Lost - General Discussion

[hypnotoad]

Quote

I often feel as though I want to re-watch the whole show, but though I've started two or three times (I bought the complete show DVD's when they first came out), I never seem to get beyond the first season, and so much time goes by before I try again that I feel as though I have to start from the beginning again. It's a vicious circle!

That's me too. But reading this is making think I need to really start AND finish a re-watch!

[ByTor]

On 1/9/2017 at 8:31 PM, hypnotoad said:

Hurley's lack of weight loss. I mean seriously. All they did was run around that damn island. I realize they were only there like 4 months or something, but he should have lost weight.

Didn't he say he tightened his belt one notch?  Baby steps :P

[mamadrama]

In the first episode, when we hear Old Smokey for the first time, we get that mechanical growl thing but we don't actually see anything. I remember that, at the time, people were saying it might be a dinosaur but the show peeps were assuring us that they weren't dinos. Those mechanical growls were never really explained, were they? I mean, is that just the sound that Smokey made (for no particular reason) or was there going to be a different kind of storyline that was dropped?

[AndySmith]

Also not explained was why a smoke monster without a defined form or shape would need to knock down trees as it moved around the jungle. Or why it was selective on who it killed and who it didn't kill, why it Locke was able to stare it down then a few episodes later it tried to drag him down a hole, etc.

In many ways, Smokey just didn't make sense.

[joelene]

http://theoriesonlost.blogspot.se/2010/06/what-smoke-monster-was-doing-in-every.html?m=1

A very well thought out blogpost I just found about The Man In Black and the purpose of all of his appearances as the smoke monster and Christian. It's speculation, obviously, but I think most of it makes sense. I like the speculation of how and why he infected Claire, for instance, and that she broke the barrier to the cabin and that's why he kept to portraying Christian even to Locke, because it started for her benefit. And also why he appeared to Locke in Walkabout, why he grabbed him in Exodus, his appearance to Mr. Eko etc. 

[AndySmith]

While I don't agree with quite a bit of it, I do have to give him credit for putting in more thought into the whole smoke monster than the show runners obviously did.

[JenTen1585]

I LOVED this show so much!  And I think I am one of the few that loved the finale!  I loved seeing all of the characters we lost during the years reconnect so much!  Watching Hurley's smile when Charlie opened the door had to be my favorite moment I think.  I missed the first season, then caught up when they replayed it in the summer.  After that, I watched every single episode real time and would spend at least a 1/2 hour every morning after around the water cooler  in my office, dissecting the episode, talking about my favorite parts and coming up with theories.  For me, it was always about the characters.  My favorites were Locke, Hurley, Charlie, and Desmond.  I loved any episode revolving around one of those characters.  Some of my all time favorite episode's were the one where Hurley sets up the golf course, and the one where Hurley is in charge of the food locker, the one where Charlie dies (even though it's heartbreaking, it's so beautiful), and I LOVED the one where Desmond talks to Penny on the phone.  I love when Locke watches the tape about the hatch, pauses, and then says, I'm going to have to watch that again.  It's funny but Jack and Kate were not really my favorites.  Sometimes they were just too ... or tried to be ... just too perfect.  I would get so excited at the end of some of the episodes!  I remember several times sitting up straight in my bed in pure excitement after a plot twist or mini-reveal!  And to me, the end made sense enough.  I understood it, and more than that, I understood why they did it - for the emotional payoff and the goodbye to our beloved characters that we all deserved.  I loved the scene with Hurley and Ben in the end where they compliment each other for what they did on the Island after everyone else left or died.  I liked thinking about that Ben was outside of the church but wasn't quite ready yet to move on with the rest.  To me, I always interpreted in that last scene that these weren't the only relationships of their lives, but these were the people from the most significant and important part of their lives and so, while they all died at different times, and while I'm sure they had relationships with other people that died at other times and moved on, they - the Losties- all would move on together.  I just loved it!  

Right now I am watching Sense8 and it gives me a bit of Lost back ... but there will never truly be another Lost.  

[AndySmith]

Quote

I loved any episode revolving around one of those characters

Even Fire + Water?

Edited January 23, 2017 by AndySmith

[Lady Iris]

A coworker of mine just marathon watched Lost and finished the series last night. I was cringing as I was waiting for her verdict on the final episode as it seems people either hated it or loved it. I loved it and thankfully she did too. Talking it over with her brought back so many memories of watching this when it first aired. Especially suffering through those interminable weeks of no new eps. Anybody remember there was actually a website that answered the question with a yes or no if Lost was new that week?

I wish I could refer her to the old TWOP. Those recaps were on point and I got so much from reading them and the forums back then, they were so rich and in depth. I still feel so sentimental about this show. There'll never be another like it. Lol even talking about how Vincent showed up at the end with Jack STILL got me all choked up this morning, sonofabitch (ala Sawyer.)

[ByTor]

4 hours ago, Lady Iris said:

I wish I could refer her to the old TWOP. 

Here's a link to the forums archive http://web.archive.org/web/20140330154200/http://forums.televisionwithoutpity.com/forum/1176-lost/

and the recaps http://web.archive.org/web/20140329210810/http://www.televisionwithoutpity.com/show/lost/

[Lady Iris]

19 hours ago, ByTor said:

Here's a link to the forums archive http://web.archive.org/web/20140330154200/http://forums.televisionwithoutpity.com/forum/1176-lost/

and the recaps http://web.archive.org/web/20140329210810/http://www.televisionwithoutpity.com/show/lost/

OMG!!! I could kiss you!!! Hug you!!! I did not know these were stored anywhere! I thought they were all gone. I tried another link before on that web archive thing but it wasn't loading properly. I thought I was SOL. Thank you!!!!

[ByTor]

My pleasure, @Lady Iris!  As I said in the Breaking Bad forum, it's fun to "go back in time" and see what people were saying when the show was on in real time.

[magdalene]

I am rewatching this series for the first time since its original airing and it amazes me how many little details I had forgotten over the years.  Still I remember the big moments very vividly and that has made some episodes rather bitter-sweet on re-watch.

Things that are still true for me are how much Locke annoys me - he is so gullible and causes so much destruction and death. Easy to coerce indeed.

James Ford and Juliet still are my favorite couple, the chemistry, the total unexpectedness of that pairing.  The utter heart break of her death and my ugly crying when they get re-united in the after-life.

Speaking of the after-life,  I remember there being a big stink in some fandom quarters over the spiritual ending. While it worked for me I know some people who think the ending ruined the show.

[slf]

I'm only sort of kidding but: instead of an evil plume of smoke and time traveling hippie murderers I wish the island had been inhabited by dinosaurs. During the second episode (I think) when they're all on the beach at night and something's crashing through the jungle I really thought it was going to be dinosaurs. It would've been a totally different show but I stand by that.

[alexvillage]

Out of curiosity, I started watching this show on Netflix. It is not my kind of show, the supernatural vibe but well, i am watching it, more or less - skipping some parts that I find annoying.

I am particularly curious about the numbers. Is it ever explained why the "clock" has to be set back to 108 minutes? And why all the numbers added result in 108? 

[Cobb Salad]

alexvillage, this may answer your question:

http://lostpedia.wikia.com/wiki/Push_the_Button

[alexvillage]

18 hours ago, Cobb Salad said:

alexvillage, this may answer your question:

http://lostpedia.wikia.com/wiki/Push_the_Button

Thank you for that. I now wonder if someone really did all that research on the number 108 or if this is just someone who went all in trying t explain it.

I am inclined to believe that they chose numbers and added them, that's all. All the explanations one can probably find similar stuff with any other number. But I guess I will never know :) 

[Peanut6711]

On 6/17/2017 at 7:03 AM, alexvillage said:

Thank you for that. I now wonder if someone really did all that research on the number 108 or if this is just someone who went all in trying t explain it.

I am inclined to believe that they chose numbers and added them, that's all. All the explanations one can probably find similar stuff with any other number. But I guess I will never know :) 

I watched the show years ago and am now re-watching on Netflix.  In the final season, the numbers will tie in w/Jacob's candidates if I recall correctly. (I'm not that far along in my rewatch)

[alexvillage]

11 hours ago, Peanut6711 said:

I watched the show years ago and am now re-watching on Netflix.  In the final season, the numbers will tie in w/Jacob's candidates if I recall correctly. (I'm not that far along in my rewatch)

Yeah, I finished the season. Wasn't impressed at all. I was curious in the beginning, but by season 4 I was mostly bored. Finished watching due to stubbornness. 

To tell you the truth, at some point I stopped caring about any logic or explanation. The writers failed to keep it intriguing (to me).

[Anela]

This was my favourite show, for a few years. I watched the whole thing, but only got through the first season on a re-watch, a few years ago, other than catching a couple of episodes in the middle of the night, on a channel that showed repeats. I'm watching the pilot now, and just got past the first exposure to the monster - it did sound like a dinosaur. 

I bawled when I watched the finale, in 2010, even though I was bothered by the fact that we didn't get answers, and it did seem to have been purgatory all along (even though they denied it). 

[Anela]

I can't remember enough of the show to complain, really. I need to re-watch the whole thing, and give Gilmore Girls a rest. I can't believe it's been three years since I watched any of it.

I loathe love triangles, and also hate it when a villainous character somehow gets all members of a love triangle together, and insists that they talk about their lurve for each other, forcing someone to admit something, etc. LOATHE IT. Reading about that is already putting me off watching some of it. It's been so long that I had to google a few characters, because I couldn't remember who they were, and the fact that time has gone so fast is freaking me out (I watched the season finale seven years ago). 

[Gregg247]

Here's my unanswered question:  During the time of the Oceanic Six, when Jack was back on-staff at the hospital in LA, he saw his father's ghost in the hospital lobby one night, telling him he had to go back to the island (Hurley had tried to tell Jack the same thing earlier).  Since this couldn't have been the Smoke Monster (he's trapped on the island), then was this really the ghost of Christian Shephard?    And if it was, why would he want to send his son back into such a dangerous situation?

[Gregg247]

1. Favorite characters: Ben, Locke, Kate, Desmond, Miles, MIB-Locke, Hurley

2. Least favorite characters: Martin Keamy (I hate this character so much, I can't even stand to watch the actor who played him in anything else!),  Charlie, Michael, Ana Lucia, Shannon, Claire, Sayid

3. Rank the seasons: 6-1-5-4-2-3  I almost gave up on this show midway through S3, when we learned the secret of Jack's tattoos!

4. 10 favorite episodes: Final episode, 1st episode, The Constant, the S3 finale where Jack tells Kate "We have to go back!", the death of Nikki & Poalo, the one where Daddy Locke gets killed by Sawyer, Richard's flashback

5. Best Romances: Kate/Jack, Sun/Jin, Desmond/Penny

6. Worst Romances: Kate/Sawyer, Charlie/Claire, Ana Lucia/anyone, Shannon/Boone

7. Favorite non-romances: Hurley/Miles, Hurley/Ben, Ben/MIB-Locke, Ben/Alex

Bonus 8: Best Villains: Daddy Locke, Smoke Monster, Ben 

[jamblastx]

So since I feel that I have reached close to the end of television, a few months ago I decided to rewatch Lost on Netflix as I haven't seen it since it last aired.  Going in, I had figured that I may get bored since I had already seen it but it would be a good diversion in case my new DVR recordings were bare.  I braced myself knowing that season 3 meandered but the season ender was a wallop and off I went figuring it was going to take me a good six months since I am not a binge watcher.  At first I was watching an episode every few days (sometimes even a week in between) and it struck me just how much I had forgotten so while I knew overall where the show was going, I still almost had a 'new' feeling to it as the details were forgotten by me. 

I then found myself watching an episode a day as I would always look forward to see what was going to happen next...then by season 4, I was powering through three or four episodes per day and this was becoming my main television watching.  I just finished it last night and I feel I have a whole new appreciation and understanding of the show and wondering why I had thought originally that there were so many questions left unanswered.  Sure there are a few and quite frankly, not really important to the story. 

If anyone reading this hasn't watched the show since it first aired, I would recommend highly in doing so again...

[Cobb Salad]

I watched the show during its initial airing and later bought the DVDs.  About a year or so ago I binge watched the series and was sad when I got to the last episode.  I’m contemplating another go through soon so I’ll second the thought.  

Also, about the unanswered questions, while it would have been nice to know, leaving them unresolved didn’t ruin the overall story for me. At one point I forgot about some of those parts anyway.   

[ElectricBoogaloo]

Here is where to discuss any past or future projects of the Lost cast and crew!

[ElectricBoogaloo]

Christopher Meloni & Patrick Fischler discuss their new SyFy series Happy!

[DigitalCount]

On 7/24/2017 at 11:59 PM, Anela said:

I bawled when I watched the finale, in 2010, even though I was bothered by the fact that we didn't get answers, and it did seem to have been purgatory all along (even though they denied it). 

This is actually kind of my pet peeve; I'm not sure why, but it always bugs me when people say the Island was purgatory. Maybe it's because the show did so many things wrong that I want to defend the one thing they did right?

The writers bent over backwards to establish by the end that the events we witnessed on the Island occurred during the natural lives of the survivors of the Oceanic Flight 815. In contrast, the "flash-sideways" of Season 6 was actually a giant leap forward, because that was what we would consider purgatory--it occurred after the characters had died.

However, the end of Jack's natural life occurred in the finale, on the Island, years after the original crash when a second plane brought him back to the Island and he died from injuries sustained in a fight against a monster wearing the form of John Locke. None of that was a metaphor or a symbolic struggle after a presumed physical death on the 815; he lived through that, as did all the other characters we watched.

I'm not saying this to scold you or nerdsplain the story, because it was a common enough misconception that obviously something else should have been done to combat it. But Christian's speech clarifies that Jack didn't die until we saw him die, and people like James, Kate and Claire went on to survive and live their lives in the world, with Hugo and Ben remaining on the Island in the roles Jacob and Richard had once held.

[PoultryDancer]

My winter project is rewatching Lost, which I haven't seen since the finale in 2010. I finished season 3 last night. 

How about Ben's young friend Annie? That had promise and I know it doesn't come up again in future seasons.

Libby is entirely dropped as a character, after teasing that she was in the mental hospital with Hurley. 

 

I'd love an honest interview with Cuse or Lindelof explaining how designs or plans change over the course of a show. For example, I imagine Mr Eko had to have been slated for a much larger role in the overall scheme of things, but I know the actor asked to be let go after season 2 and they talked him into the early season 3 death episode. I think an interview with many of these scenarios listed would be fascinating. 

Edited February 13, 2018 by PoultryDancer

[Pallas]

1 hour ago, PoultryDancer said:

Libby is entirely dropped as a character, after teasing that she was in the mental hospital with Hurley.

Libby returns in the last season, connected to Hurley as a love interest in the sideways 'verse, and in the real world (I think) as the source of the Elizabeth, Desmond's boat.

[blueray]

2 minutes ago, Pallas said:

Libby returns in the last season, connected to Hurley as a love interest in the sideways 'verse, and in the real world (I think) as the source of the Elizabeth, Desmond's boat.

There is a popular theory (that I support) that Libby is the Elizabeth the boat is named after. This is however, never confirmed in the show.

[PoultryDancer]

That's true, but doesn't change the fact that her character was wildly underdeveloped. It makes that cliffhanger ending to 'Dave' meaningless. 

[Pallas]

3 minutes ago, blueray said:

There is a popular theory (that I support) that Libby is the Elizabeth the boat is named after. This is however, never confirmed in the show.

Sure she is! Desmond asks Libby what her late husband named the boat; Libby blushes and replies, "Elizabeth."

[PoultryDancer]

5 minutes ago, blueray said:

There is a popular theory (that I support) that Libby is the Elizabeth the boat is named after. This is however, never confirmed in the show.

Having just watched season 2 recently, I distinctly recall that Libby clearly states in Dez's flashback "He named it after me." Referring to her now-deceased husband.

ETA: Was beaten to it by mere seconds!

Edited February 13, 2018 by PoultryDancer

[blueray]

51 minutes ago, Pallas said:

Sure she is! Desmond asks Libby what her late husband named the boat; Libby blushes and replies, "Elizabeth."

nvm, I looked it up and yeah your right. I totally forgot about what was said in that scene with her and Desmond. She sadly was underdeveloped though.

Edited February 13, 2018 by blueray

[Pallas]

Do you think Libby was under-developed, or was she killed too soon?  In the time she had on the show, I'd say her character was more fully developed than many who had more screen-time, or even, six full seasons of it. That seemed to be true of most of the Tailies. 

For example. Without referencing any other character, tell me something about Claire. Your answer cannot contain the phrase "peanut butter." 

[DigitalCount]

She was spiritual but not religious? Yeah, I got nothing...

Also, no one will ever convince me that 2 For The Road was not due at least in part to DUIs. It's too obvious to me that at the least the timing was changed.

[TheRabbi]

What did Locke see when he saw the monster the first time? I believe it was in Walkabout, where see a 'monsters eye view' over Locke. Locke later claims he saw a 'light' or something beautiful, which doesn't really make sense to me. Thoughts? 

Just finished rewatching the series last night. I think my biggest dropped plot point is the cabin. It moves, supposedly is surrounded by ash keeping Smokey/Christian inside, yet he still shows up everywhere. Just a very confusing storyline. 

[TheRabbi]

Finished watching this show last night, for the first time since it aired. I still feel that season 6 is the weakest, but the finale ties a great bow on everything, and I also really liked the Richard episode Ab Aeterno. 

Nothing will ever compare to the experience of watching Lost the first time, hopping on forums immediately after each episode and discussing around the water cooler at work. But watching the whole thing over a couple months rather than 6-7 years is still a preferable way to do it to keep your memory fresh. 

Was surprised at how much I liked the third season, despite a rocky beginning. Yes, several of the flashbacks get redundant and boring, but the overall story fits together nicely, and the 'Par Avion' cliffhanger of Jack playing football with the others is still my all time favorite. Hurley and Charlie starting the Dharma van is also a highlight. 

I like the first half of the show better than the second, but it's still a great series and I'm glad I finally rewatched it.

[Pallas]

1 hour ago, TheRabbi said:

What did Locke see when he saw the monster the first time? I believe it was in Walkabout, where see a 'monsters eye view' over Locke. Locke later claims he saw a 'light' or something beautiful, which doesn't really make sense to me. Thoughts? 

Terry O'Quinn says that he was directed to look at the camera-on-stick as if he were gazing on the most beautiful thing he had ever seen. Locke later describes it as "the eye of the island."  My view is that Esau had the power to pull his subjects' deepest fears or desires into conscious view, and what Locke "saw" was a feeling of being nurtured and valued. A belief that he held onto, despite everything: for which Esau calls him a fool, and Jack calls him the better man.

[DigitalCount]

I thought he saw the Heart Cave from the finale, or at least a vision of it.

[Pallas]

1 hour ago, DigitalCount said:

I thought he saw the Heart Cave from the finale, or at least a vision of it.

Ah! That makes perfect sense! The womb.

[TheRabbi]

Something else I was thinking about while watching. Every orientation video for a station is x of 6. But there's more than 6 stations. The hydra is 1, arrow 2, swan 3, pearl 5. I think the orchid was 4? But then you still have the flame, the tempest, the looking glass, the medical station, etc. Just random, or any meaning behind it?

[lizstar300]

I just finished a Hulu rewatch and am so glad I did. I hadn't revisited any of it since it first aired. Though nothing compares to those first times (the light from the hatch window, the end of Walkabout, Desmond and Penny's phone call, "We have to go back!"), I found myself just as enthralled, if not more so, simply because I could remember plot points from 3 seasons ago much more easily since it wasn't that long ago that I watched them.

I remember also being kind of perturbed at the cynics' opinion of the finale. I remember thinking that it was beautiful and fitting and gave me what I needed out of the wrap up of this show, anyway. I was afraid that upon rewatch, I would see those cracks and flaws that others saw. I didn't. "The End" was every bit as moving as I remembered. I cried again at how it illustrated the interconnectedness of humanity, how we really are all connected (in this life, in a parallel life, in the next life, who knows). Am I being too philosophical? Maybe. But I find that increases the enjoyment for me.

After this, I'm not sure what series I'll tackle next. Any suggestions?

[Pallas]

9 minutes ago, lizstar300 said:

Any suggestions?

The Leftovers. Also by Lindeloff; also echoing E.M. Forster: "Only connect." 

The first season is brutal. Brutal because (I felt) the process of world building was about a world devolving...just a little; just 2% or so. But make it to episode 6 -- the mighty "Guest" -- and you may experience that first-time "Walkabout" thrill. The moment where you feel the "whoosh!" as a show takes off.

[VCRTracking]

I loved the show but I still wish they had gone with the original idea of casting Michael Keaton as Jack and then killing him off and having Kate be the leader and also not make her a fugitive. What we got instead was far worse IMO.

[DigitalCount]

I feel dumb for asking this, but was the sailboat race ever legitimately clarified as an attempt to get to the Island? I remembered it only as a plot device for Desmond to prove himself, but was it ever solidly stated that it was in fact part of Charles' scheme to find the Island again? And if not...did something like that need to be addressed explicitly? I was thinking about the show recently and it just randomly snapped into place: it was totally a plan that one of the competitors would end up on the Island, though not necessarily Desmond.

[Pallas]

You're right, of course, now that you point it out: I don't recall realizing that during the run of the show. I forget: how much were Charles and Eloise in touch, in the more modern day? She certainly knew that Desmond's destiny lay there. 

[SevenCostanza]

On 1/29/2015 at 12:17 AM, Kalliste said:

Mile was Sawyer's partner in the flash sideways.

 

This is how I interpret the flash sideways:

 

The characters are dead and in some state (purgatory maybe) and don't realise they're dead.. so at this point they've lived their lives off the island (or on it as the case may be for Hurley and Ben) and died however that happened and they're living their dead/flash sideways lives as they want to/think they should be remembered (kate think she deserves to be punished and is much the same in real and flash sideways world)... granted that theory doesn't work for Aaron because I doubt he'd want to live his undead life as a baby.. obviously when it gets to these issues, the answer is just Lost.. 

 

So Desmond's job was to 'wake them up' to the realisation they were dead.. why were they all sharing the same dead world? Who knows, maybe that is what people in purgatory do. Then everyone gets to be happily ever after.

 

My biggest issue with how it ended is that Sayid was with Shannon in the church!! As if Sayid would be with Shannon, that is just crazy talk. He would 100% definitely be with Nadia.

 

 

And yes, I'd love if the show ended in Dharma world.. Juliet lets off the bomb and boom. Lost! End.

Yes thank you.  I thought that was  really poor writing.  I get that they wanted to bring Shannon back for the end but it would have been better to have her meet up with her brother instead. 

[DigitalCount]

The explanation I read (maybe from Cindy McClellan?) was that Sayid was a better man for Shannon than for Nadia, and his reactions to their respective deaths were why he ended up with Shannon instead. That's a fair reading, even though I don't know if I agree with it.