Lost

The narrative complexity in Lost adds to the suspense that keeps viewers coming back for more. Prolonging a plot and expanding it through different perspectives allows the viewer to come up with their own conclusions. In the beginning episodes, one sees Jack and Kate as the heroes who are trying to calm everyone down and look for means of survival. In another episode, Walt finds handcuffs and Sawyer is found to be carrying a gun. The automatic reaction to this is that Sawyer was on the plane as a prisoner. One just starts to imagine what he could have done or what happened to his marshal. But then to keep us all on our feet one gets thrown a curve ball and discovers that it was Kate who was in handcuffs. Now the idea of her being a heroine is questioned and her marshal just keeps saying that she is dangerous. Our imaginations begin to run wild as to what will happen if there is a criminal among them. We begin to feel sympathy for Kate when she asks the marshal to make sure the person who turned her in gets his reward money. How bad can someone be if they are looking out for the other person? So, we begin to question what will happen next, where are they really, who else is on the island. The multiple perspectives, flash forwards, and flashbacks are innovations used to drag out the plot line or add to it, create suspense, and keep the viewer guessing.