Lost - The End

I haven't watches the last 5 episodes cuz everything started being a little boring and nonsense.
Just download the last 2 chapters and probably finish them this weekend.

24 is going to end tomorrow as well......

Btw, there will be another special ending when DVD/BD released.

 

http://www.collegehumor.com/video:1936291 <- unanswered questions, I'm trying to start this post off with some humor before I tear LOST apart.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0411008/board/flat/157027145 <- list of solved and unsolved mysteries, bookmark it if you're into the show as it will be updated for months if not years to come.
http://features.metacritic.com/features/2010/lost-finale-review-season-6-episode-17-18/ <- reviews from various TV critics though Metacritic is intentionally leaving off a few bad reviews for reasons that TV insiders can guess.
http://entertainment.slashdot.org/commen...amp;sid=1662826 <- very good discussion over on /. about the show. I have it set for only top rated comments to be displayed.

And now on to the analysis. I used to be a TV critic so this isn't going to be short. Though this isn't the first time I railed on a TV show on these forums.

Emotionally if you look at the show then you'll love it, the finale. The reunions of the characters, the nostalgia of seeing returning cast members, it was a cheap trick to capture the hearts of the viewers. No fan isn't going to like seeing all of the characters return one last time. The writers had no intention of making people think about the significance of the island, or science, they just wanted people to sob or feel happy about seeing the characters reunite. It was about the hearts of the viewers. But what about the minds of the viewers?

If you critically think about the show, it falls apart as a series. As far as I'm concerned the show went from being a legendary tale of science-fiction and mystery, to a mediocre series of dubious religious meaning, based on just the finale alone. All of the science fiction elements, electromagnetism, time travel, psychology, ethology, nothing was answered nor explored because clearly the writers were incapable of doing so.

The show's creators specifically stated that all of the island's mysteries would be revealed with scientific explanations in many interviews. When I went to an ABC function in NYC last year one of the show's behind the scenes producers told me that everything would be answered. But none of the scientific questions were logically answered. Why? Because the writers wrote themselves into a corner with the scientific complexity of the show. They couldn't possibly explain what the island was and have it satisfying to science oriented viewers. Or explain what the numbers meant. How Desmond was able to connect to purgatory in the afterlife. Why the island couldn't be found through normal means of navigation. Why the island healed others yet made some women infertile. The list of unanswered questions is enormous. They just kept making things up and expanding the mythology of the island to a point where they would never be able to resolve anything.

And Myke, maybe you didn't see them in Australia, but here in the states, the advertisements were so bad that they gave me seizure inducing douche chills. The Target ads featuring moments from LOST. I mean come on please can you sell out more? As if writing in two extra seasons because ABC demanded it wasn't bad enough. They have to make LOST oriented commercials? There is a reason why HBO basically owns TV over the last decade (The Wire, Deadwood, Bad of Brothers, Generation Kill, The Pacific, OZ, The Sopranos, Six Feet Under). Because they aren't busy selling products with their shows. It's about story first and everything is second. You could tell that moments from the season finale were specifically edited to setup commercial breaks. I used to work for ABC, so my salary was paid for by those advertising dollars so I understand the pressures of that money, but the focus of a show should be the art, and the story. Not trying to crowbar in a million commercials, which it seemed like that's what the primary motivation of everyone at ABC was the last two seasons. Let's take LOST and commercialize it and write the last seasons to appeal to the lowest common denominator in an attempt to boost ratings.

I should have asked someone at ABC for a DVD copy then I would have missed those Target commercials and my opinion of the finale would be a bit less extreme.

Complex shows traditionally have weak ratings. The greatest show of all time without question, The Wire, had really awful ratings on HBO. No one could follow that show week to week which meant that viewership plummeted early on. Yet the creator, David Simon, refused to compromise his show to make it more popular, and that attitude spawned arguably one of the greatest stories told in the last 100 years. Season four of The Wire is probably the best season of any TV show ever created. The Wire is more than a masterpiece. If you haven't seen The Wire then do watch it. That is truly amazing television. But shows like The Wire are only possible on HBO, because HBO doesn't have commercials. The ABC brand is hurting for money (hence why I left), any attempt to milk more money out of LOST was going to be taken whether the creators wanted it or not. LOST isn't as bad on filler as something like Dragon Ball Z but nevertheless, entire story arcs were written entirely for filler because it meant more money. And with the TV news budgets killing the bottom line, Oprah leaving, shows like Flash Forward tanking, ABC needs more money from somewhere.

And the plot holes? How can those be excused? Do we let all of the plot holes off of the hook because the show had a happy ending? I don't know how into LOST anyone here is, but I watched the first five seasons four times through, and the the episodes in the sixth season leading up to the finale twice each. So I'm very familiar with the plot holes but I don't know how many people here are familiar enough with the show to want to discuss them at length. That being said there are hundreds of plot holes that are separate from just being unsolved mysteries or unanswered questions.

And by the way, being a former ABC employee, I can tell you point blank. The writers did not have this ending planned out from the start of the series. I cannot make that more clear. At the start of the series they cast extra actors who were good looking, physically attractive, and wrote in new parts because it would give the show international appeal and help sell more products. They kept adding and making up characters and roles that didn't fit in with the original story. Why would they do this? Because they know what's up. Everyone knew it. When you write a show for HBO you know the drill. Story first or you will die fast. When you write a show for networks you know the drill as well. Advertising dollars first or you die even faster. Everyone in TV knows this as harsh as it is.

By the way, it seems like everyone is debating if the mythological island is a real place. Did they really crash and survive? Or did they all die in the initial crash? Was everything on the island real? Was the island purgatory? This ending is not meant to be as deliberately vague as everyone is taking it. But because the show was written so wildly over the years, it's impossible for all but the most seasoned viewers to piece things together. And the plot holes don't help either. That being said, this ending is changed from the one in the original storyboard, at least it is according to my source.

In a few weeks I'll post back here again and talk about the original ending as I was told what it was last summer. For now? More links of critics not liking the ending.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/tvandradio/7758625/Lost-finale-disappoints-reviewers.html
http://www.mistertelevision.com/468/lost-faqs
http://today.msnbc.msn.com/id/37308154/ns/today-entertainment/
http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/news/tv/la-et-lost-review-20100524,0,289843.story]
http://www.tvfanatic.com/2010/05/lost-review-the-end/

 

thread over... EmpNova responded

 

I worked for ABC too where did you work EmpNova?

 

I worked for ABC sports doing field work (traveling everywhere basically) before the brand was sadly eradicated and turned into ESPN on ABC. I also worked in New York City doing both local and national news, and in Albany covering local and state politics. The budget for ABC news everywhere is basically next to nothing compared to a decade ago. Local news channels are eroding at rapid paces now. And ABC sports is gone and ESPN is constantly slashing jobs it seems like. Getting a job is cutthroat and I'm not sure I want to stab people in the back anymore to maintain my employment. I got out of TV right when the economy was starting to tank and advertising revenues were plummeting. Can't say that I miss it really as the industry, both news and entertainment in TV, is really brutal and harsh. The problem with TV is that profits come first above all else including content and quality.

 

Sounds like we were in the same business. I ran for the hills too in to the arms of the jews...errr real estate. (Hah to the other jews really) I actually miss the madness to be honest and I'm thinking about returning very soon. You're right however it's hard to stay afloat in the business right now.

On another note; I didn't give Lost a chance until this year. I did an insane marathon one week during the slow season in NyC. Eyes hurt but I caught all the way up to season 6. What can I say it helped with my fast at the time. The character that got me interested in it was actually Benjamin Linus. However him along with the others just seemed to be tacked on in the attempt to maintain mystery as the series went on.

 

I enjoyed the last episode. Glad the series is over.

 

Lost is Trash. IF you spend 7 seasons watching a show where every season more motherfuckers became lost and nobody got off the island then you deserve to be just as stranded as they are by the ending. Tried watching it once just could'nt get into it.

I'll stick to True Blood,Sparticus and The Boondocks.

 

Cause everyone knows that the sign of a true quality series is putting in a fuckscene every episode pushing the story forward, building characters and shit

 

Crap, more crap and awesome.

Just stick to The Boondocks.

 

I enjoyed Lost at the beginning and then got frustrated and quit when it became obvious that they didn't have a plan for the series and were just drawing it out. I caught up because some friends of mine just would not stop talking about it and finally watched The End last night.

For me (before watching The End) the series' backbone was the possibility of redemption and I thought for sure that two of the books referenced early on in the series would come to play (The 3rd Policeman and The incident at Otter Creek Bridge). bit of right, bit of wrong.

so many holes, so many unanswered questions. Ultimately dissatisfying. They really tried to paste up the ending with the "hero" characters getting back together and happy and I wouldn't doubt if that strategy worked for the most part but it was really too bad to see that, at the end, they couldn't pull it together. even with a deadline.

Balls.

Also, Jericho got canceled in the first season. they got it brought back by inundating the producers with peanuts (true story) and then had it canceled again and had to hurriedly wrap it up in awful, awful fashion.

Heroes sucked.

 

They should end this entire story around season 3 or 4. The rest part is kind of answering one question by throwing another question.

Everything started when Jack opened his eyes, and end when he closed.

 

Fuckscenes rule the world the way its done in this show....You may find it offensive Unless your Gay but hey its your life.

@Marlyjay - Im quite sure you enjoyed that episode.

 

"The Red Ball" was awesome. I'm pretty sure McGruder got some inspiration for the episode from the Samurai Champloo baseball episode.

The only thing it lacked was Samuel L. Jackson's voice for Gin Rummy. Ruckus was his classic racist self (although not nearly as much as he was in "The Story of Jimmy Rebel").

I'm still waiting for the return of Bushido Brown.

 

This means the show is full of gay fuckscenes that you enjoy. I appreciate you being up front about the things you like. Takes balls to do that in such a testosterone-charged environment.

 

Yup it's OK SDS_Overfiend1, we all still love you. No homo.

I agree the show got lost (ti-hi) in itself but it's certainly tv history. I remember after certain episodes like "The constant" just going wow and thinking this was better quality then many of the movies I've watched. Very uneven show though.

 

Damn i let the cat out the bag on my sexuality.... i guess nobody wants to play vf with me no more boo hoo.

I was being a bit too sarcastic. In short the scenes dont really affect my decisions on the show. I know most of them are boy-lovers but it comes with the story.