Lost Season 6 thread

[HP Loveshaft]

So I went to watch this week's episode the other night and uh, I wound up with the last 15 seconds of Lost and then the full episode of V. I cannot for the life of me understand how this happened. I set up Lost to record as a series.

Any thoughts?

The island is done with you.

[kairparavel]

The island is done with you.

+ 10 at least!

Thanks

[oneeye]

You are no longer a candidate. (Maybe your VCR clock is off by one hour for some reason?)

[kairparavel]

I just have no idea. Everything else I've recorded in the past three weeks has been just fine.

Ah well. I caught up at abc.com today.

[Ran]

You can probably watch the episode on-line via Hulu, I think. :)

[DivisionByZero]

So, no episode this week, but found this over at tor.com: The Gashlycrumb Losties :laugh:

[Caligula_K]

So, the fourth to last episode is coming up tomorrow, and it looks like we're heading into the show's final act. I'm very excited for these next episodes, and I was wondering how everyone has been enjoying this season, overall. Has it matched your expectations? Does it compare to earlier seasons? Is it your favourite? Least favourite?

I think there have been a lot of great and very good episodes. The Substitute, Ab Aeterno and Happily Ever After have to rank among my favourite Lost shows, and along with those we've had some other very good episodes, like LA X, Sundown, Dr. Linus and Everybody Loves Hugo. The acting of nearly the entire cast has been superb- even Evangeline Lily has really grown as an actress and even if she's still nowhere near as good as the rest of the cast and even if her character is still awful, I'm happy she's a lot better than she was in the first four seasons. I'm digging many characters' arcs; I've enjoyed seeing a more humble and restrained version of Faith Jack, Hurley becoming more of a leader, Richard's crisis of faith, Miles deciding to be more snarky than ever and Ben attempting to gain redemption (though sadly he hasn't had much to do since Dr. Linus). There have been a few bad to average episodes (What Kate Does and Recon in particular) and Sun continues to be used pretty poorly, but overall the episode quality has been quite high.

As a season though I'm still not sure if it's 100% working for me. There's been a lot of setup and a lot of unnecessary time spent waiting around, whether at the Temple or at the beach, meaning that the overall conflict between Jacob and the MiB and Widmore is still hazily defined and doesn't have a lot of urgency. Characters annoyingly still refuse to ask follow up questions, and a lot of the mysteries or inconsistencies from past seasons are being glossed over and probably won't be answered (such as Desmond's vision of Claire on a helicopter, or the Smoke monster's motives for the first five seasons, Dharma's motives, the Others' storyline, etc...). In that sense I'm not too sure if this season has done as good a job of wrapping up the narrative as I would have liked so far; the little that Dharma has been addressed, for example, makes it seem like a pretty big red herring in the overall plot structure of the show. Then there are the flash sideways, which have become a lot more interesting in the past three episodes but before that greatly varied in quality from week to week- so Locke's was awesome, and others like Jack's and Ben's have been pretty good, but I'm not sure that any flash sideways plot twist is going to make Kate's or Sawyer's or Sun and Jin's worth watching again. So I'm sort of half convinced on whether the flash sideways were worth it and on this season as a whole.

And this is where these last four episodes come in. I think that the last act of any season can define the season as a whole and make you forget minor criticisms. Look at season 3, which started pretty weakly, had the worst episode of the whole series, and had a couple of average episodes after that, but partially thanks to that amazing four episode run at the end is my favourite Lost season (The Brig-The Man Behind the Curtain-Greatest Hits-Through the Looking Glass). Then look at BSG season 4:

There were a lot of great episodes and plotlines at the beginning and the middle of the season- the Mutiny in particular was fantastic. But then the pretty ridiculous Final Five storyline was never resolved well and the last 4-5 episodes of the show ranged from bad to awful and left a bad taste in my mouth concerning the whole season.

So I think that if these last four episodes are awesome and resolve many things (obviously not everything will be resolved) very well, season 6 could easily turn into one of the show's best seasons. I have faith that the writers can do it, so here's hoping to that.

I'd definitely be interested to hear what you all think about this season and the overall direction of the show, and whether you agree or disagree with me.

[Kalbear]

It's been better than some, worse than others. I don't think it's as good as S4 or S5. S4 was very tight - mostly because of the writer's strike - but things happened at a very high pace, the characters introduced were interesting and brought good conflict, and the use of the flashforward was a nice change of pace for a while. The mystery was good too.

S5 was almost as good. The non-time travel episodes (mostly the ones revolving around how the losties get back to the island) felt a bit long and slow, but the time travel ones picked up the pace, and seeing everyone interact in Dharmaville was pretty neat. Ben and FLocke also did a great job, and had a really compelling story.

The problem is that S6 is essentially a standalone. As long as you watched the last ep of S5, you'd be totally fine with the mythology for S6. Jacob and MiB came essentially out of nowhere, with very little setup to their characters or motivations. The candidacy was similarly badly handled. The mysteries they've resolved so far have been somewhat trite and not particularly satisfying in terms of figuring out why. The sideways universe is vaguely interesting at times, but took way too long to connect back to the normal universe; it reminded me a lot of S2 and S3 flashbacks that just derailed the narrative.

And as you say, a lot of prior seasons and how much time we spent on them feels wasted. We don't have a lot on the Others or why they're so fanatically devoted to Jacob and the island. We have almost nothing about Dharma, and the huge focus on what Dharma is seems ludicrous; how silly is it that the Hatch was the cliffhanger for S1? The tail section part of the plot seems like a huge detour. Locke's shamanistic abilities or how he could walk doesn't look like it'll ever be addressed. And with the sideways, the show set up yet another mystery to be solved in the end. They've had some needless stupidity this season as well - Sun's head injury, Ilana, most of the temple shenanigans. I think this sort of thing is going to bite itself in the ass; resolution of mysteries after 6 years is just going to be unsatisfying at some point due to the buildup. At the end of the day, the story needs to stand on its own, and I don't think it has that well this season.

I think that there should have been more unravelling the mysteries in S5, telling us more about Jacob and MiB and their battle, letting us know what Alpert's story was, letting us know perhaps what the island was supposed to be about. S6 could have concentrated on how to resolve the story. Instead, the resolution of the story is going to be only in a couple of episodes, and is going to be supplanted by the mystery solution as well.

[Rexor]

Finally caught up on all of this...watched about 5 weeks worth of episodes yesterday.

Personally, I liked when Sun couldn't speak...

I mean, it was stupid, but at least I didn't have to sit through two episodes of Sun asking retarded questions and annoying the shit out of me.

Other than that...I'm not really sure how I feel about this season yet. I like it, but we'll see what happens with these last few.

The religious vibe has definitely picked up...

Jacob --> Christ, MIB --> Antichrist (I think)

Think about the Richard episode...

MIB can "promise" Richard anything he wants, Jacob can only promise eternal life.

Other than that...yes, bad things happen to people that Jacob has touched and are supposedly devout followers of him. Yet no one who pledges themselves to MIB seems to suffer. It's very God/Devil.

So far, the only episode I've really disliked this season has been the Sayid episode. Just thought it was really boring.

(sorry, these are all very stream of consciousness type observations)

- I hated the sidewaysverse until Desmond and Charlie had their little experience. Now it seems like it could be really interesting. Thought that there was a lot to Jack having his epiphany with Locke.

- I was also secretly hoping that the fence was on and Jin and Sun would have both went out in a blaze of sonic death glory.

- Re: Sawyer and "the plan" - I mean, they did kinda fight about Claire/Sayid...but Sawyer pretty much squelched that before it started. Kate will do anything to try and get back in Sawyer's good graces and I think Hurley realized he isn't a good leader and kinda screwed them, so he was just going along with it. It's also super hard to make a surreptitious escape with half the damned group.

- Sayid did not shoot Desmond. No way. No how.

- I think the only way that I'll be really disappointed with the series finale is if there is a twist and MIB is actually good and Jacob is the bad one...blah blah blah. That would be lamer than a Shyamalan movie.

- I apologize if a lot of this has already been covered (told you...stream of consciousness)

- I do think it's a little silly that Widmore's group couldn't figure out how to turn a generator on, but can fire Patriot fucking missiles with pinpoint accuracy from some unknown source.

- I wish there would have been more of the cave and the lighthouse. Seemed kind of glazed over.

- I miss Faraday.

- I can't wait to see what Richard, Ben, and Miles are up to. Though, I did love the Richard episode, I was a bit disappointed that he a) ended up on the island because of lost love and B) how a WOODEN ship can destroy a giant STONE statue, end up a mile or so inland, and be relatively undamaged.

- Any chance that the destruction of the statue is more significant than they are letting on right now?

- Also, in the episode that we are introduced to Jacob and MIB, didn't they see a ship off the coast? What ship was that or was it just some more randoms in the annals of the island's history?

Think that's good for now.

[Kalbear]

Also, in the episode that we are introduced to Jacob and MIB, didn't they see a ship off the coast? What ship was that or was it just some more randoms in the annals of the island's history?

That was the Black Rock.

[Rexor]

That was the Black Rock.

OK...but...

The Black Rock came over in a crazy storm. That boat seemed a bit close for a storm to mess it up that badly, no? A storm that didn't even appear to be brewing when they were talking about it on the beach.

[Gertrude]

So far I'm really enjoying the season. I am not looking for answers to all of the mysteries introduced, but I do think that they could have done a better job of tightening all of the loose ends up. I'm still holding out that the final episodes will be packed with relevant info and everything will make sense ... fat chance, I know. It does seem like there is a lot of set-up and filler that could have been used better, especially since they've had their end date for several seasons. Oh well, I am enjoying the story as it goes for the most part, barring the occasional dead spots that others have mentioned.

I've never been a huge fan of Jack, but I am also enjoying him a lot this season. I am also IMMENSELY enjoying the fact there is hardly a trace of the love triangle.

The sideways world was ok at first, not terribly exciting, but it has become something good and hopefully it delivers. The last few episodes are make or break. Even if it's not mind-blowing, I'm happy to have been along for the ride.

[Slurktan]

OK...but...

The Black Rock came over in a crazy storm. That boat seemed a bit close for a storm to mess it up that badly, no? A storm that didn't even appear to be brewing when they were talking about it on the beach.

2 possibilities:

1) The Storm was conjured ala weather patterns as shown on the Island in previous episodes where it can be a torrential rainfall and then sunny 3 seconds later.

2) Black Rock was anchored off the Island and either got caught in a sudden storm or tried heading back out to sea when the storm came and then got pushed back to the island.

Either way as I said after that episode, the giant fricking wave that carried a ship at least a mile inland is what broke the statue. I am still baffled as to why folks think what broke the statue was apparently just the ship on a magical wave of air that vanished as soon as the ship hit the statue.

[Rexor]

2 possibilities:

1) The Storm was conjured ala weather patterns as shown on the Island in previous episodes where it can be a torrential rainfall and then sunny 3 seconds later.

2) Black Rock was anchored off the Island and either got caught in a sudden storm or tried heading back out to sea when the storm came and then got pushed back to the island.

Either way as I said after that episode, the giant fricking wave that carried a ship at least a mile inland is what broke the statue. I am still baffled as to why folks think what broke the statue was apparently just the ship on a magical wave of air that vanished as soon as the ship hit the statue.

OK. Makes sense.

I can see how the wave would break it...but, from the way it was shot, it really seemed like the boat was what hit the statue.

[marwyn]

Still.. I don't know, but wasnt that statue made of solid stone? It does seem unlikely it would shatter into tiny pieces just like that.

Also the way it's filmed (and the way the MiB says it to Richard , actually) is that the ship broke the statue.

Argh, I won't be able to watch tonights episode until sunday. But I guess that's partly a good thing since i'll only have to wait 2 days for the one after that..

[Caligula_K]

Still.. I don't know, but wasnt that statue made of solid stone? It does seem unlikely it would shatter into tiny pieces just like that.

Also the way it's filmed (and the way the MiB says it to Richard , actually) is that the ship broke the statue.

Giant stone/marble statues like that are not built as one piece- they are many pieces stuck together. A tidal wave combined with the force of a speeding ship could easily break a statue like that into many pieces.

The problem is that S6 is essentially a standalone. As long as you watched the last ep of S5, you'd be totally fine with the mythology for S6. Jacob and MiB came essentially out of nowhere, with very little setup to their characters or motivations.

Completely agree with this. The MiB and Jacob war makes sense thematically. The entire show, from the beginning, has slowly escalated the level of conflict. So in season 1, we have Jack vs. Sawyer; season 2 we get a leadership battle between Locke and Jack; season 3 we get the conflict between the survivors and the Others; season 4 we get a bit bigger and go into the battle for the island between two Others; and so it makes sense to scale it back and for us to see that the real conflict is between two demigod type characters. But they have not done a good job so far of integrating this storyline into the past five seasons. Sure, we've found out that Jacob touched many of those (from Dharma and the Others) who came to the island either to win his debate with the MiB or to test them for the candidacy, but other than that... The MiB being the Smoke Monsters hasn't explained any of the Smoke Monster's behaviour for the past five seasons, the Widmore-Ben war seems to have been irrelevant to the Jacob-MiB war, the whole cabin thing is still murky, etc... Hopefully they'll begin to tie these things up in the next couple weeks.

[The Pita]

I've started watching S2, since I've missed half of it, and I miss the Others. They used to be an awesome, terrifying, mysterious force. When did they degenerate into a froggy man who keeps getting beaten up and a group of people stupid enough to be manipulated by him?

[Myrddin]

I've started watching S2, since I've missed half of it, and I miss the Others. They used to be an awesome, terrifying, mysterious force. When did they degenerate into a froggy man who keeps getting beaten up and a group of people stupid enough to be manipulated by him?

Don't worry. That froggy man will soon impress you to no end. :)

[The Pita]

Don't worry. That froggy man will soon impress you to no end. :)

I've seen the entire series, I just missed half of S2. I'm rewatching the entire season.

I know who Ben is. I know he does some impressive things. But the others were terrifying in the first two seasons. I just commented as to how ruined they've become. Like Richard. The only thing in the show that has gotten more awesome is John Locke.

[Gertrude]

Gah - I'm not sure I even wanted to know that. I am glad that he has been spared for a reason apparently. The scene where Ilana gives him a second chance needs to be validated. If he were to just drift off into the background after that, I would be very disappointed. I do have to say, I think I like Ben the uber-teacher and protector of children almost as much as manipulative bastard Ben. Of course, he wouldn't be nearly as interesting if we didn't already know about bastard Ben.