For me, it was a cold day in January when I decided that Lost had absolutely jumped the shark. Some people have believed this to be true long ago, and some may believe it later. Some might never waiver in their faithfulness to the show. For me, I think I might just be done watching the series entirely. And that’s kinda sad. I even hate to say it. The show had such promise when it started. You better believe that Gilligan would be proud.

For those who don’t know what I mean by the show having “jumped the shark” — let’s have a mini education class for you.  What does jumping the shark mean? Well, we’re talking in metaphors when we say it. I will refer you to Wikipedia so you can see how this originated with Fonzie in Happy Days literally jumping a shark.

For Lost, I’m not exactly positive when the show died for me, but I know that it has lost the unique and fascinating allure it once had. While you can say, “that’s life,” that never has to be what happens on TV, man! TV is the magical world of make-believe where we suspend, and sometimes outright deny, reality! But in the case of Lost, maybe they’re just too deep in their special style of denial. I don’t know.

One possible reason that fans, like me, feel so tired of this show could be the sheer number of deaths that have occurred. This is especially because there have been so many deaths of major, beloved characters. We all understood the emotional impact needed in the story or plot when it came to the deaths of Boone, Shannon, Mr. Eko, Libby, Michael, Karl, Naomi, Ana Lucia… (need I go on?) so you can excuse them in the long run. Or at least in theory you do. I personally really got pretty damn miffed when they took the very pretty Ian Somerhalder off my TV. But the death of Charlie? The death of dear Charlie Pace? You’ve certainly got to be kidding me. Please! I feel like they killed the show a bit when they killed Charlie.

The very dead Charlie Pace

Charlie’s death scene might actually be the saddest TV death I’ve ever seen. And the worst part: it hasn’t been honored properly. Yes, I am prepared to acknowledge fully that there was an episode where the characters grieved and yadda yadda. But you forget something. The pivotal reason Charlie was giving his life in that way was because Desmond said this would lead to Claire getting on a helicopter with her baby. Charlie loved Claire, so that knowledge sealed the idea that he would take the action he did. Anyone remember this? Do the show’s writers remember? Gah. Well, maybe it’ll still happening with all of this time travel “stuff” (aka: confusing plot devices), but I doubt it. It seems Claire is going to be discovered as dead. Not Penny’s boat, indeed!

Speaking of time travel, the show gave away its single biggest secret. Everything after learning this unraveled mystery has seemed to fall flat — kerplunk! After the episode “The Constant,” nothing has been as major or as interesting. That should have been the last episode of the series (with a few tweaks, of course). It wasn’t even the cliffhanger for the season, though. Maybe it was sweeps? Either way, it didn’t help the show. It peaked way too soon.

There is one other main concept that makes the show less appealing. To state it plainly: the show is confusing. After this many years, it’s no longer any fun to point out “coincidences” on the show. There is no emotional payoff for me when we hear Libby mentioned or see an old character. I’m too busy just trying to keep everything straight in my head!

I’m admittedly not someone who is as lost (no pun intended here, promise) with this show as I’ve read and heard some other people are. I feel bad for fans who are left sitting in front of their TVs with blank stares as they try to adjust to a new set of rules and beliefs for every episode. Again, I say it’s frustrating! What was once fun to speculate about (”…are they in purgatory or is it a dream…?”) is now annoying (”…okay, so they’re off the island but they’re going back…and Locke, which apparently isn’t his name, is dead, but soon he won’t be…”). Can you tell me it didn’t drive you crazy just to read that sentence?

It’s irksome beyond belief to have watched and enjoyed a show for years and then to give up on it. But I don’t know what else I can do to keep my limited and precious sanity. I just don’t think Lost is a safe bet in the category of “good TV” anymore. Do you?

Special thanks to SofaChip.com.