The summer has officially begun, as far as television is concerned. On Monday we watched the Season 1 Finale of "Heroes," and last night we saw the two-hour Season 3 Finale of "Lost." No spoilers will be mentioned in this post, as I know that some of you are either catching up on DVDs or may watch one or more of these series in the future.

As much as I've enjoyed these two shows, I felt fairly certain that they were both going to end the series. I'm pleased to note that this isn't the case. The finale of "Heroes" resolved the first season metaplot, but made it clear that there's a big story coming up. Likewise, "Lost" resolved some things, but like my other favorite J. J. Abrams show "Alias," even as we received an answer or two, many new questions were hanging around waiting for us to show up.

Both of these shows are demonstrating a trend which I think is quite positive in television storytelling. Carlton Cuse and Damon Lindelhof (creators, writers, and executive producers of "Lost") have said that they consider each season of their show to be its own book. When one season ends, the new one begins with an entirely new focus that promises to be more or less resolved by the end of the season, even though the overarcing metaplot may still be developed. This makes the show fresh with every new season, while still retaining the themes and flavor that made the show intriguing to begin with.

While "Heroes" is apparently following this example, "Lost" really did a trick on us this season. Hopefully without giving too much away, the show is going to go in a radically different direction next season (if the "flashback" sequences and the ominous words of the writers are any indication) while still - presumably - retaining the mysterious atmosphere of the last three seasons. I'm looking forward to it.

The thing is - with "Lost" - is that by the very nature of its sub-genre, many mysteries in the show may never be answered. Already there have been one or two things which seem to be red herrings, and while we've gotten answers about some of the Island's mysteries, there are many things which have been brought up and not seen since. Having said that, the writers have assured us that the Big Questions about the Island will ultimately be answered, and a lot of backstory stuff was answered in the Lost Experience "Alternate Reality Game" last year. But given that one of the show's big influences are Robert Anton Wilson's Illuminatus! Trilogy, I think it's reasonable to assume that there will be many weird, unexplained things in the background that will simply remain that way for the sake of maintaining the aura of surreality and supernaturalism. I think I'm okay with that.

Another thing that the writers on "Lost" mentioned was that shows like this (and by inference, "Heroes") simply wouldn't have been possible before the advent of the internet. The degree of complexity in these shows' plots and background 'mythologies' would have, in their estimation, been considered too complicated for pre-internet TV; but with people able to interact and theorize in online forums, consult wiki pages like LostPedia, and engage in interactive games like the Lost Experience, shows can now have a new level of depth to them. I think it's a great trend, and it stands to make television more intelligent (by giving intelligent shows a better chance at mainstream survival) and interactive. Of course, the danger is in having a show that requires people to become involved with internet fandom in order to really "get" them - I feel like I allow my pastimes to take up enough of my attention as it is.

Anyway, "Lost" is supposed to continue until 2010 - three more seasons - and then it will end. The writers say they've had the ending in mind since the first episodes of the series, which is very good to know as far as television series are concerned. "Babylon 5" had a beginning, a middle, and an end, and was a great series for that. "Twin Peaks" had a beginning, but then David Lynch just made stuff up as he went along, and as a result, once Laura Palmer's murder was solved, the show quickly declined into lameness.

So I'm pleased, is what I'm saying.

In other news, I've been listening to a number of podcasts lately since my lovely wife bought me an iPod for my birthday. I do like the podcasts - they're nice to listen to while doing chores around the apartment or penciling my comics pages, and they're specialized enough that I can find podcasts for the things that I find most interesting, without commercials - everything from James Lileks' goofy "The Diner" podcasts to gaming shows like "2d6 Feet in a Random Direction" and Dr. Rotwang!'s new "I Waste the Buddha With My Podcast" to old standbys like the street-evangelism show "The Way of the Master Radio". To be honest, it makes me want to start recording my own podcasts. I could talk about the Faith, gaming, movies and television, art school and comics, what Marilyn and I are doing these days...all the stuff I yammer about in my blog, but with the added bonus of music, the sound of my nasal, phlegmy voice and my killer Sean Connery impression. I even have a theme song picked out. Oh, and sound effects - as many Hanna-Barbera cartoon sound effects as I can cram into thirty seconds at a stretch.

Okay, maybe not so much that last part. I just said that to make Michael interested.

Well, maybe someday, when I have a microphone for my iPod and my head gets even more bloated than it already is.