As regular LOST watchers are no doubt aware, Lost's season finale is 2 hours long, as in previous seasons. And again as they are no doubt aware, M-Net has decided to air the finale in 2 parts, the first hour this Wednesday and the last hour next Wednesday--as in previous seasons.
In previous seasons, this division into 2 parts, with an entire week's wait inbetween,
sucked--but didn't suck
too much. Aside from the general irritation of what was essentially a single story (particularly with a single flashback in Season 2) being split into two parts, the viewer did not suffer too much, entertainment-wise, from having to wait that week.
For that reason, the veteran South African LOST viewer might been tempted to watch LOST tonight as usual. But take it from me, a Yankee who has already seen the finale:
DON'T! Instead, you should tape it this week and watch it together with the second half next Wednesday, with the smallest possible interval inbetween.
Why? Here are
the top 5 reasons:1. The S3 2-hour finale is not like the first two season finales: it was truly meant to be watched all at once. The first hour of the episode presents ... a question. The answer to that question is answered in the second hour. If you watch it all at once, the revelation is one of those truly iconic,
"Holy Crap" jaw-dropping moments of the entire series.
But if you see the first hour a week before the second, you'll have a whole week to ponder what you saw, and you're likely to figure out the answer. (Especially if people are openly speculating about it in the TVSA forums.) And that will just take the punch out of the second hour. You'll enjoy it, but it just won't be the same.
2. Besides the elements described above, the first hour of the finale is mostly just
set-up, anyway. Not a lot happens. Trust me, you're not missing much by waiting another week to see it!
3. All the
LOSAs are taping the first half and waiting a week before watching--even our dedicated
Lost Chronicler, six, so there won't be a Lost recap tomorrow. And you wouldn't want to disappoint
six by watching it before she does, now, would you??
4. You could watch one of the many other quality programs airing in Lost's time slot--in real time, for once! Like, for instance, a little program on SABC3 called
Heroes. Perhaps you've heard of it?
5. It's just like they say: sometimes the
anticipation of getting something good is even better than the actual receiving of it! ... though, um, probably not in this case, because this finale is just so damn good! (Hmmm, OK, I'm really stretching for #5, I know!)
I know that there are others out there who will disagree with me, who say that the finale is "no big deal." I respect that opinion, but I think this is the best way to watch the show. Watching this finale in two parts would be like watching the first hour of
The Sixth Sense a week before you see the ending: in the time inbetween, you'd probably eventually think, "Oh, Bruce Willis is ... , isn't he?"