Lost Video Island

[Ringwench]

I hate to say this, but I've been feeling a lot of animosity toward "Lost" so far this season.

Every episode I watch it expecting a greatness like that of most of last seasons' eps, but every episode it falls flat.

Metaphorically speaking, "Lost" has become like the shitty boyfriend who constantly screws you over but you end up staying with him because you remember how great things were when you first got together.

The flashbacks are becoming very overused and thinly veiled. I mean did we really need ALL THOSE FLASHBACKS in ep 2 to understand the fact that Michael loves his kid?

I'd much rather they concentrate on what's going on on the island (which is infinitely more interesting) and only used the flashbacks sparingly to augment the character development that we're seeing on the island. Is it really neccesary that the flashbacks take up half of every episode?

I know that the writers have set a bit of a precedent with the flashbacks, so I'm cool with them continuing to use them (otherwise, we would never get any information about any of the castaways, since they aren't all that forthcoming with giving information to each other), but not quite to the degree they do now. I just find they waste so much airtime dwelling on the past when REALLY COOL THINGS are happening in the present!

I mean there have been 5 episodes since the season finale but only 4 days have passed in island time!

Another thing that's bugging me is that nobody asks any questions of anyone else! Libby told Michael that there were 23 tail section survivors. Michael could see WITH HIS OWN EYES that there were only 5 remaining. Was he not in the least bit curious to find out what happened to them?! I mean, if you were in that position wouldn't that be the first thing you would ask when presented with that information?

Yes, I realize the audience can probably figure out that "The Others" thinned out the numbers a little, but aren't Michael, Sawyer, and Jin at least a little bit interested in what went down?

I still love this show, don't get me wrong (though it's moved down the ranks a little bit, it is now #3, behind "Supernatural" and "Veronica Mars" on my favorite shows list. Also, "Prison Break" is slowly edging it out so "Lost" may soon become #4.), and I only criticize because I know how great this show can be.

And it's not like I'm going to stop watching anytime soon, once I'm loyal to a show it takes a lot for me to give up on it, but they'd better start moving things along at a quicker pace because I know a lot of other people (like my parents, some co-workers, and my boyfriend) who are feeling the same way about the show this season who aren't as willing to give it a chance to hit its stride again before giving up on it entirely.

I just find it doesn't have a sense of urgency any more. They're revealing what's going on at such a painfully slow pace, it almost makes me not care anymore. And that's just not good. I want to be interested in the show, I want to look forward to watching an awesome adventure every Wednesday night, but I'm just not feeling it lately.

I watch every episode waiting for a greatness that I KNOW the show is capable of, and am rewarded with only a few select moments in each episode that really grab me the way some ENTIRE episodes grabbed me last year.

Come on, "Lost", I know you can be better than this.

Is it just me? Am I becoming too cynical? Or is anyone else feeling the same way I am about this season?
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Geekdom abounds.

[Polarbear]

I agree with your point on flashbacks but my only problem with this season so far has been Adrift and the latest episode. They have been very much filler episodes. Plus it should be noted that they were rushed last minute and switched around with different characters. This shows in the slow and pointless themes and plots of the episodes.

Lost is still my favourite show though. It earned that with the first season and overall I am pretty pleased with how the season has gone so far apart from those two episodes. The pilot was great as was Orientation. Hurley's episode was fun and entertaining. I am really looking forward to seeing the background of Shannon in the next episode. Finally we get to see a flashback of hers.

Putting back the season 3 weeks after such a dull episode I wouldn't be surprised people didn't switch off. The first break we had last season was when Claire and Charlie were kidnapped, the ideal cliffhanger. There simply must be one before a long break and 5 episodes in it's really annoying and leaves you feeling empty.
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[Ringwench]

I know what you mean, Paul. As much as cliffhangers drive me crazy, I think the show would have been better served to start the break after a more explosive episode (which I'm pretty sure Shannon's ep will be--at least from what I've heard, it had better be!) that will leave people desperate for more and counting the days until the next episode.

Even at its worst, "Lost" is still a lot better than most TV shows out there, but that's probably why I'm more critical of it. I expect awesomeness because they delivered consistantly kick-ass storylines all last season.

I'll agree with you that "Orientation" and "Everyone Hates Hugo" were pretty strong eps, they did keep me interested in what was going on.

But it just keeps feeling like nothing is ever moving forward. They take one step forward and two steps back with almost every plot point (do I have to remind anyone of the extreme stupidity of showing the Jack/Desmond standoff from different angles in THREE FRIGGING EPISODES!!!). It's enough to make a person lose faith that they'll ever actually get ANYWHERE!

Like I said above, there's no way I'm going to stop watching the show (after such a kickass first season it would take at LEAST another entire season of crappy episodes to make me annoyed enough with it to tune out, probably more).

But I just can't help feeling that the writers are wasting such a huge potential for greatness with these useless filler episodes and contrived flashbacks. Why does there have to be ANY filler episodes? Don't they have enough material to make every episode a really great episode?
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Geekdom abounds.

[Hobbes]

I think you're overreacting Ringwench, there have only been 5 episodes so far, and none all that bad. Man of Science/Faith was needed to make that connection with Jack's backstory and Desmond, along with the hatch, so it was kinda a needed episode to explore the hatch. Adrift was based more on Sawyer and Micheal. Granted, that one was pretty boring, but still! second episode? Second ep last season wasn't all that special either. Orientation was sweet, as was Hurey's ep. This latest one wasn't much of an episode, no exciting things, but it was nice and sweet. You can't expect every one to be something exciting.
The show goes through ups and downs, last season there were a few times with crappy episodes too (112, 114, etc etc) so don't give up on it yet. I don't think there's any problem with the season so far.

Though I do agree, flashbacks are getting far too stale. There are hardly any good flashback twists (though I still think every Locke one has been sweeeet) and the lesser character flashbacks never had twists to begin with! I was saying since last season they'll need to get rid of the flashbacks at some point, and I really hope they do, maybe at the end of this season? Though then again, they probably realyl don't want to do that, because it would mean going at a very quick pace on-island. I hope tey eliminate them or lessen them by next season.

[Enchirito]

[lostzilla]

[Hobbes]

wow, NBC's lineup really does suck

But what I meant was, not every lost episode is exciting, with some new plot twist, or whatever. Some are peaceful and more drama-based. Some like that etter. I'm glad they put a mix in, it bbrings in a wide variety. The show isn't just good because we want to find out the secrets.

[lostzilla]

Yeah I agree with Warren, compare to other shows, we should be glad that Lost is on TV.
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http://www.dontalmostgive.org

[Enchirito]

yeah i agree, overall lost is a great show. i just was pointing out that its not perfect and it shouldn't be the best thing on tv, although for me it is.

hobbes, hope u didn't think my whole rant was a responce to your comment ... lol. i just used it as a jumping off point if u know what i mean.

anyway, yeah lost has always been drama mixed with scifi mystery, but to me the drama elements are its weak point as they sometimes stear too far into almost soapish character interactions and ships. It's not that I don't like drama, Carnivale was more drama than mystery and i thought that show was better than lost. But with Lost, I sometimes find the scifi/mystery more convincing than some of the more chiched characters and relationships.

but keep in mind i do love the show - these are just my nit picks of course. ")
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[Hobbes]

no worries, I didn't think you were basing that on my comment, I was just clarifying in case you were

Damn... WHY did they cancel Carnivale? WHY?!

[MovieGuy]

I'll just say, The Office isn't a complete rip-off, the first few were but I think it's become its own show with the same kinds of characters in the original. I'm just saying. Everyone's entitled to their opinion though.

The only thing that I'm dissapointed with this season has been the backstories an the Sun looking for ring stuff

[Polarbear]

I loved Carnivale too They so didn't need to cancel that.

I haven't been so obsessed about a show (Lost) since the X-Files and I guess I expect genius every episode. When I feel like they are riding with the tide so to speak or not 'on the ball' lol got to love coined phrases.. it really pisses me off as this show is too good to play around with. You get the feelings some of the flashbacks are contrived in that they have no meaning to the plot on the island and are just 'there' cause they have to be. That isn't right they should be more clever. The whole Sun finding her ring plot was very boring and pointless imo and was just so they could connect it to the equally boring and pointless Jun backstory.
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[Enchirito]

OFFICE:
well UK Office only had 2 seasons so they'll soon run out of direct-copy material - but i don't think they've ran out yet, as i recall recent promos involving the fire alarm bit which is ripped from UK Office's season 2.

I dunno.. for me a big part of why I loved the UK Office so much was the originality. It was refreshing. They were doing their own thing, and doing it so well. US Office seems more manufactured to me. Ricky Gervis WAS David Brent whereas Steve Carel is just the same 'trying to hard too be funny' guy he was in Bruce Almighty and Anchorman. Maybe that kind of explains why watching the US Office makes me feel dirty.

LOST:
I totally agree that the only downsides so far of Lost season 2 are the uninspired, useless backstories. last episode being a prime example. But i'm glad that the island storyline has NOT dissapointed. Except that the flashturds (as my bros calls them) are making it move waaaaaay too slow!
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[Aislynn]

Fair warning: Reallllllllllllly long post ahead. Detour now, ye faint of heart.

[Aislynn]

I realized something the other day: I haven't download clips for any of the eps from Season 2. I have 3 vids in the planning/actively working on stage and none of them are based on anything from Season 2.

It's not so much a matter of whether I "like" this S2 so far or not -- there have been parts I've really enjoyed and there have been parts I've kinda yawned through. What I haven't particularly enjoyed is the (sadly unavoidable) switch in storytelling methods. Let us reflect...

Season 1 was the "Getting To Know You" season. All these strangers are thrown together in an even stranger environment. We, the audience, are swept up in the mystery of who everyone is, where they're at, what the heck is going on, and the like. S1 is basically setting up the premise for the show, throwing us some tantalizing clues about things but not doing much follow through on the answers.

Basic human fact: mystery is exciting. You get the chance to put your own ideas in the mix and share them with others (and gloat when you're right ). Nothing is really set in stone yet; anything can happen in the story.

S2, however, is beginning to make some details a bit more concrete (though not a lot of them, granted). Plus, new people are being brought into the mix. S1 was all about our "core" group of survivors. Now there's a bunch of others coming in. And, uh, a bunch of the Others coming along, too...

The core group has been divided, which is a particular story device that tries my patience when it drags on and on. I friggin' want Sawyer BACK with Kate, thank you very much! Even if they're not quote/unquote "together," I want them interacting again. What I don't want is the old "oh look, here's another girl for Sawyer but hey, Kate and Ana-Lucia are interchangeable so you won't care..." This story device has always made me want to scream.

S2 had to progress beyond the "Getting To Know You" mode or they'd end up basically repeating the eps of S1. Story devices exist for a reason -- they move the plot along and add new conflict to the mix. It just so happens that most of the story devices they've used so far have been some of my personal dislikes. Not even to mention my Number One Personal Story Device Dislike: "The Search For The Missing Kid." Oy. I won't even get started on this one.

A couple of observations that have struck me as I've watched S2:

1) There's been a lot of name-yelling this year, a really noticeable amount of name-yelling. Not name-calling. I mean Kate yelling "Jack!" Michael yelling "Walt!" Sawyer yelling "Jin!" And that was just in the first 2 eps! How many times so far have we had a long scene with somebody standing there yelling somebody's name over and over again? It's just seemed a little weird to me...

2) The extremely slow pace worries me because that can be a sign that the writers are concerned about running out of material and losing audience interest. 'Cause let's face it: wondering about a mystery and knowing the answer to a mystery are two different things. "Wondering" is all about possibilities. "Knowing" is about the end of possibilities. When you come to the end of the story, you know the story the writers have decided to tell. You know what the monster is, what it looks like, how many lumps of sugar it takes in its tea. You know what happened to Jack's wife, you know who the real Sawyer is, you know how Locke ended up in that wheelchair, etc. etc. There are no more exciting theories. You know how it all came to be. And if the answers happen to be personally disappointing to you, you'll never look at the story the same way again. It's how a bad ending can ruin a good movie. You don't ever go back and watch a movie again -- even one that you loved while you were watching it -- if the ending royally sucked and made you want to stand up and smack the writer/director/lead actor across the back of their heads in disgust, now do you?

The bad thing, though, is that a story HAS to complete itself. A good story goes from Point A to Point B with lots of interesting stops in between. A bad story goes from Point A and wanders off nowhere to finally stagger to a stop just as the audience is ready to beat it to death with a shovel. A great story goes from Point A to Point B with lots of interesting stops in between and leaves you out-of-breath and dying to take that trip all over again.

Basically, it's all subjective. Whether or not you're gonna like the answers that the "Lost" writers put forth (and despite how this may have sounded, I really hope they don't do the old "Oh well, we don't want to hem ourselves in just in case we can get a deal for another couple of seasons so we'll just keep stringing you along and never resolve ANYTHING" ) is going to depend on whether or not the possibilities that got weeded away were ones that you would've rather seen.

Skaters aren't going to like it if Kate rides off into the sunset with anybody but Sawyer; ditto for Jaters and Jack. PB&J fans are going to be majorly unhappy if Charlie decides to become a monk and leaves a teary-eyed Claire clutching baby Aaron in his dust as he skips off to the monastery. Hurley fans aren't going to like it if we discover that he never actually left the mental institution and all of "Lost" has just been a delusion in his mind.

Okay, actually I don't think ANYBODY would particularly like that last one either...

You get the idea. If, at the end of "Lost," they should kill off your favorite character or, sometimes worse, turn your favorite character into a sad, pathetic, parody shell of him/herself, how would you feel about the show in general? I'd wager not real good.

My personal feeling: some of the people who were fans of S1 will inevitably hate S2 for not being a copy of S1 and they'll tune out. That's unavoidable. A whole other batch of fans of S1 would probably have tuned out if S2 would have turned into a bland copy of S1. ("Next week -- Kate climbs another tree! Claire gets kidnapped by Ethan's crazed twin Othen! Sawyer's hair grows at an alarmingly faster rate than everybody else's hair! Stay tuned!" )

So, what's my point? Even great writers can't please everybody. The real trick is to try to balance the wonder of the whole "Getting To Know You" with the "And HERE'S the real truth of the matter." Hopefully there will be a lot of sparkling story devices, fantastic character development, gasp-inducing moments of absolute wonder, and the like along the way. I think that J.J. has already shown that he's not willing to just cruise on what worked last year (I couldn't believe how he ended the whole SD-6 thing on "Alias" as early as he did; most writers would've kept Sydney as a double-agent for a LOT longer, IMO, rather than basically blow up the original premise and head off into unknown territory).

Basically, we've all just got to sit back and see which way the ride takes us. Hopefully there IS a Point B awaiting us down the line, with a lot of twists, turns, loop-de-loops and the like in between.

*gasp* Dang, I'm long-winded, huh? Sorry. Deconstructing stories and why they seem to work or not is just an occupational hazard of mine.

~Aislynn

Raise your hand if you've read this whole thing. Glare angrily if you've skimmed it and are just reading this last line. Stare into space if you're wondering if I've lost my mind. Feel free to do all of the above.