Lost

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Geezer
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Re: Lost

Post by Geezer »

Yeah, I heard that too, frendo. I just never actually bought it. I just can't see how they knew they were going to diverge the show into all these plot lines from day one. I think they just said that because they didn't want everyone to know that they didn't actually know what they were doing.
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numbersix
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Re: Lost

Post by numbersix »

Geezer wrote: Yeah, but do you really think the writers, when going through the first two seasons, really had all of this planned out? I'm sure they didn't even know the show would last past two seasons. It may have just merely been a mistake by a group of writers not to expect this young actor to grow all of a sudden in a way that would affect their timeline, but I don't think it was any big issue the way they wrote him off the show. He escaped, plain and simple. Good for him.
True, but as I said, if they wrote his character as having all these abilities/powers/significance, then surely they must have had some intention with him, regardless of how many seasons they had. If he was a totally normal kid his disappearance would have been fine, but they just created something and left it hanging. And it wasn't even a Mcguffin to keep the plot moving or to develop a character. It just felt pointless.

Geezer wrote: As for your other point, it is well taken, but I guess for me, all of that stuff was never really that important to me. It was all just in there to drive the plot. To give the characters a test. to put them in situations to see how they would deal with them. The definition of the term MacGuffin. Pretty much the only really important thing to me was the numbers, and what they meant, that was one thing that really intrigued me, and I'll admit the explanation was a little weak. But thats just another reason why I say that some things are better left unexplained. What if they did take the time to explain all of this weird stuff that they made up, and your reaction was "well none of that makes any sense at all!" Wouldn't that make you more pissed than an ending that takes care of the heart of the show, its characters, and leaves all that other stuff open to discussion, contemplation, and ultimately, your own interpretation? I say an open ending is better than a nonsensical ending.
Well to be honest, I felt we ended up with both, and open ending AND a nonsensical one. I love open endings in films and TV, but my beef isn't with the bigger issues like what the island is. It's all the other little things that just felt unnecessary. I think the show overdosed on McGuffins when a group of fewer, more select ones would have worked better.

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Geezer
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Re: Lost

Post by Geezer »

Yeah I can agree with that Six. And luckily for me, the show wasn't drawn out over the course of 6 years, as I watched 5 seasons in about 10 days. So I never got that gradual bored feeling as I was blistering through a set of DVD's. I really think it was the best way to watch the show, actually. But yeah, I definitely agree that there were a few too many diversions, but hey, nobody is perfect. The show is still one of the greatest things I've ever taken the time to watch. At least it wasn't like 24, which got so bad by the end, that I, the most die hard, watch from day one, never miss an episode, salivating over the next season viewer, only made it through about 7 episodes of the final season before I just quit on it altogether.
Yeah, well, you know, that's just, like, your opinion, man. - The Dude

frendo
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Re: Lost

Post by frendo »

The best ending I've seen for a serialized show so far has been The Shield. West Wing was a great ending too.

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undeadmonkey
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Re: Lost

Post by undeadmonkey »

frendo wrote:Part of my disappointment may come from having heard, from the first season on, that the whole six season plotline was already in place. They stated that how it all was to unfold was known, and then promised no "it was a dream" ending, and no Sopranos ending. So, if they did have it written ahead of time, they should have thought about Walt getting older, and they should have had a way to wrap up everything. And then I felt the end was tantamount to "it was all a dream" almost exactly, but just done different enough to make it seem new. If I hadn't heard all that, and been expecting something from it, I probably would have been more happy.

As for everything else, I do see what you meant now and apologize for any offense on my end.

I never read that they had the whole plot figured out. As I understood, the writers knew from the beginning how they wanted to end it, the scene with jack lying in the forest dying, but it was only after season 3, when they made a deal with ABC to end the series at season six, that they started plotting the actual overall story line.

Plus I totally agree with geez, I'm totally satisfied with how they decided to end it. This last season i was starting to loose a little bit of interest, even though they were starting to answer a lot of questions. I realized every time they answered one of these long standing questions, like who the smoke monster is what's he doing, why, where did richard come from, I was just like 'oh, well that's nice'. Don't get me wrong, it was interesting when they finally revealed these big questions but afterwards, I just thought 'ok, now what'. Anyways my point is, throughout the last season i really became to realize I truly enjoyed the show because of the characters. They were amazingly well-rounded, interesting, thought-out characters. That was what held the show together. Now looking in hindsight, that is what is going to make me want to rewatch the show.

but i can totally get frendo's point too and as i said on my first review. If you only watched the show because of the weirdness and the mythology and didn't really care about the characters, then yes you'll be disappointed

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numbersix
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Re: Lost

Post by numbersix »

frendo wrote:The best ending I've seen for a serialized show so far has been The Shield. West Wing was a great ending too.
I would say The Sopranos and Twin Peaks had two of the best endings. Now those were both open ended and satisfying.

UDM, I should note that the smoke monster wasn't actually explained. Jacob's brother and their past was (to a certain extent, although there's a huge question mark over the woman who claimed to be their mother), but how he became the smoke monster, whether he became the smoke monster or just realesed it, and the very nature of Smokey, were never addressed. Again, though, I imagine an explanation for this wouldn't work so it was probably best left open

frendo
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Re: Lost

Post by frendo »

As far as smoke monster goes, my thing is why didn't Jack and Desmond turn into smoke monsters as well after going into the light? Made no sense, if it's a 'fate worse than death' that they shouldn't get the same outcome.

And the writers have been saying now for a while that the finale will wrap up things started in season 2, which it def did not.

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Re: Lost

Post by Buscemi »

Best ending for a show ever: Freaks and Geeks. EVERYTHING got wrapped up in the last episode.
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frendo
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Re: Lost

Post by frendo »

Good one, Busc. That was a great ending. I think I only put the Shield above it because a) they had more seasons than 1 to wrap up, and b) you just felt your stomach hit the floor as the bottom started to fall...

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numbersix
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Re: Lost

Post by numbersix »

frendo wrote:As far as smoke monster goes, my thing is why didn't Jack and Desmond turn into smoke monsters as well after going into the light? Made no sense, if it's a 'fate worse than death' that they shouldn't get the same outcome.
I always felt the smoke thing was something residing there that got unlocked when the MiB went in. He was the first, and his bad intent unlocked it, which took his form and his identity. I got the sense that the smoke monster is not entirely the MiB. So when Jack and Desmond venture in, the only thing to worry about is the electromagnetism caused by the light.

frendo
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Re: Lost

Post by frendo »

I thought about that too, but he had the same personality and memories as the guy, and the same relationship to Jacob, so it doesn't make much sense.

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numbersix
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Re: Lost

Post by numbersix »

Yeah well Lost and sense doen't really go together in a sentence ;). I suppose you could argue that the smoke monster took on some of MiB's personality, that it merged in some way etc etc, but there's very little evidence of any of this, it's all just theories that can have no basis in what we saw.

frendo
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Re: Lost

Post by frendo »

Here's the main problems with LOST. Some are actually character related (like about Libby), but most are plot or island related.

http://livefeed.hollywoodreporter.com/2 ... video.html

frendo
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Re: Lost

Post by frendo »

Here's another LOST video to add to the one above, though this one is for comedy...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RqRbHYEU ... r_embedded

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numbersix
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Re: Lost

Post by numbersix »

I summed up my thoughts about Lost as a finale and Lost as a series, if anyone is interested. Overall, I'm kinda on the fence:

http://www.screenhead.com/reviews/was-i ... eing-lost/

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