Lost - The Full Series Thread

[Meh]

It made Battlestar Galactica's final episode look like a work of fucking art.

[kerraig UK]

Lost – Two Months On.

I loved it. Absolutely loved it. From the beginning of the first series, I wanted to know, how did they end up on that island? How were they going to escape? Then, as the storylines evolved, we learned more about the characters back stories, and the mysteries started to unfold. We learned that Hurley was not only a multi millionaire but also a successful businessman, plagued by bad luck. He blamed the numbers he used on his lottery ticket, claiming they were cursed. He picked those numbers because his friend from the mental asylum used to repeat them over and over again.

At the end of the first series, the survivors of flight 815 found a hatch in the ground, and blew it open with dynamite. Hurley found the numbers were written on the hatch and assumed this to mean that whatever was down there was also cursed. He couldn’t stop the other survivors going down there, and when they did, they found there was a man called Desmond living down there. Jack recognised Desmond as he’d met him years before the plane crash. Meanwhile, Clare had a baby on the island. The others, who we later learn were the islands original inhabitants, tried to kidnap the baby for experimentation. We found out that this was because before Clare, women on the island always died during the pregnancy. Why was this? Was this something to do with the numbers? Was the island cursed? The storylines continued and every week, I was hooked. Even when the third series started to drag, I carried on watching it, reading about it on the internet and googling for clues as to what the numbers might mean. When I heard the series was going to run for six seasons, I was a little concerned that I might give up, but then, the pace of the episodes accelerated, and the show got better still. I loved the fact that from this point the end was in sight, and we knew there was going to be an end to the story. (I have never really regained faith in the way American TV works after seeing the pilot episode of Traveller, a fantastic and very promising show which was cancelled so early that we knew there would only be seven episodes. I loved every minute of that show, assuming that the tight pace and great storyline represented a series with a beginning, middle and end in just seven episodes. But it wasn’t – the last ever episode ended on a mid-season cliffhanger ending like every other episode before it. They’d cancelled the show, but still shown the incomplete series anyway, like there was any point!) Before series 6 started, I watched series 1 to 5 over a period of a couple of months. This was really different to watching one a week for 5 years. Watching the episodes this quickly meant I picked up on lots of story details I had previously missed, and I went into series 6 very much looking forward to seeing how it all worked out.

So I watched the final series and I loved it. I kind of resigned myself to understanding that they were not going to explain all the previous mysteries, and as the number of remaining episodes got fewer and fewer, I just hoped for an ending that made the show wrap up well. I wasn’t disappointed and I had a Lost party and friends came round and we watched that last episode as a group. We all agreed we had liked it.

But now, a couple of months on, for some reason Lost has come back into my conscious. I wondered about buying a BluRay boxset when it comes out, and doing that marathon run again. Because Lost was my favourite TV show and had been for years. And only then did I realise that I didn’t enjoy Lost at all. Ever.

Because Lost was all about the puzzles, and the mystery. And we now know that pretty much every single mystery from the first five series didn’t get answered or explained. When I have previously been gripped by the need to know what the numbers meant, why they gave Hurley such bad luck, or in fact any of the things that I enjoyed so much when watching, I now know they were were just smoke and mirrors. They were meaningless.

If Lost had been cancelled at the end of series 5 like Traveller was, incomplete and unfinished, there would have been an outcry. People would have been so disappointed and would have felt like they had wasted 5 years of their lives watching a show without a conclusion. But instead, they made a sixth series that set up NEW mysteries then explained them, and somehow, I fell for it. I came away thinking it was a good ending, and I was satisfied. But on reflection, I just feel cheated.

Lost wasn’t finished. It was a collection of half written, half explored ideas, woven together so intricately that we believed it was a good show. But without any explanation of what the hell was going on, the beautifully conceived and brilliantly constructed show was just a complete waste of everyone’s time. It’s like a murder mystery novel that slips you clues to the villains identity all the way through, then ends with everyone going to the moon and the murder never being found.

So in summary, I think I have come to the realisation that my favourite TV show for the last 6 years was absolutely fucking nonsense, and there’s no way I can bring myself to watch it again, knowing that it’s just gibberish.

Reading this just makes me more glad that I stopped watching half way through season 2

[hereticboy]

I neither loved nor hated the ending. I've not thought about it since it finished, either. Loved it until season 6 and by the end I think I was only watching it so I could see it end.

[CactuarBill]

Well I loved it and I love how the ending has so divided people. It's like the Sopranos ending all over again. I'm a pretty big Lost fan and I think it is one of the greatest television shows ever. Never has one show made me want to listen to the various podcasts, come up with my own theories and spend many hours on different message boards, reading about different people's opinions.

I had no problem with how the series concluded. They answered most of the questions anyway, the rest is up to you to figure out. I realised that while I did love the mysteries, the characters were so brilliantly written that in the end, I just wanted to see how it ended for them.

I agree with people that season six had faults and it could have been handled differently but those things didn't matter to me in the end. It was must watch TV for six years of my life, it's doubtful they'll be another show for a long time that will make me invest so much into it.

[Meh]

It's not The Sopranos ending all over again. I recall some interview with some Lost writer - one of the two big cheeses, I think - and he was all LOL WELL WE WON'T

HAVE A BLACK SCREEN LIKE THE SOPRANOS LOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOL

.

Fucking haaaacks.

[snowbind]

Yeah, you guys got completely jipped. I am glad I dipped in and out. Imagine what you could have learnt with the time you invested in the wankary.

[angel]

Ive not seen a final season manage to undo so much good work before. I couldnt bring myself to watch it again, or reward them with money for the ridiculous boxset. I'll download the extras and consign it to history. In all honesty, I prefer what Doctor Who does compared to this, and thats saturday evening bubblegum kids tv, really.

Oh and the radio silence, refusing to discuss the show, proves how much the producers really cant defend what they did.

[Poet]

Yeah, you guys got completely jipped. I am glad I dipped in and out. Imagine what you could have learnt with the time you invested in the wankary.

Lost was what, about 90 hours of television spread out over six years? If that sort of time is fucking with your education scheduling, I think there's a problem somewhere!

Some people play WOW (or, hell, videogames in general) for more hours in one month than the total air time for Lost so I don't really feel hard done by that the writing and the story weren't always the best. When Lost was good (which was pretty often) I felt it was some of the best television ever. Not the ending, but no surprise there.

[Capwn]

bah, shut it you lot the show is still a massive milestone in television.

The final season of Lost will be released on DVD and Blu-ray on September 13, alongside a complete series boxset containing all six seasons.

In addition to deleted scenes and outtakes, both releases will reportedly include the previously teased bonus scene featuring characters Hurley (Jorge Garcia) and Ben (Michael Emerson), as well as a new featurette titled 'The End: Crafting A Final Season' which will examine the show's final days.

Other special content will include audio commentaries and further featurettes exploring the show's characters and the 'flash sideways' universe.

The complete series boxset will contain over 30 hours of bonus material in total.

[ckny]

I watched every episode over about 6 weeks, finishing last Sunday. I have no idea why I carried on past season 3. Once Jack, Kate and Sawyer were captured by the Others it never recovered. There were some amazing episodes like The Constant and Richard's backstory episode, but it was just fucking dull once it stopped being about man vs nature/supernatural island.

[angel]

The box set is going to be beyond absurd price wise. Hell, even last month HMV were charging 60 quid for fucking Blu Rays of single seasons.

[Nespresso]

The box set is going to be beyond absurd price wise. Hell, even last month HMV were charging 60 quid for fucking Blu Rays of single seasons.

I'd gladly trade my soul for that!

[CactuarBill]

It's not The Sopranos ending all over again. I recall some interview with some Lost writer - one of the two big cheeses, I think - and he was all LOL WELL WE WON'T

HAVE A BLACK SCREEN LIKE THE SOPRANOS LOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOL

.

Fucking haaaacks.

The complete divide people have over the ending is the same.

[squirtle]

I fucking loved it, ending and all. Haters gotta hate and all that.

[Meh]

The complete divide people have over the ending is the same.

I'd like to think the divide is slightly wonky, with the legion of HATE towards the episode causing it to tip over somewhat.

[angel]

I'd like to know the exact point the majority of people began to hate Kate...as Evangeline Lily is still deeply gorgeous...but see her, see Kate. I think I hated her by Season 2, her stories were shit and she was a cock tease. Not til season 5 did I realise everyone hated the bitch.

[Meh]

She was just dull, and her episodes were generally awful.

[rubberducker]

i loved lost. adored it even. thought it was the best television i had ever watched. it was brilliantly crafted concept television - that just kept on giving.

then THAT ending. the one that ignores the reasons MOST people had been watching all these years. the ONE that makes you feel like the writer's have abused your good will, and revealed that the real mystery was that they didn't have a fucking clue how to end it.

everyone i know in the real world HATED it. people who were looking forward to re-watching the whole thing from scratch - who now will never bother.

thats the real test of a classic TV show. is their any real point suffering all those episode again? They will be no payoff. it might as well have all been a dream.

[Mr Cochese]

There's too many actually well written tv shows on to care about Lost, really. They stuffed the ending up horribly, but you just move on to something better.

[Sprite Machine]

I loved Lost until I realised I didn't and never did.

[DC Lemon]

I'd like to know the exact point the majority of people began to hate Kate...as Evangeline Lily is still deeply gorgeous...but see her, see Kate. I think I hated her by Season 2, her stories were shit and she was a cock tease. Not til season 5 did I realise everyone hated the bitch.

[therearerules]

Hate Kate started Season 1 Ep 2, surely? And I still don't understand people who watched beyond Season 3 expecting it all to be wrapped up nicely and scientifically, no matter what the writers said. When you accepted that, the ending wasn't a blow against humanity or any other hysterical thing.

[rubberducker]

And I still don't understand people who watched beyond Season 3 expecting it all to be wrapped up nicely and scientifically, no matter what the writers said. When you accepted that, the ending wasn't a blow against humanity or any other hysterical thing.

loose ends i can live with. not answering the question that drove the entire six seasons ("what is the island?") is downright offensive. i want my hundred hours back, you fucktards.

[futureshock]

Loved it from start to finish, with the weakest series being number 2 for me.

On discovering it, we had a weekend marathon of something like 15 episodes in a row, so I wanted to capture that excitement for the final series. Jesus, it was hard not downloading anything for three months whilst friends wanted to talk about events. It paid off, though. One final Lost orgy for series 6, just in time to watch the finale with the rest of the world.

I'll happily watch the whole lot again one day.

[Sprite Machine]

not answering the question that drove the entire six seasons ("what is the island?") is downright offensive.

What specifically about this question did you want answered? Because for me the questions that drove the series were things like "why are they there?", "who are the others?", "what is the monster?", and so on. We got answers to all of these things.

[CactuarBill]

Loads of people expected some kind of Sixth Sense reveal at the end which forces you to go back through the show and see it knowing the reveal.

loose ends i can live with. not answering the question that drove the entire six seasons ("what is the island?") is downright offensive. i want my hundred hours back, you fucktards.

I love how most people are so angry that they didn't tell us what the island actually was. There really isn't anyway of answering the question. It's a magic, very ancient island, a place on Earth that is different.

My interpretation of the island is that it's the physical manifistation of life and death. If you read up on Egyptian mythology, maybe you can interpret what the island is based on that. Them never actually spelling out what the island is, isn't the problem.

[Mr Cochese]

No, people are angry because Lost had a story, but then the final season started and ended two new stories that had precious little to do with any of the rest of the show.

[CactuarBill]

No, people are angry because Lost had a story, but then the final season started and ended two new stories that had precious little to do with any of the rest of the show.

What was the story of Lost then? Every season has its individual arc anyway.

[CGMF]

What are you all talking about? The majority of season 6 was pony and badly thought-out regardless of how many questions they answered. Who on earth was really expecting them to answer 'what is the island'? What does that question even mean?

[rubberducker]

What specifically about this question did you want answered? Because for me the questions that drove the series were things like "why are they there?", "who are the others?", "what is the monster?", and so on. We got answers to all of these things.

if the question of what the island was - was answered satisfactorily - that would have tied up a whole lot of loose ends about why characters were there, and how they connected etc etc - in one foul swoop.

lets face it. it was purgatory, people called it early on - so the writers decided they were cleverer than the audience and would leave it open. however this means everything they had set up for five seasons was meaningless. it was all about some weak alt purgatory that was only introduced very late in the day - and was their get out of jail free card. only it didn't work for anyone that had followed "A Mystery Show" for its "mysteries".

its a narrative disgrace.