Lost (movie, film, television, series)

[Mircea]

Originally Posted by TonyT

The most likely explanation to the whole thing is that the writers/producers threw it in to see how many people would actually catch it, and then run around speculating what it meant. In other words, it was just another example of them creating a question that they never had any intention of answering.

Then that is simply bad story writing.

Originally Posted by Foreverking

ha ha ha ha...I love it...the dogs dream...shoot even that was wierd...I though Vincent left with Michael or Walt...or just died. All of the sudden, there he was. Maybe Lost was through the eyes of the hidding dog after all LOL, THAT makes about as much sense.

Or maybe it was a dream that Walt had.

Originally Posted by LongIslandCitizen

I think the poster meant was that watching lost to it's idiotic and cheap conclusion was time in your life that you will never get back. The audience watched every single episode hoping for an explanation to this bad acid trip only to find out that the writers had no idea what they were doing and failed their creative writing project.

That's exactly right.

If LOST had been a book, none of you would have read it, because the New Yorker, Harper's, the New York Times, and every other literary critic would have panned it as the garbage that it is.

Let's look at Christian.

Christian shows up in his burial suit in Jack's office in LA.

Which Christian was it? No, sorry, wrong, it wasn't the Smokester, because the Smokester cannot leave the Island.

Christian shows up on the freighter along with the Whisperers wearing casual clothes.

Which Christian was that? No, sorry, wrong, again. It wasn't the Smokester, because the Smokester cannot leave the Island, nor can he travel over water.

Then we have Christian in burial suit sans Whisperers leading Jack around.

Which Christian was that? Well, supposedly it was the Smokester.

Then Christian shows up in casual clothes with the Whisperers and talks to Sun and Frank at the Dharma village.

So which Christian was that?

Then somehow the Smokester who can't leave the Island and can't even float across the water to Hydra Island ends up as FLocke on Hydra Island.

And why was Michael stuck on the Island? He didn't die on the Island, no sir, he did not. He died on the freighter outside the Island's zone, otherwise the freighter would have reappeared when the Island moved. The helicopter was also outside the Island's zone, but the Zodiac was not.

How many of you noticed that Frogart was on the Island when Daniel left with the last group in the Zodiac, but then suddenly in Season 5 Frogart magically appears on the Zodiac?

Well, that's because the writers suddenly decided to do time-travel and have the group attacked by the Other's with flaming arrows.

Originally Posted by TonyT

Rousseau and company did in fact arrive on the Island in 1988. However, the Purge did not take place in 1984. The “ghost” of Horace Goodspeed told John Locke that he (Horace) had been dead for 12 years. That conversation took place in 2004. Given that Horace was killed in the Purge, it would set the year it happened as 1992, specifically December 19, 1992, which happened to be Ben’s birthday.

That's another flub by the writers.

Danielle arrives in 1988 and gives birth to Alex shortly after arriving, then two weeks later, Ben and Ethan show up to kill Danielle and Alex, however, they don't and Ben just ends up taking Alex.

The purge already happened, that's why Ben and Ethan are with the others.

Alex is about 4 years old and you see Ben pushing her on the swing set in Dharmaville as Widmore is being banished from the Island. That was 1992.

Alex was only 17 years old in 2005 when she died.

It's just bad story writing.

Originally Posted by L-Luv

How would you have ended the show?

Since FLocke was dead, why didn't the Smokester take over Jack's body?



Well, I think the writers of Matlock, McMillan & Wife and Murder the Old Goat could have done a much better job than the goof-balls writing for LOST.

It's painfully obvious the writers were just throwing out red-herrings for people to chase in order to sucker people into watching the show, and that is really bad story-telling.

Originally Posted by K-Luv

But, it was a huge success, and the writers hadn't really planned for it and wrote most of the first season, and I believe the second season, too, by an episode by episode basis-they created it as they went.

That would contradict claims by the writers that they always knew where the show was going, and as I recall, JJ Abrahms had already written the entire first season, then had to re-write some parts because the Batman guy was only interested in doing the pilot, and not a TV series, and they also shifted the hero from the Seth Norris to Jack Shepard, because the network didn't want people to get emotionally invested in the airplane pilot only to have him die.

The first two seasons were fine. They didn't start mucking it up until the 3rd season.

[Orangeish]

Why does wanting answers (at least a few) in a fictional shows finale make me some sort of anti-art person that has a low IQ? Most stories have plot arcs, this thing just fell off a cliff at the end. People want to say its "artsy" and you can fill in the blanks yourself! Well, if thats the case, I would have bought a mad-libs book, not spent 175 dollars on 5 seasons worth of DVDs.

[Miaiam]

In my opinion, it really gets to these questions:
1. Did you enjoy watching the show overall?
2. Of the 100 something hours of episodes, how many of them did you really enjoy watching?
3. Regardless of the finale, considering only all other episodes, how would you rate the show?

I understand many people were upset. If one was eagerly waiting for straight answers and invested a great amount of time waiting for them, the crazier the storyline became the higher the expectation was, asking oneself how in the world would the authors possibly explain mysteries/give answers. I can understand and respect one's frustration.

However I also enjoyed watching it overall. Lost was a great series, and the finale was 2 1/2h of more than 100 hours total. So it was the last episode, but for me it was really just one more episode. There were fantastic ones throughout the series, especially Locke and Desmond centric. I spent good hours watching them as opposed to so much garbage there is on tv today.

[K-Luv]

Originally Posted by Foreverking

With answers, but not all in the last episode...from day 1 of the 6th season. If the show was about the characters, then why add all the sci fi mystery to it. NO, I don't believe that. I think I have heard that the writers said that, but I think most of us know that it was just a cop out, for they knew, like you said, that they could not fill in the holes. 6 years of creating holes they KNEW they were never going to fill. Ratings they got, Answers we did not. Would most of us had watched if we really though it was just about the characters...like watching some soap opera? no I think most of us watched to find out what the heck was up with this crazy island. Does anybody agree with me or am I just completely off my rocker.

I am not saying this to be condescending, but it might do you some good to read some interviews with the two main writers and show creators. They did not know if ABC would pick up the pilot, and they did not know that the pilot would be so successful, and because of that they made up the first Season as they went.

There are circumstances that are out of the writers control, namely the actors that play the characters. The guy who played the religious man, Eko, was supposed to have played a larger role in the series, but the actor got island fever and wanted to leave the show, so his arc in the storyline/plot came to an end. Something happened with the contract of the woman who played Ilana, so she left the show by abruptly exploding in mid-sentence. It was going to later be revealed that Ilana was Jacob's daughter, and perhaps closing a few gaps. There are a few others, too, but this puts strain on the writers to make last-minute changes not only to the story, but to the plot as well.

Screenwriters are taught to create the characters first, the plot second, the story third. Every character had some sort of baggage that they left behind, but carried with them mentally. The show was about these characters coming to terms with who they are (and par for the course, once they find acceptance with themselves, they left the island - usually by death). The island was just the setting (every story needs a setting) that they happened to be in and the mysteries played into the characters self-discovery.

Personally, I think that some of the holes were intentional. The show was supposed to be confusing which is why the creators did not believe that it would get picked up by ABC, nor that the audience would have a tolerance for it. ABC also gave them the green light as long as Lost did not go all Twin Peaks. But, the writers also admit to making mistakes with the plot that they couldn't cover, and they did not want to get Episode 1, 2, 3 (Star Wars) with the Series because of the Big Bang conundrum (i.e., providing answers that lead to more questions, ad nauseum).

Accept it or not, that is your purgative, but I don't know how to future explain that the show was about the characters and not the island, and if you want any more insight into the writers reasonings, I suggest that you read some actual interviews with them.

Originally Posted by Ohiogirl81

The island was a living, breathing character with a will, able to act and react. Yet any insights into its origin, etc., were toyed with briefly, then dropped.

Like I said, the island was just the backdrop, the setting. Yes it did add to the story, but does it fully need to be explained? Do we need to know how the hyperdrive on the Millennium Falcon works to believe that they are actually going into hyperspace? No. Early on (Season 2) the writers claimed that the island is stuck in some sort of altered space-time loop.

Originally Posted by LongIslandCitizen

You understand LOST but this quote flew over your head?

I think the poster meant was that watching lost to it's idiotic and cheap conclusion was time in your life that you will never get back. The audience watched every single episode hoping for an explanation to this bad acid trip only to find out that the writers had no idea what they were doing and failed their creative writing project.

Here's my take on it and it makes just as much sense as theirs...It was the dogs dream.

I understand that Jim Jones talked his followers into drinking Kool-Aid laden with cyanide in what became known as the Jonestown Massacre. Yeah, know all about that. I am not an old dog, but I am not a young buck, either. deleted I also know that the Jonestown people really drank FlavorAid, and the drinking the Kool-Aid is a reference to dropping acid.

So yeah, whose Kool-Aid am I drinking? The writers? The only people who actually know what the show is about? I was asking Foreverking to explain the meaning to me, since s/he laid it on me.

No one forced Foreverking or anyone to watch the show. I know people who were once addicted to the show who stopped watching it sometime between Season 5 and the middle of Season 6 because they lost interest and felt that it wasn't going anywhere. Anyone who watched the show could have made the same decision. Some people felt cheated, just like many people were upset with the way that BSG, Star Trek TNG, Cheers, ER, Sopranos, etc. ended. The fact remains that the show had to draw to a conclusion in some manner, and no matter how it ended, some portion of the viewership would be upset or feel cheated or whatever. Not everyone can be pleased. Just accept it. Just accept that no matter what the writers where thinking, ultimately the show did not end the way that some wanted it to, and that upsets them.

Originally Posted by cokatie

Can someone help me out here just so I am clear? I just watched the first episode again, which was aired a couple of Saturdays ago with the pop-up information blurbs. As I understand it, Season 6 ended it. Therefore, Sawyer was never a LA cop working with Myles. He really was just a child of people conned by a ****** who he set out to get in Australia. Other than his time on the Island, there was no redeeming personality for him (and I do not mean to downplay his redeeming actions on the island!). Is that correct?

The alternative life outside of the Island, aka the flash-sideways, was the life that all the lost characters supposedly created after they have died, so no, Sawyer was never a cop in real-life.

Incidentally, when they dropped the nuke down the shaft (you know, because Faraday told them that it would erase all that happened and send them back to a normal life) and the Survivors found themselves still on the island, Juliet wanted to tell Sawyer that 'it worked'. But....what worked? In the beginning of Season 6, we see the flash-sideways that begin back on the plane, but it does not crash and everything seems to go on as it normally would. But....they are supposed to be dead in these scenes....and how did it work if 'they' were still on the island? Parallel universes? Or did they die in the nuke blast (for possibly the second time)?

[K-Luv]

Originally Posted by Mircea

Since FLocke was dead, why didn't the Smokester take over Jack's body?

Because when Desmond pulled the cork, he and Jack lost their power and became 'human' again.

Originally Posted by Mircea

It's painfully obvious the writers were just throwing out red-herrings for people to chase in order to sucker people into watching the show, and that is really bad story-telling.

From a writer's perspective, yes it is a ploy to trick people into continuing on. You answer X, or X and Y, and then propose Z shortly after. It's the dangling carrot that keeps people interested.

Sneaky, yes, but unfortunately necessary. Do you think that Lost would have had its viewership if each episode was nicely wrapped up, or at the very least, each Season? No, people tend to lose interest once they figure the plot out or know what is going to happen next.

Originally Posted by Mircea

That would contradict claims by the writers that they always knew where the show was going, and as I recall, JJ Abrahms had already written the entire first season, then had to re-write some parts because the Batman guy was only interested in doing the pilot, and not a TV series, and they also shifted the hero from the Seth Norris to Jack Shepard, because the network didn't want people to get emotionally invested in the airplane pilot only to have him die.

The first two seasons were fine. They didn't start mucking it up until the 3rd season.

I knew that Jack was originally planned to be killed off, but after Season 1, one of the writers who left the show did an interview with Spin. He said that they made it up as they went. The show's writers never refuted this and during an interview they did in December of 2009, they admit that they did in fact, make it up as they went.

[Dd714]

I liked this thread better when people were inventing creative answers to solve the shows inconsistencies. I to think I made fun of them...

Example - Why wasn't Ekko on the last show? Not because the producers wouldn't pay his price but "oh Ekko was not ready to move on and was not yet at inner peace with the island....".
Those theories, although silly and nonsensical, were much more fun to read.

Why was Jack's father everywhere? Yeah we all know it's because the writers got lazy. But please someone invent an answer...

[Miaiam]

Bc he was fired from St Sebastian hospital, and was trying to get a job with Jacob the same way Richard did.

[Ohiogirl81]

Originally Posted by K-Luv

Do we need to know how the hyperdrive on the Millennium Falcon works to believe that they are actually going into hyperspace?

There is a big difference. Everyone involved with, traveling on, and fighting against the Millennium Falcon knew that hyperdrive worked and accepted the fact that it did. The folks on the island had no idea what was happening to them; furthermore, they were trying to find out what the island was all about. The writers made the island a part of the story, and then either dropped it like a hot potato, or muddied the story so badly to cover up the fact that they didn't have an answer for the island. I still haven't decided which.

[McGowdog]

Originally Posted by Mircea

Good. Now I don't have to watch Titanic. I hate Leontardo DiCrap.

Haha funny. Nice recap too.

Originally Posted by Mircea

Don't be so sure.

JJ Abrahms still holds at least some of the rights to LOST.

I look for JJ to do a movie(s) maybe 5-8 years from now. He's probably writing the script now. Consider the original pilot and maybe the 1st or 2nd Seasons to be the "prequel." He'll pick it up from there and do it right.

The show really took a weird turn after he left in the 3rd season.

So then... JJ can call the movie FOUND.

[nightbird47]

Originally Posted by Foreverking

well apparently it didnt work..even after the switch was turned back on. Jack bit it hours later, and Hurly...I guess he might have lived another 10,000 years for all we know, but he was in the church at the end. Hurly got the bad deal, every body else got wine, or clean fresh stream water,Hurly got muddy (while the power was turned off) gritty water in a stepped in part of the stream in a plastic water bottle. Ben, the number 2, who gives his life, and gives up the life of his daughter to protect the island, murders countless people for the protection of this Island, only ends us the 2 man. He Isnt even offered the muddy gritty bottle of stream water. What a bad deal in life...the final ass kicking for Ben if you ask me.

I don't think the whole ceremony is what matters. Just the part where the water that the old protector gets is consumed. And maybe the words at the end. Also, the light was out when it was done. The extra stuff had more to do with that than transfering power. In the essense of magik is the basic principal that what matters most is the intent, not the tools.

I would assume that there can be only one protector. Jack was seriously injured and had passed the torch already. So of course he died. And Hurley could have lived a long long life. Jacob lived until he was killed with violence. My take is that you are immortalized until you pass it on or your attacked violently. Maybe the light can't protect you against darkness. It sounds like Ben and Hurley were together for a time from their conversation too. I think Ben was simply not the right man to be number one. I think he's waiting outside the church for his daughter, who might or might not come to him. Or maybe Danielle...

Unless it was off screen, Richard never had a sip of the water either but he lived a very long life and did not age. But he was chosen by Jacob, just as Hurley made Ben his number two. I'll bet Ben lived just as he was until somehow Hurley passed on the torch.