(no subject)

[apocalypsos]

You know, I love Lost. I do. But last night highlighted some of my biggest pet peeves about the show.

1. "This is my episode, and it's *still* all about Jack." -- That quote from cleolinda's recaps describes way too many episodes from this season. Jack is not bad in small doses, away from Kate and with a sense of humor. Of course, the problem is that that hardly ever happens. And I'm sick of so many of everybody else's problems drifting into Jack and his fucking daddy issues.

2. "That's Princess Angelina Contessa Louisa Francesca Banana Fanna Lay Onna Pile Of Origami the Third. But you can call me Kate." -- Let's say that Kate had never become a character on the show. And let's say that someone had come along and put her on the island and had her do every single thing she's done so far. We would hate that story. In fact, we wouldn't only hate that story, we would find out their address and go to their house specifically to smacks them upside the head.

3. "C ... C ... C ... C ..." -- Okay, all the mystery's been fun, but I'd like some answers now. No, seriously. I know it's the end of the season and we'll be getting something soon, but honestly ... where Ethan came from, where Alex went to, what Claire forgot, what the fuck that radio transmission came from. I'll take anything at this point.

4. "We're on a tropical paradise. Why do we have to leave, exactly?" -- They've been on this island a month and all they've done is build a raft (and a half) and occasionally play with a radio. Speaking as someone who reads up on waaaaay too many disasters, these people are definitely not trying hard enough to get home.

5. "Hi, I'm Claire, and this is my baby, Sam Joe Pete Mickey Vladimir Ping Whale Blubber Series of Clicks No Name." -- Okay, that's more a fandom thing, but I read enough C/C fanfiction to be incredibly tired of the authors having to make up a million, kajillion names for the kid. I just wish she'd named the little bugger last night. (In a related vein, she's not naming the kid Boone. Seriously. Please stop saying she has to just because he died. Because God knows, that wouldn't be confusing considering he's probably going to be back in flashbacks. And speaking as someone who has three Richies, two Eddies, two Johnnies, and three Jimmys in the family, naming kids after other people you're going to see or mention on a regular basis is annoying.)

6. "... and this is Walt, and this is Michael, and this is Jin, and over there is thirty extras." -- Go on, you can introduce some of them. We won't mind.

7. "We're being chased by a giant monster? Hey, I remember this one time, when the screen went hazy and we cut away to me and somebody else watching Jurassic Park ..." -- You know, sometimes I like the flashbacks, and sometimes I loathe the flashbacks. For example, when they seem to not have a damn thing in common with what's going on on the island other than they contain a castaway and he's maybe wearing the same outfit or something. I guess you could say this relates to the no-answers complaint.

So, anybody else feel the need to vent?

Comments

[prettyveela.livejournal.com]

I don't watch the show but I need to know, did that Boone guy die? How did he die?

[apocalypsos.livejournal.com]

He did. He climbed into the wreckage of a plane last week that was hanging in a tree, and it fell from his weight to the ground below. Let's see ... it crushed his leg, collapsed a lung, and gave him internal injuries, so he was pretty much a lost cause. (But thankfully, it gave Jack and his fucking daddy issues a chance to shine for an hour. *eye roll*)

[valerie]

I'm gonna have to do a point-by-point agreement here.

#1? Big fat word, and this is from someone who likes Jack - though it's more 20% being liking the combination of over-the-top hero and fucked-up little boy, and 80% being Matthew Fox totally being sex on legs (YMMV, of course).

#2? Word again. But I'm a total Kate-hater.

#3? Hell yes. And tied to #7, as well... give us more than just a taste of backstories. Last night bugged me in particular - okay, so we get the point that Jack needed to learn to let go. But having him get over his fear of getting married seemed... unsatisfying. I figured the flashbacks would end up with his wife being sick and he'll have to let go that way or something.

#6 - again, word. My BF and I were actually discussing that last night.

But the big thing, and ties in to your points #3 and 7... resolve some of the damn questions asked before bringing up more. I mean, seriously, let's take a look at what's been raised but not resolved:

- We still don't know why Sayid was in Sydney (though I'm hoping the next Sayid-centric episode will answer that)
- Who's the man Kate killed in her past?
- How did Locke end up in a wheelchair?
- Where's Alex?
- What the hell was up with Ethan?
- What's with the hatch? (and this better be answered by the end of the season or I'll be pissed)

And probably about 15 more things that I can't even think of right now.

I mean, I still love the show and all, but it doesn't mean it can't bug :P

[apocalypsos.livejournal.com]

Here's a few more:

-- Who hit Sayid over the head?
-- What is that plastic airplane of Kate's all about?
-- What are the voices in the jungle?
-- What's the monster?
-- What's so evil about Claire's son?
-- Now that we know Jack had a wife, what happened to her? (Because he wasn't wearing a wedding ring in his "All the Best Cowboys ..." flashbacks.)

Etc., etc. ...

On the other hand

[aexia.livejournal.com]

You don't want to answer *everything* the first season. That's why I'm worried about Veronica Mars... once the murder of Lilly Kane is solved in the finale, what will they do next season?

Another mystery, sure, but the murder of Lily is so integral to the character and relationships of everyone on the show that it's difficult to see how they'll top it.

[phillyexpat.livejournal.com]

I like the show a lot, but the number of balls JJ is putting in the air is starting to become really tiring. Rather than making me curious, it's making me not care.

[apocalypsos.livejournal.com]

Seriously. The writers need to answer something, for crying out loud. Hell, when Desperate Housewives is doing a better job resolving mysteries (and has vowed to wrap up most of its stuff by the end of the season), you know you're in trouble.

[titti]

Except for the baby's name, I think the other points are somewhat related. After all, most of the flashbacks that made no sense (and were boring as hell) are about Jake. We can't be bother with the other characters because Jack and Kate are sooo good together, and they can solve all the problems of the world. *shivers*

I still don't understand why I should be sympathetic to a woman who must have committed a very serious federal offense, and by her own admission, robbed banks and killed people she loved. I'm starting to see the value of the death penalty where Kate is concerned.

[apocalypsos.livejournal.com]

I still don't understand why I should be sympathetic to a woman who must have committed a very serious federal offense, and by her own admission, robbed banks and killed people she loved.

Exactly. Sawyer's done the same sort of stuff, but he also heard his mother being murdered and saw his father shoot himself in the head. Kate might have an excuse of that level, but I've had yet to hear it and because of it, I have absolutely no sympathy for her at this point.

[snellios.livejournal.com]

I'm starting to see the value of the death penalty where Kate is concerned.
-lmao! Oh please, she's just a misunderstood, lost soul!1!11

[franticgoddess.livejournal.com]

What bothers me the most? I feel like they enjoy doing something, sticking a polar bear in there or creepy monsters or french people, and then forgetting about them. They hardly even discuss these things inbetween the time somebody gets squished by something, or Walt gets mauled by said bear. Wtf, man.

[apocalypsos.livejournal.com]

I hear you, man. All I can think of is how many times I've read about these situations in real life and thinking, "What the fuck is up with this place? In reality, five different people would be working on some way to repel polar bears, discussing where they might be hiding, trying to come up with some way to hunt them for food, patrolling the edges of camp to keep them away, working on ways to skin any polar bears they might catch for the furs, etc." I don't why they all seem surprised that Claire came back with amnesia, considering how many of them have selective amnesia most of the time.

[wal-lace.livejournal.com]

So, for those of us in Not-America, what exactly is the basic plot to [i]Lost[/i]? Where, when, how many people and why?

[apocalypsos.livejournal.com]

A plane crashes on a mysterious Pacific island, and the survivors (of which there are now 45, if I'm remembering correctly) have to work together to stay alive. Of course, it doesn't help that there's a giant monster in the jungle, polar bears occasionally coming out of the woodwork, a crazy French lady who was already there off on her own, and weird voices in the woods. It's really weird, decently written, and well-acted, but ... well, see above. They keep tossing out new mysteries and not giving the audience answers to a damn one, which is annoying.

Also, every episode features flashbacks to a main character's past. Sometimes, they're wickedly awesome (the one where they flashed back to John Locke's life and revealed at the end that the rugged outdoorsman used to be in a wheelchair before he got to the island was the best), and sometimes, they're pointless (so far, Kate's and Jack's have been consistently lamer than the others).

[drewbeartx.livejournal.com]

I think that 1 & 2 are tied together by the fact that Jack and Kate are the same person. No, really! From what I understand, Jack was supposed to die in the premiere when Critter attacked the pilot, but tested as OMG2CYUTE!! to kill off, so TPTB had to scramble and rewrite him. Kate was supposed to be the hero character, so they split off a lot of her actions/motivations and slapped them onto Jack.

Again, I remember reading somewhere (TV Guide?) that the Jack/Kate flashbacks comprise about a third of all the episodes. UN. NECESSARY.

I think that we're going to see at least some of the mysteries get resolved in the next 2 weeks, but I agree that the endless series of unanswered questions, while entertaining, is starting to grate.

4 & 6: If they bothered to ID any of the extras, we might find out that there are a ton of rescue attempts/Swiss Family Robinson/island explorations going on, but TPTB are too busy focusing on OMGMysteryIsland!! Also, the extras may not want to be noticed; look what happened to Scott & Joanna.

[apocalypsos.livejournal.com]

Again, I remember reading somewhere (TV Guide?) that the Jack/Kate flashbacks comprise about a third of all the episodes. UN. NECESSARY.

I figured that out right about the time AICN figured out how the rest of the season was going to unfold in terms of who was getting flashbacks each week until the end of the season. You know, there are some characters who might warrant three episodes worth of backstory -- Hurley, Sawyer, and Locke come to mind, and I could stand to see Sun get another episode to explain her healing knowledge and Shannon get a flashback episode to at least show she's not a complete bitch like so many people see her as.

But Jack and Kate are just not that interesting. If they are, hell, you certainly can't tell that from the flashbacks. (In fact, that's one thing that pisses me off about Kate -- that we know damn well that she might have something really juicy in her past, but God forbid the writers ever let her tell it.)

[loopychew.livejournal.com]

Go on, you can introduce some of them. We won't mind.

Like Scott? Or was it Steve?

[snellios.livejournal.com]

We're only gonna get a glimpse of the monster in the finale. How retarded is that. We'll still have no idea what it is, or how it got there etc.

The writers need to stop copping out.

[apocalypsos.livejournal.com]

Amen. And I saw somebody in another thread (I think on cleolinda's LJ) saying that the writers have said that every plot point on their show can be explained scientifically. Dude, if half of this shit can be explained without using some kind of supernatural force at work, I won't believe it. Give me superpowers, give me magic, give me a rip in the fabric of time and space, give me aliens, but give me something realistic at this point and there's no way in hell I'm going to buy it.

[callie-chan.livejournal.com]

Regarding the trailer for the next Lost:

Okay, Jack, you had about ten seconds in the trailer. Let's count the things you did wrong, shall we?

1) Tackling Locke. Who's starting to make the transition back to handicapped. Way to look like an ass!

2) What more or less looks like you accusing him of murdering Boone. Sticking with Locke's story that he fell off a cliff--and you have to admit, it'd be hard for those injuries on Boone to have been inflicted any other way--I shall reiterate, THE MAN'S LEGS ARE NOT FUNCTIONING PROPERLY. If you are going to tell me that Locke climbed, crawled, or otherwise dragged his ass up what would have to be a pretty tall cliff, shoved a young, healthy, fully functional Boone OFF the cliff, then climbed back down without even whatever assistance Boone might have given him on the way up, and THEN--for completely inexplicable reasons!--dragged the body all the way back to you, I'm going to have to hit you until the stupid falls out your ears.

3) And while we're on the topic, if Locke had anything to do with Boone's injuries, why the hell would he bring him back to you for treatment? And don't say 'to make it look believable', because he could've dragged himself back to camp without Boone and lied to you about what happened, knowing that Boone would be dead before you could even get to him. Locke is not a stupid man--if he was going to kill Boone, he could've done it a LOT better.

4) You're a doctor. You've seen people die a lot, I'm sure. You may have been somewhat closer to Boone than to most of them, granted, but that's no reason for you to go completely apeshit at Locke or anybody else. If ANYBODY on the island is equipped for dealing with death, it's you.

5) What's this yelling about 'where were you' crap? Locke dragged Boone back to camp on barely functional legs! I think it's safe to say that even if he didn't hold Boone's hand while he died, he went above and beyond the call of duty trying to save him. You're the doctor--the only person who really needed to be with him is you.

In summation, Jack, it's a good thing you have a medical degree because otherwise I'd have a hard time believing you were smart. -_-

-Callisto

[phillyexpat.livejournal.com]

To be fair:

1)Jack doesn't know that Locke is becoming handicapped again.

2)Jack didn't know exactly how Boone got in the plane.

3)Locke ran off faster than a drunken society lady who ran over a girl scout troupe.

4)Jack's backstory indicates that he feels personally responsible for righting wrongs and cannot stand failure. Hence, with the first three reasons, he will take his rage out someone, and that someone is Locke.

[lil1pinay.livejournal.com]

Jack is probably my least favorite character. I probably would have liked last night's episode much better without the pointless Jack flashbacks. It would have made much more sense (at least to me) to do Boone flashbacks - like every time he went unconscious or something - since HE was the one dying.

[horsefacehannah.livejournal.com]

You forgot to mention that in maybe... three episodes were the flashbacks at any way relevant to the story of evolution of the characters. And the mysteries thing pisses the fuck outta me. We're probably supposed to assume that Ethan knocked out Sayid, but that's the only thing even halfway solved.
That's why I love Veronica Mars. There's a bunch of questions out there, but about half way through the season they started giving us answers. Aaaand the flashbacks further the plot. [/shameless plugging]

[tv-elf.livejournal.com]

8. Who is feeding these people now? Jin is now Mr. Boat Dude and Locke hasn't hunted boars in weeks.

9. Why isn't the path between the beach and the caves better marked? Ok, a minor thing. But, if you had to trek to the cave to get water, wouldn't you want a better path?

10. Why wasn't Hurley riding first class? With his size, you'd think he would want the larger seats.

11. Why does no one see that the dog is eeeeeevil?

[catystorm.livejournal.com]

Why has no one eaten the dog, is my question.

[cacklebang.livejournal.com]

I have to admit, when I saw the random castaways on the beach crowding about Claire and her magical antichrist apocalypse baby, I cracked up. My father, who was watching with me, now thinks I'm totally fucked in the head.

I would appreciate knowing who else is with us on Gilligan's Isle the island.

[rashaka.livejournal.com]

"... and this is Walt, and this is Michael, and this is Jin, and over there is thirty extras." -- Go on, you can introduce some of them. We won't mind.

When they do introduce them all, it'll be just like HP fandom where characters that we know nothing about besides their name get elaborate fanon backstories and fanfic epics written about them. :laughL

[franticgoddess.livejournal.com]

But, the question is will any of them be a person of unknown gender a la Blaise Zambini? Personally, that was my favorite. To watch people argue for hours about whether it was male or female :p I've love them to have some person of questionable gender on lost, give them a name that could go either way,and see what happens :D

[chandri.livejournal.com]

I'm personally having trouble really blaming Locke for Boone, and more blaming Boone for being an idiot; after all:

a) Locke *couldn't* climb up to the plane himself
b) When the plane started wobbling Locke was screaming at Boone to get out, but Boone wasn't listening
b) Locke has given every evidence of being very concerned with Boone's well-being
c) When he dropped Boone with Jack and took off it was to go scream at and hit the hatch and demand "Why". His intention was to, in some way, demand explanation and possibly exact retribution for the thing he felt caused the accident. Not exactly a rational action, but I expect he was in as much shock as anyone else

And I'm also going to be spending most of the rest of the next episode wanting to reach into the TV and slap Jack around for using the situation to work out his daddy issues on somebody who's just lost basically his only real friend on the damn island, unless you count Walt, and didn't intend for the guy to die. Because I expect Jack to completely ignore any explanations Locke offers because *he* himself feels guilty over not being able to save Boone, which is also stupid because hey, you're on an island in the middle of nowhere with nothing, idiot.

Seriously; if at least one thing doesn't get resolved next ep, I am going to scream and hit things, and then send J.J. Abrams my fangirly tantrum in e-mail form. >.

Daddy issue?

[aexia.livejournal.com]

I'm missing how the flashback qualified as another daddy issue? I actually liked how *normal* his relationship with his father seemed this time around. It also shows how far it had deteriorated.

He wasn't staying up all night waiting out of daddy issues. He stayed up because he was freaking out about the wedding and the vows and needed advice.

[lots42.livejournal.com]

Easy. The island don't want 'em to leave. (Well, hell, there has to be some sort of explanation why they act the way they do after such chaos and scary shit)