Locke is a dumb ass

Still waiting to watch here in Hawaii but man, that VW van thing is causing heart palpitations.

And let’s just say, as stupid as locke has become at times this season, if he is one of the 5+ body count to end the season, then I’m out…that would literally be the straw.

But, I can’t comment until I’ve watched it so…I’ll be back!!

Locke being alive (or dead) won’t shock me… I’m way past the point where the show shocked me anymore.

Except if the lost writers would produced a character that didn’t have a lame-ass pathetic father… that would fuckin floor me. I’m expecting a Vincent flash back at some point, where we learn that his father dug up flower beds and growled at schoolgirls.

You know, the first time that I started to hate the show was when Kate wouldn’t tell anyone… especially Jack… about the medical station (and somehow got Claire to play along). It was a huge, plot changing thing. The “others” transformed from mysterious to play-acting.

Now she believes “He has a right to know”!!?!!

WTF???

I believe the reason they drop plot lines for months on end is that they hope we forget them, because they are incapable of making a consistent plot line.

Yep, the whole Jacob scene was a bit far-fetched.

Before commenting on the episode I have an admission to make: The scene in which young Ben (aka Harry Potter) walks in on his dad Roger passed out hammered on the couch surrounded by empty beer cans was very similar to the view one would have had of me in my living room watching the show. By the end of it, I looked more like the dead Goodspell guy on the Dharma park bench.

That being said, I agree that the show’s descent into (intentional?) camp constitutes definite progress. There were several comical moments, including young Harry Potter and his dick dad debarking the submarine to be welcomed by hula dancers (the only thing missing was Tattoo shouting “BOSS! DEE SUB! DEE SUB!”) It was also funny when they were in the orientation room and Roger is told that he will be the island’s janitor. The video playing on the monitor reminded me of waiting in line for the Jaws ride at Universal Stuidos (or countless other rides) and being bombarded with the same corny video loop incessantly as I queued through the hour long line. And the Other dude (Richard I think) looks just like Adam Ant! Eye shadow and all! Or maybe the guy from the Human League. I’m talking about the guy who looked exactly the same 25 years ago (when he met Harry Potter) as he does now.

The obvious high point of hilarity was the scene with Old Harry Potter talking to an invisible man in a chair. I give the actors credit for not bursting into laughter during that scene. It was a lot like the episode of “The Brady Bunch” in which Greg rigs up a fake ghost on the clothes line and fools Bobby and Oliver — who in turn convince Buzz Aldrin or some other famous astronaut to come investigate.

I should have known what was coming at the beginning when Harry Potter announces it’s his birthday (approximately December 25 by my reckoning) and then we cut to a scene of mommy giving birth to him 50 feet from the highway — with a visible road sign announcing that Portland (presumably Oregon) is nearby. I live in the Northwest and the weather is never like that in December — but shooting a program in Hawaii has limitations — may as well make a joke out of it!

It is fitting that the definitive mystery of Lost was revealed in this episode: “HELP ME!” Clearly, Jacob represents the Lost audience desperately pleading for a way to be rescued from the show.

I laughed out when I saw Ben “grown up” and everyone else looking the same. He was oldest young man on earth. And if we hear that no one ages on the island, then why would a kid grow up? And the original inhabitants of the island??? Did they come from “Mutiny on the Bounty”??? “Let’s see now,” the writers are thinking, “what don’t we have yet? Oh, yes, an invisible man!”
And, again, when do we get to see Sayid kill someone? I want him to kill Juliet, but I’ll gladly watch him tie Ben to a tree somewhere and burn him alive. Maybe down on the beach, huh? Sayid can tie Ben to a palm tree in the middle of the camp and they can roast sea-marshmellows on Ben’s feet as they cook. Can next week’s finale end that way? Please? P.S. Cook Juliet, too, over a slow spit, roast her for Hurley. You know he’s hungry! AND MAKE THAT IDIOT JACK KISS HER LYING A** GOODBYE.

I actually thought it was ‘ok’ (with all the necessary qualifiers!).

hokey? a bit. but generally I enjoyed it…until (and here is my primary criticism of this episode and the entire series)…

when sawyer, sayid, et al FINALLY take a stand and we’re going to have a “gotcha” moment as they confront juliet and jack, the writers pull a big *SIKE!* by having juliet and jack confess to the taping. worse, she apparently confessed immediately after we first learned about her still being a traitor. so…for the past several episodes, WE thought she was dangerous, but jack already knew different.

to me that’s a sloppy,lazy, and unnecessary misdirection. it’s as if they intentionally create some [potential] tension, then let it fizzle out with one line of dialogue. it was just such a long way to go just to have the Lostaways discover the Other’s plan to raid the camp.

I think some of the other comments are accurate even if, like mine, they are a bit nitpicky. none the less, I enjoyed the episode. here’s a few intriguing, even if minor, points…

- ben’s crew didn’t stop locke from pummeling patchy, why?
- at least some of ben’s crew are the island’s “original” inhabitants (aka the hostiles) AND they may or may not age (cue greg brady’s spooky ghost whistle)
- ben is totally insane…probably…maybe…it makes him scarier if he is a norman bates type (i fully expected a skeleton to be sitting in that chair)

Here’s my take on the episode.

Major Theme: Loved Locke pounding Patchy and his snide remarks to Ben. He was clearly in control and I enjoyed that – up to the cabin scene when he gets freaked out and runs out like a girl. Can’t friggin’ BELIEVE he turns his back on the psycho-ben at the grave. If he dies, I’m done. (something for Laurent to root for)

Minor Theme: As usual, we have the testosterone boys (Sayid and Sawyer) manning up only to have their nads cut off by Wuss Boy and Dr. Botox. It seems Sayid’s main line is “What are you talking about?” with an arabic accent. I kinda laughed when they gave Claire one meaningless line just to actually have her present in the show. How much did she make for that 2 seconds on camera?

Flashbacks: Really wierd. Loved the misdirect at the “birth” as to where they were. Intrigued a bit by others/hostiles/whatevers that don’t seem to age. Maybe the smoke monster is a shape shifter or something.

More Questions besides the obvious Dharma crap and who is Jacob:

- what the heck was they continuous pile of gray ash that Ben stepped over and Locke touched?

- Who is Annie? (do I even care?)

I have a headache….

Yep, more of the same. At first, I liked it and I predicted that Locke would die (I had said Kate but that they probably wouldn’t kill her and if so Locke was gone). Note he was still breathing at the end, he wasn’t dead yet, so if he comes back, don’t everyone get in a tizzy.

Again, what did we learn? Nothing, as usual. About the aging thing, if the guy appeared not to age, then why did his (Ben’s) dad age? Jacob was briefly visible (I have a DVR and frame by frame went through, there was someone there, old guy with long hair). I thought Ben said they were the good guys, but they killed off a bunch of harmony seeking hippies, how’s that good?

So Roger Work Man was Ben’s daddy, at least Ben had the balls to kill his dad. The one good thing was they didn’t claim next week’s episode a must see, maybe they’ve been reading this board. Does look to be promising, though.

“What’s that Jacob? Lost still sucks? I know, but…I can’t hear you with all this moaning and groaning! Ok, ok, it still sucks. But we just suckered them into watching another episode.”

This episode had a Craptitude rating of 4 out of 10.

The flashbacks were pretty informative. You know that Ben is the last of these freaky scientists who love Fantasy Island. Daddy was a dick (whose dad wasn’t in this show?” Ben betrayed the people in his group to the hostiles (the others?).

The invisible man scene was pretty hilarious, and I was actually waiting for it, thinking “we are learning WAY too much in this episode to actually meet Jacob; he’s going to be a magic turtle or some 10000 year old pirate.”

Major questions still remain:

who are the others, what do they want, why do they want who they want, who is Jacob and what does he want, why are their ghosts on the Island, why does the island heal people, what the hell are the magnets in the hatch for, why did it blow up, why is the island invisible, etc.

Since they will never ever be able to tie any of this up, just look for big explosions next week, and Ben will get captured again by the Lostaways (or some other eeeeeeeevil person will get captured) and the promise of answers will be dangled in front of you like a cheeseburger in front of Hurley.

Well, I’m going to say it – I really enjoyed the episode. At the half-way point, while revelling in Locke’s newly-rediscovered bad-assery, I wondered aloud where the writers of this epi had been all season.

Sure, there were some odd bits. I don’t think any episode dating all the way back to season one was perfect. But overall I thought it was pretty strong. Reasons why?

1. We didn’t have to see Hurley, if memory serves me, at all. Or at least very little. A blessed relief.
2. Locke got to pound the piss out of someone.
3. Sayid’s beer belly seems to be shrinking again (nothing to do with the relative merits of the show, I realize, but gazing at him lustfully was part of the fun for me, and chubby Sayid just wasn’t doing it for me.

I am actually looking forward to the remaining episodes. This is a new sensation for me… it’s just sad we all had to suffer so much to get to this point.

Firstly, let me start off by saying how completely disappointed I am with last night’s episode. I’d given up on Lost about 4 episodes into season 2 (still watching occasionally, but not expecting anything shattering), but was given new hope by last weeks episode. Although it came about a season and a half too late I thought it was one of the strongest episodes since that great first season (excluding the crappy finale) and for the first time since early in season 2 was actually looking forward to an episode.

Man, by the time 11:00pm rolled around I was thouroughly pissed.

Every Lost defender will tell you how much was revealed; Ben’s origin, a further and more revealing look into Dharma, the “war” between the hippies and the hostiles and its outcome, a supernatural island overlord…etc etc etc.

However, I say, BULLSHIT! Sure, every season the writers reveal something. Unfortunately, whatever they reveal is of little relevance and way down on the list of what’s important. Meanwhile, past plot lines (anyone even remember the amount of time spent on Walt’s seeming prescience) vanish quicker than a cast member pulled caught DUI.

I don’t know, perhaps if last night’s episode was the 3rd of the season, I’d have thought differently. But come on! There’s 3 episodes left and this is the best the writers can give us after a lackluster season?

Fuck You Lost!

Does anyone think there is a reason that Ben killed his own father and then required it of Locke? Is there some right of passage there for the island. And why did Ben need to be patient? Why couldn’t he kill him right away?
Overall I enjoyed the show, but did miss a few scenes thanks to my daughter continually getting out of bed. I actually missed the very end, but Mr. Meister filled me in. Thanks JT for the link to see Jacob or whatever /whoever that was in the chair. Pretty freaky stuff happening…

P.S.

Since there’s sooooo much nonsensical lunacy it’s hard to pinpoint ANYTHING (hmmmm…maybe the show is a metaphor for the Bush presidency), I completely forgot to mention one thing that irked me beyond all belief, which once and for all should prove beyond any doubt that Lost is FAR FROM INTELLECTUAL…

Ok…so the “Hostiles” poison the Dharmas. Then, they slllooowwwwllly remove their gas masks and sssllllooooowwwwlllyyyy breathe in.

People, I don’t know about you, but if I was around a gas powerful enough to wipe out an entire village of hopheads (outdoors no less), I’d wait long enough that when I finally did take off my gasmask it wouldn’t have to be all cautious like that.

Awful, melodramatic writing.

Cautious hope turns to bitter disappointment. I gotta disagree with you Hannah. I categorally hated this one. BTW, JT, are we kewl?

When oh when will I learn to stop expecting this show to deliver? This epi was a particularly stinging slap in the face because I thought it actually had some promise. But how to explain the dismal turn of things: Locke’s inexplicable willingness to be lead into a death trap, the anticlimactic nature of Sawyer’s return to the camp with the “tape”, the focus on Ben’s past and the confusing proposition that some people on the island apparently do not age past 40(?) while others succumb to bad haircuts. Where are they going with this? Who are these hostiles? Did Ben truly see his mom? How was Ben groomed and manipulated into killing his people? Frankly, who gives a f&%$# anymore. This time, they did it. They have irredeemably damaged the story and ruined any hope of a coherent resolution (yes, I actually thought this was still possible before last night’s epi). And Ben… Ben is the one character for whom they should have dispensed with flashbacks because whatever mystique he still held has now complete evaporated. So after all of the speculation and mystery, after all the hang-wringing and mixed messages, it turns out that Ben is nothing but a frightened little nerd whose daddy was a loser and a drunk. Jeez, what a let-down and here I was hoping that he might be someone interesting like oh, I don’t know… Lucifer or something. And the whole poltergeist angle with “Jacob the Invisible” did little to redeem the story. Quite the contrary it was THE low point in the season. Lower than the ping-pong tournament. Lower than introducing and killing off Nikki and Paulo in the same episode. “Please God. No. Please no…”, I whimpered, rocking back and forth on the couch as I sat watching despite myself. This show has been, for me anyhow, an endless cycle of rekindled interest and dashed hopes. Once more, after three half-descent episodes, I got suckered into anticipating this week’s episode to see “what would happen next” and I got had. Putting aside the preposterously hilarious 70’s wigs, the epi didn’t start too badly. But just when Locke finally gets his groove back (the Patchy beat-down was a sweet piece of fruit, dude), he gets shot in the gut after sheepishly following Ben to a mass grave?! Then, Juliet confesses to the kidnapping plot, hence completely deflating any hope of a much anticipated ass-whooping. Come on! As for Jack, he is more contemptible than ever. Why can’t he get shot in the gut? Nobody likes him no-moh gosh naggit! Complete and utter rubbish… so that once again, I feel compelled to proclaim: Lost sucks donkey cocks.

As of last night, LOST has TOTALLY jumped the shark. How can even the most loyal, dedicated Fuselage fanboy say otherwise? The evil Ben, the sinister chessmaster, bane of our hapless disaster survivors, is finally revealed as a pathetic nerd whose daddy never remembered his birthday. Wow, what a great reason to slaughter your entire community! I knew many guys with the same sort of domestic situation who managed to not become mass-murderers. And what about Ben’s little girlfriend? Did he gas her as well? Will we ever see her again? Will we ever care? As usual, too many loose threads that will forevermore remain untied.

The ep was showing much promise early on. We loved how Locke smirkily deflected Benry’s obfuscations. And pounding Patchy was something someone should have done a long time ago. Then, abruptly, the entire episode (along with the entire series) came to a screeching end.

The actual shark-jumping moment of the LOST series was the empty chair in the cabin. It was at that moment that I realized once and for all that the show had reached the point of no return. After being such an intriguing, mystifying show that kept you on the edge of your seat, LOST has become a sad parody of itself. LOST has become like one of those eggs that have another egg inside, and another inside it, and another, ad infinitum. You never find the treasure inside, just another nested egg. And now, after smoke monsters, polar bears, and electromagnetic anomalies, we find an invisible man in an empty chair.

It turns out there was never anything more to know about Dharma. A bunch of well-funded hippies who were wiped out. That’s it. Big whoop. The mystique is gone. But with inept slight of hand, the producers limply attempt to transfer the mystique to “the Hostiles” and Richard — the New Ben — the ageless puppet master who pulled the strings from the beginning. Does the mysterious Jacob pull his strings or visa versa? Who’s running this crazy island? Does anyone care anymore? Now that the Others are on the way out, the producers will kill the next season feeding out tiny clues about the Hostiles each week to the viewers — all three of them.

If Locke is really dead, there’s no reason to continue watching this show. Locke was the only character who really wanted to understand the Island, and the viewers learned about it through him. Without Locke, the show loses any remaining hope of coherence. Oh sure, John will likely get “all better” and probably return from the bone pile next season as some of sort of messiah figure. Question is, will anyone be watching to see it?

I really wanted to see the cute little bunny rabbit explode.

You know, they didn’t reveal anything. I think what’s going to happen the next couple episodes is they are going to wet the appetite for next season. Since they have an end date now, they can plan out the remaining series. But, it came after this season was wrapped (I think) so it’s too late to get anything from this season. So, that being said, last night’s episode revealed a couple interesting things.

1. Dharma installed the sound barriers to keep out the hostiles.
2. If Dharma was taken over, how did the Swan Station replacements get there? Has anyone forgot that Desmond was on the island 3 years prior, and the guy that taught Sayid how to torture (CIA?) was there for a few years before that? So how are these replacements getting there if Dharma brought them in via the area the hostiles now control?
3. How come Richard (apparently) didn’t age?
4. If the hostiles took over, and aren’t Dharma, and are the natives to the island, how did Dharma come across the island and what are the hostiles up to?
5. Why did they kill Locke? Did Terry Quinn get a DUI we don’t know about? Or was it for shock value?

There’s more but this is a start. I really despise the way they don’t answer any long standing questions, but just pile on a few more new ones in the hopes everyone will stay glued. This episode generated (for me at least) more questions than answers.

Anybody else think the old hippie that flashed in the cabin for a second was an aged Locke?

I’m agreeing with everybody who hated this episode. On last weeks message board, I told everyone not to get their hopes up about last nights episode, and I’m sorry.. but I was right. This episode was garbage. Yes, it started out great, and Locke beating down Patchy to finally stop procrastinating in getting some answers was awesome (i was actually cheering at this point), what he should have done was just beaten the shit out of Ben after the Jacob scene, or better yet, dragged the writers out from the magic box and given them a taste of what they sorely have coming to them. As far as how this show has been going, I wasn’t surprised by anything that happened in last nights episode, and as far as knowing of what became of the Dharma Initiative, does anybody else feel like that was a total copout answer? They’re just hippies who have a shitload of money and submarine and recruit people to work on an island to better the world… which doesn’t even matter in the slightest because they were all murdered by the others?!? what the hell is going on with this show? through the earlier episodes of the series, they put such a big emphasis on the dharma initiative and the freaky asian dude on the videos, but with one single episode, they wipe all that off the map. Still nothing of the true mystery of the island, or the natives is revealed, and i’ll say it again, don’t get your hopes up folks, they won’t reveal anything important to you until season 5 or 6, and when you finally do find out what you want to know, you won’t give a shit anymore.

Holy shit man… when they walked into the cabin & Ben started talking to the empty chair I almost threw my Dharma (TM) beer through the TV screen. I actually screamed out loud: “YOU’VE GOT TO BE FUCKIN’ KIDDIN’ ME!” and started to laugh hysterically. Even my fiancee who is a much bigger fan of the show than I these days, had to pick her jaw up off the floor. I don’t care if you saw a nanosecond flash of some old dude- it was for all intents and purposes an empty chair. WHAT A FUCKING COP OUT! Then the poltergeist shit where stuff started flying around the room… “Help me”? It really it turning into Scooby Doo! I’m not even going to bother ripping all the little shit (ok, just one thing: how come all the “natives” look pretty much caucasian with the exception of Richard & all speak perfect English? Maybe they’re the descendants of the crew of the Black Rock, “aarrrr maties… watch out for those meddling kids & their Great Dane”). I’m not even going to comment on the whole Jack/Juliet/Kate/Sawyer, blah, blah… they all suck no ifs ands ors or buts, we’ve already discerned this right? There’s no need to talk about how disappointing it is that the Dharma initiative where just a bunch of hippies. What’s the point of saying that it’s just sad that Ben is just a bully with daddy issues. Because Jacob is an invisible ghost man from the future who resides in a haunted cabin surrounded by some sort of magic circle (the powder Locke sees on the way there)! Jumping the shark isn’t harsh enough of a term for this episode. Humping the whale isn’t harsh enough either.

One sort of positive thing: I was actually sort of shocked when Ben shot Locke, didn’t see it coming. I think I was still wiping the tears of laughter out of my eyes after the whole invisible ghost Jacob scene. Of course, there’s no way he’s dead but is was still kind of shocking.

“You want answers?”
“I think I’m entitled”
“You want answers?”
“I want the truth!!”

We can’t handle the truth…Because it’s lame.

Several of my thoughts conveniently work as responses to some of JT’s comments.

1. after last weeks decent episode and the hype behind this one and knowing the season is winding down and the writer might ACTUALLY make something happen, for the first time in a LOOOONG while, I truly did sit down expecting a good episode.

2. Last week = no real answers and people thought it was not bad
This week = several answers and everyone is pissed
Why?
I came to this conclusion last night…I don’t want answers just to get answers. Yes, they are giving some answers but they in no way suggest some clever, original over arching design concept like they’ve been trying to convince us from day one that they have in their minds. For example, tying things together like: Ohhhh, the guy in the van that Hurley found was Ben’s dad…this show is so complex the way they tie up all the loose ends. Actually, that is (to steal Nico’s criticism) “soap opera level” writing. The “Ghost” thing was completely laughable and contrived. Complete soap opera fare.

Is it fair to say “answers aren’t enough at this point, they have to be GOOD answers”? Maybe not if I was watching a show that didn’t pretend to be something deeper, more original, more intelligent, more complex than any of the other primetime soaps.

But this show (and the writers themselves) has always tried to sell itself as above all that. If not, I wouldn’t have started watching in the first place. There’s a reason I don’t watch ER or Grey’s Anatomy or (fill in the blank). It’s garbage.

So, I’ve started to come to several conclusions about the show and my mindset while watching the show that will either A) finally allow me to stop watching or B) stop watching it with any expectation other than turning off my brain for an hour and enjoying a few minutes relaxing with my wife.

Unfortunately, it will likely be choice “B” because at this point, the show, through no effort of it’s own, has provided me with some intellectual stimulation but only because it caused me to end up here, debating how much it sucks! Ahhh, the bitter irony.

Then again maybe this lends credence to the theory that the overarching concept the writers had in mind was to create an socially interactive show where the life it takes on outside of the is the real concept and the characters in the show end up being the pawns of the “Gods” a.k.a. all of use who create theories or voice criticisms, etc.

Hmmmm….maybe the writers ARE brilliant…on second thought…Nahhh

Okay so we get that Norman Bates (whoops I meant Ben) likes betraying his people and talking to empty chairs, but how the hell does he go from traitor/janitor to leader of the hostiles? I mean I suppose this Jacob was actually the guy who used to wash the VW vans.

Also Juliet changes her mind in selling everyone out and shares the knowledge that Ben and co are going to invade with idiot boy Jack. What does Jack do with this vital info, oh yea sits on it til he comes up with a plan. The writers have a cry baby doctor who thinks he can come up with a plan to stop the others. Guess he forgot there is Desmond the soldier, Syiad the soldier/torturer, Sawyer a conman (survives by his wits apparently) and Jin who worked with some form of Chinese mafia. Anyone think maybe the wrong guy is in charge of strategy?

Once again the writers fail to deliver. After last week I had hoped they would at least build towards a decent finish but this ones gone into a serious nose dive.

Must start out by saying the level of disappointment shocks me over this episode. This one seemed to explain a lot more than most are giving it credit for. While the flashbacks of this season have been mostly pointless this season, we finally got one that meant something. Still, because this is WHY LOST SUCKS, the haters come out with the usual fare. Here is what we learned, like it or not.

1. Richard has apparently cured the aging process, at least for himself.
2. They did not start the Dharma “purge”, as Mikhail had claimed.
3. Ben was not born on the island.
4. Roger-Workman was Ben’s daddy. Not a decent father among any of the characters.
5. Juliet might not be on the Others side. Still, I don’t trust her, since she seems willing to throw everyone under the bus for her own good.
6. Naomi is NOT aligned with the Others, so her story so far seems accurate.
7. Ben’s mother died during childbirth.
8. Someone really did have a connection to Portland.
9. Ben is a ruthless murderer. No surprise, although he constantly claimed, “we aren’t killers.”
10. We now know where the rest of the Dharma folk ended up.
11. We know Locke was a genuine threat to Ben’s leadership on the island. Hard to tell if he is dead or not. Likely, only that no one has recovered from gun shot wounds, plus the spoiler that five people are going to die starting with the Brig.
12. Cooper still appears to be dead.

Maybe the scene with Jacob was a tad hokey. Something made that creepy cabin shake. Still, we already know that the end is way far off and we are stuck not getting the amount of answers that seemed a lot closer to coming out. This episode was entertaining for certain.

I was hoping that they would use at least part of this episode to explain why Ben & co are so obsessed with babies, childbirth, pregnancy, etc. I guess his mom’s death could be a part of it, but why does the rest of the crew care so much about it? The whole baby sub plot is what I hate most about the show

I agree with Nico, the majority the the thing you claim we learned are so pointless to the big picture. All your reasons, except number 10, only focus on what was going on this season. The episode still basically ignored every aspect of the island mystery that hooked us on this show. Being as much of a die hard supporter of this show as you are, can’t you admit that the writers are just stringing us along for a ride we that we have no end in sight? or do you just not care to know about all the things that season one and two showed us about the island.. the numbers, the hatch, walt, the smoke monster, what was it Locke saw when he “looked into the eye of this island, and what he saw was beautiful”, why do dead people keep showing up and turning their backs and walking away from their sons?, and what they’ve done this season especially that has really pissed me off is that make a big deal of some issue, (juliet just to name one) and then completely write it off with some small one like bs explanation

One more thought (rather than an outright complaint): Who else besides Richard are island “natives”. Obviously, just being on the island alone doesn’t stop you from aging (or Ben would still be the Harry Potter kid). So where are the rest of the hostiles (the Others are folks Ben brought to the island, right?)? Plus, if just being on the island isn’t enough to stop you from aging, then what’s different about these so called “natives”?

Okay i think there were no natives. I think the hostiles were originally dharmas who perfected a way to bring people back to life and then split off for some reason and then at the right time, they killed the rest of the dharmas and then re-tookover the facilities. They experiment with everyone who’s ever died on the island and bring them back, except the ones who suck like ana lucia. When the dead come back to life, they remain the same age at which they died. That’s why ben’s mom told him it wasn’t the right time yet to walk through the fence. I mean really who wants to be 12 forever? So ben dies and we just haven’t seen that part yet. He’s living forever like the rest of the others. That’s why others don’t mind killing one another so frequently and without thought and that’s why they just stand around when they see the shit being beaten out of one of em—-cause it just doesn’t matter. you know…who really gives a shit. i don’t remember everything that happened anymore and this probably doesn’t even make any sense but you know what? i don’t care.

One thing I don’t get is why everyone seems to be so fired up about Patchy getting throttled again – haven’t we already seen that about 80 times? I recall that Jin and Sayid both administered royal butt kickings on him. I think even Kate slapped him around! Not to mention the sonic fence, frothing at the mouth episode. I hope that Rose comes back and gets her turn to bitch slap Patchy a few times.

I’ve stopped mentioning the various “in jokes” inserted into Lost scripts, not because they aren’t still happening, but because it seemed as if it was getting to be a bit tired. However, there was one in this most recent episode that I can’t resist highlighting.

At the beginning, when Locke confronts Ben, demanding to know answers, Ben responds with something like “I wish it was as easy as pening up a dusty old book and reading the answers, but it’s not”. So the writers are telling us to just forget about the dozens of literary and other references in the show, at least to the extent that they provide any clue to what Jacob the Invisible Pirate might be. Thanks Lost writers!

Now we know why David Lynch had a quick end date for Twin Peaks.
TV is a tricky medium.

News release from Foxnews:

“The survival of a major “Lost” character was left in doubt this week in an episode that shot adrenaline into the plot of the ABC series but failed to give it a needed ratings boost.

The Wednesday episode in which Locke (Terry O’Quinn) was shot, perhaps fatally, by Ben (Michael Emerson), the leader of “the Others,” drew 12.1 million viewers. That’s about the same sized audience the show has been attracting in recent weeks.

That compares to the 22 million-plus “Lost” drew at its peak last season, its second. Still, the drama about plane-crash survivors on a mysterious island has been winning its 10 p.m. EDT time slot among the young adult viewers prized by advertisers.

“Lost” also is building its audience within the hour, demonstrating that viewers who tune in like what they see. In this week’s pivotal episode, the audience got a history lesson about Ben’s troubled childhood and a clash between two island factions.

Given Locke’s importance to the show, the odds seem to be in his favor. But the producers have never been queasy about killing off characters who survived the crash but not the show’s complex plot twists.

ABC’s recent announcement that the show will conclude in the 2009-10 season also might have fans wondering if Locke’s shooting is a shocking early start to the show’s ultimate resolution.”

So all this hype, and still 12 million viewers. I’ll bet the finale draws back some of the faithful, I’d guess about 18 million will tune in for the finale just to see if the show still sucks, so I hope Evangeline Lilly was correct when she said the finale gave her goosebumps when she saw the story (from Jimmy Kimmel Live 5/9/07). I’m thinking she was a ploy, as will Matt Fox will be when he’s on tonight, to get viewers back by hyping up the episode. Better be a damn good one after all of this.

One thing this ep did was get the buzz going through LOST geek-dom. With new characters and developments such as Jacob and the Hostiles, the LOST dweebies are launched into a fresch cycle of theorizing such as hasn’t been seen in a while.

My latest theory is that the whole thing is an enormous psychological experiment, far greater and more elaborate than just punching numbers in the hatch. The puppet masters who control Island are trying to manipulate the emotions and subsequent actions of their human guinea pigs to observe their responses to various stimuli, all done in an elaborate mind control scheme, likely with a goal of world domination.

However, the human guinea pigs are the *viewers* not the LOSTies, and the puppet masters are the producers and the network execs, not Jacob and the Hostiles.

I don’t even know where to begin. I think I’ve finally gotten to that point. I honestly think I can wave goodbye to this nonsense and not even think about it anymore. I’ll admit I was a very avid fan for the first year. The second year was OK. This season is just horendous and the thing that’s really making me want to stop watching is the fact that people still vote these episodes 10s and go on and on about how incredible this show is. Now, I was planning on writing a fifty page thesis on all the negative points of this show and why it doesn’t just bother me but in fact actually enrages me like no other piece of pop culture ever could…but that would be boring so I figured I would condense my response here and just point out a few of the main plot holes and and convaluted turns the writers have decided to take lately.

1) Michael Emerson was never supposed to be on the show longer than three episodes. The writers have publicly stated this. Then why oh why has this entire season focused on him (more or less)? How can the writers claim they’ve had this planned out…if the “star” of this season wasn’t even supposed to be in the damn show?

2) The fact that the writers string us along with these plot lines for five or six episodes than out of nowhere throw some garbage plot twist in that renders the previous thinking of the fans moot. For example, we’ve been hearing about “others” since season one. I immediately thought, wow, some crazy psychic moutain people or something (that’s what I would have written anyway). They don’t reveal them at all until the finale when they abduct walt. Then the next season we think they are dharma employees (oh and they also lead us to believe that the tailies were the others for like three episodes when sawyer, jin and michael were taken) so the whole season all these thoughts are running around in my head thinking how cool is it that these crazy scientists are still there doing research on the island. But no, then in season 3 we find out that the others are actually not dharma employees but just some regular losers who were brought to the island for one reason or another. Later we think that the others are the mysterious hostiles that have been mentioned sporatically through out the past two years (sorry, but again, when Mikhail said hostiles I was thinking wow, crazy troll people or something bad ass) nope. Not even close. The hostiles are actually hmm, white guys who wear mascara and don’t age. I’m sorry but everything has just been a huge let down, in my eyes anyway.

3) Why was the lost experience plot the best part of the entire story so far? An equation the predicts the end of the world? Now we’re talking…The dharma initiative being founded to prevent it…this actually sounds like a good show to me! But no we get a lackluster ben flashback that portrays dharma as worthless hippies…who get killed off by a bunch of white guys.

I have to apologize, I know this post is long…but anyone who has some other annoyances, feel free to add to this.

Oh, and just a few other random thoughts before I go out and hunt down Damon Linelof and Carlton Cuse to demand they give me three years of my life back. What’s up with the fact that Ben didn’t know what the swan did, even though he cleaned the f*cking floors there for 30 years (I mean he was heading to the pearl to deliver beer with his dad)…doesn’t make any sense, or the timeline of the “incident” which no one talks about anymore. Ben would have been living there during “the incident” why didn’t they show us that in his flashback?!?!?

On the subject of Jack the bitch: Chris D, that’s a very interesting point you make way above about Jack’s inexplicable status on the show. Obviously, the writers decided that Jack would play a leadership role on the series. Two problems with that: first, he is not “competent” to lead and secondly any goodwill and respect that he built up in the first season have long been exhausted. So, what is it about Jack that makes him so eminently qualified to lead especially in the face of growing resentment (and I hope they explore this tension in the group)? The answer is NOTHING but the fact that he is an eminent member of the annointed medical profession. Although his professional success as a surgeon would make him naturally inclined to assume a position of authority, he clearly does not have the gravitas or skills and command the respect that would prompt others to look to him for leadership. Things are pretty cushy for these people considering their predicament but there IS the threat of the Others and the concern about how to get off the island. So, I think that in the normal course of things people would necessarily converge towards a “natural leader” who inspires confidence and trust and has actual survival and strategic planning skills. In other words, not Jack. Isn’t it typically American to confuse prestige and social status with a certain kind of intelligence and to assign abilities and characteristics to someone in Jack’s position that they don’t actually have? “Duh.. he’s a doctor, so he has the bigger brain; he can make all the important decisions and tell us what to do.” There’s a doctoral thesis in there somewhere.

I think I watched 5 minutes of the beginning, took a shower, came back and saw the last 5 minutes.

All the scenes I saw included Ben and Locke.

All the scenes I saw revealed something new.

I actually enjoyed the episode.

I think I found a new way to watch Lost.

PS. I qualify that by saying I don’t think I can take another scene of Jack, Kate or Sawyer. Individually or together, I’m only human after all.

The basic “framework” of the show was planned from the beginning, and they know all the “big” things like answers to the mysteries, the story of the Others, what the final resolution is, etc.

However, within that basic framework, they have to account for certain unknowns and real-world problems. For example, the first 2 seasons they weren’t sure of how long the series would last, so they struggled with pacing/revealing backstory. They have to deal with actors wanting to leave the show (Mr. Eko) or new characters being unpopular (Nikki & Paulo). So in that regard, they have to come up with some things “on the fly”, and because of that there will naturally be some inconsistencies or dead-ends.

I would like to hear thoughts on Mrs. Meister’s question above regarding specific examples of plot threads that were advanced that should preclude the previous lines that they’ve allowed to disintegrate.

I’ve chosen to remove a lot of these specifics from my brain to save space for important stuff.

I can offer as one starting point the observation above of:

If the hostiles had destroyed Dharma on the island, then the Dharma corp. would have to be aware of that at some point so how / why were the “switch outs” at the Swan station still occurring with Desmond and before him, the sargent from Starship Troopers who knew Sayid in Iraq.

This may not necessarily be impossible (I can’t remember all the details) but that doesn’t mean there aren’t other clear plot contradictions that I can’t remember.

Maybe the timeline of the “incident” (which I can’t remember by this point which “incident” this is referring to) and that Ben should have been around at that time? (mentioned by Fatlip previously)

The point about the characters going to hell is key when discussing the decline of the show. People who overlooked the “nevermind” plot mysteries have still given up on the show because the characters have been turned into complete idiots.

i would rather lubricate an elephant and shove it down my dickhole than have to sit through another episode of lost.
peace.

What happened to Vincent? I haven’t seen him for a while, does anyone recall the dog being in a recent episode? Solve that one, team Darlton.

As for contradictions, I think they’ve been pretty good about not having any, but it doesn’t mean there haven’t been some slight inconsistencies, at least to the viewer. Think about the inconsistencies, and you probably have a piece of the overall puzzle. One thing I think about is what about the hatch the tailies were in? And why don’t we get to see Claire breastfeed? I think some key clues have come out recently, saying there are “more rooms on the island than you think” (whatever that means). I think since they got the go ahead before the final episode this season that there’s going to be a big piece revealed in the finale.

I’m still pissed about the pace of the show, don’t get me wrong, but I think the past couple of episodes are heading in the right direction. As I prepare to inject myself tomorrow night, I only hope I can get that rush again. The biggest complaint will be having to wait until February 2008 to see the next season, I may actually lose interest at that point. I mean football can carry me to January, but February is a litte long to wait. Maybe they’ll have some teaser specials on like Heroes is doing to keep the appetite wet. 7 months, geez.

Just read the spoilers for the next two episodes, and if it’s true they look to be really good. There’s a twist at the end (supposedly), and if true, will change the entire show as we know it. Although the last time I read the spoilers he was right, I don’t think it detracts from watching, it actually makes me want to watch because it’s a tease as to the whole story. I won’t give anything major out, but here’s a tease, stop reading if you don’t want to know (remember this could be a foiler but the guy was dead on last time). Locke is saved by somebody we haven’t seen in a while who’s name rhymes with salt.

Enjoy!

Whew! I spent a luxurious weekend in Lake Tahoe & missed some kick ass posts.

check these out

youtubedotcom/watch?v=IWKPbQbs6EU
youtubedotcom/watch?v=-YPL_e2jgHw

change the ‘dot’ to ‘.’

Mrs. Meister

here is another one…

youtubedotcom/watch?v=1nzw9ZmMAiM

Mrs. Meister

I have been meaning to make mention of this for the past few days. Some person named Fatlip wrote a post that was like the equivalent of War & Peace for this site. Basically, he went off on the fact that Michael Emerson was never supposed to be on the show for an extended amount of time, that the writers are making the story up as it goes along, and if I were to answer everything he mentioned, I would be here until Saturday. I look at Lost a lot like a road map. The layout of the towns are always going to be in the exact same place, however you always have more than one way to get from town A to town B. I don’t understand why people have such a problem that parts of the show are evolving as it goes. Give the two assholes credit for recognizing that Emerson turned out to be a much better actor than anyone realized, that the character of Ben has turned out to be a fascinating villain to the overall story. If he doesn’t get Emmy recognition, it will be criminal. Yet, the funny part was that he though the Lost Experience was “the best part.” Maybe for curing insomnia, but little else.

Can’t post yet on the new thread yet, but this episode, to me, was undoubtedly the worst one of the season. What a waste of time.

I just got an idea, new idea. Thank you buddy for your article