My Last Lost Post

[shah_of_blah]

Okay, so I've spent awhile now trying to work out exactly what I think about the Lost finale.  Like so much of the show, it left me torn, confused, and kind of ambivalent.  It was satisfying in some ways and completely unsatisfying in others.

I quite enjoyed it as an episode.  As television, I loved it while I was watching it, and engaging with it on a purely emotional level.  I was alternately thrilled, amused, saddened, and touched by what was happening with the characters.  The problem is I never watched Lost for the characters.  I don't like most of them.  I have actively despised almost every character at one point in time (Hurley and Sun being the lone exceptions, I think).

Ultimately, I was left with two overwhelming thoughts: 1) I still don't get it, and 2) They never had a plan.

They didn't explain anything!  I don't get it.  I really don't.  What would have happened if Smokey had left the island?  And why couldn't they just tell us his damn name?  It's Esau from now on, since they never gave us a better name.  What is the island?  Am I just supposed to believe that it's the stopper on a bunch of electromagnetism that would destroy the world if released?  And that this electromagnetism is contained...by a rock shaped like a cork?  I'm no scientist, but would that really work?  

io9 had a list of "50 Questions Lost Really Does Need To Answer."  I went back to it after the episode aired, and tried to count just how many actually got answers.  I counted 7 and a half (the half was because I didn't understand the question).  7.5 out of 50!  That's ridiculous.

As I said to a friend last night, the Lost finale satisfied the heart but not the mind.  Lost has left me so confused that I cannot even figure out if I liked it.  It was a really sweet, really gentle homage to all of the characters, but it wasn't what I had hoped for (and I had low expectations).  We were promised answers.  We were promised a science fiction answer.  We did not get either of those things.  And while this was really lovely and highly enjoyable I would have preferred science fiction.  

Also, why wasn't Ana Lucia with them in the church?  Or Miles?  Lapidus?  Michael?  I know the Walt actor is all grown up, but come on.  It's supposed to a place outside of time; surely they could have just been all 'oh yeah he's older now.'  Boone got to be there for the super sappy ending.  Why didn't they?

ETA: Also also, what happened when they blew up the island back in the 70s?  Nothing?  They just got catapulted into the present?  How does that make any sense?

Goodbye, Lost.  It's been real.

And I've got some of that meme as well.
Day 06. Favorite episode of your favorite TV show

Now, with seven season of Buffy to choose from, I have a lot of favorite episodes of this show. The obvious answer would be Once More, With Feeling.  And I do love it.  But I think I'll have to go with something a little different: Graduation Day.  I frakking love Graduation Day.  It's my favorite of all the season finales (and this show had some damn fine finales).  It's so exciting, and so sad and so sweet and so funny...you get the idea.  I'm pretty sure I cheered when Buffy yelled, "Now!"

Day 07. Least favorite episode of your favorite TV show

Unlike the last question, this one is easy.  Where the Wild Things Are.  Godawful episode.  I have nothing more to say about it. 

As a bonus, since my flist is all about the BSG, I'll tell you my least favorite episode(s) of that show too!  Everyone always complains about Black Market and the Woman King.  Yes, they're stupid episodes.  But I think they are both far superior to Taking A Break From All Your Worries and A Day in the Life.  So it's between those two.  I think I have to go with TAB.  And it's not just because TAB breaks up my OTP.  It's because the episode is poorly written, poorly cobbled together, and makes no sense.  Lee sobbing in the corridor is pretty bad, but what really kills this episode for me is Laura, Adama and Cottle (Cottle of all people!) engaging in horrific torture of a prisoner.  Next to that, Black Market hardly compares, in my mind.

Comments

[olaf47.livejournal.com]

See it's funny. I gave up on the idea that they had a plan or were going to explain anything long ago, and I was only watching the rest of it for the characters, and I didn't like it either. :S

[shah-of-blah.livejournal.com]

It is funny that we had similar reactions but for totally different reasons! Personally, I stopped caring who ended up with whom back in, like, season 1 so I wasn't bothered by the lack of Kate/Sawyer action, but I can see how some might feel ripped off.

And I wasn't expecting them to explain everything, or anywhere near it, but I was expecting a little more than that. A little more than just "Oh yeah, they're all dead now."

[olaf47.livejournal.com]

I had just so given up on them explaining things that the "they're all dead" was about as much as I expected.

I didn't even care that Kate ended up with Jack (though, admittedly, I would have preferred her with Sawyer) so much as I cared how they did it--with no real explanation. I think even Kate/Jack fans should feel cheated. By just having them be together and in love, it completely delegitimizes their relationship. If they ended up together, it was through trials and tribulations and those should be noted, because they mean something, and it means something that through all that, they are together.

[softly-me.livejournal.com]

'the Lost finale satisfied the heart but not the mind.'

I am totally going to steal this line because it explains my feelings perfectly. I liked the episode enough to cry through the last fifteen minutes or so, but that's probably because I genuinely do like all the characters despite their many flaws (and because Jack is, believe it or not, one of my favorites). But there just wasn't enough to it. No, they didn't need to explain everything. There are a lot of random things that were surely just thrown in to confuse us. But I thought there'd be a lot more revelations in the episode.

Graduation Day is a fantastic episode! I couldn't think of a better way to end the high school era of BtVS. And Where the Wild Things Are is awful.

[shah-of-blah.livejournal.com]

there just wasn't enough to it.
Yes, this. It's not that I didn't like it. I quite enjoyed it actually. It's just that I was left with a bit of "Well, okay...so what? That's it?" You know, with this immense mystery that I've been following for so many years...yeah, I thought there would be more revelations.

[orangerful.livejournal.com]

Re: Lost finale. I didn't watch it last night because I knew it would be full of commercials plus I just couldn't seem to care. I went and looked for spoilers this morning and was so glad I didn't waste time watching. Frakkin 6 years of "no they are not dead...not this is not purgatory" and what do they do? Also, from what I've heard from people ("touching" "beautiful") the first word that pops into my mind is "manipulating". They just wrote scenes that people would cry over. Blah, I'm happy I watched 'Legend of the Seeker' instead.

Re: Buffy - OMG so much love for so many episodes, but 'Once More' is awesome. And Graduation Day...aaaaw so good. Everybody fighting together. I tear up every time. I frakkin love that show (and THAT was a show with a plan! I swear Joss & Co. have ruined all other tv because no one loves their creations as much as Joss)

Re: Where the Wild Things Are - YES! This was, of course, the first episode my Mom decided to watch with me *facepalm*.

Hm, BSG would be a tough pick...what's the episode where the random guy shows up that knew Adama from back in the day? That episode does nothing. We had *ahem* and early copy of season 3 on DVD back in the day and the audio was messed up on that episode so we skipped it...and we missed nothing.

[shah-of-blah.livejournal.com]

I did enjoy the episode, and anyone who's made it this far with the show should take the time to watch the finale...but yeah, it wasn't all that it was promised to be.

Yes, Joss had a plan! I know he's said that he had the series ending in mind way back in the beginning, and it definitely shows. Now that series finale was a loving tribute to the characters and their stories. And it was so satisfying.

Hm, BSG would be a tough pick...what's the episode where the random guy shows up that knew Adama from back in the day? That episode does nothing. We had *ahem* and early copy of season 3 on DVD back in the day and the audio was messed up on that episode so we skipped it...and we missed nothing.
Haha, yeah, 'Hero.' Also on my list of worst episodes ever. How 'bout that retcon?

[ivanolix.livejournal.com]

The torture in TAB always makes me want to kill Adama and Roslin. I'm not sure I ever got over my dislike of them from that episode—it's sad.

[shah-of-blah.livejournal.com]

Agreed. I think that was when my displeasure with Roslin's progression began (my Adama issues, on the other hand, go way back).

[nicole-anell.livejournal.com]

I never got over my dislike for what they almost did to Sharon in "Epiphanies", and I'm still not sure I think it was in character.

I don't have that problem with TAB. I think it's a very believable and disturbing ep. And I love Roslin's emotional arc in it and absolutely think she *realizes* what they did to him was wrong, although it still took me some time to "like" her again. [/two cents nobody asked for]

[shah-of-blah.livejournal.com]

Hmm, interesting that we had a similar reaction but at different points in the series. I didn't get the idea that Roslin felt any remorse in TAB, but I did my best to block the entire episode from my memory. I think another thing that bothered me about it, though, was the juxtaposition of torture with Lee's marital problems. Maybe it was supposed to be artistic or something but it just made the whole thing feel trivialized to me.

But you know, I never rewatched either Epiphanies or TAB so my memory's a little shoddy.

[latteaddict.livejournal.com]

the Lost finale satisfied the heart but not the mind.

Good way to put it. I watched it with one of my brothers and while I was happy with the outcome and didn't mind the lack of answers, he was only interested in the mystery stuff and didn't care much whether the characters lived or died, were happy or sad.

For me Lost's finale was a balm because I'm still traumatised over BSG's ending and was happy not to be left feeling miserable. The answers we did get were satisfying for me, I was happy to know that the Island really did need to be protected and I'm willing to let the true source of that light & magnetism be part of the fantasy of Lost, much like I never felt the need to know exactly how FTL occurred in the BSG'verse. But I do get that some people needed more detailed answers (my own family included).

[shah-of-blah.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I'm hardly torn up about it like I was with BSG. But then, I was never anywhere near as invested in Lost as I was with Battlestar. I was just curious, mostly. I wanted things to make more sense. Ah well. It was fun.

[daybreak777.livejournal.com]

I will miss your Lost recaps because they were funny. Lost was so crazy that I stopped hoping for much from it long ago.

It's a rare show finale that satisfies my mind these days, Shah. I'm kinda glad if a finale satisfies anything for me. This finale was okay. Not great but okay.

[shah-of-blah.livejournal.com]

Hee. Liveblogging Lost was always fun. You're right--it wasn't great, but it was okay. It made me laugh and it made me smile.