LOST |OT|

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You make it sound it always had since the first season.
It certainly wasn't as bad in the very beginning (then again, shitty world-building and character assassinations naturally take some time), but even the first season wasn't all that great, no...
 
Two years, man. I thought id have a blu ray player so i can do a rewatch by now. Haven't been a part of a community like Lost GAF since. The only show that's come close for mystery and heart has been Doctor Who, while visceral energy goes to Breaking Bad, pure detail in Mad Men, lyrical scripts with Justified...a lot of those shows that do those things as good or better individually, but Lost was really the total package. Still mulling over a tattoo, but nothing stands out above others. Will probably get closer to a decision on that when I do a rewatch.

<3 u Lost, a show so powerful, people are still wasting their lives trying to convince people their individual opinion about it is superior to others. One love, haters.
 
One of the worst episodes of season three must be Exposé.
Exposé rocks. It doesn't advance the main plot at all, it doesn't reveal anything particularly interesting, and almost nothing about it carries over, but DAMMIT it's an amazing standalone. It's like The Twilight Zone with the LOST cast.
 
You make it sound it always had since the first season.


*waits for Erigu to say it actually did*

The first season was the worst season. It didn't get good until they kicked Fury to the curb and let the Polar Boro really stretch their legs. Also Sarnoff came on after the first season but, uh, Deadwood wasn't that good of a show, was it?
 
Exposé rocks. It doesn't advance the main plot at all, it doesn't reveal anything particularly interesting, and almost nothing about it carries over, but DAMMIT it's an amazing standalone. It's like The Twilight Zone with the LOST cast.
That's really not the case. It reveals Ben and Juliet finding the Pearl doesn't it? Ben's limited knowledge of Dharma's on island activities inform his actions whilst being a prisoner in the hatch.

And it's a crap episode.

As people are doing it...

4>1>3>2>6>5
 
It's like The Twilight Zone with the LOST cast.

I'd say The Constant is more like that. It's the one episode I go back to again and again. Works as a standalone, reveals the freighter and its crew, advances the mythology, it's emotionally resonant - a goddamn tour de force.
 
When the show goes "I can't kill you because rules!", and then Ben shoots Widmore dead anyway, for example, it's inconsistent. Simple as that.

I wish there were more "inconsistent" shows that were as fun as LOST. Actually, there are only a handful with the arresting power of LOST, inconsistent or not.

Also, just because you can't figure out the reasons/answers within the show yourself you shouldn't start calling them inconsistencies.
 
As a journey, Lost is unmatched. It's obviously not the best show ever, it obviously has flaws, but I've not enjoyed watching anything as much since.
 
I wish there were more "inconsistent" shows that were as fun as LOST. Actually, there are only a handful with the arresting power of LOST, inconsistent or not.

Also, just because you can't figure out the reasons/answers within the show yourself you shouldn't start calling them inconsistencies.

FUN DOESN'T MATTER
IT'S ABOUT THE FACTS
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just because you can't figure out the reasons/answers within the show yourself you shouldn't start calling them inconsistencies.
... And I don't suppose I can count on you to fill me in, right?


FUN DOESN'T MATTER
Sure it does. And I had a lot of fun at the show's expense.
Some of you guys sure seem to be arguing that good writing doesn't matter, on the other hand. To each his own, I guess!
 
Oh, we're ranking seasons?

4>3>1>5>6>2

Absolutely loved Season 4 and I consider it the highpoint of the series. The Constant was a fantastic episode and Daniel Faraday was a great addition to the cast. Season 3 started fairly slow, but I really didn't mind that since I was marathoning the series through Netflix anyways. Didn't matter anyways since Through the Looking Glass was the best season finale in the series and The Brig (Sawyer vs. Sawyer) was incredibly tense. Not a huge fan of Season 2 though. It started well but it had some really annoying episodes. Charlie and Hurley became horribly unlikable and annoying characters in the show.

Also this thread is greatly improved if you add Erigu to your ignore list. If you don't like his posts and just want to talk about the show, the solution is simple.
 
I think Season 4 was so amazing because of the writer's strike. They had to fit lots more storytelling in a shorter than planned episode count.
 
I love to rank stuff!

4 > 3 > 5 > 1 > 6 > 2

Each season has an episode in my top 10 of the series though. Season 2 would have benefit from being shorter as it was padded by ridiculous shit like Darth Charlie (worst plot line in the show) and Season 6 suffered from things like just not giving a fuck about Sayid and taking some other shortcuts in the overall mythology.
 
I'm setting myself up for this but I took "the rules" the same way people view "the bible" - they were raised on it so it is the word. Benjamin decided fuck the word. And thus atheists were born and Jacob died

The end
 
I think The Rules are just gentleman's rules of engagement for the most part. Ben did respect Jacob's decisions at the point of The Shape of Things to Come. He left the island because he believed Jacob wanted it. Once unLocke convinces him Jacob is a cunt, he doesn't care about the rules anymore.
 
this thread is greatly improved if you add Erigu to your ignore list. If you don't like his posts and just want to talk about the show, the solution is simple.
Well, I do talk about the show, but I admit I rarely post vacuous superlatives, rankings of seasons and comments about the actresses' boobs, so you might want to follow the gentleman's advice in order to improve the thread, indeed.


I'm setting myself up for this but I took "the rules" the same way people view "the bible" - they were raised on it so it is the word. Benjamin decided fuck the word.
Back when his daughter got shot, yeah, he went "alright, fuck the rules" (so he summoned the smoke monster because you could do that back then, don't ask)
Then, off-island, Widmore didn't kill him and he didn't kill Widmore because rules.
And in the end, he did kill Widmore anyway.
Okay.
 
Season 4 - Hurley: "Australia is the key to the whole game"

Season 1 - Christian Shephard: "You know why they call Australia down under don't ya? Because its the closest you can get to hell without being burned"

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UNDERWORLD
 
The problem with the ending, as it pertained to the show's mythology, wasn't that it didn't answer every single question. It was that it completely failed to answer the most fundamental questions, i.e. What was at stake on the island? Why did it all matter? There were a few cryptic stabs at an explanation throughout the last season ("if the light goes out here, it goes out everywhere"; "if the MiB leaves the island, we all go to hell,") but absolutely nothing that we actually saw in the finale supported those lines.

And I completely fucking hated the big reveal about the sideways timeline. Season-long red herring with no ultimate purpose other than to set up a cheap, emotionally manipulative piss-filter sequence of a bunch of dead characters hugging each other and crying.
 
That's true. I think the highlight of each season was:

1: Pilot

2: Man of Science, Man of Faith

3: Through the Looking Glass

4: The Constant

5: Jughead

6: Ab Aeterno

Another good idea:

1: White Rabbit
2: Live Together, Die Alone
3: The Man Behind The Curtain
4: The Shape of Things to Come
5: The Life and Death of Jeremy Bentham
6: Ab Aeterno
 
The problem with the ending, as it pertained to the show's mythology, wasn't that it didn't answer every single question. It was that it completely failed to answer the most fundamental questions, i.e. What was at stake on the island? Why did it all matter? There were a few cryptic stabs at an explanation throughout the last season ("if the light goes out here, it goes out everywhere"; "if the MiB leaves the island, we all go to hell,") but absolutely nothing that we actually saw in the finale supported those lines.
Hear, hear.

I just love how they blew Ilana up when she was about to finally explain why they couldn't let the Man in Black leave. Because we can't have that.
They were openly making fun of their viewers, with stuff like that... and yet...
 
The problem with the ending, as it pertained to the show's mythology, wasn't that it didn't answer every single question. It was that it completely failed to answer the most fundamental questions, i.e. What was at stake on the island? Why did it all matter? There were a few cryptic stabs at an explanation throughout the last season ("if the light goes out here, it goes out everywhere"; "if the MiB leaves the island, we all go to hell,") but absolutely nothing that we actually saw in the finale supported those lines.

And I completely fucking hated the big reveal about the sideways timeline. Season-long red herring with no ultimate purpose other than to set up a cheap, emotionally manipulative piss-filter sequence of a bunch of dead characters hugging each other and crying.

The revelation of the flashsideways directly relates to the importance of saving the island. Posts like this just make me shake my head.
 
What was the point of the temple sub plot in the final season? It was so bizarre and time consuming for very little pay off (as far as I can recall).
 
The revelation of the flashsideways directly relates to the importance of saving the island. Posts like this just make me shake my head.
Clearly, their authors have missed those Lost episodes that implied as much.
Wait, I always forget: when the gates of the church open, there's light. Like the magical light on the island! Obviously meant to imply a connection. Obviously.


What was the point of the temple sub plot in the final season? It was so bizarre and time consuming for very little pay off (as far as I can recall).
There you go.
 
The problem with the ending, as it pertained to the show's mythology, wasn't that it didn't answer every single question. It was that it completely failed to answer the most fundamental questions, i.e. What was at stake on the island? Why did it all matter? There were a few cryptic stabs at an explanation throughout the last season ("if the light goes out here, it goes out everywhere"; "if the MiB leaves the island, we all go to hell,") but absolutely nothing that we actually saw in the finale supported those lines.

And I completely fucking hated the big reveal about the sideways timeline. Season-long red herring with no ultimate purpose other than to set up a cheap, emotionally manipulative piss-filter sequence of a bunch of dead characters hugging each other and crying.
They make it shockingly clear. Jacob sits down with a bottle of wine and literally explains the nature of the island. Then later, you even get to see the plug in question.

The island is the point on Earth where hell has a physical manifestation. MiB can't be allowed to leave the island because he's an immortal being capable of killing with impunity, I'm not sure why that needs explaining beyond the obvious repercussions of letting evil Gods run a muck.
 
The problem with the ending, as it pertained to the show's mythology, wasn't that it didn't answer every single question. It was that it completely failed to answer the most fundamental questions, i.e. What was at stake on the island? Why did it all matter? There were a few cryptic stabs at an explanation throughout the last season ("if the light goes out here, it goes out everywhere"; "if the MiB leaves the island, we all go to hell,") but absolutely nothing that we actually saw in the finale supported those lines.

And I completely fucking hated the big reveal about the sideways timeline. Season-long red herring with no ultimate purpose other than to set up a cheap, emotionally manipulative piss-filter sequence of a bunch of dead characters hugging each other and crying.



the world would end. they said it multiple times.
 
They make it shockingly clear. Jacob sits down with a bottle of wine and literally explains the nature of the island. Then later, you even get to see the plug in question.
Jacob says the island itself is a plug, and it keeps "evil" trapped.
Then we see an actual plug on the island, and what's under it? The warmest, brightest light there is, so beautiful, etc.
Well played, writers.

The island is the point on Earth where hell has a physical manifestation. MiB can't be allowed to leave the island because he's an immortal being capable of killing with impunity, I'm not sure why that needs explaining beyond the obvious repercussions of letting evil Gods run a muck.
Last we heard, he wanted to see where he was coming from. Why are we now told that he'd kill absolutely everybody out there?
Guess he's the bad guy, and that's how those things work. Deep, man.


the world would end. they said it multiple times.
Widmore agreed to talk in exchange for his daughter's life, and that implies he didn't think that the Man in Black leaving the island would simply end the world right there and then.
So what's up with that? What did he think would happen?
 
Last we heard he wanted to see where he was coming from. Why are we now told that he'd kill absolutely everybody out there?
Guess he's the bad guy, and that's how those things work. Deep, man.
The MiB was meant to be the leader of the island, he was groomed for it. But 'Mother' had to pick Jacob. Wanting to leave peacefully when you're a mortal man, is really not the same thing as wanting to leave when you're an immortal God with murderous tendencies thousands of years after.

There are degrees of ambiguity in his 'evil', who's fault it was etc, but he is evil. He is the 'Bad Twin', the Dark, the Hunter, etc.
 
Jacob says the island itself is a plug, and it keeps "evil" trapped.
Then we see an actual plug on the island, and what's under it? The warmest, brightest light there is, so beautiful, etc.
Well played, writers.

No. Just no. You are obviously forgetting what happens when the plug is pulled. Its not the warmest, brightest light. Its a dormant volcano about to spill hell.
 
Some of you guys sure seem to be arguing that good writing doesn't matter, on the other hand. To each his own, I guess!

Is anyone really arguing that good writing doesn't matter? Now who's the one making up stories and bad ones at that. :P

Is it really that hard to understand that sometimes things are greater than the sum of their parts, not a difficult concept in my opinion.
 
Wanting to leave peacefully when you're a mortal man, is really not the same thing as wanting to leave when you're an immortal God with murderous tendencies thousands of years after.
Again, why would those murderous tendencies even be directed towards the rest of mankind at large? People who stand between him and his freedom, on the island, alright, but after that?
 
They make it shockingly clear. Jacob sits down with a bottle of wine and literally explains the nature of the island. Then later, you even get to see the plug in question.

The island is the point on Earth where hell has a physical manifestation. MiB can't be allowed to leave the island because he's an immortal being capable of killing with impunity, I'm not sure why that needs explaining beyond the obvious repercussions of letting evil Gods run a muck.



I never got the sense he wanted to do that. He just wanted to be free and see the world... granted he did some terrible things to try and achieve his goal but Jacob did way worse. Besides he was trapped. Couldn't even die in peace.

What is some normal dude even suppose to a treat out in the real world anyways? Stupid Kaye even manage to kill him!

For all we know he just wanted to be allowed to live and die in peace.
 
Jacob says the island itself is a plug, and it keeps "evil" trapped.
Then we see an actual plug on the island, and what's under it? The warmest, brightest light there is, so beautiful, etc.
Well played, writers.

That's not true. Unplugging the cork killed the light. I'm not sure who would have put the cork there if putting the cork in place enabled life on Earth, though.
 
Again, why would those murderous tendencies even be directed towards the rest of mankind at large? People who stand between him and his freedom, on the island, alright, but after that?
It's irrelevant what he would have done, it only matters what he could have done, and that's murder everyone, and with no way to stop him.

Maybe he would have got a nice little place on the beach somewhere, made Ice Tea for the local children, fished and sun bathed all day, for eternity. Or maybe he'd murder whole towns for fun when he got bored.

If you can't see the issue with allowing all powerful beings to do as they please, I can't help you.
 
I dont think the MiB was so dangerous because he was so "evil".

He was a man who wanted to leave the island but he become a part of evil incarnate.

If he left the island, there would be no world to go back to. Everything would have gone to hell. A quote from season 2, episode 4: "Butterflys will die, bee's will stop making honey, hell the whole damn thing will fall apart"

The moment the MiB leaves the island, as Widmore says: "everyone will cease to exist."
 
The revelation of the flashsideways directly relates to the importance of saving the island. Posts like this just make me shake my head.

Yep. Major hints are given as to why its all important. One of the characters when talking about the light says "if the light goes out here, it goes out for everyone," maybe paraphrasing that a bit. And then what do we see during the afterlife scene at the very end? The white light. Coincidence? No. It was actually spelled out quite blatantly if you ask me: the white light on the island directly relates to the afterlife. Locke sees this light in the first season which is the first hint at it, and we see it again at the very end when Christian opens the church doors. The light seems to have some correlation with the afterlife, at least in the show's context of the afterlife. This is the "big reason" behind the story, behind the island, and I felt that it did indeed come full-circle and I found that aspect very, very satisfying.

Of course when you try to talk about this the dissenters are already either laughing or writing it off... and they're entitled to having it their way. But IMO, none of it was pointless and it did matter. Eloise and the mother character both spoke of the ramifications that would happen on an almost universal scale if Jack and the rest of them did not go back to the island to see through the reason that they were there. It's a lot to think about but I don't find it terribly hard to understand. So the story was essentially about the character journeys and development while at the same time relating to why the island is important and why its important that they crashed as well as the duty that needed to be fulfilled.
 
I dont think the MiB was so dangerous because he was so "evil".

He was a man who wanted to leave the island but he become a part of evil incarnate.

If he left the island, there would be no world to go back to. Everything would have gone to hell. A quote from season 2, episode 4: "Butterflys will die, bee's will stop making honey, hell the whole damn thing will fall apart"

The moment the MiB leaves the island, as Widmore says: "everyone will cease to exist."
That is obviously not the case. It couldn't be literally the end of the world, or why would he bother doing it? He wants to see the world he came from, but he couldn't because it would cease to exist when he left? Why would he even leave?

The world wasn't going to end.
 
Is anyone really arguing that good writing doesn't matter? Now who's the one making up stories and bad ones at that. :P

Is it really that hard to understand that sometimes things are greater than the sum of their parts, not a difficult concept in my opinion.

you haven't seen erigu before have you?
 
That is obviously not the case. It could be literally the end of the world, or why would he bother doing it? He wants to see the world he came from, but he couldn't because it would cease to exist when he left? Why would he even leave?

The world wasn't going to end.

I'll tell you EXACTLY why this is the case.

Because..... and listen very closely..... this will blow your mind.....

The MiB, was just a man and he didnt have a clue that would happen. He just wanted to leave. He didnt know he was evil incarnate or any of that jazz.
 
I'll tell you EXACTLY why this is the case.

Because..... and listen very closely..... this will blow your mind.....

The MiB, was just a man and he didnt have a clue that would happen. He just wanted to leave. He didnt know he was evil incarnate or any of that jazz.
And Charles Widmore isn't a man? Sure.

The idea that Widmore, or anyone else on that show knew more about the nature of the MiB than himself is ludicrous, and not backed up by anything in the show. The only possible person who could know more would be Jacob, and there's no indication of that.
 
My biggest problem with Lost, really, is that there's too much of it. A more streamlined version of the story, knowing the story front to back, what details that didn't go anywhere or didn't make much sense being jettisoned from the narrative, could be very awesome.
 
The MiB, was just a man and he didnt have a clue that would happen. He just wanted to leave. He didnt know he was evil incarnate or any of that jazz.

That's more or less how I saw it. He was just a man determined to leave the island for personal reasons, but he couldn't do so as long as the cork was in place. So he became an unwitting proxy for evil, since removing the cork to leave the island would end all life or unleash hell or whatever. The power of the island, which was designed to protect life, was also his prison.

Sort of like Locke being determined to stop pushing the button due to his inner demons, despite the likely dire consequences.
 
And Charles Widmore isn't a man? Sure.

What are you talking about? You've lost me.

The idea that Widmore, or anyone else on that show knew more about the nature of the MiB than himself is ludicrous, and not backed up by anything in the show. The only possible person who could know more would be Jacob, and there's no indication of that.

Widmore didnt have a clue mate. Widmore was just power hungry for the island. That's all Widmore ever was. That and having a great love for his daughter. Jacob undoubtedly told him "you have to stop the MiB or 'everyone would cease to be'" and so Widmore recited those words.

The MiB literally didnt have a clue about the world being destroyed if he got off the island. Its not so much him getting off..... its more down to him unplugging the cork(which he was chained to) and taking the rest of the evil that lay waiting underneath the island with him.
 
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