# Need help with "Lost" (Netflix) **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [June 25, 2018, 8:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/need-help-with-lost-netflix/816735 "2018-06-25T20:32:26Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Shoeless](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/shoeless/32/7099_2.png) [@Shoeless](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shoeless)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2018, 12:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/need-help-with-lost-netflix/816735/21 "2018-06-27T12:51:51Z")
Somehow I missed it the first time reading through the thread, but I wanted to second **Mahaloth** ’s comment upthread about “The Constant”. Easily the best episode of “Lost” (other than the pilot episode) and maybe even one of the top TV episodes of all time. Definitely do not skip over that one! ---
**Author:** ![digs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/digs/32/14889_2.png) [@digs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/digs)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2018, 12:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/need-help-with-lost-netflix/816735/22 "2018-06-27T12:58:38Z")
> [@salinqmind](#): > > If you can’t hack it, stop watching and watch something else. There are endless suggestions of shit to binge on this board. Find something else. > > I loved ‘Lost’ and was in it till the end. I did not care one flying bag of shit ‘what about the island’, ‘what about the Smoke Monster’ , ‘what was the Smoke Monster’ . blah blah blah. I fucking LOVED the ending. > > Best tv show ever made… I was tempted to reply “Give up while you still can!” because I hated the ending. But due to this thread, I’ve watched some snippets on YouTube, and damn, it was a great show. I’ve come to realize as I mature, that what I’m really after is great characterization, and LOST has plenty of that. Hmm, I may rewatch the last season and see if I have a different opinion of the ending. So now I’m in the “What’s your rush?” camp. Watch it all. ---
**Author:** ![TBG](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c89c15/32.png) [@TBG](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TBG)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2018, 11:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/need-help-with-lost-netflix/816735/23 "2018-06-27T23:56:44Z")
> [@salinqmind](#): > > If you can’t hack it, stop watching and watch something else. There are endless suggestions of shit to binge on this board. Find something else. > > I loved ‘Lost’ and was in it till the end. I did not care one flying bag of shit ‘what about the island’, ‘what about the Smoke Monster’ , ‘what was the Smoke Monster’ . blah blah blah. I fucking LOVED the ending. _snip_ **OH MY BROTHER, TESTIFY!!!** The ending was one of the most emotionally moving tv finales i’ve ever seen, especially after the big reveal they were now deceased and the so called alternate timeline of s6 was really the afterlife Somehow I just lost (heh) it a little and the tears came a flowing, rare for me in reaction to a tv show. ---
**Author:** ![amarinth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3be4f8/32.png) [@amarinth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/amarinth)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2018, 12:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/need-help-with-lost-netflix/816735/24 "2018-06-28T00:39:30Z")
> [@harmonicamoon](#): > > Can you recommend a season where I could fast forward to, and still understand the final episode? If there is one. There isn’t. The final episode doesn’t work. (It’s a great episode of tv with a lot of really nice moments and some decent acting. Narratively, it makes no sense as the culmination of the story arc that led up to it.) If you’re bored, stop now. If you’re enjoying it, keep watching. There’s no reason to read the final page of the book to “see what happens” because you’ll be no better off knowing that than you are right now with what you’ve already seen. At that point in time, the writers of LOST didn’t know how to pace a long arc. They were very good with individual episodes, but they really didn’t understand how to structure a story that lasted more than a couple of episodes - so a lot of the medium arcs aren’t even remotely satisfying. The long arcs are just a mess. The series storyline is completely incoherent. ---
**Author:** ![E-DUB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/e-dub/32/403_2.png) [@E-DUB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/E-DUB)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2018, 2:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/need-help-with-lost-netflix/816735/25 "2018-06-28T02:10:58Z")
I was disappointed in the ending but mostly because it didn’t take the direction that I’d sort of predicted. It was less disappointing on a subsequent rewatch. ---
**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:** [June 28, 2018, 2:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/need-help-with-lost-netflix/816735/26 "2018-06-28T02:30:23Z")
> [@salinqmind](#): > > I did not care one flying bag of shit ‘what about the island’, ‘what about the Smoke Monster’ , ‘what was the Smoke Monster’ . blah blah blah. I fucking LOVED the ending. > > Best tv show ever made. According to Jacob the island was: A cork. To a bottle that holds evil. and the Smoke Monster was: Jacobs brother. Who got turned into the smoke monster and became the islands security system. Lost had really great characters. Reading this thread makes me miss Charlie and Hurley and Sawyer and Sun and Claire and Locke and Ben and Jacob. I really wanted to know more about Jacob. ---
**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:** [June 28, 2018, 3:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/need-help-with-lost-netflix/816735/27 "2018-06-28T03:43:28Z")
> [@TBG](#): > > And a [del]movie[/del] DVD only short epilogue “New Man In Charge” telling what happened with a few of the characters (including WAAAAAAAAAAAAALT!) after the finale. I did not know this existed nor that I had it. I just watched it and it was short but good. ---
**Author:** ![AlsoNamedBort](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alsonamedbort/32/3213_2.png) [@AlsoNamedBort](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AlsoNamedBort)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2018, 2:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/need-help-with-lost-netflix/816735/28 "2018-06-28T14:39:28Z")
Boy, this thread makes me really want to go back and watch it again. It’s been a while since I last binged it (always skipping the “Jack’s Tattoo” episode). Is it still on Netflix? ---
**Author:** ![harmonicamoon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/65b543/32.png) [@harmonicamoon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/harmonicamoon)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2018, 2:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/need-help-with-lost-netflix/816735/29 "2018-06-28T14:51:10Z")
Thank you, everyone, for the replies. After hearing how passionate you are, on both sides of the series, I gotta see it all. New characters, and the time travel (present verses past) has gotten me confused. Hopefully, I will one day understand most of it. As of now, I am lost in Lost. It reminds me of when I was a school kid. One summer I watched General Hospital during summer vacation. I was sure it was going to end before school started in the fall. But it went on for 30 plus years, I believe. Lost doesn’t want to end, either. ---
**Author:** ![Shoeless](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/shoeless/32/7099_2.png) [@Shoeless](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shoeless)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2018, 3:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/need-help-with-lost-netflix/816735/30 "2018-06-28T15:27:12Z")
The problem with Lost, as others have alluded to above, was that it was a huge hit for the network, who wanted to milk it as long as they could. Which I think is one reason why S3 was such a rambling mess, because there was so much filler. But IIRC, after S3 the network and the show runners came to an agreement that it would end after six seasons. This allowed the show runners to more tightly plot out the remaining seasons. I have to admit, this thread is making me want to go back and watch again. I have the first five seasons on DVD, they’re just sitting on a shelf collecting dust. ---
**Author:** ![amarinth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3be4f8/32.png) [@amarinth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/amarinth)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2018, 3:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/need-help-with-lost-netflix/816735/31 "2018-06-28T15:35:34Z")
> [@Shoeless](#): > > But IIRC, after S3 the network and the show runners came to an agreement that it would end after six seasons. This allowed the show runners to more tightly plot out the remaining seasons. In theory - yes. In practice, they didn’t know how. Season 6 was not plotted by people who truly understood what “we only have 18 more hours to tell our story” means. They did understand “I want an episode about X before we finish.” And they did that - very, very well in many cases. But they utterly failed at tightly plotting anything. ---
**Author:** ![Shodan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9f8e36/32.png) [@Shodan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shodan)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2018, 3:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/need-help-with-lost-netflix/816735/32 "2018-06-28T15:48:41Z")
It would be better, IMO, to just say “it was all a dream” and wake up next to Susanne Pleschette. > [@harmonicamoon](#): > > New characters, and the time travel (present verses past) has gotten me confused. Hopefully, I will one day understand most of it. Don’t get your hopes up too high. Regards, Shodan ---
**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:** [June 28, 2018, 3:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/need-help-with-lost-netflix/816735/33 "2018-06-28T15:59:06Z")
It was a lot of fun to watch as it aired and then to talk about it with others in threads here. (“Was that a polar bear?”) As I remember, threads would get really long within an hour of the East Coast airtime. ---
**Author:** ![awldune](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c77e96/32.png) [@awldune](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/awldune)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2018, 4:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/need-help-with-lost-netflix/816735/34 "2018-06-28T16:12:27Z")
> [@harmonicamoon](#): > > New characters, and the time travel (present verses past) has gotten me confused. Hopefully, I will one day understand most of it. As of now, I am lost in Lost. You will enjoy it more, the less you think about it. Just enjoy the characters. Many of the mysteries of the show have no answers, or the answers are stupid or otherwise unsatisfying. ---
**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:** [June 28, 2018, 4:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/need-help-with-lost-netflix/816735/35 "2018-06-28T16:14:07Z")
_Don’t tell them that_. Part of the fun of watching it as it aired was assuming that it would all make sense in the end and wondering how that would work. ---
**Author:** ![E-DUB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/e-dub/32/403_2.png) [@E-DUB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/E-DUB)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2018, 6:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/need-help-with-lost-netflix/816735/36 "2018-06-28T18:34:32Z")
> [@TBG](#): > > And a [del]movie[/del] DVD only short epilogue “New Man In Charge” telling what happened with a few of the characters (including WAAAAAAAAAAAAALT!) after the finale.( I’ve heard it said that the two clueless Dharma employees were “audience surrogates”. ---
**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:** [June 29, 2018, 12:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/need-help-with-lost-netflix/816735/37 "2018-06-29T00:20:55Z")
> [@E-DUB](#): > > I’ve heard it said that the two clueless Dharma employees were “audience surrogates”. That’s what it seemed like to me. They ask Ben what’s going on and Ben tells them they each get one question. Then he answers those questions. One of the questions is about, “why they were sending polar beer food to an island.” ---
**Author:** ![JohnT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnt/32/15048_2.png) [@JohnT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnT)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2018, 12:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/need-help-with-lost-netflix/816735/38 "2018-06-29T00:25:35Z")
Regardless of ones thoughts about the ending, if the final shot of Vincent doesn’t bring a lump to your throat, you are simply not worthy. What a good boy! ---
**Author:** ![JohnT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnt/32/15048_2.png) [@JohnT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnT)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2018, 2:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/need-help-with-lost-netflix/816735/39 "2018-07-12T14:40:02Z")
> [@JohnT](#): > > Regardless of ones thoughts about the ending, if the final shot of Vincent doesn’t bring a lump to your throat, you are simply not worthy. What a good boy! So I watched the final episode again last night. [spoiler]Jack, lying in the jungle, accepting his death, Vincent coming up to him and then lying down next to Jack. And then the thought hit me: DID THEY JUST KILL THE DOG, TOO? [/spoiler] If so, Worst. Finale. Ever. ---
**Author:** ![cmkeller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cmkeller/32/118_2.png) [@cmkeller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cmkeller)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2018, 5:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/need-help-with-lost-netflix/816735/40 "2018-07-12T17:08:32Z")
JohnT: Nah, Vincent probably went back to Bernard and Rose to live out his canine lifespan. I thought the ending was very good, and I didn’t expect them to answer EVERYTHING, but the one thing they never made clear that I thought was a major failing was was Charles faithfully following Jacob’s orders, and Ben the bad guy? Or was Charles using the others to pursue his own agenda, and therefore Ben was in the right? I think we the audience needed to know who to root for in what, it seems, was the central conflict underlying, knowingly or unknowingly, the motivations of most of the chatacters It also never explains why Ben and the Others were such jerks to the Oceanic 815 survivors. What would have been the harm if instead of infiltrating and kidnapping and lying, they would have openly greeted them and explained their situation to them? But maybe that’s just Ben. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/need-help-with-lost-netflix/816735.md?page=1)