My Fantasy Island

By Jessica Lyons, Monterey County Weekly. Posted November 18, 2004.

My stranded-on-a-desert-island survival kit contains sunscreen, toothpaste, mascara, my hair dryer and a lifetime subscription to Vogue. And tequila and a bottle of margarita mix.

And George Clooney's stranded on the island with me. And we have a cook, and a personal trainer. And a nice condo – beats finding shelter in a dark and damp cave.

I'm hopeful that this island has a good library, and a gym, and hell, my survival kit might as well include a laptop computer with a wireless Internet connection so that George and I can order out for dinner, when we can't stomach another wild boar, or yellowtail, or mango or whatever else our chef likes to prepare.

Of course, I'll be skinny – hello, stranded on an island here – and tan, but my skin would never look weathered, and I'll never develop skin cancer, or gray hair, or even hairy legs. I'm not sure where I will plug in my hair dryer, but I'm quite positive that I will always look really, really, ridiculously hot.

We'll be happy, on this island, George and I.

Okay, so my fantasy more closely resembles an exclusive resort in Bora Bora than a desert island – or even "Gilligan's Island," for that matter. But I'm no "Survivor" wannabe, and thankfully, neither is ABC's new hit series "Lost."

The show's premise may sound familiar: 48 characters are stranded on a remote Pacific island, and not all of them will make it through the entire season. Except on this show, the losers aren't voted off by a jury of their peers; they are picked off by a scary, possibly prehistoric monster that lives in the jungle.

And while the pilot episode's horrifying plane crash may look realistic – "hyper-real," creator J.J. Abrams called it – the inventive plot twists, the nail-biting suspense, the smart writing and the nuanced character development assure the viewer that "Lost" is most definitely not a new reality show.

The series begins when a man named Jack (Matthew Fox) wakes up in a Bamboo forest and realizes that his plane has gone down and, miraculously, he and 47 of his fellow passengers have survived with no more than a few scrapes and bruises. He's dazed and he needs stitches himself, but people need help, so Jack heads back to the scene of the crash where he organizes rescue efforts, examines other passenger's wounds, and searches the wreckage for food, water and medical supplies.

Jack's got his own secrets – as do all of the survivors – but all his fellow castaways see is Jack the heroic surgeon; he's chiseled and decisive and he almost immediately becomes their reluctant leader.

While viewers eventually learn more about the ill-fated passengers in a series of flashbacks, most of the survivors are complete strangers to one another. Some cling to the hope that they will soon be rescued, and remain on the beach, while others reason that it's safer to set up camp in the jungle, near fresh water and sheltered from the beating sun – out of sight of a passing plane or ship.

Many seize the opportunity for a fresh start. Nobody knows who they were before the crash; they can be anyone they want to be on this deserted island. But this also poses a threat to the struggling group. They don't know who to trust and, of course, looks can be deceiving. The band of strangers must learn to work together if they are to survive.

There's level-headed Kate, (Evangeline Lilly), who soon becomes Eve to Jack's Adam. She's pretty and smart but, as the viewers learn early on, she's a criminal. In flashbacks, we see a U.S. Marshall on the plane sitting beside a handcuffed Kate. What did she do?

Jessica Lyons is a staff writer at the Monterey County Weekly.

Liked this story? Get top stories in your inbox each week from AlterNet! Sign up now »