I would also say that by having an end game and time in mind they do not have the listless wanderings that they had when we had the episode about Jacks tattos.

The writers and producers always talk about how this is a character driven show, yet all of the characters from the DI, ones we have been teased about since seasons 1&2 were just quickly glossed over. Somethings they could have spent more time exploring in season 5

1.)Dr Chang and his realtionship with both baby and grown up Miles and his wife.
2.)Horace and his backstory
3.)Daniel off island
4.)More of Juliet’s story as an other and more about the others in the 1950s-2000s like why they speak Latin.
5.)More of the story of Ben and Alex when Alex was a young girl from the time she was a baby and Ben took her to the time she was a teenager we don’t know anything.
6.)More of the French Team and why things went down like they did.
7.)More of the story of Charlotte as a child on island.

In addition to the above we have the very rushed general story that could have stood to slow down just a bit.

Having a handful of episodes to tell the above would have made the season much richer and even a episode of Lost about Jack’s tatoos is better than no episode.

But one big letdown of an otherwise great 5th season was the fact that the Dharma storyline didn’t tell us that much about the Dharma Initiative. I suppose there’s still a chance for that if we get to somehow see Daniel’s side of things in Michigan next year, but that seems unlikely.

I agree that we didn’t need the equivalent of a “Jack’s tattoo” story, with Hurley cooking in the Dharma kitchen and flashing back to the time he tried out a culinary school with comic results. But that lame kind of story came from the writers being unable to move forward. That wouldn’t have to happen with new areas of history to explore. Due to the writer’s strike, we’d already lost more stories about the freighter folk. I just wish they could have taken a little more time with the DI. I think the audience would’ve even gladly sat through a Horace-centric episode (both he and his wife are great actors), especially if it meant delving more into DI history (possibly even post-incident, with hints about the events in the season finale?).

For instance, another Juliet episode would have been wonderful, learning more about what she knew in the future as an “other” and seeing that reflected some way in her current 1970s experience.

I know. It sounds like I’m whining a lot. I really do love the show, and I just want them to slow down a little more, pace the sprinting.

In other words we are done with character development in Lost and if we miss it we always have the first 3 seasons to watch. Now is the time for resolution.

I think this corresponds to the fewer amount of episodes per season since Season 2. There were 22 episodes in Season 1 & 2, now there are what, 15-17. They simply have less time so the character development is cut in order to tell the story.

I know Darlton have said the cost and scope of the show make it difficult to do 22 episodes, but I think it is hard to measure up to Season 1 & 2 with the fewer episodes in Season 3 – 6.

-Ben