"Lost" finally lost me

[Larry_Mudd]

@DMark

So yes, there will be a brazilian different red herrings…

So long as one of those brazilianed red herrings belongs to Evangeline Lilly, I’ll keep watching.

[Lamar_Mundane]

The story was advanced further in the previews of next week’s episode than it was in the entire hour last week.

First really boring episode I’ve seen. Shot the shark.

[levdrakon]

@Lamar Mundane

The story was advanced further in the previews of next week’s episode than it was in the entire hour last week.

First really boring episode I’ve seen. Shot the shark.

Which reminds me of another reason I was pissed off at last week’s episode. The week before, the scenes for next week specifically said, “all your questions will finally be answered.” Not that I believed that for a second, but to have none of my questions answered, convinced me this show is seriously yanking my chain.

[Banquet_Bear]

@Roadfood

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?

…see post 15, by Dante, where he states:

I watched the “extras” DVD of Season 1, and Damon Lindelof said that they have an overarcing storyline of about 5 years.

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.

Very big call for you to make. Damon Lindelof has no talent? JJ Abrahams? Jack Bender? David Fury? JMS indeed has a lot of talent, Babylon 5 was a brilliant series, but season five was a weak, Crusade was so-so and the last movie that he produced and wrote, Legend of the Rangers, was absolute dreck.

The first year of Babylon 5 (one of my all-time favorite TV shows, by the way)

It is my favourite TV show!

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.

What do you find so incoherent about the plot of **Lost? ** I’m genuinely curious.

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.

In your opinion, of course.

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,

Maybe it would help if you defined what questions you felt demanded an answer.

there are no signs of any answers forthcoming,

…really?

there are very, very clear indications that at least parts of the show are just being made up as the writers go along.

:: shrugs :: If you insist: the opinion has already been expressed that the series has a defined arc, but bits are made up as the series has gone along. Babylon 5 had to do this often: remember when Claudia Christian left at the end of Season 4? Do you remember how Captain Lochley ended up being Sheridan’s first wife? I bet you JMS just made that up! That’s the nature of television, and simply shows why long story arcs are difficult and risky to write: things change.

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.

My viewing of the first season of Babylon 5 went quite differently. I found the pilot boring and poorly acted: the Vorlon mystery seemed forced, I found the characters were “cookie cutter” clones of every other sci-fi show out there. After a few episodes, Babylon 5 lost me as a viewer: It wasn’t different enough from Star Trek to interest me: there were dangling plot threads that I didn’t think could get answered, and I was bored. Season Two managed to drag me back in, and Season Three hit me over the head like a sledgehammer. Myself and four of my mates snuck into the Sky City Theatre and set up a rear projection screen to watch the Season Five Debut! I was annoyed that I missed the opening season, and it took me years to finally get back up to date with it. It was only on reflection that I saw the intricate plot that JMS had managed to weave into the series from the very first moments of the series, and cursed myself for missing it. Remember the episode Babylon Squared? How long did we have to wait to get resolution on that storyline? Four years? Lost has only been going for a year and a bit now, why do you want plot points wrapped up so early?

Just to compare: We found out what was what a Vorlon looked like inside their encounter suit after two years. It took us a whole four years to find out the meaning of the cryptic phrase “There is a hole in your mind” in the pilot. The reason behind the conflict between the Shadows and the Vorlons took three and a half years to be revealed. It took five years for Londo an G’kar to make peace ( “but not on the same page” ) It took three years to find out why the Minbari suddenly stopped their crusade against humans. And it was genuinely satisfying to have the answer finally come after such a wait-especially when it wasn’t telegraphed… Looking back at B5, its easy to see the story as one, coherent tale, but at the time, it wasn’t so clear…

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.

They can’t? JJ Abrahms, much derised in this thread, has been writing for television for fifteen years, and only co-wrote the pilot episode. Paul Dini who wrote the episode “The Moth”, is a writer on Justice League, the Batman Animated Movies, and worked on some of the best televison cartoons in the last twenty years. David Fury wrote some of the best episodes of Buffy and Angel. Carlton Cruse co-created the great ** The Adventures of Brisco County Jnr! ** These people can’t tell a decent story if there lives depended on it? Lost is an intriguing experiment in non-linear storytelling: written by (in my opinion, of course) an outstanding array of writers.

Lost (TV Series 2004–2010) - IMDb

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.

…yes, the writers have failed to satisfy you, as a viewer, and many others in this thread. It’s a big world out there, and if enough people feel the same way you do, the series will fail in the ratings and the show will either change direction, or get canceled. Not everybody can love every televison series out there. Did you know that there are people out there who don’t like Firefly! :eek: Enjoy the 4400!