Lost... The tv show

Xervello

Well-known member
the writers showed they had no idea where they were going and just added random misteries for no apparent reason.

It might've helped if you continued watching the show to see the "reasons". Just because they didn't answer them in the next episode or same season doesn't mean they never did.
 
Actually, it IS a short time. The first two seasons were 24 episodes each. The third was 22 or 23, I forget. Then ABC gives them three additional seasons to end it on. But the fourth season was shortened to around 12 because of the writer's strike. And the fifth and sixth seasons were only about 20 each. So, yeah, they weren't given as much elbow room as you might've thought.

Yes, but the episodes are also 40 to 45 minutes long. Let's stay on the safe side and say they were 42 minutes each.

S4 14 episodes + S5 17 episodes + S6 18 episodes = 49 episodes x 42 minutes = 2058 minutes / 60 minutes = 34,3 hours.

There's trilogy movies that reveal, explain and close entire fictional universes in 9 hours or less. Lost had at least 3 times that to wrap things up. You can't tell me that it's not enough time.


As I stated above, they were given an end date at the end of the third season. Then an unforeseen writer's strike forced the writers to scramble the fourth season's storyline, as well as any set-ups they might've had for the next two seasons. So they were always playing catch-up. In fact, the writers had to PLEAD for extra episodes here or there. That they were given such a difficult cirmcumstance and managed to make the most of it shouldn't go underappreciated. Lost was an expensive show, so I get some of why ABC were so stern with them. But at the same time Lost was always #1 in the demos that made ABC so rich. It was dumb on the network's part. They did to Lost what AMC is doing to The Walking Dead.

I do appreciate their effort. And of the second half, season 4 is probably my favourite.


I disagree. I think the sideways timeline fit perfectly with the collectiveness aspect of the characters for the show. The flashbacks always centered on a redemptive/everyone-is-connected theme. The sideways timeline concluding with the final episode I thought movingly and poetically linked all these characters together using Buddhism's Samsara conceit. Meanwhile, the island timeline maintained its mystery while also answering certain things the writers felt were relevant in knowing. Obviously everyone wanted more specificity, but too much specificity can also distill its magic and charm. By the way, as for the finale, I teared up each time the characters "awakened" to the truth with each other. And the final image with Jack, the dog and the plane. How can anyone hate on that, really.

It was a nice ending. The characters were happy and I can even appreciate the final scene with Jack and Vincent. However, I still don't find it an apt ending to a show that was initially heavy on survival. It was a lazy short cut to bring a happy ending to a dreadful chain of events. ''Most of the characters you liked are dead and didn't make it off the island. Buuuut, at least they're happy and together in the another/afterlife.''

While the sentiment is lovely, where does all this religious philosophy come in? It's just shoehorned in there in the second half.
 

Steppen-Wolf

Well-known member
It might've helped if you continued watching the show to see the "reasons". Just because they didn't answer them in the next episode or same season doesn't mean they never did.

I don't mean to be offensive, but to be honest you sound like a fanboy in this thread. It's a TV show, don't take so personally.

It's not a bad show, it was very entertaining in many ways and the acting was usually top notch. But there was no overreaching plot or story, the writers just made stuff up as they went and then had a finale that answered a lot of the question with "it was magic!".

Many people, including myself, love a good mistery. And the show certainly had many interesting mysteries but they failed to provide good and satisfying answers.

It's far easier to present a bunch of crazy situations and elements than to actually explain them in a reasonable and interesting way later on. They totally failed to do that.
 

Xervello

Well-known member
While the sentiment is lovely, where does all this religious philosophy come in? It's just shoehorned in there in the second half.

Do you think they named Jack's father Christian Shepherd on a whim? Or the Biblical name Jacob. Or the western Dharma. Various Egyptian deities, etc. No, from the beginning they've culled together all different religions, philosophies and cultural mythologies into their own hybrid. I don't see how you think it was shoehorned in when it's been apparent from the start.
 
Do you think they named Jack's father Christian Shepherd on a whim? Or the Biblical name Jacob. Or the western Dharma. Various Egyptian deities, etc. No, from the beginning they've culled together all different religions, philosophies and cultural mythologies into their own hybrid. I don't see how you think it was shoehorned in when it's been apparent from the start.

There's a difference between distant references and downright applying such religious philosophies to the most significant aspect of the story. It was completely absent until much later in the show's time span (the story, not the references). A creative fallback in case they ran themselves into a corner.
 

Xervello

Well-known member
It was completely absent until much later in the show's time span (the story, not the references). A creative fallback in case they ran themselves into a corner.


Charlie was a primary character from the very beginning and religion played an enormous impact in both his flashbacks and his life on the island. And in season two Eko was himself a man of faith who carried around a staff with Bible verses on it. And in season three Jacob was introduced, who himself is a religious figure in his own right. The reason the religious aspect took on even more prominence near the end was because, well, it was the end. That's what you do. You begin to unfold the payoff of what everything prior was setting up.

Whether you liked the direction they took is perfectly fine. That's your choice, as it is everyone else's. But to say they chucked religion only near the end isn't accurate. And to say they did so because they were creatively stuck isn't fair. IMO.
 

Xervello

Well-known member
I was making a joke, lol. I let the thread get way too serious. Though my humor isn't any better, so, I'm officially shutting up. :)
 

YellowBird

Well-known member
i have to admit i haven't read what has been said,so i'm probably gonna repeat something so here it goes:*sigh* i freakin' miss Lost so much it physically hurts,i have never felt such attraction to a show before and i don't think i ever will,i don't know how people fangirl over other shows,doctor who,sherlock etc,yes i like some shows,but if i were as active on the internet as i am now when Lost was happening,i'd be the number one geek.i felt like my problems would be solved if i was there for some reasons,you are in nature,natural is rational,society is made up,,if you think of it,so many things we are supposed to do don't make sense,from going grocery shopping to joining a political party,two,when people experience a natural disaster or generally are in a state of pandemonium,they tend to grow closer bonds,intimacy is experienced by snapping your fingers,there's a number of reasons why this occurs,the point is that it does(and that's fortunate in all it's misfortune for people like us),lastly,there's something about that island,this is the irrational,magical thinking part of me,but i believe other people have noticed it as well,i did my research and this show is a beautiful collage of little historical gems,nothing standoffish,but the director here proves his ingenuity by leaving cues here and there that evoke the recollection of forgotten history that still lurks inside our depths.
 
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