(no subject)

[apocalypsos]

Answers: A.) 1. Spoken or written replies, as to questions. 2. Correct replies. B.) 1. Solutions, as to problems. 2. Correct solutions.

Boy, am I glad I get these from other TV show finales, because I sure as hell wasn't going to get many from the Lost finale.

See, here's the thing. I like my TV shows to have season-long arcs. You know, where you can watch the entire season on DVD in one sitting during a rainy weekend and it's just like watching a very looooooong miniseries. That's the sole reason this finale bugs me.

Contrast it with the Veronica Mars finale. (And I know I've turned into a VM-aholic, but bear with me, 'kay?) If they never decided to renew the show for another season, that would have been fine with me, because really, that first season covers everything. You end the season knowing who killed Lilly and who raped Veronica and have some nice, not-overly-bothersome loose ends that can either trail off into fanfiction or be used to build a solid foundation for next season's storylines.

Series-long arcs piss me off, especially if everything seems to be a series-long arc. What did we come out of tonight's season finale with that we didn't know before, kids? *puts on Arzt's hat ... ew*

-- We know who the Others are ... sort of.
-- We know what they want with Walt ... kind of.
-- We saw the monster ... kind of.
-- We know what's in the hatch ... maybe.

So basically, it's the same way we've ended every other episode -- without any real resolution. The baby has a name? So what? Charlie found the heroin? Yeah, and now what? The Others want Walt instead of Aaron? Well, great. For what?

I think this bugs me a lot because I'm one of those people who writes my novels in a series almost always. When I plan out a novel, it's always five books in a series or three books or whatever. In my head, The Monsters of Moosic is at least the start of a five-book series. I've already got the four after it pretty much sketched out in my head, with a handful of series-long arcs and then the arc for each book. That's why season finales like this drive me bonkers. I don't want everything answered, for God's sake, but I at least want something resolved with a solid answer. Anything. The monster is really Nightcrawler with a Greta Garbo complex. The Others are unwashed hillbillies with plans to dominate the world through spoiled, superpowered brats. The ladder in the hatch leads down to the second level of "Super Mario Brothers". For Christ's sake, give me SOMETHING.

Ahem.

Having said all that, I was still thoroughly entertained, right up until they were doing the montage of the plane, and Shannon was digging through her purse, and Boone handed her her inhaler, and then I promptly burst into wracking sobs and haven't been anywhere less than barely suppressing my tears since. It's so fucked up, because I swear since I saw that, and since I spent the entire episode seeing Shannon so upset, it was just ... it felt like a real person that I missed, and ... and I'm crying all over again.

Jesus, I never thought I'd miss Boone this much. I loved him and all, because for all his dopey inability to do anything right, he meant well. But, damn it. *swipes at eyes with the back of my hand*

Okay, I'll do the rest of this by character, just so I don't ramble forever.

Locke: Damn, he's a creepy fuck. I mean, I like him, I do. I think tonight was a perfect display of the fact that I do love all of these characters (with the exception of Kate, and even she wasn't bad tonight), I just don't like what the storyline does with them a lot of the time. But Locke is so going to turn out to be the fucked-up drink-the-Kool-Aid guy in the jungle everybody's afraid to go to until he wiggles his fingers and cures your tropical foot rot or something. Not to say that that's not a handy trick, but still.

Jack: See, I liked Jack tonight. He had an excellent point when he said how everyone was willing to listen to him only as long as they agreed with him. Dude, you can put him in that position, but you have to execute that leadership position as he sees fit. You can't just hand him that responsibility in the beginning of the season and then spend the rest of the season saying, "Well, I don't agree with you. I'll just do what I want." Bugger OFF. Let the man do his island job, all right?

On the other hand, Jack, if you could just stay ten feet away from Kate at all times, I'd like you more. Honest.

Kate: titti taunted me with mental images of the dynamite blowing you up. And damn it, they didn't come true. Seriously, hacking at old dynamite with a pickax? WINNER.

Hurley: I don't like big guys in a romantic capacity, but ... marry me. No, really, marry me. You are witty and wonderful and cursed and I wanted to cuddle you like mad. And you got lost on your mom's birthday? Oh, my God, Hugo's mommy! *cuddles her, too* Also, best flashback sequence ever. Also, "You've got Arzt on you." HEE.

Charlie: I swear to God, Charlie, I hope Claire finds that heroin and smacks you up the head with her journal and reminds you that there's a baby in the caves with the drugs. You know, when you're just being cute and flustering and fawning all over Claire, I love you, but JESUS. Where's your head? I think literarylemming's babyproofing Charlie should zip over from another dimension and punch you one. (Then again, gunpowder wound cauterizing. So I think Sayid did his work for him.)

Claire: AWWW. *hugs you* Look, Beelzebaby's okay. And to make you feel better, I'd be the first to "reassure" you by telling you point-blank that taking care of a newborn on an island like that is going to suck. Also, I like Aaron. I went to high school with a really nice guy named Aaron. Good name. (By the way, I looked through the guesses everybody made on that post and I swear to God, I couldn't find anyone guessing that name. I may have lucked out, considering how busy I am. Unless someone did guess it and I just missed it? I don't know.)

Danielle: I can see where you're coming from, doll, but you? Friggin' batshit.

Sayid: SAYID! You are smart and brave, and if you don't hook up with Shannon next season, I will have to have words with you. You're more intelligent than to let that go, and you won't put up with her shit, which she needs.

Shannon: Okay, forget I ever said anything against the Shannon/Sayid shipping. Seriously. I am officially on board the train. In fact, if anybody's looking for me, I'll be up in the engine, shoveling coal into the furnace like it's going out of style. Toot, toot!

You know why she's my favorite? Just ... all of that. She's trying to do everything by herself, without Boone to take of her, and it's just not working. And she's lugging around his stuff. Boone's clothes, for crying out loud. *hugs her*

Boone: *sobs again* Oh, sweetie, I wish you could see her. She misses you sooooooo much.

Walt: ACK! Come back, Walt! You're all-powerful and they're all fucked-up! Worst of all, they all look like actors too dirty to make the cast of a Rob Zombie horror movie, and that's BAD.

Michael: Aw. I feel sorry for you for being stuck fifteen miles from land without your raft or your kid, even though the Nelson in my head is yelling, "HA, HA!" I'm sorry, but didn't I tell you this was a bad idea? I did? Well, see, this is what happens when people ignore me.

Sawyer: With the shirtless! And the singing! And the you-really-want-to-hire-me-for-Gambit hair! And "Who is Hugo and why does he have 160 million dollars?"! Bwahahaha! Please don't be dead. You know that saying about being too pretty to die? Learn it, live it, love it. Seriously.

Jin: No wonder you wanted that watch back so badly! *hugs you* You're all about saving Sun, aren't you? Well, sweetie, we are right behind you. (Unless you get eaten by sharks during the summer, in which case, ACK. GYAH. HELP ME.)

Sun: You're just a big, sweet, gorgeous earth mother, aren't you? *worships*

Comments

[jedilora.livejournal.com]

Huzzah! Alliterative shipping for everybody! (Well, except for Sun and Jin, and they've got consonance going on, so yay!)

And YES about Boone and the crying. Seriously. I had a tissue box ready since we did get a glimpse of him last ep as well, but DAMN. He really WAS such a nice person at heart.

[trishalynn.livejournal.com]

If that's true, then it's Jack/Kate with the consonant K. We can't have that.

[purple-smurf.livejournal.com]

He had an excellent point when he said how everyone was willing to listen to him only as long as they agreed with him

You know I'm a Buffy!Whore, and dude. They can't make me actually kinda like Jack like that. Although there's still months before I'll see the episode.

[leelee-cakes.livejournal.com]

Hey! You! You're here! ::hugs::

And:
Sawyer: With the shirtless! And the singing! And the you-really-want-to-hire-me-for-Gambit hair! And "Who is Hugo and why does he have 160 million dollars?"! Bwahahaha! Please don't be dead. You know that saying about being too pretty to die? Learn it, live it, love it. Seriously.

YAY!

[apocalypsos.livejournal.com]

I've come to learn that Jack is not that bad, just as long as they keep him away from Kate. And Kate is actually tolerable when she and Sawyer are allowed to flirt. But of course, they keep shipping her with Jack, and ... NO. That just does bad things to both characters. Ick.

[bishounenhuntrs.livejournal.com]

Now, I like the fact that they left us with a WTF...or six. It's what I expected them to do.
Though the snatching of Walt did catch me off guard.

Jin: No wonder you wanted that watch back so badly! *hugs you* You're all about saving Sun, aren't you? Well, sweetie, we are right behind you.

Yeah, Sun's father is an evil bastard. And anyone who still thinks Jin is a bad guy needs to get their head checked.

[foenix.livejournal.com]

I'm sitting there watching tonight's episode, thinking as Arzt is making all his meta-commentary we've all been thinking, and I decide he is probably my new favourite character...

...so he promptly BLOWS HIMSELF TO PIECES. I'm not sure if that's disheartening, or oddly appropriate for me.

I didn't like *where* they ended the episode. I liked the scene, but it didn't really sink in until I'd seen the whole episode from the start. This would be an absolutely crushing event for Locke, at least at first. All that work, believing that 'hope' was inside the hatch, that fate had led a long, long series of events, to even before the plane left the tarmac, and then find...nothing. A ladder that ends less than halfway down what you can *see* of a very long tunnel. From Locke's perspective, it makes sense as a seen, in the whole of the context for him and his mindset, but the grabbing of Walt would have made a much better endpoint for the season.

And *damn* if those cursed numbers weren't EVERYwhere during Hurley's flashback, and a few other places. Loved Sawyer reading the notes. ;)

I really don't think this show would work with a season-long arc, at least not right now. I would've liked some more answers, but the trail of breadcrumbs brought us a little further down the path, so I'm generally happy. I would've hated to see the monster tonight, or find out what the deal is with the island, or why the plane crashed. These should be things we get hints at here and there, while learning about our band of misfits, and eventually we learn the truth. Here's hoping they know the end is coming WAY in advance, so we can have a kick-ass final season.

J

[dragonwhishes.livejournal.com]

*pat pat pat pat pat* Hey, it happens all the time with me. All of my favorite characters either die, get horribly hurt, turn evil, or all three.

In any fandom.

[foenix.livejournal.com]

I usually manage to go for the ones already evil...

Just mean that the guy with the Phoenix/fire obsession like the guy who blowed hisself up real good.

Er...

[seferin.livejournal.com]

who raped Veronica

How is that handled? Is this you wanting sex for someone who was brutally violated?

Re: Er...

[apocalypsos.livejournal.com]

Wait until you see it. It doesn't turn out exactly the way you think.

*blink*

[seferin.livejournal.com]

*doubtfully* If you say so. You are reasonable, but I confess to having difficulting in thinking of rape as anything other than a reason to bring back the catapault.

[digitalmeowmix2.livejournal.com]

You've got Arzt on you." HEE.

My mom and I kept laughing at that and my father said we were sick in the head

[shadowcat]

Gahs! I am so going to have to by the DVDs when they come out. I ahve missed so damn much.

[miggy.livejournal.com]

Hmm. Aaron = 2 As and a N.

We're almost to Dana! ;)

[starfishofelves.livejournal.com]

I'll forgive everything negative you ever said about Shannon/Sayid just to have another person on this lonely train.