# Lost **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [September 22, 2004, 3:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lost/265500 "2004-09-22T15:33:36Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Rubystreak](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e5b9ba/32.png) [@Rubystreak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rubystreak)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2004, 5:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lost/265500/61 "2004-09-23T17:20:21Z")
**Greywolf73** , apes do not attack people, and I don’t even think they’re arboreal. Chimps, maybe, and babboons, but whatever that monster was seemed bigger than either of those. Ultimately, the only acceptable answer to “what is the monster” has to be, at its root, “human beings.” I can’t buy anything involving dinosaurs, giant robots, aliens, etc. I’ve been broken on the rack of The X-Files, and it’s too late for all that. Is it really possible anymore for people to get lost on this planet? I mean, individuals maybe, but a whole plane-load? I’m not so much skeptical as really wondering. As for the character development, I liked it for the most part. Jack’s story about screwing up surgery was pretty good, though Kate (?) counting to 5 was a bit much. I think it very much remains to be seen how good this series will be. ---
**Author:** ![Mullinator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c2a13f/32.png) [@Mullinator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mullinator)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2004, 5:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lost/265500/62 "2004-09-23T17:24:38Z")
If only this aired on CBS… I could see this show running for about 3 years. Some characters die, others procreate, they build a little civilization. Sure, it’s primitive, but they are doing well enough to live out their lives and vaguely enjoy it. Then, in the series finale, special guest star Jeff Probst appears and they are saved because it happens to be the island that Survivor 14 is being filmed on. ---
**Author:** ![RikWriter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/49beb7/32.png) [@RikWriter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RikWriter)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2004, 5:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lost/265500/63 "2004-09-23T17:33:17Z")
I like it…it had a nice, creepy air to it, sorta Twilight-Zonish. I have heard an interview with the show’s producer or writer (I forget which) in which he said that the Thing was NOT a dinosaur. I have nothing to go on but a hunch, but I think there is something supernatural going on. Maybe another dimension or maybe they all wind up being dead and in some sort of afterlife. ---
**Author:** ![Batsinma\_Belfry](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ea5d25/32.png) [@Batsinma\_Belfry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Batsinma_Belfry)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2004, 5:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lost/265500/64 "2004-09-23T17:51:43Z")
> [@av8rmike](#): > > Also, wasn’t there a reality-TV show on NBC a few years back, also called “Lost”? The contestants were dropped off someplace in the world and they had to split into teams and find their way back. When I first saw Lost in the TV listings, I thought it was that show comming back. It first aired around the same time as The Amazing Race. They were stranded in Mongolia. It was canceled after 9/11. ---
**Author:** ![Fiver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e274bd/32.png) [@Fiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fiver)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2004, 6:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lost/265500/65 "2004-09-23T18:03:45Z")
Those of you posting “a dog from the plane would stay with the people” are assuming the creators of the show understand dogs as well as they do. That may be asking a lot. That said, didn’t it have a collar? The “bitchy blonde” is a little _too_ bitchy. I have trouble believing in her. Did they say was Kate’s profession is? I got home late; the first image I saw was the man being sucked into the engine. What did I miss? ---
**Author:** ![BiblioCat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ed8c4c/32.png) [@BiblioCat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BiblioCat)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2004, 6:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lost/265500/66 "2004-09-23T18:08:20Z")
> [@drewcosten](#): > > Am I the only one thinking that they crashed on Isla Sorna or Isla Nubar or something? 🙂 😃 That’s what I said when I heard the stomping of the creature. Great minds think alike. Anyone know who played the pilot? He seemed rather familiar, in a former child-star way. What about the heavy-set guy with the curly hair? Who is he? ---
**Author:** ![Airblairxxx](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f9ae1b/32.png) [@Airblairxxx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Airblairxxx)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2004, 6:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lost/265500/67 "2004-09-23T18:09:06Z")
> [@WordMan](#): > > - the dog has been on the island and is evidence of civilization already being there - a lab doing…experiments, perhaps? > [@DrFidelius](#): > > I have trouble picturing a lab doing experiments. A lab is too likely to drool into the equipment, and would be distracted too easily. Now, if the lab were a field operative for a group of border collies or terriers, that would make sense… Nobody gave **DrFidelius** props for this, so let me just say “PFFFNORT!”, and now I will clean the coffee off my computer screen . . . ---
**Author:** ![Ethilrist](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ethilrist/32/4604_2.png) [@Ethilrist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ethilrist)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2004, 6:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lost/265500/68 "2004-09-23T18:16:33Z")
> [@Fiver](#): > > Did they say was Kate’s profession is? I got home late; the first image I saw was the man being sucked into the engine. What did I miss? The official website has very little information on the characters. I guess they’re trying to keep some secrets. The show began with Jack lying on his back in the bamboo, getting up and running to the beach, which started out empty. As he began staggering along the beach, scenes of survivors and wreckage began to fade in around him. He started doing doctor triage stuff (helped get a guy with a hurt (ampuated?) leg out from under some wreckage, did rescue breathing for the black woman, got the humongous guy to babysit the pregnant woman), then schlorp BOOM! ---
**Author:** ![BubbaDog](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bubbadog/32/333_2.png) [@BubbaDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BubbaDog)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2004, 6:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lost/265500/69 "2004-09-23T18:22:06Z")
I like the many possible twists this plot can take - They can explore the cause of the crash, island inhabitants, interpersonal conflicts or just about anything. But PLEASE **DON’T** 1 - Continue down this path of developing Charlie into Gilligan 2 - Show any more dreamy-eyed “my hero” looks Kate gives to Jack 3 - Shake the camera, that technique was worn out when Blair Witch did it Stay away from these sins and some of us may stick around past the third episode. ---
**Author:** ![Cervaise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cervaise/32/16693_2.png) [@Cervaise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cervaise)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2004, 6:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lost/265500/70 "2004-09-23T18:29:41Z")
I liked it, for what it is so far. I’ll be giving it a few weeks. The shaky camera did annoy me, particularly in the bit where they’re climbing up to the cockpit. (And it’s especially bad for me because I just installed a big-screen theater projection system, so I’m looking at the wobbly handheld images ten feet across. People complained about _Bourne Supremacy_; this was twice as bad.) I hope they cut back on that a bit. The characters, I think, have not yet been fully revealed. We got a quick hit of what they’re like under stress (“Are you familiar with the writings of Shan Yu?” :D), but there’s a lot more that can happen. I didn’t get any sense of the typical TV character approach, where you’re expected to know everything about the person within ten minutes. We have types so far, but there’s room for growth. That will make or break the show, I think. And as far as the question about “how can this premise be a series,” which I think is a good one, I know what **I** want to see. I want to see the group of survivors attempt to form a functional society. I don’t want good guys and bad guys and a predictable, programmatic conflict. I want **people** coping with their situation. I want to see them try to form some sort of social structure, to recapture what they remember of civilization, to wrestle with what’s necessary simply for survival and after that what’s necessary for human **dignity.** In other words, what I’m hoping for is a science-fiction show in which the science being explored is anthropology: something at the midway point between what _Survivor_ is intended to be about (but which I think gets lost underneath all the artificial manipulation) and a grown-up _Lord of the Flies._ That, I think, would be a hell of a show. Dark, perhaps. Cerebral, possibly. But also deeply primal, and an exploration of what it really means to be a modern human being. There are **years** of stories in the simple machination of politics and manipuation, as different cliques group together to pursue different objectives, and attempt to enforce their varying ideas of how they should live on the island. (Presuming it’s an island, that is. We haven’t had a _Cast Away_ style circuit of the beach to show just how big this land mass really is.) There could be an ever-shifting constellation of cooperation and betrayal as the factions jockey for position, recruit one another’s members, and work to gain the upper hand. Sometimes one group would be dominant and we see how their approach plays out; then there’s a setback and another group rises to exploit it, and we see how **they** deal with it. It’s sort of what the alliances on _Survivor_ are supposed to be, but these would be truly life and death. There is, I can safely say without exaggeration, some seriously compelling dramatic meat to chew on there, and a nearly bottomless reservoir of story possibilities. It remains to be seen whether the show will be something worthwhile like that, as opposed to a simple-minded chase show or a Dr.-Moreau-style conspiracy hour or something even less interesting. But the framework is there for something truly great. I’m willing to hang for a while to see whether it pans out. ---
**Author:** ![WordMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e8c25b/32.png) [@WordMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WordMan)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2004, 6:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lost/265500/71 "2004-09-23T18:32:06Z")
> [@Airblairxxx](#): > > Nobody gave **DrFidelius** props for this, so let me just say “PFFFNORT!”, and now I will clean the coffee off my computer screen . . . Sorry, I’ve been at work. I agree: PFFFNORT! Nicely done, **DrF.** ---
**Author:** ![KinSaba](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/7bcc69/32.png) [@KinSaba](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KinSaba)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2004, 6:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lost/265500/72 "2004-09-23T18:41:44Z")
> [@](#): > > Anyone know who played the pilot? He seemed rather familiar, in a former child-star way. The pilot was played by Greg Grunberg who plays Agent Weiss on J.J. Abrams’ other show _Alias_. The minute I recognized him I knew he would be the first to be got by the whatever, because he’s got work to do at the CIA. I am wondering what the motivations of the “creature” are. It didn’t eat the pilot, so it’s not hungry. Maybe it just has a thorn in it’s paw? ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2004, 7:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lost/265500/73 "2004-09-23T19:13:53Z")
I liked it. But I’m wondering how this can be sustained as a weekly series. The premise seems to lend itself to a miniseries format with an ending. Will it have some Myst-like elements to it? Maybe that will keep it interesting. The “monster” sounds kind of mechanical to me-- more like a machine than a creature. And although I know they discover a polar bear next week, I don’t think that’s what it is. If only ABC had chosen to air the full 2 hours last night instead of opting for 2 hours of The Bachelor (Oh my God, I can’t believe there are TWO bachelors!!)… (Edited to fix coding. -JMCJ) ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2004, 7:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lost/265500/74 "2004-09-23T19:19:35Z")
Yikes… I screwed up the spoiler coding. How do I e-mail a moderator to fix it? Sorry, all!! ---
**Author:** ![Ethilrist](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ethilrist/32/4604_2.png) [@Ethilrist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ethilrist)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2004, 7:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lost/265500/75 "2004-09-23T19:31:20Z")
Just click that little exclamation mark in the upper right hand corner of the post (above your Join Date/# of Posts/Location). ---
**Author:** ![ataraxy22](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ataraxy22/32/307_2.png) [@ataraxy22](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ataraxy22)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2004, 8:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lost/265500/76 "2004-09-23T20:02:20Z")
I’m wondering if the thing lurking in the woods is a bad robot. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2004, 8:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lost/265500/77 "2004-09-23T20:03:54Z")
> [@Ethilrist](#): > > Just click that little exclamation mark in the upper right hand corner of the post (above your Join Date/# of Posts/Location). If you notice, that can’t be done on one’s own post, only on the posts of others. Anyway, someone helped me out and I’ve e-mailed the mod of this forum to fix my mistake. ---
**Author:** ![DMark](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@DMark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DMark)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2004, 8:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lost/265500/78 "2004-09-23T20:17:35Z")
Compared to some of the crap this season (I hear dr. vegas airing this Friday is d.o.a.) I thought this was pretty good, and I will be tuning in again next week - Plus, it looks like we weren’t the only ones who watched…the Nielsen ratings were far above expectations. So…when Hobbits grow up they become rock stars and then once again go on adventures? ---
**Author:** ![duality72](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/duality72/32/3910_2.png) [@duality72](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/duality72)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2004, 8:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lost/265500/79 "2004-09-23T20:19:59Z")
I also enjoyed this episode and think/hope good things can come of it, but I’ll be severely disappointed if some supernatural/outlandish sci-fi crap is thrown in to explain the Stobor (my pet name for the unseen creature(s) so far). Even before seeing the first episode, this series reminded me of Peter Benchley’s Amazon, a syndicated show, from a few years back; an airliner crashes in a remote section of the Amazon and the survivors try to get by with no hope of rescue. Anyone remember that? ---
**Author:** ![PunditLisa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/4af34b/32.png) [@PunditLisa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PunditLisa)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2004, 8:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lost/265500/80 "2004-09-23T20:23:51Z")
Matthew Fox was the lead. I needed nothing more to convince me to tune in. In addition to being a fine specimen of a man, he can also do angst like nobody else. When Kate was stitching his wounds without anesthesia, I could _feel_ his pain. Then he had to go into that ridiculous story about his first surgery, blah blah blah, and the moment was gone. Fox didn’t need dialogue to carry the moment and that whole maudlin speech should have been excised from the script, IMO. I have a few other criticisms. What idjit, in his right mind, would stick half his body outside of the window when he knew something extremely large and menacing was stalking him? I knew that they’d have to get rid of the pilot for dramatic reasons, but come on, folks. The dog. I assumed he was already on the island and this was an obvious clue that someone else was inhabiting the island. I thought it odd that they chose one of the most benevolent breeds. Instead of being a Myst moment, it was an “Awww, look at the nice doggie!” moment. Not sure what the writers were going for there but it certainly wasn’t ominous. Charlie. He ran up the aisle and practically knocked down the stewardess, er, flight attendant right before they crashed. I must be paranoid because I assumed he was an IRA dude or something and he blew up the plane. You can never trust those wily Hobbits. All in all, I was intrigued but thought it should have been re-worked and tightened up. It doesn’t need to be hokey to work. I also think 48 is an awfully big cast and hope that at least 30 of them died in the crash. I think this show would be much better suited in the 9 or 10pm slot but will definitely DVR it. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lost/265500.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lost/265500.md?page=5)