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Anyone still watching Lost?
- Thread starter Sinclair
- Start date
Ninja_Squirrel
Regular
Actually, I was very much on board all the way up until the last 8 minutes, maybe 9. I could forgive the open-ended mysteries for all the character drama we got throughout the episode until we got that one last revelation. That messed it up for me. I'm pretty sure I understand it, but I'm also pretty sure I don't like it.
Alluveal
Regular
Absolutely. Still trying to wrap my head around it, though.
So, Jack died saving the island and the "sideways world" was a place they all somehow created to find one another again? Only, it seems like Jack got a bit "lost" in that world (very Tibetan Book of the Dead in a sense), got too involved, created a son that wasn't real, etc.
As Christian Shepherd said, some died long after, some died soon, but they all returned to the same place where there is no "now," no time. Essentially, the survivors could have lived long lives once they returned to their homes, but they all ended up in the same afterlife.
Interesting that Ben felt he should be on the outside (which is how he always considered himself--an outsider).
So, Hurley and Ben apparently protected the island for a good amount of time before Hurley must have found a replacement.
So many interesting possibilities to imagine.
I thought it was really well done. All the important things that needed to be answered were answered, imho. I was never really a Jack fan until this last season. He really seemed to step it up. I think my favorite "oh my God, I remember now" moment was Claire and Charlie. Just something in the way Dominique Monogan's performance that really drove that home for me.
So, Jack died saving the island and the "sideways world" was a place they all somehow created to find one another again? Only, it seems like Jack got a bit "lost" in that world (very Tibetan Book of the Dead in a sense), got too involved, created a son that wasn't real, etc.
As Christian Shepherd said, some died long after, some died soon, but they all returned to the same place where there is no "now," no time. Essentially, the survivors could have lived long lives once they returned to their homes, but they all ended up in the same afterlife.
Interesting that Ben felt he should be on the outside (which is how he always considered himself--an outsider).
So, Hurley and Ben apparently protected the island for a good amount of time before Hurley must have found a replacement.
So many interesting possibilities to imagine.
I thought it was really well done. All the important things that needed to be answered were answered, imho. I was never really a Jack fan until this last season. He really seemed to step it up. I think my favorite "oh my God, I remember now" moment was Claire and Charlie. Just something in the way Dominique Monogan's performance that really drove that home for me.
vorlonlovechild
Regular
I thought it was a very touching episode which pretty much finished the way I thought it might.
GKarsEye
Regular
I know the internet is probably going ballistic know, but to hell with them- I though it was a beautiful finale. Yes I'm gonna use the word "beautiful," because it was shot so well, the actors clearly gave it their all, and the production and score were wonderfully executed. The whole ending just "felt" right, and though this opinion might change over time, I'm going to call this the 3rd best series finale I've ever seen (where #1 = Sleeping In Light and #2 = All Good Things from ST:TNG).
B5_Obsessed
Regular
Glad we're seeing eye to eye GK (no pun intented).
Do I feel the series as a whole let me down? Yeah, just a bit (for about 20 or so unsatisfactorily answered reasons) but I do feel that the episode was successful in giving a nice emotional resolution to the whole thing. I like the whole Nexus thing to the afterlife where you can enter from any point and there really is no time inside it. It was obvious from Hurley and Ben's conversation. Who knows how long they co-managed the Island? 20 years? A hundred? I don't think Ben was being an outcast as much as he was choosing to remain in his Danielle / Alex fantasy world (if such a thing is possible). The biggest surprise was Richard being on the plane. Wonder if it was his first time?
p.s Kimmel's show was really good afterward.
Josh Holloway couldn't be there but appeared via satellite from the set of his new movie "Snakes on a Plane 2: Electric Boogaloo". Who knew he could dance?
Now all that's left is to see if Jack Bauer starts WW3.
Do I feel the series as a whole let me down? Yeah, just a bit (for about 20 or so unsatisfactorily answered reasons) but I do feel that the episode was successful in giving a nice emotional resolution to the whole thing. I like the whole Nexus thing to the afterlife where you can enter from any point and there really is no time inside it. It was obvious from Hurley and Ben's conversation. Who knows how long they co-managed the Island? 20 years? A hundred? I don't think Ben was being an outcast as much as he was choosing to remain in his Danielle / Alex fantasy world (if such a thing is possible). The biggest surprise was Richard being on the plane. Wonder if it was his first time?
p.s Kimmel's show was really good afterward.
Josh Holloway couldn't be there but appeared via satellite from the set of his new movie "Snakes on a Plane 2: Electric Boogaloo". Who knew he could dance?
Now all that's left is to see if Jack Bauer starts WW3.
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Sindatur
Regular
And he also recruited Juliette.
B5_Obsessed
Regular
No, I was referring to the plane ride. I know he's taken the sub off island before.
I just found it mildly amusing. He's 200 years old, but things have certainly changed around him. I would have laughed to see him looking terrified out the window upon takeoff.
A_Ranger
Regular
Looks like I'm in the minority here. I'm pretty pissed off. This show may have been a character driven mystery, but it was still a mystery. They broke the cardinal rule of a mystery: they didn't solve the mystery!!!!! We still don't know what the island is, what smokey is and what he will do if he escapes. To me, the character drama itself is hurt because we don't understand the island which is the reason for all they went through. Also, all the rules of the island seem totally arbitrary like the writers pulled them out of a hat.
I gave them my faith for 6 years, believing there was a purpose and that we would get the answers that were promised. Instead, I got anally raped. They had no clue what they were doing. They may have had a vague notion of the ending, but clearly they really had no clue what they were doing for six seasons.
I gave them my faith for 6 years, believing there was a purpose and that we would get the answers that were promised. Instead, I got anally raped. They had no clue what they were doing. They may have had a vague notion of the ending, but clearly they really had no clue what they were doing for six seasons.
I'm with you A_Ranger.
What I disliked about it was the whole sideways world was entirely a waste. It ends up being something like purgatory, a holding place until you are ready to move on to wherever. Thanks for adding a wholly unecessary and unexplained mystery storyline to the final season! They had plenty of other stuff to explain but because the writers had no idea what any of it was they didn't do it.
The only saving grace would be that the island is a link to purgatory and the afterlife. It's our link to "god" and if the island was destroyed the dead would no longer be able to move on. So all the dead who kept coming back (that weren't smokey) were already in purgatory and were trying help the living.
I would have preferred they merge the story lines so the people in the sideways world remembered the original world stuff but now lived happily ever after in the sideways world off the island except for the one person left behind to take jacob's place.
Anyways, despite what the writers and producers thought I watched the show b/c of the mysteries and since they weren't explained at all I am totally disappointed by the series. The characters were fine and their development was good but for me they were merely a means to an end. It's like watching Sleeping in Light after skipping seasons 3 and 4 The character development is great but doesn't resolve the main plot point which was the shadows and vorlons and their continuing war.
Recoil
Regular
Well here is my take.
The simple version: This was a very good "Goodbye" to the characters, but a bad series finale.
What we got was a solid emotional goodbye to all the characters we had gotten to know over the last six seasons, and I think it was well executed. Cinematography, script, acting, score, all was top notch. So it was a fine sendoff for the characters.
However, we could have gotten that same ending/sendoff if this was any long-running character drama that got its cancellation notice in its final season, not from a series that was promoted as a mystery/drama with a riddle or riddles to be solved. The episode didn't end the series or the Lost experience, it was a character sendoff and not much more. The "purgatory / flash-sideways" piece was just introduced this year, so its not like it was part of the mythos prior to this season. We also find out it had nothing to do with the bomb being set off and changing the past --- it was simply an afterlife gathering place. It was a clever way to tie all the characters that had grown together all in one place, and it was nice seeing some of the old familiar faces again like Shannon, Boone, etc. But that's all we got. A good emotional sendoff.
Yes, there are many saying that this show was always about the characters. But that's just not the case, and I'm sure those individuals don't remember back when this show started, how it was marketed and promoted, and frankly, the words of the shows creators themselves. The creators of this show created a mystery drama, and mixed in some sci-fi. They were very smug and pretentious in talking with fans in the first two seasons commenting that "no one has guessed what the island really is" and keeping everyone salivating for answers to the mystery. Well....no one guessed what the island was because they didn't know themselves. But they couldn't say that because people would stop watching. They might as well have called this series "McGuffin Island" because the mysteries were only added as a vehicle to get the characters to interact, and if that had been the intent all along fine. But it was sold as a mystery/drama by the creators, and that's not what anyone got. This "it was always about the characters and the journey" is rubbish.
A good story leads you on a journey. If it's an action movie it's typically vengeance of the main character. If it's a mystery, it's showing you all the clues that where there but you missed and how they tied together at the beginning. If it's sci-fi it's about how tech changes us and how we react to those changes. If it's fantasy then there's a really basic revenge/love story overlaid with magically powers. LOST is a poorly written drama that, as far as I can tell, pretended to be a sci-fi drama and ended up with a "god did it" ending." To make up for the lack of answers in the finale they not only tried to pull on your heart strings they god damn bungee jumped off of them. That is by definition shitty writing.
I didn't really expect that they were going to do a great job ending the Lost story, because they had gone to such extraordinary measures to keep it mysterious, the minute it stopped being mysterious would be the minute the ratings would go into the toilet, so they had to keep the facade going until the last episode when people take sides on the ending.
But the bottom line is that I think there are two camps right now:
1) People who know how writing and storytelling works and who care about a good story are saying "wow that ending fucking sucked"
2) People who are easily conned into believing that it was all planned out these past 6 years and don't really care to have anything remotely explained, or emotional people who cry whenever they see Charlie and Claire together and therefore don't care about the storyline themselves, just the characters.
I'm not entirely satisfied with the outcome, because I tend to side with camp #1. It was the kind of jerk-off ending you'd get with two douchebag writers who spent half their time fellating themselves.
But I'll agree, at least, that it was a good sendoff for the characters. Just not a good series finale. And to me, there is a difference.
The simple version: This was a very good "Goodbye" to the characters, but a bad series finale.
What we got was a solid emotional goodbye to all the characters we had gotten to know over the last six seasons, and I think it was well executed. Cinematography, script, acting, score, all was top notch. So it was a fine sendoff for the characters.
However, we could have gotten that same ending/sendoff if this was any long-running character drama that got its cancellation notice in its final season, not from a series that was promoted as a mystery/drama with a riddle or riddles to be solved. The episode didn't end the series or the Lost experience, it was a character sendoff and not much more. The "purgatory / flash-sideways" piece was just introduced this year, so its not like it was part of the mythos prior to this season. We also find out it had nothing to do with the bomb being set off and changing the past --- it was simply an afterlife gathering place. It was a clever way to tie all the characters that had grown together all in one place, and it was nice seeing some of the old familiar faces again like Shannon, Boone, etc. But that's all we got. A good emotional sendoff.
Yes, there are many saying that this show was always about the characters. But that's just not the case, and I'm sure those individuals don't remember back when this show started, how it was marketed and promoted, and frankly, the words of the shows creators themselves. The creators of this show created a mystery drama, and mixed in some sci-fi. They were very smug and pretentious in talking with fans in the first two seasons commenting that "no one has guessed what the island really is" and keeping everyone salivating for answers to the mystery. Well....no one guessed what the island was because they didn't know themselves. But they couldn't say that because people would stop watching. They might as well have called this series "McGuffin Island" because the mysteries were only added as a vehicle to get the characters to interact, and if that had been the intent all along fine. But it was sold as a mystery/drama by the creators, and that's not what anyone got. This "it was always about the characters and the journey" is rubbish.
A good story leads you on a journey. If it's an action movie it's typically vengeance of the main character. If it's a mystery, it's showing you all the clues that where there but you missed and how they tied together at the beginning. If it's sci-fi it's about how tech changes us and how we react to those changes. If it's fantasy then there's a really basic revenge/love story overlaid with magically powers. LOST is a poorly written drama that, as far as I can tell, pretended to be a sci-fi drama and ended up with a "god did it" ending." To make up for the lack of answers in the finale they not only tried to pull on your heart strings they god damn bungee jumped off of them. That is by definition shitty writing.
I didn't really expect that they were going to do a great job ending the Lost story, because they had gone to such extraordinary measures to keep it mysterious, the minute it stopped being mysterious would be the minute the ratings would go into the toilet, so they had to keep the facade going until the last episode when people take sides on the ending.
But the bottom line is that I think there are two camps right now:
1) People who know how writing and storytelling works and who care about a good story are saying "wow that ending fucking sucked"
2) People who are easily conned into believing that it was all planned out these past 6 years and don't really care to have anything remotely explained, or emotional people who cry whenever they see Charlie and Claire together and therefore don't care about the storyline themselves, just the characters.
I'm not entirely satisfied with the outcome, because I tend to side with camp #1. It was the kind of jerk-off ending you'd get with two douchebag writers who spent half their time fellating themselves.
But I'll agree, at least, that it was a good sendoff for the characters. Just not a good series finale. And to me, there is a difference.
B5_Obsessed
Regular
I wasn't too upset. Across the Sea had lowered my expectations considerably that any useful answers would come of the myriad unanswered mysteries. I guess in the end I don't need to understand the island any more than I need to know why that midget was dancing backwards and serving rock hard coffee to Agent Cooper. I enjoyed the finale, but no, I certainly have no reason to re-watch the series.
Recoil
Regular
Exactly this. Nor would I recommend any friends who didn't see this series rent or buy the DVDs. It simply isn't worth it for the jerk-around. That's why I think it ultimately failed as a series from a creative standpoint.
Ironically, I think it succeeded as a series from a marketing standpoint, because they got many of us to continue watching it, even though most realized the writers were full of shit. They kept dangling the carrot in front of us just long enough to become interested in the characters...then dangle it a bit some more. But you know what? That trick only works once. Good luck in getting me to watch anything else these clowns do, or any other show that is marketed/presented in the same way.
Kara Baxter
Regular
Watching BSG helped me prepare for SUCKASS ENDINGS..
so, i figured Lost was going to have one of those hokey kooky endings too..
I predicted most of the ending right though, that the sideways world was the alternate reality and that everything would go back to 'reset' as in no crash...
the bit about the 'heaven' part - uh no, didn't see that coming at all.
and i wouldn't watch it again either!
I really HATE it when writers don't know how to end their plots...
Why are they even writers if they don't know how to tie up their loose ends?
so, i figured Lost was going to have one of those hokey kooky endings too..
I predicted most of the ending right though, that the sideways world was the alternate reality and that everything would go back to 'reset' as in no crash...
the bit about the 'heaven' part - uh no, didn't see that coming at all.
and i wouldn't watch it again either!
I really HATE it when writers don't know how to end their plots...
Why are they even writers if they don't know how to tie up their loose ends?
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B5_Obsessed
Regular
But that wasn't right. That's what we all thought was happening, but the nuke flat out didn't work. Nothing was reset. The only outcome of the nuke was that it somehow returned the main characters from 1977 back to 2007, thus allowing the showdown with Locke-alike to take place. Everything in the "alternate universe" / afterlife is a construct at some point in the future created by the souls of the Losties as a place to gather so they can crossover together. Does this sound stupid when I write it? Yes.
As for missing characters like Michael and Walt, Harold Perrineau (the actor) believes that Michael is still a lost soul whispering in the jungles of the Island. Walt, being young, would have moved on from the experience in life and would not be drawn to this meeting place in the afterlife.
B5_Obsessed
Regular
Just tell 'em to get the hell out of your galaxy!
Alluveal
Regular
Maybe it's just me, but I didn't find it at all like purgatory (more like the Tibetan Book of the Dead). To me, purgatory is far more cruel and punishing and the sideways timeline wasn't cruel, but rather for most of the Losties, it was what they wished were true or what they thought they deserved. Hardly purgatory.
I'm starting to see a trend in those who enjoyed the finale VS those who did not. Most of my atheist friends hated it because they set up the final season for more of a scientific ending/explanation, but when it went the spiritual route, they got their panties in a twist. Some of the others I know who absolutely loathed it, didn't really "get it," and were making weird comments like, "OH, so it was ALL a dream, lame!" I've seen a a few deviations from this theory of mine, but it's becoming more and more sound.
I'm starting to see a trend in those who enjoyed the finale VS those who did not. Most of my atheist friends hated it because they set up the final season for more of a scientific ending/explanation, but when it went the spiritual route, they got their panties in a twist. Some of the others I know who absolutely loathed it, didn't really "get it," and were making weird comments like, "OH, so it was ALL a dream, lame!" I've seen a a few deviations from this theory of mine, but it's becoming more and more sound.
