How many of you thought that they did it right?

[label]

So I'm curious about the number of you who thought the writers handled things. I know better than 75% liked the show a lot, but that number might not necessarily be directly proportionate to the number of people who thought they could have handled things differently.

Take me, for instance. I voted the show as excellent. I laughed, I cried (a lot) and overall I thought it was very powerful. However, I also think they writers could have been a little clearer on certain mysteries and maybe detailed the stakes out a bit more.

So the question is this:

How did the writers do for you?

 

[Ryan8bit]

I probably should have voted other because I thought the show was good, yet aside from the mysteries not really being answered, the whole flash sideways seemed like a non-sequitur to the rest of the series. Was the show really about what happened to them when they died? I think there's much more to the judgment of the show than what's presented in the poll.

 

[Starbreaker]

I wish they had been clearer on a few things, but as far as the evolution of these characters, I was completely satisfied. I really don't think they could have satisfactorily explained how someone turns a wheel to time travel or turns into a smoke monster, but they could have spent a little more time explaining the Jacob thing.

 

[label]

the whole flash sideways seemed like a non-sequitur to the rest of the series. Was the show really about what happened to them when they died?

No, the whole show was about what happened to the characters over the 6 years and the flash sideways was giving us a look into the future at where the characters end up at. Kind of what Bab 5 did when it looked forwards into the future 10 years, 100 years, 1000 years and 1,000,000 years....... I look at the flash sideways as the postlogue or afterwards of the main story......only difference is that this "afterwards" was presented concurrently with the climax and resolution of the story.

 

[Obiwanshinobi]

I pretty much agree with you. It was good but some things should have been more clearer and shown or told of like the ramifications if MiB were to succeed, for instance. Anybody think Christian spelling it out at the end, kind of Scooby Doo-ish?

 

[Ryan8bit]

No, the whole show was about what happened to the characters over the 6 years and the flash sideways was giving us a look into the future at where the characters end up at.

Dead? Because that's pretty much where they ended up, and for several characters we don't even know how they got there. The show was obviously about the characters, but the finale was just about what happened to them all at various points after they died, which is why it's a strange bookend. This is especially true given all the misleading by the producers and the nonsensical nature of the flash sideways.

 

[davejames]

I definitely think the storytelling overall could have been a bit tighter and more focused (especially this season where it felt like characters were just being moved randomly around the island), but the finale itself I thought was perfect.

I know a lot of fans would have preferred a more "sciencefictiony" resolution to the whole thing, but personally I think the spiritual/metaphysical focus was a lot more interesting for the show and for the characters.

 

[LitmusDragon]

I think the finale was good, not great, but good. Emotionally it was fine, but the resolution to the flash-sideways was a bit too new-agey for me. The island mysteries were resolved to my satisfaction, in fact you might say they were over-resolved. I was hoping for something unresolved- MiB gets away, a Wal-mart is found at the center of the island (), Richard is revealed to be Locke's father (well, not really), something really wacky that we could speculate about for years to come. In fact, it's rather strange that the show didn't end on an unresolved cliffhanger.

 

[Jax]

The show was so complex they could never answer enough but overall I loved it anyway and the finale was excellent. If I had to make a list LOST would be 4th for this season of my tv shows and deffo in top 10 of all time around maybe 7th.

Such a clever briliant show that's left us stuff to talk about in the future.

 

[label]

No, the whole show was about what happened to the characters over the 6 years and the flash sideways was giving us a look into the future at where the characters end up at.

Dead? Because that's pretty much where they ended up, and for several characters we don't even know how they got there.

Why does it matter whether Kate died of old age, cancer or in a car accident once the main island-story is completed?

The show was obviously about the characters, but the finale was just about what happened to them all at various points after they died

I think it was nice that we got to skip ahead to their final fates and see they in the end they all had become family and their next existence with each other.

 

[RoJoHen]

Exactly. Christian summed it up nicely when he said that what they did together on the Island was the most important that any of them had done, so it makes sense that they would all be drawn together again in the afterlife.

 

[Delta1]

Rose and Bernard never did anything really important on the island, and vehemently rejected any participation in the A-team's missions. Why did they get pulled in to First Lostaways UU? That seems more like a punishment than a reward. Especially since, for Rose, it meant getting cancer again.

Penny never set foot on the island and had never met half the people in the Church. Why is she there? Because she picked up eight people on her boat? Because she's Desmond's wife, and there are perks to being Desmond?

No matter what Sayid did on the island, he was in love with Nadia his entire life. Why was he drawn to Shannon, who he banged for maybe a couple of weeks? Was that really the most important relationship in his life?

Boone had a short, unhappy existence on the island, then an airplane fell on him. Shannon had a slightly longer, but probably less happy existence on the island, then she got shot. Yet both cared so deeply about the losties that the had to seek them out in the afterlife?

The church reunion was driven by actor availability and fan service. There's no rational, in-story explanation for why it turned out the way it did. They got whoever they could and put them in a room so they could get the crowd shot. Part of that is the realities of making a TV series--hard to know who's available--but part is just a symptom of writing feel-good spiritual fluff instead of constructing a believable spiritual system using that system to guide your writing.

 

[Mr Awe]

The mostly got it right. They produced a thrilling finale that had some answers and lots of great character moments. A few more details about how the Lost universe works would've been nice. But, very enjoyable. I did feel that the afterlife theme took too much of the screen time, both for the season and the finale. It was nice but too much.

Mr Awe

 

[DeafPoet]

Had they been clearer about the stakes it would have been flawless in my eyes. As it stands it's just really fucking good.

 

[doubleohfive]

The church reunion was driven by actor availability and fan service. There's no rational, in-story explanation for why it turned out the way it did. They got whoever they could and put them in a room so they could get the crowd shot. Part of that is the realities of making a TV series--hard to know who's available--but part is just a symptom of writing feel-good spiritual fluff instead of constructing a believable spiritual system using that system to guide your writing.

I interpreted it more to be that these were the people who were most important to Jack, which is why they were all there in *his* church scene.

 

[Ryan8bit]

Why does it matter whether Kate died of old age, cancer or in a car accident once the main island-story is completed?

It doesn't, but that wasn't my point. It was that you said we got to see where characters ended up, and that is really just dead. Before this season, the show was never about the characters reminiscing in the afterlife, it was a show about the characters' struggles with their past, their current situation, the mysteries, and their destiny. The whole afterlife bit was a non-sequitur to all that, and on top of that it doesn't even really make sense, in ways that Delta1 illustrated fairly well.

 

[RoJoHen]

This was a random thing that somebody posted on facebook, and I liked it, so I'll put it here:

I think rather than answering a bunch of questions for the sake of wrapping up the show, they wanted to emphasize that the show was not only about individuals working towards redemption, but also about how much the people one surrounds him/herself with affect the path to redemption.

 

[Stone_Cold_Sisko]

I dont know, having this whole struggle with MiB and the magical water fountain of light... without ever getting into what the stakes are (what happens if MiB leaves? Who cares if the light goes out?).... strikes me as a pretty big, and basic writing, misfire.

I'd probably have had something where, when you drink the magical water and accept the 'gatekeeper' job, you get a vision of what you're protecting, you get to "see" what happens if you fail (and thus the audience would get to see as well). Something like that would go a long way to giving the island story a little meaning.

I'm not sure I'd believe anyone who voted "they could not have done a better job". In fact, I can't think of a single TV show where I've ever felt the writers could not do a better job. Even the all the time greatest and most consistent TV show ever, The Wire, had a weak spot or two (now there's a show which was actually about the characters, where every scene and storyline had a purpose).

 

[RoJoHen]

If I have criticisms at all, they're for the episodes leading up to the finale, not the finale itself. Season 6 was just very oddly structured, and it could have answered a few more questions with regard to the nature of the Light and Smokey. If the earlier episodes of the season had done that, I think the finale would have been perfect.

 

[label]

Rose and Bernard never did anything really important on the island, and vehemently rejected any participation in the A-team's missions.

They were an integral part of the core "family" for the first 3 seasons solid. Bernard was one of three people who went on the A-Team mission to kill the others when they came to kidnap the women. It was only when the family split between Locke and Jack and then split again when the oceanic six left and the others jumped through time that they headed off on their own. Granted, they did not engage in many missions during the final couple of seasons, but they were still family and they did help Desmond escape the well. I mean, Charlie had been less in touch with the family (having died and all) before Bernard and Rose bowed out so I don't think I follow your line of reasoning.

Why did they get pulled in to First Lostaways UU? That seems more like a punishment than a reward. Especially since, for Rose, it meant getting cancer again.

Huh? How is Rose going to get cancer when she's dead in the Flash Sideways? I know she said she was dying but the stakes weren't for real in that Flash Sideways.....she wouldn't have ever died from Cancer in the FS. Desmond could not have killed Locke in the wheel chair when he hit him. The limitations or trials they experienced in that reality were self-imposed as evidenced by John deciding it was time to leave the wheel chair behind and just get up and go.

Penny never set foot on the island and had never met half the people in the Church. Why is she there? Because she picked up eight people on her boat? Because she's Desmond's wife, and there are perks to being Desmond?

Clearly she's there because Desmond's there and like any marriage, you get to go to family reunions when your spouse has them.

No matter what Sayid did on the island, he was in love with Nadia his entire life. Why was he drawn to Shannon, who he banged for maybe a couple of weeks? Was that really the most important relationship in his life?

I agree with you. Having Shannon be his soul mate didn't sit right with me either. I guess one could argue that the island was the most important time for them all and Shannon was the person who helped Sayid heal the most, but I dunno......

Boone had a short, unhappy existence on the island, then an airplane fell on him. Shannon had a slightly longer, but probably less happy existence on the island, then she got shot. Yet both cared so deeply about the losties that the had to seek them out in the afterlife?

I think the point is that they went through a traumatic experience together that bonded them into a family and it didn't take long for some of them to really embrace that.