2 problems with Lost so far
Posted: Wed Jul 07, 2021 4:03 pm
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 as 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.
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 as 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.