Lost from the beginning (NO SPOILERS)
- Thread starter OdoWanKenobi
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I liked the Constant, but I like Flashes Before Your Eyes better. Don't know why. Probably for the "Pushing that button will be the greatest thing you will ever do" line. We're made to think that it's sad, but at the end his time pushing the botton allowed him to unplug the Island long enough for Jack to kill the Monster.
It just felt more connected to the story than The Constant, although The Constant is quite amazing in its own right.
I think what makes The Constant my favorite Desmond episode is not just how fun it was to watch and how well it was written, but how it changed the whole series in just one episode. It was kind of like a "Dorothy, I don't think we're in Kansas anymore..." type of moment. The series was catapulted definitively into the sci-fi genre, and the way that I saw the characters and the mysteries changed completely.
^Really? Because I kinda thought that a living pillar of black smoke, pushing a button to stop a giant pocket of electromagnetism from destroying the world, and a man being sent back in time after detonating said electromagnetic energy, and subsequently seeing the future had placed the show firmly in sci-fi territory long before.
I don't know, I mean it was on the brink for a while before that episode, but something like electromagnetism has a real world explanation. The writers always hinted that the show would have some sort of real world answers so by that point I was still considering that the black smoke may have an explanation that was more scientific and less spiritual. And Desmond seeing Charlie dying, I wasn't quite sure how to fit that in yet. I thought maybe he had some psychic abilities or intuitions. But actually giving us an episode all about time travel really said to me that there would not be real world explanations for things (not necessarily a bad thing). Introducing time travel really pushed the show out of the realm of scientific possibilities. That's why it was such a profound change to me. It was no longer a drama with slight sci fi elements but rather a sci fi show with drama elements.
I don't think I agree with that last point. It was always a drama. At the heart of the show, it was always about the characters. While some crazy stuff happens, I don't think this show can be labeled as a Sci-Fi show with some drama on the side.
I don't know, you already had Smokie and a polar bear in the first episode. If that doesn't clue you in that the show's going to go to some exotic places (perhaps not as exotic as time travel), I don't know what would. 
I still wonder whether it's actually possible for a plane to crash and one of the engines (both?) to still be running like that. Completely unforgettable, but perhaps not very realistic. Jacob did it!
So here's a harsh question - in the end, would the show have been just as good, albeit shorter, if the time travel plotline had never occurred? I'm trying to come up with ways in which it was vital, but off the top of my head I'm coming up a little short. From a logistical standpoint it was necessary, as otherwise everyone on the island would have been there 3 years longer in the present day I suppose.
I still wonder whether it's actually possible for a plane to crash and one of the engines (both?) to still be running like that. Completely unforgettable, but perhaps not very realistic. Jacob did it!
So here's a harsh question - in the end, would the show have been just as good, albeit shorter, if the time travel plotline had never occurred? I'm trying to come up with ways in which it was vital, but off the top of my head I'm coming up a little short. From a logistical standpoint it was necessary, as otherwise everyone on the island would have been there 3 years longer in the present day I suppose.
I don't know, you already had Smokie and a polar bear in the first episode. If that doesn't clue you in that the show's going to go to some exotic places (perhaps not as exotic as time travel), I don't know what would.
It was definitely weird and mysterious, and there might have been sprinkles of fantasy elements early on, but they weren't that important at the time. The first couples seasons were fairly mundane compared to what would eventually follow.
I don't know if it was necessary. After Season 4, if you eliminated time travel, you'd have to do one of two things:
1) Have less time pass before the Oceanic return to the Island. That way you don't have to make up a 3-year arc for the people still on the Island.
2) 3 years still passes, but you have the Island people doing stuff in the present the entire time.
Either way, we'd lose "The Incident," which would mean losing the awesomeness of Sawyer and Juliet's reunion in "The End."
Yeah, Jawyer/Suliet (wow, those both suck) would definitely take a beating if forced to operate within one season without the benefit of the three-year jump. I could still imagine ways Juliet could get the boot at the end of the season (Flocke's first victim?), but it would be hard to top what we got.
Having less time pass might also make it harder to sympathize with Locke's utter despair and willingness to kill himself...though, now that I think of it, technically he shouldn't have been able to kill himself since he was a candidate...so if Ben hadn't interfered the course of...well, pull at one thread and the entire tapestry starts to unravel...
Having less time pass might also make it harder to sympathize with Locke's utter despair and willingness to kill himself...though, now that I think of it, technically he shouldn't have been able to kill himself since he was a candidate...so if Ben hadn't interfered the course of...well, pull at one thread and the entire tapestry starts to unravel...
If you look at it that way, then the Losties were seldom in any real danger. The Smoke Monster couldn't kill Jack, Kate and Charlie in the pilot. It couldn't kill Locke by dragging him into the hole. Ect, ect. So, I don't like looking at it that way. haha
Also, I think to take out the time travel, the show would have suffered. I mean check out The Constant and Flashes Before Your Eyes. Both episodes relied heavily on time travel(ish) and they were also two of the best episodes of the series. I wasn't as invested in Juliet and Sawyer as I was in Sun and Jin or Charlie and Claire, but to lose that would have be detrimental, as it aided Sawyer's character arc after he killed Anthony Cooper.
Also, I think to take out the time travel, the show would have suffered. I mean check out The Constant and Flashes Before Your Eyes. Both episodes relied heavily on time travel(ish) and they were also two of the best episodes of the series. I wasn't as invested in Juliet and Sawyer as I was in Sun and Jin or Charlie and Claire, but to lose that would have be detrimental, as it aided Sawyer's character arc after he killed Anthony Cooper.
I don't know. Lost is the one show that I haven't made giant lists of what I would have done differently, so I can't really say if I would have taken them out. Over all, I was happy where the show ended up and I feel that we wouldn't have gotten the beautiful finale if it weren't for the weirding up of the show. Had we not had those strange events, I don't think we would have been treated to the flash sideways timeline without the time travel. So, for what it's worth, I think the show needed that to unfold the way it did.
Also, looking back, Smokey proves that Eko isn't a candidate, which is kind of surprising seeing as he seemed to be extremely fated to end up there. I'm sure there are some fan theorists out there who can make him be a candidate, but those are the people that know the show better than Lindeloff and Cuse.
Well candidates can die, but they can't kill themselves nor can smokey kill them. If that were the case then Locke wouldn't have been able to be killed. He surely hadn't worked out his problems by the time he was killed by Ben.
Hmm...good call. Nevermind!
UNLESS! Before they were killed they had to solve their problems. Like before Boone was killed, he had made peace with his feelings for his sister and Shannon was with Sayid, possibly breaking the cycle of male abandonment issues. Eko (if he was a candidate), made peace with life in general, which got him off the list and allowed him to be killed by Smokey. Charlie was kind of a father and had made peace with his own death before it happened.
Shannon's is especially weak, but I can't think of anything for Charlotte, Daniel, Locke, Sun, Jin, Sayid (maybe because he had finally made up his mind about if he was good or bad), or any of The Others.
Actually, I rather like that explanation for Eko. Makes his death even more tragic. Making peace with himself is what killed him... Good stuff.
If it helps, Charlotte and Daniel and The Others don't make it to the church on time, so you don't have to come up with anything for them. Neither did Eko, of course. It seems the Losties would have made an exception for Ben (perhaps largely due to Hurley), but he realized for himself that he still had things to work out (I'd like to think he spent more time with Alex and Rousseau and was somehow able to make amends for stealing Alex away).
Kind of an ironic concept though...as long as you're not at peace with yourself you can't die, but if you ever actually figure yourself out...watch out!!
Kind of an ironic concept though...as long as you're not at peace with yourself you can't die, but if you ever actually figure yourself out...watch out!!
Ben seemed to be accepted by the group at the end, though. Remember when the tree fell on him, and they all were trying to get him out? Sawyer was even assuring him that they would. Come to think of it, we never saw them get the tree off Benn, did we? We saw them struggle with it a lot, but they were unable to lift it. Then the next scene, they all show up in time for Kate to kill Smokey.
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