Lost: Series 2 Part 1

Fears that the makers of this hit TV show had lost the plot - after ending Season One with not one, but two, cliffhangers - are quickly dispelled by the first half of Season Two.

Clearly feeling they'd tortured us enough at the end of the last series, this one opens with a full and frank explanation of 'what's in the hatch', followed by an episode detailing what happened to Michael (Harold Perrineau Jr), Jin (Daniel Dae Kim) and Sawyer (Josh Holloway) after Michael's son Walt (Malcolm David Kelley) was stolen from their raft.

Of course, the chief problem with reviewing a show such as Lost is how much to tell you - so forgive me if I err on the side of caution.

Suffice to say, the gang's all here - the ever-saintly yet ever-so-slightly-dull Jack (Matthew Fox), lottery winner with a big heart Hurley (Jorge Garcia), Boy's Own bushman Locke (Terry O'Quinn) and killer Kate (Evangeline Lily) to name but a few. But in case this burgeoning cast are not enough, this season they are joined by a collection of 'Taillies' - passengers from the back half of the wrecked plane that stranded them on the island in the first place.

The series quickly falls into a similar pattern to the first. There are several major story arcs - who are The Others? What is the Dharma Initiative? What are the misty monsters? Where is Walt? And will we ever see Kate shave her armpits? (sorry, just kidding about the last one).

Also present are more of the character back-stories. From Jack's saintly surgery to Rock Band hasbeen Charlie's (Dominic Monaghan) descent into drug abuse. These provide the 'meat' of most episodes, while offering titbits about the island along the way.

Inevitably this means that some episodes - those involving the characters you like, and let's face it, everyone has their faves - are more appealing than others.

Where Lost really scores, however, is in its mixture of action and romance. At once appealing to adventure lovers and soap fans, it is a winning formula. One minute you're plummeting through the air with Kate on a rope, the next you're watching Jack split up with his wife.

This Tomb Raider meets Sleepless In Seatle styling means that even when the plot is as far-fetched as tea from China, it's still irresistable.

The Taillies add a welcome element, too, particularly Mr Eko (British actor Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje), a tough Nigerian gangster-turned-priest, whose story is revealed in the stand-out 10th episode, The 23rd Psalm.

If there is a criticism to be made it is that the plot is as dense as the jungle, making it almost impossible to do all the different strands justice on a regular basis. This means that we have to wait until episode 10 for our first glimpse this season of the smokey 'monster', meaning that it has all but been forgotten before it turns up. With new plot ideas cropping up all the time, you can't help but worry that they may eventually build to a critical mass of mess.

The other problem this release faces is that it is only one half of the whole - meaning that unless you are an absolute diehard fan - or, like me, you're frantically trying to catch up, having missed the first half of the season due to the inevitable footy domination of the last month - you may well want to wait until they bundle up the whole series.