Comments on: The Simple Truth

By: Chiefof16

Chiefof16 — Fri, 28 May 2010 19:43:50 +0000

Okay, obviously every show needs character development. Lost had that as well as every drama on television. Every show also needs to find ways to keep viewers coming back. Here’s where Lost succeeded.

I never once thought “Oh my God, I wonder if Jack and Kate get together next week.” and I doubt many ever did. That includes the ladies. I know that’s not the type of show they were going for…..But wait! If that’s not the type of show they were going for, then what’s all this “All about the characters” nonsense?

They could have thrown ANY group of personalities on the island from the beginning, and I bet they’d get around the same amount of viewers every week (assuming the acting was as good as it actually was).

The mysteries are what set this show apart from the rest OBVIOUSLY. This is why people watched it. Why is this an argument?

By: eluwan

eluwan — Fri, 28 May 2010 19:16:41 +0000

emzi i feel the same as you, sesons 1-5 were pretty much redundant. i feel we were all strung allong to belive that at the end of it all our reward for being a loyal viewer would be some answers, and even the writers were aware of people getting frustrated, thats why we started to get some answers from season 5 onward. Looking back on it now all the mysteries they put in the show were just reference points to go to if further on in the show they needed to. There was never any plan whatsoever i mean even juggernought going off was fogotten about never to be mentioned again.
The freighter and everyone on it was Pointless, they came for ben and that was a whole season of pointless tv. from the moment we saw ben linus we were all made to belive he knew the score. season 5 onward he was made to look like jacobs weak bitch following orders with no question of why.
Then we move on to all the other long forgotten crap, John lockes dad turning up on the black rock – Never explained,
the main purpose of all the stations and the oriantation vids – Half explained.
Jacob in the Cabin,
I mean in season 3 we were even lead to belive Juilet knew the score, she went for zero to hero quicker than hugo eating a twinkie.
at the end of it all some maybe satisfied but me personaly i feel cheated!

By: Inquisitor

Inquisitor — Fri, 28 May 2010 19:04:40 +0000

I think it works both ways, emzi.

The show wouldn’t have gone as far if it had the characters without the mythology. It also wouldn’t have gone as far if it had the mythology without the characters.

By: emzi

emzi — Fri, 28 May 2010 15:25:22 +0000

I doubt Lost would be the success it is today if it weren’t for the mysteries that kept people guessing.

Make it a show about a bunch of people stranded on an island WITHOUT the mysteries, I wonder how many would have been really interested.

Sure, the characters were interesting to watch, but without the mysteries I doubt the show would have carried itself just on the characters.

The mysteries were what made this show and Season 6 just neglected that.

I have friends who stopped watching Lost after the Season 3 finale because they were fed up with getting more questions than answers. Now for me, the fact that we got more questions kept me intrigued and wanting to know more about this mysterious island. But it didn’t work for them, and they had no interest in finding out what happened to the characters in the end, they just wanted to know what it all meant.

Season 6 started off forgetting about everything else that had happened, and focused on working it’s way to an end that makes seasons 1-5 feel redundant.

If they knew where they were headed all this time why bother introducing us to all those mysteries? Because they knew the mysteries would keep people watching. Hence this show was more sci-fi orientated than anything else.

As I’ve said before, I wasn’t interested in getting all the answers, but I was interested in getting a finale that gave the island and its mysteries a purpose. That’s not what The End did for me.

By: Inquisitor

Inquisitor — Fri, 28 May 2010 14:53:19 +0000

If it was all about the mystery it would have been a pure sci-fi show and would not have been able to air on ABC primetime for 6 years. If it were not about characters, then half of each episode for the first 4 seasons would not have been devoted to flashbacks and flash-forwards to render a more complete portrait of each individual, their struggles throughout their lives, and the people they’ve encountered. The vast majority of all flashbacks and flash-forwards showed the characters completely removed from the Island, most before they even got there or had anything to do with it. It was about character development because characters were the focus.

I too was driven mostly by the mythology and wondering about the mysteries of the Island. Think about it realistically though. ABC execs are not going to pay Darlton millions to produce a Sci-Fi Channel caliber show without a dramatic aspect to it, something that makes it more suitable, and thus profitable, for network primetime television.

By: eluwan

eluwan — Thu, 27 May 2010 21:35:00 +0000

what i meant was everyone saying it was about the people that was laughable. I fell in love with lost cos of all the mysteries sadly mysteries that never got answered.

By: Chiefof16

Chiefof16 — Thu, 27 May 2010 21:31:04 +0000

If that was the case, Laughable indeed. I just posted that as a post. I thought it made sense.

By: eluwan

eluwan — Thu, 27 May 2010 21:13:23 +0000

well said Chiefof16 well said indeed ,i mean did they think that Jack and Kate was the new Ross and Rachel?. Laughable eh mate.

By: Chiefof16

Chiefof16 — Thu, 27 May 2010 21:09:17 +0000

….And Charlie was damn annoying. Sayid was actually likable, as was Claire. Claire was boring though. Sayid would murder you unless he felt bad for ya. Yeah, I just LOVED this show for the characters. Thanks for giving us such a spectacular group of characters to care about, writers.

By: Chiefof16

Chiefof16 — Thu, 27 May 2010 20:55:59 +0000

Let’s pretend that the characters are really all that mattered on this show. Let’s pretend it’s like Grey’s Anatomy without the cheese.

We would have all quit watching LOST at one point or another due to lack of trust in almost ANY of the characters. Their personalities all sucked anyway for the most part……..

Jack – A very safety oriented guy. Arrogant at times. Likes to boss people around on occasion (without realizing it). Aside from Hurley, he’s the only one wroth trusting in this entire show.

Hurley – I’ll admit, everyone likes this jolly fella.

Kate – Can’t trust a word she says. No sense of humor. She’s more fickle than anyone you know. Don’t even pretend you like Kate.

Sawyer – Can’t trust a word he says. If karma’s so important on the island, he would’ve died regardless of the rules back in season one. He’s also the only reason many women ever watched this show to begin with. Sad.

Jin – He meant well. Bland personality though. (Just like almost everyone else)

Locke – The only person I ever looked forward to listening to. He was smart and had a sixth sense that was in tuned with the island.

Rose – She had quite the attitude if I do say so myself.

Sun – Also untrustworthy

Ben – Extremely untrustworthy

Juliette – Extremely untrustworthy

Widmore – Extremely untrustworthy

Miles – asshole

Lapidus – smartass

How the hell was this show about the characters? Who the hell LIKED it for the characters?

This show was about mystery. I see no other way around it.