Doc Weighs in On Lost Season 4 Vs. 1, 2, and 3

Just goes to show that everyone has there own way of looking at things. To me, Michael's story was the most - and only - disappointing aspect of this season. I love the fact that the season ended the way it did. It reminded me of season one. How the heck would the show return - and what the heck would the show be about when it did?

I stand by what I've always stood by - I just can't fully judge this series until it ends. It's all one long story, and I'll critique it when the fatlady sings.

The real question I had in season 1 was how they would be able to keep thise interesting for 5-6 seasons. Then the finale answered that for me. Every finale has answered that for me. I like that Season 4 finally brought the show to a point where we are "caught up." Basically, from now on, everything is going on at one time in multiple locations. We're no longer focusing on the past or the future, all of those threads were nicely tied up and we can now focus on the present.

I also love how the mythology continues to deepen. You can tell that a lot of what we saw in Season 4 was built during even Season 1. It's proving to be a real masterpiece thus far.

Yeah... gotta disagree, Doc. If anything, the fact that we can now group all lingering questions under the categorical question of "why do they need to go back?" makes the show clearer in purpose than it's ever been.

It's seemed very clear to me that Season 4 was all about the HOW, and that when we get into the WHY we're going to need to be a bit further along (S5/S6) - I think at this point, deducting points from LOST for what they haven't yet told us is just silly. I mean do we take points away from every episode the Monster is in because said episodes STILL haven't 'explained' it?

The way I see it, EVERY season has ended on a precipice where we look into a void of the unknown and all we know is that when the show comes back, it's gonna have to be very different.

S1 - Their big escape attempt failed utterly... The hatch is open...
S2 - Purple sky!? No More Hatch!? Captured by the Others!?
S3 - The Others were 'defeated'!? The Freighter's arrived!? THEY'RE OFF THE ISLAND? THEY GOTTA GO BACK!?
S4 - They're LOST IN TIME!?

If anything, you could fault S4 for not having as many big reveals to add to this list as much as elaborations on the S3 final reveals, but to my way of thinking, this is the shift of now being in answer mode. We have our premise, and we're now going to answer it in three acts S4, S5, and S6. The fact that we can still add depth to the dilemma (the time aspect) just shows how good these writers are.

So LOST has ALWAYS left us in the dark at the end of Seasons, I think you're struggling with just how much in the light we are... Our questions now seem much more specific thanks to the story set up.

It offends my sense of linearity. :D Will is more in my shoes, and believe me... I really focus on that one fault with the season ... that there wasn't really a big reveal to 'think' about. Or at least it didn't seem left open. But hey, I'm thrilled to see what the new context is, and my overall ranking is still an A. When you see the write up I'm doing for THIS site, you'll see I was a bit more generally loving it. =)

SoulScreme said: "I like that Season 4 finally brought the show to a point where we are "caught up." Basically, from now on, everything is going on at one time in multiple locations. We're no longer focusing on the past or the future, all of those threads were nicely tied up and we can now focus on the present."

Actually all storylines probably won't be happening at the same point in time. The island story left off at the beginning of January 2005 when the O6 where rescued. Jack and Kate's conversation on the runway takes place in 2007 or later according to Lostpedia. So the story may be about the ones left on the island after it moves and the O6 trying to return. That means that the O6 stories will still be flash-forwards compared to where the island story left off.

Ok, I have seen the finale a few times now and I need to bring up a point. When Locke talked to Jack (offscreen) about bad things happening once they left the island, my assumption was that he was talking about bad things happening to the Oceanic 6 and not what happened on the island. Think about it, tragedy and sadness or vindiction has come to EVERYONE of the Oceanic 6. Maybe this is the way the universe was trying to course correct them BACK to the island.
Anyway, unless you have a good argument otherwise, I will just sit here and assume that Locke is in Island History classes all day with Alpert and Sawyer and Juliet are drunk like a skunk on the beach!
Namaste

The finale, to me, was anticlimactic. Michael's arch ended poorly. If this was what they had "planned all along" with Michael's return, then someone should have given them a different blueprint. The Desomond/Penny arch seemed "rushed" and now I'm only interested if Desmond also has to go back. Locke in the coffin...well, I assumed that at then end of the Season Three finale (in fact, I believe I posted it on TTS). I felt it would have been more of a surprise if it was Locke who entered the funeral parlor and Ben was in the coffin. Not only that, but it made more sense. I'm just having a hard time digesting this finale for many reasons (Rose/Bernard being M.I.A., Ben moving the island instead of Locke, the Orchid is just a front, etc.) and I'm having a hard time finding the same passion to write "Breaking Lost" as a result.

On one level, I agree that Season 4 left us in an unsatisfied state for the hiatus. Lots of possibilities have been definitively closed off: the island cannot be purgatory, it cannot be a virtual reality a la The Matrix, it really does (or did) exist somewhere in the ocean of the Real World. It was possible to move to and from the island given the correct bearing: Walt & Michael, Mr. Friendly, the Freighters, the O6 all were shown to have accomplished that. And the Widmore/Linus spy vs. spy rivalry seems way too mundane given the possibilites introduced in Seasons 1 and 2.

But still: We don't know the whole Dharma backstory, nor the nature of the island Undead (Christian, Claire, Jacob, maybe Richard, now Locke, too). I still want to know about the Incident, the purpose behind the Swan station protocol, Ms. Hawkings' dire warnings about pushing the button to "save us all," and how or if the island changed as a result of Desmond activating the Fail Safe at the end of Season 2.

In thinking about Season 5 today, it occurs to me that for the first time you will have Ben fully allied with the Losties, with neither Ben nor Jack/Locke as prisoners of the other. So several possibilities emerge for how Season 5 will reveal the remaining mythology:

1- Ben lays out everything for Jack and simultaneously for the viewers in the context of planning the O6 return to the island. (Not Likely)

2- Jack doesn't press Ben for answers, just as he never pressed Juliet, and the teasing of the viewers continues. (The most unsatisfying possibility.)

3- Ben confides in Jack, but off-camera, so we are none the wiser. (Doubt this would work, because Jack is normally our point-of-view character. Surely the rest of O6 would want at least as many answers as Jack. I think the O6 would need to move far into the background during Season 5 for this possibility to work).

4- Ben lies to Jack and the O6. (Been there, done that. But it might work if the viewers are shown things that let us know Ben is lying again. We could see Ben tell Jack 1+2+3 while in flashback Richard tells Locke X+Y+Z. Two possiblities, maybe neither of them the right answer.)

5- Ben tells the O6 and the viewers what he knows, but Ben actually knows less than we all think he does. (This is in my opinion the most satisfying Season 5 scenario: The Widmore/Linus rivalry is shown to not represent the real stakes: instead the real stakes involve the forces BEHIND the man behind the curtain... Ms. Hawking, Jacob, Abaddon, Hanso, etc.)

Just 34 weeks to go!

If the S4 ending was just a mirror image of the S3 ending, does that give us a hint to the S5 ending, considering how much Damon loves "The Watchmen"? Are we going to get the next two seasons being mirror images (or at least their finales) of S2 and S1, respectively?

Could be. Carlton has said to expect more Dharma stuff in Season 5, and this year's off-season game has Octagon Recruiting re-staffing the Dharma Initiative! So Seasons 3 and 4 were Others-centric, with Ben center stage and Juliet and Richard introduced. Seasons 2 and 5 could be Dharma-centric. Then Season 6 mirrors Season 1, as the O6 return to the island, now perhaps greatly changed from when they last saw it. The "crazy French woman" is finally explained, with Rousseau getting her long-awaited (posthumous) flashback.

Lost has always suffered from pacing problems. I think it would have been in the best interest of the show and would have kept viewers satisfied if they wouldn't have waited a year to reveal who was in the coffin. Lost has enough mysteries left unresolved to be able to reveal a couple much earlier in the season. This problem might be remedied by the shorter seasons and thus the necessity to explain more in a shorter amount of time. The writers should realize that the best episodes revolve around key character and show distill the better stories to favor of those characters.

The killing of Rousseau, Alex and Karl didn't have the resonance it should have. Alex and Karl weren't regulars so I didn't have much attachment to them. Karl was a marked man and his death was inevitable. Rousseau's murdered was less shocking than it was disappointing. She was a cool character who should have gone out with a bit more class. A lot of people are complaining about Michael's end but Rousseau's ending to me was much more disheartening.

Ben's importance in the show is starting to take over and I don't mean for the better. it is beginning to be the Ben show and while I enjoy his character immensely, there can be to much of a good thing.

Locke being the inhabitant of the coffin while illogical from our current perspective might in the end turn out to make a lot of sense. The phrase from the bible "he so loved the world(island) that he gave his only begotten son" keeps echoing in my mind.

Hey mike... couldn't agree with you more. Watching michael grow from season 1 to the climactic end of season 2 was great to watch, as his character went from struggling dad, to desperate dad, and when he returned in season 4 I was looking forward to seeing how he would play off of old characters. There's something about knowing that he is one of the original castaways thats been in the show since the beginning and seeing him come back to finish of his story that I loved, so personally I was let down to see him come back and leave so quickly, the fact that Walt will never see his dad again and know what he went through for him is a bit of a let down...

And one more thing, to all the people who will say "Michael was killed off because nobody watching really gave a crap about him", I don't nessasarily think that if an original character of the show isn't very popular he should be killed off, I think that character should be able to finish off his story, simply because it should be told...

I tend to agree that the Michael storyline fell flat on its face. Maybe they'll find a way to bring him back in some form for a better send-off. I hate to bring this up, but I do believe that the writer's strike took its toll on the season after all. I mean 16 episodes is a condensed season for Lost to begin with but then lopping off two more episodes makes it more like a mid season replacement schedule. I think everyone really enjoyed the pace of the show when it finally came back, but ultimately the writers got caught up in their own frenzied storytelling method.

Essentially, the big complaint with Lost in the past was "too much filler." Now that we've got less episodes and things are happening at a faster rate, the problem becomes "wait... what just happened?" The season finale was like an overstuffed burrito. No matter how you try to eat it, the whole thing ends up really messy.

doc do you get my last mail ? :(

I pretty much agree with everything you said. The introduction of interesting new characters were by far the best of this season, and I liked the surprising new alliances too. But I feel that we ended this season in exactly the same place where we left it the last season (but filling some holes that were kind of obvious), I think that the story made just a little progress (from the call for the rescue to the rescue, and from a coffin to its inhabitant).This season left me with an unpleasant taste ( I just liked 3 episodes !!!)and thinking that the next seasons will be even worst. I feel that now that they have an ending date there is not a lot to tell left (so they are overusing rehash themes (destiny, faith), forced storylines (Christian in Jacobs cabin !, Claire),etc.

OT: I have found difficult to visit this site lately, sometimes it doesn't load.

I would think with the ratings and huge fan-following that they would move back to a 23 ep season. It would also help tell the story a little better.

Felt the Michael story was disappointing – for me he’s been the most realistic character on the show i.e. how else would anyone of us handle such a situation any better!

Agree with Merlboro Man - the Desmond / Penny reunion was very rushed and unsatisfying. (Why did we have to waste time on him possibly being drowned? Just a cheap trick from the writers.) I think it was unsatsifying because it was the result of a quick re-write at the last minute because the writers were originally going to kill Desmond off this season but then changed their minds (wanting to extend the Desmond/Penny story).

Yes Zonker - how has Desmond activating the Fail Safe stopped everyone being dead? So far we know it enabled Penny to find him, Widmore didn’t get to torch the island??? the O6 escaped?? AND …………….(HOW HAS IT SAVED EVERONE FROM BEING DEAD)?????????