Lost...Once Again

I just finished watching Lost for the fourth time. I think it's been four times now. It's such a mix bag for me as a television series. It starts out so strong. It immediately sucks you in and builds such rich characters that you just keep coming back.

Then it throws them away and you don't see them again until the very last episode.

They come back here and there throughout and it's nice when they do. But they get lost in the excessive use of so many new characters that come into play season to season. I'm sure it becomes difficult to write interesting things for the same set of characters over many seasons, but by season 6 when they are at the temple and the other friends of Jacobs and Widmore's people and OMG who are these people and why should I care????

Some of the new people work. Mr. Eko, Libbey, and Bernard were nice additions. So was Juliette. And I'd also include Miles and Daniel and Lapidus. And obviously Desmond, who doesn't really count as he was such an integral part to the entire story.

"I love you, Penn-ay!"

I remember first watching Season 2 with all of these new people and I was so excited to find out all about the tail section and thought it was such a cool storyline.

But by the fourth time through, when you know how frustratingly awful Ana Lucia is and how short of a stay Mr. Eko and Libbey's stays are and their completely unsatisfying endings...it becomes really hard to trudge through.

In Season Three, we meet all of The Others. Once again, most don't make it through the season. Just a bunch of filler people to kill off so that the main cast can stay in tact.

Not that they don't ever kill off the main cast, but really, the only one that comes to mind is Charlie. Everyone else came back to life. Jin and Sun, sure, but not until the end of Season 6. (I had to skip that scene this time as I knew I just couldn't take it and it's also very frustrating because, come ON, what about their kid? It's like neither gave a shit about her. It's amazed I cared about Sun's death at all as at this point in the storyline, Sun had been reduced to two lines: "Do you know where Jin is?" and "Can you help me find my husband?" Oh, and her brain injury storyline where she could only speak Korean but could understand English...so bad.)

But, really, even with all of those issues, I still very much enjoy the show as a whole. They are great characters. But the final season is very difficult - especially after many viewings - because you know that 90% of it is bullshit and unnecessary. The side story is filled with so much filler that I find I tune out for most of it.

But the finale...the finale I do enjoy. I think it's very well done. I enjoy the idea behind it, even though I'm not a religious person. I like seeing everyone remember each other. Charlie and Claire, Jin and Sun, and John with Jack make me lose it. I heavily sob with each one.

The worst one, though? Sayid and Shannon.

You spend the entire series watching Sayid pine for his childhood friend Nadia. He carries her picture with her everywhere. He was in Australia only to turn in his friend so the US government would tell him where Nadia is. He was only on the flight from Sydney to Los Angeles to get to Nadia. She was there when he returned home. They were married. She was killed suddenly. He went on a killing spree for Ben Linus to avenge her death....but he chooses to go to the afterlife with Shannon. A woman he met on an island for a few weeks. And in his purgatory time, he envisions Nadia married to his brother.

What? No. Just...no.

The one side story during Season Six that makes the whole thing worth watching, though, is John Locke's. They completely destroyed his "real time" character in the final season. Sure, it wasn't really John Locke killing everyone on the island. But it was his likeness and everyone called him Locke so you start to associate the two. The real John Locke's story was devastating enough. A real tragedy. I could live with his death, as depressing as it was, as it fit his story. Nothing ever went the way it was supposed to for John. But using him as the Smoke Monster was just too much. So it was nice to see sweet, smart John Locke in the side story going about a really nice life. He'd earned that.

But the real kicker in the finale. The scene that just fucking kills me and I have to mentally prepare for it every time because I know I will be a puddle of tears and even though it is so contrived and created to induce many tears, I still sob anyway:

Every. Single. Time. Even just the picture brings the sad face.

What a good dog Vincent was.

I had put off watching the finale for a week because I knew I would be a mess and nobody ever wants to be a mess. But I had time to waste last night and I went for it. And I was a mess.

As for all of those unanswered questions and mysteries that everyone complains about on the internet, they were answered. I'm not going to go through them point by point, but the answers were there. They may not have been the answers you wanted, but they were answers. Really, the one big mystery that remained after the show was over was this:

Where did Ajira Flight 316 land when they returned and how did that not cause all sorts of issues? How does a large passenger plane suddenly reappear in the air with no explanation carrying one passenger from the famed Oceanic 6 and two other passengers from Oceanic Flight 815 that the Oceanic 6 person had already said died in the original crash and then two other people who weren't on either flights, including one who is over 200 years old?

How did they explain that to the world upon their return? I would like to see a two hour special on that.

Also, I wonder how many posts about this show I can have on this blog?

Lost...Again

 

I’m currently rewatching season one of Lost. It’s absolutely fascinating to watch now, having seen how the whole thing plays out. All the clues to everything that happens in future seasons seems to be there. At least, it’s easy to pick things out that could be clues as to what’s to come – which then makes it really seem like the writers had some sort of idea of what they wanted to do – time travel and all.

Rose even says, upon first hearing what we know to be the Smoke Monster out in the jungle: “This all sounds so familiar.”

I also find that I’m just waiting for writer/continuity screw ups – and some do appear. For example, they’ve just discovered “Adam & Eve” in the caves. Jack examines them and determines that they are a man and a woman (correct), but then says the bodies are at least “40 to 50 years old” due to the condition their clothing is in. Obviously, we find out later they are much older than that. But, then again, what does Jack know? Not much. As even from the beginning he refused to take in any knew information or ask any questions. Kate wants to tell him what she did to be on the run from a Federal Marshall, but Jack says he doesn’t want to know. Really? Why not? Weirdo.

I also think the writers did a lot of retro-active storyline fitting.

Other things I’d forgotten about:

• Boone is borderline Forrest Gump levels of stupid.
• John Locke was once so cool and mysterious.
• Kate wasn’t always super annoying and ruining everything.
• Michael was always super annoying and ruining things, though I will say he might just be the best actor on the show (for real) But the constant “Waaaaaaaaaaaalt” gets old really quick.
• It’s so much fun to watch Charlie and Hurley’s friendship bloom – and so sad to think about what’s to come.
• Sayid might be the best character.
• Vincent makes everything better (and I’m still bitter we never got a Vincent-centric episode).
• Remember how creepy it was when Jack finds his dad’s coffin and it’s empty!
• This show was really good. And now I want to watch the whole series again.

Also, I recapped Lost during the 5th and 6th seasons. You can read those here, if you'd like.