Comments on: You Can’t Go Home Again? – 1.01 and 1.02 “The Pilot”

By: Links I’ve been meaning to blog about for too long « carocat.co.uk

Links I’ve been meaning to blog about for too long « carocat.co.uk — Sun, 15 Nov 2009 05:47:07 +0000

[...] You Can’t Go Home Again? – 1.01 and 1.02 “The Pilot” – Brilliant Lost post with many, many images on the foreshadowing of the pilot Lost episode to mythology and twists later on. Includes so many details I’ve missed even on repeat viewings, like placing of scars which could be significant or the frequent occurence of black and white. [...]

By: z

Fri, 18 Sep 2009 01:54:25 +0000

Well written article. You pointed out a lot of things that I hadn’t noticed before.

By: Baalzak

Baalzak — Tue, 15 Sep 2009 15:29:10 +0000

It’s on the Blast Door: “STATED GOAL, REPATRIATION ACCELERATED DE-TERRITORIALIZATION OF URSUS MARITIMUS THROUGH GENE THERAPY AND EXTREME CLIMATE CHANGE”.

By: Chip

Chip — Tue, 15 Sep 2009 10:21:27 +0000

Neoloki, you’re right about the then-new season 4 characters (Charlotte’s story was reportedly cut partially due to the writer’s strike), but Darlton and co. have several times over the past year referred in a more general sense to cutting back stories because of the set end date. My point is not *whose* back story gets cut (nor that Darlton seem happy to leave at least some back stories behind), just that the emphasis since episode 8 or 9 of season 4 has moved *primarily* from characterization to plot (or, better said, resolution), as you yourself note. If you’re happy with that, fine; I love LOST but feel that the show has been missing at least half of its heart and soul (if you count LOST as 1/2 story and mystery and 1/2 character development, as Lindelof has said repeatedly is the genius of the show) with the decreased emphasis. (And I speak as one who came to LOST drawn in by the mysteries but found that it was the focus on characterization that got me to stay.) It does seem, from everything Darlton has said, that there will be a great deal more characterization in season 6, however.

By: meems

meems — Mon, 14 Sep 2009 18:54:50 +0000

Fish, you are always the best and always will be. I LOVE your illustrated recaps – they are genius!

By: neoloki

neoloki — Mon, 14 Sep 2009 15:42:47 +0000

Chip

When they were referring to sacrificing back stories because of fewer episodes they were talking about season 4 and not getting to the freighter folk’s back story because of the writers strike. Not the fact that they agreed to 16 eps a year.

We have had 4 seasons of exposition on the characters. that time is over.

By: neoloki

neoloki — Mon, 14 Sep 2009 15:37:18 +0000

“i agree with zoriah that the character’s motivations in the incident felt forced. lost has always been about the characters, and having the characters betray their own ideals in order to expediently serve the plot felt like a bit of a betrayal.”

I think this statement is so incredibly wrong, it is almost as if you hadn’t watched five seasons of the show. ALL the characters followed exactley how they have always reacted to situation. I feel the writers would have been better off not giving the characters reasons for following the bomb at all because their motivations have been explicitly written over 5 seasons.

Jack…needs to fix everything
Kate…always does what Jack thinks is best. (on Island at least)
Sawyer…did it for Juliet and the fact that his Dharma life is over.
Juliet…is probably the most difficult to place her motivation but she new she was going to lose Sawyer and wanted to avoid the inevitable.
Sayid…Has a death wish

the worst line of the Incident was Jack saying “I had her”. That was unnecessary. Agreed.

By: neoloki

neoloki — Mon, 14 Sep 2009 15:28:51 +0000

Yes Locke was used and yes Locke was an insecure man who wished to be a Messiah. To trusting, etc, al. but NO Jack was not right. This show has always been about dualities so to right off locke as dead and pathetic is a big mistake. The writers will not leave such an iconic character dead on the beach. We will see his return and he will play a VERY important part in the end game..

By: neoloki

neoloki — Mon, 14 Sep 2009 15:00:58 +0000

“Just block letters written on a junky’s dirty fingers”

GREAT line, Fishbiscuit.

By: Chip

Chip — Mon, 14 Sep 2009 05:11:15 +0000

No disagreement about the fine line, Hmmm, but the producers have admitted that reducing the number of episodes in the last three seasons necessitated sacrificing back stories. This last season, we saw a woeful lack of attention given to Charlotte, Daniel, and, most grievously of all, Sun and Jin. It also apparently led Darlton and company to nix the storylines of everyone who wasn’t around in the first season. Fortunately, we apparently will get more characterization in season 6, and that’s welcome.

By: Ament

Ament — Sat, 12 Sep 2009 05:26:35 +0000

I would agree that they trained Polar Bears, using methods like getting their own food so they can turn the wheel. It kind of makes sense because the environment that the wheel was located. How Ben found out about the wheel being hidden in the Orchard behind the time-portal device is a mystery, but whats more is how he knew it ended up in Tunisia and that the nearby city with a hotel knew his alias.

By: Ament

Ament — Sat, 12 Sep 2009 05:05:40 +0000

I’m not a Jack-hater, I actually love the way they wrote Jack and how Matthew Fox portraits him as for his character I can’t tell at this point. He thrives on accomplishments and will become a self-absorbed individual to make it work. He doesn’t listen to reason. He always assumes he has the right answer. He was appointed leader with no intention of becoming one, and then at some point absobed himself into that position. He may not of had a drinking issue at the start, but lets face it like his Dad after he lost role as Chief of Surgery and developed a regret for his decisions, Jack developed a dependancy on alcohol and prescription drugs after he lost his role on the island and regretted his decision for making that radio call which ended up killing the passengers and leaving others stranded. His character is so well written that we can’t see him as his Dad or as a closed minded leader, but he is. He has issues. What was his reason for dropping the bomb again…to avoid the crash to save everyone? No it was so he doesn’t have to go through the pain in losing Kate, if thats not self-absorbed nothing is. Again I like Jack, but he is darker then people see him.

By: Neon Trotsky

Neon Trotsky — Fri, 11 Sep 2009 22:17:59 +0000

Yeah I like Jack too and I think it’s great that they’ve made a character who can be good at saving people but at other times a self-absorbed buffoon. It’s the same way that Lock can be mystical at one point and a looser lame-ass at other points. The writers and actors play with and against archetypes and their own character set-ups and it’s great to watch even if you end up hating people you love or loving people you hate.

By: Neon Trotsky

Neon Trotsky — Fri, 11 Sep 2009 22:10:30 +0000

Nice job. The markings on Jack’s face after the crash have never seemed to be important to me, but I always thought of Lock’s cut as symbolizing some kind of enlightenment: having his “eye opened” through the crash. It’s like the opening shot of Buñuel and Dalí’s “Chien Andalou”… his eye is opened to things beyond what we can normally see just as he sees “the heart of the island” and it’s apparently not the black smoke monster but a white light to him.

This show likes to play with religious imagery so I don’t think that is is quite as simple as “Lock is enlightened” but I think that’s what the cut is supposed to suggest and he certainly feels that he has been enlightened through much of the first season.

By: chris

chris — Fri, 11 Sep 2009 19:40:15 +0000

I agree that games are important in lost, after all lost is what happens when you play a game poorly.