Lost Recap: 'LA X,' Parts 1 and 2
WHAT DIDN'T WORK
The Reset Timeline...Yet
The jury is still out on season six's confounding alternate timeline. Firstly, it never made sense to me last year that Jack and the gang would blow up the h-bomb just to make life easier in a parallel universe; "Who cares about some alternate versions of our characters?" I thought then, and I had the same feelings last night. The audience's investment isn't with these bizarro versions but with the characters whose histories we know and love, so the more time that was spent on the flash-sideways, the more anxious I became for the action to return to the island. Maybe the point of these flashes will reveal itself as we get further away from the airport, but watching a less dramatic version of Oceanic Flight 815 didn't exactly have me gripping my seat rest.
The Lack of a Central Focus
Lindelof and Cuse have said repeatedly that the final season will be very character-focused, but they ironically eschewed the character-centric format that kicked off seasons two, three, and four. The fourth season premiere was a great example of why that strict focus has so many virtues: Even though the series was introducing potentially tricky concepts in that episode (a flash-forward timeline, the Oceanic Six), seeing it all unfold from Hurley's perspective grounded the mythology in something human. Lost ditched that idea in season five's muddled premiere, and though last night's episode clearly wanted to pay homage to the pilot, it felt similarly hamstrung by its lack of focus. With so many balls in the air, it might actually benefit Lost to adapt to a narrow, character-centric perspective instead of tabling it just to get to everything.
The Diminishing Importance of Our Main Characters
For the first three seasons, Lost worked like gangbusters since the primary conflicts were either castaway vs. castaway or castaways vs. Others. Since then, the series has pulled back to reveal larger figures battling each other, but the show is in danger of marginalizing the characters we already know and love. Season four implied that the primary war would be fought between Ben Linus and Charles Widmore, while season five went even bigger and suggested that the show's true rivalry is between the godlike Jacob and his enemy. That's all well and good, but weren't things a little more fun when Sayid and Sawyer would spar and it felt like the most important thing going on? Last night's premiere made a welcome move to set Jack and Sawyer at odds, but it still feels like the only real war that was set up is the one between the smoke monster and the Temple Others. I haven't watched six seasons just to see the main characters caught in a crossfire between more important forces. Here's to hoping that Jack, Kate and the rest can become plot drivers again, and not just foot soldiers.
Pages: 1 2
Subscribe to the new Movieline on YouTube
Comments
I have to say that the original main characters are BORING and I wish they'd go away, except for the new and improved Evil John Locke. Kate needs to be locked up for being a sociopath; Jack is a boring yutz who shaves his chest; Sawyer is an irritating romance novel cover man and does anyone really give a shit about Sun/Jin/Frank/Miles?
The only reason to watch this show is for Michael Emerson and Terry O'Quinn. For once, the Emmys got it right and gave awards to the best actors on a show.
I care about Frank! He and Sun need to knock boots already. You know something's already gone on between the two of them when they were hanging out together in Ben's old house last season and Frank suddenly appeared with two more buttons undone in the next scene.
I've watched every episode from the beginning, and I still don't know what's going on. It's thematic overload and just too much information to process. I believe that the creators spent too much time in the early seasons on dozens of plot strands that were insignificant and irrelevant to where we are now (the second island, the zoo, the code that had to be keyed in, etc) At least we learned last night what the Dharma Initiative was trying to exploit -- the life-restoring water. How many episodes will it take before Sawyer digs up Juliet's body and throws her in the pool?
More Desmond, brutha!
Yes! This!
I think the correct term is Alterna-Flashes.
And, as you point out, the thing is with what-if stories, they are interesting in a way, but ultimately don't matter. So hopefully they will find a way to make them matter.
I spent six months in a para-military academy training everyday....the only workout we did was a daily run of 3-5 miles in the morning 3 days a week. The other to morinings we did plyometrics. In the evening we would either run some more or lift weights, often throwing in sets of pull-ups or sit-ups inbetween sprint sets. No herbal supplements needed.