Thoughts in Lost
Oct. 8th, 2004 02:15 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
newnumber6Been thinking a bit about the show Lost, and where it's going and what I'd do with such a thing. This isn't an official 'What I'd Do With', it's more of a general speculation, thoughts on the show, and what. Some spoilers, either potential or actual.
I'm really mixed on the show. I think it's a decent show, and I really, really like some of the characters and what they're doing with them, (although not so much some of the main characters), I'm getting a strong feeling of 'they don't know where they're going with this' and/or 'they're going to keep stringing us along for ever without revealing anything'. Case in point, Kate's Crime. Okay, the Marshall wakes up, warns the Doc she's dangerous, that she shouldn't be trusted... but, refuses to answer when he's asked what her crime is. Then of course, he asks to see her so she can put him out of her misery. So, we never find out. I could almost hear a background voice of a producer saying in a Nelson voice, "Ha-ha, we're not going to teeeeeeeeeeeeeeellllllllll you!". And, of course, now that Kate's the only one on the island who knows the truth, even if she tells everyone what she did, they can keep stringing the audience along with the possibility that she was lying.
There's some sloppiness that bothers me too, things like them not burying the bodies, but having been there long enough for there to be massive stink and flies and such, or that people have been there days without shaving (The Marshall, despite being wounded, seemed perfectly clean shaven even after days being wounded... I find it a little hard to believe that someone took the time to shave him every day)... people running from monsters and then stopping cause they see a little nudity, and there's no more sounds of monsters.
I'm also a little worried at the idea that they're having the Mystery of the Island be a 'subconscious fears/desires comes to life' aspect to the whole thing... what with a polar bear appearing in the woods (shortly after a kid's reading a comic with a polar bear in it), and mysterious invisible monsters, and the rain stopping on a dime just after the kid's father says he'll go right after the rain stops. Much like the Creepy Old Guy, who, I'm assuming, used to be in a wheelchair before the plane crash (they showed us a wheel chair in the episode, and he told the kid that he had a miracle, but (at least while I was watching) they didn't mention what kind.
On the good parts, I really like Sayid and Hurley (though wonder how they're going to deal with his weight over the long term in the series), and loved the stroke where the Tough Guy's mercy killing went wrong, leaving the Marshall to die in extreme pain over several hours, forcing the Doctor to kill him more quickly.
Flashbacks work out okay for now, but I think once we know everybody, they should taper off.
I don't know how the show's really going to work long term. Being stuck on the island can only go so far, especially if they're determined not to reveal everything.
The Big Mystery is of course, what happened. The main theories I've seen advanced are 'They're dead and this is some sort of Limbo', 'They've landed on an island that is a secret government experiment/project (either crashed accidentally, or were put there by design a la 'Cube'), 'They're in another dimension', 'They're just lost on a normal but rather weird island'.
Now, if _I_ was running the show, I'd make 'The Island' the premise of the show for the first year. The
season would build up to them (or a small group of them) finding a way off, possibly with the help of whatever research base is powering the 16-year-old distress signal. The season finale would have them
reaching what should be civilization, only to find it's gone, perhaps some kind of savages.
Basically I'd want the show to be some kind of 'Island in the Sea of Time' type scenario (a group of people thrown into the past), although possibly instead of the past an alternate dimension. Maybe have people there, but they're all variations on the 'Lost' theme. Descendants, for example, of the Roanoake colony could have settled the land mass that is equivalent to America (or possibly them and the 'Anasazi'). Atlantis may be out there somewhere. Our Heroes in the cast are from the most technologically superior culture, which might give them an advantage, but it's not a permanent one. (In order to allow for some extra weirdness, maybe have this dimension have slightly different physical laws, possibly including 'magic works'). The show retains the title 'Lost' because they're still Lost to the world (maybe give them some long term hints towards there being a way to get home), but after the first year it expands from 'trying to survive on a weird island with no hope of rescue without being eaten' to 'trying to make a life on a weird world without getting squashed or conquered'
Still, for now, there's nothing else really to watch at that time, so I'm sticking with the show to see where it goes. I just hope they don't yank my chain around too much.
I'm really mixed on the show. I think it's a decent show, and I really, really like some of the characters and what they're doing with them, (although not so much some of the main characters), I'm getting a strong feeling of 'they don't know where they're going with this' and/or 'they're going to keep stringing us along for ever without revealing anything'. Case in point, Kate's Crime. Okay, the Marshall wakes up, warns the Doc she's dangerous, that she shouldn't be trusted... but, refuses to answer when he's asked what her crime is. Then of course, he asks to see her so she can put him out of her misery. So, we never find out. I could almost hear a background voice of a producer saying in a Nelson voice, "Ha-ha, we're not going to teeeeeeeeeeeeeeellllllllll you!". And, of course, now that Kate's the only one on the island who knows the truth, even if she tells everyone what she did, they can keep stringing the audience along with the possibility that she was lying.
There's some sloppiness that bothers me too, things like them not burying the bodies, but having been there long enough for there to be massive stink and flies and such, or that people have been there days without shaving (The Marshall, despite being wounded, seemed perfectly clean shaven even after days being wounded... I find it a little hard to believe that someone took the time to shave him every day)... people running from monsters and then stopping cause they see a little nudity, and there's no more sounds of monsters.
I'm also a little worried at the idea that they're having the Mystery of the Island be a 'subconscious fears/desires comes to life' aspect to the whole thing... what with a polar bear appearing in the woods (shortly after a kid's reading a comic with a polar bear in it), and mysterious invisible monsters, and the rain stopping on a dime just after the kid's father says he'll go right after the rain stops. Much like the Creepy Old Guy, who, I'm assuming, used to be in a wheelchair before the plane crash (they showed us a wheel chair in the episode, and he told the kid that he had a miracle, but (at least while I was watching) they didn't mention what kind.
On the good parts, I really like Sayid and Hurley (though wonder how they're going to deal with his weight over the long term in the series), and loved the stroke where the Tough Guy's mercy killing went wrong, leaving the Marshall to die in extreme pain over several hours, forcing the Doctor to kill him more quickly.
Flashbacks work out okay for now, but I think once we know everybody, they should taper off.
I don't know how the show's really going to work long term. Being stuck on the island can only go so far, especially if they're determined not to reveal everything.
The Big Mystery is of course, what happened. The main theories I've seen advanced are 'They're dead and this is some sort of Limbo', 'They've landed on an island that is a secret government experiment/project (either crashed accidentally, or were put there by design a la 'Cube'), 'They're in another dimension', 'They're just lost on a normal but rather weird island'.
Now, if _I_ was running the show, I'd make 'The Island' the premise of the show for the first year. The
season would build up to them (or a small group of them) finding a way off, possibly with the help of whatever research base is powering the 16-year-old distress signal. The season finale would have them
reaching what should be civilization, only to find it's gone, perhaps some kind of savages.
Basically I'd want the show to be some kind of 'Island in the Sea of Time' type scenario (a group of people thrown into the past), although possibly instead of the past an alternate dimension. Maybe have people there, but they're all variations on the 'Lost' theme. Descendants, for example, of the Roanoake colony could have settled the land mass that is equivalent to America (or possibly them and the 'Anasazi'). Atlantis may be out there somewhere. Our Heroes in the cast are from the most technologically superior culture, which might give them an advantage, but it's not a permanent one. (In order to allow for some extra weirdness, maybe have this dimension have slightly different physical laws, possibly including 'magic works'). The show retains the title 'Lost' because they're still Lost to the world (maybe give them some long term hints towards there being a way to get home), but after the first year it expands from 'trying to survive on a weird island with no hope of rescue without being eaten' to 'trying to make a life on a weird world without getting squashed or conquered'
Still, for now, there's nothing else really to watch at that time, so I'm sticking with the show to see where it goes. I just hope they don't yank my chain around too much.
