Saturday, April 24, 2010

POINT OF NO RETURN

"Life must be understood backwards ... but it must be lived forwards."-Soren Kierkegaard
We've been through a lot these past six years, we LOST fans, since we first met 14 plane crash survivors on a deserted tropical Island.



We've flashed forward and backward and sideways and all around the timespace continuum.



We've experienced the hatches and the cages and the purge and the nosebleeds and the flaming arrows and the visitations of ghosts. We've travelled on the outriggers and the raft, Ajira Flight 316 and a Beechcraft full of drug smuggling Nigerian priests, the Black Rock, the Elizabeth, Penny's Boat and Not Penny's Boat.



We've been through pushing the button and not pushing the button and how the Donkey Wheel blooped away the Island and how the pendulum in the Lamppost showed the way to get blooped back on to it. We've been to Jacob's cabin and his lighthouse, the cave of numbers, the above ground Temple, the below ground Temple, the inside of the giant four toed foot. We've played I Spy with the numbers and the hieroglyphics, the mirrors, the Virgin Marys, the snowglobes and polar bears, black and white rocks, White Rabbits!



We've picked through the cultural detritus of Enlightenment philosophers, quantum physicists, Joseph Campbell, Stephen King, Star Wars, the Matrix, evil twins and bad daddies, Faustus and Satan and Job, Genesis, Exodus, the Book of John.


And we've wondered and wondered about all the many mysteries. About how the Island gave John back his legs and made him special. About Walt's secret powers and why Aaron couldn't be raised by another and why the super!sperm! made babies that consumed their mothers from within and whether dropping the atomic bomb caused the Incident or prevented it and why Jack's dad's body wasn't in the coffin but was wandering about the world looking for ways to make Jack cry.



Our heads are spinning. How could they not be? If the ultimate intention was to make sure the audience entered the finale sequence as LOST as a bunch of disoriented drunks who've just been strapped to a chair in Room 23, then they've succeeded.



Mission Accomplished, dudes!



We all knew this time would come, when our individual visions of what LOST could be or should be or might be would inevitably have to yield to the oncoming reality of what LOST actually is.



It's time to recalibrate our expectations and prepare for landing. I think we've all realized by now there's no way LOST is ever going to come together like a clock. If you had any doubts, just check out how Sun (injured the day after Flight 815 landed) and Locke (injured at least a week after Flight 815 landed) ended up side by side on stretchers in the emergency room.



When did they stop trying? I've stopped looking for an overall design or even any kind of coherent theme. Not with Jack the Man of Science becoming a Man of Faith who swims back to be with the Monster who engineered the murder of the actual Man of Faith. What the hell does he have faith in exactly? Becoming another sucker?



Is there any way Fate v. Free Will can come out of this garble meaning anything? Is Redemption still a concept with any definition in this tale where "justice" is so random and never lands on the right people?



To make matters more muddled, the Sideways Reality, which initially felt like an amusing puzzle, has gradually devolved into a mindless child's fantasy where no one dies and Twu Wuv hits you like a lightning bolt from a star many galaxies away. I'm waiting for the teddy bears and pink unicorns to appear any episode now.



There have been times in the past few weeks when I've felt like this whole warm and fuzzy ending they seem to be dumping on us feels about as profound as when the Brady Bunch took that awesome vacay in Hawaii.



But I've come this far. I'll slug it out til the end. I can't imagine what a daunting prospect this endgame had to be for Darlton. There's still an element of suspense involved here. As Carlton Cuse said recently, no one knows yet if they're going to belly flop or whether there's still a way they can land this baby without making an absolute mess.



Either way, I'm going to speak my mind. That's the beauty of having your own blog and no boss to answer to. So read on at your own risk and if the things I write piss you off, then I don't really know what to say. Except this:



That being said ... I liked this week's episode. LOL. It was fun. I was surprised and sad to see it end. It wasn't a brilliant episode, but it entertained me. Maybe it's because no matter how inane the storyline, LOST is always such a beautiful visual experience. Or maybe it was because, like the Locke Monster said, it was just so nice to have everyone all together again.



No, I don't think it brought us any closer to understanding anything, but I've learned something over my little mini break. Most of us dweebs still left haunting the LOST online community - and there aren't that many of us left, if you notice - have obsessed each week over the minutia. The Easter Eggs and book titles and odd surnames of the side characters we otherwise wouldn't give a shit about.



Forgive me if I'm late to the party, but I've just come to the realization that, aside from the fun factor, none of that means anything. Chasing down those dead end rabbit holes is how we wind up getting so lost. This episode was pretty Easter Egg lite, for example, and I've noticed how much that frustrates a lot of the fandom. They want Easter Eggs. They think they need them to understand LOST. But I think they're wrong. Take, for example, this apple.



A lot of people latched on to the apple in this scene and jumped, predictably, on to the Adam and Eve bandwagon. Might Sawyer and Kate be Adam and Eve? What was the significance of Kate not taking the apple? That means she can't be Eve, right? Cause Eve took the apple. So Sawyer must be the snake! Satan! He's tempting her!


And she's refusing! She's redeemed!



Uh, yeah ... except, you know ... Not.

I know this is a difficult concept for LOST fans, but I think it might be worth considering. Sometimes an apple is just an apple. James isn't tempting Kate. He's bringing her a freakin' snack. Think of it as an apple shaped fishbiscuit, if you like.


In any case, the apples were beside the point entirely. They were only there to give the most nerd-afflicted among us something to fixate on while they ignore all that nasty sexy chemistry Sawyer and Kate can generate in a world without Ghost Juliet haunting them. (Some day I really want someone to explain to me why fanboys hate sexy hot chemistry.)


Since I'm trying to leave minutia behind, I won't comment overly much on the symmetry of the two characters. The way they're dressed the same.



The way they cock their knees up when they talk to one another, while those tempting Easter Apples sit there in between them, being distracting.



The way No. 15 and No. 51 can't help but flirt with one another, even under less than ideal circumstances, in this Mirror World they're in.


The way, as Det. Ford so astutely observes, it's like "someone" is trying to put them together. I read this week that Vozzek thought this scene was all but pointless. Seems like there's a lot What Vozzek Didn't Notice. Like the way that Kate can read Sawyer in any universe, even a universe where he's never been Sawyer.


She knew he helped her in the elevator because he wanted to keep his trip to Australia secret. OtherKate knows James the same way Kate knew Sawyer on the Island. Intuitively. She sees into him without even trying. Even though she just met him for the first time ... if there is such a thing as a "first time" in OtherLOST.



If you followed the bouncing Easter Apple, you'd see the other half of this puzzle clicking into place in the Island storyline. Sawyer, who was looking mighty fine as the take charge manly-man this week, was keeping his Freckles close to his side at all times.



He made a unilateral decision that Claire wasn't coming with them - because she'd tried to kill Kate.


For those of us not wearing our Suliet goggles, it was made redundantly clear that Sawyer's priority has shifted back to protecting Kate. And Kate knows it.



In order to get Claire on to the boat, she gives Sawyer an ultimatum she knows he can't refuse.



If he doesn't let Claire on the boat, she won't be coming with him either. Game over. Kate wins. She knows that, when it comes to Sawyer, she is still the only bartering chip that matters.



Same as it ever was.



So what does that mean about where the story's headed, about where the Lurve Triangle is headed? Danged if I know. I'm just observing it, not predicting anything. Hell, if Hurley can experience a mind meld from a kiss on the cheek by a doppelganger of the crazy lady who tried to help him with his eating disorder four (?) years ago in a different dimension (?), then all bets are off. Kate may end up being the person who conned Sawyer's parents .... and no, it won't matter that she wasn't born yet at the time. Only fools are enslaved by time and space, baby. You should all know that by now.



This episode, like all Season Six episodes, was designed like a tapestry, a quilt of nostalgic building blocks. I think every viewer has finally grokked to the patterns of Season Six. There is very little that is new. It's all about revisiting the past, remembering things we loved and lost.



No matter how I feel about LOST this season, it will always have a piece of my heart. And all season long, whether we've been aware of it or not, they've been giving us our last chances to hug and kiss LOST goodbye.



The Elizabeth returned,



after not having been seen since Season Three's Glass Ballerina.


OtherJack found out he had a sister,



and he reacted the exact same way he did the other time he found out he had a sister. Head pinch!


OtherJohn ended up face down with his spinal column filleted open like a fish's.



Just like Ben, John's mirror person, did in Season Three's I Do.



Although in this season of old home reunions, I can't believe they didn't have Big Gay Tom show up as one of the male nurses in Jack's operating theater. Talk about your missed opportunities!



Locke's dural sac was "obliterated". Dural sacs are the body parts Jack operates on during moments of self discovery.



Just like he was doing when his dad taught him about conquering fear through the Power of Five.



Jack finally took that leap of faith that Eloise had been urging on him in 316.



And even if it was kind of dinky and ... uh, lame,



it was meant to remind us of the far, far greater leap his Lurve Triangle buddy took in Season Three.



Poor Jack. He just can't look cool no matter what he does, can he? I mean, how bad did he need that knapsack? And wouldn't it make more sense to jump off the back of the boat?



When Jack washes up exhausted onto the beach, his new master, The NotJohn Monster, greets him with the words "Nice day for a swim."



The very words Juliet used when Sawyer made the same (but yes, cooler) kind of beach landing in No Place Like Home.



Other phrases are repeated.


Ben tells the ambulance attendant "His name is John", the same Biblical phrase Locke's teenage mother used when she gave him that name.



But we're not really looking back as much as it might appear. When Kate asks Sawyer "When were you planning on telling me this?" - just as she did in the cages -



Sawyer doesn't answer "Never", as he did back then. He says "Now."



And when Kate repeats the famous chorus of "We have to go baaaaaack", Sawyer makes it plain he's had enough of that shit.


"We're done going back."

We can only hope that line turns out to be true, because the time has come. It's nice looking back at old seasons and episodes and faces and places and phrases and such. But we're running out of time to wrap this thing up. All this self referential perpetual looping isn't going to get us any closer to the solution to our puzzle. Unless, of course, the solution is that there isn't any solution. Maybe the whole point was just to get us lost, and if they ever let us get found, the whole story will evaporate from its own lack of weight. Maybe they can't give us the solution because the big secret is they don't have one.

I can't blame them for dallying, because it's always sad to see a long trip end. But LOST has become like a too long road trip in a too small car. The fandom is cranking on each other's nerves (not to mention leaving really nasty comments on recappers blogs). For better or worse, for richer or poorer, we need to finally get to our destination.


We were reminded again recently that the intent was to focus the story on the characters above the mythology in this final season.
The executive producers of Lost have explained that they always wanted viewers to engage with the show's characters....Cuse continued: "By not having the audience talk about the mythology, then people are engaged in, 'Is Kate going to end up with Sawyer?' and, 'I'm really compelled by the complexities of Benjamin Linus'. Those are the things we wanted the audience to obsess about, not whether the Valenzetti equation had any relevance to the functioning of the island's magical time travel properties. ... Meanwhile, Cuse's co-creator Damon Lindelof explained that the narrative of the series had been driven by the characters."
I like to think that's true. I like to think the characters will come to conclusions that feel real, even within this fantasy world. I don't want it all to hinge on a trivial gimmick. I'm not a fan of the WTF-Gotcha! style of storytelling. I can admire the brilliance of a long con done right, but I'm never impressed by cheap tricks. I want to believe Darlton when they say it's the characters that matter most to them. So I will.



This episode might have been subtitled "Catching Up", a phrase that was repeated twice.



Two long awaited character reunions shared the spotlight. First there was the awkward, but sweet, reunion of Christian's two kids. In both worlds.


I'm not going to nitpick and say it would have meant a little more if it happened a little sooner. Or if Jack had ever given the smallest indication that he gave a fiddler's fart about Claire.



Or if there seemed to be any actual point to them being brother and sister. I'm not even going to comment on the fact that, within an hour of this grand reunion, Jack was already bailing on his crazy haired kid sis.



Because, you know, big brothers will do that kind of thing. Sad, but true. They never want their baby sister around when they're hanging out with the kool kidz.



And I'm not going to quibble about the quality of the looooooooong awaited reunion of Sun and Jin either. It has been so long since that fateful day.




I had almost forgotten how vibrant their storyline once was, how real their loss once felt.



It was good just seeing them in the same frame again.



Kissing in front of an admiring audience and speaking ... English.



OK, so it was a little less intimate, a little less authentic, than we might have wished, but you'd have to have a heart of stone not to tear up just a little.



And if nothing else, it was a great relief to see that neither one of them got fried by the electric fence.



Claire and Kate's misbegotten relationship took another baby step forward this week.



Kate had agreed to leave Claire behind when she swam out to the boat with Sawyer, but you could tell she didn't really want to. When Claire put her on the spot, she spoke from the heart.



She didn't mention that Claire was the one who left her baby lying around like a juicy hamburger in a boar infested jungle. She just took all the blame. And then, just to be safe, she also took Claire's gun. Trust, but verify.



I also enjoyed Jack and Sawyer's confrontation in this episode. I agreed with Jack that he didn't belong on that boat. But, dude, if you love the Island so much, why did you get on it in the first place?



Jack has become a total Moonie. It's not just the Island that has cast its spell on him. He's also under the spell of Big Bad NotJohn.



As the group sails away on the Elizabeth, Jack sits in the prow, doing his Man of the Island pose.



The one he was practicing after his encounter with Jacob's Lighthouse.


Jack and Sawyer are switching places. Hell, there were a few times I almost wondered if Jack was switching genders.


Jack has obviously become Locke, but I wasn't seeing Sawyer as the new Jack. To me, this week, he was all Han Solo.



Not just Han Solo. When he ordered Jack to "Get off my ship!", he was channeling his namesake, Harrison Ford. Dig it.


Sawyer isn't taking any shit from anyone anymore. He's had it, he's fed up, he's done.



GTFO, Jack. Time to paddle away and embrace your inner sucker. And, of course, in keeping with the total snowjob they've done on Jack and Kate's relationship this year, Jack doesn't even bother to throw Kate a parting glance, let alone plant a spectacular kiss on her. Sorry, Kate, looks like he's just not that into you. Turns out that Jack's true love is the Island.



Before he took his little dump into the drink, Jack spoke hypnotically, reverentially, about the Island he'd just tried to blow up a few days before. He confessed to James - calling him "James" just like Locke used to do - that when he'd left the Island, he felt a part of himself was missing.


I laughed when Sawyer told him there were pills for conditions like that. Ha! As if Jack doesn't know that. He's a doctor. Duh.



The true "ultimate relationship" of LOST has become a bit of a muddle, along with everything else.



It's still all about Jack and Locke. Except now Jack is Locke, and Locke is ... no more.

I'm not sure what the characters of Jack and John represent any longer, since it's not as if Locke himself ever had a meaningful identity in the first place. Sucks to be called a sucker by the alien being that made you believe you were special just so he could get you killed and make you into his meat sock, doesn't it?



Identity has always been a flexible concept on LOST.




The Oceanic Six pretended to be heroes and wore that false identity with flair.


Kate took on the identity of being Aaron's mother and really seemed to believe her wishes could make it be true.

Sawyer pretended to be LaFleur, which goes to show how fragile identity really is. If they could turn a hot badass like Sawyer into a happy housepet, then it's as if anyone can be anybody. There are no limits.


They're certainly pushing the envelope with this season's absurdist journey into OtherLOST. Are we really meant to think that the OtherPeople we've been meeting are the same people as the Island Losties we've known for so long? Is this kindly gentleman helping John in the ambulance



the same person who strangled him dead on the floor of a hotel room?



Is Jack, the father of David,


the same person who has lived 40 some years in a world where his Mini Me doesn't exist and never will?



I have the feeling the only way I'm going to understand the ending of LOST is if I turn off my brain and just enjoy the detour from Crazy Town onto Stupid Street. I'm starting to think they want us to embrace OtherLOST because it's a shinier and happier world. Who cares if it's fake and has nothing whatsoever to do with the story we watched for five years? We get to see Jack has what it takes to be a great dad! Isn't that what it was always all about?


I'm starting to wonder if the man who once described a happy Harry Potter ending as cowardly is honestly going to let his story end in a world so treacly sweet that it will send us all into diabetic shock. Dead people will come back to life! Twu Wuvs will kiss and get their memories back! It will be like a Disney cartoon. You'll be able to bring the kiddies.


I won't go into the philosophical detail I did last time trying to explain how counterfeit this kind of ending would be. But I do have one question: If they all remember their lives from the original timeline, what happens to the memories they already have?

Does innocent little Claire raise her baby with a memory of the time she wasn't raising him, but was putting axes in people's bellies instead?


Do they all get diagnosed with multiple personality disorder and spend the rest of their lives together in Santa Rosa?


I have a few other questions.

Like why did an un-fridged Ilana stop being Russian?



Does Frank's continued survival mean we may see Ajira 316 fly again?


How did the well shrink?



I know Sayid didn't kill Desmond, but does Sayid's ability to decide against the Monster's orders mean he's getting his soul back?




What was it that Desmond promised him? Was it better than what the Monster promised?



OtherDesmond has become OtherJacob.


He's stalking all the Losties, in that same inappropriate personal space invading way that Jacob had.



I'm not sure what the method is to his madness. It seemed like he was an interdimensional Suzy Matchmaker, but now he's also reading minds. He knew about Libby and Hurley's picnic, for instance, which made no sense, since the only thing he ever knew about Libby was that she had a boat she wanted to get rid of.

And now we see he somehow knew the secrets of Christian Shephard's will and was making sure to put his longlost children together.


Is that going to trigger a flash for someone? What triggers the flashes anyway? The past few weeks made it seem like the flashes were the lightning bolts of true love, but that doesn't match with what we saw this week.


Why didn't Sun flash on Jin or Jin flash on Sun or one of them flash on little abandoned Ji Yeon? WTF does it mean that Sun flashed on John Locke?



Have we been deluded all this time? Was it really Locke and Sun we should have been shipping? What would we call that? Socke?


NotJohn tells Jack that yes, it was him that appeared to Jack on the Island as his father.


That's not a stretch, but it's also not a perfect fit. I can buy that this was the Monster.



It was consistent that the Monster would be leading Jack to water. We saw that the Monster likes to hydrate his candidates before he recruits them.



But who was that guy appearing to Michael right before the bomb on the Kahana blew?

And who was the white shoed apparition sitting in the lobby at St. Sebastian's in LA?


If the Monster could be Christian, why did he have to wait for Locke to die? And where's Christian's body? And who took his shoes off?



How long has the Monster looked like John to Claire? She seems so protective of him, like a little girl who loves her daddy, but isn't it true that he's only looked like John for the past few days?



Ah, fuggedaboutit. Time doesn't mean anything on LOST. We still have no idea what happened on the Island between 2004 and 2007, when no one we know was living there. And we're never going to know. My guess is they're all going to die on the Island, but before they do, they're going to mind meld with their OtherSelves and all the dead will live again and it won't make any sense but no one will care because it will finally have ended. It makes me sad that it's looking like there will be no intelligent metaphor for us to mull over when it's done. A world where gimmicks can erase death isn't a metaphor that means anything to me as a thinking adult. Sorry.



I admit after all this time I expected something more formidable from this ultimate season of LOST. But the road trip's almost over. It will all only end once. And in the meantime, as we near our destination, I'll try not to obsess over the fact that the travel brochures kinda lied about where we were headed. That always happens. I'll just try and sit back and appreciate the fact that, no matter what, the scenery has always been pretty. We've had a lot of fun, made friends, laughed our asses off. And I've learned a lot writing about this show, dug into some interesting topics I'd never much thought about. I remembered, and discovered, some great film and literature as well, thought a lot about the creative process and what goes into making a truly great story. LOST isn't going to rise to that level, I don't think, but that's ok. It still reminded me that such stories do exist and that's a lot more than most tv shows are able to do. The really important thing right now is this:



Also ...



We're not all the way to happily ever after, yet, but we're getting there.



71 comments:

Anonymous said...

I was gonna read this post but all the flash animation nearly gave me a seizure...

Wanda said...

Jack did look like a dork jumping off the boat. He needed his backpack because of Locke/the Monster's backpack.

I couldn't help but think of Miles complaining that the only plans they have are to the beach and away from beach. That much worse because Jack was so insistent on leaving the island and then so insistent on coming back. Sawyer's been away so long, he's forgotten he doesn't have a life left off the island.

Couldn't agree more about OtherDesmond being Jacob. Except it suits Desmond better. Minkowski must have a lot of extra info on that passenger manifest.

I laughed at all the continuity gaps in the timeline, esp Sun and Locke arriving at the hospital.

I don't share your disappointment or fear that it's going to end happily--or terribly, with everyone wiped out. Hoping the writers still have a few surprises up their sleeves, rather than more plodding explanations.

Anonymous said...

Over the years, people have made a lot of references to Lost and religions. As we head toward the finale, I've been reading a number of analyses that suggest we won't be getting answers and perhaps that's what it's all about, i.e. mystery. I'm a Romantic & certainly feel that we could use a little more wonder & enchantment. However, Lost may be less a compilation of religions and their stories & theology and more about how easily we create religions in the face of mystery. Even though Lost presents so many unknowns, fans on comment boards quickly run to fill in the spaces with certitude and fundamentalism. FB, you make note of the viciousness that has come to the fore this season. Is this a microcosm of the great wide human world in which ideologies & theologies clash? Should we hope that Vincent is the last one standing?

Sadie said...

I have a little more faith in a good ending then you do perhaps, but I do think that ultimately the ending will be disappointing. Then again I came to that conclusion about half way through season 3. LOST is sunk too deep into it's own mythology and there is no way it's crawling out without leaving a trail of confusion behind it. LOST seems to be wrapping up the Big Questions. Most of those I've been given satisfactory answers too But seeing as they have no time to wrap up the rest of the mysteries, it bothers me that they even had to introduce those mysteries at all. For example, the infertility on the island. Why do babies die and why do I care and why was it necessary to spend time on a plot line we will never see again? However, I have watched shows before where the mythology was disappointing in the end. X-Files for one, Davis' Doctor Who, Syfy's Battlestar Galactica. But just because the series finales were underwhelming I don't feel like those shows rendered useless, I love them anyway. Even if LOST's final episodes suck and tie absolutely nothing up, I've enjoyed the journey, and the characters and the relationships and it's been a life changing experience for me. It's still just a television show, one which I've tried with all my might to not expect too much from.

NanX said...

Thank you for the recap Fish - I always enjoy your point of view and no matter how Lost ends, the journey has been fabulous for all of us.

The one lesson all of us have learned from Lost is the imagination in all of us is still alive and learning can still be interesting.

Anonymous said...

It sounds like you’re signing off. Can’t blame you, Darlton have stopped trying to be interesting writers/creators and the holes in the continuity are widening. For example: how did Smokey get to Jack’s LA hospital to impersonate Christian, if Smokey can’t leave the island? And lame lines …“looks like someone got their voice back.” Are the fans the sucker here for investing 6 years in a show?

Anonymous said...

Still the best at recaps and screenshots. You're psyching yourself out, preparing for disappointment, (gulp) giving up and moving on and the body isn't even cold yet (let alone dead). I agree, relax, it'll be fine, but I think we have a lot more to look forward to than your recent posts have indicated. LOST is still like a great novel and we are in the last chapter, can't stop reading but slowing down the page turning because we don't want it to end. We need you back as a believer not agnostic!

Anonymous said...

You know, on a week where everybody is putting Jack on a pedestal, I'm glad you took it upon yourself to showcase Sawyer's role in this episode. I'm a straight dude but I have no insecurities about it. I have rooted for Sawyer since season 1, in much the same way I root for my favorite football team. Dude can crack jokes, one-liners and kill with passion, all while sleeping with so many women. He's a true American HERO. I never cared about Jack or Kate or Juliet, for that matter. So please keep giving Sawyer his due recap space.

Also, it's a bit of stretch to wait till Sunday to get your opinions on an episode. Maybe you could do a sort of instant reaction thingy. Nothing too elaborate, just a few paragraphs.. :)

Anonymous said...

Hmm, in my rush to comment, (I'm anon dated April 25, 2010 1:01 PM), I forgot to ask, don't you have anything to say on Dick-Widmore backing out on his deal with Sawyer? Ah well, maybe next time..

shauniqua said...

great recap as always. enjoying losing my faith with you! that said, i enjoyed this episode, too! :)

Anonymous said...

Will the sour grapes continue if skate is end game?

Kyle from Kentucky said...

First of all why Widmore backed out of his deal with Sawyer is very clearly summed up in "Everybody Loves Hugo" - Charles Widmore isn't interested in answers...he's only interested in power.

Damn you for stealing my Big Gay Tom Nickname.

What Vozzek Didn't Notice...
..
.
lmao.

I like that Jack is finally doing what he should have done all along.

I am still severely disappointed that it is possible that John Locke will have nothing to do with the end game. But he still could. LockeLives!

I was so annoyed when Illana showed up as the lawyer. Like we just killed her lets have her back! Its another one of those mysteries we shouldn't have cared about but did ... why was she in a Russian hospital burnt? But it doesn't matter. The more pertinent question is why was she given the role as main cast member.

Fish was so right when she says that since the writers announced their end date that the show itself has lost its soul. I didn't hate season 4 5 or 6 so far but I don't have the same passion that I once did. I thought that the producers and all were so obsessed with the tiny details of each episode and yet Christian shows up on the freighter, Christian shows up in LA. Just so many things like that. I once was very deeply interested in the Ben/Annie storyline but it means absolutely nothing.

What bothers me so much about the happily ever after flash sideways and the HUGE continuity errors is when I go back and rewatch the DVDs after knowing everything about the ending I'll just be like what was the fucking point in this. It sucks.

I agree with all of her feelings about the flash sideways and the way this is wrapping up wholeheartedly. The producers writers dorks clearly made up quite a bit of stuff as they went along. However, it is LOST and nothing on tv will ever capture my imagination like this. And afterall it only ends once. Anything that happens before that is just progress. Remember what Billy Madison said to the little fat kid in 3rd grade? Cherish it.

Anonymous said...

Perhaps the worst thing about Lost ending (and I'm ready for it to end)? No more Fishbiscuit recaps. It's funny to remember how this site started and to see what it blossomed into. Your recaps have always been fascinating, delving deeply into the images and words of Lost, always dragging up something unique that I hadn't noticed. Perhaps that's the real value of Lost: it made so many of us thing so deeply about so many things.

I've always thought of myself as a character fan rather than a mythology fan. But it's not really that simple, and for years I too spun elaborate theories about the island, the Others, what It All Meant. And I'm amazed to realize how disappointed I am that so many story threads will be left dangling. I realize that I don't really need to know how Widmore got off the island in the 1970s to father Penny--but, damn it, it's one of those things which seems really hard to believe, and yet Penny is obviously very important. I'll just have to get used to the idea of not knowing, and try to reach the level of acceptance you've apparently found. I'll probably never know who the Others are, or why they didn't jump through time with the island. Though I'll be just fine if I never learn the fate of Annie ;)

I do hope that life will be generous enough to give you the time to recap all the remaining episodes. We have so few left, and I know you won't really be able to resist the urge to analyze.

lizzie

Anne said...

In answer to above poster: Christian didn't die on the island, are we meant to assume his restless spirit travelled on the plane with his coffin from Australia to the island?

That's ridiculous even for this show. Isn't the point meant to be they can't move on and are trapped on the island?

I hope that as part of the final story these spirits are finally laid to rest.


Thank you Fish for having the guts to be honest about how the show's not working for you right now. I too am finding it more confusing and choppy and just...hollow than ever.

I mean I can see where I am supposed to feel shock, or be moved, or go awwh, or be thrilled for a character but it seems accompanied by a lot of hand waving and neon signs. No longer is the story doing the 'show not tell' thing. (if you want to watch a show which delves into parallel universes, faith vs science, father/son issues, time travel, forgiveness/redemption and does it with great character complexity and poignant delicacy watch Fringe's recent 'White Tulip'. It's hitting all the right grace notes Lost is failing with in this final season.)

I am not a fan of the gotcha/WTF moments, they've always felt like cheap gimmicks to me. Let's hope that the writers are true to their word and somehow manage to get it back to the CHARACTERS in these final hours.

I too am waiting to be as emotionally engaged as I have been in the past, I want to CARE about these people again and is there any point if they just get their memories downloaded into their nice new shiny happy selves? Where do the Other-people's other memories go? Is it a conveniently selective download?

Right now, it feels like it's going to be a hollow kind of happening if all the struggles and trials and heartaches people went through in the past six years in the original verse are just sort of glossed over and forgotten in favor of moving to the Matrix-verse with some memories intact. UGH not my idea of a satisfying, bittersweet ending at all.

GettingArztedWithIlana said...

Fish, i'll never stop praising your job. how can you recall such details from the past.
Basically, I'm with you: no matter how enjoyable the episodes are, the overall job wit S6 was far from good. The many inconsistencies reveal a lack of attention from the writers, that's unforgivable.

One of my major complains concerns Ben: HOW CAN YOU TURN A MASTER OF MINDS INTO A MR BEANISH BACKROW CHARACTER?? And I mean the Ben ON the island, not the Teacher-Ben.

A great villain's nemesis has to be tragic.

I mean once you've built such a terrific character like his (i still think his 'do you guys have any milk?' line to be the apex of the show's writing), you CANNOT reduce him to a COMIC SHOULDER!! You want to redeem him? Right, KILL HIM! Make him die. But by making him such a comedian you are REDUCING HIS PREVIOUS IMAGE as well: I mean, once we'll rewatch the show, the once master of minds will be shadowed by the clumsy everyman we're seeing now.
I still hope he'll come out of nothing just like he used too, and reveal to everybody that he is the one who's leading the game. THAT would be the twist we might expect.

Anonymous said...

Thank you so much for the link to Lindelof's article about Harry Potter. I have been thinking for days about how I felt right before Deathly Hallows came out, knowing it would soon be over, for better or for worse, and comparing it to how I feel now, when the final Lost chapter is about to close. The similarities between these two events, for me, is eerie. Sadness in having to say goodbye, relief that it's almost over.

Please lost, get it together said...

These have been my favorite recaps ever since I first found them in 2007. Seems very negative this year though. Still, except for Doc Jensen, who I do understand gets paid for his work, theres no one better at summing up the show. I'm afraid its now going to take a miracle for this show to be satisfactorily resolved. However, this was a depressing recap. It seems like a lot of the LOST community is being harder on the show than they used to be. So few hours to go, sigh.

Brown Public Library Book Store said...

I really think Chip and Dale [if you've ever seen a Darlton podcast, watch a Looney Toon cartoon featuring Chip and Dale and see if you can tell the difference] are highly over-rated as writers. They've stolen a lot from Stephen King, the bible, Star Trek and the Wizard of Oz. Over all I'll be glad when the show is over and to see what kind of mess the two chattering chipmunks make of the show. A lot of times it's been the actors who've made something good out of less than stellar material.

I have no interest in the alt world. It's no more interesting than the adventures of the Craptastic Six. The story has always been the island and the characters on the island.

For three seasons they've been putting stuff in the show to suggest Sawyer was the new Jacob, but just wait that they'll make it Jack. They've been having Sawyer/Kate connect in the alt world, but the minute she sees Jack and he sees Juliet, harps will play and fireworks will fill the sky and it'll be true love. It's just bad writing.

The answers for the mysteries have been so full of holes it could be swiss cheese. So the whispers are dead souls trapped on the island, then how come Frank Duckett's voice was amongst the whispers and he was never on the island. MIB = Christian? Really, how was he Christian off the island, when he's trapped on the island? And then there's the numbers. If Locke, Hurley, Sawyer, Sayid, Jack and the Kwons represent those infamous numbers, and they've been broadcast on a loop, carved on the hatch and entered into the computer, why did they need all the other candidates, since the ONE is obviously one of those six numbers?

Please, Chip and Dale, don't try to answer any more questions.

In regards to The Last Recruit, I thought Sawyer stopped himself from looking at Kate, because he remembered it was him looking at Kate that caused the blonde dimwit to jump on team Jack and get herself killed.

I also wondered if maybe Jack wasn't supposed to ever be leader, but MIB manipulated things because he wanted Jack to be leader.

I was also unimpressed by the Jack/Claire reunion. If Claire hadn't approached Jack, I think he would have ignored her, as she was doing the giving in that scene and Jack was like a piece of wood, giving her nothing in return.

I also think Jack's a complete doofus. If you knew all the deaths this island caused, would you care what it wanted? Wouldn't you want to get as far from it as you could?

Unknown said...

Thanks, Fish! It appears that I'm feeling the way you, and some of your readers, are feeling about this season. It's kind of heartbreaking what they've done to the show. I really missed your recap last week.

Anyway, I just wanted to put this idea out there: Perhaps the utter bullshit of the flash sideways, or as you more diplomatically put it, the fact that it appears that the show's creators have ceased caring, can be explained. Maybe the flash sideways is actually a virtual reality created by Jacob or MIB as a holding area/prison to hide them from MIB/keep them from accomplishing Jacob's mission.

Just a thought.

Anonymous said...

Its sad to say but ever since Ben turned that FDW and the Island blooped out of thin air,LOST has been on a downward spiral..its incredible to think that although season4/5/6 seem terribly complicated,they infact dont have enough story to last 3 short seasons....thats why they asked abc to end it back then,because they ran out of ideas when crazy beard Jack uttered those now iconic words...I wish we could go back too....

Brown Public Library Book Store said...

I think viewers have a right to be hard on Chip and Dale. They've had three years to come up with good answers to the mysteries they created, not three weeks. And I agree that they really don't care. It seems to me they picked a couple of fan groups to please: the Jaters and the Fan Boys.

The answer to the whispers probably bugs me the most. It doesn't encompass all the elements of the the whispers. What about the whispers Sawyer, Charlie and Michael heard in their dreams? What about the whispers Michael heard on the ship? What about Frank Duckett's voice being amongst the whispers. Their explanation sucks and is so full of holes it could be Swiss cheese, and it's the same with the other answers they gave. And they had three years to come up with something better.

Another thing is what was the purpose of bringing Widmore back, if you're not going to have a final face-off between Ben and Widmore? I have a bad feeling Widmore will be killed in the next episode without even meeting up with Ben. They built the Ben/Widmore thing up for two seasons and then pfft!

I honestly think all the adulation has gone to Chip and Dale's heads. I mean, didn't Damon tell fans if they didn't like What Kate Did, they should go watch another show?

The only reason I'm still watching is I want to find out what happens to Sawyer, since he's the only character they've really developed with any kind of consistency throughout the last six seasons. He's still essentially Sawyer, unlike Jack and Claire who are now Locke and Rousseau. He's also the only character that still seems real.

If I were on that island, I'd be trying to find a way off, not wanting to find out what the island wants from me, since it already tried to whack me once by giving me a bad appendix.

lennyg said...

Reminds me of Richard Allen's comment in his introduction to Watership Down. The book "was never intended to be some sort of allegory or parable. It is simply the story about rabbits made up and told in the car." Oh wait - Sawyer's been seen reading that book twice.

Anonymous said...

Thanks for the amazing recap. I feel exactly the same way and fear the same, but I still think there might be some hope left for a meaningful ending. The plot holes are there and they are probably due to sloppy writing. Which is a sad thing to admit. But such things can happen. What I won't admit just right now to is that the shiny, sugercoated sideways reality is meant to be the end, the overall solution and the MEANING of Lost. That people who wrote amazing episodes like "Deus ex machina", that played with significations, images and plot lines with such a casual elegance that it was almost magical to watch, are capable of screwing up their own life's work. The more cheesy and sugary the sideways get, the more I hope (and expect, as a matter of fact) everything to be one last, big, amazing long con. That the sideways is, in fact, a rhetorical device. Or a devil'snare. And that the 'devil' is not MIB, but our dear Jacob. Except that there is no devil at all, only mankind. And that Jack, in the end, will be right for one time and actually succeed in saving a soul: HIS. And that there is no candidate needed at all. That Jacob set us up since we first saw him. That the Island IS a place where miracles happen: that the Island works on a metaphorical level as a place where you can find or loose yourself. That there are no sides that are black and white after all. That the whispers are in fact the Island talking, not some crappy made up ghosties that suck as a solution to this mystery. That there will be some meaning behind the questions of free will, fate, and faith. I refuse to believe that the Island is a corky prison to an evil, body snatching spirit and the redemption is to be found in a cocky neighbor universe where all people are good and in love. In fact, this is so ridiculous, I can actually imagine Darlton rolling on the floor right now, at this moment, laughing at us that we actually believe into this story. And when the moment of truth arrives, in less than four weeks now, we will see if they didn't mean much more when they said: "Trust us". Or if I will be rolling on the floor laughing at myself for being stupid enough to follow their advice.
Thanks again for all your great recaps, best wishes,
Our Skies

Unknown said...

I'm seriously not attacking anyone but thinking that Darlton flat out doesnt care about the show anymore is lunacy

These guys ARE the show just as much as the cast and the rest of the crew is. I can't even imagine Lost without them.

Can you imagine the daunting task in trying to end a show like this? To tie up all the loose ends and answer mysteries that they probably had no intention to ever answer but are doing anyways to please the fans.

I think I remember reading an interview where Damon said to forget about what the numbers mean because it's not important and fans hated that so they found an anwser for them.

Is the answer good? eh maybe not but is that the issue? Probably but atleast it shows that the creators care enough about the show and more importantly the fanbase

I'll stop now because I know somebody can counter point what I'm trying to say so I just don't want to get it.

I for one am very grateful of the awesome show that has become a awesome obsession no matter how different it might end from what I wanted

And to Fish: I really have enjoyed your recaps and opinions for a long while but I just have to say for this last season "Lighten Up"

Also I am hoping for your last post ever for new Lost you can thank your wonderful fans who come here and read your thoughts and opinions and defend you when they get to skatery = )

Anonymous said...

Thank you for your awesome recaps! I especially like them because you are not afraid to talk about the epic romance of the show. Other recappers and commenters prefer to ignore it, make fun of it or attack it. But the Skate romance is the heart of the show, in my opinion. I'm not a young fangirl, instead I am old enough to have actually watched the Brady Bunch when it first ran on Friday nights and to have seen Star Wars the first week it came out. The romance on the show is old school - reminds me so much of Rhett and Scarlett. The slow build up has been unheard of for a tv show. In my opinion, if the writers stay the course, they will have created something special and long-lasting which is very unusual for television. 15/51

Ashley said...

Wow, another amazing recap! One thing I always admired about your recaps is how you're able to connect the tiny parts that the myth/sci-fi lovers gloss over, into the themes of Lost. You remind me why I love this show.

And A+ for seeing things the way they are! I know you have a reputation as a Skater, but your recaps have been so much less biased than any of the others!

Island Boy said...

Fish...you've nailed it. You put into words my exact feeling about this season and the less remarkable than anticipated final season. And I agree with the poster above that commented that the show started going downhill from the moment they announced the planned end date. I've always resented the smugness of the Darlton, their misleading answers, their obvious misdirection and the smirkiness of wallowing in the limelight which they must know they don’t really deserve. They had a great idea for the beginning of a show…they just didn’t have a good idea on how to end a show…Reminds me of a situation that the Jerry Seinfeld show would have used for a half hour. You know how to TAKE a reservation…you just don’t know how to HOLD a reservation!

Brown Public Library Book Store said...

Island Boy, wasn't the initial idea from JJ Abrams? I think someone said Carlton Cuse wasn't even a part of the show in season one.

I do think that like Jack and Kate, Chip and Dale bring out the worst in each other. They think all their mind games are so cute.

To be frank, I think Chip and Dale are highly overrated. Most of the stuff they've come up with was stolen from the ideas of other writers who actually came up with genuine ideas.

I guess what bugs me most is they had the ingredients in the mysteries they created to find a solution. Take how the Black Rock got in the middle of the island. Instead of a big wave, which sounds pretty lame, they had the scene where Sawyer was looking at the intact statue and down below Locke turned the wheel. They could have said turning the wheel caused the island to disappear for a moment and when it rematerialized the Black Rock got stuck in the middle of it. Why even put that scene in there if you weren't going to use it.

And why did they do the Dharma story without answering any questions about it. Instead we got the boring domestic drama of Amy and Horace, and trying to pass the actor who plays Ethan off as 30 years old.

They've changed how old Sawyer is three times. They made Charlotte older than both Miles and Ethan. We still don't have a consistent date for when The Purge occurred. And I think that's the hallmark of bad writing.

They also put stuff in they never have any intention of explaining. Why did Sawyer get a nosebleed while Locke and Jin didn't. Why did he have that strange reaction to the brainwashing video. What was all this business of proxies needed to find the island.

I have a lot of problems with the writing. In a lot of cases I think its the actors who have made the weak writing work. Like with the insta-LaFleur/Juliet thing. Josh Holloway had the talent to make the unbelievable believable. Or how many times Terry O'Quinn made it believable that Locke was constantly being conned by Ben and yet never getting a clue. Matthew Fox, unfortunately, doesn't have that kind of acting talent to make a lot of the weak writing for his character work. He just hasn't made the morphing of Jack into Locke Jr. that believable, and Darlton didn't lay any ground work to make the transformation believable.

Anonymous said...

Okay, I'd ask you why you're really so down on these final episodes of Lost, but I'm pretty sure I know the answer (spoilers!) and don't want to hear 'em.

So here's the take of someone who is still unspoiled and still in love with Lost.

First, I'm as reasonably sure as anyone can be when it comes to this show, that the Alt is NOT the end game - unless we're getting the unhappy ending.

The way it is being portrayed on the show is telling me it's very, very "wrong". Sure, on the surface it seems great - everybody lives, no one's a murderer, enemies are friends - and yet whenever we dig beneath that surface, we find characters who are unhappy and unfulfilled, even if they don't know it.

If anything in this episode is "The Apple" it's the Alt itself - a "be careful what you wish for, you just might get it" dream world from which our Losties must wake up, a "Last Temptation" that they must reject if they are to fulfill their destinies and save the world.

And second, you are being way too bitter about "Twu Wuv" being the trigger for those Losties who are waking up - probably because you're too busy being afraid of what will happen when Alt-Juliet shows up - to notice that's not what's happening at all.

I think it's WAY more relevant that the Alt Characters who are experiencing memories of the real world:

a) Are dead in the real world (Charlie, Daniel, Libby)

and / or

b) Have had a near-death experience in the Alt (Charlie, Desmond, Sun)

and / or

c) Are able to commune with the dead in the real world (Hurley)

and / or

d) Have a history of mental unstability (Daniel, Libby, Hurley, arguably Desmond)

and / or

e) Have been exposed to timey-wimey altering levels of magnetic engergy (Charlie, Desmond, Daniel)

and / or

f) Are remembering a life-changing love that went largely unrequited or unfulfilled (Charlie, Daniel, Libby, Hurley)

and most importantly

g) Have been to the Island.

Sun is the only one who meets only one of these criteria - and she didn't seem to hold on to her flash of the real world after her medical crisis passed.

Desmond is the only one remembering a love that wasn't unfulfilled - and we all know the rules don't apply to him.

You're also ignoring what the romantic pairings among the characters who are still dreaming have in common:

a) Their relationships weren't one sided or unfulfilled in the real world (Locke&Helen, Sayid&Nadia, Sun&Jin, Kate&Sawyer)

and / or

b) They include a partner who (dead or alive in the real world) was never on the Island (Locke&Helen, Sayid&Nadia, Desmond&Penny)

and / or

c) They include partners who were never romantically involved in the real world (Sawyer&Charlotte)

C'mon Fish - you're the one usually putting all these pieces together so I don't have to. Try to stop moping about things that haven't happened yet and maybe you'll be able to enjoy what little time we have left to get Lost.

El Diz

Anonymous said...

I've been watching tv since test patterns filled the place of programming, and Lost has been my favorite tv show ever. I have asked myself this season "If this was the first time I was watching Lost, would I keep watching?" I can't give a definitive response, but it's significant that I'm even asking.For weeks I've been holding onto the hope that the creators would finish the season with an incredible mind-blowing narrative twist. After the last episode, I'm feeling less that they'll be able to do that, and I'm not sure how it would make up for the unsatisfying season to date. The whole idea of the Candidate has left me cold. How can I be invested in someone committing themselves to the Island when we still have no idea what that's all about? Why do I care about who Jacob's replacement is, when I have no idea of who Jacob is? The whole sideways reality has been gimmicky with all the appearances of past characters & restructured lives. [BTW, I think that sideways isn't real. I'm buying into some sort of Donnie Darko tangent universe. There are so many indications of instability. So I haven't completely checked out.] All of the supposed explanations have been pedestrian. Like you FB, I didn't find the Hugo/Libby pairing to be one of the great romances or convincing. I also find the abusive response to voicing criticism disturbing.

Anonymous said...

Holy Shit dude, your post at DocArzt has over 300 comments! I mean, WOW!! I would have preferred all those comments were made here, would have made for quite a discussion.

Anonymous said...

I followed your link to the Harry Potter article and it’s very telling just how much Damon Lindelof likes explosions. All the seasons of Lost have ended with big and multiple explosives, along with the middle stories having a lot of things (and people) going boom. The only thing Damon likes better than explosives is backpacks. Everyone wears one. All during this season, I have been trying to figure out why notLock needs a backpack. Just what does a smoke monster need to carry around?

Anonymous said...

Oh AMEN to it all. Including most of the comments here. Chip & Dale, for sure. I've been hearing Lindelof laughing at me all season and it's just getting louder.

FB, if you're anywhere near Phoenix let me buy you a drink.
Mary
Mary Contrary
Aurora Australis

Anonymous said...

Overall this has been a frustrating season (with a few bright spots) and I'm just about ready for the show to end, even while dreading it. I know there will be a lot of complaining and moaning no matter what happens, but I'm hoping time is going to help. First, in the sense of when we finally see everything, some of this earlier season material will make more sense ... and also after the end, after initial emotions have passed, that on repeat viewing we'll also see the end as fitting the whole. (Yes, I'm kind of pessimistic right now, assuming I won't like the ending.) It's happened for me with other material that I didn't like at first and now can appreciate more. Yet even with pessimism, it's hard to believe there are only 3 more episodes until the finale. Sigh.

If anything in this episode is "The Apple" it's the Alt itself - a "be careful what you wish for, you just might get it" dream world from which our Losties must wake up, a "Last Temptation" that they must reject if they are to fulfill their destinies and save the world.

El Diz - I hope you're right. This idea feels possible, and would be a very satisfying explanation. It also would be interesting if someone doesn't wake up. Perhaps Jack - not wanting to give up his son? I guess we will all see shortly!

Anonymous said...

I hear you sister. I love that you say what you really feel and dont kiss ass. I also loved the dig at Vozzek. I'd like to see more of that. These emotionally tone deaf fanboys have dominated the Lost community. No one but you takes them on because they're such snide bullies. I wish you'd do more of that. Keep telling it like it is. No one else will.

Anonymous said...

Hang in there Fishy. Too early to give up hope. I have it on good authority you're going to love this next episode.

Anonymous said...

Fish, you forgot to mention that The Last Recruit was Josh Holloway's 100th appearance in Lost episode.

Lindsay Gilmour said...

On the subject of Claire and Jack... I went back to Ep 1 S1, and Claire is the first female - and second person - to speak. Jack the first.

So I've been wondering for a while if Claire is going to end up staying in some sort of 'Eve' role.

Since Jack seems to have taken up the reins as chief God-botherer (or Follower of Jacob if you prefer) there'd be some symmetry in them being half-siblings then...

Anonymous said...

@ lindsaygii : None of the Losties will turn out to be Adam & Eve. It's gonna be Mib and his mom. Why do you think that conversation between Flocke and Kate took place in Recon? This is just my theory, btw, I don't read spoilers.

Redhead said...

Thanks for the latest recap. Saw a slight reflection of Claire when she was signing into the log book in the building where the will was being read. I'm still watching for these. To brighten your day checkout YouTube they are carrying Lost Season bloppers. It's nice to see our favorite characters laughing and having a good time. I look forward to your recaps, you have put a lot of yourself into them and it is greatly appreciated.

Kyle from Kentucky said...

42nd comment.

No more! stop at 42 or go to 108

Anonymous said...

Fishbiscuitland, I love love love this recap of LOST! I am still laughing. I feel the same way about everything. This insubstantial pageant has faded.

Kaitlin said...

Fantastic recap! I find myself feeling all the same things.

Anonymous said...

Really love your recaps! Wish I've found them pre 2009....
I can't wait for the new one!!

Anonymous said...

series finale extended to 2 hours 30 minutes :D

Anonymous said...

Man, I wish you had said something already about what happened in last night's episode. You're the only recapper out there with a wee bit of common sense and not a word from you :/

Anonymous said...

hey fish, wheres the new recap? youre killing me with the wait..

Anonymous said...

one more

I need to make sure I've got my LOST metaphysics/theology straight here: When you die, you go to a purgatory that's kind of like a season of AfterM*A*S*H. When you're ready to "move on" you meet your friends at a Unitarian-Universalist church.

That was a disappointment. I haven't felt so ripped off since I paid full price to see The Village. I had a sinking feeling when Daniel and Driveshaft combined forces to perform Mr. Holland's Opus Part II. That's not purgatory, that's hell.

There are two separate but related things this episode had to deal with, and it failed at both of them.

1) Resolving mysteries and questions about the world (or not). You don't have to give us all the answers. In fact, you don't have to give us any answers. But I do want to get a sense that the writers understand and abide by the rules of the world they've created. I have no idea what's happening and why at the end of 2001, but I feel like Kubrick and Clarke do (even if they don't, they make me *feel* like they do). "The End" made me feel like LOST's writers had given up trying to make the world of the Island work. The world we were asked to buy into was nothing more than a collection of macguffins. Seriously, the Ultimate Mystery of the island is a drain-stopper rock that Desmond and Jack have to plug and unplug? That's it? More importantly, why do we even care at this point?

2) Resolving LOST as a drama. Here's where I had my biggest problem. For all the quirky mysteries of the Island, you couldn't end this series dramatically with things any more tied up in a bow. Everyone finds their partner (pairing up like we're in the last scene of a musical comedy). No one has given up anything. A round of happy endings for everyone before they walk off into the sunset! This is sitcom dramaturgy, and I can't imagine a less satisfying was to see off these characters. Blech.

And just to be clear: the "flash sideways" has not a thing to do with the island. If we eliminated it completely, the island story wouldn't have changed one iota. (Could someone please create a Sopranos "flash sideways" on YouTube with Tony, Paulie, and Johnny Sac all walking into the great beyond hand in hand...)

Good riddance, LOST.

Anonymous said...

another Slate:

I must begin by thanking the Lost creators: Never again will I waste the precious hours of my life clinging to a vine of hope that a bouquet of carefully arrayed and tantalizing questions might—somehow, some way—be answered. From the beginning it was apparent the show’s writers had a talent for weaving a complex web of teasing questions, but we learned tonigh they were a one-trick pony. Lost turned out to be exactly what I had always feared: a series of cleverly constructed but ultimately meaningless vignettes.

What is most astonishing is that the writers didn’t even bother to attempt to disentangle the labyrinth of riddles they laid out: Why were babies on the island dying? How did Locke’s father get on the island (his body was never there)? Why kill off Mr. Echo? How does Richard have an inexhaustible supply of eye-liner? Viewers who for six years had pored over every exquisitely placed clue found themselves answerless as they watched a closing scene involving a room full of grinning cast members that resembled my last high school reunion. It was as if the writers were saying, “Hey, we may not have answered any of your questions, but look at all these really cool characters we created that you all love so much.” Our exciting conclusion is to witness Jack beat the hell out of a 60-year-old man.

What a fool I was all these years. But I pity poor Schafer even more. He was duped into writing a weekly column on this tripe and had to put up with the critics who endlessly chided him for poking holes into this schlock. On that note: I look forward to reading Matlin’s pseudo-intellectual parsing of the finale; he will undoubtedly find a way to defend it.

How depressing. I feel vaguely like Kyle, Stan and Cartmann when they went to see Indiana Jones and the Crystal Skull. I made the foolish mistake of thinking that because the writers created interesting characters and flirted with interesting and profound ideas, they had something to say. Don’t get me wrong, I didn’t expect them to unravel the questions of the universe, but I did expect a few answers and some modest closure. This show was a hoax, pure and simple. I wish I could use the island to time travel so I could go back to 2004 and warn myself not to watch this crap. Curse J.J. Abrams.

That is all I have to say….now I am going to go and gouge my eyes out.

Ms Terri said...

Wow. You predicted the ending a month before it happened. As you wrote, above:

I'm starting to wonder if the man who once described a happy Harry Potter ending as cowardly is honestly going to let his story end in a world so treacly sweet that it will send us all into diabetic shock. Dead people will come back to life! Twu Wuvs will kiss and get their memories back! It will be like a Disney cartoon. You'll be able to bring the kiddies.

That's exactly how it ended. I'm amazed that you predicted it so well and so early. (A month ago, I was still excited about the upcoming ending and confident that it would be good.)

I'm eager to see what you have to say about the finale. I hope that you do a recap -- I think it would help my clarify my own swirling thoughts. Looking foward to it ...

Lucy said...

Are you still planning to do a post-finale recap? I understand it probably takes time to find enough screen captures from Highway to Heaven, but I could really use a humorous chaser. Thanks for all your entertaining recaps to date.

Anonymous said...

So when's the review of the finale going up?

Anonymous said...

Fishbiscuit I miss your posts. Darlton couldn't completely deliver the Lost closure I needed, so now I put it on you! Help me let go! Then again, maybe you're trying to do this by not writing - maybe, like Glenn Frey, you are already gone!

Thanks for the entertainment over the years. Namaste!

Anonymous said...

Fish,

I came to Lost late and after learning about Easter eggs, I started looking for them everywhere. I saw an elephant in Rousseau’s hideout in episode 1.09 (after Sayid fixed Rousseau’s music box and before Rousseau left with her gun, there’s a loud noise and a quick glimpse of an elephant’s trunk raised up and the rest of the head is covered with a blanket) but maybe only I saw it. At any rate, I did a internet search for “elephant + Lost” and found your recap on the elephant in the Little Prince story (The Elephant in the Boa 5.04.) I was immediately hooked on your take of the story. I want to thank you for all the work it took to do the recaps. So many others recapers were either only just restating the storyline or talking out the tops of their heads without giving any thought to what they were saying. I came to count on you to educate me on the various book titles, meanings behind the names of characters, and other semi-hidden items. I also appreciated the humor you included, like the shrinking well.

I was saddened to read the potty-mouth remarks in the comment section directed towards you. How incredible odd to think you owe people recaps.

Chud said...

Hey Fish - I have never posted on any other site except Lost-TV Forum and only sparingly there. I'm more of the lurker-type anyway.

I must say I have checked almost daily for your re-caps - ever since what was it? The Candidate - anyway your post the beginning of May.

I will continue to check for your recaps and no matter what I've been a faithful reader and enjoyed (not always understood) your inciteful take on the Lost story and themes.

Cheers Fish - thanks for everything!

Chud

Kyle from Kentucky said...

alright then fish....



I'm just going to continue to check this blog every day until I get something from you.


by the way I liked the finale as a whole and it does speak for itself. However I feel like Sawyer got the worst/least amount of closure and I don't like that.

Redhead said...

Fish...I'm waiting patiently because I know your recap is going to be the "doozy" you promised. I sure will miss you.

Unknown said...

I don't know where else to post this... Are you coming back to us? Theres a lot of people who are VERY VERY excited to read your final recap. I'm imaginaing something quite epic and I'm sure it takes a lot of time to put together. I keep coming back here every day in the hopes the recap is up. Not yet... I'll keep trying.

As for the finale, if you LOST commenters were looking for answers, you were watching the wrong show, in fact, based on the lovey-dovey church crap and the healing-ball-of-island light I would have preferred less answers over schmaltzy-Hallmark white light answers.

The ending would have been better if it was just Jack lying down closing the eye, at least it would feel like some sort of circle was complete. I choose to pretend that the flash-sideways didnt happen. LOST looks a lot better without it.


That said, its irritating for people to say they wasted six years on this show. The lack of resolution doesnt ruin it for me. What was cool about the show (the search for meaning, purpose, resolution, unusual narrative structure, past events determining how you act now, and what you do now affecting the future, Dharma, etc... etc...)still is regardless of the swiss cheese plot this year.

I still feel like the journey is more important than the destination in Lost, just like life. And things get muddled from time to time.

I WAS somewhat disappointed in certain aspects of the finale and SOME of this season, but really they just set the bar too high and never could have equalled our expectations.

Still a fan and waiting patiently for a fishbiscuit.
js

Fishbiscuitland said...

Patience, all.

It's coming.

Erin said...

Excited about your post - u are the best - will u be posting about anything in the future - please let us know :-)

Kyle from Kentucky said...

^


:)

Thank the lord.

She is going to rip Darlton to shreds.

:)

Happy Weekend.

Anonymous said...

Fishbiscuit! We miss you and need closure!

LOST SideSteps said...

I've got this place bookmarked and have been checking regularly for the final recap. Only with your help will I finally be able to let go, Fish ;)

Anonymous said...

Woohoo!

Anonymous said...

I see now why Damon called Sawyer the "Han Solo" of Lost. He was pissed off that clever, sexy Han got Leia, and this was his means of revenge. Giving the girl to his "Luke". Ha.

Can't wait for your finale recap.

Rob said...

Hi Ya Fish!

So glad to see that you are going to provide your customarily insightful and tres amusant analysis on the final episode of LOST.

Okay. I just sounded like Thurston Howell III and I kinda creeped myself out. But, still your pal - Rob

Kyle from Kentucky said...

what's funny is that a majority of the fans (Maybe even 75% or 80%) are thrilled with the way the relationships on the show ended.

I'll never forget in LaFleur at the exact moment he hands Juliet the flower and then the kiss I got a text saying OH NO! WTF! This aint right!!

If you watched the final recap show you'll hear Carlton saying he would most like to be Sawyer as all of us diehards knew all along. And then on more than 1 occasion in this recap show Damon says negative things about Sawyer. Because Damon is a little nerd that could never have a hot gf.

Juliet and Damon ruined one of the greatest true love stories ever. I mean the woman literally sacrifices her life because Sawyer looks at Kate in a certain way.

I'm not bitter over it but they are just wrong.

The only thing I was ok with was my thinking that Jack sacrificed his life to FINALLY do the right thing instead of just being an arrogant prick like always. But he sacrifices himself to save everyone so my thinking is ok maybe he should have Kate for pitys sake. You know...?

I still feel kind of sick to my stomach about it.

Theres not 1 Jack and Kate moment that is anywhere near as real as You smell like fishbiscuits.

You were wrong on this one Damon. And don't even get me started on Nadia not being in the church with Sayid. Thats even worse.

Anonymous said...

Thank goodness - you deserve to have the last word and I will hang on every bit of it. I can feel myself letting go, but your final analysis will be like a bookend for me. Thanks for keeping it interesting!

Anonymous said...

I'm not seeing those numbers, Kyle. Of the people still watching by the time the finale rolled around and not too disgusted to bother to comment, I'm not seeing a whole lot of people thrilled about anything, much less how the relationships ended up. I'm seeing people who didn't even care one way or another observe that we never even saw the improbable Juliet and Sawyer relationship in the first place and the Jack and Kate moment on the cliff came out of the nowhere. People are using these among other inconsistencies with previously established characterization as proof that it wasn't "all about the characters". Also I'm seeing people who just assumed Sawyer and Kate got together after left since everywhere Sawyer went, Kate was sure to go throughout the series up until the end.

They bombed on the finale.

Tele Gram said...

I mentioned your blog Fishbiscuitland in a post on my blog around March 2011 comparing the book by Rene Daumal "Mount Analogue" and the overall structure of LOST, discussing reading, mythology, and similar topics. Maybe this might make a conversation possible: http://wavesofguide.blogspot.com/2011/03/mount-analogue-lost.html

Kevin Mathison said...

Nice Post, Thank You Author!!! For sharing this informative and great Content.
Want to Dating Customer Services? please contact the SilverSingles Customer care.

Recover SilverSingles Forgot Password
Can't Login to pof Account
recover silversingles account
SilverSingles LogIn Problem
Cancel Silversingles Account