Why am I not getting 'Lost'?

[Hijinks]

The eagles were not a taxi service and would not risk themselves early on. When things are going wild, eagles can fly in for a rescue without attracting too much attention until it is too late. Flying in on eagleback to go to the one place the Ring can be destroyed without the distraction the size of Mt Doom blowing up is a bad idea.

The eagles were neutral, if I remember correctly. The king of the eagles owed Gandalf a favor for saving his life, when the king had been shot down by an arrow. That's why the eagles saved Gandalf. They definitely didn't risk their beaks to save Frodo until there was little to no chance that their neutrality would be questioned - Sauron had already been defeated, there were no more sides to take, or not take.

As for Lost, who knows. I don't understand the appeal of Desperate Housewives, either, but I'm sick to death of hearing about it and seeing the actresses on the cover of every magazine. This, too, shall pass.

 

[Mark]

Why am I not getting 'Lost'?

Perhaps you haven't been told to "Get Lost!" loudly and often enough?

Am I alone in this? Because everyone I ask and everywhere I look on the Internet, Lost is praised into the heavens for single-handedly reviving peoples interest in TV-series. Am I not getting it?

I tired of the repetitive nature of "Lost" when they brought their first dead guy back to life. Too many weeks of "we're going to string you along with false information, and reveal just enough about the character-of-the-week in a flashback, to make you feel you know more when we don't even have a full plan for the show" episodes. Sorry. No thank you.

 

[David Howery]

?? I always thought the eagles didn't fly into Mordor since there would be the Eye of Sauron on them at all times, plus 9 Nazgul on fell beasts flying around to contend with. I imagine getting too close to Sauron would drive the eagles mad....

 

[Allanon]

You know, strangely enough it's somewhat comforting to know that I'm truly not alone in not liking/getting 'Lost'. It's weird though, I have no trouble watching SG-1, Star Trek, CSI or even movies like Kill Bill, but somehow 'Lost' just tickles a nerve which constantly ruins my suspension of disbelief.

I'm certainly not looking to start a flame war, and I trust that the OP expects a few comebacks since he is noting that he finds some problems with a popular series, but . . .

Does anyone else see the irony in the OP sharing his name with a character in the Shannara series, which many readers find derivative, predicable and trite?

If you had followed some of the Shannara topics on this same message board you would have known that I'm am as critical of the Shannara series as anyone. But then again I read The Sword Of Shannara before reading LotR so I still have good memories regarding it. Besides it's been my alias for as long as I've been around on the Internet

 

[RedShirtNo5]

People raved about Cheers. I never got it. Sometimes it is just a matter of taste.

I enjoy Lost alot:
1. Interesting characters. Maybe not 3-dimensional yet, but at least they have history, shades of grey, and are not cardboard cutouts
2. Mystery. What is happening, and why?
3. Acting. Subjective, but I think it's a very strong cast (although the dialog may not be so strong)

I had no expectations going in. Something that is billed as "the best TV series ever" is doomed to disappoint.

How many episodes have you seen? My recommendation is to keep up with it to episode 4 (counting the 2-hour pilot as episodes 1 and 2). The episode title is "Walkabout" and it has a flashback for

Spoiler

Locke___________

. If you don't like it after thinking about what's revealed in that episode, both in terms of character interaction and the mystery, then I agree you'll never like it.

Did you like/ever watch Twin Peaks? I'd be curious as to the correlation between people who did/didn't like that and those who like/don't like Lost. I suspect that most people who like Lost also like/would like Twin Peaks.

I'm interested in the correlation between Lost and X-Files. Some similar faith/science interplay. And I worry they have they same basic problems: striking the right rate of disclosure. And that the eventual solution to the "puzzle" is bound to disappoint some % of the fans.

-RedShirt

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

I don't understand the appeal of Desperate Housewives, either, but I'm sick to death of hearing about it and seeing the actresses on the cover of every magazine. This, too, shall pass.

Have you watched it? It's perhaps the single darkest show ever to appear on network television, disguised as a parody of a soap opera. The whole series is narrated by a woman who killed herself more or less on-camera before the first opening credits even rolled. I can't find anything like the consistent gallows humor I can find on "Desperate Housewives" anywhere else. America's tastes are better than you think.

 

[Lhorgrim]

Just to chime in on the "Lost"/"Twin Peaks" issue.

I missed the first few episodes of "Twin Peaks" when it came out, and then when I tried to watch it later I just couldn't get into the show. I guess I had heard some of the hype and the info that had been revealed on the first episodes, before I got to go back and watch them, and my curiosity wasn't paced correctly. I have watched "Lost" since the first episode, and I'm hooked by the mystery surrounding the island and the survivors.

I was an "X-Files" fan for several seasons, but when they started really hammering a meta-plot for the series, I drifted away. They didn't give me enough of the solid answers I was looking for and I lost interest.

I really hope "Lost" keeps giving us "answers" about what is going on with the island and the survivors, otherwise I'll probably stop watching.

 

[Allanon]

I guess my biggest gripe with Lost is that I went in expecting a show depicting 'real' people reacting to crash landing on a 'deserted island' whilst strange, mysterious things happen. Polar bears and still running airplane engines (I could almost hear the writer tell his colleagues "Wow, wouldn't it be totally cool if the engine was still running after the crash, and then well...like..suck some dude in and then, like EXPLODE!!!") are not realistic or mysterious in any way. They remind me more of my days as a 12 year old playing D&D with my friends ("You kick in the door and... there a Beholder...yeah a Beholder there who's pissed of and well like totally attacks you").

For those who wondered how much episodes I had seen, last night I watched episode 7 and 8.

 

[Henry]

I can't get it, myself, but mainly because "Stranded on a tropical island" plots usually don't entertain me. I haven't yet watched a whole episode, either, as it always came on opposite "Smallville". Now that the two shows will be on different nights, I might try and give it a chance.

 

[JoeBlank]

If you had followed some of the Shannara topics on this same message board you would have known that I'm am as critical of the Shannara series as anyone. But then again I read The Sword Of Shannara before reading LotR so I still have good memories regarding it. Besides it's been my alias for as long as I've been around on the Internet

Cool. And I wasn't specifically intending to pick on Shannara, I just think the books are at least as predictable as Lost. I read Sword, and a few of the others, and don't dislike them, but neither have I been inspired to read the entire series.

Same with you and Lost, you tried a few episodes and it has not drawn you in. Of course, it is requires less effort to watch a few more hours of television than it does to read a few more books, so you might be inclined to give the show another chance.

On the Twin Peaks analogy, I liked that show for about half a season. It quickly became clear that they were making things up as they went along, and that if the "answers" ever came they would not be satisfying. I've watched the whole season of Lost, and while we still have few answers I do feel like the writers have a consistent plan and at least had the answers in mind before they posed the questions. The little things hep convince me. For instance, in the pilot you see the young boy reading a spanish-language comic book with a picture of a polar bear. In later episodes you learn more about the boy and how this might be connected to the appearance of the bear. In the season finale you even see the character who brought the comic onto the plane, a logical connection and reason for it to be there in the first place.

The character backstory format also interests me. They can only keep that up for so long, going back and revealing a little more about each character as the story moves forward, but I like it so far. Just about everyone has had a fascinating back story that provides explanation for the characters and their actions on the island.

It has been a fun ride for me so far, with very few moments that jolted me out of my willing suspension of disbelief.