LOST

[bredon7777]

While the last two episodes have been stellar, I'm, well, lost.

Anyone want to have a go at some splainin?

[captainspud]

Sure, Lost is easy to explain:

The writers have no overarching story planned. They sit down and write each episode independantly. If they're tired of a storyline, they don't write about it. There's no point trying to interpret subtle story hints and determine their meaning-- they're not subtle hints at all, they're just butchered writing and chances are they'll never get touched again.

If you don't understand the story, you're not alone-- even the writers are confused. Lost is the worst-written story in the history of television.

[the_ultimate_evil]

Sure, Lost is easy to explain:

The writers have no overarching story planned. They sit down and write each episode independantly. If they're tired of a storyline, they don't write about it. There's no point trying to interpret subtle story hints and determine their meaning-- they're not subtle hints at all, they're just butchered writing and chances are they'll never get touched again.

If you don't understand the story, you're not alone-- even the writers are confused. Lost is the worst-written story in the history of television.

well said i enjoyed it at the start but now i'm getting sick of getting no answers at all and only more questions. plus all the crap of the tie ins you have to read, buy, watch to get the full story is bugging me

[bredon7777]

Sure, Lost is easy to explain:

The writers have no overarching story planned. They sit down and write each episode independantly. If they're tired of a storyline, they don't write about it. There's no point trying to interpret subtle story hints and determine their meaning-- they're not subtle hints at all, they're just butchered writing and chances are they'll never get touched again.

If you don't understand the story, you're not alone-- even the writers are confused. Lost is the worst-written story in the history of television.

You've crapped on Lost, You've crapped on Heroes..

is there anything on television you are not bitterly cynical about? :)

[captainspud]

Sure. House and CSI are good, they're both nicely episodic with a minimum of carried continuity. There are lots more like that-- shows that know their limits and stay in their comfy little hole. Sure, they're not taking any risks or making huge innovations, but they're entertaining TV.

Serial stories like Lost and Heroes need to work harder. The writers need to work two plots-- overarching and episodic. Both need to be handled in the right quantities to make a serial work. Heroes is barely treading water on the overarching-- the episodes don't seem to be moving the main plot along, they just spin in circles. But they haven't drowned yet. I have no doubt that Heroes will be a quagmire within a year, but for now, it's bearable.

Lost, on the other hand, is just a mess. They never bothered to write an overarching story, so chunks of episodes go in a million directions with a net movement of zero. Lost is the worst example of writing by committee... storylines get voted out and overruled, and poof, they're gone.

Serialized writing of any kind is very hard to do well. Bab5 did it well, DS9 did it well, 24 does it fairly well... I can't think of many others. Serialized writing is hard, and without a solid guiding hand you just get a continuity mess. Two of my friends follow Lost, and it amuses me to no end to hear them talking about it the day after a new episode. They analyze every little thing, digging for hidden clues, but I never, EVER hear them discuss anything the next week that ressembles their theories of the previous weeks. A good mystery always gives you the clues and tools you need to solve it. To properly seed the story with clues, the writer needs to know how it ends, and what steps lead up to that ending. This is not the case with Heroes and especially Lost. The writers might have some far-reaching landmark they want to get to, but the story doesn't drive in that direction-- it swerves down side-streets and misses the exit, and then tries to "surprise" the audience on arrival. That kind of storytelling is more thrilling, especially to low-intellect viewers (I'm not casting aspersions about anybody here) who couldn't or wouldn't have solved the puzzle anyway. But it's really bad storytelling. The audience should always be given the majority of the puzzle pieces (especially the most important ones), and then the mystery is in how the pieces fit together. The solution to the puzzle is turning your head and squinting, not digging a pair of scissors out of the drawer and cutting the pieces square to they fit however you want.

See? That paragraph is exactly what I'm talking about. I had no idea what I wanted to say when I started typing it, so my metaphor went all over the place and ended up confusing the hell out of me. ;)

[Bujin]

Strangely enough, I actually agree with my good friend Spud on almost everything he's said.   :)

I loved the first season of Lost, because it looked like there was a direction, and each episode was heading you toward solving this overarching mystery.  Now it's a mess.  That being said, I think that Heroes is doing a fine job so far.

My favorite examples of shows that balanced great episodics with a focused overall serial story were Babylon 5, Buffy/Angel and (even though I'm not really an anime fan and wouldn't usually compare "adult shows" with anime) Full Metal Alchemist. 

[udasu]

Lost does suffer from leaving too many ends undone, and not sticking to the overall arc. It focuses too much time on back stories and commercials, and that is why its viewership has dropped off to a minor number - the emperor has no clothes.

[thalaw2]

I tried watching this and I wish I had seen this thread first.  I can't make it through the first season.  It's so much poo!  I made it to episode 6 with the hope that the story would get interesting.  The characters make no sense at all.  Why is there a divide between the people in the cave and those on the beach?  Can't that watch the beach in shifts?  Other things in the show just made me sick to my stomach...and I've heard over and over the first two seasons are the best.  Bah!

[Podmark]

Guess the show isn't for you.

It's actually my favorite show, can't wait til January.

[Jakew]

I tried watching this and I wish I had seen this thread first.  I can't make it through the first season.  It's so much poo!  I made it to episode 6 with the hope that the story would get interesting.  The characters make no sense at all.  Why is there a divide between the people in the cave and those on the beach?  Can't that watch the beach in shifts?  Other things in the show just made me sick to my stomach...and I've heard over and over the first two seasons are the best.  Bah!

Actually, the second season is the worst one. It improves greatly again after that.

I'm puzzled how season one made you "sick to the stomach", though?  :huh:

[thalaw2]

Actually the first season started off well, but some things are such obvious plot holes that I just couldn't get round them.  I can understand the authors wanting to add depth to their characters but their tactics were not all that great.  For example, not telling what the "wanted" girl did or explaining the watch thing that got the "Korean" (I think the couple is Japanese) man upset.  The only character I found interesting was Locke.  Also, the whole romance thing made me sick too.  Then there was the ridiculous divide between people going to the cave and those staying on the beach....I can't understand why their is a split there when the solution is so obvious.

[bredon7777]

Actually the first season started off well, but some things are such obvious plot holes that I just couldn't get round them.  I can understand the authors wanting to add depth to their characters but their tactics were not all that great.  For example, not telling what the "wanted" girl did or explaining the watch thing that got the "Korean" (I think the couple is Japanese) man upset.  The only character I found interesting was Locke.  Also, the whole romance thing made me sick too.  Then there was the ridiculous divide between people going to the cave and those staying on the beach....I can't understand why their is a split there when the solution is so obvious.

All that stuff is explained...eventually.  Just because it's not explained when you'd like it to be explained doesn't make it a plot hole.

For me, that's half the fun of watching LOST: Seeing how often I'm right when they finally get around to explaining the things I have questions about.

[Podmark]

For example, not telling what the "wanted" girl did or explaining the watch thing that got the "Korean" (I think the couple is Japanese) man upset. 

Actually both actors are Korean born.