[Movie] LOST

So we're past the halfway mark of Season 2. Despite a rather dull beginning, the most recent episode offered a great number of interesting twists. For example, it's become fairly clear that

Spoiler:

there aren't two groups of others; the Others are normal-looking people in normal-looking clothes who wear disguises to look bummy.

The most recent episode also made previous episodes make more sense and small things seem very significant. I was impressed, after several "filler" episodes and poorly written, pointless scenes.

Jam it back in, in the dark.

Originally Posted by rockthepartay

Spoiler:

The most interesting aspect for me this episode were the Oceanic Airlines model planes found in the baby's room. Can we assume that Dharma/the Others caused the crash?

That's the impression I got. It's pretty weird too, because of the song that played ("catch a falling star and put it in your pocket") and the fact that the planes were circling a silver star. (Also notice that this mobile was seen a dream sequence during season 1.) The mention of a star made me think of "Le Cratere" or the crater that Rousseau had drawn on her map. A falling star - a meteor of some kind - could cause a crater.

Originally Posted by rockthepartay

One gripe I had was the whole scene with Locke getting angry over what Henry said. Not only is it cliche, but it makes no sense for Locke to become jealous over Jack. Locke has always done what he wanted to do, so why would he care now?

I think it's more than that.

Locke's adult life has been a series of disappointments. His own father stealing his kidney, his failed relationship with a woman, his coworker (or boss) ridiculing him, and his inability to go on whatever hunting trip because of his paralyzation.

Everything about Locke's life sucked until he got to the island. First he regained his ability to walk. He encountered (presumably) the monster and said what he saw was beautiful. He then discovers the hatch. For all of Season 1, Locke felt that the island was showing him his fate and his purpose.

Then he finally gets in the hatch. But inside the bunker, there's nothing truly significant. Just button pressing. Endless days of button pressing.

Remember him searching through all the books claiming he was alphabetizing, although he was flipping through all the pages? I paid attention to Locke on this past episode. He was replacing a lightbulb, but when he was done, you can see him sort of examining the ligh bulbs in his hand.

Locke is looking for something, he's looking for meaning; the next step. And he isn't finding it.

Jack on the other hand, has been pretty nonbelieving the whole time. To Jack, the island is just an island for some fucked up shit is taking place. So what if there's a monster? So what if they're even saving the world? Jack doesn't care, things are the way they are. Nothing has any meaning to Jack besides face value.

Now there's this tug-of-war between Jack and Locke. At the moment, Jack would appear to be winning. Henry, who actually is a brilliant dude (check other LOST forums for how Henry saw a painting of a balloon on a wall in the bunker most likely derived his story based on recent news about a balloon flight), is instigating.

Locke is pissed because Jack seems to be on top, physically and philosophically, and also because Locke is on the verge of facing yet another huge disappointment in life. This one is greater than any of the past disappointments. Once again, what he thought was his purpose is being stripped from him, but this time it's more real than its ever been. If your flight crash-landed on an island and not only did you survive but you regained the ability to walk, you might feel the same way as Locke. Right now, the island is Locke's God; it's his religion. But like everything else, it's turning out that what he thought had meaning is meaningless.

Originally Posted by rockthepartay

Sadly, there is not only a two week hiatus, but it seems the next episode will be more filler.

What?! There's a week break in between every goddamn episode, it seems. The only time the episodes seem to run consistently was at the very beginning of this season. And they damn well should have, considering how the first few episodes seemed to cover hardly any ground whatsoever.

There's nowhere I can't reach.

Originally Posted by Sassafrass

And I am not completely convinced that Danielle and Alex are the good guys.]

I dunno, is anyone "good"? It seems like every character has done some shit in their past, or if they haven't done it directly, they've been associated with it. Those who appear good now seem to have the potential to do something bad.

The only people I could vouch for are perhaps Rose, Sun, or Hurley. And even at that, any given flashback could totally change our perception of them. (Unless they're Sawyer, in which case the writers seemed to make an effort at him being the most two-dimensional and single-minded character EVER.)

I think the Others, at heart, aren't really "bad". I don't think their plan is to take over the planet or some obviously sinister stuff like destroy it. They just need to get something (they at least think is) important done, and they're willing to do some pretty nasty things to do it.

This thing is sticky, and I don't like it. I don't appreciate it.

Originally Posted by Sassafrass

Spoiler:

Ever looked at the extras on the S1 DVD? They marked Hurley as a redshirt. ;_;

I watched it, but 20+ hours of video quickly gets compressed in the brain. I don't know to what you are exactly referring.

Originally Posted by Sassafrass

Spoiler:

I am of the school of thought that the end of the world has already been brought about. Theres some huge theory out there that link 108 to a very real satellite (did I spell that right) which sends images back and forth every 108 minutes - much like the button. There are names that are related to this theory. I wish I had a copy of the theory on hand. Its a really interesting one.

But I think the end has already come, and Dharma or the Hanso Foundation (benefactor) has hand-picked a selection of people to start it all over again.

Who knows.

At this point in the show, I take any theory with a grain of salt. You weren't the only person who thought that

Spoiler:

there were two groups of Others

. Lots of people thought that. I didn't think that to such an extent, I thought there were multiple groups of survivors with varying levels of understanding of the island. But yeah, how many theories have turned true? Fuck, think about the things that have been revealed that are significant but haven't been theorized about. Then think about the things that were theorized about that NOBODY got right. NOBODY thought what is true about the others. I haven't heard a single theory that even came close. In the end, the answer was so simple and obvious it was very difficult to guess. LOST seems to be complex where it could be simple; simple where it could be complex. It's what you least expect. The first time we heard the monster, first thing pops into most of our heads is "dinosaur." It turned out to not be a dinosaur or anything LIKE a dinosaur.

Although Season 2 has mostly sucked and I feel that no season will be as great as Season 1 (maybe the last season, I dunno), I have to give props to the writers for making it this way. Even knowing this now, I bet that our theories will continue to be pretty bad. Even though some of them bring up valid points.

Originally Posted by Sassafrass

Was I the only one who was REALLY SAD when Locke didn't push the button on time, it flipped to red hieroglyphs, and then went back to 108? Man. I was pissed. I wanted to see that fucker go. There was a lot of mechanical noise when it happened - probably from the magnetic reactor or whatever - inside the Swan.

I was sad that it didn't mean anything.

They hyped it to be a huge deal, and even though something might have happened, nothing appeared to have happened. Not only that, but it was seemingly 100% reversible.

There was a lot wrong with this part. For one, if something BAD happened or something GOOD happened or NOTHING happened, let the audience know. Let them anticipate. Right now I don't know what to think. Maybe some bad shit will happen later? Maybe Locke fixed it. Maybe they're about to get rescued (doubt it, but still.) But nothing told you. Nothing let you know either way. This is bad mystery, this is anti-suspense.

And then, hype. The numbers are important. Or at least we've been told this. We're supposed to believe they're the difference between the survival or destruction of the planet. We are left to wonder whether this is true or not, but this is what we've been told. The button is important. So if you hype the timer running out, we expect something. Either the end of the world is going to come, or we find out the numbers don't mean shit, or we find out something that at least leaves us thinking. Basically, it moves the plot at least A LITTLE.

Heiroglyphics only leaves us wondering, "Hey, I wonder what they mean?" Cut to a few hours after the show has aired and you'll find that on a forum. (I'm SURE the writers are taking into account the discussion of every last frame of their show on the internet.) Heiroglyphics leave us wondering, "How the fuck is this practical at all? Who put that there? So what?"

Answering a question with a question isn't bad. It can be fun, if it moves the plot even a smidgen. But this is a dead-end question. It cannot truly be discussed or theorized, because it's so obscure and vague.

I have been disappointed so much by false hype that I didn't think "Maternity Leave" could actually be good. I figured, "Oh hay, they're going to find another bunker, maybe see some stuff in it. No one's going to ask questions about it, or tell anyone about it. Might be some stuff in there that will be theorized about." I didn't expect an actually complete episode.

I am a dolphin, do you want me on your body?

Originally Posted by rockthepartay

Because, at least for me, the monster was one of the most intriguing aspects of the show when I first watched it.

Same here, actually.

And I was expecting... A monster. I was actually expecting a bionic beast of some sort; some terrible experiment gone wrong. But most of all, I was expecting something to always fear. I was expecting that every trip into the jungle was accompanied by the tension of whether or not the monster was going to come and kick something's ass. At the earliest point in the show, the monster was the enemy.

As time went on, it became more like a "weapon" or a "device" and less like a monster. You'd almost think this would make it more interesting. I guess the huge uncertainty in its nature could make it so, but the fact that it's only ever actually harmed one person makes it seem less and less malevolent and more and more of a joke.

The setup didn't match the payoff. The recently reran the pilot. If you watch the scene where they first hear the monster on the beach, you see the tallest trees shaking, the loudest of a roar. I expected something massive and terrifying, but...

Locke faces it. It falsely kills Shannon in a dream. It tries to capture Locke instead of catching it. Eko faces it. For a season and a half it's been pretty lame. I feel cheated.

I'm hoping there's more to it. I'm hoping that maybe it can grow to be massive or maybe we'll see it kill something in real time (or fuck, see it more than twice a season.) Dunno about that, though.

JJ Abrams has a serious problem of turning simple shit into sci fi. I remember when Rambaldi popped up into Alias. It was believable within a this-can't-be-how-the-real-CIA-operates context, and yet out of place at the same time.

LOST was probably the same way.

"So they crash on this island... Hmm wait, what if there's a monster... Hmm... Not a dinosaur, that's too obvious... A giant bionic lab experiment... Hmm... No... SMOKE. I GOT IT. SWIRLING SMOKE. Hmm... Needs to be a reason for that though... Some kind of research group... Yeah... The island produces unique electromagnetic emissions which drew them in... A bunker... Maybe some random numbers... Psychics... Need a couple psychics... And... A sickness! There's gotta be some kind of sickness! Random whispers.... Okay... It feels like I'm missing something. Hmmmm...

"I got it.

"Heiroglyphics.

"Gonna need 10 million bux for this one."

I was speaking idiomatically.

Originally Posted by Sousuke

Spoiler:

They let the timer in the hatch run out. When it ALMOST did in one of the latest episodes, we saw symbols from the DHARMA Initiative station's logos. Like the Swan, from their hatch, and the Arrow from the room that Ana Lucia's group was hiding in. Wonder what happens...

Negative on symbols being stations.

As I said earlier, the heiroglyphics translated are causitive for "to die", as in "you gon' die".

What kind of toxic man-thing is happening now?

Originally Posted by Musharraf

Okay can anybody tell me why everyone is getting totally annoying and retarded in this series? What the hell, even John Locke (MY FAVORITE JOHN "OPEN THE DOOR NOW, JOHN!" LOCKE!!) started to act like a retard.

What happened to my favorite series? ;_;

This is truth. Every character they've tried to "develop" has mostly gotten much more retarded. Characters that had three dimensions now have two. Sawyer, for example. Come on, nobody's 100% dickhead.

FELIPE NO

Originally Posted by Sousuke

...Oh, well. They looked like the symbols, is all. You only get a couple seconds to see them anyway.

Yeah, son. If you don't visit forums for LOST you're pretty much out of the loop for lots of important stuff. We need nerd's with Hi-Def TiVOs to overanalyze every frame of the show so they can point out that black smoke monster blew up the plane engine (which it didn't, but people STILL talk about it.)

If you want to be in the "know" I recommend The Fuselage. You actually leave questions for the writers/producers there... And you have a 99/100 chance of getting answered!

Just don't visit this forum during/after a new episode. Server apparently can't take the load.

What, you don't want my bikini-clad body?

I wouldn't doubt it if that were so... The site's as close to the production team and cast as you can possibly get.

Double Post:

Originally Posted by Knighthawk

On another note....so what mysteries still need to be figured out?

Here's a bunch of them.

Jam it back in, in the dark.

Wait wait. What was the glass eye for?

How ya doing, buddy?

Originally Posted by Sassafrass

I'm assuming it was part of the disguise. I think I caught Mr. Friendly's eyes as brown when he was IN disguise, but blue in the lab hallway.

You did notice that was Mr. Friendly, right? ;_;

Yeah but if his eyes are brown, then what can a glass eye do? I mean, his eyes aren't replaceable, he can't just shove two blue glass eyes in his skull. ?

This thing is sticky, and I don't like it. I don't appreciate it.

Originally Posted by Sassafrass

They COULD use contacts, yea. But what you're implying is that they've created a human-like something or other qhich requires glass eyes.

Maybe someone is MISSING an eye?

No, I'm not implying anything. You said we had figured out what the glass eye was for because Mr. Friendly used one and that you thought he had different colored eyes when he is/isn't in disguise.

And I was just saying that doesn't make any sense, because the only way a glass eye would be useful as part of a disguise is if you were missing an eye...

Originally Posted by Jazzflight

I dunno, the show's getting sloppy now, with so many mysteries and unanswered/semi-answered questions overlapping each other and forgotten about. That's EXACTLY what happened to Alias.

Except I don't think Alias had its arc planned out. I think they knew where the whole Rambaldi plot was going, but never actually knew when they were going to move on it. Alias seemed to get sloppy because it wanted to be intricate yet be written spontaneously on an episode-by-episode basis.

Strangely Rambaldi - like the mysteries of the island on LOST - meant a lot to me. I still don't even know how that ended. I read some spoilers but didn't actually find if that plotline ended.

I think J.J. Abrams has a problem where he can't stick to a simple premise. Alias would have faired well as just a spy show with lots of solid action and drama, but the Rambaldi deal threw it into the realm of fantasy/sci-fi, and it was tough to swallow at first.

LOST sort of covered its ass with the monster appearing during episode #1, which informed the audience that the show is not what we think it is. Nevertheless I think it became bit more sci-fi than I ever imagined it being.

I am a dolphin, do you want me on your body?

We get to find that out in just under two weeks!

Yay for repeats~

I was speaking idiomatically.

I thought it was March twenty-something.

What kind of toxic man-thing is happening now?

Too many break between episodes. I hate that on any show; especially when it's just inconsistent or unnecessary.

Wasn't there a week between "One of Them" and "Maternity Leave"?

FELIPE NO

I did enjoy when they reran the first two episodes a few weeks back. For some reason that was enjoyable.

I'm wondering if any season after the first can match up to Season 1. Season 2 is definitely not as good for several reasons, one of them is pacing and I haven't liked pretty much any of the character developments either. I'm wondering if LOST spoiled itself with bunkers, smoke monsters, killer sharks (unrelated note; I recently found out that they're sensitive to electromagnetic radiation), heiroglyphics, etc.

There seems like there's only but so much they can do with flashbacks, at the same time there's only but so many main recurring characters they can add into the show. Can the island's mystery last for another three seasons? It seems like a lot of people are already fed up with the lack of answers right now.

What, you don't want my bikini-clad body?

Originally Posted by rockthepartay

I was just thinking this the other day. The producers say that the show can last for another 5 years, but I don't see how this show can stay interesting after 5 seasons.

If this show wants to remain interesting, most of the questions that we have about the purpose/history of the island and the Hanso foundation should be revealed by the end of the third season.

Because, seriously, nobody is going to continue watching for that much longer without knowing what exactly the island is.

But then the question is, is there shit to watch the show for if there's no mystery? Unless the answer is a setup for a lot of interesting episodes, I can see this turning out bad. There's been mystery since episode 1.

I do imagine the mystery being completely solved or mostly solved at some point, but I figured that would be around the last season.

I predict that this show will have to know when it's tired and pull out (Alias should have done this), or people will get bored with it and it won't be allowed another season and everything is forced to be resolved.

Jam it back in, in the dark.

Well it seems like there are a number of bunkers built underground; and maybe they're even connected (physically) somehow.

However they've been slow to show them to us. I thought that Ana-Lucia was to find an underwater hatch; or so said a spoiler. It makes sense, with that cable leading from the ocean and further inland. That hasn't happened yet.

There's nowhere I can't reach.

That theory has been thrown around a lot. I don't think Eko feels at home on the island. He faced the monster because he's badass; Locke faced the monster because he figured if it was on the island then it can't be bad. Eko feels more so trapped there and accepts his fate, but he doesn't seem as willing as Locke.

For example, if their purpose on the island turned out to be questionably dark/evil, Eko seems like the kind of person to go, "fuck this, I'm not doing this." Locke on the other hand regards the island as his God in a sense, and would probably do whatever he felt he had to, even if he questioned it. Anything for purpose; and anything for the ability to walk.

This thing is sticky, and I don't like it. I don't appreciate it.

The Mapinguari.

Although there's been a lot of crazy stuff posted on the website; like Walt being a zombie - which is so ridiculous that you can't even attempt to take it seriously.

Unfortunately the concept of the Mapinguari sounded way more awesome than what the monster turned out to be. I still desire for it to be some bastardized bionic creature, but they made it smoke, so it's just lame. A part of me wants to think there are two monsters simply because it opens up the possibility that there could still be a Mapinguari

Although there's still evidence to support the "two monster" theory. One of them is the fact that no, we haven't seen it kill anything. Is it really that skirting cloud of smoke that completely passes groups only to return a few minutes later and uproot trees in its wake?

I also noticed that, in the 23rd Psalm, the direction in which the trees are being uprooted and the direction from which the smoke monster actually comes at least appear to be totally different. Watch that scene. You'll see two trees uprooted followed by Eko turning in the opposite direction, at which point we have the POV of the monster as it zooms toward him from afar.

The "modern" washer/dryer just seems to allude to the fact that they're not 100% stranded on the island and out of touch with the outside world. This is also evident based on the fact that the storage room is always supplied with food. Since I doubt there's a factory on the island pumping out Apollo bars, then at some point, someone on the island is interacting with the outside world in some kind of way, even if it is just a plane doing a supply drop (a plane flying overhead and dropping crates of food by parachute would freak everyone out - that would be awesome.)

The only reason why people create theories like "there are two groups of others" is because "The others sometimes wear disguises" is even more far out in the sense that the reasoning behind this would not be apparent. We still don't know why they want to appear as raggedy as they do. Instead of considering all the possibilities we consider the possibilities that don't lead to a bigger question, it seems like.

I am a dolphin, do you want me on your body?

Originally Posted by Majin yami

A massive hulking, drooling monster would be lame. It'd be like some cheesy 80's B-Movie and it would make Lost lose all credibility it has.The smoke monster is the security system. Accept it.

It's all about execution, dude. A simple idea/premise in itself doesn't mean success. Hence why every time I try to explain LOST to people they go, "Oh, so it's like Gilligan's Island" and I shoot myself in the nuts.

The monster being an actual monster isn't a bad idea in itself. It just has to be a good monster, that's all.

Originally Posted by Knighthawk

whats up with this letter? proof that henry is an other? or at least related to one?

http://abc.go.com/primetime/lost/diary/104157.html

That letter looks like a trick to me. My reasoning behind this is that somehow someone leaked a photo of Henry's balloon (complete with happy face) stuck in the trees, crew members about.

They (ABC/whoever?) tried desparately to get rid of it and pretty much forced a lot of sites that happened to post it to get rid of it. Of course, this being the internet, you cannot actually get rid of it entirely, only moderate its existence to an extent on some of the bigger fan websites.

Now they're trying to cover their butts with a confusing letter; my guess is to keep fans in mystery of if Henry is/isn't an Other, even after they saw the photo.

Then again, just because there's a balloon doesn't mean Henry is telling the truth entirely. It just means he saw the balloon at some point.

I won't trap myself into believing anything one way or an other. That way I cannot make an ass of myself

I was speaking idiomatically.

I like how this show doesn't even excite me anymore. Some stuff is going to go down next week, but I don't think I'm that hyped about it.

Obviously the point of Henry Gale is to keep us guessing. Obviously, since we're quite a ways into the season, his existence is going to push the plot in some direction or another, whether he's an Other or not.

I was thinking, is it safe to say Dharma has close ties or is a faction of the U.S. government? After finding out that the Others are/were deceiving the losties, and putting this together with the fact that whats-his-name had a U.S. Army knife, the weapons cache, etc. I'm starting to feel that this whole thing is rather "official". Or at least they were at some point.

Double Post:

Originally Posted by Sassafrass

And man, Knighthawk - the secrets weren't revealed quickly LAST season. I don't think people are dumb enough to expect the secrets to be immediately exposed in the SECOND season.

I think last season was better merely because of its simplicity. There weren't that many secrets to be revealed.

The show's mystery got WIDER over time, the number of questions increased tenfold. It's become frustrating because questions are created faster than they are answered.

I, for one, am now far more interested in answers than I can be in characters. The previous episode was fun to watch because it answered questions. Although I can't help but wonder, what if instead of a bunch of answers at once, how about spreading them more evenly across the season? What if they weren't even in-your-face? What if we had to logically reason things out?

Furthermore I haven't seen that many interesting character developments. For example, how much ground was covered in today's flashbacks? How much character development? Very little, in my opinion. In this episode, the flashbacks mostly served as means of a twist (albeit small) at the end of the episode. At best we walk away from it with, "what would seem to be miracles occur on this island." BIG SURPRISE. ZOMG.

What kind of toxic man-thing is happening now?

That was never confirmed.

Plus that dude was ugly. I hope not.

FELIPE NO

I wonder what the point of that plot development is anyway. Since each episode equals roughly a day on the island, the show would logically end before she even gave birth.

Plus they've been on that island like fifty-something days. Wouldn't she have realized she missed something within thirty or so.

That suggests that the island gifted Jin with electromagnetic sperm of awesomeness. Or Sun with immaculate conception. Who knows, on this island.

Also, why do we have to use spoiler tags like this. What kind of doofus reads this thread up until page 5 but doesn't want to be spoiled.

What, you don't want my bikini-clad body?

I agree we should stop using them.

How ya doing, buddy?