I am not going to pretend to be a fanatic of the hit ABC show, “Lost.” The first two seasons were very entertaining and really did play out a load of those “if you were stranded on a desert island” scenarios we’ve all mused on. There was a gorgeous, dark haired girl who was not quite all she seemed. A scruffy, long-shanked vagabond started a crooked barter stand with the pillaged booty of a wrecked airplane. And, oh crap, some Rock Star had to kick his coke habit. Sure, the show’s writers would make it out to be some profound revelation. But let’s face it, he would have run out anyways.  Soon the show just got too tough to follow.

Here’s a question. If you were stranded on a desert island - possibly for the rest of your life - with a modest supply of mind-altering substances, would you give them up without a fight?

At any rate, I missed the third season almost entirely, though there were some great recaps last night, and before tonight’s show. Everyone is getting rescued soon and almost everyone is still alive. They did, however, kill off the drug-addled rock star.

Now that a new season has begun, they’re still getting rescued soon. It’s like hearing city planners say “we’re working on it” about some small detail of a 20-year long transportation project. Season four has already proven one thing: the show has sold out. The whole focus of the show seems to have moved from intense, fast-paced drama to wondering what “it” all means. We’ve gone from man vs himself, monster-in-the-woods excitement to wondering what drives the fat guy crazy when he finally gets to the real world.

Perhaps the show’s writers got a bit lazy. That fantastical island madness has been thoroughly diluted with clips of what will happen when our motley heroes after they do get rescued. Instead of wondering what will happen by the end of the episode, I’m now wondering how all the pieces will fit together half a season down the line.

Maybe it’s not a bad thing; being forced to ponder such a complex chess game of a plot. It sure stimulates the old noggin. But what if all the episodes are not already thought out and we are just being strung along like prairie goats, awaiting some dramatic conclusion that never comes? Then we’ll all be no better than Charlie and his drug addiction.

Oh well. Maybe I’ll know more after the next episode.