I just finished LOST, I still have questions!

So since the 24th of July 2011 I have been watching LOST, thats all I have been watching on Netflix really and man that show us amazing. I would go as far as saying it's my favourite TV show and goes ahead of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, I don't know what to do with my life now LOST is done. But hey, I still got some questions, care to answer them?

• What do the numbers mean?
• What about those polar bears?
• What was that monster at the end of the first episode?
• What made Sayid evil?
• Why could nobody give birth on the island before Claire?
• What was that sickness Rousoo claimed kill the rest of her team?
• Did they all die in the first episode?

And that is why this show sucks. Here's what might or might not be an excerpt taken from an actual transcript of an actual staff meeting between the screenwriters of LOST.

Writer A: "Hey, let's create a bunch of ludicrous, outlandish, pretentious, self-indulgent, opaque subplots, and never explain them."
Writer B: "Oh, but reveal everything in the last episode?"
Writer A: "NEVER EXPLAIN THEM."
Other writers [simultaneously, indistinguishable]: "GENIUS!"; "YEEEEESS!"; "PRINT IT ON A SCRIPT."; "PEOPLE WILL LOVE US!"; "WE'RE RICH FELLAS, RICH!"

• Each number corresponds to one of Jacob's candidates to be protector of the island. 4 is Locke. 8 is Hugo. 15 is Sawyer. 16 is Sayid. 23 is Jack. 42 is Jin.
• The polar bears were brought to the island by DHARMA for testing purposes.
• The Smoke Monster.
• Sayid was made evil by The Sickness, which is an affection caused by The Man in Black.
• The electromagnetism on the island causes problems during pregnancy.
• The same Man in Black sickness that Sayid was infected with.
• No.

My biggest gripe was that they never explained why the hostiles specifically kidnapped children. I thought season 3 to the end were god awful. Several hours of my life I'll never get back.

It was good show but along the way the have lost (get it) the goal. I have heard something about changes in the script. I think that season 3 started the downfall where they would throw new SF elements, more mythos. It all stacked so there was now way for the good finish so they did the thing they have done. Still later seasons had some of the best episodes in the series.

@Hizang: If your looking for new shows try Dexter, Supernatural, Breaking Bad, The Wire, The Shield, or Carnivale. Those are my favorites. Lost is a lot of fun. Glad you enjoyed it!

I love Lost, it's also one of my favourites.

you know what. even though the ending to lost was less than satisfactory (and i know it wouldn't) i still fucking loved lost and no TV show since has captured me like lost did.

There are no answers for Lost that will satisfy you, and there never will be. That is how Damon Lindelof writes. You can see this in Prometheus and probably in his other works. Basically he hints things and makes them vague enough for fans to spin theories and leaves enough wiggle room to fix errors later.

@Snail said:

And that is why this show sucks.

@charlie_victor_bravo said:

There are no answers for Lost that will satisfy you, and there never will be.

Once they establish that these characters are living in a universe where the supernatural exists, you kinda have to accept that there's not going to be a clear cut scientific explanation for everything that's going on. I got over it pretty quick, so the vague answers the show does give (like @Milkman provides) are honestly good enough. Everything Hizang asks is incredibly minor, anyway. I love that show, even though it kinda went to a weird(er) place after season 3.

@TooWalrus said:

@Snail said:

And that is why this show sucks.

@charlie_victor_bravo said:

There are no answers for Lost that will satisfy you, and there never will be.

Once they establish that these characters are living in a universe where the supernatural exists, you kinda have to accept that there's not going to be a clear cut scientific explanation for everything that's going on. I got over it pretty quick, so the vague answers the show does give (like @Milkman provides) are honestly good enough. Everything Hizang asks is incredibly minor, anyway. I love that show, even though it kinda went to a weird(er) place after season 3.

Lots of people keep mentioning season 3, remind me is that the season where Jack, Sawyer and Kate get kidnapped by The Others? Cause I thought that was a good season.

I watched the first two seasons of this show years ago and then heard that it was going to run for 7. It was then that I decided that the writers had no fucking idea where it was going or what was going to happen and were just making shit up as they went along. So I never watched it again . I think time has proved me right on this one :)

@Hizang said:

Lots of people keep mentioning season 3, remind me is that the season where Jack, Sawyer and Kate get kidnapped by The Others? Cause I thought that was a good season.

I watched seasons 1-5 back to back, then I watched season 6 on TV each week. It all kind of blends together now, all I remember is that season 3 is the season where Charlie dies.

EDIT: Oh yeah, season 4 was during the writers strike, so it was short and I remember it being pretty boring... Season 5 was all of the time travel nonsense, and season 6 was crazy for a whole batch of reasons (I actually enjoyed season 6 quite a bit).

I really did love Lost. No other show before or since drew me in like that one did.

As for answers, if you paid enough attention then the majority of them were actually answered. There are legitimate reasons for people not liking the show which is fine but the complaints that things were answered always annoy me.

My actual complaint about the show would be the producers in the early days saying that everything that happened could be explained scientifically then making a complete U turn on that by the end. Kind of soured it a bit.

The numbers are part of the Valenzetti Equation, which could allegedly predict how long it will take before humanity becomes extinct. Dharma research on the island was geared towards trying to change the numbers, if you could change the numbers you could prevent doomsday. After years of research the Equation always spit out the same numbers, they failed to change them. Jacob put numbers to all the candidates as degrees in his lighthouse to keep tabs on all the possible people to replace him as the islands protector, the numbers of the final group of candidates ended up being the same numbers of the equation tying it all together.

@Petiew: I really liked all of the main characters, but I really did like Sun and Jin.

"I still have questions!" - Welcome to the fucking club.

A long time ago, Patrick linked to a great analysis of the overall plot of Lost in one of his Worth Reading's (I believe I found it there, I might be wrong...). The main gist was that the "everything" that happened was about Time, and the island was the cork in time Jacob referred to. It was basically a time-travelling space ship in island form. That's a very simplistic summary, but I thought the actual blog post was very poignant and deep in its understanding of all events and character motivations.

I'll quit rambling.

The problem with Lost is that the ending makes everything that happened not matter, same with Battlestar Galactica. I hate that so many people are happy with just the journey. I wish TV shows knew how to end themselves... Like Fringe this week which had the perfect end to a great show.

@Hizang:

@Milkman said:

• Each number corresponds to one of Jacob's candidates to be protector of the island. 4 is Locke. 8 is Hugo. 15 is Sawyer. 16 is Sayid. 23 is Jack. 42 is Jin.
• The polar bears were brought to the island by DHARMA for testing purposes.
• The Smoke Monster.
• Sayid was made evil by The Sickness, which is an affection caused by The Man in Black.
• The electromagnetism on the island causes problems during pregnancy.
• The same Man in Black sickness that Sayid was infected with.
• No.

Co-sign.

@Snail said:

And that is why this show sucks. Here's what might or might not be an excerpt taken from an actual transcript of an actual staff meeting between the screenwriters of LOST.

Writer A: "Hey, let's create a bunch of ludicrous, outlandish, pretentious, self-indulgent, opaque subplots, and never explain them."
Writer B: "Oh, but reveal everything in the last episode?"
Writer A: "NEVER EXPLAIN THEM."
Other writers [simultaneously, indistinguishable]: "GENIUS!"; "YEEEEESS!"; "PRINT IT ON A SCRIPT."; "PEOPLE WILL LOVE US!"; "WE'RE RICH FELLAS, RICH!"

This is what people who only watched the show for the mysteries seemingly like to tell themselves. It ignores the immense complexity of this show, what it takes to put on such a complex show for many years and also is a little disrespectful to the quality of work they put out during those six years.

I've only watched the very last episode of Lost and I don't feel like I need to watch any more Lost.

@DeF@Hizang

DeF answered all the questions correctly. I just wanted to add my two cents that LOST is amazing and I liked the ending unlike a good chunk of people.

@Ravenlight said:

I've only watched the very last episode of Lost and I don't feel like I need to watch any more Lost.

You should watch the first then the last.

I was happy though that the last episode was an hour and 44 minutes, how did they show it on TV?

@Arabes said:

I watched the first two seasons of this show years ago and then heard that it was going to run for 7. It was then that I decided that the writers had no fucking idea where it was going or what was going to happen and were just making shit up as they went along. So I never watched it again . I think time has proved me right on this one :)

You heard wrong then. It was never going to be seven (it would have ended a few months ago if that were the case).

@Ravenlight said:

I've only watched the very last episode of Lost and I don't feel like I need to watch any more Lost.

You should watch the first then the last.

I was happy though that the last episode was an hour and 44 minutes, how did they show it on TV?

@Hizang said:

how did they show it on TV?

I dunno, I watched it on Netflix.

@Milkman said:

• Each number corresponds to one of Jacob's candidates to be protector of the island. 4 is Locke. 8 is Hugo. 15 is Sawyer. 16 is Sayid. 23 is Jack. 42 is Jin.
• The polar bears were brought to the island by DHARMA for testing purposes.
• The Smoke Monster.
• Sayid was made evil by The Sickness, which is an affection caused by The Man in Black.
• The electromagnetism on the island causes problems during pregnancy.
• The same Man in Black sickness that Sayid was infected with.
• No.

/thread

@TooWalrus said:

@Hizang

@Ravenlight said:

I've only watched the very last episode of Lost and I don't feel like I need to watch any more Lost.

You should watch the first then the last.

I was happy though that the last episode was an hour and 44 minutes, how did they show it on TV?

Come on now, is that a real question?

I don't know whether they would split it, or just devote that amount of time to the episode.

There's a fan theory page that I read a while ago that made me enjoy the series more after I read it that attempts to cover some of the plot points that were supernatural in nature.

The site itself seems to be down but you can access a cached version here.

Yeah it's a fan theory so if you can't deal with that just don't even bother reading it, but I honestly think it does a decent job filling in the gaps.

Edit: I would call this theory one of those "Devastating logic" posts.

@Hizang said:

@TooWalrus said:

@Hizang

I was happy though that the last episode was an hour and 44 minutes, how did they show it on TV?

Come on now, is that a real question?

I don't know whether they would split it, or just devote that amount of time to the episode.

What's the difference between "one split episode" and "two episodes?" No, they just gave it a longer block of time.

@TooWalrus said:

@Hizang said:

@TooWalrus said:

@Hizang

I was happy though that the last episode was an hour and 44 minutes, how did they show it on TV?

Come on now, is that a real question?

I don't know whether they would split it, or just devote that amount of time to the episode.

What's the difference between "one split episode" and "two episodes?" No, they just gave it a longer block of time.

Well they might have shown one half of the episode one day then the second part on the next day.

I only liked the first season. I don't really know why, but I lost interest significantly in the beginning of the second season. Never watched it again.

@Morrow said:

I only liked the first season. I don't really know why, but I lost interest significantly in the beginning of the second season. Never watched it again.

The second season is where the show became more than a Gillagan's Island reboot. They opened the hatch and found a Scottish man on an excersise bike. Show went to a weird place, and I loved it, but I see how it could turn some people off.

A lot of the show is fantastic. Some of it is truly unbearable. The ending is offensive, mostly.

EDIT: Also, CHAAAR-LEE

WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAALLLTT!

I love me some Lost, although I can definitely see why people have issues with it. For me, I enjoyed the latter seasons much more than the earlier.

In order 4 > 3 > 5 > 1 > 6 > 2

When it comes to Lost it's more about about journey and not the destination. I miss looking forward to next weeks lost. Season 5 is probably my favorite season.

I'm more confused by people who were confused, because they basically explain fucking everything.

There were problems with the show but god it was fun watching it and reading ideas about it each week. I found a good community and chatted with some interesting people. I wish they answered some more questions but I still love the show and would recommend it to people. MYOKOM with SAS!!!!!!!!!

@DeF said:

@Snail said:

And that is why this show sucks. Here's what might or might not be an excerpt taken from an actual transcript of an actual staff meeting between the screenwriters of LOST.

Writer A: "Hey, let's create a bunch of ludicrous, outlandish, pretentious, self-indulgent, opaque subplots, and never explain them."
Writer B: "Oh, but reveal everything in the last episode?"
Writer A: "NEVER EXPLAIN THEM."
Other writers [simultaneously, indistinguishable]: "GENIUS!"; "YEEEEESS!"; "PRINT IT ON A SCRIPT."; "PEOPLE WILL LOVE US!"; "WE'RE RICH FELLAS, RICH!"

This is what people who only watched the show for the mysteries seemingly like to tell themselves. It ignores the immense complexity of this show, what it takes to put on such a complex show for many years and also is a little disrespectful to the quality of work they put out during those six years.

You're entitled to your own opinion, as am I. That said, saying that I should like a show more because it takes a lot of effort to put its plot together is ridiculous. It's bullshit. The fact that the plot is dense and hard to architect isn't necessarily a sign of quality, as I think is the case with this show. I also don't think that a little sarcastic jab at the writers of lost, that wasn't really personal or mentioned names, should be considered offensive. I was just jokingly sharing my opinion about the plot.

You like the show. I'm okay with that. However, saying that I should like it because the plot is "complex" and took years and a lot of effort to put together is nonsensical. I guess sometimes shows that are really "complex" and had a lot of effort put into them can end up just being self-indulgent and ultimately shallow, however elaborate the plot may be. As is, in my opinion, the case of Lost. I haven't given the show a full-proper watch, but every time I watch an episode and familiarize myself with the plot further, I feel less and less like doing that.

@Snail said:

@DeF said:

@Snail said:

And that is why this show sucks. Here's what might or might not be an excerpt taken from an actual transcript of an actual staff meeting between the screenwriters of LOST.

Writer A: "Hey, let's create a bunch of ludicrous, outlandish, pretentious, self-indulgent, opaque subplots, and never explain them."
Writer B: "Oh, but reveal everything in the last episode?"
Writer A: "NEVER EXPLAIN THEM."
Other writers [simultaneously, indistinguishable]: "GENIUS!"; "YEEEEESS!"; "PRINT IT ON A SCRIPT."; "PEOPLE WILL LOVE US!"; "WE'RE RICH FELLAS, RICH!"

This is what people who only watched the show for the mysteries seemingly like to tell themselves. It ignores the immense complexity of this show, what it takes to put on such a complex show for many years and also is a little disrespectful to the quality of work they put out during those six years.

You're entitled to your own opinion, as am I. That said, saying that I should like a show more because it takes a lot of effort to put its plot together is ridiculous. It's bullshit. The fact that the plot is dense and hard to architect isn't necessarily a sign of quality, as I think is the case with this show. I also don't think that a little sarcastic jab at the writers of lost, that wasn't really personal or mentioned names, should be considered offensive. I was just jokingly sharing my opinion about the plot.

You like the show. I'm okay with that. However, saying that I should like it because the plot is "complex" and took years and a lot of effort to put together is nonsensical. I guess sometimes shows that are really "complex" and had a lot of effort put into them can end up just being self-indulgent and ultimately shallow, however elaborate the plot may be. As is, in my opinion, the case of Lost. I haven't given the show a full-proper watch, but every time I watch an episode and familiarize myself with the plot further, I feel less and less like doing that.

I don't know where you're getting me saying you should "like" the show more from. I was pointing out that your overly cynical dismissal of the show seems a bit ignorant and unfair. This doesn't in any way mean you should like it more because it's complex or because I like it.

@GunstarRed said:

The problem with Lost is that the ending makes everything that happened not matter, same with Battlestar Galactica. I hate that so many people are happy with just the journey. I wish TV shows knew how to end themselves... Like Fringe this week which had the perfect end to a great show.

How does the ending to Lost make everything that happened not matter? Is it the same way that the ME3 ending made everything else in the game not matter? The Walking Dead might be a similar argument.

@GunstarRed said:

The problem with Lost is that the ending makes everything that happened not matter, same with Battlestar Galactica. I hate that so many people are happy with just the journey. I wish TV shows knew how to end themselves... Like Fringe this week which had the perfect end to a great show.

How exactly did the ending make none of it matter? You had to have the characters go on that journey in order for the ending to play out. The Jack from the first episode could no be the man he needed to be in the last episode if he hadn't experience everything that he did.

I'm just gonna leave this old thing here, and let you guys carry on

Not referring to the OP but I love when people who claim to hate the show for "lack of answers" fail to understand incredibly simple plot points like the fact that no, dude, they didn't all die in the first episode. If you're going to ask for more complexity at least learn the basics first.

I loved the show and I also loved the ending. The genius of the ending is that it gives some answers (fate of the various people on and off the island... and that's what the show was actually all about) but leaves the mystery intact (what is the light/power/island). People who expected to get answers to everything (scientific or non-scientific) in my mind are totally crazy as it would've destroyed a lot of the mystery in hindsight. Nothing would've been more boring than a complete explanation.

@FlemmingM said:

I'm just gonna leave this old thing here, and let you guys carry on

This is a neat compilation, thanks for sharing. Though, the answer to almost all of these questions is either "Just 'cause" or "Who Fuckin' Cares?" For example:

Why did the Smoke Monster kill the pilot? The answer: Just 'cause.

Who built the 4 toed statues? The answer: Who Fuckin' Cares?

@TooWalrus said:

@FlemmingM said:

I'm just gonna leave this old thing here, and let you guys carry on

This is a neat compilation, thanks for sharing. Though, the answer to almost all of these questions is either "Just 'cause" or "Who Fuckin' Cares?" For example:

Why did the Smoke Monster kill the pilot? The answer: Just 'cause.

Who built the 4 toed statues? The answer: Who Fuckin' Cares?

The pilot wasn't suppose to survive the crash.

The people that lived on the island before Jacob and Samuel arrived built the statue.

Yeah, a lot of those questions were answered if you paid attention. Others are unimportant and would be a waste of time to answer. The problem with LOST and its fanbase is that people wanted everything answered. As in they wanted an explanation for literally EVERYTHING that ever happened on the show. If we had gone down that road then we would be spending entire episodes explaining where Locke bought his knives from and how much he paid for them.

Then you have another group of things that are put in there not because they serve some higher purpose in the reality of the show, but because they are literary techniques like foreshadowing. The polar bear in the comic is that. Logically is is nothing more than a coincidence. It was a puzzle piece in the overall mythos.

@IBurningStar said:

The pilot wasn't suppose to survive the crash.

The people that lived on the island before Jacob and Samuel arrived built the statue.

Well, obviously. What I mean is that while people were whining about "unanswered questions" like "why is there a temple?" "who built the statues?" "why are there hieroglyphs?" etc, I was perfectly happy to accept that "This island's probably been around for awhile" and the fact that those questions weren't specifically, thoroughly addressed didn't bother me. The answers to those questions to me were always "Who cares?" I suppose I thought the "it was the people who lived on the island before Jacob and The Man in Black (I don't think they ever call him Samuel)" was obvious.

@TooWalrus: Yeah, they never say his name in the show itself, but it has been confirmed that Samuel is his actual name.

I think people forget that Lost has some fantastic characters, as well as some fun action and sci fi elements. Being part of the zetigeist was very interesting even if some of the stuff was made up while they went along.

I also really like how Sawyer and Miles are pretty much set for life at the end. Don't they know where a bunch of Ben or Mr. Whitmores money is?

I always felt like the show is easier to understand if you read Slaughterhouse V in highschool.