Peter Krause of Six Feet Under Returns to Television in This Six-Hour Mini-Series About Ordinary Objects with Bizarre Magical Powers
Lost Room does what all good science fiction must do; it engages the imagination and establishes a sense of wonderment that is quite beyond the ordinary.
If I told you that Sci Fi Channel's annual December mini-series event is about a key, a clock, a comb, a pen, a nail file and other common objects that have been imbued with fantastic magical powers, you might jump to the conclusion that the programmers at the network need a long rest. After all, it
can't be easy for them to come up with consistently fresh and compelling new movies and miniseries with science fiction or supernatural themes, and now that they have produced a story about ordinary items one might find in a hotel room that bend time and space and do just about everything else you can think of, it may appear that the good people at Sci Fi have finally hit the wall.
And yet, after watching the first four hours of The Lost Room, I'm comfortable in stating that we need not worry about the executives at the network -- even if they expect viewers to thrill to every swipe of a comb and tick of a watch. (The comb can excitingly stop time, making it a prize possession of uncommon value. The watch, on the other hand, boringly cooks eggs.) Indeed, The
Lost Room may not generate the critical enthusiasm that other Sci Fi minis have enjoyed -- especially the twenty-hour maxi-mini Taken or the Battlestar Galactica maxi-movie that revamped the faded Seventies franchise and launched the hit series that is now the network's signature show. But Room does what all good science fiction must do; it engages the imagination and creates a sense of wonder that is quite beyond the ordinary. It also helps that its storyline is utterly original and unlike any other that comes to mind.
Once again, I have only watched the first four hours of this six-hour program (set to debut December 11 at 9 p.m. ET and run for three consecutive nights), so I don't know if the content of the final two hours might
make me re-evaluate the production. But from what I have seen, Room deserves credit for telling a story that kids may find interesting and not all that difficult to follow. A kid's imagination can turn anyone, anyplace or anything into a source of great intrigue and excitement, and that's exactly what is happening in Room.
Throughout the opening hours of The Lost Room information about the amazing objects is slowly revealed. There are 100 of them and back in 1961 they were all contained within a single remote motel room. On May 4th of that year something happened to them that left each one with a unique
power. Since that time they have been scattered around the world. There are two especially sought after objects. One is the aforementioned key. The other is unknown but referred to as the "prime" object and can control the other 99.
Two groups, best referred to as mysterious societies or cabals, are seeking with strikingly different intent to locate all of the objects. Members of the one known as The Order believe that if all of the items are
brought together they can "restore the mind of God." (The suggestion that God has somehow lost His mind might explain why a comb, a nail file and a radio can suddenly alter basic properties of existence.) They also believe they will be able to "communicate with God" once all of the objects are in one place.
The other group is The Legion, comprised of people who want to destroy the objects because their individual and combined powers can wreak havoc in the hands of the wrong people, or even the right ones. Peter Krause of Six Feet Under plays detective, single dad and all around good guy Joe
Miller, one of those "right" people who learn the hard way that the members of the Legion aren't just gargling ham fat with their warnings. Miller's little girl uses the key and disappears into the room of the title, which is actually the motel room that once contained all the objects.
Peter Krause
The power of the key, by the way, is that it can be used in any door that has a keyhole to open that door into the all-important motel room, which seems to exist in another dimension or on another plane. Once in the room a person can use the key to return to the destination of his or her choice. But if
that person enters the room without the key, as does Miller's daughter, he or she is up the trans-dimensional creek and stuck there until somebody with the key comes to the rescue.
As Miller frantically sets about trying to rescue his daughter from the room he meets people from the Legion and the Order and a number of others who have come into possession of some of the objects. It seems the objects negatively influence the lives of the people who possess them, even if they
aren't aware of what's happening. "There's always a price to pay when you use an object, whether you know it or not," Miller is warned early on, just after he uses one and right before his life begins to go to pieces. Among the mysterious people he meets are characters played by Juliana Margulies, Roger Bart, Kevin Pollak and Dennis Christopher. The most winning performer in the ensemble, though, is captivating Elle Fanning, the younger sister of Taken star Dakota Fanning, who plays Miller's daughter.
The Lost Room won't be remembered as one of the all-time great television mini-series, or even one of Sci Fi Channel's best, but it is a perfectly harmless three-night diversion, and there is fun to be had in trying to figure out how different aspects of the story fit together. There have been rumors
since Room began production that if this mini-series does well in the ratings Sci Fi might adapt it into an ongoing series. If that's what it takes to get the very talented Peter Krause back into series television, it can't happen soon enough. Besides, a series based on The Lost Room would likely play very well if paired with Eureka.
