Lost

[JonPorobil]

A lot of plot, but for some reason, it left me kind of underwhelmed. There's a few things that don't hang together or ring true about this episode. For instance, if [SPOILERS SPOILERS SPOILERS SPOILERS SPOILERS] if Dogan was the only thing keeping the Smoke Monster out of the temple, then what was all that ash circle stuff about? And what's so special about Dogan anyway? And how come Sayid, of all people, was so unskeptical about the Lockelgagner's promises? Is this Locke 2.0 really that good a salesman? [END SPOILERS]

So yeah, I found a lot of this narratively frustrating, but I think now the stage is set for the final runup to the finale. No more filler after this, I'm hoping.

[JonPorobil]

OH MY GOD YOU GUYS

My jaw dropped for like three minutes straight when [SPOILER REDACTED], but then they went and [SPOILER REDACTED], too???

If you saw tonight's episode, this post is crystal clear.


EDIT 5/20/10: Updated version with spoilers in white instead of redacted completely:

My jaw dropped for like three minutes straight when Sayid died, but then they went and killed off Jin, Sun, and Lepedus, too???

[jack]

well, i started this thread 6 years ago, and now we are down to the last show on Sunday.

personally, i think this season has jumped the shark bad. too much of it seems like they are making it up as they go along, maybe even going back and reviewing old episodes to come up with new angles on stuff that previously happened and how they can somehow tie it all together. last night's show in particular felt that way, especially when hurley showed up in his hummer with desmond to save the day and rescue kate and sayid. i mean.....huh? wtf. and desmond is the fail safe? desperate.

this is just getting downright stupid and cliche.

and the magic gold waterfall that turned jacob's brother into a smoke monster? dumb. i feel like i'm watching Barney.

they could have had an epic, shit kicking, good vs. evil battle for island control all 300 style and they waste this series with pandering, feel goody fake resolution.

i'll watch the finale but i'm already disappointed how this ends.

[Lunkhead]

Yes, agreed.

[king_arthur]

We finally started watching this just this year (netflix has the first few seasons available for instant viewing online, and we're somewhere in season 4 right now). I think I had it in my head that this was some sort of reality show, a Survivor variation of some kind. Been enjoying it, though I've missed some details when the Mrs. decides to watch a few episodes while I'm busy doing other things...

Charles (KA)

[jack]

for me, the nuke = jumping the shark. you're ok until the end of season 5.

[Lunkhead]

Some things still bugging me:

What is the deal with Walt?

If Jacob couldn't hurt his brother, how was he able to kill him? I mean, there was a corpse of his brother that he laid to rest in the caves that sat there and rotted until the 815 survivors found it. That sure sounds like Jacob killed him, even if it still lived on in some way as the smoke monster.

What was up with separating Sun and Jin for so long and making such a big deal of it then just killing them right after they finally got back together? Also, why did they think it was better for them to both die together than for Jin to leave and try to get back to their daughter?

Anyway, I really wish they would have sprinkled more of this uber-backstory stuff throughout the series. Saving it all for the end is making it feel very tacked on.

[JonPorobil]

(Spoilers in white, including one for a different show. Highlight to read them.)

I was hanging in there, strong, faithful, and loyal, right up until Jack took over as the New Jacob. At that point I realized that there's only two hours left in the ENTIRE SERIES, and we still don't know enough about how the Island works to make the resolution meaningful in any way. I don't doubt that the writers have at least a decent grasp on how things work and what it all means, but unless they can convey it all to the audience in a clear and meaningful way, then what happens in the finale is going to mean about as much to us as watching Chewbacca and R2-D2 play that board game that looked like Battle Chess.

You know, I quit watching Heroes when Sylar killed Elle. So it felt eerily familiar to me tonight when Ben killed Widmore. When there's so little time left, the writers only have three options. 1.) Have the characters do things that don't make sense, and then spend the whole two-hour finale explaining them away; 2.) Have the characters do things that don't make sense, and never explain them, leaving the finale action-packed but confusing; or 3.) DON'T HAVE THE CHARACTERS DO THINGS THAT DON'T MAKE SENSE.

Well, guess which route they're taking?

[Lunkhead]

I do feel like they kill off characters arbitrarily as a way of getting out of having to write some sort of actual resolution to the character's storyline. (Unstable dynamite, paralyzing spider bites, etc.) So the sudden deaths in this last episode felt like similar copouts. "Hm, what will happen to so and so in the finale? Man, I don't want to have to think about that. Oh! Maybe he/she could just die now and then that solves that problem."

[jack]

Here's the problem I have with the way this season is going. It seems like they are trying too hard to resolve things, when some things are better left unresolved, or at least left to the viewers imagination as to what happens. Instead of trying to wrap up 6 years of a huge litany of loose ends, they should focus on the storyline and how it should resolve, instead of worrying about how all the multiple, peripheral characters end up or explain why they are there to begin with. Because at this point, with 2 hours to go, I really don't care. Of course, they don't seem to really know how the storyline ends, or as I've mentioned previously, they seem to be making it up as they go along.

This is why the Sopranos was so successful, and right up until the very last episode was a great series all the way. No nice clean, predictable resolution to the saga of Tony Soprano. They left it up to the long faithful viewer to create their own ending. And with the Sopranos, the ending wasn't some big climactic gangster shootout, or Tony turning rat and going into witness protection. It might have ended that way but they didn't show it. They left it to the viewer's imagination. It was the family sitting in a diner meeting for dinner, with a few very good subtle setups to the big ending and then....a cut to black with Journey playing "don't stop believing"

That's the difference. The Sopranos writers treated their audience like intellectual adults. The Lost writers pander to their audience.

[jack]

i just found this writeup that kind of talks about the same thing we're bitching about.

and it's funny they mentioned the sopranos too. i swear i hadn't read this before posting the above.

[j$]

Two theories ...
2. The writers have no fucking idea beyond the cool idea. The series will end with a terrible cop-out ending like the X-files, not really answering anything.

In retrospect hardly rocket science, but still ...

[jack]

haha, you called it.

[JonPorobil]

At some point, the series changed from being a true ensemble show to being The Jack Shepherd Hour. At no point was that ever clearer than in this finale. It was all Jack Jack Jack Jack Jack.

The ending was a bit self-congratulatory, but I still teared up a little bit upon seeing all the dead characters reunited.

All in all, it wasn't terrible. Wasn't as great as it could have been had things just been a little clearer and/or made a little more sense, but it didn't suck.

[jack]

honestly, i thought this finale sucked ass. i've got nothing against religion, i just don't like having it thrown in my face. and i especially don't like having it spoon fed down my throat for 2.5 hours. actually, in fairness, the first 2 hours was ok. the last half hour dragged 6 years down into a slobbering mess.

pandering, cliche. felt the need to wrap up the storylines of all the characters into a nice, neat little package for viewers too dumb to think for themselves.

yup, fulfilled my expectations and reinforced my belief that this was the worst season of the show.

actually, this sums it up pretty much perfect for me.

[Reist]

I thought it was alright. But I have a special place in my heart for cheese, so that might be why.

[JonPorobil]

Garfunkel and Oates have pegged perhaps the biggest unanswered question:



It's, uh... Not safe for work. Definitely not safe for work.