Vexingmodstwo and JoeDharma fearlessly probe the depths of the list Mini-Season to find out what worked, and what didn't! Read on to find out what we found...
- New Possibilities: At a minimum, we've got a whole new area of the island to learn about. Heck, we've got a whole other island to learn about. There's a new host of characters and backstories and island mysteries. Think about the potential. The host of flashbacks we can be privy to. The interpersonal interactions that we've already witnessed.
- New Characters: I know there's been people grumbling that the new characters are taking away the time from our beloved original characters. I think that for the show to have any chance of longevity, we need fresh blood. We need to find out about how other people got to this mysterious island in the middle of nowhere. If we don't, by next season we'll get bored. Trust me. There's only so much you can learn about the few originals left before it gets old.
- Plot Advancement: I respectfully disagree with JoeDharma on this. There has been plot advancement. It's just been subtle. For example, Locke is back with a renewed purpose. I consider that a plot advancement. He's got something brewing while last season he was a button pusher who seemed content to stay in the Swan indefinitely. The Others introduction and the stuff going on at the other island is another subtle plot advancement. Sure there are a lot of questions about what's going on, but we definitely have a sense of something going on inside the Other's camp. Again, subtle, but there.
- Death of Characters: I can hear you now: "WHAT?" I think that with a show like Lost, the death of characters we've grown to love or hate is a necessary component. It makes the crazy fiction of this crazy show that much more realistic. It's "life-like".
- SEX: Do I really need to explain why this is a PRO?
JoeDharma here. I don't want you to think I didn't enjoy the miniseason, because it was fantastic... however... here are the five biggest reasons that it teetered on the edge of suckdom.
- Limited character focus. Face it… this was Sawyer, Jack, and Kate’s show this mini-season. Some favorite characters like Hurley, Charlie, and Claire were practically relegated to the background. While others, like Desmond in particular, were hinted to having a major plot point hiding behind their limited screen time. Personally I was hoping Hurley would get wrapped up in an adventure on his way back to camp.
- Mr. Eko, gone. So it was just a waste of time to even bring the tailies over? I may be totally mistaken, but I don’t foresee Bernard tripping off any story lines with the oomph of what Mr. Eko might provide. Yeah, he wanted to leave… ever hear of negotiation guys?
- Zero plot advancement. Big one. I can handle a lot of teasing. LOST fans get used to it after a while. But where are we going here? I mean I would expect after one scene of Kate and Sawyer inexplicably breaking rocks we would get a hint at just what they were working on. Instead we get four more scenes, with still no clue as to what that is all about. Kidnapped to break rocks? Somehow I hoped it would be more interesting. Six episodes with the others, I’d hoped we’d learn a bit about them.
- Stupid new characters. Sorry, Paulo and Nikki can just go away as far as I am concerned. Somehow it was more acceptable at episode 22 of season one to meet Dr. Arzt and accept that he was there all along. Right now, it is too soon to throw these people in there, act like they’ve been there all along, and expect us to buy into it. Please kill them, quickly.
- Stupid old characters. Locke has to look at Eko’s stick twice to get the look north reference? Locke didn’t pick up that the Pearl monitored all stations before Nikki brought it up? I mean, that’s all the damn orientation tape was about! Sayid didn’t know what the monster was? Let alone Paulo and Nikki. Didn’t it rip trees up in the pilot in front of everybody? Consistency, please.
Comments
I am all for new possibitities on the island. But aren't we on an island that the possibities already seem limitless? I think the problem with the show at this point is that they keep giving us more, without explaining any of what we already have. Sweet, we have a new island, awesome...but what the hell was even the deal with the old one?
As far as new characters go, I think Ben is about as interesting a character that this show could ever have hoped for. I'm eager to learn about him through flashbacks and screen time, not Paulo and Nikki.
I love this show. I just hope they get back to what they once were. When I got into it, I watched the entire first season in less than 5 days, and so far this season doesn't even have me excited for new episodes to come back next year.
Posted by: JonyBnaked | November 11, 2006 2:01 PM
Yea, I agree about the plot going nowhere. We have been introduced to the surface of a few important plot ideas, but nothing has happened with them. They didn't go anywhere. They also do not follow up on things. No one went back to investigate where the cable coming up out of the ocean on the beach went. (or going in?) Where was Russo transmitting from? What was the Swan all about and what was the accident, and if they could just turn the key and shut it down, why keep it operating? Why has no one walked the beach of the entire island to map it? Why did they stop in the Pearl after finding one of the many other video feeds? there were probably many more (one for each monitor). Sayid should stay there until they find the rest, or until he has extinguished all resources. I think the new characters on the beach are dumb. It looks "added" and the few lines they have spoken makes them look like bad tv actors, and lost is not known for bad acting. I think Matthew Fox is an excellent actor and has been typecasted perfectly. Sawyer and kate not so much, but not bad. They do need to introduce new characters and they have with some key "others".
Posted by: P. Holland | November 11, 2006 3:30 PM
Paulo and Nikki and probably the 2 worst things ever to happen to lost. They should come back in February and say " oh it was crazy that Paulo and Nikki spontaneously combusted"
Posted by: Quackpipe | November 11, 2006 5:03 PM
Paulo and Nikki are Lost's Poochie.
"I have to go back to my home planet now"
But yeah. I agree on all points. Being a huge fan and trying to participate in the ARG this last summer and being HUGELY disappointed didn't help. They need to change things FAST.
Posted by: frodo | November 11, 2006 5:47 PM
the show is too damn slow ...
multiple story lines and crooked as hell ...
i hate it ... and i never miss an episode ... :P
Posted by: subcorpus | November 11, 2006 6:15 PM
Just finished watching season 1 and onto season 2. That character Michael just sucks and there's so much of him.
Bores me completely.
Posted by: ab | November 13, 2006 2:20 PM
Hey Guys,
i do love tihs show...ok, sometimes it frustrates me, but i love being frustrated, the show would be so boring is everyone was predictable and did as i thought they should do!
love the show, love the possiblities...so frustrated that some other show thinks it's bigger than LOST and has taken it's slot....hmmm...maybe this is part of the plot??? it's not showing for 13 weeks right? Isn't '13' on of the numbers????...lol...just kidding
Posted by: Kay_Ford | November 19, 2006 11:22 AM
Let the writers decide when to give more information... the storyline is absolutely flawless. It's just ABC's deal that makes the show very slow (I mean, watch how long it takes them to just walk around or sit alone on the beach). Season one could have ended around this point, but they do make it incredibly slow.
It would've been cool if HBO or Showtime had picked this up. The advertising influence is hurting this show.
Posted by: Tom | November 19, 2006 10:01 PM
They can't kill Eko! Wasn't it some crazy divine coincidence that he was on the island in the first place? You know, cuz of the plane from Nigeria with his brother in it and all...and making the church, and him and Locke and everything...why did they kill him! They are retarded.
Posted by: David | November 30, 2006 10:04 PM
David, I heard they only killed Eko off because the actor's parents had died within the last few months or something and he had wanted to leave the show after that to be with his family. So they had to kill him off.
Posted by: screwy | December 14, 2006 7:48 PM
