As an artist myself, I am constantly battling the way I communicate with my art. I like to leave it open for interpretation as much as possible, but I also recognize the need to provide information on occasion. I hate insulting people by “dumbing it down”, but sometimes it’s necessary for those of us not wired to understand the abstract ideas communicated through art. This has been a struggle for me. To me, the recap shows they ALWAYS do provide that service adequately. It’s like labeling a painting with a short narrative or writing performance notes in a program for modern dance.

Sometimes it IS just about the aesthetic experience, and more than likely that is exactly what our beloved LOST writers were doing this whole time. I think most of the criticism lies with the people that just want to be entertained after a long work day and don’t want to think about anything. Unscripted TV, for the most part (or “illiterate programming” as our friends at Studio 60 more harshly described it), has ruined the chance for genius, artistic television to be acceptable en masse. Single Tear.

This show is definitely art. I hope to see more of this type of television in the future.

On a hilarious side note: Did you see that Jimmy Kimmel clip where Damon, Carl and JJ were demonstrating how LOST was supposedly written? They had like a glorified Mad Libs book that they filled out. Good stuff.