There’s nothing quite so frustrating for foreign fans of U.S. TV to be denied the chance to watch the latest episodes of their favorite shows at the same time as their American cousins. Thankfully, when it comes to this Sunday’s Lost finale, there won’t be a delay.
It’s been confirmed that in Europe, viewers in the U.K., Italy, Spain, Portugal, Israel and Turkey (albeit without subtitles in the non-English speaking nations) will be able to find out that, after the best part of six years, the island was actually (SPOILER ALERT) a particularly vivid dream by Jack (I kid, I kid). Well, whatever the heck happens on Sunday, we here in the U.K. will be seeing events unfolding from 5.00am BST Monday (that’s the same time as on the West coast).
It also marks a considerable TV first: while the likes of the Oscars, Super Bowl and major news events such as Michael Jackson’s funeral go out live, this is thought to be the first time a drama show has had this treatment. There’s a definite logic to the move: no fan of the show is going to be able to avoid the web spoilers surrounding the finale and it puts a serious dent in the pirates’ plans to make the episode available for illegal download. The only negative is the fact that we Losties will be seriously sleep deprived come Monday. But it’s a small price to pay to finally find out how it all ends and allows us to achieve closure and get on with the rest of our lives at the same time as you.