A couple commenters on this morning’s Heroes-vs.-Lost throwdown make a good point: the shows are built to the tastes of two different breeds of geek–comic-book/adventure fans for Heroes, mythology obsessives for Lost. We’re into Grossmanian territory here, but let’s explore this. I think there’s some overlap between the two; you can’t ignore the comic book elements of Lost. But there’s something to this dichotomy. If you like Heroes, you probably like straightforward thrills and adventure; if you like Lost, you like to get lost–as it were–in complicated, labyrinthine creations.
Let’s run with this. If you like Heroes better, you probably preferred the standalone episodes of The X-Files. If you’re a Lostie, you lived for the black-oil episodes. Heroes: you played Doom in the ’90s. Lost: you played Myst. (Because I don’t have time to both watch TV and play on it, my videogame references are hopelessly dated.) Heroes: you love X-Men. Lost: The Lord of the Rings.
You could even take the analogy beyond sci-fi/fantasy geekdom. Heroes = The Fugitive; Lost = The Prisoner. Heroes = Ernest Hemingway; Lost = James Joyce. Heroes = U2; Lost = Radiohead.
I’m probably getting ridiculous here, but I come down solidly on the Lost side of each of these either/ors. Any to add? Or have the electromagnetic pulses affected my brain?