Lost

[Koray Savas 2,251]

2 hours ago, Jurassic Shark said:

I don't think it's healthy to look for logic in this show.

In what aspect? Cuse and Lindelof set pretty strict parameters for death and time travel in the show. The writing is certainly coy at times, but that’s just the formula they developed for the mysteries. 

[Jay 37,346]

Taylor Morden, the director of the hit documentary The Last Blockbuster, is currently in production on Getting LOST. The film will center on the global phenomenon of LOST, the hit ABC series

[Nick1Ø66 4,711]

Quote

 The film will center on the global phenomenon of LOST, the hit ABC series often credited with changing the face of network television and bringing "Peak TV" to the masses.

 

Sadly, I think Peak TV is past its peak.

[Koray Savas 2,251]

Sweet! I’m actually in the middle of a rewatch now. 

[SilverTrumpet 638]

We just finished one on Friday, so it's perfect timing. Really looking forward to this.

[Edmilson 7,433]

Oh boy, I have so much nostalgia for Lost!

 

It was the first TV show not aimed at kids that I saw when I was 13 (aside from a few Enterprise episodes). I borrowed the seasons 1 and 2 DVD box sets from a friend of my dad and binged everything during a Carnaval holiday, then catch S3 on cable a few weeks later. I loved it so much, the show blew my head with its mysteries and conspiracies week after week, and it opened a door for more mature entertainment for me.
 

After Lost, I started watching both stuff like Heroes (which had an utterly perfect first season) and Fringe and also older shows like The X-Files and Twin Peaks. I loved shows with big mysteries and revelations! It was a very late 2000s thing to do to catch these shows and then go to the internet (specifically the Orkut social network, which was popular literally only in Brazil) to debate its theories.

 

Eventually, I (and, apparently, the rest of the world) got tired of mystery box TV shows But it was good while it lasted.

[leeallen01 2,136]

I love Lost. The ending really hit me on a deep level. I understand the criticisms of it having no idea where it was going, but that's basically 99% of all tv shows anyway.

[Edmilson 7,433]

Speaking of which, the very best Lost episode just turned 15 on February 28th!

 

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Constant

[Datameister 2,041]

I'll be interested to see that film. I'm nearing the end of my first rewatch in quite a while. The show's strengths and weaknesses have both become even clearer over time. I'm also really noticing its influence on later shows—mainly because of the elements that once seemed so innovative and fresh.

[Jay 37,346]

Yea I'm looking forward to finally giving the show a second watch some day, so far I've only seen it as it aired. 

 

I'm mostly curious to hear Giacchino's score in context again, since I've grown to love it so much since, and that's also only through the OST albums and I know there's so much great stuff in the episodes Varese didn't release

[Koray Savas 2,251]

Wow you’ve only ever seen it once? There are so many little details throughout that have much more meaning the second time around. 

[crocodile 8,000]

It would be awesome to have a full box set of Giacchino scores. I would definitely buy that. Still one of his defining works and one of the most unique TV scores of all time.

 

The show itself.. well... I watched it somewhere around 2015 in its entirety and it didn't age too well. The repetitive format of the network television really damages it when you binge it. But I still have a soft spot for it, warts and all.

 

Karol

[Koray Savas 2,251]

I think the show aged incredibly well for the era and the constraints it was created in. 
 

I am noticing a lot of bad wigs this time around. 

[crocodile 8,000]

I remember noticing that in some shots you could see light rain but the other shots were clear. Not something you'd notice before the HD era.

 

Karol

[Jay 37,346]

On 13/03/2023 at 7:55 AM, Koray Savas said:

Wow you’ve only ever seen it once? There are so many little details throughout that have much more meaning the second time around. 

 

I saw each episode as they aired live when it was a new show.

I have not later gone back and watched it again, though have always wanted to and most likely will eventually, at some point.

 

 

Typically there is so many new shows I want to see that it's hard to justify going back and watch something I've already seen, but when enough time passes it can be worth it.

 

So far I've re-watched:

 

The X-Files

Alias

Firefly

Tru Calling

Wonderfalls

Pushing Daisies

Dollhouse

 

I want to rewatch some day:

 

Twin Peaks

Carnivale

Battlestar Galactica

LOST

Breaking Bad

Hannibal

[karelm 2,912]

I saw the final episode in ...get this...a packed movie theater!  I can't imagine how a tv show can pull that off now.  After the show, everyone was either teary or just stunned silent.  

[SilverTrumpet 638]

1 hour ago, Jay said:

 

I saw each episode as they aired live when it was a new show.

I have not later gone back and watched it again

 

Me too. Watched it this time with my wife. She'd never seen it before. It was a hell of a journey.

 

I'd even argue that the final episode is perfect outside of the final reveal.

 

The problem with the ending (which is absolutely beautiful even if it doesn't make sense) is that it played itself like it was the reveal for the show's big question, but all it was was an explanation as to what this new storytelling device only introduced in season 6 was...which is fine until you consider that the flash sideways were originally presented as what happened after the bomb went off in the season 5 finale. 

 

What the bomb did was then never actually explained... but I guess it was just as not explained as why the Ajira people who warped back in time warped back in time in the first place. 

[mstrox 6,651]

I think I rewatched the first two seasons at some point while the show was airing, but haven’t seen any of the others a second time, and haven’t watched any of it since the finale.  Looking forward to maybe watching it again someday, once enough time has passed.  Loved the whole thing at the time.

[Sweeping Strings 2,353]

15 hours ago, Edmilson said:

Speaking of which, the very best Lost episode just turned 15 on February 28th!

 

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Constant

lol, not to be 'that guy' but I think it was this episode that made me decide I'd had enough. Found it extremely confusing. 

[Tallguy 3,383]

Everyone here has seen the whole show, yeah? We're talking re-watches?

 

We watched it again about... three years ago? There are a few dead ends that I wish they had either pursued or wrapped up. The last season with Jacob meanders more than I wanted it to (when they should have been winding down rather than asking more questions).

 

But I will stand by the finale (the full version! There is a short version that is TERRIBLE) being probably the most satisfying finale I've ever seen. (I mean, Star Trek: The Next Generation might edge it out.) It hits all of the characters and lands every emotional beat that gets thrown at it. (I will say again: DO NOT WATCH THE EDITED VERSION.)

[SilverTrumpet 638]

The edited version meaning the TV version where they took out a bunch of great scenes like Richard's grey hair and Ben and Hurley's talk complimenting each other? 

[Koray Savas 2,251]

For those who have never rewatched the show, I highly recommend it whenever you can.

 

You’re all already aware of the twists and turns of the narrative, which gives you a much different perspective the second time around. For better and for worse. There are plot moments you know will never be revisited again, but there is so much more that’s carried throughout that will carry greater context and meaning.

Ben becomes an even more sinister antagonist when you know all of his lies. “Locke” in Season 5, in particular, can be appreciated in a completely different way. 

 

[Tallguy 3,383]

20 minutes ago, SilverTrumpet said:

The edited version meaning the TV version where they took out a bunch of great scenes like Richard's grey hair and Ben and Hurley's talk complimenting each other? 

 

Yeah. I mean it's not the version that originally aired because I watched it live and it had those scenes. In fact that was what made me realize that we were watching an edited version the second time: The Hurley and Ben scene was missing! That is (to me) the crowning moment of the finale. It's Ben's final moment. It's his Not Yet Redemption. Damn it, I'm getting misty eyed even writing this. There is so much that I would cut before I touch a frame of that scene.

 

IIRC they even took out some of the escape from the Island! It really was a mess.

[Datameister 2,041]

I should have been more careful before "finishing" my rewatch on Hulu. I didn't realize the edited finale was a thing. As the end approached, I got more and more confused about how some of the scenes I remembered could still be fit in. But then I got lost in the emotion of it and didn't really lose my shit till the standard end credits played and the "next episode" indicator came up for the full version of the finale. Such bullshit. Now I have to decide if I want to watch it again, but with the important missing scenes.

 

Regardless, this was the longest I'd gone without rewatching the show, and like I said before, its strengths and weaknesses are on full display. That's especially true in the finale, where nearly every emotional beat works flawlessly until you start thinking about the flash-sideways too much. Why isn't dead Christian an asshole? Why does Aaron only get to experience his afterlife as an infant? What about Ji-yeon? Why does Jack spend his afterlife rebuilding his relationship with a non-existent son whom he promptly forgets? Why do the characters only flash back to memories from the show? Do the ones that survived the events on the island even remember the rest of their lives? What happens if you die in the flash-sideways, like Keamy or Mikhail? These are genuinely frustrating issues that really detract from the flash-sideways's considerable emotional impact.

 

Ultimately, I think most of these come down to two storytelling instincts that dominate the show—maximizing short-term emotional impact and delivering big twists. Not that those are inherently bad things, of course. But it's a shame when they get in the way of building something that's still coherent when you zoom out a bit.

 

Still, those remembering scenes sure pack an emotional wallop, at least when you're "zoomed in."

[oierem 152]

On 13/03/2023 at 4:13 PM, SilverTrumpet said:

 

Me too. Watched it this time with my wife. She'd never seen it before. It was a hell of a journey.

 

I'd even argue that the final episode is perfect outside of the final reveal.

 

The problem with the ending (which is absolutely beautiful even if it doesn't make sense) is that it played itself like it was the reveal for the show's big question, but all it was was an explanation as to what this new storytelling device only introduced in season 6 was...which is fine until you consider that the flash sideways were originally presented as what happened after the bomb went off in the season 5 finale. 

 

What the bomb did was then never actually explained... but I guess it was just as not explained as why the Ajira people who warped back in time warped back in time in the first place. 

The bomb did what it was obviously going to do: cause the actual Incident that required the building of the hatch and the 108-minute button. It's another example of the dramatic irony of characters trying to change the past, only to make it happen. (Miles actually questions whether they're going to cause the incident in the S5 finale).

 

[Jay 37,346]

5 hours ago, Datameister said:

I should have been more careful before "finishing" my rewatch on Hulu. I didn't realize the edited finale was a thing. As the end approached, I got more and more confused about how some of the scenes I remembered could still be fit in. But then I got lost in the emotion of it and didn't really lose my shit till the standard end credits played and the "next episode" indicator came up for the full version of the finale. Such bullshit. Now I have to decide if I want to watch it again, but with the important missing scenes.

 

In between the original airing and now, you never purchased the show on blu ray disc?

[crocodile 8,000]

So what are the differences between the original ending and the re-edited one?

 

Karol

[SilverTrumpet 638]

6 hours ago, oierem said:

The bomb did what it was obviously going to do: cause the actual Incident that required the building of the hatch and the 108-minute button. It's another example of the dramatic irony of characters trying to change the past, only to make it happen. (Miles actually questions whether they're going to cause the incident in the S5 finale).

 

 

Yeah, but how did that then blast them back to the present and not kill them instead? Wouldn't blasting to the present suggest the future changed? But if the original state of the island was that the hatch was there, then nothing changed, right?

 

Also, did they ever explain why they got sucked to the past while on the plane? Also, why some of them but not others?

[Datameister 2,041]

1 hour ago, Jay said:

 

In between the original airing and now, you never purchased the show on blu ray disc?

I never got around to buying season 6, no. Did they include both versions on it?

 

@crocodile the edited version omits the opening montage, Richard's gray hair, Jack telling Locke he's no Locke, Ben and Hurley's final moment … not sure what else. And the end credits are the standard version, not the silent version with shots of the beach.

[Tallguy 3,383]

7 hours ago, Datameister said:

Now I have to decide if I want to watch it again, but with the important missing scenes.

 

You do. Really. I felt the same way and it was absolutely worth it.)

 

 

[Datameister 2,041]

3 minutes ago, Tallguy said:

 

You do. Really. I felt the same way and it was absolutely worth it.)

 

 

I'll probably go that way, yeah.

[Jay 37,346]

13 minutes ago, Datameister said:

I never got around to buying season 6, no. Did they include both versions on it?

Surely it only contains the real, long version.

[Koray Savas 2,251]

2 hours ago, SilverTrumpet said:

Yeah, but how did that then blast them back to the present and not kill them instead? Wouldn't blasting to the present suggest the future changed? But if the original state of the island was that the hatch was there, then nothing changed, right?

 

Also, did they ever explain why they got sucked to the past while on the plane? Also, why some of them but not others?

Whatever happened, happened. You can’t change the past no matter what. That’s the rule they set forth in Season 5 and stuck to. It gets muddled and convoluted quickly when sci-fi tackles time travel. I think LOST handled it better than most.

 

As far as I recall, the only paradox is the compass moving between Locke and Richard.

[Thor 7,493]

I've started watching LOST again, for the first time since it aired on TV between 2004-2010. Back when it first premiered, I was at the tailend of my university studies, or just after, there was no streaming and I had to tune in every Wednesday at 9:30 or so to watch the next episode on my oldschool "fatscreen TV". It became a ritual.

Returning to it now was not an easy decision, because -- like so many others -- I was bummed by the "Damon Lindelof Syndrome" of introducing too many mysteries without properly unmasking them, thus ending up with a weak-ass resolution about purgatory/"bright white light".

However, as I was starving for more CAST AWAY-type stories, and my recent thread about such things on FSM didn't really yield any results, I decided to give it another shot last week. And I was reminded again about how brilliant it was, at least the first few seasons. Of course, there's the issue of flashbacks. I don't like them, and I would have loved to see a version with all the flashbacks edited out, but the atmosphere is second to none.

Also, as someone notorious for my dislike of Giacchino, I think this is his shining hour as a composer (at least for music-in-context, less enthused on album). Stark and detached, but with some warmth trying to break through here and there, in a relatively small ensemble.

Anyone else revisited the show recently?

 

(PS. I've not read a single post of this 12-page thread, nor any LOST thread predecessors. Just FYI).

[Nick1Ø66 4,711]

I binged LOST all the way through after it was over. I enjoyed it well enough at the time, especially the early seasons, but that enjoyment diminished as the show wore on, and by the end I was at the “I’ve come this far, might as well finish it” phase.

 

In any event, I’ll never rewatch it. LOST is a plot and mystery driven show, and like most such shows its rewatchability is low, IMO.

[Thor 7,493]

4 minutes ago, Nick1Ø66 said:

In any event, I’ll never rewatch it. LOST is a plot and mystery driven show, and like most such shows its rewatchability is low, IMO.

 

True, but the mystery bit was never my attraction to it. It was more the sense of "being there", at least the early seasons. The atmosphere, the survival, the nature, the nooks and crannies of the island.

[Jay 37,346]

27 minutes ago, Thor said:

Anyone else revisited the show recently?

 

(PS. I've not read a single post of this 12-page thread, nor any LOST thread predecessors. Just FYI).

 

No need to go back to prior pages or older threads; If you scroll up a bit and just read the posts on this very page, you'll see posts from a variety of people discussing recent rewatches, just the kind of stuff you're looking for.  Check it out.

[Koray Savas 2,251]

I recently finished my rewatch. Still holds up for being nearly 20 years old!

 

Season 5 is my favorite. Sawyer is still one of my favorite fictional characters.

 

Terry O’Quinn is a master of his craft, especially in Seasons 5 and 6. 

[Groovygoth666 663]

I've watched this show maybe 4 or 5 times. I think it absolutely works best as a whole rather than watching it week to week.

 

JJ Abrams and Damon Lindelof are probably the worst parts of this show. With so much emphasis put on the mystery without proper consideration of how they would/could deliver a proper pay off. The making it up as they go and little to no planning on how to resolve any suggested story elements can make it a bit frustrating at times.

 

But that final scene, with Jack and Christian and it's intercutting with Jack's final moments that mirror the first episode will always hit hard.

 

And for me this is probably the best scored TV series of all time. Just nothing comes close on a small screen experience than what Giacchino put together. The life and death theme alone is for me one of the greatest themes of all time!

 

 

 

 

 

[Koray Savas 2,251]

I don’t think Abrams had much to do with the show outside of the pilot and the general premise.

 

It was Lindelof and Cuse that were the show runners. And yes, a lot of it was made up as it went along, but that makes the show much more satisfying, in my opinion. Some long running mysteries were poorly resolved, but on the whole, they made it all work quite well.

 

Again, it’s important to understand this show aired during an era where the norm was to run a series into the ground until it got cancelled.

 

Giacchino’s music is his magnum opus, and an important character in the show all on its own. 

[Tallguy 3,383]

We watched it again a few years ago. It was amazing.

 

I watched the back half of season 1 "live" and then season 2 to 3. I don't remember where I dropped off. I just remember watching season 2 week to week was excruciating. Revisiting the aftermath of the season 1 finale from different view points for 3 or 4 weeks was awful. But binging it on disk was great!

 

We caught up on disk and then watched the last few seasons as they aired.

 

I have always considered the finale to be one of the finest things I have watched on TV. (The FULL episode, dammit!)

 

The only thing that was disappointing then that continues to be is the whole Jacob and the Man in Black story. It was too late in the game to be introducing MORE and it just landed flat, no matter how cool Titus Welliver was.

 

But for all that, the ending was two hours of saying goodbye to all the people that I had loved for however many years. And they pulled that off perfectly.

 

The last scene with Ben and Hurley is one of my favorite things in the entire series.

 

On 05/05/2023 at 7:17 PM, Koray Savas said:

Sawyer is still one of my favorite fictional characters.

 

He's really just amazing. I remember watching the finale and saying "If Sawyer and Julia don't get a happy ending I will beat the show runners to death with one of James Burrows' Emmies." I can't think of a couple I have shipped harder.

[Koray Savas 2,251]

12 hours ago, Tallguy said:

The only thing that was disappointing then that continues to be is the whole Jacob and the Man in Black story. It was too late in the game to be introducing MORE and it just landed flat, no matter how cool Titus Welliver was.

Are you referring to “Across The Sea?”

 

I love it. 

[Jay 37,346]

17 hours ago, Koray Savas said:

I don’t think Abrams had much to do with the show outside of the pilot and the general premise.

 

He also co-wrote the season 3 premiere with Lindelof.

[oierem 152]

19 hours ago, Koray Savas said:

I don’t think Abrams had much to do with the show outside of the pilot and the general premise.

 

 

Abrams was involved in the pilot (obviously) and mapping out the early storylines of the show (when it was picked up for 13 episodes, plus the double pilot). But he left production before the show even started airing.

Later, after Alias ended, he was supposed to get more involved in Season 3 (possibly writing and directing the premiere) but he just ended up co-writing that episode.

[Koray Savas 2,251]

Does anyone think LOST could successfully be brought back like so many other revivals?

 

I know Lindelof and Cuse wouldn’t want to, but what are some theoretical plot/timelines that could be explored in a revival?

[Datameister 2,041]

2 hours ago, oierem said:

 

Abrams was involved in the pilot (obviously) and mapping out the early storylines of the show (when it was picked up for 13 episodes, plus the double pilot). But he left production before the show even started airing.

Later, after Alias ended, he was supposed to get more involved in Season 3 (possibly writing and directing the premiere) but he just ended up co-writing that episode.

Didn't JJ also have the show's final scene in mind from early on?

[oierem 152]

39 minutes ago, Datameister said:

Didn't JJ also have the show's final scene in mind from early on?

 

The showrunners did have the final scene (or rather, the final shot) in mind from early on, but I'm not sure if "early on" refers to the time JJ was working on the show, or it refers to Lindeloff alone. 

 

[Jay 37,346]

All that means is that they figured the show would end with a closeup of Jack's eyes closing, since it began with a shot of Jack's eyes opening.

[Koray Savas 2,251]

I remember someone on the show saying that JJ wrote the ending right after the pilot.

[Jay 37,346]

It takes a long time to write

CU: Jack

 

His eyes close

THE END