Lost: Season 5 (1 Viewer)

[PhilipG]

Yeah, I was an early detractor, and while I love the series now, back then I didn't - and here's the thing: I still don't think I'd enjoy the early seasons if I were to watch them again. (note that I have only seen the episodes once)

IIRC, and IMHO, season one started off reasonably but meandered. But I hated the flashback device, or rather its implementation. The stories were too simplistic and, well, boring. Where was the Monster, dammit? Season two I found pretty much unwatchable. I think I may have vowed to stop watching. And I did. I didn't watch season 3... Then my sister told me Lost had "gotten good". I didn't believe her. The season passed by. I got bored with the lack of TV. I caught up. I enjoyed it a lot more watching new eps without the week's (or weeks') delay.

Season 4 I caught in chunks, and again it was a lot better. Flashforwards much more interesting than Flashbacks, because both threads seemed "current". New characters, and fleshed-out characters, were great improvements, and the emphasis fell away from whiny Jack, and became centred more on Locke and Sawyer. Relief!

Now, season 5 I watched every week. Mythology pressing forward. No fillers. The show has some direction at last.

Onward s6!

 

[Charlie Campisi]

Yeah, I rewatched the last 15 minutes last night shortly after I posted and saw that line.

I guess that we are supposed to take that Locke was possessed by Jacob's rival. I still don't understand why Locke didn't know Jacob was living in the foot of the statue, or that Alex told Ben to follow Locke. I guess he was just playing along with his own ruse, but it seemed unnecessary.

 

[Sean Laughter]

I dunno, since about Season 2 I've been of the opinion that any episode that leaves both Jack and Kate alive and breathing is an unsatisfying episode - finale or not. ;-)

Seriously though, we've gone through so many characters, many of which were better scripted and better acted than Jack and Kate put together, that it very nearly is the last straw for me that we lose Juliet yet Kate continues to draw breath as if the character deserves anything but a horrendous, painful, drawn out death at the hands of a cenobite summoned from the bowels of hell by Jacob opening a puzzle box. The inevitable return to the "love triangle" will just be insulting next season, because Sawyer really should just ignore her and let her and Jack have their dysfunctional relationship that Jack basically admitted in the finale is the reason he set in motion the events that lead to Juliet's death.

 

[NeilO]

It could be with only a few critical exceptions the new "Locke" was acting precisely as Locke would have done if it really was him. This was critical in order to fool Richard and get both "Locke" and Ben inside the statue to kill Jacob. It wasn't until Jacob recognized him that he fully "possessed" "Locke."

There is a lot we don't know and won't find out until next year. I think it is going to be one great final ride.

 

[Sam Favate]

Who was the actor that played "Esau"/"Samuel"/anti-Jacob?

From the article I linked to yesterday:


In all three shows, the main cast of characters are stuck in a very old struggle between two warring parties - really between two competing ideas. We've heard on Lost again and again that "there is a war coming."

Where's Claire in all this? Did she join Jacob's tribe? Or is she with the anti-Jacob (who must surely have his own followers)?

I think the smoke monster is the anti-Jacob. Recall that when the monster confronted Locke in the jungle, he let him go, after devouring several others (Eko, the pilot, etc.). Perhaps he saw in Locke at that time something he could use to his advantage. I will also agree that Locke needs a better resolution to his story.

I liked the scenes of Jacob visiting the cast in their pasts (although he didn't visit Juliet, but we saw her in flashback). It suggests that their appearances on the island were not random.

Spoiler tags added by moderator. If you're going to discuss other series, please add spoiler tags for those who might not yet have caught up.

 

[TravisR]

Titus Welliver. He's been in lots of TV dramas but probably his most recognizable role was as Adams in Deadwood.

 

[Sean Laughter]

Most people seem to think that there are actually two monsters and the first one Locke confronts back in Season 1 is Jacob's monster because Locke describes it as a bright white light rather than a gathering of dark smoke.

I actually found the Jacob-based flashbacks a bit contrived, and agree with some that it sat too much like how they stuck Nikki and Paolo into scenes after the fact.

My question is, does this mean that the whole Whidmore v Ben thing is just window dressing, having nothing to do with J v Anti-J? Is that now retconned to make room for this alpha conflict? I have my doubts that all of this ends up ending satisfactorily within the 15 or so episodes of the final season.

 

[NeilO]

The thing that make me think that that the smoke monster is not the anti-Jacob is that Ben went to the smoke monster for judgment. Presumably this is something that Richard has had them do in the past. If Richard has been following Jacob's instructions, why would he be sending people to the smoke monster if it wasn't a tool of Jacob's?

I also like those scenes of Jacob visiting the cast. It shows that he was picking them and reinforces that he supplied the list of names that was given to Ben way back when.

 

[TravisR]

The only thing I am sure of about the end of the show is that people will say that it's unsatisfactory.

 

[TonyD]

I'm sure some people are waiting for the entire series of Battlestar to be released on dvd to BEGIN watching it.
So I don't understand why there continues to be posts
referencing that show which has nothing to do with Lost in this
topic.

please spoiler that stuff if you think it needs to be posted here
in the LOST topic.

sheesh why would anyone do that anyway.

 

[RichM]

I found it interesting that Jacob can speak fluently in any language and that he can move off the Island at will and influence certain individuals.

For some reason this reminded me of the two "angels" from Battle Star Galactica (Baltar and Six).

Not sure Jacob is dead, perhaps by touching each of the Oceanic 6 he imparted some of his consciousness into their unconscious minds that he could trigger at any time to influence their decisions.

Spoiler tags added by moderator. If you're going to discuss other series, please be considerate of people who may not yet have caught up.

 

[Chris Will]

The one thing that bugs me about this episode is that, all of a sudden, the other Ajira crash folks seem to be seasoned island veterans, knowing exactly what to do and where to go. We haven't seen much of them for a few weeks and when they finally show up they seem much smarted then before. I just don't buy it, there wasn't enough build up for these characters to explain there knowledge of the island IMO. I hate it when writers pull things out of nowhere like this.

 

[NeilO]

I am only in the second season on DVD, so please spoilerize anything about BSG with some indication that you are referencing it.

 

[NeilO]

Except we did see clues. In Miles' episode, he was kidnapped by some of them who were trying to recruit him. Some of them were clearly looking for things on the island when they arrived. We knew that Ben did not recruit Ilana to take Sayid to the plane, but someone else did. It appears that this may be also been on Jacob's orders.

 

[TonyD]

one post right after I asked for this someone posts a battlestar reveal.
please stop it.

 

[Michael Reuben]

Reminder: This is a thread about LOST. People who open this thread expect to encounter discussion of plot points in LOST.

They do not expect to encounter plot points from Battlestar Galactica or other recent series that they may be trying to catch up with on DVD (or reruns). Please be considerate; either refrain from discussing other shows or use SPOILER TAGS. That's what they're there for. Thanks.

 

[Joseph DeMartino]

Who's to say they aren't veterans of the island? Plenty of other people (and Other people) have been able to come and go from the island in the past, so there's no reason to assume that the Ajira team has never been there before. Or they could have just been very-well briefed by Jacob, studied maps, memorized landmarks, etc.

Regards,

Joe

 

[Matt^Brown]

I have a great friend that has terminal cancer and we discussed this last week. We have an on going joke that whenever someone ask about a show we always reply with "you didn't miss anything because everyone died". We have been saying this for years so I found this finale to be oddly rewarding.

 

[Josh Dial]

I wouldn't say "most people," in fact, I can't think of a single time the notion of two smoke monsters has been brought up (outside of a theory back in season 2 I think, where someone said there were tons of smoke monsters).

Also, I wouldn't expect *any* retconning to take place on this show. I can't recall any real incidents of this happening up to this point, and I think (personally) that given the quality of Fringe, Star Trek, and LOST, that Bad Robot Productions has earned my trust

 

[cineMANIAC]

Anyone else feel like they're watching a whole different show than the one we started out with in 2004? I understand the concept of a show evolving over time but it just doesn't have the same feel. It's still a damn good show, don't get me wrong. I wonder what the producers had in mind when they dreamed this up over five years ago: did they envision it lasting this long, was it a Gilligan's Island-like idea that morphed into something else? I actually didn't get into it until the hatch-in-the-ground-in-an-island thing. I became hooked ever since. Fascinating.