All Lost secrets explained!
Wow, I can’t belive they finally explained what the smoke monster and the 4 toed statue meant!! Actually I missed the episode tonight – got home from the pub too late. I’lll have to catch it online tomorrow. Until then, did I miss anything?
Written by on February 15th, 2008 with
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Didn’t miss much. Oh yeah – another woman got shot in the gut. Seriously.
Oh yeah, there were two twists that catch the viewer flat-footed. It was awesome.
i missed it too! i’m so proud of myself.
Cliffs: FFWD into Sayiid’s life as a hitman who works for Ben operating out of an animal clinic. His next target was a chick, but decides to bone her and fall for her, ending with a bullet to his shoulder. Yet he manages to jump back and kill her.
Meanwhile, Asian dude, Kate, and Sayiid go after Locke and the other girl, get tricked by Hugo, and hostage. Kate and asian dude stays, locke lets sayiid go back to the choppa with drunkie dude and the guy from x-files lone gunmen. Add the dead girl and Des, and they fly away.
Jack is still a douche.
Overall, a ho hum episode.
Wow, I saw the episode and your 2nd paragraph description still confuses me.
Mrs. Meister
Yeah sorry, I wrote this half asleep. How is this?
Meanwhile the new asian guy, Kate, and Sayiid go after Locke who is holding the other new girl hostage. After finding Hugo, they too are taken hostage. They all cut a deal, and Sayiid returns with the new girl back to the helicopter. The nerdy new guy finds out that the island is in some time of time warp and gets nervous. Des and Sayiid agree to go with the new people back to the ship, and haul dead Naomi with them.
Jack is still a douche.
Much better!!
Oh, one amazing thing did happen last night…
Naomi’s eyes are now closed.
Mrs. Meister
Yes, I was grateful for that. And I will say it again, they are not done with her.
The island is in a time warp? So basically, the writers are now writing to all the stupid theories people have made up.
Remember back when the Island was Purgatory and it made much much more sense and was much much cooler?
Although a time warp works in that it is totally non-descript and doesn’t have to obey any sort of logic whatsoever, sort of like bizarro land.
And we find out Sawyer wants to stay on the island in one of those houses… with Kate. That’s new.
Overall, thumbs up episode.
Awesome episode
What did you miss? Well, once again, Sayid proved himself to be the worst strategist and tactician in the entire Iraqi army–and that’s saying something. Seriously, how many traps has he fallen into? And getting gamed by Hurley? That’s just sad.
You also missed Gut-Shot Blonde XII–The Return of the Gut-Shot Blonde. She was one of two new characters who were introduced last night only to be killed. Bravo, gentlemen.
On a lighter note, we learned that the science-guy newcomer/rescuer (I can’t keep up with the names anymore), isn’t the sharpest tool in the shed. Apparently, the mysterious “rescue boat” has these smart bombs that can seek out an electronic target. So what does science guy do? Well, after the missile is fired, he hangs around the target just waiting for the incoming projectile to land on him. (If he gets off the island in time for the Olympics, he would no doubt want to apply for the job of “javelin-catcher.”)
Back to Sayid for a minute: He tells Locke that he KNOWS these new guys are lying, and yet he still wants to fly out to their boat–you know, the boat where he’ll be completely outnumbered and trapped on somebody else’s turf. Plus, we have that whole “trade” scenario. Sayid tells Locke that he knows he can’t just take Charlotte, so he’s willing to trade for her. This trade involves Miles–who is already being held securely by Locke’s Army (as is Sayid!!). Does this make sense to anyone!? Locke doesn’t need to trade for anything because he already has control of everyone! Only on Craphole Island…
You left out something: Helicopter guy tells Jack: “Don’t worry, he [science guy] does this all the time.” Yeah, well, I used to have a friend who played with M-80s all the time. Now everybody calls him “Lefty.”
Overall, last night’s epi didn’t make much of an impression on me one way or another. It was pretty weak. Lots of walking in the jungle – Oh no, the cabin is Lost… what do we do NOW? Sayid joins with Ben and gives up his “new leaf” to be a murderer again, although SURPRISINGLY we know not why. Admittedly, I couldn’t even follow the conversation Ben & Sayid were having at the end.
And isn’t it sweet that Sawyer wants to stay on the island and set up house with his precious freckles. Only we know SHE DOES leave the island… so I guess she is just stringing him along again. BTW, L and I were talking last night about Kate. In the flash forward, she isn’t wearing any handcuffs. Shouldn’t she be like in jail or something? I mean they do have her on premeditated, 1st degree murder.
Oh, there was one great mystery revealed. We now know that there is a time distortion on the island. Didn’t we already settle that with the aged Walt? Why the BIG production? BTW, where is everyone else that ‘went with Jack’? Wasn’t there more?
That is all I’ve got. Not that interesting, but neither was the episode.
Mrs. Meister
The time warp scenario is a retard’s wet dream! If time is travelling faster outside of the island (thus older Walt, multiple World Series, etc.) then the missile should’ve gotten there much FASTER, not much slower.
Good GOD, where did they find these writers? It just gets more and more inane!
Patience is a virtue. By season 6 you might be singing a different tune.
You mean a song like…
“We all everybody”
Mrs. Meister
Oh God. I want to puke now.
Patience is a virtue because it pays off in real life. TV is not real life.
They are just writing this show on the fly on the “shiney objects” method of chasing whatever bullshit theory is out there.
I think JJ Abrams wanted to scam the audience like War of the Worlds but thought he wanted to see how long an audience could be scammed.
Acutally LOST pays off pretty much every episode. You get entertainment. You have fun. Sometimes you are moved to tears. Sometimes you laugh. Sometimes you are inspired.
I am moved to barf….
L Meister,
How old are you? Your comments are on the juvenile side.
Aww, now you hurt my feelings.
Come on, dude. Die hards have been chirping that “patience is a virtue” line every season since Season 2. Just wait for Season 3, 4, 5, etc. They’ve developed so many ludicrous plotlines that they’ve gotten in over their heads. Just wait til the last season, it will be beyond ridiculous. I would at least give them credit if they looked at their own past writings and offered at least some goofy, contrived ending for the hundreds of plotholes they’ve developed.
Where are you getting the multiple World Series? The Red Sox winning in 2004 is the only one that I’ve heard mentioned on LOST.
i’ll bite…
relative to other characters (and other episodes), sayid’s storyline remains one of the most interesting. flashing forward, he’s an assasin…working for ben…!? overlooking all the clumsy, goofy dialogue and the jack/kate/sawyer bore-fest and the usual plot holes and the implausible choices everyone makes…I thought it was ok.
now here’s what I don’t like…
1. sayid seems to recognize the bracelet on naomi on the island, before he knows it has any significance in the future…wtf?
2. i caught the last 5 minutes of last week’s epi, which they re-broadcast in pop-up style with little hints and explanations…the hints are so frickin’ obtuse and explain the least clever references in the history of television that i wonder why i ever thought this show was ‘neat’ in the first place ! (e.g. another character whose name refers to an obscure scientist and time travel, neat !!!)
Is that what the Lost promo-monkeys mean by “enhanced episode?” Is it just an episode with lots of pop-up hints? I thought they might include an extra scene or two (the horror, the horror), but I guess they don’t want to cut into any commercials.
yah, I guess so. I only caught the tail end, but I don’t think there were any new scenes. the pop-ups that I saw mostly referred to ‘easter eggs’ that probably made the fanboy set cream their pants, but added no value to the show imo.
Not much else to add. Possibly the worst episode since the ping-pong tournament. I’m finding it increasingly difficult to muster interest anymore.
To raptusregaliter’s point above, it was rather amusing that Nerd boy stood around looking up at the sky for the precision “missile”; for a second there, I thought he was going to try to catch it with his hands. As for Sayid, I think he goes willingly because he somehow knows that his life is not in danger. He knows that the would-be rescuers are lying about their purpose for being on the island but has determined (how?) that they are not a threat.
Mrs. Meister, I feel the same way about the epi. I would add that the whole time distortion business is starting to get confusing. In the last season, we were led to believe that the island has regenerative powers and slows aging. Last week, however, it was suggested that Walt had taken a quantum leap into manhood (unless of course he returns as a ghost — which would explain everything — yeah right). Finally, last night, Nerd boy appears to have determined that the island was in some kind of time warp although according to his gizmo, the time differential was a matter of hours not days or years. None of this will every be reconciled into a coherent explanation of course.
My only other comment is that for people who were so desperate to be rescued a few hours ago, I find them all (especially Jack) somewhat lethargic about getting off that F%#@ rock already.
Holy mother of God, does this show ever suck.
the ping-pong tournament !! ha ! I’d forgotten…excellent.
maybe a domesticated sawyer and kate will hold a bbq for everyone with burgers and dogs, a jello dessert, and croquet in the backyard.
Sorry, guys, the comments here are starting to grow so nonsensical and nitpicky that I don’t even have the strength to respond to them anymore. Right when I saw that our first criticism of the episode was that a woman was “shot in the gut, seriously,” I threw up my hands and gave up (by the way, I just counted five males, off the top of my head, who have been shot over the course of this show, and three of them are very prominent characters).
Hate the show all you want. I give up.
Come on now JT, don’t give up on us. Only one person mentioned the gut shot. I actually thought the scenes with Sayid were the best of the episode. I just don’t think it was that eventful overall.
Come on, you don’t think Sawyer’s plea to Kate was cheesy or that Dan standing there waiting to be impaled was crazy? If you don’t, I think you need to be a little more objective.
Mrs. Meister
What’s “nonsensical and nitpicky” about raptus’ trade observation? Seriously, how can Sayid “trade” for anything at that point? He, Kate, and angry Asain guy are all being held prisoner. And Locke (whom I like) is an idiot for letting any of the newcomers go. Why not grill them for information since the writers have decreed that Ben not reveal any of his huge treasure-trove of secrets until the last half of the final episode?
Sayid determined that he and Locke are basically on the same side: against the rescuers. Locke loses nothing in the trade. He doesn’t really want Sayid, and he still gets to keep one of the rescuers prisoner.
JT, my friend, I can see through you like… er… a very transparent thing… Classic case of deflection. Comments here have always been “nitpicky”. You just refuse to admit that you have finally come up short for anything good to say about an episode. I think I’ve always been fairly objective about this show. And BTW, objective does not mean gullible or willing to overlook inconsistencies and nonsense. For a long time, I wanted the show to return to its former glory. And until recently, I still maintained some hope that things could be turned around. Can you pick a single good thing out of the steaming turd that was last night’s epi? One single thing.
I was the one who made the first comment (this week, anyway) about the latest installment of the “Tales of the Gut Shot Women”. To tell you the truth, I don’t even watch this lame show on a regular basis anymore. So when I tuned in last night, and was treated to yet another new female character who was promptly shot in the gut and died, I burst out laughing.
Lost sucks as a drama, but it makes for great comedy.
But you have to admit that the plot twists caught you off guard.
Remember, we have 6 seasons to figure this baby out. Have some faith in the Lost writing staff.
Lmeister (Mr) here. My first post of this new, horrifically crappy season is for the California Parakeet. Dude, what are you even doing here? You have nothing good to say about the show, only ridiculously ambiguous statements about faith and belief. Perhaps you should start the “Church of Lost Love” or something like that. Seriously, stop with the inane babble, and make your case for the show if you want, but your comments are pithy nonsense.
L Meister,
Were you not a little intrigued by the twists in “The Economist?”
Are you not a little curious to see how Sayid gets off the island?
quod erat demonstrandum
The “Ben gets off the island and now controls Sayid” is a plot twist, but not a great one. Why? Because of the Law of Economy of Characters. Just like the next big plot twist—the mysterious man on the boat who is really aligned with Ben—will also not be a great twist because the Law of Economy of Characters tells us that it’s going to be someone we already know (99% probability that it’ll be Michael or Wallllllllllt). And yet, the fanboys will praise this upcoming revelation as “breathtaking” or “genius” or “a real game-changer.”
excellent point. and if they introduce yet another new character to not care about, it has even less impact.
You aren’t disturbed with the ease with which people are shot mortally and yet survive, or are pummeled in the face and yet do not need nose jobs?
I think you’re too accepting of this show’s retarded lack of creativity when it comes to basic plot points. They’re great at red herrings, but they suck at creativity. I think they think someone has to get shot (or shot at) every episode to make it exciting.
In next week’s episode: Sawyer and Kate fuck, while Jack hopelessly jacks off to the thoughts of fucking kate.
Since Jack has a vagina, I’m not sure if he can technically “jack off.” He can cry though, especially when he thinks about his dead daddy.
his dad isn’t dead. “previously, on lost”
Furthermore, Jack is too stupid to be woman.
I don’t know… Prosecution Exhibit #1: Kate.
I’d add another thing that seems a little strange is how normal all the killing seems to everyone. numerous shootings, dozens of beatings, a knife to the back…even torture. yet most of these otherwise ‘regular folk’ don’t seem phased by it.
I live a pretty ‘regular’ life in a ‘regular’ neighborhood…and if there were than many shootings or beatings going on around me, I’d hope my reaction would be something like “WTF is going on here?! And why am I still standing near this woman who will very shortly be shot in the gut?!?!?!”
Amen LostSkeptic! And another thing (that’s already been beaten to death but I wanna talk about it anyway): What’s happened to the fear of the smoke monster and all the other creepies that roam the island? In Season 1, the Losties were paralyzed over travelling from the beach to the caves. Now they spend every hour of every freakin’ day on these pointless excursions. Somebody please give Hurley a Dharma pedometer!! If he’s not taking 10,000 steps a day I’ll eat my hat!
Right, and now Sawyer wants to play house on the island. I guess he considers the ‘others’ and Smokey good neighbors. It is just so stupid…
Happy to keep floggin’ that particular dead horse. Indeed, these folks have not been on the island long enough to be desensitized to such violence, let alone to participate in it so casually. They show no signs of mental trauma from the crash and all fear and apprehension about the various threats on the island appear to have evaporated. Thus, a convincing argument for a “Lord of the Flies” type of devolution CANNOT be made here. Jack is the best example of this: a surgeon, the product of Ivy league education who grew up in privilege. Admittedly not a brilliant tactician, but still… Come on. I also find certain people’s inexplicable expert handling of guns irksome (Kate last night handled herself like a police veteran when she was entering the house — cool as a cucumber with proper posture and hand position). And yet those who are supposed to be seasoned professionals (ex., Sayid, Naomi) behave like amateurs when it suits the occasion. Snort.
Mr L here, lets do a small list of all the murderers on this island:
Sawyer:, killed Lockes dad, killed Zeke, oh and a polar bear
Michael – killed AnaL and Libby
Locke – killed Naomi, Sonic Fried Patchy (still lived)
Hurley – flattened a dude with the van
Sayid- blew up several with the tent bombs, broke dudes neck with his “break dance” move (very funny line)
Bernard aka Rambo – blew up a few folks also with his tent shot
Charlie (RIP) killed Ethan
AnaL – killed Goodwin and Shannon (oops)
Echo – killed several beach attackers
Botox – shot her own man
Sun – blew away the chick on the boat
Ben – killed dozens, his own dad, attempted to kill Locke
Desmond-murdered the military dude (sort of an accident), harpooned Patchy (but he still lived)
Patchy – killed Aunt Jamima, killed the two underwater amazons, blew up/drowned Charlie (we all everybody!)
I know I am missing some too, feel free to chime in. Not to mention all the pre-island murderers (Sayid, Kate, Sawyer)
These people would all be in mental wards by now….
Holy toledo! Did not realize there were so many.
If you had been paying attention to all of the flashbacks then you would know that these aren’t just “regular” people. They’re people with compelling backstories.
See? there you go again – absolute, blithering nonsense.
Lmeister,
Put down the Miller Genuine Draft, wipe your chin off, and refute my points.
You’re sadly mistaking Lost with Heroes.
I paid attention to all the flashbacks, until they started repeating the same themes over and over and over…and over…for whichever character was featured.
I also forgot the thing was on last night.. only to turn it on at the last minute to see part of the conversation with Ben and Sayid. (which didn’t make much sense to me) I wasn’t particularly ‘upset’ though.. but rather had the feeling that HAD I seen the entire thing – It would have left the very same impression on me as having just seen that last 30-40 seconds..
Pretty much sums up the series for me at this point.
I find it amusing that you guys ‘forget’ the show is on. I admit, I look forward to the show. I look forward to the parts worth watching and I look forward to the parts worth mentioning to ridicule. At this point, I’m not sure which brings me more enjoyment. But I actually rush my kids to bed on Thursday night so I don’t miss anything. (yes, that means I haven’t given up hope that there will actually be something to miss)
Mrs. Meister
Poor poor Mrs. Meister. Still clinging to that last bit of rapidly diminishing shred of hope. If they can muster a single decent epi in the next couple of weeks, I might, just might, begin to hope again. But it’s not looking good. Don’t think he’s gonna make it, captain.
There is no other show, better than LOST.
I am not sure that is true. There is a documentary on the fascinating aspects of accural accounting on tv right now. It’s much much better than Lost, more exciting, and better written.
I must admit that I thought the fist two episodes where a little better than last season… but now it has got back into full swing… that annoying full swing of frustration and build ups to let downs, etc.
Seems this season all they’ve done really is run around the island in little groups. There is nothing left to explore… no exciting “hatch”, no monster, etc.
Paul.
PS: Why is Hurly still so fat? Surely it is not from eating the Dharma Ranch dressing… it can’t be that fattening.
I think it’s from eating the donuts on the set.
Eating donuts on the “set”…… wait…. do you mean this is just a TV show?
Paul.
Don’t you know that fat people have “glandular problems”?
Yes, they have these amazing glands that produce matter out of thin air! Ask any fat person and they’ll tell you. It has nothing to do with calorie intake or expenditure, but with these amazing glands that can make fat when they breathe. Amazing!
Yes. I believe it’s a process called “fatosynthesis.”
If nothing else, they have conclusively proven that the flash forwards are the most boring parts of the show – and that’s going over some big, boring territory. I guess all the characters are acting nonchalant about the violence because they’ve gotten used to dead people coming back to life. Also no doubt it is the genius writing team making a statement about all the violence in our world and how it eats away at our souls. ………….. Okay, back again. Had to take a moment doubled over with laughter after trying to sound like a fanboy there. I find myself mesmerized by this show in the same way I watch an Olympic skater who has already fallen four times and still has half their routine to go. Just wonder if they’ll go all the way and end by doing a swandive over the boards into the judges’ section.
Wow I still don’t understand how they manage, that after I watch an new episodem I know less than before ! Fantastic !
I hate this program, but I love that they still have all the bags of douche speculating.
They actually STILL believe that a story line exists! They still can’t admit, or can’t fathom, that they are being twisted for the sake of being twisted. They have been manipulated into a new paradigm that forces them to derive enjoyment from pointless and needless guesswork that each episode forces a viewer to contemplate. It’s a boondoggle. The ABC website is devoted to theories, because this is where the enjoyment comes in for the droolers. They actually get to think and be creative in their relationship with the idiot box.
Ben is a Swiss vet with a clinic in Berlin who uses future Sayid to protect the island and his friends still there. What a revelation. I mean, that was a twist nobody saw coming. What clever writers (smoking monkeys at Crustlyland Studios)! That will have people posting theory videos on the ABC site! That means more web traffic, the new TV medium… ca-ching! $$$$$$
It would be clever if this was the intention and not a mere serendipitous result. I’m impressed that they still have enough stupid people to string along, but then again, look at all the Bush voters. So many stupid Americans put 2 much faith in 2 things: their leaders and TV, no matter how stupid their message.
All this crap season after season and the droolers you mention are still out in full force. They’re still churning out the “you have to be patient… they can’t tell us everything all at once…”. Well boys and girls it’s the 4th season now and we still don’t know much of the crap that they brought up in the first season.
“Whoa a polar bear in the desert!! That was such an interesting twist… someone get a screen capture and let’s analyze it!”
This show has become so over the top in terms of ridiculousness. I’m starting to believe that the people who say lost is “groundbreaking” and are still intrigued by it haven’t watched much tv, or are under the age of 17.
Last night was no better. The whole Sayid story made me feel like the writers had watched Casino Royale the night before. So I’m assuming that the “Oceanic 6″ became some sort of popular figures after they return to land – and yet event though he’s popular Sayid becomes a secret agent type murder for hire? Wouldn’t do much for keeping his cover… neither would the shooting guys in the middle of a golf course. And why would he tell his story to a woman that he just spent one night with? I like sayid and i think he’s one of the few characters that still has some value left, but they just made him look like a total fool last night.
I wish the next rocket hits nerd boy in the head. I bet we’ll find out something stupid next week how nick nolte the helicopter pilot is really locke’s brother.
Maybe the Oceanic 6 were only slightly famous. Would you recognize Neil Armstrong if you bumped into him at Wal-Mart?
heck yeah i would if it was the late 60s/early 70s. And even then slightly famous is still worse than being unknown.
Amen, brother!
It’s sad, really. Reading all the convoluted theories on the TWoP msg board trying to figure out “what it all means” gives me headaches. It’s an exercise in futility, and a colossal waste of brainpower.
As the caption in Fox Mulder’s UFO poster read, “I want to believe”. I have got to give Dangerdork and Curse credit – they sure know how to string ‘em along….
Fuck!
so naveen andrews said “I’m still proud of the first season; around the third I thought they were winging it; the writing was poor but I’m definitely doing two more years.” during an interview with jonathan ross on bbc one. has anyone seen it?
I read his interview in the Guardian.
This guy is brutally honest… and cool.
Even mentioned how having an old lady like Barbs Hershey as a girlfriend is a result of an oedipus complex.
Now that Echo’s gone, he’s the closest thing to an actor on the show. Liked him even before the English Patient. He gave the distinct impression in the interview that he did not care whether the show was good or bad. Pays the bills, provides exposure and will no doubt result in the opportunity to do better things in the future. More worthy of his intelligence and talent.
Just to let you know, Matthew Fox also went to Columbia for his undergrad.
Who cares?
Well Laurent, it seems you and I are clearly in the minority as those who truly have accepted that there is not and has never been a chance that there is/was an overarching point to the storyline. (Again, i think watching JJ’s speech put it over the top).
After reaching that point, it is amazing how little motivation there is to watch the show, even for the fun of ridiculing it…I mean come on, when there was still the threat of the show having an intelligent underpinning, the challenge of capturing it’s flaws was at least a cognitive exercise.
But at this point, it would be like watching midget basketball and making fun of them for not being able to dunk. Where’s the satisfaction?
That being said, of course I didn’t watch last night. I was just doing other things and forgot. I may watch it online since my wife still wants to watch it but if not, who cares.
I feel your pain Stickman. Now, the fun exists in watching what stunt they’ll pull next to keep the show intriguing. It’s pure spectacle, like “Jackass” perhaps. It’s a fantasy show set on a fantasy island leaving them infinite options and with no real need to answer them now, nor ever because their stated goal is to sustain intrigue and suspense and NOT to deliver a payoff. It’s like an endless run-up to a punch-line, sure it may be mildly funny in the build-up, but there’s never the belly-buster at the end. I do enjoy American TV, it’s like comics or video games, or some other form of silly, honest and safe entertainment. I don’t mind watching ridiculous TV, like say… Sarah Connor, or Magnum PI, because I KNOW they are trying to ENTERTAIN me and not MANIPULATE me, or a show like Sopranos because they are striving for realism (plus, after days of teaching wealthy brats the art of the snowboarding it’s nice to just crash on the sofa). I take exception with Lost because they believe that viewers enjoy being led around by the nose more than the culminating moment, the payoff. Imagine “Usual Suspects” without the twist. They don’t, or didn’t have the cleverness to craft a hidden twist nor a surprise (remember Sixth Sense?) so they masquerade this shortcoming, this lack of talent by saying that they don’t have one (aw… yeah, that… uh we meant to do that, yeah)!!!! Chicanery!
I approach it as an observer, almost like a scientist watching an experiment, to see how they attempt to fabricate suspense. It’s a small simulation experiment, a Nick Bostrom mind bender where we watch people simulating a simulation (they propose theories to a simulated reality that only attempts to simulate a simulated reality).
Regrettably they always take the easy way out by bringing in new characters and using time flashes (back & forward) to add mystery or questions.
This last one was particularly horrible, I won’t lie to you.
I was really frustrated by the lack of rigor, or more precisely-originality-in constructing suspense (the jack/kate/sawyer triangle, the jack/locke rift, and ben the puppet master doing the mindfuck, and of course the new characters).
I hope you’ll stick around just for the spectacle of it all. I think our dear leader has already called it quits!
“I approach it as an observer, almost like a scientist watching an experiment, to see how they attempt to fabricate suspense”
I have a good example from last week: When helicopter guy is lying there on the ground (I’m pretty sure it’s helicopter guy), he decides to load his flare gun to signal someone. Now this is a pretty mundane event, but the underlying music was set to FULL SUSPENSE MODE—like the producers were saying “ohmygod, he’s loading his gun! and now he’s raising it above his head! and now, oh jeez I can barely stand it! yesyes he’s shooting!! what can possibly happen next!?”
Has anybody else noticed suspenseful music in non-suspenseful situations? I’m guessing that it probably happens a lot on Lost.
not in the minority if you’re including present company…we all (I think) realized very early on that JJs tactic involved “the box”, not the answer. wasn’t that a criticism of his other TV show(s)? the secret agent one?
It was only recently I belive, during the ‘cloverfield’ jaunt, that his methodology became more blatant, and recognized for what it is.
actually perhaps it isn’t recognized for what it is since he probably is being tagged “genius” because of it.
So, I watched last night’s episode and aside from shouting things at the screen like “Jack you are such a douchebag!!!” and “Jesus Christ, Sayid got tricked by f*cking Hurley!!!” I saw that both Naomi and The Chick Sayid Bangs Before He Blows Her Away have on similar bracelets and I thought to myself “Wouldn’t it be hilarious if this all powerful, all mighty puppet master behind the scenes has a team of “foxy” (their idea not mine, since I’ve always thought of Naomi as “ratstache”) women who do his bidding…” and then I thought about that story that Uma tells in Pulp Fiction about the pilot epsiode she filmed once called “Fox Force Five” because there was five of them and they were foxes… This lead me to wonder if this isn’t the beginning of the ultimate comic book nerd wet dream in which “sexy” chicks do the bidding of an evil “genuis” (an evil “genuis” who makes them wear tracking bracelets) not to mention that it’s a cross over to Pulp Fiction so everyone who gets it can pat themselves on the back for catching yet another pointless tie in to something that exsisted before LOST… Like everything else that’s considered notewothy by all the Fanboys and girls on this “brillant” show.
ratstache…I love it. not sure where the attraction with that chick stems from.
so…which one tells the corny jokes?
So what the hell is going on with Ben? He starts off as a kid who comes to the island with his dad, gets raised there and becomes the janitor or something. At some point he gets recruited by the others then turns round and kills everyone he was working with. Now he somehow becomes the leader of the others. Then he somehow starts communicating with some kind of ghost (jacbo). We also find out that the people on the boat have been sent to find him and that he has a secret room stuffed full of cash and false identity papers. Even better in the future he’s running some kind of operation to wipe out all the people who are a threat to the island with Sayid as his personal assassin. So does this make sense to anyone? He’s gone from janitor -> traitor -> cult leader -> mystic -> international man of mystery -> head of a group of assassins. It’s just insane!
Oh and one further rant what kind of scientists decides that the best place to run an experiment involving shooting a missile onto the island decides to not only stand in the expected impact area but has rigged it so that the impact area is right next to the helicopter! Just who in real life is that stupid?!?!
i agree with everything you just said about Ben. Its clear evidence that the lost writers are just desperately trying to fill 6 seasons with only enough story line for 2 seasons at most. They’ve written themselves into such a big damn hole with so many areas of the story and plot that just don’t make sense and have no connection to anything. I mean seriously, everything that we encountered in early season 1 when the show was awesome, the hatch/the numbers/the others/the smoke monster… all of which is now complete utter bullshit that the writers are hoping we all come down with amnesia and forget about.
So to end.. yah i agree that what they’ve done to the Ben character is just retarded now, and the fact they they are trying to tie everything to him is a joke. But don’t worry cause next season none of it will matter.
PS… to california condor, eat shit and die
1. The hatch was part of Dharma… and there is still a lot left to find out about Dharma. Keep watching during the next couple of years and pay attention and you will find out what the hatch was all about.
2. The numbers will likely come back into the story sometime in the future so just chillax.
3. What is wrong with the Others?
4. The smoke monster might also be explained down the road.
THis is all about entertainment and in that respect it wins a gold medal. Just chillax and give the writers some slack. If it doesn’t all come together by the end of season 6 then you may have something to complain about but for now you should just sit back and enjoy the ride.
1. The hatch was part of Dharma… and there is still a lot left to find out about Dharma. Keep watching during the next couple of years and pay attention and you will find out what the hatch was all about.
I think they buried the Dharma backstory with the pit Locke ended up in. Don’t expect any more about Dharma.
2. The numbers will likely come back into the story sometime in the future so just chillax.
The numbers have been forgotten, not a mention anytime this season and you won’t know any more that you know right now, guaranteed.
3. What is wrong with the Others?
What’s wrong with you?
4. The smoke monster might also be explained down the road.
MIGHT. IOW, we’ll never know. Kind of like why Locke couldn’t find the Cabin. And why Saayid now works for Ben. And why they introduce some new hotty and then kill her off. The frustration point is overwhelming. I know now that I will not go out of my way again to see an episode, if I get to a TV Thursday, great, if not, oh well. I’ll wait until the end of my training and then catch up. Kaleefornya Chicken, you can spooge all you want about how great this show is on this site, but plain fact is you aren’t going to change anyone’s mind. That is why we are here, this show was good, now it sucks. And the suckiness only gets bigger as the crap goes unanswered. So save the fanboy tactic, it didn’t work for JT and it won’t work for you. Good day.
CPT Preevyet on duty
Unless you’re kidding, this asinine tactic of assigning the word “fanboy” to anyone who tries to shoot down these moronic criticisms of the show is exactly why I don’t bother fucking posting here anymore.
Fanboys of jebus, mohammeden, yahweh, and JJ unite!
It’s pointless to try to convert the fans/zealots. It’s like an organized religion. They enjoy the mystery and not knowing. They approach bad episodes as tests of faith. Try as you might to point out the absurdity of the whole thing and they place their faith in the writers and the gospel according to JJ. However, the followers of organized religion are much more idiotic. They’ve actually been convinced that they’ll learn the answers after they’re dead. JJ’s just promising 2 more seasons. It absolutely takes more courage, as well as gross stupidity and lack of an independent thought process, to believe utter tripe.
Aw, c’mon JT, just because I used the F word don’t go away…I have missed your commentary because I do still like the show, and while I’m watching I think “This is great!” but then I realize they’ve answered nothing yet again, and piled on a few more mysteries. That is all, don’t take it personally.
IF it all doesn’t come together people MAY have something to complain about?!?!Mwahahahahahah!!!
About that missile, it was coming in at something like 1 km/sec, which is some multiple of supersonic. Wouldn’t that blast a big enough crater to smoke Daniel, Jack and the chopper?
Quibbles aside, tell me that S4 isn’t much better than S3. I’m enjoying LOST this year a whole lot.
Bob,
I think the whole point is that Ben is gifted so the story is all the more compelling if he started out as a janitor.
Regarding the litle rocket: maybe the physicist Daniel knew that it was really accurate and would land in a very specific position.
Stop sucking all the fun out of an entertaining ride.
I’ll stop sucking if you stop blowing… JJ.
In case it isn’t obvious by the URL alone, the documenting of Lost’s suckiness is the fun here.
Oh, and why did you abandon your Dawson’s nom de guerre? Because perhaps, it didn’t take long to figure you for a jackass?
I’m totally unaware of a Dawson’s name. Apparently you are mistaking me for someone else.
THANK YOU!!! This is my biggest gripe with the show. This character goes from being a pimply, sheepish nobody to the frickin’ Overlord. How can he be so rich, powerful and knowing and yet be threatened by outsiders on a constant basis? From the writing, he seems to have even more money and counter-intelligence than Whitmore, yet he always has his back against the wall. Outlandish TV writing at it’s best! Either he’s Satan/the Antichrist or he was recruited by some world power like the Freemasons/Bilderberg Group/Trilateral Commision/Illuminati and is in charge of an epic conspiracy that includes the Easter Bunny, Santa Claus and the Great Pumpkin, who do his bidding in the heat of the night to utilize the islands natural quirks, disturbances and resources to seek world dominance and overtake…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….ad nauseum.
Who’s hotter Alex or Claire?
Which one is Alex?
Paul.
Alex is the Frenchwoman’s daughter that Ben adopted. You know, the girl who had the slingshot when Kate and Sawyer were breaking rocks.
Sorry if I repeat previous comments, but I just wasted an hour sitting in a Denny’s parking typing right now. Befuddled is the only thing that’s coming to mind. Saayid working for Ben, now I admit that’s a twist. Everything else just plain sucked. Who are they looking for? The black guy? Who was the guy Saayid killed on the golf course? Oh I no, more mystery to be tacked on and no answers. Forget the numbers, others, dharma, etc, it will never be answered. Still sucks never will change. I can’t believe I sat her in my car and watched it. Christ.
Geez, how many typos was that? That’s what I get for multitasking in a Denny’s parking lot.
I finally watched the episode last night. The twist at the end was decent I guess. I always kind of like when Sayid gets his own episode as I think he’s one of the more interesting characters. Although now we have another person get shot (and of course DOESN’T die). So out of the several episodes we have Locke, the helicopter chick, and Sayid all getting shot with no long term effects. Guns and Lost seem to have about a 50% kill rate at best. Another pointless jungle trek here and there, and the whole Hurley tricking Sayid and Kate scenes were just complete pointless filler. I think they just write scenes for Kate to watch around with her gun drawn “charlie’s angles” style. That whole 25 minutes added nothing to the story. Oh yes and the time warp. Not exactly big news. We have all known about the time warp. 1 day on the island equals 1 season on the TV show, by my calculations.
I would like to see Bill Murray show up on the island as his character from Meatballs so that he can lead the entire cast in a chant of “It just doesn’t matter, it just doesn’t matter, it just doesn’t matter…”
or even better…
… how about if he shows up and Lost gets caught up in some kind of Groundhog Day and we can relive all the episodes over again and again and again with varying twists and turns. Ooooh the excitement!!
Mrs. Meister
Wasn’t this the premise for Season 3?
(Yes, I am replying to my own wife’s comment.)
Actually, it was pretty darned compelling to see Hurley and Sawyer going against Kate and Sayid. That was new and interesting. Even Hurley, everybody’s buddy, had to con his pals. That brings up interesting philosophical issues about morality and loyality in times of crisis. A college philosophy class could have a robust debate on Hurley’s betrayal. This is good television.
I don’t know why you’re complaining about guns not always killing people. Did you ever stop to think that maybe if a gun shot someone in the shoulder they might live? And Charlotte was wearing a bullet-proof vest. That’s fair game.
You asked about the four-toed statue foot. I think by the final episode we might have some insight into that. Remember when Locke’s dad was tied up to a giant Roman-looking pillar? I’m guessing maybe an ancient Roman or Greek society found the island long ago and built some structures on it. The four-toed statue foot might and the pillar where Locke’s dad was tied might have been ruins of this ancienct society. This is a show that requires a little thinking. It’s not monkey-see monkey-do television. It’s all about mystery, suspense, and then a gratifying payoff somehere down the line. Remember the hatch? Well, after lots of terrifying, dizzying anticipation, we eventually got to see what was in the hatch. That’s gratification. LOST delivers that way.
You suck!
Mrs. Meister
Mrs. Meister,
If that’s the level of analysis you’re capable of, no wonder you don’t like LOST.
Just stick with American Idol and Dancing with the Stars. Those shows are probably a better fit for someone like you.
I beg your pardon…
You REALLY suck!!
By the way, did you happen to notice the name of this site? It isn’t WhyILoveLost.idiot
Mrs. Meister
Frankly, I regret your comments, if only because you’re embarrassing yourself on a public web site. So I’m going to invite you to re-read your comments and think about whether or not you meant to type them. Then I’m going to invite you to publicly state that you did not mean what you typed.
You still suck!
Mrs. Meister
Mr. Meister here. I just read my wife’s comments and I am APPALLED.
She was way too easy on you, Parakeet.
Go to The Fuselage, fan-boy. You are a moron.
Man-up and bring some intelligent analysis to the table. Don’t hide behind your baseless insults.
I think you’re just afraid because you know I’d refute all of your infantile complaints about LOST. Broaden your mind. Open your eyes. Shows like this don’t come around that often. Enjoy the ride.
Suckey Suck Suck!!!
Mrs. Meister
California Condor,
I get the feeling you don’t really believe your own absurdly pro-Lost postings. It’s actually kind of amusing.
Fiesta,
I’m totally into LOST but the rantings of Mr. & Mrs. Meister drive me to say a few things that might come across as snide.
I’m sorry dude. Anyone who likes this show is either lacks intelligence or is just very very forgiving of bad bad TV.
TV is shit. Lost is the shit that shit shits out.
If you want a mind fuck, read some philosophy books, or watch the Exorcist, or Seven or something. Lost is just a waste of time because there is no point to it, no overarching theme, it’s just being written on the fly to whatever the “buzz” is. It’s a fucking Rorschach inkblot test; you see whatever you want in it, but it has no meaning.
They promised something in the beginning, but when I realized there was nothing coming, I gave up. But it is hilarious to read the synopses and see that nothing has changed. Plus ca change…
LOST is entertainment. It’s a pastime. It also happens to be a gratifying pastime. Yes, it has some flaws but I think some people get carried away when they complain about these flaws. They should be grateful for what they have.
After a long boring day at work everyone is entitled to a guilty pleasure. Thank goodness we have LOST for that.
California Condor,
Do the nice people at Lost pay you to write these things?
Yes, we got to see what was in the hatch, and then we wondered why there was a guy in the hatch; oh he’s pushing a button, why is he pushing the button; oh to stop the weird numbers from counting down because stuff shakes if he doesn’t; oh who built that thing?; I dunno but it doesnt matter and you are never going to find out because if he just turned a key it would all go away anyway with no consequences.
As for a college philosophy class, a college philosophy class could discuss ANYTHING for hours.
Did your Mom ever send you on a snipe hunt kid?
I think all the Dharma stuff is an interesting storyline.
I will admit that one plot point that I don’t like is how Desmond, Eko, and Locke all survived the meltdown blast when Desmond turned the key.
Condor, it’s just that every few episodes here someone like yourself brings up the “you aren’t smart enough to like lost” arguement, like you essentially told Mrs. Meister. The problem is the opposite, we are TOO smart to like Lost anymore. We can see right through the crap on our screens every week.
I have nothing against intelligent, thoughtful criticism of LOST. The show does have a few loose ends that need to be tied up. But that’s have the fun: waiting to see how they tie it all together.
By the way, tonight I just watched “Through the Looking Glass” for the second time and I thought it was entertaining, gripping, and moving entertainment. You’d have to have a heart of stone to not get a little choked up when Charlie died. And the very end when the airplance flew over Jack after he pleads to Kate about going back to the island was breathtaking television. I mean, who isn’t ultra-curious about how Jack and Kate got off the island? What did they have to do to get off the island?
What is the difference between a fraying carpet and a bunch of loose ends?
If get you this one, more Yoda will tell you.
The carpet is an eyesore but LOST is still worth watching because the loose ends might be tied up by 2010?
California Sheep has unintentionally hit upon the nexus of Lost’s suckitude: Some of the loose ends MIGHT be tied up in two years. On a show where mystery is the raison d’etre, the decision by the show-runners to just keep piling on more and more w/o ever untangling the mess they’ve created (or maintaining any sort of internal logic) shows a complete lack of respect for the audience. But hey, as long as the fanboys at the fuselage are happy, right Sheep?
I did get a little choked up when Charlie died. Some of the orange juice I was drinking went down the wrong pipe as I was yelling at the little hobbit to JUST OPEN THE DOOR!! Idiot.
Desmond would have died. Plus, it might have been impossible to open the door with all the rushing water coming in. Other than that, I will admit that Charlie’s death was maybe a little bit hackneyed.
How do you know Desmond would have died? Did you happen to take notice of the size of that underwater whatever-it-was? IT WAS HUGE! Charlie had plenty of time to open the door and run out either before or after Patchy McJumpsuit set off the grenade. Afterwards, they both could’ve escaped because there’s no way that station could fill with water in less 10 minutes.
But could they have gotten the S. C. U. B. A. gear ready in time?
They wouldn’t need scuba gear. It’s a lot easier to swim up than down. And they both proved they could make that swim down.
Yeah but Charlie was rushed.
Point taken. I know when I’m rushed I lose all self-preservation skills. That’s why my neighbors avoid me when I leave for work in the morning. I’m just as likely to forget to hold onto the steering wheel and accelerate into a tree as obey the rules of the road.
You all everybody making too much of it. The little hobit just wanted to return to the Shire.
Mrs. Meister
Well obviously Desmond got his gear on in enough time, so there was no reason that Charlie had to die. I will give credit where it’s due though. Charlie’s character didn’t HAVE to die, but he seemed like a very very fatalistic personality type, as if just programming the sequence wasn’t enough. In Charlie’s mind he had to program the sequence AND die to save his friends. One of the weirder aspects of the storyline that actually fits in a real world scenario.
“That brings up interesting philosophical issues about morality and loyality in times of crisis. A college philosophy class could have a robust debate on Hurley’s betrayal. This is good television.”
I’m sorry but I just had to burst into laughter after reading that. I don’t know about a college philosophy class, but maybe the cafeteria in a high school.
“This is a show that requires a little thinking. It’s not monkey-see monkey-do television. It’s all about mystery, suspense, and then a gratifying payoff somehere down the line. Remember the hatch? Well, after lots of terrifying, dizzying anticipation, we eventually got to see what was in the hatch. That’s gratification. LOST delivers that way.”
It is monkey-see, monkey-do. The monkeys (not moi) see lost every week and do all that speculating garbage – analyzing screen caps, looking up stuff on wikipedia for some sort of pop culture reference in the hopes of finding some sort of “deeper meaning”. OMG OMG Locke has the same name as an English philosopher!! Let’s face it the suspense in this show leads to no where – the writers leave us hanging in terms of all the little mysteries. There is no way in hell that they are ever going to explain everything like the four toed statue (unless the show goes on for 14 agonizing seasons, in which hurley will get fatter and fatter). The times where they do finally explain something it is such a let down or some lame explanation. At this point in time the writers know they can put any garbage on the screen and know that the idiot lost drones will love every minute of it, and remind us how “deep” this show is.
I thought that the Dharma Initiative and the Others were both interesting payoffs when they were explained a little more.
Dear unoriginal bird dork -
I’ll have to agree with Tyler on this. You aren’t doing anything new in arguing that we are all too stupid to “get” Lost. We’ve seen any number of derivations of you come and go. If you want intelligent rebuttal to your inane comments, go spend a few hours reading the archives. I’m sure every argument you feel like you can make has already been brushed aside previously.
I think the only legitimate pro-Lost poster in the history of this site has been JT (and he’s apparently pissed at everyone now or something). So, unless you can defend lost at an appropriately high level of discourse, you might as well quit wasting your time. Or, at the least, site regulars: can we please stop legitimizing these morons by responding. ignore them and they will go away…I mean come on, we have standards around here don’t we
Personally, bird boy, i’m too tired of your ilk to waste brain space debating with you. (and that goes for the “if you hate lost don’t watch it” crowd too)
If you have legitimate complaints then bring them. Just don’t be like Mrs. Meister who says “You suck!” like a sixth-grader.
” unoriginal bird dork ”
That’s priceless!
Now, I had already resolved not to respond to this fanboy, but when I read his post, 16:16:34, I just couldn’t believe my eyes. Well, you saw it. How unbelievable was it. I mean, this guy really thinks he is enlightening us. I laughed so loud and HAD to respond. But all that came out was “You suck”. You know, I stand behind those words. What else is there to say?
Mrs. Meister
Mrs. Meister, instead of just ranting, please provide some legitimate critcism of LOST.
Stickman: “when there was still the threat of the show having an intelligent underpinning, the challenge of capturing it’s flaws was at least a cognitive exercise.” —
Once again, eloquently put Stickman. This explains the general lethargy about even posting comments lately. But I don’t think intelligent underpinning is entirely necessary to stimulating discussion about the show. Even if they were to inadvertantly deliver a couple of satisfying points of closure, I think that might help to provide fertile ground for discussion. It has now come to this.
Aren’t you at least curious about how the Oceanic 6 got off the island?
No. Curiosity has too often led to disappointment. In any event, I would have to be interested to be curious. Oh… and I despise condors, especially from California.
Oh Mr. Kemal Atatürkey, you are a fine specimen and worthy foe. Despite my occasional jabs and shallow prods I mean no harm. I merely attempt to summon the verbal judo, and rhetorical grandiosity that so often leaps forth as your fingertips tickle the keyboard.
I always enjoy your posts, admittedly more on account of their recent rarity. Please don’t allow the lethargy to fester to the point of malaise, or is it the other way around? Either way, stay in the game and strut those feathers and brandish that stabbing sharp quill!
Oh, le beau compliment! D’autant plus précieux par sa rareté. Fear not my friend (I use the term loosely), my interest has not been extinguished entirely, it has merely shifted to this forum which I now visit for its own sake, yes, perhaps less frequently. And BTW, I welcome your vituperative wit and arsenic-laced tongue-lashings even when directed at me (my foliage has thickened somewhat since my earlier posts). However, I have never suffered fools gladly and there are far too many nesting on this blog lately. I don’t like it and therefore am less inclined to contribute my own droppings.
Turk – I agree with you on a couple of accounts: the general lethargy with posting is directly driven by the increasing understanding that there is no point (as skeptic said well above: as JJ’s methodology becomes more blatant – even by JJ’s own words).
Also, I agree that even if they tied a few things together either accidently or just to keep the devoted believing that “OMG, IT REALLY IS ALL GOING TO TIE TOGETHER IN THE END, OMG”, that would provide a little interesting discussion fodder.
The problem is that it seems to be going in the opposite direction (more questions and not even caring anymore about even the small resolutions) or else the answers they are giving are so incredibly lame as to not even warrant comment (I mean come on, how hard is it to take something referenced in that past – like the stupid polar bear – and again reference it some flashback? That takes absolutely NO thought.
I can see it now: Next week, Charlie’s ghost has a flashback to that time he was walking down the streets of London, ducked into a back alley to avoid the papparazzi and encountered the smoke monster soliciting a prostitute behind a dumpster…The idiots over at the hatch are going to go wild…See, I told you it all tied together…OMG!!!!
The irony is that the scenario that you describe in your last paragraph would fail to ring a dissonant note for the likes of Condor… and frankly would be an improvement on the first two epis [Turkey chuckles bitterly].
You forgot to point out how later on we would be led to the shocking truth that the prostitute works for dharma…
and wait there’s more…
if you look carefully in the background, you’ll see her having coffee in the same place as *insert one of the other characters*
Hi all.
I’ve been lurking for quite a while now, although I stopped watching Lost in the first third of Season 3. My wife and I just couldn’t take it anymore. However, in line with the great enthusiasm I once had for the show, I’ve enjoyed keeping tabs on what’s (not) going on through your very entertaining discussions. After all this time, I thought I’d delurk, say hello… and throw a few words in the way of California Condor.
First, I’d like to say that if I still keep indirect track of Lost through this fabulously snarky website, it’s not because I like Lost but because I like the idea of Lost. The secret experiments, the troubled characters, the survival drama, the “mythology” of an unknown island; the show’s basic premise has all the ingredients for a fun adventure drama. Unfortunately, where Season 1 was great and Season 2 was dubiously good, Season 3 proved that sometimes the reality of a thing just isn’t as compelling as the idea of a thing. So, despite the many criticism of Lost that have been discussed in the boards – which CC steadfastly ignores – I’ll be repetitious in offering my reasons for why I stopped loving Lost, started loathing it, and haven’t bothered to watch it.
1. Confused identity. Is the show science-fiction? Fantasy? Straight realism? Lost doesn’t know, and it makes it difficult to find a balanced position from which to interpret the show. Abrams claimed the show would be grounded in scientific reality, but so far the show has veered into mysticism and borderline science-fantasy. The fact that anything is possible, that any Law of Nature can be broken at will contributes to the feeling that the writer’s are improvising as they go along.
2. Implausible character behaviours. The character’s don’t talk to each other. They don’t share information. They have inconsistent skills (e.g. Sayid, Kate). They all have melodramatic back stories. In short, I don’t believe that real people would behave the way they do? Would I accept Lord of the Flies? Sure. I would also accept an anti-Lord of the Flies, in which people rally together. But the characters only share information when the writers want us to know something. In other words, the plot changes the characters as needed, instead of being changed by the characters.
3. Information management. One of the big points of this board is that Abrams and the Lost staff simply don’t know how to manage when and how information is revealed. Many of the show’s outstanding questions (i.e. the smoke monster, the numbers, the Dharma Initiative) go back to Season 1 and 2. This is Season 4…should we really still be waiting for answers to old questions? Take Season 2. With life in the hatch, and the discovery of other hatches, we should have learned a lot more about the DHARMA initiative than we did. It actually took the ARG to reveal answers like what the numbers are (variables in the doomsday-predicting Valenzetti equation), what DHARMA’s purpose is (to change the variables and save humanity from extinction), and how DHARMA fits into the Hanso Foundation. Yet Season 2 missed the opportunity, just as Season 3 failed to answer elementary questions like who the Others are and why they’re on the Island. Throw in a menageries of characters, many of whom are short-lived, and it’s clear that the story has spun out of control. In my opinion, many of the Season 1, 2, and 3, questions could have been answered without affecting the current plotting involving the freighter freaks or whoever they are. Seasons 2 gives us DHARMA, Season 3 gives us the Others, and Season 4 puts the conflict between the two in the context of a larger conflict. Sounds simple, yet that’s not what’s going on. For an example of how to manipulate audiences correctly without pissing them off, I suggest “Vantage Point,” which coincidentally stars Matthew Fox. (I am, among other things, a film critic so I got to see it at an advance screening.) Now there’s a film that could teach Abrams a thing or two.
I could go on, but frankly, I don’t even love to hate Lost enough to want to keep dumping on it. The show has no real suspense because it doesn’t follow any internally consistent rules. The characters are dislikeable. So CC, I’m not sure why you’re hanging around this board, but there you have it.
And to everyone else, I apologize for belabouring the obvious. Maybe I needed to vent after all this time. Cheerio!
Surly,
First of all, I think LOST has to be categorized as fantasy. If a plane really crashed like Oceanic flight 815, then it’s likely that everyone would die. So the fundamental premise of the whole show, of the pilot episode and of the first season that so many LOST-haters love so much, is based on something that has to be fantasy. Futhermore, you had the smoke monster in season one. Everyone claims to love season one but remember the pilot getting eaten by the monster? If you could swallow that I don’t know why you would have a problem with anything that follows. LOST is about interesting characters from the real 2004 world entering a world that has a little bit of fantasy in it. Yes, there are also romance and human interest elements that drive the story as well. This is where the backstories come in. Jack, Kate, Sawyer, Sayid, Desmond, Hurley, Locke, Charlie, Ben, Juliet, Claire, the list goes on and on but for the most part they all have interesting, touching, dramatic backstories that are all entertaining vignettes about life. Sure their stories are more dramatic than the stories of most real people but they have elements of reality mixed in: moral dilemmas, regret, rage, revenge, shame, love, deceit, fleeting success, obsession, addiction, betrayal, father-child strife, and even humor. And to top it all off, the LOST writers have done a bang-up job making the flash-backs entertaining.
The way the LOST characters interact with each other is a hallmark of excellent writing. This is supposed to be entertaining and suspenseful. A documentary of what real people would actually say while stranded on an island would be boring and mundane. The LOST writers are very talented at making dialogue between characters interesting, moving, or funny, depending on the situation.
Frankly, I’m impressed with how the LOST writers tie everything together. Remember the odd cable that Sayid found in season 1? Well, at the end of season 3 we find out it’s the power cord to the underwater Looking Glass hatch. At the end of season 3! Remember the mysterious polar bear in season one? Well, it turns out in season three (!) that Sawyer and Kate are held captive in old abandoned bear cages. And then in season 4 Charlotte finds a polar bear skeleton with a Dharma collar in Tunisia. There’s something to be learned about Dharma and polar bears. Stay tuned. But it’s all coming together.
If Dharma has been abandoned, why would we necessarily learn about it in season 2?
ZZZZZZZZZZZZ!!!!!!!
So after 3 and a bit seasons you bring out great examples of how plot is stringed together like Sayid finds a cable in season 1 and then finds out whats it does in season 3. If you think this is good plot use then have I got the book for you ‘Spot the dog’ it’s filled with twists and turns which will keep a man such as yourself amused and amazed for hours.
Face facts the writers have been saying that everything has been planned out and they know whats happening and when but there so much evidence to contrary it’s just not true. Consider the mysterious numbers which just up and vanished, the mysterious air drops of food and supplies, the four toed statue. Let’s not forget the utter disaster which is the cast, I mean Mr Eko (one of the only good characters) quit so they gave him just about the lamest exit ever – death by smoke monster. Then there’s Ana Lucia who everyone hated so she got written out of the show. Then there’s Libby who actually had an interesting stalker thing going with Hurley but she got dumped before any of this was explained. Next we have Jack who’s idea of acting is looking like he’s about to cry. Then there’s Juliet who has yet to master any facial expression. Next you have Nikki and Paulo who were stitched into the plot line only to be written out by paralyzing spiders because not a single viewer could understand why the writers ever bothered putting them on the show.
Like many here I enjoyed the first two seasons but the third season sent this series into a downward spiral that it’s yet to recover from. They state that the series is going on until 2010, including this one something like 3 seasons of 16 episodes giving a total of 117 episodes and we’re currently on episode 74. This means were about 63% through the entire show, now I don’t need all the answers but I think by this point we should have some of the answers at least.
Wow! Now THAT is good “Lost Sucks” Commentary. Well said sir.
Frankly I liked Season 3. I also liked the “Nikki and Paolo” ep that everyone seems to have so much. I thought it was like a tribute episode, a tribute to the whole LOST franchise. We saw scenes from season one, including Dr. Arzt. Then the whole buried-alive twist at the end was a fun little surprise.
You are a freakin’ god, Surly! Unbelievable, inconsistent, fantastical, science fiction is what I would call the mess that is Lost. The writers don’t even follow Lost’s faulty, incomprehensible logic in any coherent manner. The show is a classic example of a great setup that went horribly, horribly wrong.
CC:
There’s nothing in the first season that automatically screams “fantasy.” Frankly, given the number of very strange freak accidents out here in the real world, I’m willing to accept the plane crash as realistic. At the very least, I’m not expert enough in the physics of crashes to categorically rule out realism for the crash. So you’re point that the whole show from the get-go is fantastic just don’t hold up. Besides, even fantasy stories have to adhere to some sort of internal logic. The universe, however fantastic, must have rules of some kind to be intelligible. If you want an example, read the Recluce books be L.E. Modesitt, Jr., which feature a fantasy world based on a logical system of magic. My point is that Lost apparently has no rules, which means that anything can happen for any reason, which means that nothing really relates to one another except through coincidence.
You seem particularly proud that Lost manages to make trivial connections, like the power cable. But that cable could have been connected to a simple underwater power generator on top of a geothermal vent instead of the Looking Glass (or it could have been connected to J.J. Abrams posterior, for all that it would matter), and the story could have accommodated that change without much effect. So the polar bear from Season 1 is related to cages in Season 3. So what? It’s trivial, and it requires no great effort to tie those sorts of things together.
As for the characters, it’s obvious that the show won’t focus on mundane details, but it still remains that they don’t behave in plausible ways. Sayid, a trained soldier, is singularly incompetent. Locke and Jack never share their information, which seems rather strange give how easily some of the problem would be solved if only people had shared a few measly little words.
As to your question, “If Dharma has been abandoned, why would we necessarily learn about it in season 2?” The answer is rather obvious, isn’t it? BECAUSE THE CHARACTERS ARE OCCUPYING THE HATCH AND DISCOVERING OTHER STATIONS. In other words, they’re smack in the middle of DHARMA. How could they NOT learn that DHARMA had been abandoned? That we learned more about DHARMA in the ARG than in the show is proof enough of the show’s inability to convey useful information to viewers.
Frankly, I think you’re mistaking opinion with reason. You think Lost is a bang-up show with excellent writing and great characters…why? Because it’s a bang-up show with excellent writing and great characters. Well, no. Circular reasoning, methinks. That YOU find the flash-backs entertaining doesn’t mean that anyone else has too. The quality of the show is the debate – although the verdict is in at whylostsucks.com – and I can see why people here are cranky with you. For my part, I still don’t understand why you’re so hell bent on foisting your opinion on everyone. In any case, I’ve said my peace and I won’t be handing out food anymore. Lost is a show with inconsistent characterization in a universe without rules, in which any number of solutions can fit in to any given problem without one solution being more logically consistent than another. “Wait and see” and “Stay tuned” doesn’t work when that’s the only answer ever given throughout over SEVENTY HOURS of television. SEVENTY HOURS. Blimey!
The LOST universe seems to have a set of rules, but those rules just might not be what you thought they were when you first tuned it. Part of the game is figuring out what those rules are.
By the way, what is the ARG you keep referring to? Online mini-episodes or something?
The ARG – Alternate Reality Game – ran between Seasons 2 and 3. It was called the Lost Experience, I think, and involved a series of mock websites, podcasts, and the like, to create a plot related to the Hanso foundation. The ARG revealed many answers about Hanso, DHARMA, the numbers, etc.
And I’m sorry, but figuring out the rules isn’t part of the game. Can you imagine sports in which players are supposed to play, but don’t know what the rules are? How would you know who scored, who fouled, who won, who lost? How would you know whether or not the referee is making a legitimate call or is just pull it out his ass? Without consistent rules, any result is permissible and there’s no standard to judge whether one particular result is better than another. Just as a sport would be in chaos without clearly identified rules, a story falls prey to narrative chaos without a structure to define how a story’s elements all work together to convey information.
Well, some people like mysteries and puzzles.
Was the ARG online?
Comparing sports rules to rules of Lost is lame (like Dawsons Creek episode #37 where Pacey finds himself stuck chosing between 2 diferent hot babes). The greatest thing about Lost is and always has been that it bends and breaks the rules. Maybe this quote can help you:
This is a sparring program, similar to the programmed reality of the Matrix. It has the same basic rules, rules like gravity. What you must learn is that these rules are no different that the rules of a computer system. Some of them can be bent. Others can be broken. Understand? Then hit me if you can…. Good. Adaptation, improvisation. But your weakness is not your technique.
iluvdawsonscreek: Nice try, guv, but even the Matrix has rules…especially considering that the Matrix is a programmed virtual reality simulation. Programmed means intentions and rules. The moment you say rules can be broken, you’ve established a meta-rule that says rules can be broken. It’s the old saw: the only rule is that there no rules. But here’s the question, can the rule that allows rule to be bent, broken, or dismissed, also be broken?
Amazing the lengths people will go to make a point. I mean, using Dawson’s Creek and the Matrix? Fer cryin’ out loud. If I weren’t bored at work today, I wouldn’t be handing out cookies.
Here’s the deal: you like Lost, that’s great. Go like it if that’s your pudding. But those of who don’t are just as entitled to our opinion. Of course, if you’re just being satirical, well, all I can say is that the act is getting a bit old.
Oh, and CC: yes, the ARG was online. If you go to lostpedia.com, you can catch up on what you missed. I’m sure you’ll enjoy what you discover!
Lost is the most annoying show I have ever seen. I like playing devils advocate though.
A handful of more theory-based posts. What a pity. The Dawson’s Creek schtick wasn’t moderately amusing the first time. You can smash as many watermelons as you want, Gallagher, but it’s just not funny. At least Gallagher’s brand of blatant idiocy can appeal to toddlers and boys of the developmentally-challenged and special needs variety. You’ll probably run it for as long as possible, like the few tools around still making references to the unhindered virility of ninjas and Chuck Norris. Jebus help us.
The Buzzard of Mexico del Norte is intent on turning the forum into a fan site complete with theories and attaboys for the writers… at first glance.
Yet, it’s just a bit too tongue-in-cheek. Just a bit too subtle and nuanced to be detected for the sarcasm that it over-masquerades as sincerity. That’s just poor sarcasm.
Yawn.
Laurent,
Look, I don’t think LOST is flawless. I just really like watching it and I think some people on this blog complain about it too much.
I suppose that is the point of a blog devoted to the categorical lamentations of a horrible television program.
No?
Well, if the complaints are unwarranted I don’t mind correcting people. And I have to admit some of the complaints are funny even though I like LOST. I think true LOST fans are not afraid to laugh at the show every once in a while.
Leave it to Parakeet to not understand why “whylostsucks dot com” posters would post saying why lost sucks. And you had the nerve to ask MY age?
Make it rain
I won’t be sans-wax and insincere myself, half of the fun here is driving the holders-on into the light from the dark-side of fandom bordered-by-zealotry.
Sometimes that entails snide tit-for-tat exchanges. That gets one’s blood up, no?
I’ve made a few posts here lately but i’m kinda new here so i just wanted (to stray off topic) and say thanks to the guy for making this site. It’s nice to have a haven where i can bash this show, especially since whenever you try to bring up negative points about the show on any other forum you end up getting gang-flamed. The new mod for the lost board on TWOP seems to be a lost fanboy/fangirl and locked up the bitterness thread probably because it was hard to read some truth about the show.
What’s TWOP?
Television Without Pity. You should go there. You would love it.
I really miss the Bitterness Fiesta, too. And I second the thanks for this site!
I don’t think the locking of the Bitterness Fiesta was specific to Lost; when Bravo took over the site, there was a whole slew of new mods and the first thing they did was close all of the bitterness threads and unpopular opinion threads for just about every show.
Not only that, but the new mods at TWOP (at least the one covering Lost) are quick to issue warnings for picayune transgressions esp. when negative comments are involved. Just go to the current episode thread for Lost and see how many posts have been censored/edited by the moderator. Pretty pathetic.
I’ve invited a bunch a BF regulars over here to enjoy the fun w/o having to worry about getting dinged by an anal-retentive overseer. Nice to hear from you again latetothefiesta.
Nice to have you here mrmonkey. Nothing gets locked around here from either side.
Well said Monkey. I felt the same way when I and the Mrs. came to this Oasis last season. Its a catharsis to be able to vent here, and I look forward to Lost each week more because of this site.
Agree with you 100% about any of the Fanboy sites. I went to Lost Theories and was flamed by so many people that they actually banned me from the site because I poked so much fun at the nonsense they posted.
California Parakeet et. al. don’t know how good they have it here.
I am so excited for tonights episode. I bet all the questions get answered and this is a surprise last episode.
If you’re going to crack a joke, at least make it funny.
hello Pot, meet Kettle, Kettle meet Pot.
Mrs. Meister
Meister-Woman,
I’m going to pretend you didn’t type that.
Ha! Good one Mrs.
Mr. Meister,
You are allowed to use a different name than your spouse!
This isn’t AOL in 1994.
Actually CC, It is I using LMeister, for he was here first. I have reasons why I prefer to post as Mrs. Meister, I just don’t care to explain myself to the likes of YOU.
Mrs. Meister
Have you ever thought of letting your husband post as “Lmeister” and you posting as “Mrs. Meister”? This isn’t brain surgery.
Yes actually, I had thought of it, and chose not to do it that way.
Why? Does it bother you?
Mrs. Meister
Well, it would help clear things up a little.
What do you mean, are you getting confused?
I mean, this isn’t brain surgery.
Mrs. Meister
Mrs. Meister,
No it isn’t brain surgery. You are just not very observant or understanding of Internet etiquette, It’s rather like typing in all caps all the time (which is considered screaming on the Internet). Using your husband’s moniker on the Internet is akin to writing your name on his checks(albeit you’ve distinguished yourself by writing ‘This is his wife writing this check, not him’ in the Memo line.) I’m not being rude, it’s just that you are you are casting yourself in the worn out role of subservient to your husband, rather than taking a few moments to establish yourself as your own person, as opposed to an accessory to him.
Isnt that what you want? All the secrets answered and the show to end?
Yes 100% thats what I want.
Well, I’ve seen some spoilers on the Internet.
Supposedly “Eggtown” ends with Kate caring for Aaron (Claire’s baby) in a flashfoward. So we know that Claire dies.
Parakeet, don’t post spoilers here, you jackass.
To echo Lmeister’s warning: don’t do that again. Not cool. I hope you end up as KFC.
Sorry,
I thought this crowd would be a little indifferent to spoilers.
And I thought you would be happier sharing your platitudes in a forum that is more responsive to your nauseatingly sycophantic inclinations. You’ve missed the point entirely. Go soar magestically somewhere else, Condor. You bore me.
DITTO!
Mrs. Meister
BTW, why does Kate caring for Aaron mean that Claire is dead? I sometimes use baby-sitters. I’m not dead.
Also, Does anyone remember the psychic that insisted Claire had to keep her baby? What ever happened to THAT story line. Why did she have to keep her baby, and if she had to … Oh who cares!
Mrs. Meister
Meister-Woman,
Tune in tonight to find out. I’m guessing that tonight’s episode will present Kate mothering Aaron, not just babysitting.
The whole psychic warning Claire storyline might have been about Claire giving Aaron to Kate or something. Just be patient. THis isn’t American Idol.
For future reference, I will not reply to Meister-Woman.
But the epi “Raised By Another” is from season 1. this is season 4, you don’t consider that patience? Besides, The psychic actually tells Claire she must RAISE the baby herself, not just birth him. So, if Claire dies does that mean the show is … inconsistent?
Mrs. Meister
Let’s watch and find out.
No, it doesn’t mean the show is inconsistent, it means something bad might still happen…
All right everyone, let’s try to get along. We don’t need a virtual cock fight between a turkey and a condor.
Sorry about posting the spoiler. I won’t post any more.
Actually I don’t care about spoilers, but I’ll go with the will of the board.
I shall contribute a spoiler as well.
** The next episode shall suck and present more questions than answers accompanied with suspenseful violin string slides**
Dude – you suck…now I don’t have to watch it.
Ever since the times of the Greek Tragedies is has been understood that there are only a finite number of plot lines available for storytelling. So by now if “Lost” was using a standard story plot everyone could anticipate what would be coming next, however that doesn’t seem to be the case. “Lost” doesn’t seem to be like any TV show that we have seen before or have we? Is it like ANYTHING that we are familiar with? Let’s see; It starts with a bizarre plane crash. All involved are immediatley transported to a place that they don’t understand and can’t get away from. Then one set of strange happenings are piled upon another, the preceding events only loosely connected to the latter. We don’t have all of the facts (an overview) so we cannot make honest assessments of the situations. The writers of “Lost” are the same people that explained the “War On Terror” to us. Sayeed starts out as the hapless Iraqi boob longing for his lost love. Later we discover he is a torturous madman. Then he goes to work for Ben (Halliburton) as one of their henchmen. Then you have the black kid with daddy issues and ghost from the past (Slavery). Shall I go on? The survivors of 911 were the American people who like Jack and Kate and Wally the Con-man (who desperatly needs a haircut) cant decide whether to have sex or run for their lives. As for season to season resolution; remember we started out looking for Bin Laden in Afghanistan and that morphed into the search for WMD’s which turned into the liberation of Iraq from a brutal tyrant(after no wmd’s were forthcoming). The “Others” are the rightwingers, strangely omnipresent and acting weirdishly. Remember in Dr. Stangelove when stangelove jumps out of his wheelchair and shouts, “Mein Fuehrer, I can walk.” Mission Accomplished, They hate freedom, pass a cup of that kool -aide over here Biff. Soylent Green is People, SOYLENT GREEN IS PEOPLE.
snipe bidding…
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