Topic: Lost

[Pugnate]

So I finally started the last season of Lost.

I was just thinking that this is one of the greatest shows ever made, but there is no way in hell I'd ever watch it again. While it has been a top notch show, I just can't see myself sitting through so much filler backstory crap again. I mean, it was great the first time, but it was more interesting because of all the mystery.

I guess it is like watching a magic show after you know how everything goes.

I'd consider Lost to be better than shows like 24, but I can see myself watching 24 again someday.

[Cools!]

I've never seen a single episode. Then again, a lot of people didn't like the ending so maybe I spared myself a lot of time.

[Ghandi]

I watched them all, and it was pretty clear that the writers didn't comprehend what they were getting themselves into.

My enjoyment came from watching it with people and guessing, not the story itself.

[Cobra951]

That's the least-surprising thing I've read this year.  Didn't comprehend, or didn't care?  Hey look!  It's still popular!  Splice in another saga for next year.  We'll figure out where it goes after that.

[gpw11]

I watched them all, and it was pretty clear that the writers didn't comprehend what they were getting themselves into.

My enjoyment came from watching it with people and guessing, not the story itself.

I agree, but think they probably had the beginning and end pretty well mapped out. I think it kind of got fucked when it was so popular and they had to shoehorn a bunch of shit into the middle...which made more convoluted as it had to account for that.  Well, that's my theory anyways.

[Pugnate]

I am on the final season at the moment, and while my brother tells me it ends well, this is easily the worst season so far. There is so much here I just don't find interesting...

Before they had parallel stuff going on in flashbacks (and flashforwards) concerned with back-story etc which was interesting, and weaved in such a way that it added to the mystery.

Right now the parallel story being told is 'what if the plane hadn't crashed?'.

WHO CARES? YOU KNOW WHAT WOULD HAVE HAPPENED? THEY WOULD HAVE HAD COFFEE LIKE NORMAL PEOPLE OR SOMETHING.

Then you always had great moments at the end of episodes which were shocking and/or frightening coupled with the signature Lost climax music. Now these moments are silly. It is either someone waking up, or someone smashing something in anger... but with that signature music still in the background. It is a joke.

[Xessive]

I finished season 4 with little more than will power. I liked seasons 1 and 2, after that it's been a downward spiral for me. The show lost me (pardon the pun).

I'm trying to get through season 5 but it's just not doing it for me. The only only thing keeping me in is knowing that it will end soon and the suggestion that the final season ends well. Other than that I just don't give a crap about any of the characters anymore.

[Pugnate]

OK I TAKE IT BACK.

Season 6 is getting good.

I loved the first 5 seasons, myself.

[nickclone]

You guys have it easy, I have watched it on tv from the beginning. Its much less frustrating to watch it in bulk.

[Pugnate]

haha I can't imagine watch it, or any other show, on TV.

[Ghandi]

The show peaked for me with John Locke and the bunker, seasons 2-3. The finale (I think of season 2) when the light came on through the window with Locke looking down was really incredible storytelling.

[Xessive]

The show peaked for me with John Locke and the bunker, seasons 2-3. The finale (I think of season 2) when the light came on through the window with Locke looking down was really incredible storytelling.

Yep, that was my climax too. It's been going downhill from that point on.

[bullshark]

The show peaked for me with John Locke and the bunker, seasons 2-3. The finale (I think of season 2) when the light came on through the window with Locke looking down was really incredible storytelling.

Agreed, after that I felt like I was getting jerked around and I just couldn't suspend my disbelief any longer.  I never ended up finishing it.

[nickclone]

Damn guys, that was the season 1 finale...

[bullshark]

I stayed around to season three, maybe four, but after that I got the feeling that the writers were not the Cylons, they did not have a plan.  Also I felt like the writers were blatantly manipulating the audience.  I can't put my finger on it but it all felt disingenuous and I couldn't sustain my disbelief just for the sake of seeing what crazy thing would happen next.  As odd as it sounds, the crazier the storyline got, the more boring it became.  Oh look another cliffhanger twist where nothing is answered or resolved and it leads to another cliffhanger twist, and on and on and on.

[Xessive]

Battlestar Galactica. That was an awesome show. I'm gonna rewatch it to compensate for the time I wasted on Lost.

[Pugnate]

Saw the series finale.

Bullshit. Don't watch this show, because the series finale answers nothing about what the Island was, or about Jacob etc. I agree with Ghandi... they were making up shit as they went along.

[Pugnate]

I am so pissed right now...

The finale won't answer:

1. What was the island?

2. What was up with the pregnant women craziness?

3. Remember Walt and how he was that special black kid? They completely abandoned that.

There is other stuff... but yea...

It is a pity that a show that started by being grounded reality mixed with science fiction, turned into pure fantasy at the end. Fantasy is lazy.

[bullshark]

It is a pity that a show that started by being grounded reality mixed with science fiction, turned into pure fantasy at the end. Fantasy is lazy.

Yeah you nailed it.  This is one of the reasons I stopped watching.  Frankly, I can't understand how so many people stuck with the show.

[ren]

I had fun watching it. The ending didn't ruin that for me.

[Pugnate]

The ending was satisfying at an emotional level, but answers *none* of the questions.

In fact that "twist" at the end, had nothing... and I mean *nothing* to do with the Island or its mysticism. The whole twist was spiritual and had nothing to do with anything.

[ren]

All I remember with the ending was being reasonably satisfied with it insofar as it didn't throw everything I thought about the show out the window. The fact that I don't remember what happened now is probably what they were going for. Too specific of an ending and people will get mad. The ending they did gave me enough information to fill out the questions I had which is fine.

What I do remember about Lost was a group of us going to the house of the one friend who had an HDTV and watching the show in absolute silence waiting for a commercial break so that we could theorize. Then at some point or another we all got pissed off at the show and gave up watching. But by the start of the next season everybody had independently caught up and we were at it again.

All that says very little about the ending. I just know that the six season of fun I had watching it far outweigh whatever the ending could have been.

[Quemaqua]

Weird show for me.  I didn't find it compelling in the sense that I actually enjoyed watching it.  I really didn't.  Whenever I watched it, I found it to be an unpleasant experience.  However, I also ended up watching more than I thought I would because I was curious.  When I realized halfway through season 3 that there would never be any payoff whatever, I didn't bother anymore.  Really, I only watched it when my ex-wife was watching it anyway, never of my own volition.

[scottws]

Jennie was really into this show and I never was.  Every week she tried to convince me to watch it with her, and finally I gave in.  And I proceeded to watch as a black cloud followed some people through a jungle, turned into a hand, and killed some guy by picking him up and slamming him on the ground.

Granted, I know it is one of those shows where you need to watch from the beginning but that was just fucking stupid.  I never watched it again.

Battlestar Galactica on the other hand... that is a good show.  I have still not watched all of it.  I am nearing the end of season 3 and I'm picking up a thick X-Files vibe where there are a bunch of one-off filler shows and then finally there will be one that advances the plot.  Sometimes the filler does something nice with the characterization or lore, but I am frequently finding them to be a waste of my time.  I don't remember feeling this way in seasons 1 or 2.

I really screwed up with this show though.  See, I downloaded seasons 1 and most of season 2 and watched them in pretty rapid succession.  But then I got busted for piracy and stopped and had to rely on watching them on TV.  I got a DVR, but I never would commit myself to watching the recorded episodes.  Occasionally I'd see it live and would have to stop watching it because of all the stuff I'd missed.

I really need to just get this one done.