Halfway through my many'th viewing of Lost. A couple things that have always bothered me still bother me.
1. Michael becoming a murderer. The first time I saw this, I figured it would turn out that The Others had brainwashed him. But no, all they did was tell him that it was the only way to get his son back. He's the one who believed what they had to say with no reason to trust them at all (even though they did end up keeping their word; he really shouldn't have believed that they would).
One might ask if now that I'm a father, I better understand what it's like to be willing to do anything for your son. The answer is no. I love my son as much as any father would. But I'm not going to suddenly become a murderer if it means thinking there's a chance to get him back after he was taken. Maybe I would feel different if my son were actually kidnapped or something? But I highly doubt it. I get that the whole point is that Michael has basically gone crazy with grief over losing Walt and hasn't been thinking rationally. But good people don't just suddenly become murderers. Despite what The Killing Joke might have us believe.
Also, it's not like murdering anyone was part of the deal. Like he really couldn't have found a way to free Ben without killing anyone? Of course he could have. There was no reason at all to kill anyone to hold up his end of the bargain. Anyway, this still bothered me just like it did the first time.
2. Charlie sacrificing himself. His actions when he saw Mikhail made no sense. Had he not shut the door to the room; the station would have taken a super long time to flood; plenty of time for both him and Desmond to leave safely. Plus he would have been able to communicate a lot more helpful information to Desmond other than "Not Penny's Boat". Like I'm sure Desmond would have wanted to know that Charlie actually talked to Penny and she's been looking for him. It feels like they wanted to portray Charlie's actions as sacrificing himself to save Desmond from being drowned when the window was blown up, but that's clearly not what would have happened. I mean he could have just as easily left the room and then shut the door if he wanted.
My guess has always been that the point was Charlie wanted to die in order to make sure Desmond's flash of Claire and Aaron getting rescued still happens. But considering the last thing he did was try to warn them basically to NOT get rescued; that just doesn't make sense. At the time Charlie died, he should have already been thinking that the flash must be wrong somehow; because if it's not Penny's boat then there is no rescue. Maybe he had such faith in Desmond's flash that he figured that somehow they would still be rescued as long as he drowned? That just doesn't seem to quite fit in with his last act being to warn them that it wasn't Penny's boat.
Also, Claire doesn't get rescued (at least not on the helicopter). Is there ever an explanation for why Desmond's flash was that close to accurate (Charlie flips the switch, drowns, and Aaron gets rescued), but fails to account for Claire not getting rescued? Desmond has the ability to change what will happen by using his knowledge (at least to a limited degree; he can save Charlie from one death but Charlie still has to die), but I'm pretty sure he doesn't do or say anything based on his knowledge that prevents Claire from getting rescued. But I'm only at the beginning of Season 4, so maybe there's something that I don't remember which will clear that up.
2 problems with Lost so far
Re: 2 problems with Lost so far
3. The whole reason for the Oceanic Six deciding to lie just doesn't make sense. They say that it's to protect those who are still on the Island from Charles Widmore, but it's also specifically stated that they know that Widmore knows that they are lying. And of course he does; he already knows all about the Island. So they specifically state that the lie is meant primarily for Widmore, yet they also know that the lie would be completely ineffective against Widmore. Had they said that it was to prevent others like Widmore from seeking the Island, that would have made sense. Or, even more sense, if they had just said that they had to lie because no one would believe them if they told the truth, given that the truth is not something anyone would ever believe; it would have been written off as shared delusion or hysteria.
Re: 2 problems with Lost so far
So I finished this up a couple months ago and kept menting to comment on it, but never got around to it until now.
The show is still really good. I think this was the 5th time I've seen through, and it doesn't get old. And while it does get gradually worse throughout the show; I think it's still good at the end. It's popular to hate on the ending, but I think it was just fine. Sure I would have preferred if the flash sideways were some sort of alternate reality created by the hydrogen bomb rather than simply an afterlife. It would have made more sense; and we never really do get any sort of explanation at all about what the hydrogen bomb actually did, or how those who were next to it survived. But still, it's not a bad ending.
In regards to my first complaint in the OP, I noticed something about the show as a whole that gives it a little more believability: In the world of the show (which is supposed to be pretty much our world but obviously isn't literally), death and murder isn't as big of a deal as it is in real life. Michael is far from the only murderer that we are supposed to not automatically look on as a villain. Several characters including Locke, Jack, and Charlie are willing to become killers. Characters like Ben are largely forgiven by other characters; like kidnapping and murder can just be gotten past. Even Jacob, presumably meant to be one of the primary good forces in the world, is fine with casually causing the deaths of hundreds of people just to bring a handful of selected ones to the island.
I think the thing I like the least is the character of MIB-Locke. Both MIB and Locke are great characters, and I feel like MIB-Locke simply isn't. MIB as a villain is interesting; especially in Across the Sea. But when he takes Locke's form he becomes somewhat cartoonish in his evil. Terry O'Quinn is fantastic throughout the show but doesn't play MIB nearly as well as he played Locke.
As a whole, much of Lost's strength is in its characters. There are some weaker ones, like Kate and Jack, but even they have their really good moments and episodes. I love the character of Ben Linus in much the same way I love the character of Gendo Ikari. Master manipulator who is willing to do whatever it takes to reach his ends. But who also reveals real weakness and even regret only at the very end. Both are the type of truly evil character that you still kind of want to root for.
Ultimately Sawyer has to be my favorite character. Josh Holloway plays it so perfectly throughout. He's also the character with the most growth; and believable growth at that. Unlike Jack, he never truly changes who he is, but rather his circumstances force who he is to act differently. But Hugo and Desmond get the best dialogue; with almost every line spoken by them being great.
That's it for now. Decent chance that I'm going to suddenly have the urge to watch it all again in 2-3 years. Unlike some other good shows, I can't see myself just rewatching it constantly; enough time has to have passed.
The show is still really good. I think this was the 5th time I've seen through, and it doesn't get old. And while it does get gradually worse throughout the show; I think it's still good at the end. It's popular to hate on the ending, but I think it was just fine. Sure I would have preferred if the flash sideways were some sort of alternate reality created by the hydrogen bomb rather than simply an afterlife. It would have made more sense; and we never really do get any sort of explanation at all about what the hydrogen bomb actually did, or how those who were next to it survived. But still, it's not a bad ending.
In regards to my first complaint in the OP, I noticed something about the show as a whole that gives it a little more believability: In the world of the show (which is supposed to be pretty much our world but obviously isn't literally), death and murder isn't as big of a deal as it is in real life. Michael is far from the only murderer that we are supposed to not automatically look on as a villain. Several characters including Locke, Jack, and Charlie are willing to become killers. Characters like Ben are largely forgiven by other characters; like kidnapping and murder can just be gotten past. Even Jacob, presumably meant to be one of the primary good forces in the world, is fine with casually causing the deaths of hundreds of people just to bring a handful of selected ones to the island.
I think the thing I like the least is the character of MIB-Locke. Both MIB and Locke are great characters, and I feel like MIB-Locke simply isn't. MIB as a villain is interesting; especially in Across the Sea. But when he takes Locke's form he becomes somewhat cartoonish in his evil. Terry O'Quinn is fantastic throughout the show but doesn't play MIB nearly as well as he played Locke.
As a whole, much of Lost's strength is in its characters. There are some weaker ones, like Kate and Jack, but even they have their really good moments and episodes. I love the character of Ben Linus in much the same way I love the character of Gendo Ikari. Master manipulator who is willing to do whatever it takes to reach his ends. But who also reveals real weakness and even regret only at the very end. Both are the type of truly evil character that you still kind of want to root for.
Ultimately Sawyer has to be my favorite character. Josh Holloway plays it so perfectly throughout. He's also the character with the most growth; and believable growth at that. Unlike Jack, he never truly changes who he is, but rather his circumstances force who he is to act differently. But Hugo and Desmond get the best dialogue; with almost every line spoken by them being great.
That's it for now. Decent chance that I'm going to suddenly have the urge to watch it all again in 2-3 years. Unlike some other good shows, I can't see myself just rewatching it constantly; enough time has to have passed.
Re: 2 problems with Lost so far
I remember being obsessed with Lost back in the day. I've only seen the show once, but would definitely be fun seeing it again at some point to see how it holds up. It had its fair share of filler episodes, but I remember there were some episodes that I really loved.
Take, for example, that season four episode with Desmond that you're critiquing in your first post. That's easily in my top 5 Lost episodes, although I don't remember the details well enough to counter your dislike of how/why Charlie sacrificed himself.
I remember IMBD boards were on fire during the last season or two, because the show didn't resolve every ambiguity, no matter how superfluous.
Take, for example, that season four episode with Desmond that you're critiquing in your first post. That's easily in my top 5 Lost episodes, although I don't remember the details well enough to counter your dislike of how/why Charlie sacrificed himself.
I remember IMBD boards were on fire during the last season or two, because the show didn't resolve every ambiguity, no matter how superfluous.
"Clear eyes, full hearts, can't lose"
Re: 2 problems with Lost so far
Hey, approaching 2 years later, and right on track I have the urge to watch this again. Here we go!
Re: 2 problems with Lost so far
This video fully explains to my satisfaction my complaints about how Charlie died and why Claire didn't get rescued on the helicopter: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9N6Tx_sAX7E.
Re: 2 problems with Lost so far
I haven't watched the video but I just assume its another continuity error or changed plan for the show.
"[Cinema] is a labyrinth with a treacherous resemblance to reality." - Andrew Sarris
Re: 2 problems with Lost so far
When you're done with Lost I'd highly recommend Yellowjackets, which is similar (and much better, in my opinion).
Re: 2 problems with Lost so far
"[Cinema] is a labyrinth with a treacherous resemblance to reality." - Andrew Sarris