LOST..... How do you think it will end

[div0]

I don't mean to sound rude, but I don't necessarily think most people would have enjoyed a two season show, which included the most expensive pilot ever. They (the production team/companies) obviously wanted to recoup their costs and make a profit, so to play it out over 6 seasons and string along a loyal fanbase was probably the best way to do it. I'm quite sure they couldn't care less about the people that didn't enjoy the ending, and would rather satisfy the masses.

Most people I know who like the show (die hard and part-time fans alike) were interested in the show because of the plots and characters, instead of the science aspect. As such, most people I know were satisfied with the ending. I can completely sympathise with those who felt the ending was a cop out, and can understand why, but I think the producers (correctly, in my opinion) went for character closure instead of science/answer closure.

So, just to be clear, you'd have wanted a Lost with no Faraday, Desmond, Penny, etc?

A 2 series show was maybe a bit of an exaggeration. But they could certainly have got rid of a lot of things which imo were very badly scripted in. Arguing that a S6 show is right for the audience, because it allows the production team to recoup their money is not really the point. They can create a 6 series show, which works, rather than a 6 series show that feels like it's been cobbled together and padded out with a lot of completely irrelevant stuff.

If they were going for that ending all along, I'd have wanted a Lost with no Faraday, no Miles, no ginger bird, no Naomi. No introduction of folk in the Temple, which only created the illusion that you might get answers, only for them all to be killed off anyway. No back story to Jacob/MIB, as again this just created some very weak script writing that attempted to tell us about some of the mysteries (light/cork/monster), but failed horribly imo. I'd definitely have kept Desmond/Penny but would have done without a lot of the things they 'revealed' (badly) in S5 and S6.

Don't get me wrong - on the most part I loved Lost. But IMO they didn't end things well at all. In fact the last couple of seasons seem incredibly badly thought out compared to the others. Sure there were lots of good points as you went along, but all the bad points just turned out to be completely pointless and the show would (imo of course) have been better without them.

I don't dislike the ending because of how it ended. I dislike the ending because they introduced characters/subplots that were not necessary and used these (usually poor characters) to drag out the show. If the show had ended in a way which meant that these characters/subplots were explained/important, then I'd have enjoyed it a lot more.

But as I said before, I was just left feeling like the writers had strung us along towards the end.

 

[jonislost]

Pretty sure the thing that killed Juliet would have been that 100 odd foot fall

I don't believe the nuke went off. It just doesn't sit right. I think the time shift was triggered by the energy release from the magnetic area.

 

[lemonkettaz]

I just think they got carried away in the first 3seasons with amazing ideas that were great to watch...

Then obviously the fans frenzy on mysterious and problem solving didn't help the writers because obviously we all thought (fans not us or me) in general, of better ideas solutions to ending the show..

They could have ended it by trying to answer everything and that would have still left people unhappy, we all had our perfect Lost ending.

Everyone involved in the show, us the writers etc got swept away for 3seasons then I think the last few have been bad (writers strike) then reality obviously hit because it's been an awful last season all round and a really weak ending considering all things.

 

[toshj]

A 2 series show was maybe a bit of an exaggeration. But they could certainly have got rid of a lot of things which imo were very badly scripted in. Arguing that a S6 show is right for the audience, because it allows the production team to recoup their money is not really the point. They can create a 6 series show, which works, rather than a 6 series show that feels like it's been cobbled together and padded out with a lot of completely irrelevant stuff.

If they were going for that ending all along, I'd have wanted a Lost with no Faraday, no Miles, no ginger bird, no Naomi. No introduction of folk in the Temple, which only created the illusion that you might get answers, only for them all to be killed off anyway. No back story to Jacob/MIB, as again this just created some very weak script writing that attempted to tell us about some of the mysteries (light/cork/monster), but failed horribly imo. I'd definitely have kept Desmond/Penny but would have done without a lot of the things they 'revealed' (badly) in S5 and S6.

Don't get me wrong - on the most part I loved Lost. But IMO they didn't end things well at all. In fact the last couple of seasons seem incredibly badly thought out compared to the others. Sure there were lots of good points as you went along, but all the bad points just turned out to be completely pointless and the show would (imo of course) have been better without them.

I don't dislike the ending because of how it ended. I dislike the ending because they introduced characters/subplots that were not necessary and used these (usually poor characters) to drag out the show. If the show had ended in a way which meant that these characters/subplots were explained/important, then I'd have enjoyed it a lot more.

But as I said before, I was just left feeling like the writers had strung us along towards the end.

I completely understand. I would have loved more depth to the plot in terms of having things understood and explained, either obviously or subtly. I too felt that they didn't really have any idea of the ultmiate direction of the show during series 2-4/5, but I personally watched it because I thought the characters were excellent. I was more interested in their endeavours, rather than be given answers to questions that, although relevant, weren't necessary for the series to come to an end.

I agree with your point about having a 6S show that worked, but i reckon a lot of the part-time viewers (and there are lots) would have been put off if it all came down to science and a very heavy plot. A lot of people stopped watching after the first 1-2 seasons because the show went down a route that was unattractive to their viewing interests, and if the producers had have indulged even further in this vein then I reckon it would have been disastrous.

I actually feel really sorry for the people that didn't enjoy the ending. I can fully understand why people didn't enjoy it, but I wouldn't like the feeling of having spent countless hours watching a show (including bunking off work for a few days to watch all of season 4) only to be left disappointed by the whole thing.

Yes, they went down the emotional route, but I don't think they were wrong to do it.

 

[toshj]

Are some people a bit simple, or are they just sycophantic towards the writers? Plot resolution and character conclusion are *NOT* mutually exclusive.

no, not simple. some people do realise its just a tv show, and that the viewers are unavoidably at the whim of the writers.

I'm not entirely sure that me saying "I enjoyed the route the writers took the show" is being sycophantic. They wrote it, and I was entertained. I suppose that does make me simple then... ignorance/bliss

 

[d3moliti0n]

The thing I find amusing is the fact that this arguing/debating is going to go on for days/months/years (at least on Lost specific forums) and no one can do anything about it, the show is done and dusted.

Yeah, maybe in three to five years from now we might get a spin-off or some kind of Lost version two, but until then, all of this arguing is for nothing really. And even with a spin-off or version two, we might not get any answers to the original Lost, it might just completely ignore everything from the original series apart from the Island and maybe bits and pieces of important mythology. It ended, some people loved it, some people hated, it was always going to be that way from the start.

 

[div0]

I agree with your point about having a 6S show that worked, but i reckon a lot of the part-time viewers (and there are lots) would have been put off if it all came down to science and a very heavy plot. A lot of people stopped watching after the first 1-2 seasons because the show went down a route that was unattractive to their viewing interests, and if the producers had have indulged even further in this vein then I reckon it would have been disastrous.

I'm not suggesting that they should have gone down the science route and explained everything in detail. Although there was a point around S4, where I'd hoped they would do this.

What I didn't like is that the ending they used could have been good. But that a lot of the things that they DID chose to show/explain towards the end, were done badly and then turned out to be irrelevant. The ending was all about the relationships between the main characters and their time on the island - which was mainly S1-S3/S4. But I personally think that if they were going with the ending they went for, they'd have been better off avoiding most of the science side of things (which they attempted to half explain, but failed badly).

They could still have had the same (side-flash to purgatory) ending, and the same character journey, but without a lot of stuff that turned out to be pretty irrelevant, and that's what spoiled the ending imo.

All the stuff with Miles/Faraday/etc, time travel, fake Locke, MIB/Jacob, their 'rules' on the island, the 'light/cork' and being 'candidates', just felt like a very badly thought out part of the main character's lives on the island and by introducing those things and explaining things very poorly, detracted from the point of the ending.

 

[bam0]

no, not simple. some people do realise its just a tv show, and that the viewers are unavoidably at the whim of the writers.

I'm not entirely sure that me saying "I enjoyed the route the writers took the show" is being sycophantic. They wrote it, and I was entertained. I suppose that does make me simple then... ignorance/bliss

I like how you ignore the important part of my post and fail to address why you think we couldn't have had proper plot resolution along with character conclusion.

 

[toshj]

I'm not suggesting that they should have gone down the science route and explained everything in detail. Although there was a point around S4, where I'd hoped they would do this.

What I didn't like is that the ending they used could have been good. But that a lot of the things that they DID chose to show/explain towards the end, were done badly and then turned out to be irrelevant. The ending was all about the relationships between the main characters and their time on the island - which was mainly S1-S3/S4. But I personally think that if they were going with the ending they went for, they'd have been better off avoiding most of the science side of things (which they attempted to half explain, but failed badly).

They could still have had the same (side-flash to purgatory) ending, and the same character journey, but without a lot of stuff that turned out to be pretty irrelevant, and that's what spoiled the ending imo.

All the stuff with Miles/Faraday/etc, time travel, fake Locke, MIB/Jacob, their 'rules' on the island, the 'light/cork' and being 'candidates', just felt like a very badly thought out part of the main character's lives on the island and by introducing those things and explaining things very poorly, detracted from the point of the ending.

Yeah, I completely agree. It did feel like the producers/writers got themselves a tad lost (anti-pun). I definitely had the feeling they had dug themselves in too deep, and left it far too late to explain everything.

I think they included all of the science side of things to keep people watching sadly. A lot of people I know that preferred the sci-fi/mysterious side of the show had come to terms with the fact that most of it wasn't going to be answered in the final few episodes, including the finale.

 

[wordy]

I'm going to quote someone from another webiste, who pretty much summed it up for me:

The first series was one of the best things I've ever seen on TV. Utterly compelling viewing.

Unfortunately after that it slowly descended into sucking it's own ballbag.

 

[d3moliti0n]

I'm going to quote someone from antoher webiste, who pretty much summed it up for me:

Agreed, seasons one and two were superb and compelling TV, after that they gradually got worse and worse until we ended up with that ending. Ok, the ending worked, we got somewhat of a fitting end and closure and I enjoyed seeing that but the way it all played out was utter cack.

 

[toshj]

I like how you ignore the important part of my post and fail to address why you think we couldn't have had proper plot resolution along with character conclusion.

Clearly, we could have had both but the writers chose not to, and I'm satisfied with that. Like I said, they obviously left it too late to settle everything and went for the easier "crowd pleasing" option.

I actually thought the important part of your post was referring to me as simple and sycophantic. Just because we have opposite views on this, there's no reason to act like that. Good work though...

 

[Hostile_18]

The ending was pretty much the perfect ending but we could have had it all. The other 15 odd episodes should have picked up pace and addressed these questions;

http://www.collegehumor.com/video:1936291

 

[d3moliti0n]

My belief is that when they started the show, its general storyline was:

1. plane crash lands with people on board.
2. all people on the island are marooned.
3. finding out the secrets of the island, eg why does it have healing properties, what is the dinosaur creature, what is the Dharma initiative, hoping for rescue, etc etc
4. And eventually, those who survive get rescued and the show ends.

I think this is the way the show should have gone, they added way too many questions and other crap in the end though and had to figure out an end for this 'big idea' they had.

 

[gonda]

It was an ok ending, nice and happy etc, and I guess at least gave explanation for the last season (the island was real, the side-flashes were the next step towards heaven). But just too too TOO many questions left unanswered. The thing I wanted to know about were the silly little things, the Polar Bear, Hurleys numbers, more about Dharma etc. Oh and also what's the deal with Miles being able to talk to speak to dead people. Oh and what about Michael and Walt?

They gave us an ending, but frankly after so much time invested watching their show, I think they owed us a little bit more in terms of answers to these silly little questions. They were after all, most of what made the show so interesting and intriguing.

 

[div0]

Agreed, seasons one and two were superb and compelling TV, after that they gradually got worse and worse until we ended up with that ending. Ok, the ending worked, we got somewhat of a fitting end and closure and I enjoyed seeing that but the way it all played out was utter cack.

Pretty much how I felt too, except I enjoyed it up till about S4, then after that they just lost the plot. The ending worked, and gave closure to the main characters, but the way it played out to get there could have been so, so much better!

 

[jonislost]

It was an ok ending, nice and happy etc, and I guess at least gave explanation for the last season (the island was real, the side-flashes were the next step towards heaven). But just too too TOO many questions left unanswered. The thing I wanted to know about were the silly little things, the Polar Bear, Hurleys numbers, more about Dharma etc. Oh and also what's the deal with Miles being able to talk to speak to dead people. Oh and what about Michael and Walt?

They gave us an ending, but frankly after so much time invested watching their show, I think they owed us a little bit more in terms of answers to these silly little questions. They were after all, most of what made the show so interesting and intriguing.

The Numbers, Polar Bears, Dharma, Michael have been answered.

 

[gonda]

The Numbers, Polar Bears, Dharma, Michael have been answered.

Lies

 

[Frapple]

Maybe it's because I re-watched the whole thing recently, or because we're on a forum with a technical/scientific orientated audience but did half the people in this thread even watch the same show as me? Were they all too busy playing doodle ****ing jump on their iPhones instead actually watching the show?

Did type a long reply but deleted due to sounding redundantly defensive, /unsubscribe. In summary: Go watch it again & pay attention. It's not a show for the 'stupid/throw-away' TV audience that other shows attracted around the same time.

 

[jonislost]

Lies

Th Numbers = The valenzetti equation, a group of numbers which predict the end of the world (like the real life doomsday formula)

Dharma = An initiative looking for ways to change these numbers, thus changing the date of the end of the world. They were brought to the island by Jacob (like most groups), but they came to experiment with the island unusual magnetic properties and exotic matter.

Polar Bears = Part of the Dharma Experiments. Also used to move the island through time and space once trained (hence finding skeletons in the Tunisian desert)

Michael = Died on the freighter, but stuck on the island as he is a sinner and needs to repent before moving on.