Lost woes

[bee_york]

To echo what I said in a comment in a recent post, I'm not very impressed with Lost this season. :/ So far, it is hands-down my least favourite season of them all. I consider myself really patient with this show, but frak! When are we going to get some full-on answers? This is like the exact opposite of season 5 (which was my favourite season, for the record) in which we got like 10 questions answered in the first three episodes. I'm so annoyed!

I'll cut the next part for potential spoilers.


-I'm annoyed there's new characters. They BETTER feature something MAJOR in the overall plot because if you ask me (or if you ask ANYONE, I bet), it's awfully late in the game to be introducing new characters.

-I'm annoyed there's so much focus on the alternate-timeline. Apparently Matthew Fox said in an interview that the 2 timelines will converge. If they don't do that soon, and with a "OMGWTF"-style purpose, I will freak. >:/ Because right now, anything happening in the alternate timeline feels meaningless, especially this last story with Jack and his son.
There's DEFINITELY some omg AWESOME moments in the alt-timeline (Claire's doctor being Ethan, Locke & Ben being high school teachers, CHARLIE BEING ALIVE, etc.) but big chunks of it are bleh. Locke's alternate story was WAY cooler than Jack's though. So far. Who's the mom?!

-I'm annoyed that we're getting so many little teases of really cool things. The final season is not the time for little teases.

-I'm annoyed that Smokey hasn't given a straight-forward answer for what or who he is yet. If it's not for a good reason, I'm going to be really pissed off.

I'm quite aware that the writers got overly ambitious and started off WAY too many crazy ideas that they will never, ever be able to tie-up/explain, but as long as we get a lot of major, satisfying answers to major, frustrating questions, I'll be more than happy with that.


I can't imagine a TV series being anything short of extremely difficult to write, and it's unavoidable that as a writer, you're going to try out some ideas that don't pan out or start some ideas that never get finished. That happens in any long-running TV series, and when you get something as complex and enigmatic as Lost, it's not just likely, it's inevitable. But the writers really overdid it with writing themselves into some crazy holes. They're very talented people though, and I don't doubt that the show will round off into something amazing and end on a wonderfully crazy note, but for the first time in the show's entire run, I am genuinely getting superbly frustrated.

Comments

[bomburjo.livejournal.com]

I agree with everything you say here! The alt-universes are nice, but not for a final season.

I think one reason this season is suffering is because the characters have no clear-cut goals. For the first few seasons, it was obvious: "We have to get off the Island." Last season, it was "We have to go back!" Now they're back, and they're all sort of milling around without anything big to work toward. Those characters that do have goals (Jacob and Smocke) are so secretive, we don't know if we can even trust what they've said.

Also we don't have a clear antagonist. That's not such a bad thing (it is Lost, after all, lol), but it's easier to root for characters when we know who they're up against. Seasons 1, 2, and 3, it was mostly the Others. Season 4 it was Widmore and his people. Now it's like... Jacob? Esau? Someone else? Who knows.

I think those are my main annoyances, just writing basics being left out so things are kind of stagnating right now. I'm hoping it picks up and we get lots of reveals soon!

[bee-york.livejournal.com]

Okay, you just explained what I feel, but SO MUCH BETTER than I ever could!

Now they're back, and they're all sort of milling around without anything big to work toward. Those characters that do have goals (Jacob and Smocke) are so secretive, we don't know if we can even trust what they've said.

All I can do is scream "THIS. THIS THIS THIS!" to this entire paragraph you wrote. Just one big fat AMEN to everything you said.
Seriously, I have nothing to add here...you said it all. ;)

I hope it picks up soon too. I love Lost so much. I HAVE FAITH! lol
I read a few spoilers here and there that help me keep that faith (hahaha), I don't know about mentioning them here though...are you spoiler-free? I doubt these particular things are truly spoilers to most people by this point, but I don't want to take chances and ruin things for anyone, either.

[urbangeo.livejournal.com]

Of course I want to see more, but overall I'm okay with the pace. The writers planned out the season and by the end it will all come together and make sense. Lost hasn't been one to exactly rush through a storyline, so doing it now would be out of character.

So far we've been given an idea behind the significance of the numbers, the concept of candidates, presumably seen the difference in people's lives without Jacob messing with them, found Claire, seen the spa that cured boy Ben, finally found out what the temple was with other Others, and a lighthouse with a magic mirror. They're all new pieces to the puzzle that let's you speculate on where they're going. When the universes merge there will already be backstory to what's going on and they can jump right into it. They did the same thing before when they showed them off the island before they had actually left.

I think Damages is on the DVDs I gave you, it's kinda the same thing except everything comes together at the end of the season. The season takes place over 6 months and as the story progresses they show flash-forwards to 6 months later so you see the connections between what happens in the present to what will happen later on and then you try to put the pieces together as you watch it. Season 3 has been especially good since the flash forward shows one of the main characters dead in a dumpster.

[bee-york.livejournal.com]

I bet it will all come together too, it's just that it feels extra slow to me this season. I guess that's due to the alternate timeline stuff.

And although they DID show us where Ben was healed and the lighthouse and the mirrors, because we don't really know what those things are yet, nor understand how they work, it just leaves me more frustrated rather than wowed. But they ARE cool ideas, I do admit. And the thing about the Numbers is just awesome. I have to say, that's the one spoiler I wish I *hadn't* read.

Damages sounds so cool! I haven't started on that yet and now I feel a bit sheepish. There's just so much good TV to watch. We're still in the middle of True Blood, and we recently started on Flash Forward, which is really something different, in the BEST of ways. :)

Tune in this week, alt. timeline Sawyer is a Canadian Mailman :P

[placidian.livejournal.com]

It is a bit slow, yet I'm confident of the BIG PAYOFF, or a series of payoffs. And even if they don't fully succeed, it's still better than anything of NBC and CBS.

Gotta admit, Hugo's 'I'm the luckiest man alive' scenes are nice. :)

Re: Tune in this week, alt. timeline Sawyer is a Canadian Mailman :P

[bee-york.livejournal.com]

I agree with everything you said in this comment.
And that's probably the BEST comment headline I have EVER SEEN. Major points for that one, LFMAO!!!!

I know there's a scene later in the show with 2 certain characters together and I can't believe they're going to be together in a scene (don't worry I won't say who), and THAT particular nugget of info makes me really, really excited and hopeful. :)