The Leftovers has given me a heck of a lot respect for Lindelof. Yeah, it was an adaptation, but the specific ways they fit it to the medium were some of the best parts. So I blame Carlton at the moment.
― Frederik B, Friday, 27 March 2015 15:37 (nine years ago) link
lol there is more than enough blame to go around
― mh, Friday, 27 March 2015 15:42 (nine years ago) link
The alternate timeline even now really pisses me off as a narrative trick, like why even bother wasting half of the entire final season on that when you already know it's going to go nowhere? It just took up a lot of screen time they could have spent actually bringing each narrative thread to an even vaguely satisfying conclusion.
― Matt DC, Friday, March 27, 2015 9:29 AM (1 hour ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink
They were only able to waste half of the season on the alternate timeline because they were busy wasting the other half introducing a cadre of new characters who had no real purpose. Because these are the narrative through-lines you want to pursue when you have a limited amount of time to wrap up five years of lingering mysteries.
― Gimme Gimme Pop Secret (Old Lunch), Friday, 27 March 2015 15:55 (nine years ago) link
It sucked to feel so hoodwinked at the time, but in hindsight I think the failure of L O S T in the home stretch has really helped (some) subsequent genre shows by displaying how sour a turn your show can take when you're flying by the seat of your pants.
― Gimme Gimme Pop Secret (Old Lunch), Friday, 27 March 2015 15:58 (nine years ago) link
their failure in the homestretch was baked into the show's ethos--every mystery had to be subservient to characters learning about themselves, so instead of learning about the temple you had to meet some guy whose kid died, and instead of finding out more about the island you had to see these brothers get mad at each other
― Is It Any Wonder I'm Not the (President Keyes), Friday, 27 March 2015 16:09 (nine years ago) link
The thing that still most irritates me about the alternate timeline is that they wholly fabricated a son for Jack that had conflicts and emotions and stories and he NEVER EXISTED.
― Johnny Fever, Friday, 27 March 2015 16:15 (nine years ago) link
I really don't see that huge a drop-off in quality in the last season, I think after season 2 it sort of went downhill.
― ©Oz Quiz© (Adam Bruneau), Friday, 27 March 2015 16:18 (nine years ago) link
season 4 and most of 5 were pretty awesome as i remember
― Nhex, Friday, 27 March 2015 16:36 (nine years ago) link
otm this tragic flaw ruined it all the way through
― kinder, Friday, 27 March 2015 18:19 (nine years ago) link
"As I described before, there was definitely a sort of "operational theory" for what the island would be -- it was liked by some and loathed by others -- and since Damon and Carlton chose not to say it out loud in the series finale, I won't presume to do it for them. Suffice it to say there was a concrete reason that we openly discussed on several occasions about why the island had an exotic source of power in its core that was able to wreak such miracles as time travel, the motion of the island, and somehow connect with selected people on a psychic level."
I can't think of any theory that would work unless you were high.
― poxy fülvous (abanana), Friday, 27 March 2015 18:19 (nine years ago) link
Ok finally finished this read, it was so long I had to spread it out over a period of nights. A really fascinating look at the writing and creating of this pretty unique show! Gives really great detail on how certain concepts were originated and maybe brought into canon. The drop in quality I perceived following the start of season two makes total sense as all the original writers had left the show. Also makes sense that new network brass did not appreciate the sci-fi qualities, which was my main selling point, and thus were heavily toned down during the middle run of the show.
Did they make everything up as they went along? Of course they did, they were writers, their job was to create something out of nothing (or at least very little).
― ©Oz Quiz© (Adam Bruneau), Thursday, 2 April 2015 14:28 (nine years ago) link
Didn't they start dicking around with time travel during the middle run of the show?
― Matt DC, Thursday, 2 April 2015 14:30 (nine years ago) link
As I packed up two years worth of stuff, a warm and welcome thought danced around my brain: an idea for Lost. As I had to write an email telling Damon that I would not be able to attend the screening he had planned for the season two finale (I only had one free week before starting on Medium and had planned a trip out of town), I added my idea to my regrets on the invitation and pledged that this would be the last thing I ever pitched him for Lost. Hell, I was still on the payroll, so why not?Damon responded warmly, and I went on my way... later, when the idea showed up in season three, I was ultimately gratified. Even on the last minute of the last day, I had been able to make a positive contribution to the future of something that had absolutely changed my life.What was the idea? Oh come on. Do you think I learned nothing from JJ? I may be saying now that this is the last time I will speak publicly about Lost, but I would be a fool if I left nothing in the mystery box!
Hell, I was still on the payroll, so why not?
Damon responded warmly, and I went on my way... later, when the idea showed up in season three, I was ultimately gratified. Even on the last minute of the last day, I had been able to make a positive contribution to the future of something that had absolutely changed my life.
What was the idea?
Oh come on. Do you think I learned nothing from JJ? I may be saying now that this is the last time I will speak publicly about Lost, but I would be a fool if I left nothing in the mystery box!
Any ideas what this is?
― ©Oz Quiz© (Adam Bruneau), Thursday, 2 April 2015 14:31 (nine years ago) link
It's weird, because the sci-fi stuff came back with a vengeance for seasons 4 and 5, so I wonder what changed their mindsToo bad the Smoke Monster wasn't nanobots though
― Nhex, Thursday, 2 April 2015 14:31 (nine years ago) link
xp Oh yeah nevermind. What am I think "heavily toned down"?
― ©Oz Quiz© (Adam Bruneau), Thursday, 2 April 2015 14:34 (nine years ago) link
Well re-reading S3 summary it looks like the time travel stuff was mainly Desmond and perhaps has less of a sci fi flavor than a psychic/pseudoscience leaning. The show was mostly people trying to escape The Others w Desmond having visions of the future interspersed.
― ©Oz Quiz© (Adam Bruneau), Thursday, 2 April 2015 14:37 (nine years ago) link
When I think back on it, it does feel right to me to call the middle years sorta 'toned down'. Season three is castaways vs Others, season four is castaways vs freighter folks. Season 5 def took a trippy twist and season six was just plain weird.
― Frederik B, Thursday, 2 April 2015 15:05 (nine years ago) link
nanobot smoke monster as a messenger sent back from the future would have been awesome
― mh, Thursday, 2 April 2015 15:11 (nine years ago) link
almost anything other than what they came up with would have been awesome, tbh
― sleeve, Thursday, 2 April 2015 15:13 (nine years ago) link
it's gonna end with people walking around the island giving each other warm looks and sawyer giving everyone hugs, softly saying "frackles, frackles, frackles" while violins play for 30 minutes.
― super sexy psycho fantasy world (uh oh I'm having a fantasy), Tuesday, January 12, 2010 10:04 PM (5 years ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink
Maybe more like a Star Wars ending, you see the ghosts of Christian Shepherd, Charlie and the horse standing at the side digging the party.
― Space Battle Rothko (Matt DC), Tuesday, January 12, 2010 10:37 PM (5 years ago)
ILX basically called it.
― Matt DC, Thursday, 2 April 2015 15:21 (nine years ago) link
Kind of amazed Locke didn't turn into his own smoke monster. Maybe they could've used a different color smoke.
― ©Oz Quiz© (Adam Bruneau), Thursday, 2 April 2015 15:21 (nine years ago) link
from new yorker article about group dynamics in simulated missions to mars:
The study also cited reports of “unreciprocated sexual interest” expressed by a person of authority, and resentment from a French-Canadian participant who, forced by the group to sit through the television series “Lost,” complained that the plot was incomprehensible.
http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2015/04/20/moving-to-mars
― Philip Nunez, Tuesday, 21 April 2015 23:38 (nine years ago) link
otm
― mh, Wednesday, 22 April 2015 00:54 (nine years ago) link
hahaha
― Nhex, Wednesday, 22 April 2015 01:01 (nine years ago) link
sad.I remember my heart slowly ripping out when giant pendulums and faraday's crazy math amounted to nothing. the show decided to go an emotional route and ditched any logic for "this is just the way the mystery works, deal with it". Actually, I don't want to recall the specifics because just thinking about this show makes me sad
― The Once-ler, Wednesday, 22 April 2015 01:33 (nine years ago) link
https://www.instagram.com/p/BAiDJ18zCgK/
Hurley's original first line, cut from the pilot.
― ilxors ananimus (onimo), Thursday, 14 January 2016 20:03 (eight years ago) link
up there with dewey in scream 3 and admiral akbar.
― remove butt (abanana), Friday, 15 January 2016 03:35 (eight years ago) link
http://ew.com/tv/2017/04/10/lost-volcano-alternative-ending/
they wanted the smoke monster to come from a volcano
― Einstein, Kazanga, Sitar (abanana), Tuesday, 11 April 2017 07:14 (seven years ago) link