To those who were left unhappy or unsatisfied with the ending of Lost or Lost in general, what would you have done with the show if you were given complete control of it from the beginning?
Redoing Lost
- Thread starter Joe Washington
- Start date
None of that sci fi crap. Everything has a rational explanation! 
(Seriously I loved the sci fi, but to see them do it all within the context of the real world would have been a fascinating challenge to watch unfold.)
I also REALLY freaking wanted the "faked" Flight 815 crash to turn out to be real in some mind-bending space-time-continuum breaking way.
And for Desmond's pushing the button to have actually been saving the world - and when he hit the emergency override, that only postponed the doom.
(Seriously I loved the sci fi, but to see them do it all within the context of the real world would have been a fascinating challenge to watch unfold.)
I also REALLY freaking wanted the "faked" Flight 815 crash to turn out to be real in some mind-bending space-time-continuum breaking way.
And for Desmond's pushing the button to have actually been saving the world - and when he hit the emergency override, that only postponed the doom.
a plane crashes, everyone has to survive. no monsters, no hatch, no crazy lady, no jacob, no ghosts, no psychics, no dharma...
it's Castaway but with a lot of people and some of them really dont get along. the survivors eventually split up into different factions based on survival choices.
it's Castaway but with a lot of people and some of them really dont get along. the survivors eventually split up into different factions based on survival choices.
^This, or full-blown sci-fi, only written by people who actually intend to follow their own mythology.
Meh that's how the pitch meeting was I'm sure. A fictional scripted based Survivor type show. Would have been entirely different show.
I would have kept it fairly the same. Maybe more emphasis on Dharma Initiative and they're experience, Hanso Foundation and even Joop, Charles Widmore's company and their association with Paik Industries. Mysteries with logical ANSWERS provided. I'd leave out the time traveling, I had an assfull of that from Heroes. Let me rephrase I would have ditched them going back to 1977. I did however enjoy Desmonds time traveling journey. The Constant still one of my favorite episodes.
Walt and Michael's story felt like it needed more resolution prior to Michael dying. I would have liked to see a scene with him and Hurley and some of the other Losties when he was still alive.
Smokie would actually have been a sentient AI security system produced by a Dharma experiment either gone awry and has been on the loose since The Hostiles took over.
Jacob would still be a crucial character in the end, but none of this Candidate stuff
I would have kept it fairly the same. Maybe more emphasis on Dharma Initiative and they're experience, Hanso Foundation and even Joop, Charles Widmore's company and their association with Paik Industries. Mysteries with logical ANSWERS provided. I'd leave out the time traveling, I had an assfull of that from Heroes. Let me rephrase I would have ditched them going back to 1977. I did however enjoy Desmonds time traveling journey. The Constant still one of my favorite episodes.
Walt and Michael's story felt like it needed more resolution prior to Michael dying. I would have liked to see a scene with him and Hurley and some of the other Losties when he was still alive.
Smokie would actually have been a sentient AI security system produced by a Dharma experiment either gone awry and has been on the loose since The Hostiles took over.
Jacob would still be a crucial character in the end, but none of this Candidate stuff
I'd lose Jacob. That alone would've shifted the show. Maybe keep Smokey but the explanation would obviously have to be different.
Michael's resolution was also very unsatisfactory. He could've been brought back during season four from the get-go and interacted with the Oceanic Six. And since it was three years later, you could've brought supersized Walt back too.
Michael's resolution was also very unsatisfactory. He could've been brought back during season four from the get-go and interacted with the Oceanic Six. And since it was three years later, you could've brought supersized Walt back too.
My version of Jacob's story would definitely not have had anything to do with being the sole protector of the island, or at least how we saw it play out, but he would still have a huge tie to the history of it. Possibly founder of The Hostiles/Others and his nemesis would have been Widmore and not the Man in Black/Smokey, well MiB wouldn't even exist in my version. All the mysticism and supernatural stuff such as the paranormal or the astral projectioning, psychic medium stuff would be mostly explained by the Jacob side of things, while the science electromagnetism, polar bears, etc would be the Dharma/Widmore stuff
right there you still have Man of Science vs Man of Faith aspect as well as the jack and Locke stuff
right there you still have Man of Science vs Man of Faith aspect as well as the jack and Locke stuff
How about deleting Jacob, MIB, Allison Janney etc. The show is still sci fi, but it's simpler: characters fighting over a powerful island that can heal people, let you travel through time, etc.
There doesn't have to be any more explanation for the island besides something vague, like "it's on the most powerful ley line on the planet." The real point is that the island is powerful and people want to control it.
All the coincidences and numbers could be chalked up to the island screwing with probabilities. No need for there to be any master plan behind the people who arrived, etc.
Smokey would be a creation of the island, maybe without any apparent function. It wouldn't be intelligent, more like a force of nature.
There doesn't have to be any more explanation for the island besides something vague, like "it's on the most powerful ley line on the planet." The real point is that the island is powerful and people want to control it.
All the coincidences and numbers could be chalked up to the island screwing with probabilities. No need for there to be any master plan behind the people who arrived, etc.
Smokey would be a creation of the island, maybe without any apparent function. It wouldn't be intelligent, more like a force of nature.
to be fair, that is what this thread is about, redoing Lost.
i'm basically saying run the show the way the original creator intended (not JJ Abrams).
if people love the characters so much, than it wouldnt matter if there was some lame sci-fi mystery or not.
Well if we're actually re-doing the show, then we can't expect the same actors or the same characters. Which means we can't depend on the audience loving the characters to the same degree and forgiving our craptastic writing.
Which is a cheat anyway - let's improve the writing so this show can survive in the ratings even if we don't have Josh Holloway and Evangeline Lilly prancing around half-dressed.
Here's my summary so far:
-Keep the sci-fi, and keep it science based. Don't veer into overly supernatural or mystical elements. No Jacob, no MiB, no magical light in the heart of the island. An energy source at the heart of the island is okay, but the explanation should be that it is an natural phenomenon, not a mystical one. We can have Miles, but he doesn't talk to ghosts. No characters who are literally ghosts. Shapeshifters or very believable projections from some technological source, okay.
-The island is in charge. Keep the notion that the island has an intelligence or will. The explanation for this can be vague but should point to a science based and not mystical cause - ley lines, stranded alien intelligence, Planet Earth is evolving an intelligence and this is its first manifestation, etc. A character like Jacob can exist, but he is either serving the island, or is a creation of the island.
-Integrate time travel into the full run of the story. This is a tricky proposition but a well thought through time travel story can be great. For instance: have the "vectors" for getting to and from the island be vectors into different time periods, which is why it's very important to hit the right one. Have the faked Flight 815 actually turn out to be real, either in some timeline, or in the one and only timeline, depending on what time travel logic you want to use.
-The core conflict is among regular people, over power. The Jacob vs MiB thing dragged the core conflict too far away from the regular characters and became too esoteric. What were they fighting about, really, and why should we care? But if you center the story around a fight between Dharma, Widmore and the Others to control the island because it's a source of amazing power, then the audience understands why people are fighting, and it makes visceral sense. The Losties are stuck in the middle of it all. And maybe the reason that Jack et al feel compelled to return to the island is because the island wants them to be part of the conflict, to make sure the "right" side wins.
I still need to figure out a good reason why Desmond had to push the button. Maybe the island contrived the whole scenario to test who was crazy and dedicated enough to serve its interests. Or maybe it was a jerry-rigged contraption that was the best Dharma could come up with, in order to keep the island hidden and keep Widmore and other evil, untrustworthy types away.
Which is a cheat anyway - let's improve the writing so this show can survive in the ratings even if we don't have Josh Holloway and Evangeline Lilly prancing around half-dressed.
Here's my summary so far:
-Keep the sci-fi, and keep it science based. Don't veer into overly supernatural or mystical elements. No Jacob, no MiB, no magical light in the heart of the island. An energy source at the heart of the island is okay, but the explanation should be that it is an natural phenomenon, not a mystical one. We can have Miles, but he doesn't talk to ghosts. No characters who are literally ghosts. Shapeshifters or very believable projections from some technological source, okay.
-The island is in charge. Keep the notion that the island has an intelligence or will. The explanation for this can be vague but should point to a science based and not mystical cause - ley lines, stranded alien intelligence, Planet Earth is evolving an intelligence and this is its first manifestation, etc. A character like Jacob can exist, but he is either serving the island, or is a creation of the island.
-Integrate time travel into the full run of the story. This is a tricky proposition but a well thought through time travel story can be great. For instance: have the "vectors" for getting to and from the island be vectors into different time periods, which is why it's very important to hit the right one. Have the faked Flight 815 actually turn out to be real, either in some timeline, or in the one and only timeline, depending on what time travel logic you want to use.
-The core conflict is among regular people, over power. The Jacob vs MiB thing dragged the core conflict too far away from the regular characters and became too esoteric. What were they fighting about, really, and why should we care? But if you center the story around a fight between Dharma, Widmore and the Others to control the island because it's a source of amazing power, then the audience understands why people are fighting, and it makes visceral sense. The Losties are stuck in the middle of it all. And maybe the reason that Jack et al feel compelled to return to the island is because the island wants them to be part of the conflict, to make sure the "right" side wins.
I still need to figure out a good reason why Desmond had to push the button. Maybe the island contrived the whole scenario to test who was crazy and dedicated enough to serve its interests. Or maybe it was a jerry-rigged contraption that was the best Dharma could come up with, in order to keep the island hidden and keep Widmore and other evil, untrustworthy types away.
How about this?
In the Lost remake, the island like you said is a sentient intelligence like the planet from the movie Avatar. Jacob was created by the island to interact with the Others and anyone who happens to come across the island.
Long ago, the island predicted the end of the world so it decided to be a refuge of a handful of humans who will prosper in the aftermath of the Apocalypse the island will survive from. That's why the island formed the Others through Jacob.
The other force who predicted the end of the world was the Dharma Intiative founded by Sun's father, Mr. Paik, and Charles Widmore. They feared the end of days and look for ways to stopping it in science and technology. One day, they learned of a myth of a special island and found some way of detecting it. Once they tracked down its location, Dharma established a presence on the island which the Others fought aganist per the orders of the Island communicated by Jacob. The Island didn't want Dharma to have any part of it, knowing what the organization intend to do with the island while exploring its special properties. They intend on using the island's specialness for profit more than their humantarian goal of preventing the end of the world. At first, the Island ordered the Others to give Dharma only warnings. Then, when Dharma refused to listen, the Island ordered the Others to physically fight aganist Dharma to make them leave. But Dharma, bent on staying, created weapons to fend for themselves and defenses aganist the Others which came in the form of sonic fences and the Smoke Monster which was one of Dharma's experiments. An opportunity arrived in the form of Benjamin Linus who the Island manipulated into betraying his fellow Dharma folk which led to the bloody tragedy of the Purge. The Island through Jacob ordered the destruction of the Dharma homes and the sonic fences. But it decided aganist destroying Smokey. The Island was somehow able to take control of Smokey and turned it into a guardian to deal with any further intruders of the island which are not a part of the Island's plan of salvation.
Meanwhile, in the outside world, the Dharma Intiative disbanded because of the massive loss of life caused by the Purge. Paik and Widmore went their separate ways and formed their own separate companies. While Paik focused on forgetting the past, Widmore refused to forget it and made getting back to the island his lifelong obsession. He tried to send another ship to the island but the island was relocated by the power of the Wheel. Widmore became driven to find other ways of finding the island and was almost at the end of his rope when the last survivor of Dharma made contact with him on the special radio. The survivor has been manning the Hatch ever since the Purge to keep one of the Island's pockets of energy from exploding. Widmore factored the survivor and the Hatch into a whole new plan of exacting his revenge aganist the Island. He also factored Eloise Hawking into the plan. Eloise, once one of the Others, was forced to leave the island after being ordered by Jacob to turn the Wheel to relocate it. When she arrived in the outside world, Eloise went into hiding and assumed a false identity until Widmore found her. He used Eloise to track down the island's new location and discovered that a certain plane-Oceanic Flight 815-will be flying over the island and at a certain time it will be right over the Hatch. Widmore thought of an idea to have the survivor of Dharma not push the button so the Hatch would release some of its energy it's guarding aganist to bring the plane down. Before Oceanic Flight 815 takes off, Widmore would have the plane's passengers be infilirated by mecenaries hired by him to achieve the objective of killing Jacob and taking the island by force or destroying it if any chance of obtaining the island is lost.
When the Dharma survivor told him by radio that he was dying of an illness, Widmore knew he had to find a replacement to man the Hatch long enough for any plan of his to be put into effect. So he choose Desmond, a man he wouldn't mind sacrificing who he didn't consider to be good enough for his daughter. He pushes Desmond into taking the trip around the world knowing that he would get wash onto the shores of the Island and taken in by the Dharma survivor who would unknowingly train him into becoming his replacement.
So LOST turns into a war between the forces of the Island and the forces of Widmore with the survivors placed in the middle who would have to make a choice between which side they would join. Widmore would obivously try to tempt the survivors with an offer to take them back home which create factions among the survivors.
What do you think? Does anyone else would add to this?
In the Lost remake, the island like you said is a sentient intelligence like the planet from the movie Avatar. Jacob was created by the island to interact with the Others and anyone who happens to come across the island.
Long ago, the island predicted the end of the world so it decided to be a refuge of a handful of humans who will prosper in the aftermath of the Apocalypse the island will survive from. That's why the island formed the Others through Jacob.
The other force who predicted the end of the world was the Dharma Intiative founded by Sun's father, Mr. Paik, and Charles Widmore. They feared the end of days and look for ways to stopping it in science and technology. One day, they learned of a myth of a special island and found some way of detecting it. Once they tracked down its location, Dharma established a presence on the island which the Others fought aganist per the orders of the Island communicated by Jacob. The Island didn't want Dharma to have any part of it, knowing what the organization intend to do with the island while exploring its special properties. They intend on using the island's specialness for profit more than their humantarian goal of preventing the end of the world. At first, the Island ordered the Others to give Dharma only warnings. Then, when Dharma refused to listen, the Island ordered the Others to physically fight aganist Dharma to make them leave. But Dharma, bent on staying, created weapons to fend for themselves and defenses aganist the Others which came in the form of sonic fences and the Smoke Monster which was one of Dharma's experiments. An opportunity arrived in the form of Benjamin Linus who the Island manipulated into betraying his fellow Dharma folk which led to the bloody tragedy of the Purge. The Island through Jacob ordered the destruction of the Dharma homes and the sonic fences. But it decided aganist destroying Smokey. The Island was somehow able to take control of Smokey and turned it into a guardian to deal with any further intruders of the island which are not a part of the Island's plan of salvation.
Meanwhile, in the outside world, the Dharma Intiative disbanded because of the massive loss of life caused by the Purge. Paik and Widmore went their separate ways and formed their own separate companies. While Paik focused on forgetting the past, Widmore refused to forget it and made getting back to the island his lifelong obsession. He tried to send another ship to the island but the island was relocated by the power of the Wheel. Widmore became driven to find other ways of finding the island and was almost at the end of his rope when the last survivor of Dharma made contact with him on the special radio. The survivor has been manning the Hatch ever since the Purge to keep one of the Island's pockets of energy from exploding. Widmore factored the survivor and the Hatch into a whole new plan of exacting his revenge aganist the Island. He also factored Eloise Hawking into the plan. Eloise, once one of the Others, was forced to leave the island after being ordered by Jacob to turn the Wheel to relocate it. When she arrived in the outside world, Eloise went into hiding and assumed a false identity until Widmore found her. He used Eloise to track down the island's new location and discovered that a certain plane-Oceanic Flight 815-will be flying over the island and at a certain time it will be right over the Hatch. Widmore thought of an idea to have the survivor of Dharma not push the button so the Hatch would release some of its energy it's guarding aganist to bring the plane down. Before Oceanic Flight 815 takes off, Widmore would have the plane's passengers be infilirated by mecenaries hired by him to achieve the objective of killing Jacob and taking the island by force or destroying it if any chance of obtaining the island is lost.
When the Dharma survivor told him by radio that he was dying of an illness, Widmore knew he had to find a replacement to man the Hatch long enough for any plan of his to be put into effect. So he choose Desmond, a man he wouldn't mind sacrificing who he didn't consider to be good enough for his daughter. He pushes Desmond into taking the trip around the world knowing that he would get wash onto the shores of the Island and taken in by the Dharma survivor who would unknowingly train him into becoming his replacement.
So LOST turns into a war between the forces of the Island and the forces of Widmore with the survivors placed in the middle who would have to make a choice between which side they would join. Widmore would obivously try to tempt the survivors with an offer to take them back home which create factions among the survivors.
What do you think? Does anyone else would add to this?
Hey, I think you're onto something there. Desmond pushing the button was somehow important to stopping the catastrophe. Maybe he wasn't stopping it right then - but being trained via the regimen of button pushing to do something later on that would stop it.
And what about this?
There came a point in which Widmore did win in the war aganist the Island after Jacob was killed, in which Jack and some of the survivors made a deal with Widmore to leave the island and return to the outside world. They have to make up some story about where they have been after the crash because Widmore wants the existence of the island to be kept a secret. Those who didn't make a deal with Widmore were left behind on the island and joined in some kind of gurellia war aganist Widmore and his forces. During their lives in the outside world, Jack and the others were contacted by the Island's intelligence who used most of its power to reach out to them in an attempt to convince them come back to save it from Widmore's corruption.
There came a point in which Widmore did win in the war aganist the Island after Jacob was killed, in which Jack and some of the survivors made a deal with Widmore to leave the island and return to the outside world. They have to make up some story about where they have been after the crash because Widmore wants the existence of the island to be kept a secret. Those who didn't make a deal with Widmore were left behind on the island and joined in some kind of gurellia war aganist Widmore and his forces. During their lives in the outside world, Jack and the others were contacted by the Island's intelligence who used most of its power to reach out to them in an attempt to convince them come back to save it from Widmore's corruption.
Through the first five seasons I was generally very happy with the show. I would have lost some of the do-nothing flashbacks in the early years obviously. But everything was heading to perfection to the end of S5. It's only in S6 that I would make changes. I would lose or severely curtail the screen-time of the flash-sideways to only a couple of the last episodes, and any sideways screen-time would have been defined by Desmond visiting these people and helping them come together. I would have had more action with Widmore and the Monster, and obviously a lot more explaining to do. I would have had a Widmore centric flashback showing the Purge, his exile, the birth of Penny, Jacob's conversion of him to good. I would have had another Ben flashback explaining all the unexplained things about him; his role in the Purge, his mysterious off-Island adventures. Oh, also, back in S5, I would have had a Faraday-centric episode showing him working with the Dharma Founders off-Island for those three years. And I would have directly shown Hanso and the DeGroots. And explained the Horace/Jacob Cabin thing. I would have had a lot more time spent with Dharma, really. Show the beginning and end of the war with the Hostiles. Their first encounter with the Monster, the development of the sonic fence.
If Jack didn't realize that Widmore was a bad guy, that could work. If Locke is in charge of the faction that realizes that Widmore is up to no good - because only Locke is in contact with the will of the island and able to know that - then Jack and the gang can leave and not look sleazy for doing so. Locke will just look insane for staying.
I like all these ideas. I feel especially cheated that we didn't get more on the Hanso Foundation and Dharma.
Very similar with Heroes where we thought the probable course over the seasons would have them eventually going the "5 Years Gone" route. With Lost, back in season 3 when they introduced the freighter, it seemed like the probable course for them was to have that war between the forces of the island and Widmore, but it turned out totally different with a feud between Jacob and MiB, later as we saw at the end of season 5 and all through out season 6.
An interesting twist say would be if the island and all its glory was revealed to the rest of the world. Imagine all the exploiting that would take place then.
An interesting twist say would be if the island and all its glory was revealed to the rest of the world. Imagine all the exploiting that would take place then.
How about this: somehow in all the fighting, whatever it was that kept the island secret is broken and the island becomes part of normal reality. Realizing that the island is too powerful to be allowed to be exploited by greedy, stupid humans, the Losties decide to sink the island. Someone has to stay behind to sacrifice their life to do this, and Ben ends up being that guy.
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