# Can we all PLEASE agree that LOST (TV Show) in the end, WAS A LOAD OF TRIPE **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [November 14, 2012, 11:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-we-all-please-agree-that-lost-tv-show-in-the-end-was-a-load-of-tripe/640971 "2012-11-14T11:14:19Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Mosier](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7ea924/32.png) [@Mosier](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mosier)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2012, 3:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-we-all-please-agree-that-lost-tv-show-in-the-end-was-a-load-of-tripe/640971/61 "2012-11-15T15:19:59Z")
> [@silenus](#): > > _Lost_ was a bad stripper: all tease and no pay-off. > > I quit watching after Season 3. I used way too many words to say what you summed up in 10. I salute you. ---
**Author:** ![Mauvaise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mauvaise/32/11084_2.png) [@Mauvaise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mauvaise)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2012, 3:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-we-all-please-agree-that-lost-tv-show-in-the-end-was-a-load-of-tripe/640971/62 "2012-11-15T15:41:54Z")
> [@storyteller0910](#): > > Yeah, you’ll get a lot of support for your opinion, here and elsewhere, but we can’t _all_ agree. Specifically, _I_ don’t agree. I thought the end of _Lost_ was nearly perfect (with a few minor quibbles, like why is that major character going off into the Great Beyond with the spoiled brat with whom he shared about ten minutes instead of his One Perfect Love?). > > I got all the answers I needed and didn’t need answers to the questions that were left open. > > Thematically, and in terms of the characters, everything connected for me extremely well. > > I know mine is a minority opinion, but there it is. I’ll join you in that minority opinion. I liked the mystery of Lost, but for me, it was never the main reason I watched. For me it was all about the characters and their development and thus the ending was perfection. ---
**Author:** ![Palo\_Verde](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/65b543/32.png) [@Palo\_Verde](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Palo_Verde)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2012, 4:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-we-all-please-agree-that-lost-tv-show-in-the-end-was-a-load-of-tripe/640971/63 "2012-11-15T16:56:07Z")
> [@leftfield6](#): > > I’m with the minority decision on this. I was okay with the ending. Sure lots of stuff was left unanswered, so what? It’s a story made up for TV that entertained me. I knew it wasn’t real, and I didn’t invest myself emotionally in it Agree. I started the finale thinking there was no way to tie up the loose ends and make the ending satisfying. Well, it was true they didn’t tie up the loose endings, but I felt the ending was mostly satisfying. ---
**Author:** ![Sam\_Stone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Sam\_Stone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sam_Stone)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2012, 6:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-we-all-please-agree-that-lost-tv-show-in-the-end-was-a-load-of-tripe/640971/64 "2012-11-15T18:16:47Z")
> [@Nature\_s\_Call](#): > > I don’t think the “it’s the journey not the destination” argument applies here. When a piece of entertainment establishes itself as a mystery there is an implied contract: “Stick with me, the answers are coming.” > > Imagine buying a box that advertizes itself as a jigsaw puzzle. You bring the box home, open it up, spill out the contents, begin the process of forming the picture. No matter how pretty any of the pieces may be, If it turns out there is no picture to form - the box was just full of random pieces - we don’t say the effort was still worth it. No, we would want our money back. Admiring random pretty pieces is not was we signed up for. This is exactly right. LOST was compelling in the beginning because we have come to believe that when a writer presents a mystery, there will be a payoff at the end. If we knew from the start that clues like the Egyptian statue and the strange writing and all that were just window dressing, we wouldn’t care about it, and LOST would have lost a large part of its appeal. Furthermore, when viewers expressed skepticism in the beginning that the clues given were leading to a coherent resolution, the writers begged us to trust them, said that they knew what they were doing, and specifically told us that it would all make sense in the end, that every clue was perfectly logical and necessary, and that there would be no mystic mumbo-jumbo explanations. They basically said it was all plausible science, which made the mysteries even more fascinating. We didn’t really count on the writers actually lying to us. LOST basically profited from the traditions and tropes of the suspense/mystery genre, then pissed all over it by violating the convention that in the end, a satisfying resolution must be given to the reader/audience. It was basically a parasite feeding off the hard work of all the mystery writers that came before it. Since LOST, I have refused to commit to any network television program that has a long story arc. Well, I did start watching HEROES, but then it became a train wreck as well, and that sealed the deal for me: No more long-arc network TV shows. The industry is too cynical and filled with too many bean counters to trust with hundreds of hours of my time. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2012, 7:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-we-all-please-agree-that-lost-tv-show-in-the-end-was-a-load-of-tripe/640971/65 "2012-11-15T19:17:09Z")
> [@Sam\_Stone](#): > > Since LOST, I have refused to commit to any network television program that has a long story arc. Well, I did start watching HEROES, but then it became a train wreck as well, and that sealed the deal for me: No more long-arc network TV shows. The industry is too cynical and filled with too many bean counters to trust with hundreds of hours of my time. I’ve been defending Lost, but I also have been avoiding long-arc series after that experience. The annoying thing is that almost every drama series since then involves a long arc. It makes me miss shows like Law & Order that were more episodic. (And Dick Wolf, the producer of Law & Order, is also the producer of a new series called Chicago Fire, which I’ve heard also involves a long arc.) I think the producers and networks really want to capture the level of interest that people had with Lost early in its run. ---
**Author:** ![BwanaBob](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bwanabob/32/2985_2.png) [@BwanaBob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BwanaBob)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2012, 7:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-we-all-please-agree-that-lost-tv-show-in-the-end-was-a-load-of-tripe/640971/66 "2012-11-15T19:24:16Z")
> [@Colophon](#): > > I may be one of the few people in the developed world who has never seen a single episode of _Lost_. Am I to take it that I shouldn’t bother? There’s at least two of us. I intend to keep my Lost virginity intact. ---
**Author:** ![billfish678](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7bcc69/32.png) [@billfish678](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/billfish678)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2012, 7:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-we-all-please-agree-that-lost-tv-show-in-the-end-was-a-load-of-tripe/640971/67 "2012-11-15T19:29:59Z")
> [@BwanaBob](#): > > There’s at least two of us. I intend to keep my Lost virginity intact. I think you need to watch a few of the early ones. Because there are some definite WTF? moments and good acting. Once you realize you ain’t getting answers you can just enjoy the weirdness and move on. Even the first episode is just good for a general “man, we are fucked, what do we do now” people deal with disaster intro. ---
**Author:** ![Drunky\_Smurf](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/drunky_smurf/32/449_2.png) [@Drunky\_Smurf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Drunky_Smurf)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2012, 7:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-we-all-please-agree-that-lost-tv-show-in-the-end-was-a-load-of-tripe/640971/68 "2012-11-15T19:43:32Z")
Yeah. The plane crash in the first episode was really cool. I’m about halfway through the cracked article upthread. The guys’ explanantions make sense even though they are not the answers I’d like to hear. Basically we were told science would explain everything but it all turned out to be magic. ---
**Author:** ![grude](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e47774/32.png) [@grude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/grude)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2012, 12:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-we-all-please-agree-that-lost-tv-show-in-the-end-was-a-load-of-tripe/640971/69 "2012-11-16T00:53:38Z")
The argument that the unanswered stuff was just to give the show flavor falls apart, lets look at a movie that had LOADS of mysterious set dressing. Star Wars A New Hope- Did anyone walk away from this movie angry and dissatisfied we never knew- What are the clone wars? Who is Jabba? What happened between Anakin and Vader? Why did he kill Anakin? How did Luke end up on Tattooine? Who was Luke’s mother? So why didn’t the audience get angry there? Because it was clear that those mysteries were not the point of the plot, LOST did not make this distinction. It very much seemed like stuff like ancient statues and Egyptian writing were the key to the mystery, not extraneous plot dressing. The writers of LOST aren’t even as skilled as Lucas.:smack: ---
**Author:** ![billfish678](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7bcc69/32.png) [@billfish678](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/billfish678)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2012, 1:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-we-all-please-agree-that-lost-tv-show-in-the-end-was-a-load-of-tripe/640971/70 "2012-11-16T01:02:50Z")
> [@Drunky\_Smurf](#): > > . > > Basically we were told **science** would explain everything but it all turned out to be **magic**. I just had an evil thought. A long series Lord of the Rings or Harry Potterish runs on a major network. All sorts of magical mysteries. But it will all come together at end and will make sense we promise! The final episode. A main character’s face morphs. Its Data. “End Holodeck program 1738”. ---
**Author:** ![grude](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e47774/32.png) [@grude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/grude)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2012, 1:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-we-all-please-agree-that-lost-tv-show-in-the-end-was-a-load-of-tripe/640971/71 "2012-11-16T01:18:47Z")
That [cracked.com](http://cracked.com) article is just full of shit like this. Q:Who built the donkey wheel? A:I dunno a person probably. Why this doesn’t work, we were shown repeatedly that the energy of the island sickens and even kills people, that was why Desmond was so important because he was immune in some respect. This naturally makes us wonder how Sumerians or whoever managed to build the source plug and donkey wheel, were they immune like Desmond? Again WHY is LOST so inexpertly crafted that these questions come up among a majority of fans? Was anyone seriously wanting to know who build R2D2 or whatever? No because the story did not invite that kind of nitpickery. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Dord](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/3be4f8/32.png) [@The\_Dord](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Dord)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2012, 3:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-we-all-please-agree-that-lost-tv-show-in-the-end-was-a-load-of-tripe/640971/72 "2012-11-16T03:55:05Z")
> [@BwanaBob](#): > > There’s at least two of us. I intend to keep my Lost virginity intact. Now it makes three. I was more of a House fan though. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Fatwater\_Fewl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/4491bb/32.png) [@Fatwater\_Fewl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fatwater_Fewl)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2012, 8:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-we-all-please-agree-that-lost-tv-show-in-the-end-was-a-load-of-tripe/640971/73 "2012-11-16T08:09:53Z")
Four. ---
**Author:** ![Justin\_Bailey](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/justin_bailey/32/8792_2.png) [@Justin\_Bailey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Justin_Bailey)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2012, 9:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-we-all-please-agree-that-lost-tv-show-in-the-end-was-a-load-of-tripe/640971/74 "2012-11-16T09:56:53Z")
> [@grude](#): > > Why this doesn’t work, we were shown repeatedly that the energy of the island sickens and even kills people, that was why Desmond was so important because he was immune in some respect. This naturally makes us wonder how Sumerians or whoever managed to build the source plug and donkey wheel, were they immune like Desmond? Actually, we’re never shown anything of the sort. Desmond’s “immunity” was a red herring to make the Dharma Initiative seem like they knew what they were talking about. Instead, they were just a bunch of dumb hippies who were the latest in a long line of sacrifices to Jacob/The Man in Black. That was the whole point of the time travel shenanigans. ---
**Author:** ![grude](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e47774/32.png) [@grude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/grude)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2012, 10:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-we-all-please-agree-that-lost-tv-show-in-the-end-was-a-load-of-tripe/640971/75 "2012-11-16T10:18:00Z")
> [@Justin\_Bailey](#): > > Actually, we’re never shown anything of the sort. Desmond’s “immunity” was a red herring to make the Dharma Initiative seem like they knew what they were talking about. Instead, they were just a bunch of dumb hippies who were the latest in a long line of sacrifices to Jacob/The Man in Black. > > That was the whole point of the time travel shenanigans. I’m not talking about the injections and sickness plot(which was also never resolved) but that Desmond gained some kind of immunity to the island energy either from his time in the hatch or by being there when it exploded. It is first mentioned I think in the Freighter plot, and then later Widmore kidnaps and takes Desmond back to the island for this stated reason(he is the only one who can remove or insert the island’s buttplug without biting the dust). Once on island Widmore’s men blast Desmond with electromagnetism to confirm he is immune. When they go into the plug room we see skeletons on the ground, and later Jack inserts it and dies shortly thereafter while Desmond is fine. The plug room is a human construction, so the plug and the hole. Who built it? ---
**Author:** ![Coustralee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f05b48/32.png) [@Coustralee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Coustralee)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2012, 12:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-we-all-please-agree-that-lost-tv-show-in-the-end-was-a-load-of-tripe/640971/76 "2012-11-16T12:17:55Z")
Stick to Fantasy Island, they wrap it up in hour… or if you still want to watch something non-sensical theres The Prisoner ---
**Author:** ![smokey78](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/82dd89/32.png) [@smokey78](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/smokey78)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2012, 2:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-we-all-please-agree-that-lost-tv-show-in-the-end-was-a-load-of-tripe/640971/77 "2012-11-16T14:18:01Z")
Not only did the ending bother me, some “where did they go?” questions haunted me: Michael and Walt. and to see the actor playing Michael show up at Jimmy Kimmel’s finale show and trying to explain why Michael wasn’t there. Cindy and the two kids. Why did Cindy join the Others? It was so creepy. So we are led to believe Nadia meant nothing to Syed. Ugh. The tailies didn’t get a tribute at the end? Besides Rose’s hubby ---
**Author:** ![Justin\_Bailey](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/justin_bailey/32/8792_2.png) [@Justin\_Bailey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Justin_Bailey)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2012, 3:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-we-all-please-agree-that-lost-tv-show-in-the-end-was-a-load-of-tripe/640971/78 "2012-11-16T15:37:17Z")
> [@grude](#): > > I’m not talking about the injections and sickness plot(which was also never resolved) but that Desmond gained some kind of immunity to the island energy either from his time in the hatch or by being there when it exploded. > > It is first mentioned I think in the Freighter plot, and then later Widmore kidnaps and takes Desmond back to the island for this stated reason(he is the only one who can remove or insert the island’s buttplug without biting the dust). Once on island Widmore’s men blast Desmond with electromagnetism to confirm he is immune. Right, that was the explanation. When the hatch exploded he got zapped with energy that made him immune to (and in some cases, able to tap into) some of the island’s weirdness. A lot of the stuff that was “never explained” actually was. For example, who built the plug and the wheel… nobody knows! Even Jacob/The Man in Black were just men who were touched by The Island to make them special. They didn’t gain any insight into The Island’s history, just how it works. ---
**Author:** ![Drunky\_Smurf](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/drunky_smurf/32/449_2.png) [@Drunky\_Smurf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Drunky_Smurf)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2012, 8:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-we-all-please-agree-that-lost-tv-show-in-the-end-was-a-load-of-tripe/640971/79 "2012-11-16T20:38:16Z")
> [@billfish678](#): > > I just had an evil thought. > > A long series Lord of the Rings or Harry Potterish runs on a major network. All sorts of magical mysteries. But it will all come together at end and will make sense we promise! > > The final episode. A main character’s face morphs. Its Data. “End Holodeck program 1738”. I’d totally watch that. > [@grude](#): > > the energy of the island sickens and even kills people, It also heals people. That pool in the temple was also island energy/magic. > [@](#): > > that kind of nitpickery. I guess it was just you nitpickers. > [@Justin\_Bailey](#): > > Right, that was the explanation. When the hatch exploded he got zapped with energy that made him immune to (and in some cases, able to tap into) some of the island’s weirdness. > > A lot of the stuff that was “never explained” actually was. For example, who built the plug and the wheel… nobody knows! Even Jacob/The Man in Black were just men who were touched by The Island to make them special. They didn’t gain any insight into The Island’s history, just how it works. MIB was planning on building the wheel once the well was dug but mother came and wiped out the village. So I assumed he just got later inhabitants to build it for him. Who? Who cares. It was built. Also I agree that Jacob and MIB didn’t know everything and the things they didn’t know the audience wasn’t supposed to know so that, you know, it would remain mysterious. Jacob says the island is a cork to keep evil from destroying the world. Well what the hell does that mean? Jacob doesn’t know. That’s just what he was told. ---
**Author:** ![grude](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e47774/32.png) [@grude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/grude)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2012, 11:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-we-all-please-agree-that-lost-tv-show-in-the-end-was-a-load-of-tripe/640971/80 "2012-11-16T23:54:45Z")
There is just waaay too much of that though, we are left with people doing bizarre things for reasons they don’t really understand on an island they don’t know about. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-we-all-please-agree-that-lost-tv-show-in-the-end-was-a-load-of-tripe/640971.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-we-all-please-agree-that-lost-tv-show-in-the-end-was-a-load-of-tripe/640971.md?page=5)