Lost-great show or major addiction?

[rushgoober]

Edited May 24, 2010 by rushgoober

[rushgoober]

Is it just me, or was the decision to go from two hours to two and a half hours not based on having too much material to pack into two hours, but done just for the sake of adding in 30 more minutes of commercials? There were a RIDICULOUS amount of commercials during that show. Thank God for DVR's!

[Khan]

I'd also like to know how Hurley didn't lose an ounce.

[Presto-digitation]

QUOTE (rushgoober @ May 24 2010, 10:31 AM)

Is it just me, or was the decision to go from two hours to two and a half hours not based on having too much material to pack into two hours, but done just for the sake of adding in 30 more minutes of commercials? There were a RIDICULOUS amount of commercials during that show. Thank God for DVR's!

Yeah, it was awfully packed.

 

However, I tried watching Aliens on Syfy yesterday afternoon and I swear to sunny Jesus, it was 10 SOLID minutes of commercials in each block. Terribly frustrating. It was literally 10 minutes of film, 10 of commercial.

[Jack Aubrey]

I've been thinking of the finale since I went to bed last night and I'm still processing it. Right now I'm of the mind that while the finale was emotionally satisfying, it left a lot to be desired on the intellectual side. Dammit, they dangled all of these intriguing questions and semi-concepts in front of us for six years and I invested a lot of thought into them and to just look at us and say: "they're all dead so they basically experienced the impossible" rings pretty hollow! For now anyway, I may come around as I continue to process it.

 

[rushgoober]

For those who haven't seen the photo of THE LOST SUPPER:

 

http://i37.photobucket.com/albums/e85/rushgoober6/original.jpg

[Presto-digitation]

QUOTE (Jack Aubrey @ May 24 2010, 11:05 AM)

I've been thinking of the finale since I went to bed last night and I'm still processing it. Right now I'm of the mind that while the finale was emotionally satisfying, it left a lot to be desired on the intellectual side. Dammit, they dangled all of these intriguing questions and semi-concepts in front of us for six years and I invested a lot of thought into them and to just look at us and say: "they're all dead so they basically experienced the impossible" rings pretty hollow! For now anyway, I may come around as I continue to process it.

But they weren't dead. They were alive and actually experienced all of those things:

 

QUOTE

Jack goes inside and sees his father's coffin. He's affected by the sight of it. He crosses to it to open it -- and the moment his fingers touch it -- FLASH! Images from the island wash over Jack. He stumbles back from the coffin and he remembers. Everything. He opens the coffin, and of course it's empty. Then behind him his father says hello. Jack turns toward the voice. He's not surprised or startled. He's confused. Christian died. Christian nods and says yes, he did. It takes Jack a moment to put it together, but then he realizes he died, too. Jack asks if Christian is real, and his father says he hopes so. He's real, Jack is real. Everything that ever happened to Jack is real. And everyone in that church is real, too. Jack processes the implications of that. They're all dead? Christian says everyone dies. Some of them before Jack. Some of them a long time after him. Jack asks why they're there now, but Christian says there isn't any "now" here.

 

They all died in their own time in their own way. Only the sideways flashes weren't real in the "actual" sense. Everything else...was.

Edited May 24, 2010 by Presto-digitation

[Snowdog]

QUOTE (Jack Aubrey @ May 24 2010, 12:05 PM)

I've been thinking of the finale since I went to bed last night and I'm still processing it. Right now I'm of the mind that while the finale was emotionally satisfying, it left a lot to be desired on the intellectual side. Dammit, they dangled all of these intriguing questions and semi-concepts in front of us for six years and I invested a lot of thought into them and to just look at us and say: "they're all dead so they basically experienced the impossible" rings pretty hollow! For now anyway, I may come around as I continue to process it.

I'm with you Jack. It feels as if the writers knew they were in so deep they couldn't possibly provide answers to all the questions so they copped out with this.

 

I'm comparing this to the kid and the snow globe from St. Elsewhere.

[The Owl]

They all lived their lives.......... Those in the flash-sideways/afterlife died either on the island of after the events of the finale...this is just when they all re-grouped after they all eventually died......

 

Hurley and Ben's conversation suggested that they had spent a good while on the island after the finale but before their eventual deaths...

 

Hurley told Ben he was a great #2 and Ben told Hurley he was a great #1... (The Island: Hurley and Ben Years........ SPINOFF!)

 

 

Kate, Sawyer, Miles and company all got off the island and lived out the rest of their lives.

[Presto-digitation]

QUOTE (The Owl @ May 24 2010, 03:01 PM)

They all lived their lives.......... Those in the flash-sideways/afterlife died either on the island of after the events of the finale...this is just when they all re-grouped after they all eventually died...... Hurley and Ben's conversation suggested that they had spent a good while on the island after the finale but before their eventual deaths... Hurley told Ben he was a great #2 and Ben told Hurley he was a great #1... (The Island: Hurley and Ben Years........ SPINOFF!) Kate, Sawyer, Miles and company all got off the island and lived out the rest of their lives.

But what about the polar bears and how the Dharma food stayed good so long? The show left me pining for these answers!!

[Test4VitalSigns]

I guess it can be said that if you are a person of faith then the finale was satisfying; if you are a person of science the whole thing was disappointing....

 

 

I thought it was a very powerful and thought-provoking ending to the show and as far as the mysteries of the island goes I just think that, like I've stated before in this thread, that they remain mysteries just like what we deal with in real life as far as he world we live in and the idea of an afterlife (whether there is one or not). The whole "Why are we here" and "what happens when we die" questions and so forth.

 

 

Sure I'd like to know more about the Island and exactly what it is but at the same time it is interesting that the writers left it the way it is so that we can all keep wondering and debating what the heck is going on and why....

 

 

I think too many people had way too high expectations despite the fact that the writers have said for awhile now that not every little thing will be explained and that the whole thing will directly deal with the characters and their personal outcomes in this whole story. Personally I thought it was very beautiful and emotionally powerful how they ended the show. Perhaps they shouldv'e done at least a few more episodes to really drive home the point and furthur explore the final outcomes of some people . For example it would've been cool to see the Ajira plane landing safely home and see the "Ajira 6" begin their new lives...

 

 

 

 

for sure though I am really going to miss this show.

 

 

[Some Half-Forgotten Stranger]

QUOTE (Presto-digitation @ May 24 2010, 08:20 AM)

I'm pretty sure the physics of the island wasn't the point. If you get hung up on that and other such things it's not worth pursuing as a fantasy series.

Well it certainly was an important issue throughout the series. Important enough that entire seasons were based around it, as well as many key episodes.

 

And maybe you're happy to just accept the conclusion we are given, but don't get on us who don't. After all we were told we'd get answers...maybe we found our desire for answers made it worth pursuing the series. We weren't just waiting to see what happens in the last 5 minutes of the show.

[Hatchetaxe&saw]

QUOTE (rushgoober @ May 24 2010, 03:31 PM)

Is it just me, or was the decision to go from two hours to two and a half hours not based on having too much material to pack into two hours, but done just for the sake of adding in 30 more minutes of commercials? There were a RIDICULOUS amount of commercials during that show. Thank God for DVR's!

2 ad breaks in Ireland, done and dusted in 2 hours.

 

 

[theredtamasrule]

A satisfying emotional, and not quite unexpected, ending to a dizzyingly complex show.

 

There was no way, no way the writers could begin to answer most of the questions about the Island itself so they didn't even try except to show the Source...whatever the hell that was. The common refrain is that the show was about the characters & relationships between them, and it was to an extent. You don't go 6 seasons without having bonds formed between the characters.

 

But you have to admit that a huge chunk of the allure to the show was all the mystery surrounding the Island and just what was it. To some, the MIB seems a sympathetic character because of what "mother" and Jacob did to him. Why not just let him try to leave? There was no way he could have found his way back to the Island if he did leave when he wanted in the beginning. It wasn't until the Lamppost was created that the location could be estimated.

 

Silly questions I know.

[Snowdog]

QUOTE (theredtamasrule @ May 24 2010, 07:34 PM)

A satisfying emotional, and not quite unexpected, ending to a dizzyingly complex show. There was no way, no way the writers could begin to answer most of the questions about the Island itself so they didn't even try except to show the Source...whatever the hell that was. The common refrain is that the show was about the characters & relationships between them, and it was to an extent. You don't go 6 seasons without having bonds formed between the characters. But you have to admit that a huge chunk of the allure to the show was all the mystery surrounding the Island and just what was it. To some, the MIB seems a sympathetic character because of what "mother" and Jacob did to him. Why not just let him try to leave? There was no way he could have found his way back to the Island if he did leave when he wanted in the beginning. It wasn't until the Lamppost was created that the location could be estimated. Silly questions I know.

"Whatever the hell that was"-Exactly! After spending 6 years watching this show, I still have no idea. If you had told me in season one we would never find out the answers to these questions, I would've bailed right there.

 

But, stupid me, faithfully tuned in each and every damn week hoping to get some answers only to be met with more questions.

 

Writers think they're being clever and smart with episodes like this and the Sopranos finale. But, I think they're being unimaginative and lazy.

[Some Half-Forgotten Stranger]

QUOTE (Snowdog @ May 24 2010, 06:56 PM)

A satisfying emotional, and not quite unexpected, ending to a dizzyingly complex show.

There was no way, no way the writers could begin to answer most of the questions about the Island itself so they didn't even try except to show the Source...whatever the hell that was. The common refrain is that the show was about the characters & relationships between them, and it was to an extent. You don't go 6 seasons without having bonds formed between the characters.

But you have to admit that a huge chunk of the allure to the show was all the mystery surrounding the Island and just what was it. To some, the MIB seems a sympathetic character because of what "mother" and Jacob did to him. Why not just let him try to leave? There was no way he could have found his way back to the Island if he did leave when he wanted in the beginning. It wasn't until the Lamppost was created that the location could be estimated.

If you had told me in season one we would never find out the answers to these questions, I would've bailed right there.

But, stupid me, faithfully tuned in each and every damn week hoping to get some answers only to be met with more questions.

Writers think they're being clever and smart with episodes like this and the Sopranos finale. But, I think they're being unimaginative and lazy.

I agree with you, but I would have watched anyway I think.

 

Sure I'm disappointed that we may never find all the answers to our questions, but I really liked the characters. I think Lost was some of the best casting in TV history.

[Presto-digitation]

QUOTE (Some Half-Forgotten Stranger @ May 24 2010, 04:40 PM)

QUOTE (Presto-digitation @ May 24 2010, 08:20 AM) I'm pretty sure the physics of the island wasn't the point.  If you get hung up on that and other such things it's not worth pursuing as a fantasy series. Well it certainly was an important issue throughout the series. Important enough that entire seasons were based around it, as well as many key episodes.   And maybe you're happy to just accept the conclusion we are given, but don't get on us who don't. After all we were told we'd get answers...maybe we found our desire for answers made it worth pursuing the series. We weren't just waiting to see what happens in the last 5 minutes of the show. It all hinges on expectations. I've said that already. I didn't need every question answered. Don't get them on MOST shows, quite honestly. Really glad we didn't get some 20 minute long ham-fisted Psycho-esque dialogue explaining every detail of what we'd just seen.   Mostly I've been trying to set straight was was indeed laid out in the finale...and still people ask "so they were dead all along??" That's not speculation or conjecture....some of the things being talked about are wrong based precisely on what was shown last night. Proves that on top of other things, people often don't pay attention to what's in front of them and then summarily blame writers/producers for sloppy writing.

[treeduck]

QUOTE (Snowdog @ May 24 2010, 06:56 PM)

QUOTE (theredtamasrule @ May 24 2010, 07:34 PM) A satisfying emotional, and not quite unexpected, ending to a dizzyingly complex show. There was no way, no way the writers could begin to answer most of the questions about the Island itself so they didn't even try except to show the Source...whatever the hell that was. The common refrain is that the show was about the characters & relationships between them, and it was to an extent. You don't go 6 seasons without having bonds formed between the characters. But you have to admit that a huge chunk of the allure to the show was all the mystery surrounding the Island and just what was it. To some, the MIB seems a sympathetic character because of what "mother" and Jacob did to him. Why not just let him try to leave? There was no way he could have found his way back to the Island if he did leave when he wanted in the beginning. It wasn't until the Lamppost was created that the location could be estimated. Silly questions I know. "Whatever the hell that was"-Exactly! After spending 6 years watching this show, I still have no idea. If you had told me in season one we would never find out the answers to these questions, I would've bailed right there.   But, stupid me, faithfully tuned in each and every damn week hoping to get some answers only to be met with more questions.   Writers think they're being clever and smart with episodes like this and the Sopranos finale. But, I think they're being unimaginative and lazy. Pssst I've never watched a single episode...

[Khan]

Aren't you new here?

[Tick]

Does anyone believe that all the unanswered questions is setting the stage for a theatrical release? A Lost motion picture would rake in millions, and could uncover the mysteries of the island. Its just a thought?

[Presto-digitation]

Who knows.

 

Amazing how many people I've read either on boards or facebook who yesterday said "I just watched my first episode of Lost last night. Yeah, it ended like I thought it would." No lie.

 

I watched 10 minutes of "24" once, so.... I guess I'm now qualified to make judgment calls on the entire series?

 

Seriously...why would you watch the finale of a show you've never watched before...and then feel like you can make accurate summations? Christ people are stupid.

[Jack Aubrey]

OK, I've processed the finale some more and I've come to the conclusion that it was pretty awesome.

 

Oh, and I've figured out what the numbers mean. If you go and look at the names of everyone that Jacob wrote on the cave wall, you'll see that the names of the major characters have numbers beside them, the same numbers that are in the infamous sequence. I don't know why it took me this long to figure that out, but I'm glad it's resolved.

[Jack Aubrey]

[Test4VitalSigns]

[hunter]

Don't know if you've seen this but I thought it very interesting. From another Forum.

 

 

Originally Posted by Someone from Bad Robot... supposedly

 

First ...

The Island:

 

It was real. Everything that happened on the island that we saw throughout the 6 seasons was real. Forget the final image of the plane crash, it was put in purposely to f*&k with people's heads and show how far the show had come. They really crashed. They really survived. They really discovered Dharma and the Others. The Island keeps the balance of good and evil in the world. It always has and always will perform that role. And the Island will always need a "Protector". Jacob wasn't the first, Hurley won't be the last. However, Jacob had to deal with a malevolent force (MIB) that his mother, nor Hurley had to deal with. He created the devil and had to find a way to kill him -- even though the rules prevented him from actually doing so.

 

Thus began Jacob's plan to bring candidates to the Island to do the one thing he couldn't do. Kill the MIB. He had a huge list of candidates that spanned generations. Yet every time he brought people there, the MIB corrupted them and caused them to kill one another. That was until Richard came along and helped Jacob understand that if he didn't take a more active role, then his plan would never work.

 

Enter Dharma -- which I'm not sure why John is having such a hard time grasping. Dharma, like the countless scores of people that were brought to the island before, were brought there by Jacob as part of his plan to kill the MIB. However, the MIB was aware of this plan and interfered by "corrupting" Ben. Making Ben believe he was doing the work of Jacob when in reality he was doing the work of the MIB. This carried over into all of Ben's "off-island" activities. He was the leader. He spoke for Jacob as far as they were concerned. So the "Others" killed Dharma and later were actively trying to kill Jack, Kate, Sawyer, Hurley and all the candidates because that's what the MIB wanted. And what he couldn't do for himself.

 

Dharma was originally brought in to be good. But was turned bad by MIB's corruption and eventually destroyed by his pawn Ben. Now, was Dharma only brought there to help Jack and the other Candidates on their overall quest to kill Smokey? Or did Jacob have another list of Candidates from the Dharma group that we were never aware of? That's a question that is purposely not answered because whatever answer the writers came up with would be worse than the one you come up with for yourself. Still ... Dharma's purpose is not "pointless" or even vague. Hell, it's pretty blatant.

 

Still, despite his grand plan, Jacob wanted to give his "candidates" (our Lostaways) the one thing he, nor his brother, were ever afforded: free will. Hence him bringing a host of "candidates" through the decades and letting them "choose" which one would actually do the job in the end. Maybe he knew Jack would be the one to kill Flocke and that Hurley would be the protector in the end. Maybe he didn't. But that was always the key question of the show: Fate vs. Free-will. Science vs. Faith. Personally I think Jacob knew from the beginning what was going to happen and that everyone played a part over 6 seasons in helping Jack get to the point where he needed to be to kill Smokey and make Hurley the protector -- I know that's how a lot of the writers viewed it. But again, they won't answer that (nor should they) because that ruins the fun.

 

In the end, Jack got to do what he always wanted to do from the very first episode of the show: Save his fellow Lostaways. He got Kate and Sawyer off the island and he gave Hurley the purpose in life he'd always been missing. And, in Sideways world (which we'll get to next) he in fact saved everyone by helping them all move on ...

 

continued