I recently began watching the re-runs and new episodes of the show titled LOST. I am completely lost myself. I gather the plane crash was not an accident, I gather many of the passengers have a past with each other, and I gather that parts of the island are caught up in temporal time shifts, ala a Voyager episode.

I am clueless where this series is heading with it's story. Can anyone enlighten me before I lose interest? Is there an overall story I'm missing among the many little story arcs or is this just a bunch of un-related stories that lead to nowhere?

thanks

I recently began watching the re-runs and new episodes of the show titled LOST.STOP watching the new ones until you get caught up. You'll only get confused, and you'll spoil the discovery of the show as it progresses.
Is there an overall story I'm missing among the many little story arcs or is this just a bunch of un-related stories that lead to nowhere?Definitely an overall story. As it isn't done yet, I can't say what it is exactly, but you can see pieces of the puzzle starting to come together.

I've found the show completely captivating. I'm probably the biggest Lost freak around these parts -- I post about each episode over at Starship Modeler. I recommend catching up with the DVDs if you have Netflix -- or if you can swing buying them, so much the better. There are things established early on that some viewers thought were abandoned story points that are now being addressed, and I'm certain there's a lot more to come. Jump on board, catch up, and join us for the rest of the ride (next season will the last). I don't think you'll be disappointed. But the show defies any attempt to explain what has happened so far; covering everything that is important would take about as long to explain as simply watching for yourself -- and watching is tons more entertaining.

Advice for viewing in a nutshell is three easy steps: Pay attention to what is said. Pay attention to what is not said. And pay attention to what you are shown.

Qapla' ... and Namaste.

SSB

Its definately a love it or hate show...doesn't seem to be any middle ground with this one.

I LOVE IT!!

I think its absolutely fantastic the way it has unfolded and evolved...and yet, i am still "lost" with many aspects! lol
...but that is exactly one of the attractions of this series.
Every episode has a whole new set of questions...and you can't wait for each upcoming episode!
The season breaks are absoluitely unbearable!!

It is also such a complicated story (with all its past, future and present scenes, references, etc)...that you CANNOT start anywhere but at the beginning.

I agree...stop watching...go out and buy or rent the series from Season One and give it a try...and one more thing...every show has characters and actors that you like and dislike. Don't let that affect you, because you will be very surprised at the number of characters that appear, change, evolve or even disappear!

I get the uneasy feeling the writers are making stuff up as they go along and there's no actual story arc.

Or they've added a bunch of unnecessary filler as they get renewed each season. Old Mac summarized it pretty well and I've been watching all along...

Last season left me cold. This season's premier got my interest back but I wonder how well they'll maintain it. Some of the "deus ex machina" they're pulling make me groan.

I like the HBO/Showtime series where they have a finite story arc and number of episodes to pull it off. You can skip subsequent seasons (if any) if you want to. Rome (http://www.hbo.com/rome/), Dexter (http://www.sho.com/site/dexter/home.do), Carnivale (http://www.hbo.com/carnivale/) were a few...

Definately agree about watching them in order, anything else is a waste of time and a exercise in frustration. Check your library, though you can find the older seasons fairly cheap on the secondary market.


I got a little fed up with the show around the end of season 2 and actually stopped watching for awhile, but since Benjamin Linus showed up the show's been pretty compelling imho. Just goes to show how essential a good villain is to a series this long and complex.

I get the uneasy feeling the writers are making stuff up as they go along and there's no actual story arc.Wow. I don't see how anyone could get that idea at this point -- we're starting to see way too many things from early on that are getting paid off recently. But, I suppose nothing can please everybody.

There was a little wobbliness for a while because the producers weren't sure how long they needed to keep playing out the story. Now that they've got an end date locked down, things are progressing at a rapid clip. I think most long-time fans considered last season the best since the first. I know I did -- and season five has shown no sign of slowing down.

Qapla'

SSB

Thanks for all of the feedback. This show has a familiarity to it cause I remember from the 70's a show called the Bermuda Triangle which a family went from "time to time" and crossed parallel dimensions. They were escorted by this guy from the future with an advance device that could heal or be used as a weapon. It was no way as myster of thious but it did have the overall story of the family trying to get home and each show was a standalone adventure. Anyone remember this?

In the show LOST, it's obvious that everyone wants to get home but there's another underlying story that can be anything from discovering a natural phenomena to a government experiment, a la "The Cube".

Wow. I don't see how anyone could get that idea at this point -- we're starting to see way too many things from early on that are getting paid off recently. But, I suppose nothing can please everybody.

There was a little wobbliness for a while because the producers weren't sure how long they needed to keep playing out the story. Now that they've got an end date locked down, things are progressing at a rapid clip. I think most long-time fans considered last season the best since the first. I know I did -- and season five has shown no sign of slowing down.

Qapla'

SSB

"End date locked down"?!!

You're right. Well that's a relief: only 1 more year to go with what, 34 episodes?

In May 2007, it was announced that Lost would continue for its fourth, fifth, and sixth seasons, concluding with the 117th produced episode in May 2010. These three final seasons were planned to consist of 16 episodes each, running weekly in the spring uninterrupted by repeats. However, due to the 2007–2008 Writers Guild of America strike, the fourth season was shortened to 14 episodes. To compensate, seasons five and six will each consist of seventeen episodes.[12]

edit: I see we're up to 372 unsolved "Lost" mysteries. (http://lostmysteries.blogspot.com/) They've got a lot of 'splainin' to do...

TOTAL MYSTERIES: 499
ANSWERS: 147
UNANSWERED QUESTION COUNT: 372 (updated 29th Jan 2009)

Thanks for all of the feedback. This show has a familiarity to it cause I remember from the 70's a show called the Bermuda Triangle which a family went from "time to time" and crossed parallel dimensions. They were escorted by this guy from the future with an advance device that could heal or be used as a weapon.That was Fantastic Journey. I remember it well.
In the show LOST, it's obvious that everyone wants to get homeYou'd think so, wouldn't you? ;)

Qapla'

SSB

I have to agree, if you haven't watched it from the start, your going to have no clue what is going on. Those of us who have watched it from day one still get lost... lol

I see we're up to 372 unsolved "Lost" mysteries. (http://lostmysteries.blogspot.com/) They've got a lot of 'splainin' to do...That list is designed to be as long as it can possibly be. Lots of the different questions are actually multiple takes on the same mystery -- or so close that when one is explained, several others will be answered along with it. Some others have already been answered. Some are based on incorrect assumptions. Some are very possibly not really important. Some are big mysteries and some are very small.

Don't get me wrong; there are lots of mysteries on the show. Some of the bigger ones will, I am sure, have to wait until the end. But we know a heck of a lot more now than we did a season or two ago.

If you look at the "top-rated" mysteries on that list as it stands when I write this -- the top question is one that will almost certainly not be answered until at or close to the end. I actually have a theory about the second-highest rated question (not that that is the same as an answer). The third mystery makes assumptions that may well not be warranted. The fourth mystery is also included in the fifth. Answering the eighth mystery to any meaningful degree would probably answer the fourth, fifth and sixth. And the first, tenth and fourteenth questions are all really the same question. And on and on ...

Qapla'

SSB

... I remember from the 70's a show called the Bermuda Triangle...


Scott's right, that was Fantastic Journey. It starred Roddy McDowell, Ike Eisenman, and Jared Martin. The advanced do-everything doohicky was a clear plastic tuning fork.

Scott's right, that was Fantastic Journey. It starred Roddy McDowell, Ike Eisenman, and Jared Martin. The advanced do-everything doohicky was a clear plastic tuning fork.

I vaguely remember the show, the only episode I can remember is one where the family "invented" the music of The Beatles in a parallel world where they had no rock & roll.

I don't think you were allowed to make anything in the seventies science fiction without either Roddy McDowall, Heather Menzies, or Ike Eisenham.

I still think its all just Hurley's dream!
and he's still in that looney bin hospital.
(because they still haven't explained even the slightest thing to do with the numbers!?)

I noticed that the numbers have been turning up again this season...
I have waxed and waned with the show over the years, but keep with it because it is intriguing, and in anticpation of the payoff - which the producers have already said won't answer all the questions that have been raised over the course of the show.
There does seem like a sense of urgency this season - some answers or events are happening to easily, or coincidentially, like Desmond finding the room at Oxford...
Old Mac - there are plenty of websites that help sort things out, the producers regularly have a podcast where the show is discussed, and ask around - there are alot of LOST fans that love to discuss theories.

I still think its all just Hurley's dream!
and he's still in that looney bin hospital.
(because they still haven't explained even the slightest thing to do with the numbers!?)They have provided at least a partial explanation of the Numbers -- and the producers have specifically said that the events of the show are not all happening inside anyone's head.

For some insight into the Numbers, see: http://lostpedia.wikia.com/wiki/The_Numbers, paying special attention to how they relate to the Valenzetti equation -- and how that relates to the DHARMA Initiative.

Qapla'

SSB

some answers or events are happening to easily, or coincidentially, like Desmond finding the room at Oxford...Well, don't forget that Desmond had been there once before.

Qapla'

SSB

I started out loving Lost.
Season 2 was a bit of a let down for me though.
They kept piling on questions and mysteries with no answers in sight.
Season 3 started and got bogged down early with all the Kate, Jack, Sawyer crap and I gave up.
Didn't miss it at all.

Then during the strike last year, when nothing else was on, I caught the end of season 4.
Now I am back to watching again.
Though I am no where near as invested.
I keep watching just to see how everything works out. I have decided that other than a few characters, I really could care less what actually happens to most of them.

as long as we have a nice explanation for the smoke monster and polar bear I'll be happy. Oh and the voices in the jungle. Oh and the dude in the shack with Claire and Jack's dead father (or is that a misplaced dream I had?). It seems time travel will be central to whatever they come up with. But why?

I like we're seeing scenes of the original Dharma dude and his flunkies.

as long as we have a nice explanation for the smoke monster and polar bear I'll be happy. Oh and the voices in the jungle. Oh and the dude in the shack with Claire and Jack's dead father (or is that a misplaced dream I had?). It seems time travel will be central to whatever they come up with. But why?


personally I think the Polar bear is just a by product of the time shifting and island jumping. he got picked up somewhere along the journey...or was a left over animal experiment (remember the animal cages that Sawyer and kate were in?)

voices in the jungle are usually nothing more than the 'others" getting organized for an attack or whatever...and sometimes it could be left over sound from the time shifting again.

the dead people who appear, is an obvious one now...we are just seeing them at different times (in the timeline).

time travel experiments on the island, i guess relate to the idea of the scientists trying to change the doomsday scenario...and now the time travel glitch is responsible for all the happenings.

...but I don't understand how people leaving the island is causing the current time shift problems? I understand they need a dramatic reason to force the survivors back to the island, but it seems too far fetched (even for this show).

Lost is a prime example of a story that is as much about the journey as the destination. I've come to the conclusion that some people just don't have the patience for the way the story unfolds. They see a story element in the first season, or the second, and if it isn't explained pretty soon -- or at least continually referenced -- they think it has been dropped or forgotten and conclude that the producers don't know what they're doing. For those people, I think I'd recommend waiting for it to end and then watching it on DVD or Blu-ray.

I'm glad that I didn't wait. If I didn't have a week to wait between episodes, I wouldn't get a chance to ruminate and theorize on where the story is going -- and I've enjoyed that aspect of the show more than any other.

Qapla'

SSB

Lost is a prime example of a story that is as much about the journey as the destination. I've come to the conclusion that some people just don't have the patience for the way the story unfolds. They see a story element in the first season, or the second, and if it isn't explained pretty soon -- or at least continually referenced -- they think it has been dropped or forgotten and conclude that the producers don't know what they're doing. For those people, I think I'd recommend waiting for it to end and then watching it on DVD or Blu-ray.

I'm glad that I didn't wait. If I didn't have a week to wait between episodes, I wouldn't get a chance to ruminate and theorize on where the story is going -- and I've enjoyed that aspect of the show more than any other.

Qapla'

SSB

That's true, I'm more along for the ride than the payoff at the end, but I need to feel that new elements introduced help more than distract. I don't care for the oceanic sixes' story line off-island. They aren't very interesting characters in this environment.

I don't care for the oceanic sixes' story line off-island. They aren't very interesting characters in this environment.Well, for what it's worth, I don't think it will take them much longer to get back. In fact, I suspect that part of the most recent episode was actually set after their return -- we just don't know it yet. Hint: How do you suppose that outrigger got to the island? :D

Qapla'

SSB

wow...that didn't occur to me! but that might make sense (as to who brought the outrigger)!

but I am curious...did'nt someone mention a name on the outrigger, and then it was stated that the name was an airline thats flies through the south pacific?
why does an airline have outrigger canoes?
aren't inflatable rafts the norm for an airline?
lol

I disgree with the idea of the characters being uninteresting on the mainland...I am jonesing for more info as to what they have done for the last couple years, and just when you thought you knew Linus and Sayad, they have become a mystery again! And what is Sun's deal?...and why does she want to go against the group?...and...and...and...and


and woohoo....Jin's alive!!!!

hey! watchit; I still have 2 week's worth tivo'd I haven't seen yet.

hey! watchit; I still have 2 week's worth tivo'd I haven't seen yet.

haha...sorry.....
you're supposed to be in the "2 weeks behind Lost" thread
(for all the Lost fans stuck in the past!)

this one is only for present fans! lol


I'm thinking of moving over to the Future thread but it hasn't been created yet.........or has it?

ok... shluuurrrp (re-enters thread 2 weeks ago only to find it non-existent and disappears into navel).

This was kind of funny:

When I watched Lost during the first season, one of the "clues" I noticed was that the little liquor bottles that the survivors scavenged from the jet's wreckage made unmistakeable glass 'clinking' noises as they were being jostled together.

Since in real life I noticed that the glass bottles were phased out from use on airlines in the late 1980s/early'90s, I figured that the Oceanic crash in ep#1 must have occurred in or before that time period.

Strangely enough, when the episode with the clinking liquor bottles was repeated, the noises of the clinking glass bottles had been removed from the soundtrack!! My one subtle clue was merely an anachronistic sound effect!! (a foley folly?)

Except that this season the show has employed time-travel as its major plot device, so the unintended clue meant something after all, at least in concept.

(Actually I'm just along for the ride, although I still have major trouble buying the idea that Jack is trusting Ben; I can't even look at the guy without cringing. What artificial influence is Jack under?)

I still have major trouble buying the idea that Jack is trusting Ben; I can't even look at the guy without cringing. What artificial influence is Jack under?)I've wondered about that as well. But consider that at the point Ben finds Jack off-island, Jack is a wreck, to put it mildly. He has come to believe that he and the rest of the O6 must return to the island. He might have been able to get back through Locke, but now that avenue is closed -- so he probably believes Ben is the only person who can help them return. And he probably also believes that whatever Ben's agenda might be, he genuinely wants to get back to the island himself.

I'm not 100 percent sure if that scene was saw at the end of last season (where Ben finds Jack in the funeral home) is established as the first time Jack encounters Ben off the island. If it isn't, then Ben might also have done other things to earn Jack's trust -- things that we haven't seen yet.

There's also the story point that contrasts Jack on-island, where he was a leader, to his life off-island, where he is a follower. But he is showing signs of re-establishing his leadership role.

Qapla'

SSB

I'm not 100 percent sure if that scene was saw at the end of last season (where Ben finds Jack in the funeral home) is established as the first time Jack encounters Ben off the island. If it isn't, then Ben might also have done other things to earn Jack's trust -- things that we haven't seen yet.

That's a relief; I was wondering if I had missed something. If it hasn't been shown yet I'm doing OK I guess.

It's weird to see Jack being so passive; I can't tell if Fox has reached his acting limit (I doubt that, since I was surprised by his memorably impressive Racer X), or if he's just doing something odd as Jack that will be explained later.

Even his facial expressions don't make much sense to me so far this year, so I have to hope it's just an intentional part of Fox's acting/character/storyline as opposed to mere ineptness on someone's part.

but I am curious...did'nt someone mention a name on the outrigger, and then it was stated that the name was an airline thats flies through the south pacific?
why does an airline have outrigger canoes?
aren't inflatable rafts the norm for an airline?
lol



It was a water bottle inside the outrigger that had the label belonging to the airline.
Not the boat itself.

ok... shluuurrrp (re-enters thread 2 weeks ago only to find it non-existent and disappears into navel).

...shluuuurrrryp (re-enters thread today).

Well that was a hell of a thing.

Up to date on Lost. They are getting some plot traction now. Color me "entertained."

...shluuuurrrryp (re-enters thread today).

Well that was a hell of a thing.

Up to date on Lost. They are getting some plot traction now. Color me "entertained."Wow! You caught up quickly! Did you use time travel to do it?

Qapla'

SSB

not sure, but now I've got a chronic nose-bleed.

headache?







hearing voices?

who said that?

not sure, but now I've got a chronic nose-bleed.Can you remember your mother's maiden name?

Qapla'

SSB

Can you remember your mother's maiden name?

Qapla'

SSB

Marian?

The Sheriff of Nottingham will be paying you a call JP. :p

He can have my longbow when he pries it out of my cold, dead hands.

A grey goose shaft for him!