Letters to the Editor
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Could not agree more!
Those who are clamoring for tidy answers to the Lost narrative need to calm down, settle in, and continue to enjoy this show for what it is: that rarest of modern-day pop-culture pleasures that parcels out its rewards slowly and elegantly. If it's pat resolutions and good-versus-evil validation you want, go watch another season of "24." But leave the rest of us -- and the show's producers -- alone to revel in this delightfully obtuse world.
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Hooray for Cheech!
Cheech Marin with a cleft lip as Hurley's dad? Who knew?!
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This Show Redeemed Itself
But let me say this: The biggest frustrations I had with the storytelling was that it felt as if they (writers/producers) were making it up as they went along (i.e. the disappearance of the Dharma logo on the shark from orginal broadcast to replay (Season 2), i.e. tailies killed off after drunken arrests, i.e. Nikki/Paolo) just to prolong the series as much as they can. Lindelof himself, on a Podcast I believe, stated they couldn't continue with the (his words) "shenanigans". Hence why they announced the end of the series ahead of time so those who feel frustrated will come back to the show believing there won't be anymore "shenanigans".
But I would not be surprised if they extend the series one or two more seasons past those announcements basing on the fact that SO mysteries have to be unraveled.
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Hear, Hear!
There was a time (around the middle of season two and the "Sawyer Needs Glasses" episode) that I thought Lost was the worst show I had ever loved.
Season three, however, has shown me that the writers are devoted to telling a story (to which the ending and major story arcs have already been decided) and telling it well.
If you need instant gratification, go watch American Idol. If you're an adult, watch Lost.
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Permit me to disagree: you're being screwed.
And your mention of Twin Peaks is the giveaway. The reason that show failed is that it strung along the audience too long. David Lynch didn't want to tell a story; he wanted to abuse the audience. Like many other film directors in this sad age, he didn't want to tell a story, examine life or explore mysteries; he wanted to beat the crap out of audiences to prove how great and powerful he was.
Lost has a bunch of opaque mysteries that can't and won't be solved, and the producers simply want to lead gullible audience members on. It's a big elaborately wrapped Christmas present from your parents, and when you open it up, the only thing inside is a broken slab of concrete and a note saying "F you!"
The point where the series lost me was early in this season, where Doctor McDeadhead could have tried to escape through the underwater hatch, but didn't. If he'd been honorable he'd have tried to kill the whore and her pimp who had captured him, whether he lived through it or not. He didn't, and meekly went back to his cell. He was no hero, he had no courage, and the reason why those two factors existed was that the producers were screwing with the viewers.
Maybe a lot of people are into bondage and discipline when it comes to TV viewing. To me, it's a pathetic, sick game. I want a story, characters and meaning. Lost doesn't have it.
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mysteries are more compelling than solutions
I also agree with this article. Someone (apart from Mikal Gilmore of Rolling Stone) in the media finally gets it!
In truth, LOST has answered many mysteries already - the origin of Locke's paralysis, the nature of Kate's crime, exactly why Sawyer is so messed up - but in doing so, it keeps adding compelling new ones. In addition, the key to this program is not the Island mythology but the character flashbacks, which make the characters three dimensional and complex. The people who criticize LOST for not giving them all the answers remind me of the old Hindu proverb - "When the boy cut open his drum to see what made it work, it worked no more."
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Cool.
I like the way some viewers of a teevee judge the worth and intelligence of others based on whether or not they like the teevee show. That is so cool. You people rawk!
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Hear, hear!
Lost just wouldn't be Lost if it weren't (lost).
Lost is MystTV, all the way. I look forward with great relish to being delightfully baffled at the end of finale.
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My fear
I live in Germany, and so am waiting for Season 3 to come out on DVD, so I am way, way behind the curve, story wise.
Still, I am looking forward to more of the show. My only fear is that something happens to Lost, like what happened to Alias. The whole prophecy thing was the most interesting thing to me, until it turned into a zombie movie for the last show of the season. Then, as the only way to extend the show for another season, it ended with, "First of all, I'm not Michael Vaughn". Needless to say, I was no longer interested.
I pray that Lost does not devolve into Alias, but there are too many similarities (no surprise, I know). I just mean that while I also am quite happy to let the mysteries simmer, Alias also had quite a few which went exactly...nowhere. Maybe the Rambaldi stuff got better in the final season, but I'll never know, cuz I'll never watch the filthy MF. I'll try to keep hope alive for Lost, though.
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Not all the answers, but one or two would be OK
I don't want ALL the answers at once. I would just like at least a few answers to some of the more enduring mysteries. For instance, WTF is that black smoke?
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Agree, but with reservations
I completely agree with your central premise, i.e. loving Lost’s mystery and delayed gratification, and the fact that revealing too much too early will only serve to weaken the tension and ultimately the entertainment value of the show. If anything I think they’ve given away slightly too much too cheaply in the latter episodes, but that’s another post for another time.
One thing I can’t agree on is the fact that the writers have always had a plan for all the constituent parts of Lost, a blatant exhibit for the prosecution being Paulo and Nikki, introduced to us in season 3 (and not 2, as stated in the article). This clearly wasn’t planned from the off, serving more as an experiment on the ability to bring new characters and sub-plots into the show than anything else. I guess as you start to kill characters off (and rumours are rife about 3 to 5 biting the bullet this season) then you’re going to need new ones to fill the void, a bit like the tailies did for a few episodes of season 2.
The problem with the Paulo and Nikki experiment is that it went badly wrong, certainly in the eyes of the fans. Even the all-too-knowing “Who the hell are you?” quips from the mighty Sawyer couldn’t save them from the chop. No, the reason Paulo and Nikki were killed off was because this particular experiment had failed, although I must say the episode in which they were despatched (Exposé) was a very clever one technically, threading their back story and imagery through most of Lost’s key moments.
But, going back to the main point of the article, yeah… keep the conundrums coming!
Kryz.