the lost room
The Lost Room is the latest addition to a select family of science fiction programs that are destined to wallow forever in the obscure territory of “cult classic” (joining Buffy/Angel, Firefly, The Prisoner, etc).
It’s understandable, really, and the middling reviews are not unfair. The basic premise of the six hour miniseries goes like this. There’s this Motel Room, right? Many years ago, Something Weird happened there, and the Room got ripped out of space and time. The objects that were in the Room at the time display strange and sometimes deadly powers when carried out into the real world. For instance, the Comb stops time for a few seconds, the Glass Eye can vaporize your enemies, and the Radio makes you three inches taller when you tune it to the right station. Needless to say, lots of people (and ominously named cabals) are out to collect these Objects. There’s also the Key to the Room, which when slid into the lock of any hinged door, takes you into the Room. Our Hero, Joe Miller, a kindhearted single dad and Pittsburgh police detective, accidentally comes into possession of the Key. His daughter gets sucked into the Room and vanishes, thus putting him on a quest to figure out the nature of the Lost Room and get his daughter back, while fending off evil and/or insane men and their Objects.
It’s a really cool premise, don’t you think? I kind of like the idea that there might be a toothbrush out there that can, I don’t know, turn night into day? Not to mention the magical Room itself, which is just ripe for all kinds of reality bending fun. Alas, the execution is clumsy at times. The producers were obviously trying to pull a Battlestar Galactica and use this as a backdoor pilot for a full series. As a result, what could have been a stellar miniseries is weakened by the attempts to leave loose ends for a TV show. For a show where the very nature of reality is up for grabs, it’s also a shame that the miniseries is so action heavy. Generally clever action, though.
You’ve also got Peter Krause as the protagonist. Coming fresh off of Six Feet Under, quite possibly the best and most lauded drama of the past decade, you’ve got to wonder what the hell he’s doing in what is, admittedly, some seriously second string sci-fi (let’s hear it for alliteration!). The presence of Julianna Margulies, fresh off of Snakes on a Plane, is less surprising. Man, what happened to her? Didn’t she used to be on ER, back when ER wasn’t ridiculous?
In short, The Lost Room is definitely worth the six hours it’ll take to watch it (five without commercials). I personally think it would have made a great TV show. Certainly, the network that thought it was a good idea to make us suffer through the latter seasons of Sliders should have given this one more of a chance.
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