The time that LOST saved my relationship

Okay, for those of you who are not fans of LOST... I'm sure you're sick of hearing about it what with all the hoopla surrounding the finale last night. Feel free to skip this blog entry. I won't be offended.

I had heard the hype and my family were all engrossed in the show from its inception. However, as an actor... I typically have rehearsals and shows in the evenings. Thus, I have never really gotten attached to any particular show. Unless we buy the season collections on DVD, I just don't make a commitment to a television show. (Well, until my acquisition of a nifty-neato DVR.) Such was the case with LOST. It was well into the second season and I had yet to watch 3 minutes of an episode.

At this particular time in my life, I was in a really rough spot in my relationship. Jay and I had been together for almost five years. Employment stress was at an all-time high, our theatrical careers weren't where we wanted them to be, the kids were in turmoil, we were broke... and had lost hope in our ability to resolve the issues that kept us from being as loving as we had been. We were fighting constantly and it was affecting us professionally as well as personally. We decided to 'take a break' (ala Ross & Rachel, though I only watched a handful of 'Friends' episodes) but were too poor to live apart. We set up 'ground rules' of living as roommates and pretty much stopped speaking altogether unless it was absolutely necessary. I had turned 31 that February and like every year, had my annual birthday lunch with dad. He proceeded to tell me that he was going to cure me (of the lack of needless TV in my life) by bringing over every single episode of LOST he had on his zip drive.
What?
Seriously.
I had just purchased a used computer from Michael Peck (because up until this point, I had been using Jason's) and it was just begging to have its storage plundered and used up by countless episodes of a show I'll probably never watch, right?
Fine, dad... bring it over.
We sat on the floor of my bedroom where my monitor was propped up on an old grocery crate and watched the pilot together.

I
was
hooked.

The sheer scope of the show hit me from the start. The backdrop of 'Survivor' with the cinematic and production values of any major motion picture were enough to make me take notice. Not only that, but the writing was clever and intelligent. Immediately, I was invested in these characters and rooting for their survival (or demise). They were beautiful and real... with that credit going to the writers and actors. But I digress....

After watching the pilot with my dad, I opted not to watch any further just then. Though I did have the entire day off (with the weekend on the horizon) I wasn't yet ready to settle in for an entire season.

Plus, I couldn't get over the thought that Jason would be really impressed with the show. Even if he only watched the pilot episode. I mean, pilots are supposed to be rough around the edges. No one knows if it's gonna get picked up yet, characters aren't always completely fleshed out yet, etc. So, this one was a stand-out for sure. And even though we were barely speaking, I knew that we could both use an 'olive branch' of some sort to lead us to a hopefully more peaceful weekend.

I waited until he had gotten home from work and I remember vividly that he was in the kitchen getting a snack and a drink when I sheepishly leaned against the wall and said,
"Hey."
"Hey" he said cautiously, not looking at me.
"So my dad brought over the first season and a half of LOST. It's on my computer. I watched the pilot."
"Yeah?"
"It's pretty effing awesome. I don't know what you have going on tonight... or this weekend... but if you wanna watch it, I'd totally watch it again."
"It's worth seeing?"
"Yeah. If you can stand being in close proximity with me for that long."
(eyeroll followed by sheepish grin)

And so it started. We watched the pilot episode together and by the end, we had made a 'nest' out of pillows and blankets on the floor of my bedroom. We watched episode after episode, finally falling asleep around 2 or 3am that night. The next day, after running errands and finding ourselves both at home in the early afternoon, we reconstructed our nest and brought in snacks to continue our LOSTfest. By the time we returned to work on Monday, we were caught up with where the real world was... and felt mildly chagrined that we had to wait a whole week for the next chapter.

But something else happened that weekend.

Between episodes, we talked. We discussed what we really thought was going on. We cried with Locke when he was betrayed by his father, we fell in love with Hurley, we hated Michael, we mourned Ecko, we triumphed with Charlie and Claire. We shed tears and held hands. We laughed. We bonded. We fancied ourselves a Sun and Jin... we wanted to be like Rose and Bernard.

It led to reintroducing a 'date night', though it wasn't what we intended. We found ourselves setting aside that evening mid-week to be together and slowly... our relationship began to open up again to allow the free communication that had been missing. By late summer of that year, we were back in full-swing... our relationship stronger than it had been. We adopted two kittens shortly after Jason's birthday. Their names: Sawyer and Claire.

I've told the story more than once - mostly to those who have never watched the show. Jason and I frequently joke that 'LOST saved our relationship'. So, it was with more than just an attachment to the entertainment that I grieved the end of an epic journey... and not just for those on the island.

LOST was a global phenomenon. It changed the face of television.

Once upon a time, it saved my relationship.

Take THAT, American Idol.