La promesse de Lost (À propos de la Saison 2)

This essay deals with the themes of the leap of faith, the ritual and the sacrifice in the television show Lost, concentrating mainly on season 2. It questions Lost’s promise to spectator as far as narration is concerned. This promise seems to be paradoxical: the story requires the viewer to be susp...

Full description

Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Guillaume Dulong
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Groupe de Recherche Identités et Cultures 2016-10-01
Series:TV Series
Subjects:
Online Access:http://journals.openedition.org/tvseries/1636
_version_ 1818526841284067328
author Guillaume Dulong
author_facet Guillaume Dulong
author_sort Guillaume Dulong
collection DOAJ
description This essay deals with the themes of the leap of faith, the ritual and the sacrifice in the television show Lost, concentrating mainly on season 2. It questions Lost’s promise to spectator as far as narration is concerned. This promise seems to be paradoxical: the story requires the viewer to be suspicious and even to distrust what s/he sees. Our work examines the Swan Station apparatus and the opposition between belief and knowledge which is reflected in the antagonism between Jack Sheppard and John Locke and finds a solution in the sacrifice of Desmond Hume. The essay analyses the episodes “Man of science, Man of faith” (S02E01), “?” (S02E21) and “Live together, Die alone” (S02E23-24). The first episode is interpreted in relation to Kierkegaard’s works to show that belief and knowledge are two phases before a character’s leap of faith, which consists in being open to others. However, the repetition of this leap is problematic; the second episode is understood as a focalisation on the despair of one character, Locke, who gives us a reflexion on the way to look at the TV show as an undecidable oscillation between distrust and trust, i.e. between the Pearl and the Swan. The third one, compared with David Hume’s writings and to Star Trek II: The Wrath of Kahn, allows to reveal the solution offered by the show, which would be self-sacrifice, mainly the sacrifice of one’s own pride, evident in Desmond and Penelope’s relationship.
first_indexed 2024-12-11T06:28:24Z
format Article
id doaj.art-19fb4f675ae946bd9eb13d6b0212c019
institution Directory Open Access Journal
issn 2266-0909
language English
last_indexed 2024-12-11T06:28:24Z
publishDate 2016-10-01
publisher Groupe de Recherche Identités et Cultures
record_format Article
series TV Series
spelling doaj.art-19fb4f675ae946bd9eb13d6b0212c0192022-12-22T01:17:35ZengGroupe de Recherche Identités et CulturesTV Series2266-09092016-10-0110.4000/tvseries.1636La promesse de Lost (À propos de la Saison 2)Guillaume DulongThis essay deals with the themes of the leap of faith, the ritual and the sacrifice in the television show Lost, concentrating mainly on season 2. It questions Lost’s promise to spectator as far as narration is concerned. This promise seems to be paradoxical: the story requires the viewer to be suspicious and even to distrust what s/he sees. Our work examines the Swan Station apparatus and the opposition between belief and knowledge which is reflected in the antagonism between Jack Sheppard and John Locke and finds a solution in the sacrifice of Desmond Hume. The essay analyses the episodes “Man of science, Man of faith” (S02E01), “?” (S02E21) and “Live together, Die alone” (S02E23-24). The first episode is interpreted in relation to Kierkegaard’s works to show that belief and knowledge are two phases before a character’s leap of faith, which consists in being open to others. However, the repetition of this leap is problematic; the second episode is understood as a focalisation on the despair of one character, Locke, who gives us a reflexion on the way to look at the TV show as an undecidable oscillation between distrust and trust, i.e. between the Pearl and the Swan. The third one, compared with David Hume’s writings and to Star Trek II: The Wrath of Kahn, allows to reveal the solution offered by the show, which would be self-sacrifice, mainly the sacrifice of one’s own pride, evident in Desmond and Penelope’s relationship.http://journals.openedition.org/tvseries/1636Lostsuspension of disbeliefskepticismleap of faithsacrificerepetition
spellingShingle Guillaume Dulong
La promesse de Lost (À propos de la Saison 2)
TV Series
Lost
suspension of disbelief
skepticism
leap of faith
sacrifice
repetition
title La promesse de Lost (À propos de la Saison 2)
title_full La promesse de Lost (À propos de la Saison 2)
title_fullStr La promesse de Lost (À propos de la Saison 2)
title_full_unstemmed La promesse de Lost (À propos de la Saison 2)
title_short La promesse de Lost (À propos de la Saison 2)
title_sort la promesse de lost a propos de la saison 2
topic Lost
suspension of disbelief
skepticism
leap of faith
sacrifice
repetition
url http://journals.openedition.org/tvseries/1636
work_keys_str_mv AT guillaumedulong lapromessedelostaproposdelasaison2