As someone with a degree in Literature (“Would you like fries with that?”) I understand that sometimes you have to lay some “boring” groundwork in order to have a big payoff later. You can’t have have it exciting all the time; you have to have some exposition. You have to know why characters act the way they do. In a novel, each chapter advances the plot in some way, whether to introduce questions, provide answers, give backstory or show action.
TV narrative is different. It’s all about “instant gratification.” If a plotline isn’t summed up in an episode, if a something stays a mystery for more than a few eps, it’s “too slow,” and if you explore characters’ motivations, they’re “just more pointless flashbacks.”
It’s kind of weird that the I love this series - that it’s structured more like a novel than a TV-drama - is why so many have given up on it.
See, this is the same sort of stuff that people say every time a very popular show hits a downturn, and it cimpletely disregards the saimple fact that a show can’t always be good. Of course Lost can’t recapture the sparkles and cupcakes of season 1, because it’s not new anymore. This is the same sort of thing that people harped on Twin Peaks about, only it started even earlier than it started for Lost.
I also think it’s pretty damn silly to assert that the show will “tread water” for three seasons, unless you’re privy to details of those seasons that the rest of us aren’t.
shrug Wonder and mystery is easy when all you have is questions and no answers. Once answers start coming out, the mystery aspect is lessened, and viewers have kinda been demanding answers for a long while now. (On preview: also what Otto said.) I don’t see that it’s treading water now, although I’ll agree it was in the beginning of season 3; serious plot has been going down for just about the entire second half of the season. It may not be a plot you like – maybe the plot is different from how you envisioned the mystery of the island unfolding – and that’s your perogative.
Also, knowing that there are three more years is a good thing; it means the writers finally have a definite framework to work in; they know when they can safely reveal highly critical secrets, and how fast to advance the plot so that it all comes to a conclusion. It’s certainly far better than the state it was in previously, when ABC wanted the show to go on indefinitely. That was why Season 2 and the first half of Season 3 were lackluster; the writers didn’t know how long they would need to keep the show going, and they stretched plot events out too long for the audience’s liking.
Still watching - more for the characters, the acting, and a generally enjoyable hour of TV than for the plot, which will almost inevitably be a let down.
Not only are we (the wife 'n I) still watching, we spent yesterday watching the first 10 episodes of Season 1.
To tell you the truth, after re-watching I am so glad that Michael/Walt are off the island. And I’m glad that the “Jack and Kate” show has receded into the (comparative) background.
Still watching and, for the most part, enjoying it. But I’m no longer invested in solving the mysteries and all that goes with that. There’s just too much to remember, and I need my brain for other things. I just watch the show and don’t give it a thought for the rest of the week.
How is it “disregarding” that fact when it’s actually reinforcing it? Despite this, I’ve seen numerous shows that didn’t hit the huge lull that Lost did. The Office, for example, has had a few poor episodes, but it’s still far fewer than what lost has had.
Which was my point. The show should have ended with the second season, instead of being dragged kicking and screaming.
I think it’s pretty damn silly that you care enough about a TV show to argue about it.
I continue to be amazed in these sorts of threads by how intensely people who do not like a show can feel about that show, and about how personally they take the fact that other people do, in fact, like the show.
About halfway through its present season, I realized that I had just sort of lost interest in House. Didn’t enjoy the way the story was being presented anymore. So, I mean, I just stopped watching. I can’t even conceive of feeling angry about the fact that other people still enjoy it, in the way that the people who no longer enjoy lost seem about the fact that others still do.
I have a couple of friends who claim that they hate “Lost.” They badmouth it constantly, online and in real life. Yet they keep pumping me for details about what is happening on the show. Methinks they do protest too much.
I’m as excited about this second half of S3 as I was in S1. Lost is the only show that I eagerly await every week (partially because of Dope threads).
I have dramatically cut my TV intake over this last six months and Lost is nowhere near the CUT list.
But, I can’t say I don’t get the beef about S3’s first half. It was dry. I almost ditched it (along with BSG). After about two episodes into the Spring season, I was glad I stuck it out. There is still a ton of mystery (without mystery, Lost is just an action show), but I feel we have gotten some REAL payoff.
The concern is, next Season doesn’t start until February (so they can run nonstop until May). What kind of dropoff will we see?
Not that I care. ABC has renewed Lost for three more years. I imagine it is a pay or play deal given the producer’s wanting to end the thing earlier rather than sooner.
I don’t really care if the audience is small. I’m used to liking things others ignore (See Development, Arrested.)
