On May 6, 1937, the airship Hindenburg was incinerated in just under forty seconds.

Approximately twenty-five years later, a coal seam in a mine under Centralia, West Virginia, caught fire and is still burning. According to one report, it may continue to burn for another two hundred years or more.

These are handy references for a burn rate spectrum. As for the drama “Lost”, on the Hindenburg-Centralia Burn Rate Scale, it falls on the Centralia side. Way, way, WAY over on the Centralia side.

“Lost” is far less about plot than it is about mood. Some things happen. Not as quickly as the viewer might expect them to happen. Sometimes events appear imminent only to recede back to mere possibilities for a long stretch. As for mood, it’s not jovial. Somber? Yes. Melancholy? Definitely. Depressed? That’s where it gets complicated.

Jeon De Yeon’s Boo Jung and Ryu Joon Yeol’s Kang Jae are both emotionally distraught, distant from almost everyone they know and both with only one healthy relationship. Boo Jung with her father, Park In Hwan in a sharp portrayal of an elderly man in decline, and Kang Jae with his friend Sun Joo played by Yoo Soo Bin. Their careers are not what they imagined them to be. Boo Jung’s relationship with her husband is so distant it barely qualifies as a relationship. Kang Jae has lived his life measuring relationships by how much money he gets from it and, despite his natural attributes, has found such a life wanting for meaning.

Chance encounters lead to more meaningful exchanges and openness. As characters seeking human connection, these encounters become more by design and less by chance. Whether it will lead to an escape from loneliness and loss, well, that’s the journey they’re on.

There’s some deft editing as the show alternates smoothly between dialogue and narration. And the dialogue is quite good. The acting as a whole is very strong. Jeon De Yeon is convincing as a naturally quiet but talented writer with an inner fire. Ryu Joon Yeol is aloof and clever and charismatic. There is not a weakness in the supporting cast either. Of particular note, Yoo Soo Bin is a delightfully introverted and naive part-timer at an internet cafe. Son Na Eun is incendiary as a failed idol trainee who sometimes hustles with Kang Jae and has Sun Joo in her sights. Whether she is legitimately interested in him or sees him as a useful mark, her performance is sublimely ambiguous.

“Lost” is, however, a serious test of patience. There’s some long and some really long stretches of very little happening. One subplot involves a celebrity with a long history of abuse so vicious and dangerous that it could not credibly be kept secret. As the backstory is filled in and the arc progresses in the present time, the show doesn’t always telegraph how time is flowing. It’s a minor flaw for most shows, but in “Lost’ where so much is invested in creating this extraordinarily slow build of tension, it’s problematic.

For viewers looking for character study, none of the usual rom-com devices and lots of existential musings, “Lost” is the show. For those looking for comedy or spy thrillers, keep swiping.