4, 8, 15, 16, 23, 42; if you recognize these numbers, then you most likely also recognize your helpless addiction to ABC’s hit show LOST.
When the off-course Oceanic Flight 815 encounters unexpected turbulence on its way to California from Australia, the plane suddenly tears apart and crashes onto an unknown island. A large amount of the surviving passengers, approximately thirteen of which become the show’s main ensemble, clamor to the island’s shore for safety and to remove usable elements from the fuselage.
After settling down, the survivors incorrectly assume the island is uninhabited and encounter frequent unexplainable sounds and movement in the jungle. Through enlightening episodes of character back-story, betrayal, deceit, friendship, mystery, and the hope of being rescued half-forgotten, the end of the first season abruptly climaxes with the discovery, and opening, of a bizarre buried hatch.
Today marks the release of the complete second season, titled LOST Season 2- The Extended Experience, which picks up exactly where the first season abandoned you and takes the viewer headfirst into the hatch. Today's release of the set gives you plenty of time to watch all 24 confusing, enlightening, curious, and even profound episodes in order to be caught up in time for the October 4th airing of the third season.
For reasons unknown to your humble reviewer, this collection of episodes is strangely titled The Extended Experience. Although the set boasts an impressive seven discs, owners of the first set will be quick to note that The Complete First Season had the same amount. Also strange is the fact that season two contains one less episode than the first.
The experience that is alledgedly extended is the seventh dics of the set, which much like the first set, contains all of the special features for the season. The seventh disc contains an array of extras; never before seen character flashbacks, information concerning "the hatch," a dissection of mysteries, theories, and conspiracies, and of course bloopers and deleted scenes. Fans may also appreciate bonus material similar to the first season, like the featurettes about character connections, making ofs, interviews, etc.
The box itself is designed with the theme of the hatch in mind. A dirty brown surface with the mysterious numbers inscribed near the bottom alludes to the presence of “the hatch”, holding similarity to the previous season's cool brushed steel outer sleeve, which was referencial the the plane and fuselage. The all-caps title is the same size as the first season’s, but instead of the interesting shredded white-to-teal gradient texturing on the letters, all of the text on the cover of season two’s box is a rough and gritty brown with a black outer-glow.
Because both season’s outer sleeves are made from a clear plastic, a 1” thick horizontal center stripe reveals the cast of the show, printed on the paper of the box itself. The first box set made excellent use of this space with an attractive high contrast black and white image of the ensemble in front of a cloudy teal sky. The second season’s box instead features an awkward full-color composite image of the modified ensemble, all looking strangely up and to the left.
The box set's construction is exactly the same as the first's, so the two seasons together on a shelf yield a pleasing consistency, unlike the multiple box series of South Park or The Simpsons.
It's interesting to note that unlike the portraits of the cast printed on the first season's discs, the second season's discs feature pictures of symbollic items from the show. Viewers will recognize most of these items (the virgin mary, Eko's cane, etc.) as important references, though some are arbitrarily placed on discs not containing the episodes that feature the items.
For the technically inclined, the six discs of episodes all maintain a widescreen 1.85:1 ratio and are switchable between 5.1 and 2.0 surround. Only a few of the special features also have these specifications. The episode image quality is excellent and gives the pause, rewind, watch-in-slow-motion viewer the opportunity to look for clues (an almost crucial task) with sharper image detail than ever available on the TV broadcast.
As with most tv-to-dvd box sets, the pleasure of watching a full show without a single trace of commercials almost makes it worth the purchase alone. Because each episode runs approximately 50 minutes, and there are 24 episodes, the justifiable price of the set gets you 20 hours of entertainment, not including the special features, commentary, and included booklet.
LOST: Season 2 – The Extended Experience has a list price of $59.99, but BestBuy, Target, and Borders sell it for under $38.99. Or, if you trust ebay.com users, you can score it half-off for almost $30.
Owning the second volume of LOST is well worth the money, despite a few lame marketing devices and shrug-your-shoulders packaging. As a season that was criticized for having a few too many filler episodes and spending a lot of time on a character who ended up leaving the show, Season 2 does uncover more mysteries and argueable phenomenae, and answers many of Season 1's questions. However, staying true to LOST style, it raises a whole new batch of questions and leaves you wanting more.
