Lost

[Gerry Helmet]

All speculation, nothing really has been confirmed by the show you can Hazard a guess like you did and most likley you're right, but its not confirmed so you can stick your theories, I already have my own !!

I want the show to answer them ! not a Hint, not a 2 second clip of something a ****ing answer !!

[Dogg Thang]

You forgot why someone who nobody knows would bother his ass wearing a fake beard. That's the big mystery.

[Yoshimax]

To look like they were stranded on the island. Why would they have a whole make-up area with costumes/make up/glues etc ???

Aye the more you think about it the worse it gets

[Dirty Sanchez]

All speculation, nothing really has been confirmed by the show you can Hazard a guess like you did and most likley you're right, but its not confirmed so you can stick your theories, I already have my own !!

I want the show to answer them ! not a Hint, not a 2 second clip of something a ****ing answer !!

The answer to the question of why so much cheap ass reality TV is produced is right here.

Spoon fed generation.

[Dogg Thang]

To want the writers to give some hint that there may actually be answers to these is a far cry from being 'spoon fed'. If anything, that people show themselves to be happy to watch a series of random, badly connected events leads me to the same answer as that to the question of reality tv - because standards have dropped and people will watch just about anything.

[Concept]

To want the writers to give some hint that there may actually be answers to these is a far cry from being 'spoon fed'. If anything, that people show themselves to be happy to watch a series of random, badly connected events leads me to the same answer as that to the question of reality tv - because standards have dropped and people will watch just about anything.

Agreed. It's not necessarily about being spoon fed. It's about being economical with the pacing of the story and knowing when to place things to keep people hooked. Perhaps they've got it spot on, perhaps they haven't. All I know is that watching Lost is frequently a frustrating experience, and if I was a newcomer and hadn't invested myself with the characters over the excellent first series, there wouldn't be enough to draw me in.

[Jebus]

The answer to the question of why so much cheap ass reality TV is produced is right here.

Spoon fed generation.

That is ridiculous mate. They have had two entire seasons now and have revealed ONLY enough to keep you watching. They have created about 5 times more questions than they have answers, choosing when and where to bend reality to make it more convenient to write around things rather than resolve or answer.

I got the feeling last season at times the writers must have been thinking "Well we've got the flashback sorted that SOMEHOW the losties are linked SOMEHOW...maybe we should do something with the actual island story".

I think the flashbacks are vital and important to the characters because the show (after all that) is still about the development of the characters being unveiled to us.

BUT, last episode is a prime example. At the end of season 2, a tremedous amount of questions were left unanswered, the first episode of season 3 was a good start and showed that PERHAPS, just perhaps they would answer a few. Then, we get an episode about Sun and Jin which could have easily waited til later in the season (what did we learn, Jin is good at heart after all; we knew that...Sun cheated on him; we all guessed that) after the questions we had waited months to have answered had been dealt with.

The writers of this show know exactly what they are doing but for me at least are veering dangerously close to just taking their scheme too far. I need to know a bit more about what is going on because I cannot suspend my disbelief for much longer. As I said, I don't expect the others to reveal themselves to Jack or why they are doing things but I DO expect them to somehow reveal to the viewers at least partially what is going on. For a season that was billed as "being about the others" a lot more we've seen no interaction between them apart from the opening scene of the season with the book club. They haven't conversed with each other (thus revealing nothing) at all and the interaction with Jack and co revealed nothing we didn't either already know or guess. Oh wow shock horror they know all about them, that was hinted at a long time ago.

You could write an essay about what we don't know, and everyone has theories, but that is all they are. There is SO MUCH going on that they could easily reveal some of it to keep everyone happy without ruining the show and giving it's secrets away completely.

[Concept]

Good post.

One of the main criticisms I had with the Jin and Sun flashbacks was that it was traversing old ground again (Jin and Sun's disintegrating marital problems/family loyality) and didn't add anything new to their characters. It happened in Season 2 - some of the flashbacks served no purpose to the narrative and added nothing to the characters. IMO of course.

[Jebus]

Indeed, all it actually did was state matter of factly that she did cheat on him, something they didn't need a full 40 minute episode to do.

The interesting thing is that during the episodes I enjoy it a lot but then, when it's over and I think about it, I feel absolutely cheated at yet again having nothing new (or not enough new things) to come away with.

So they have contact with the outside world...wow big revelation, but to what end...they get TV broadcasts etc, so what? Unless that has something to do with black smoke monsters, polar bears, kidnapping children and random people and locking them in cages with fish games, making them break rocks etc...is it useful information, no.

All it was is yet another side-track to draw focus away from the fact that they haven't answered questions that you actually WANT answered.

[bagpuss66]

Aldous Huxley book 'Island' has been cited as having a big influence for the writers of Lost.Quite a few similarites with the show,i tend to think stepan kings 'the stand' is closer to the shows ideas.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Island_(novel)

[Dirty Sanchez]

There have been interactions between the Others, the tension is black and white.

I don't see why all the questions have to be answered, part of the attraction of the show is the analysing and discussion about what may be going on.

The last two seasons have followed the same pattern of posts, wanting to know everything right now, spoon fed, nice and neat. Popcorn TV.

Reading around the subject and looking up a few of the literary references to me is more interesting than ticking a few boxes on a list of questions.

[MonkeyWrench]

some of the flashbacks served no purpose to the narrative...

...Yet.

Just because no connection has been revealed up to now doesn't mean there won't be one in the future. A lot of the point of the flash backs, beyond fleshing out the characters a little, is to show they have all crossed paths at one point or another.

[Family Fry]

There have been interactions between the Others, the tension is black and white.

I don't see why all the questions have to be answered, part of the attraction of the show is the analysing and discussion about what may be going on.

The last two seasons have followed the same pattern of posts, wanting to know everything right now, spoon fed, nice and neat. Popcorn TV.

Reading around the subject and looking up a few of the literary references to me is more interesting than ticking a few boxes on a list of questions.

I think its a bit patronising to think we all want to be spoon fed the answers.
You might be happy being drip fed but lost to me is starting to feel like im at a restaurant, there are no waiters to take my order and when i look at the menu its neverending and there are no prices!

After 2 years of this show it's now becoming agony to watch i'm all theoried out, i can't do it anymore i need answers not more questions.
Fact is me and the wife have watched this together since the start, season 1 had us hooked season 2 left us a bit disappointed and season 3 so far well i'm almost ready to give up alongside the wife.

To quote her.....
"It's a chore to watch this show now, it's one thing to ask questions but when you don't get anything meaningful back after 2 seasons it becomes pointless. Twin Peaks is a good example of questions being asked each week but they gave you enough to keep you interested and on tenterhooks waiting for the next episode. You just know the next episode of lost will be more of the same and it's difficult to care anymore, i'm just watching the show for the sake of it and i'm not actually enjoying it."
She also likens it to the old S&M, enduring a long ammount of pain in the hope of a little pleasure at the end of it all.

By the way this is post Season 3 Episode 2 hubbie/wife analysis, it was ****. I only woke up at the end when Ben showed Jack the TV and he shed a tear, I know I did too but for the wrong reasons.

[Jebus]

There have been interactions between the Others, the tension is black and white.

I don't see why all the questions have to be answered, part of the attraction of the show is the analysing and discussion about what may be going on.

The last two seasons have followed the same pattern of posts, wanting to know everything right now, spoon fed, nice and neat. Popcorn TV.

Reading around the subject and looking up a few of the literary references to me is more interesting than ticking a few boxes on a list of questions.

I watch television shows to be entertained, if I want to get deep in thought about something with endless threads of ideas and theories I'd probably read a book. This is a television show, not the answers to the universes problems, it is not unreasonable nor is it being "spoon fed" to expect some answers to the hundreds of questions posed and forgotten a few episodes later.

In that respect it's either bad writing or just taking the piss out of its audience. You talk of "obvious tension" but that is not what I'm talking about, I'm talking about actual answers, some reasoning behind actions.

[Dezm0nd]

In other news, there is a nice little connections flash thingymajig on their site. Clears up a few things I was confused by.

http://abc.go.com/primetime/lost/connections/index

Shows when and how they're linked via videos and pictures. I must admit the questions are piling up but it's not really bothering me. I'm enjoying this show still.