I’m not a TV watcher. However, when my friends introduced me to Lost when Season One came out on DVD, I began to think that maybe I could get back into watching the tube, especially if the fare was as entertaining and interesting as Lost was. One thing I particularly liked in the first season was the character development. The writers introduced us to a cast of characters, and then showed us why they were they way they were. I actually cared for the characters and wanted to know what happened to them.

Season Two started out that way. Then, last night, after several complaints in our Lost-watching group about the terribleness of the script and motivations, I began to see it. After Mr. Echo’s character-defining episode (which I enjoyed very very much, despite its flaws) came two episodes that made no sense whatsoever. It was as if the writers were pulling the strings, not the characters making decisions based on what they would really do in that instance.

Lost certainly has rolled downhill from the first season. No, it crashed and burned. On an island. And I have no hope whatsoever that this show is going to recover. It’s like the real writers went on vacation to Hawaii and left the interns in charge. Or the interns’ best friends. Or the janitor.

I used to care. I liked watching the characters face their challenges and grow from them.

Now they’re just backpedaling.

I’ve given up. I may finish Season Two, but I won’t be waiting for Season Three. I’ll be watching Heroes and hoping that its cape doesn’t get caught in the engine of a 747.