# "Lost" finally lost me **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [September 29, 2005, 2:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lost-finally-lost-me/324024 "2005-09-29T14:49:31Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Charlie\_Tan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/charlie_tan/32/12582_2.png) [@Charlie\_Tan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Charlie_Tan)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2005, 7:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lost-finally-lost-me/324024/21 "2005-09-29T19:41:13Z")
> [@levdrakon](#): > > I can almost hear the writers saying “hey, lets make lots of boring and tedious flashbacks so we can string people along for four more years!” Yeah. Most writers aim to write boring and tedious stuff, confident that it will hook readers, audience, whatever… > [@levdrakon](#): > > It pissed me off they spent so many episodes making us wonder what the hatch could possibly be, then they introduce the guy who is going to end up living under the hatch, _all in one episode!_ If they were going to do that, then why bother with all that wasted time during all the other episodes? Man, you’re hard to please - what’s it gonna be, quick rapid answers or a slow revelation? Me. I watch it for the characters. The so called mysteries string the characters along and reveal stuff about them. New layers are added with each episode and I like that, as I prefer character driven drama over plot driven. Most plot devices have been used, re-used, sold and bought, given a new paint job and been re-used again. Of course there will never be a satisfying answwer to all the mysteries. If that’s the onl.y reason you watch, you’re bound to be disappointed. Me - I’m in for the ride, not the end where the rollercoaster grinds to a halt and we all have to get out. That’s always an anti climax. ---
**Author:** ![Stephe96](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Stephe96](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stephe96)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2005, 7:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lost-finally-lost-me/324024/22 "2005-09-29T19:51:12Z")
> [@The Gaspode](#): > > Yeah. Most writers aim to write boring and tedious stuff, confident that it will hook readers, audience, whatever… > > Man, you’re hard to please - what’s it gonna be, quick rapid answers or a slow revelation? > > Me. I watch it for the characters. The so called mysteries string the characters along and reveal stuff about them. New layers are added with each episode and I like that, as I prefer character driven drama over plot driven. Most plot devices have been used, re-used, sold and bought, given a new paint job and been re-used again. > Of course there will never be a satisfying answwer to all the mysteries. If that’s the onl.y reason you watch, you’re bound to be disappointed. Me - I’m in for the ride, not the end where the rollercoaster grinds to a halt and we all have to get out. That’s always an anti climax. Well, then the producers should just make the show an adventure tale and leave it at that. Let’s remember: _they_ are the ones setting up mysteries to tantalize us with. They have an obligation to pay them off at some point. It’s cheap to constantly end each episode with a cliffhanger and then start the next one with, say, “oh it was all a dream.” (I’m not saying that Lost does that…well, not much anyway). I love the show and I’ll certainly keep watching. I just hope that the writers knew how they were going to end it from the start, that’s all. ---
**Author:** ![Charlie\_Tan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/charlie_tan/32/12582_2.png) [@Charlie\_Tan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Charlie_Tan)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2005, 7:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lost-finally-lost-me/324024/23 "2005-09-29T19:57:04Z")
> [@Stephe96](#): > > They have an obligation to pay them off at some point. I agree with most of your post, but have to take an issue with this. Writers or any kind of artists don’t have an obligation to do anything. They perform and you decide if it’s worth your time and / or money - or not. Otherwise, we end up in _Misery_, and I’m sure it’s not what you’re implying. I have, speaking of _Misery_, about a yard of Stephen King books in my shelf, but _Dreamcatcher_ made me give up, which is sad, because I think he regained some of his past glory with _Bag of Bones_. ---
**Author:** ![Stephe96](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Stephe96](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stephe96)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2005, 8:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lost-finally-lost-me/324024/24 "2005-09-29T20:25:36Z")
> [@The Gaspode](#): > > I agree with most of your post, but have to take an issue with this. Writers or any kind of artists don’t have an obligation to do anything. They perform and you decide if it’s worth your time and / or money - or not. > ]. Well, they don’t _have_ to, I suppose. But a writer of mysteries should probably provide a solution if he or she wants to keep readers buying the books. And I think the producers of Lost are in the same situation. They’re keeping viewers reeled by promising ‘answers’ to the mysteries they’ve set up. Now, they certainly have no obligation to do so, but I submit that viewership will drop off as soon as it becomes apparent (if it ever does, mind you) that the writers have no intention of paying off any of the plotlines. And they are in quite a corner, if you ask me: how in the hell are they gonna tie up the numbers mystery? ---
**Author:** ![Dante](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dante/32/9673_2.png) [@Dante](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dante)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2005, 11:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lost-finally-lost-me/324024/25 "2005-09-29T23:11:10Z")
> [@Stephe96](#): > > Well, they don’t _have_ to, I suppose. But a writer of mysteries should probably provide a solution if he or she wants to keep readers buying the books. Think of Lost as one book. Not books. > [@Stephe96](#): > > And they are in quite a corner, if you ask me: how in the hell are they gonna tie up the numbers mystery? This is your criteria? You can’t figure it out, so they’ve written themselves into a corner? :dubious: ---
**Author:** ![Roadfood](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/9fc348/32.png) [@Roadfood](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Roadfood)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2005, 11:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lost-finally-lost-me/324024/26 "2005-09-29T23:35:19Z")
First, I just have to thank **KlondikeGeoff** for starting this thread. I was beginning to think I was the only person on this planet who didn’t just **love** _Lost_. It’s nice to hear that I’m not alone (we may be a small minority, but at least it’s not just me). > [@levdrakon](#): > > But now, after the first two eps of this season, I’m wondering what I’m doing, watching this train wreck. The flashbacks are boring and tedious and I can almost hear the writers saying “hey, lets make lots of boring and tedious flashbacks so we can string people along for four more years!” I have a friend who said one of the main reasons he likes _Lost_ so much is that he knows more about the backgrounds of the characters than on any other show. Ok, that may be, but those backgrounds are boring and total cliches. I mean, that scene of Walt’s mother’s lawyer battering Michael with the “what do you really know about your son?” stuff. How many times have I seen that? That entire scene was just writing-by-the-numbers; zero creativity or originality. The whole storyline of Michael and Walt has absolutely nothing original in it, it’s a cookie-cutter story that I’ve seen a thousand times. Same with the pious doctor who can’t save the world. Seen it, seen it, seen it. And the anti-social guy with the huge chip on his shoulder, but he’s really good-hearted deep down. Seen it. Seen it. And the fugitive who’s really not a bad person. Snooooore. Seen it. Who cares if we know a lot about the backgrounds of the characters when those backgrounds are boring, insipid, uninspired, and straight out of “creative writing 101”? For me to like a TV show or movie, the number one criteria is that I somehow care about the characters. With _Lost_, the characters have no reality, because their backgrounds are just off-the-shelf, so I can’t see them as real people (or even possibly real people), so I can’t care about them. Add to that that it’s crystal clear that the writers have no rules, they just make it up as they see fit, and there’s nothing left to care about at all. ---
**Author:** ![Roadfood](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/9fc348/32.png) [@Roadfood](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Roadfood)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2005, 11:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lost-finally-lost-me/324024/27 "2005-09-29T23:52:38Z")
> [@ArchiveGuy](#): > > Amen. In the first two episodes of this season, we’ve already (a) seen inside the hatch extensively, (b) seen the application of the mysterious numbers, and © seen more “new” people on the island than last season in its entirety. And people still bitch! The season just started–are they expecting all the mysteries to be answered in the first 6 weeks? What will the rest of the season consist of then? There haven’t been 30 episodes in the series’ life yet and people complain that they’re being “strung along”. :rolleyes: I can’t speak for anyone else, but the problem I have is that nothing on _Lost_ is ever satisfying in any way. Ok, yeah, we’ve seen inside the hatch. But has that resolved anything? Has it answered anything? Has it given us anything of substance? What we’ve gotten inside the hatch is just more questions: Who is that guy, why is he in there, who put him there and why, who is the “him” he asked Locke about, what is it that he thinks is wrong on the outside, etc. etc. etc. I can absolutely guarantee you that by the end of this season, you will have no satisfying answers to any of those questions. You may get what looks like a partial answer, but just as with getting into the hatch, all it will really be is more questions and mysteries. Have you ever gotten a “Russian Dolls”-type Christmas or birthday present? Where you open the box and there’s another box inside, and open that box and there’s another box inside? It’s fun for a while, but you do, eventually, get to the real present. The journey through the boxes is ok, because there’s a satisfying and substantial payoff at the end. With _Lost_, every box opened contains a dozen more boxes, and each of those a dozen more, and there’s never a payoff, never anything satisfying, never a reward. I for one am just tired of opening boxes. Hey look, I like mysteries just fine, I’m not saying that _Lost_ needs to just answer everything. And the poster who said that writers are not obligated to do anything has a valid point. But on the other hand, there is a sense of playing fair with the audience, and the writers of _Lost_ just aren’t doing that. It’s _The X Files_ all over again; the writers have yet to deliver anything substantial or remotely satisfying, and all signs are that they never will. I contrast _Lost_ to _The 4400_, one of my top five favorite shows right now. The latter show has many mysteries (just like the former), and often new discoveries bring new mysteries (just like the former). But the writers know how to achieve a reasonable balance. They have along the way delivered some real, substantial, satisfying **Answers** , as well as new questions. The writers of _Lost_ have delivered nothing but new questions; they don’t have any balance, and so they’ve lost me as a viewer. ---
**Author:** ![BabaBooey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/dfb087/32.png) [@BabaBooey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BabaBooey)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2005, 12:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lost-finally-lost-me/324024/28 "2005-09-30T00:02:26Z")
I hope the show ends like this: Desmond to small crowd in the hatch: “You wanna know what the numbers mean? You really want to know. Well here you go!” _approaches some door that he begins to open_ Cut to Charlie jumping up in bed, sweating and panting Charlie: " Oh, it was just a dream. A terrible dream." _pulls Mary statue from under covers_ Charlie: “Or was it? AAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!” \*Cut to show writers in Hawiian islands, laughing hysterically whilst lighting cigars with $100 bills. ---
**Author:** ![levdrakon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/49beb7/32.png) [@levdrakon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/levdrakon)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2005, 12:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lost-finally-lost-me/324024/29 "2005-09-30T00:53:03Z")
> [@The Gaspode](#): > > Man, you’re hard to please - what’s it gonna be, quick rapid answers or a slow revelation? I’m not that hard to please. This show is turning out like Evil Dad at Christmas. All year long he promises you that really fantastic present. Christmas morning arrives, you rush downstairs and find a huge, colorfully wrapped present with a big red bow. You tear into it. Only to find another box. Then another. And another, and so on, and so on, until you finally get to a small box with a slip of paper in it that says “your present is really in the upstairs closet.” So you run upstairs, find another colorfully wrapped box and start tearing into it. At some point, you stop and realize, “you know what? Dad did this to me last year. He didn’t actually get me a present.” I hate you dad. I want a new family. ---
**Author:** ![Banquet\_Bear](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/banquet_bear/32/373_2.png) [@Banquet\_Bear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Banquet_Bear)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2005, 2:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lost-finally-lost-me/324024/30 "2005-09-30T02:39:55Z")
> [@Roadfood](#): > > I can’t speak for anyone else, but the problem I have is that nothing on _Lost_ is ever satisfying in any way. Ok, yeah, we’ve seen inside the hatch. But has that resolved anything? Has it answered anything? Has it given us anything of substance? What we’ve gotten inside the hatch is just more questions: Who is that guy, why is he in there, who put him there and why, who is the “him” he asked Locke about, what is it that he thinks is wrong on the outside, etc. etc. etc. I can absolutely guarantee you that by the end of this season, you will have no satisfying answers to any of those questions. You may get what looks like a partial answer, but just as with getting into the hatch, all it will really be is more questions and mysteries. > > Have you ever gotten a “Russian Dolls”-type Christmas or birthday present? Where you open the box and there’s another box inside, and open that box and there’s another box inside? It’s fun for a while, but you do, eventually, get to the real present. The journey through the boxes is ok, because there’s a satisfying and substantial payoff at the end. > > With _Lost_, every box opened contains a dozen more boxes, and each of those a dozen more, and there’s never a payoff, never anything satisfying, never a reward. I for one am just tired of opening boxes. > > Hey look, I like mysteries just fine, I’m not saying that _Lost_ needs to just answer everything. And the poster who said that writers are not obligated to do anything has a valid point. > > But on the other hand, there is a sense of playing fair with the audience, and the writers of _Lost_ just aren’t doing that. It’s _The X Files_ all over again; the writers have yet to deliver anything substantial or remotely satisfying, and all signs are that they never will. > > I contrast _Lost_ to _The 4400_, one of my top five favorite shows right now. The latter show has many mysteries (just like the former), and often new discoveries bring new mysteries (just like the former). But the writers know how to achieve a reasonable balance. They have along the way delivered some real, substantial, satisfying **Answers** , as well as new questions. The writers of _Lost_ have delivered nothing but new questions; they don’t have any balance, and so they’ve lost me as a viewer. …I think the constant comparisons to the X-Files are unfair-a better comparison would be Babylon 5. Babylon 5, like Lost, had a clearly defined 5 year arc. The creator of Babylon 5 likened his series to a “novel on television.” Babylon 5 had a clear begining, middle and end. The opening season of B5 posted a lot of questions: What was the “hole” in Sinclair’s head? Why did the Minbari stop the war? Who were the Shadows? Who killed the President? Green or Purple? What’s going to happen to Delenn? The second season upped the ante, threw some curveballs, and asked even more questions, while answering others. Season three provided most of the answers to questions, and characters drew the line in the sand and chose which side of the battle they would choose to fight. The fourth season **was** the fight. The fifth season were the last chapters of the book, almost like the “scouring of the shire.” Characters said goodbye, the last of the questions were answered, the audience was rewarded, and we bade our farewells. After watching the pilot episode of Babylon 5, I thought the “hole in your mind” comment was just a leg pull that wasn’t imporntant to the plot. I never dreamed that what Kosh looked like inside his encounter suit would be so important to the story-yet when the revelation came at the end of season 2, I remember my excitement and saying to myself “that makes so much sense!” I never imagined there would be answers to these questions… If Lost holds true to the Babylon 5 novel formula, I wouldn’t expect too many answers this season. My guess: Season One: Everybody gets Lost. The characters are introduced, we see a bit of history, many questions get posed. Season Two: Some BIG questions get answered. Many more questions are posed. Flashbacks go further back in time (my guess is that at some point, everbody’s history is linked to a common point: the flashbacks will have a strong impact on the present events ) Season Three: The questions get answered. Two factions emerge and people choose sides. Season Four: The conflict comes to a head. The Lost get OFF the Island. Season Five: The Lost struggle to get back to normal life, lost as much in the real world as they were on the Island… I can’t guarentee that the series will play out this way, but I think we need to give them the benifit of the doubt. To pull off a 5 year arc, you simply can’t answer all of the questions now. Would you keep reading a murder mystery if the murderer was revealed in chapter two? It takes a lot of ballz to try and write long arcs for television: writers risk cancellation and funding cuts and actors quiting mid production. JMS had to rush Season Four of Babyons 5 because he feared cancellation and wanted to wrap things up for the fans. If the only thing putting you off Lost is a fear that they won’t answer the questions they raised, then fine, feel free to stop watching the show. If you fear they won’t answer the questions, yet you still love the characters and enjoy the stories and enjoy the little plot twists each episode and the comedic asides, then keep watching. Babylon 5 was a great train ride, and part of the greatness came from the journey, and having faith in the driver. If you jump off the Lost train early, you may miss the best parts of the trip, which may come further down the line… ---
**Author:** ![elfkin477](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a9a28c/32.png) [@elfkin477](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elfkin477)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2005, 3:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lost-finally-lost-me/324024/31 "2005-09-30T03:56:27Z")
This is the type of show I should like. I’ve had a thing for deserted island stories since I was tiny - one of my first ever pieces of fiction (around age seven or eight) was about someone stranded on an island. I like supernatural too - X-files, Buffy, Angel, Charmed, Miracles, Millennium etc. I’ve always liked Matthew Fox and Emilie de Ravin’s acting, it’s nice to see a non-hobbit version of Dominic Monaghan, and the guy who plays Sawyer is hot. But I don’t like this show. I don’t understand why so few other people seem to have the same reaction to it that I do - extreme boredom. I thought maybe I didn’t give it a fair shake when it started last season, so I watched a handful more episodes this summer/beginning of this season. Turns out I really don’t like it. There are a lot of unanswered questions on this show. I just don’t care what the answers are. ---
**Author:** ![EllisDee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ellisdee/32/4531_2.png) [@EllisDee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EllisDee)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2005, 4:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lost-finally-lost-me/324024/32 "2005-09-30T04:27:23Z")
The bloom has been off the rose since the middle of last season. A buddy of mine who rarely watches network television started watching _Lost_, and got hooked. He hadn’t watched a network show in a decade or so, but he got just as sucked into it as I did. Somewhere around the episode where we got Hurley’s backstory – which clearly _requires_ a supernatural element (cursed lottery numbers?!) – he said something to me I was forced to agree with: “Don’t you feel like you’re reading a Dean Koontz novel?” Yes, yes that is exactly what _Lost_ feels like. A fucking Dean Koontz novel. Don’t get me wrong, nothing passes a plane ride better than cozying up to a Koontz book, but they are all exactly the same: a) Great beginning, chock full of inexplicably odd phenomenon. b) Enter the _Strong And Independent Woman_[sup]TM[/sup] c) Glimpse behind the curtain, which reveals part of the answers to the mysteries. Unfortunately, this glimpse leaves you with a sinking feeling in your stomach that the resolution will be stupid and unsatisfying, and almost always involves the government. d) Big actiony section that you just don’t care about because now you are certain that the ending is going to suck. e) Surprise! The rsolution and ending turn out to be good and satisfying! Yeah right, it actually sucks beyond belief. The ending and resolution suck on a scale hitherto unimaginable in the universe of sucktitude. You’re better off just reading until the _Strong and Independent Woman_[sup]TM[/sup] gets introduced as such, and then burning it. This is how I feel about _Lost_. While I likely will keep watching, we are well into step c, and the glimpses behind the curtain have most definitely left me with a sinking feeling in my stomach that the sucktitude sure to follow will rival Koontz’ worst. As another buddy said to me last week when a promo for _Lost_ came on: “You don’t actually watch that show, do you?” “Yep, I watch it.” “Man, I tried, but I just don’t like soap operas.” “Yeah, I hear you. I’m rapidly coming to the same conclusion myself.” The backstories are pure soap opera garbage, (a surgeon starts fucking _bawling_ during a post-op check?!) and the mysteries are pure unadulterated Koontz-esque cheesy trash. To put it into perspective, I anticipate the next episode of _Yes, Dear_ more eagerly than the next episode of _Lost_. Yes, I do watch garbage tv, thanks for asking. ---
**Author:** ![PunditLisa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/4af34b/32.png) [@PunditLisa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PunditLisa)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2005, 12:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lost-finally-lost-me/324024/33 "2005-09-30T12:31:51Z")
> [@BabaBooey](#): > > Cut to Charlie jumping up in bed, sweating and panting > Charlie: " Oh, it was just a dream. A terrible dream." _pulls Mary statue from under covers_ > Charlie: “Or was it? AAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!” And then they pan over and, beside Charlie, we see a sleeping Bob Newhart. ---
**Author:** ![crazyjoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f14d63/32.png) [@crazyjoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/crazyjoe)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2005, 3:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lost-finally-lost-me/324024/34 "2005-09-30T15:35:30Z")
> [@Banquet Bear](#): > > …I think the constant comparisons to the X-Files are unfair-a better comparison would be Babylon 5. Babylon 5, like Lost, had a clearly defined 5 year arc. > … > snip > … > I can’t guarentee that the series will play out this way, but I think we need to give them the benifit of the doubt. I don’t think giving them the benefit of the doubt is a good idea. I don’t think JJ Abrams and JMS have all that much on common, writing wise. I submit to you the current (and prior) season of Alias, many of which seem hacked together at the last minute, like some grade school project. Abrams is great at setting up a concept, but I don’t think his execution and follow through are all that great. ---
**Author:** ![42fish](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/4/b487fb/32.png) [@42fish](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/42fish)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2005, 5:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lost-finally-lost-me/324024/35 "2005-09-30T17:36:04Z")
> [@BabaBooey](#): > > I hope the show ends like this: > > Desmond to small crowd in the hatch: “You wanna know what the numbers mean? You really want to know. Well here you go!” _approaches some door that he begins to open_ > > Cut to Charlie jumping up in bed, sweating and panting > Charlie: " Oh, it was just a dream. A terrible dream." _pulls Mary statue from under covers_ > Charlie: “Or was it? AAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!” > > \*Cut to show writers in Hawiian islands, laughing hysterically whilst lighting cigars with $100 bills. Nah, it’s going to end like this: Desmond to crowd outside hatch: “You wanna know what the numbers mean? You really want to know. Well here you go!” Suddenly it starts snowing. Cut to Walt at home shaking one of those snow-globe thingies. Alternatively… A group of the castaways have tied up Desomnd. Jack: “Now let’s see who’s really behind this mystery.” Pulls off Desmond’s mask, revealing John Locke. Kate: “It’s old man Locke!” Locke: “And I would’ve gotten away with it if hadn’t been for you meddling kids.” ---
**Author:** ![Roadfood](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/9fc348/32.png) [@Roadfood](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Roadfood)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2005, 6:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lost-finally-lost-me/324024/36 "2005-09-30T18:10:56Z")
> [@42fish](#): > > Nah, it’s going to end like this: > > A group of the castaways have tied up Desomnd. > > Jack: “Now let’s see who’s really behind this mystery.” > > Pulls off Desmond’s mask, revealing John Locke. > > Kate: “It’s old man Locke!” > > Locke: “And I would’ve gotten away with it if hadn’t been for you meddling kids.” Or, when he pulls off Desmond’s mask, there’s a gorilla mask underneath. And when Jack pulls off the gorilla mask, it’s Patrick MacGoohan. Turns out, everyone on that plane was a “retired” government agent . . . ---
**Author:** ![Roadfood](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/9fc348/32.png) [@Roadfood](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Roadfood)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2005, 6:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lost-finally-lost-me/324024/37 "2005-09-30T18:32:02Z")
> [@Banquet Bear](#): > > …I think the constant comparisons to the X-Files are unfair-a better comparison would be Babylon 5. Babylon 5, like Lost, had a clearly defined 5 year arc. It’s completely unclear that _Lost_ has a clearly defined five year arc. Do you know that for a fact, or are you making it up? Even if I grant the benefit of the doubt that you’re right, it doesn’t show in the show. There’s a huge, **huge** difference between JMS and whoever’s guiding _Lost_: JMS had talent, and those behind _Lost_ do not. The first year of _Babylon 5_ (one of my all-time favorite TV shows, by the way) wasn’t a muddled, incoherent mess, it achieved what I talked about before: the balance of teasing the audience with some mysteries, while also delivering good self-contained stories, and reasonable satisfaction. > [@Banquet Bear](#): > > It takes a lot of ballz to try and write long arcs for television True, and it also takes an ability to actually plot out the long arc before you start, and to balance the long arc with reasonable short-term satisfaction, things that those behind _Lost_ show no signs of any ability to do. > [@Banquet Bear](#): > > If the only thing putting you off Lost is a fear that they won’t answer the questions they raised, then fine, feel free to stop watching the show. Well, what puts me off is not any kind of fear, but the actual knowledge. I watched all of the first season, and now two episodes of the second. There have been no answers, there are no signs of any answers forthcoming, there are very, very clear indications that at least parts of the show are just being made up as the writers go along. You can talk all you want, but watching _Babylon 5_’s first season was a satisfying experience; the show had clear indications that the person guiding it knew where it was going, and knew how to tell both big and small stories. Watching _Lost_ gives the clear indication that the person guiding it has no clue what he’s doing, and couldn’t tell a decent story if his life depended on it. > [@Banquet Bear](#): > > If you jump off the Lost train early, you may miss the best parts of the trip, which may come further down the line… There was an earlier post in this thread making the point that a writer has no obligation to the audience. That may be true, if the writer doesn’t care whether the audience stays or goes. If the writer wants me to stay on for the whole ride, he needs to keep me interested enough to care where the ride is going. At that, the writers of _Lost_ have failed miserably. I just don’t care about the characters or the mysteries or the “answers” or anything about it. I’m jumping off. Missing the best parts of a crappy trip is no loss. ---
**Author:** ![foolsguinea](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/foolsguinea/32/14751_2.png) [@foolsguinea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/foolsguinea)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2005, 9:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lost-finally-lost-me/324024/38 "2005-09-30T21:28:23Z")
> [@Dante](#): > > Man, you people are impatient. I can understand saying “I don’t like the show, I’m not watching it anymore.”, but “I don’t have all the answers yet, so the writers don’t know what they’re doing” is ridiculous. Ever thought that their timeframe for telling their story might not exactly follow your own internal expectations of how the show should pan out? Who cares? It’s a commercial enterprise. 1. If they can’t or won’t finish their story, there will be a backlash. And I’ve seen enough Hollywood writing, I can tell you: There is no coherent ending to all this. 2. Even if I’m wrong about point 1, if they don’t tell their story on a timetable that appeals to the expectations of their audience, they will lose audience. By the time they end the series badly (which I think they will) they will have attrited away most of the audience, & the ill well they generate will have been spread out & thus softened. Fewer violent vituperations from fans, but probably fewer business opportunities for the makers too. (And hey, I’ve never watched the show, but I watched Alias for a while. JJ Abrams writes like an 8-year-old.) ---
**Author:** ![Cubsfan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f4b2a3/32.png) [@Cubsfan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cubsfan)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2005, 4:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lost-finally-lost-me/324024/39 "2005-10-02T04:42:31Z")
I finally got around to watching my DVRd Lost from last week. I have to agree with the masses here. That was a total waste of an hour. They showed us in the previews for this season that there were other survivors and then they go and waste 2 episodes showing us nothing. This last week felt like a giant waste of time. The previews for next week look bad too. Michael is a douche. Jack is a douche. This thing better start coming together pretty soon or I will stop watching. They can’t just keep creating ? after ? without ever answering any of the old ones. ---
**Author:** ![DMark](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@DMark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DMark)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2005, 7:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lost-finally-lost-me/324024/40 "2005-10-02T07:01:38Z")
My DVR screwed up and I missed last week’s episode, but it sounds like I didn’t miss much. Anybody ever play the video game MYST? I borrowed it from a friend and was woefully inept, but enjoyed the game nonetheless. I think this show is kind of the same game - find a clue to help you find the next clue etc etc. Granted, the goal is to get off the island, but the fun is getting there. So yes, there will be a brazilian different red herrings and side stories, but unless you are all clueless to how soap operas stay on the air for 30 years, you have to either buy into the story lines, or hang it up now. There will be no tidy ending in the near future - at least until the ratings start to tank - and then there will be the final show where they get off the island and it will have record Neilson ratings that night. Sit back and enjoy the ride - that is what the show is about. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lost-finally-lost-me/324024.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lost-finally-lost-me/324024.md?page=3)