The Official Lost: The Final Season Thread (Warning: Possible Spoilers)

[Schneed10]

Originally Posted by itvnetop

I got the ending. I just didn't like it at all. When it comes to television, I love character-driven arcs. Lost definitely has that- but its core audience didn't argue about which guy Kate was going to pick or whether Sun and Jin's love was enough to get off the island. You take a look at every nearly every Lost forum before the finale and the majority of the posts discuss the mysteries.

The finale wasn't poor writing- in its own box, it was actually well done... one of my writer buddies actually said that although he felt the ending was a copout, the finale (on its own merits) was emotionally satisfying. I totally grasped the finale's themes of love, faith, the potential of one's life and the acceptance of death. But it's as if the writers just thought, "Well, we definitely don't have time to make everyone happy with the questions they want answered. So let's just hope we can rely on some of our fans to believe that this show was always about the characters, first and foremost."

Another friend told me to appreciate the journey of Lost, rather than the ending. I'm a David Lynch fan, so I appreciate certain mind-bending narratives that are all over the place... Trying to follow his films will only confuse- you're suppose to immerse yourself into his madness. And herein lies the problem. Lost wasn't sold as a Lynch-type of show.

The creators intentionally threw in a bunch of easter eggs throughout every episode, recaps before each season/episode to remind viewers of major turns, introductions of supernatural sci-fi tropes galore... all within a framework of traditional (albeit, creative and often unanswered) story-telling. While the "more answers bring more questions" mantra was there, the average Lost viewer isn't watching every week to learn new plot devices that will eventually become irrelevant or meet new characters that have absolutely no bearing on the actual story by its end (random japanese guy at the temple anyone?).

I think there's only a few ways to look at the finale: a) the writers ran out of ideas or b) they intentionally had this ending in mind for a very long time. If it was the former, I almost give the a ending a pass- lazy writing (even in a series finale) isn't uncommon. But the reason I'm kinda ticked is that I believe it's the latter: The creators aren't dumb. They understand timelines and had six seasons to go where they wanted. Meaning they provided six seasons of mysterious island MacGuffins in order to land a sentimental knockout punch that seemed (to me, anyway) inconsistent with the mechanics of the entire series.

In comparison, here's a few series finales that I thought were absolutely amazing: The Wire, Six Feet Under and The Shield. None were exactly "tidy" bow endings with complete resolution... they managed to leave certain elements up to interpretation/discussion while staying true to their respective series' makeups.

Or - and perhaps to state the obvious - the writers intelligently sucked viewers in with these little mysteries, to help keep people interested and to drive ratings.

The fact that nerds on forums like to overanalyze the show only helps ABC. But ultimately the show wasn't about that.

Nerds missed the point, but it kept them watching.

[itvnetop]

Originally Posted by Schneed10

Or - and perhaps to state the obvious - the writers intelligently sucked viewers in with these little mysteries, to help keep people interested and to drive ratings.

The fact that nerds on forums like to overanalyze the show only helps ABC. But ultimately the show wasn't about that.

Nerds missed the point, but it kept them watching.

So basically, the only way to not miss the point is to not hate the finale? I think I was pretty fair with my assessment, in terms of understanding what the writers were saying vs. what many people expected. Can you even see the other side? Or are you just going to pull ad hom guns?

And the show was begging for over-analyzation (thank God I didn't partake in that forum madness, myself). It's not like a bunch of rabid fanboys mistakenly started coming up with all these wild theories based on false premises. If you really think the point of this show had nothing to do with mysteries of the island, then why is it on SyFy syndication? If the "point" was about something else altogether (the themes in the finale did not escape me, if you reread my earlier post), it was more likely to syndicate on Bravo.

The assertion that many viewers who hated the ending "didn't get it" or "missed the point" doesn't hold water. If that was the case, the same viewers would have quit watching years ago (the show left many "I don't get it" moments throughout the entire series anyway). What you got out of the show (what the writers are now spouting on blogs) doesn't make you right and others wrong. Entertainment is subjective- but I guess the SyFy channel certainly "missed the point."

Our very own Nerds!

By the way, the above link doesn't get too hyperactive like those on the official Lost forums. But the posters all discuss plot turns, mysteries and devices- these points cover the majority of posts, by far. If the thread doesn't really delve too much into love, finding ones' self, faith, etc (the supposed "point" of the show), did the majority of our posters miss the point? Or are only the viewers who enjoyed the finale absolved?