capturing show. Glee, this could be your moment. Just don't turn Sue Sylvester into a smoke monster.