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My love-hate relationship with Lost: Why Lost sucks and why Lost rocks
I hate Lost. I really do. But I can’t stop watching it.
Don’t get me wrong, Lost has a lot going for it. It’s really quite a good show — which is probably why I’m addicted to it (along with millions of others). The plot is remarkably intriguing, the characters are interesting, and the writers have mastered the art of the cliffhanger.
But come 9:00PM Wednesdays Central time, when the show is over, I’m invariably frustrated and inches away from going completely postal. I’ve always enjoyed the previous hour while it was happening, but when I stop and think afterwards about what I just saw, my brain goes into overload mode and I have to watch ESPN Sportscenter to get my sanity back.
Just when you get attached to a storyline or a character, the show ends and you don’t hear about that storyline again for quite a while. And there are just so many storylines and characters, it’s impossible to keep track of them. Just sitting here, I can think of:
Hurley and the numbers, the Others, the black mist monster, the polar bear, the old crazy woman whose name I can’t remember and the numbers, Locke and his handicap, Jack and his dad, Kate and her criminal past, Ana Lucia and her past, Ana Lucia and her being way too bossy, Walt’s kidnapping, the kidnapped twins, Michael’s search for walt, the Dharma film, the electromagnetic thingie in the bunker, Eko and his past, Charlie and his drugs, Claire and her baby, Sayid and his past, Jack’s life as a surgeon, Jack’s wife, Jack and Kate’s love interest, Kate and Sawyer’s love interest, Sawyer’s injury, the raft, the guy in the bunker who ran off whose name I can’t remember but he calls Jack “brutha”, the computer and the countdown, Walt in the computer, the quarantine on the bunker, Locke and his encounter with the monster, Hurley and Libby’s love interest, Jin and his wife, Rose and her husband, Ethan the spy, whatsisface the tail-end spy, the Others kidnapping children, what happened to that one lady who was travelling with the tail-enders, and how all of the above connect (such as Sawyer having met Jack’s dad in Australia).
And that’s just off the top of my head. I’m sure I’m missing countless of storylines.
What’s frustrating is the writers will spend weeks working on a storyline that’s abandoned. For instance, they spent much of season one preparing the raft, saying goodbye to the people on the raft, and then within a few episodes, everyone on the raft is back at the camp, with the exception of Walt. Instead of spending almost an entire season on the raft, they could have had the tail-enders wander into camp chasing a butterfly, have the Others kidnap Walt in the middle of the night, and move the plot along at a much better pace with the same result.
It’s pretty evident that the writers keep having these great and mysterious ideas and then go, “eh, how will we fit that in? Forget it, let’s worry about it later!” They’ve so much as admitted that they don’t have a really specific gameplan, and it shows.
It seems like after every epside, I’m sitting there thinking, that was interesting… but nothing really happened! I worry that this will go on and on and on until there are so many plotlines, so many characters, and so much time spent, that eventually everyone will get tired of the show, it’ll be abandoned, and we’ll never know what the black mist is. Or why the numbers are so important.
One of the more recent teases is two weeks ago, Michael talked to Walt (or so it seems) via the computer that is not supposed to be used outside of inputting the numbers at the very end of the episode. Last week, Michael talked to Walt again, who said to go to… well, they didn’t tell us where Walt told Michael to go. They cliffhangered that, too. And in this week’s episode, Michael has run off, but they still haven’t told us where. Where is Michael going, for Pete’s sake? Locke comments that he has a direct path. But to where?
I’d feel much better about the roundabout pace if the show had a set lifespan — like, it will be 6 seasons long, or 5 years long, or whatever — just some sort of reassurance that the show won’t wander around in circles forever until it just dies of disinterest.
And all that having been said, I’ll be watching again next Wednesday, and madly reading Lost blogs and forums trying to figure everything out.
Thu January 19th, 2006 2:31 pm
Filed under Televsion
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I’m totally with you. I avoided the show at first because it looked awful, but once I started watching I was addicted. I’m not too obsessive about the details, though. I’m just enjoying the weekly ride. If you really want to go bonkers, download the latest episodes from iTunes and watch them over and over and over and over.
Yeah, at first, I actually thought it was a survivor-esque reality show — it wasn’t until well into the first season that I jumped on the bandwagon. I have periods of being obsessed with the details. I have to admit to reading some forums. I did buy an episode on iTunes when I had to miss an episode — I did replay certain parts a lot. Gah.
I wish every show on TV were on iTunes. I’d get a lot more done. Give me Scrubs and My Name Is Earl, please, NBC!
Thanks for stopping in Texas — take care!
You’ve asked me before about Robert Jordan’s Wheel of Time series…man, if you dislike this aspect of Lost, don’t pick up that series until it’s complete (which is allegedly in one more book).
I both agree and disagree with you on this one. I’m often forgetting characters’ back stories, and when their story comes back up I usually am a little behind. But I love that it inches you along like that, just giving you bits and pieces at a time. And maybe I’m just being optimistic, but I don’t see it as the writers bringing along a plot line, then just dropping it when they can’t fit it in. With your example of the raft, that plot did a lot to further the overall story. Without it: Sawyer would not be nearly as accepted as a member of the group; there would still be a rift between Jin and Sun; the Lostaways would know nothing of the Tailaways, from which there are several good plot-offshoots; Michael and Jin would still hate each other; there would have to have been some other way for the Others to get Walt. I’m sure there are other things, too. Besides, this island is not going to let them leave, but we have to see that - we have to see them try or it’s unrealistic.
One thing that does bother me, though, is that there seems to be no organization. I’m sure it goes on behind the scenes, and we see a bit of it with the roster for entering the numbers, but shouldn’t there be some sort of structure or order? They’ve been there 50 days. And though it seems they generally defer to Jack (with exceptions) there’s no visible mechanism for staving off anarchy. I guess everyone is still close enough in time to being in “the real world” to have civilization’s trappings sticking to them, but eventually the situation will degenerate. Jessica thinks there’s about to be a civil war of sorts, and I agree. Jack sucks as a leader IMHO - they’d be better off with someone with a head on their shoulders, like Locke (who I’m sure doesn’t want it) or, I don’t know, Sayid, the Republican Freaking Guard!!
Sayid had a line during last week’s episode — his first since Shannon died. I think they forgot the poor guy is on the island.
But you’re right about the raft. it was definitely necessary, and I was wrong. but last week’s episode drove me nuts — they spent an hour on Charlie and I don’t feel any richer for the experience.
On the anarchy, they probably are too close to civilization. I mean, even the criminals that were on the plane are nice happy members of this little society. And how can you question Jack’s leadership? Charlie’s punishment for almost burning down the camp was an almost-stern talking-to. I was expecting Jack to pull a ruler out of his pocket and tap Charlie on the knuckles. Piano teachers are more upset with their students when they mess up chopsticks than Jack when Charlie nearly killed the lot of them.
I need to read that whole Wheel of Time thing — give me a heads up when it’s done.
I like the show a lot, but you know what adds to the aggravation? The fact that you can get all set to watch a new episode, only to find out they are showing a rerun! This is maddening. And the whole month of December was reruns too!
If you look at tv.com now and then u wont experience that again. with the reruns I mean.
So true. Lost sucks, but it’s impossibble not to watch!
Lost is getting ridiculous with repeats. I’m not obsessive, although Lost was on eof about three shows i like, 24, sopranos and formely Lost. I will honestly never watch Lost again, just to hard to get into with all the reruns.
Lisa: too much work. why can’t they be like other shows and just show new episodes all in a row during the season?
Andreas: Agreed!
Matt: I wish I could say the same… but now that I’m reeled in, I can’t get away.
We liked Lost when it began, but are getting pissed to the point of not watching anymore. They ask two questions for every one they answer. They also introduce silly stuff and never re-visit it. For instance, what the hell was that stupid bird in the last episode? My money is on that never coming up again. Remember the polar bear and the crazy machine that pulled Locke underground? I think next season, Lost can lick my taint.
Don’t you think that with enough “loyal” Lost fans barraging the writers with these questions, it will either ensure that they write in plot tie-ins to all those questions we have, or at least give us the info in interviews or copyrighted literature (for $29.95) from the Studio?
What I’m basically saying is the only way to ensure that our aggravating questions are answered is if we don’t let the writers or ABC get away without telling us.
Of course, forcing them to tell an impossible story might be another version of hell too…