Not impressed with the ep? Tell us why. :biggrin:

After the extreme letdown of last season's finale, I told myself that I wouldn't watch Lost anymore. Obviously, I lied. Curse my inability to not care how something ends.

I was hoping that the series would redeem itself with this season's premiere, but no such luck. The show is turning into more and more of a soap opera, i.e. nothing really happens in each episode. It just seems like they're drawing everything out to keep the show on the air longer. Utter confusion and disjointedness doesn't make something suspenseful. It just makes it irritating.

This lack of separation between the real world and the island is sort of getting to me. It was interesting when they were totally cut off from civilization on this weird island inhabited by monsters, polar bears, and these animal-like "Others." But the more the show progresses, the more this seems to be not the case at all. I've always felt that isolation and lack of familiarty is part of the appeal. But now it almost seems like one of the characters could send an email if the Others let them.

I think it should of been two hours, after waiting all summer, I wanted some LOST! I did like the episode though.

Can't say I was really feeling it. The whole thing felt like it could have been told in 1/4 the time, which is bad enough for a normal episode and even worse for a season premiere. Not to say I didn't think it was interesting, the whole episode had a really creepy tone to it. It was just really, really slow. I'm hoping we start getting up to a more normal speed soon.

A promising opening 4 minutes, and then the rest was pretty terrible. I thought it was really disappointing for a season premiere. How many Jackbacks do we need to tell us he has daddy issues and needs to fix people? I don't need to be beaten about the head with it, I get it already. I wasn't left feeling very excited about this 3rd season.

The whole thing felt like it could have been told in 1/4 the time, which is bad enough for a normal episode

I think we did get a quarter of an episode... to many comercials and not much really going on... I hope next week is better!!

Yeah, I didn't find it to be very exciting at all. I just felt like we were watching Jack do a normal routine. Yell and cry. If there had been some Claire, it would have been better xDD

Or more Ethan.

Can someone recap the last minute of the eppy. My Tivo Cut out and I missed everything after Juliet finally got jack to sit

She put the food in, came out, and Henry was there. He said to her, "Nice work, Juliet."

She says "Thanks, Ben." and walks through the door. Closeup on Henry/Ben's face, ep over

I posted something similar to the following in the 'what'd you think' thread... so sorry if you're reading this twice :)

I thought the begining was interesting to see 'the others' reaction to the plane crash and 'henry' or Ben... whatever his name was.... sending Ethan and Goodwin out. But other than that... it was incredibly predictable. It was practically the same thing they did last season

I hated! that no one else was in it. But I loved Sawyer and Kate's exchange. No one can ever again say that man has no soul. That was very sweet. Jack's flashbacks were pretty good... I think this one was supossed to be about his disire to control things in his life, more than needing to fix things... but I agree it wasn't anything too new. But I did think it was one of Jack's strongest performances.

I agree with Lionhearted that I don't like the new technology and 'civilized' life they've got. I also miss the days when they hunted and lived in caves. That's when Lost was it's best in my opinion.

Pretty much... I think exactly what the title of this thread says.... it could have been better. I liked some stuff, but I didn't feel it was very strong for a season premiere. I hope the next episodes pick up the pace even just a little (although I do think the slow pace was suposse to mirror their confusion or something like that) and show the other characters!!!!!

I agree, and they should have made it at least 2 hours! with all the commercials and what not.....idk im in between on liking it and loving it, so meh....

After the extreme letdown of last season's finale, I told myself that I wouldn't watch Lost anymore. Obviously, I lied. Curse my inability to not care how something ends.

I was hoping that the series would redeem itself with this season's premiere, but no such luck. The show is turning into more and more of a soap opera, i.e. nothing really happens in each episode. It just seems like they're drawing everything out to keep the show on the air longer. Utter confusion and disjointedness doesn't make something suspenseful. It just makes it irritating.


Patience is a virtue my friend. Peace and all the best.

i thought it was all right. there were a tad too many commercials. The opening was very promising and it did start to go downhill after a while.

thought i am really looking forward to seeing next weeks episode. wew can see what happened with the rest of the cast.

The pacing felt really off, like it was half of a 2 hour premier that got chopped. I also feel like the production value wasn't at Lost's high standards of great cinematography and sound design which make the show so engrossing. For example the extreme contrasting red/green in Jack's cell, it feels so forced and theatrical, that it becomes harder to suspend disbelief. Or how does Jack get that door closed against rushing water? When everything feels real, we're ready to beleive miracles, but when the details feel false, the illusion fails. You started to get it back with Sawyer's POV being carried back to his cell, which was really nice.

I like that when we're left with questions we're dying to know, we are rewarded with answers that are also questions we didn't even know we wanted to know. This episode didn't present many new questions, only answers that are situations to lend an air of suspense. They seem found, and as a viewer I didn't feel lost.

Patience is a virtue my friend. Peace and all the best.


Thanks for the well-meant platitude, but perhaps it would be better to try to restrict posts to the topic of the thread, namely, things you did not like about the episode.

I agree with the others about the technology. It was better when the losties seemed more, well, lost! It doesn't seem like the show is about a lot of stranded castaways anymore. I guess it's not..lol

a) i wasnt into Jack's reaction in the hostage situation. why THAT door? why force the door? it just seemed like a total diversion in the plot to get him recaptured and develop cheesy character development between him and her. seemed way too unrealistic, way too hastey and (i dont even want to use the word 'irrational') flat out stupid. didnt like that chain of events.

b) everyone on the island can knock anyone out with a punch .... or the perfectly aimed butt of a gun without stitches, giant bruises or concussions. hilarious mechanism to "END" the situation. sure, its been done a million times but its getting retarded.

c) the graphics for the plane were funny.

d) not into the external drama at all of jack and his ex-wife... just cant dig the nonsense of them relying on their past when they should be consumed by their present and the relationships that are immediate.

e) the next episode looked more promising... hopefully. fairly weak in ways for a season debut.

I wasn't agreeing with the lack of action and excessive commercials. There was also a little more Jack than I cared to see. I didn't feel it was a very strong season premiere. Next week looks a little more up to par.

The begining was great!

The Sawyer/Kate scene was really sweet :biggrin:

I felt for Jack during the eppy.

But as much as I like Christian Shephard, Jackbacks REALLY bore me :undecide:

Ok, the episode had some great moments (Kate & Benry, Sawyer & Kate) and I did like the reveal of Otherville, but over all I did think the episode was a bit slow. I also really did not think that Jack's flash-backs were that significant.

Or maybe I just didn't 'get' it.:undecide:

Actually, I found the flashback to be very relevant. We've always seen Jack as so much of a protagonist, here, he was definitely seen as part of the problem in the relationship between him and his father.

After the extreme letdown of last season's finale, I told myself that I wouldn't watch Lost anymore. Obviously, I lied. Curse my inability to not care how something ends.

I was hoping that the series would redeem itself with this season's premiere, but no such luck. The show is turning into more and more of a soap opera, i.e. nothing really happens in each episode. It just seems like they're drawing everything out to keep the show on the air longer. Utter confusion and disjointedness doesn't make something suspenseful. It just makes it irritating.


I agree, like another poster said I liked it much better when they were living in caves and trying to survive. The island seems to be a form of utopia only for the select few. I am totally confused. :confused: All of the reasons why I started watching the show in the first place have been thrown out the door. I just hope they can improve on this. My son watched it with me, and said he is more confused now, then he was before. He said it would be much better if the Losties were stuck on an island and have to survive by using primitive ways. The others just confound him, same with me. :confused:

i was quite happy with the epi was hoping jack would ask the girl a different question though like that told us much. im curious to see how the next 2 weeks with the others unfolds and what they have in mind for the 3 of them.

wow our posts are pretty close together

I was extremely disappointed in this episode, especially in that it was the season premiere.

1) You could have watched the first and last 5 minutes of the episode and not have missed anything of real relevance.

2) What did we actually learn?
a) The others live in a modern village (not entirely suprising)
b) Henry (Ben) is their leader (uh...kinda already knew that)
c) The others have apparent real time contact with the outside world

Wow...enlightening. So many questions answered.

Seriously guys... I did not need 12+ minutes of flash backs to jack and Sarah again. I get it ok? That was fluff and did nothing to advance the plot or storyline. This episode played like it was a filler for the middle of the season and the writers had a bad week. I can not believe I waited all summer for this. It hurts me to write this as I usually hate criticizing anything someone else is doing creatively, but I've seen the Twin Peaks and X-Files thing happen before and I was/am SO hoping Lost would not follow in that path... You know where they get more concerned about the nothingness of their mythology than actually producing a smart, suspensful plot line.

Anyway, thank you to the powers that be for letting me vent. I will give the show another couple episodes but if things don't pick up here then I'm gonna have to pull the plug on this series.

Oh, and I think we are all getting tired of seeing seemingly intelligent people (Jack, Kate, Sawyer, etc...) constantly outsmarted, maneuvered by the so called others. Either give me an explanation as to why these people are so darned omniscient (It has been 2 years after all!) or let our heros get in some licks of their own, because right now they are starting to just become pathetic shells of their original personas. :drowsy:

Like so many other posters said, the begining was fantastic! But, the show fizzled out after that. :confused:

I was really disappointed and upset. I waited all summer for this and this crap is what they give us? I kept waiting for something exciting to happen and nothing did. The acting was overdramatic and the story really didn't move forward at all. Nothing was resolved from last season. I felt like I had seen the previews for this episode and that was pretty much everything that happened. With all the other new shows on this year Lost had better step it up.
Specific imponderables:
-Why wouldn't Kate be glad to have a shower and clean clothes? Right now she has no idea that Jack and Sawyer aren't also taking showers and eating bacon.
-If you were planning on escaping or making a move wouldn't you eat and drink so that you would be strong for the action?
-How did Jack close that door against all that water if he hadn't eaten or drank anything in several days? Wouldn't he be too weak?
-Why didn't Sawyer ask that kid in the other cage if he was also a survivor of the Oceanic flight?
-Why was Jack all upset over his ex? He's never really particularly cared before, as far as we know.
-Why would Jack keep pulling the chains? Wouldn't he climb it and see what its attached to? He's a smart guy.

Looks like we're sticking to the same convoluted ideas that ruined last season. How come a magnetic pulse, EMP or whatever it was that was unleashed in the Hatch was powerful enough to rip the Losties plane apart, (why the plane was anywhere near island is another dropped plotline) but had absolutely no adverse effect on the Others little slice of suburbia? After he gave Goodwin and Ethan their marching orders, I was expecting Benry to turn to the remaining Others and bark "Quickly, everyone, put on your tattered rags disguises!!"

So Benry is the calculating genuis leading the Others, but how could someone so smart fall into Rousseaus (the french woman) simple snare trap last season? Why dress up like Henry Gale in the first place? What purpose did it serve? The producers are just throwing out scenes and plot devices that are just cool to watch unfold, but really make no sense when you think about them.

Lots of great posts here and I have to say I agree with much of the sentiment. The opening sequence was great (although I cringed when I heard the same song they opened with last season)...the episode alone was not bad, however as a season premiere it sucked.

I too prefer an island disconnected from the real world...then again, we don't know much about these others and who they really are, I assume we'll know when and if we find out if Michael and Watt really escaped or not.

Is it true that all we're getting is six episodes before a two month hiatus which will bring us to Feb? That's crazy...are they intentionally trying to kill the series?

Weak beginning to the third season...and too many damn commercials. :drowsy:

I didn't hate the episode, but it was EXTREMELY disappointing for a premiere.

We only got one or two revelations, none of which being particularly major. It just felt like nothing happened.

I might make a post a little later with a little more depth but for now I want to smack all the people complaining about commercials. The episode wasn't any shorter than the others and there were just as many commercials as the others. It was still the 42 minutes that the episodes always are so there's absolutely nothing to be complaining about here.

I didn't hate the episode, but it was EXTREMELY disappointing for a premiere.

We only got one or two revelations, none of which being particularly major. It just felt like nothing happened.

I might make a post a little later with a little more depth but for now I want to smack all the people complaining about commercials. The episode wasn't any shorter than the others and there were just as many commercials as the others. It was still the 42 minutes that the episodes always are so there's absolutely nothing to be complaining about here.

Cool, I was wondering if there was any difference in minutes...I guess it was just the slow pace of the episode and the fact that nothing happened which attributed to the illusion of their being too many commericials....

It was boring, and other than the first few minutes sucked as a season premiere. I can't believe I waited all summer for that. We learned practially nothing new , except Henry's real name. Big. Freaking. Deal. I can't believe the writers focused on the convoluted Others/hatch/experiment that ruined last season for many people. I liked it better when the Others were mysterious. I wouldn't mind them now if we only got some answers. Instead, we get boring not-mysterious Others and NO ANSWERS.

I felt the first scene was fantastic. Brilliantly done, even if it was almost a direct rip-off from last season. Creatively, this was nothing new, but it was still cool.

After that, as others have said, not much happened. At the end of the episode our protagonists are in the exact same situation as they were at the beginning of the episode. Nothing happened. Nothing changed. Narratively, the episode was stagnant. It had some good information in it which I appreciate, but nothing really *happened".

-Why would Jack keep pulling the chains? Wouldn't he climb it and see what its attached to? He's a smart guy.

He can see what it's attached to, that's not what he was doing. He was trying to break them so he could use them to break the glass. Well, at least that's my assumption. It was just an aparatus to suspend a shark or dolphin. The chains don't 'go' anywhere. They're just bolted to the ceiling, which is in plain sight. Jack knows this. I just figured he was trying to get something he could use to break the glass and escape.

The one thing that continues to bother me about this show is that there is nothing to 'cheer' about. No moment of "HELL YEAH!" where one of our protagonists gets the drop on the enemy, or gains an edge, or anything. Our 'heroes' are continually portrayed as bumbling fools who can't do anything right, can't catch any breaks, and are easily (and I mean EASILY) manipulated and toyed with.

I have been waiting since the end of Season 1 for Sawyer to give 'Zeke' his come-uppance. I've been waiting for Sayid to finally get his hands on one of the others and really let them have it (although he did torture Ben, it was fruitless, didn't yield anything, and was probably part of Ben's plan anyway).

Our 'heroes' are incompetent fools who can't defend themselves. The consistantly lose every confrontation with the Others. I realize that this is because they are at a distinct disadvantage, but if they continue to lose, fail, and get humiliated, it becomes harder and harder for me to really get behind them. They're just not 'fighters'. I'm waiting for them to finally kick some ***, and I just don't think they ever will. They just keep getting 'owned'. It's no fun pulling for a chronic loser.

We have nothing to 'cheer' about! No moments of triumph! No nothing.

I didn't care for this episode. Too much Jack. And learning that Jack semi-stalked his ex-wife just didn't endear me to the character. He just seemed way out of balance this episode.

The interlude with Sawyer in the panda cage was a highlight for me.

The scene between Kate/an Fenry was such a cliche of the evil baddy taking the captured heroine to supper before torturing/maiming her boyfriend. Might have been more interesting if it had been played out with one of the male leads. Kate is tough. Seeing her captured and held like the typical romance novel heroine just bored me.

Meh. Average. Nothing to get too excited about.

I didn't hate it either, but I too was disappointed. Of course I'll keep watching, but I really hope we get more substance next week. I'm really, really afraid that it is going to become "Soap Opera on an Island." What did we find out that we didn't already know? I didn't really see anything that made me go "Oh cool!" like I've come to expect with Lost. Thank goodness I have "Dr. Who" to look forward to. Now that is a good show!

Cool, I was wondering if there was any difference in minutes...I guess it was just the slow pace of the episode and the fact that nothing happened which attributed to the illusion of their being too many commericials....

Huh? when things are boring and moving slowly they would seem to take longer not shorter. Things that are exciting and fast paced goes by quicker which would make the ads seem more frequent.

I could be wrong.:redface:

I'm with most of you. A pretty tame eppy for the premiere. Last night I had apologized ahead of time to my roomate who went to bed that she might be hearing an "OH MY GOD" while I was watching it due to the promised 'Jaw Dropper' excitement. This morning she said she didn't hear anything. Probably because I had almost fell asleep. I REALLY hope they've got something meatier for us next week!!
The best part was Sawyer being a monkey to get to the dog food. The rest... eh...

Well I put this in the other thread, and I think it really belongs here!

Many of you said exactly things that annoyed me about this episode, and I am glad to hear that I am not the only one who thought the characters did not act logically and seemed way stupid for their situation!

But on to my rant!! :biggrin:

:mad: Nothing really happened for a whole hour! We got one little scene in the beginning and then after that nothing! I was not happy and I was almost screaming at the tv. I can't stand the smug attitude of the Others. I don't care what is going on on that Island, it does not give them the right to treat people like that. And the fact that they showed the brainwasher breaking down in the beginning left me so cold after she walked out without giving Jack food when he sat up against the wall. After that moment, I could have cared less about her. Then I got frustrated with Jack! Why not let the thing fill with water and swim out!??? You want to get away, you get away! You definitely don't give in to them! So you are hungry? So she tells you about the drugs and how they will affect you? So what? They gave them to you! If they want you to eat, DON"T give you drugs that will make you sick!!! I wish Jack had not given in, especially that quickly! I would have made them force me to eat first. I would not have made it easy for them to break me. Cause at least I would hold on to that. They really would have had to force me. That or just have given in right away. If Jack was that angry and stubborn, he really did cave pretty quickly!

As for the others...I just do not buy that there is anything on that island happening that justifies them torturing and killing innocent people who CRASHED on the island through NO FAULT of their own!!! They had NOTHING to do with being on the island and I am sure most of them given the choice would much rather not be there! (ESPECIALLY all the ones that died in the crash!!!) Its like there is a war going on and they are the innocent civilians who are being killed by by .... Nazis to protect the secret to Hitler's great nuclear project. Then the writers tell you about one of the Nazi, and show them breaking down and then in the next scene torturing prisoners! I mean these people tried to kill Charlie, they were going to kill Claire, they killed several people from Jack's group, and if not outright killed most from the other group, they certainly didn't treat them nice, given what we have seen this episode! Where do they get off doing this and acting like the survivors are to blame by poking their nose where they don't belong! Just does not make sense at all to me!!!

I was thinking about why I am SO upset, and it is basically

1. The fact that they tried to make the woman sympathetic and then had her do horrible things to Jack and Sawyer!

and

2. Sarah...what a ***Mod edited to remove creative spelling***!!!! It takes real class to pretend you still care for your ex husband and then take a call from your new man during the divorce meeting? and the scene where she bailed Jack out of prison! I mean, if you know the guy is losing it and you decide to come bail him out, then tell him to get a cab, and goodbye forever and then go outside into the waiting arms of your lover, right in front of him? No wonder Jack was going mental!

I'm sorry but the writers just don't seem able to get real characterization that is in any way logical or at least understandable and they keep flipping how the character acts. Jack going insane in his flashbacks? Why? What was the reasoning for that? It can't just be because Sarah was leaving him. They make statements about his mental health and how he is losing it, but don't say why. Why was Sarah calling the Dad for help with Jack? What the hell was going on with Jack that was pushing her away all of a sudden??? I have no sympathy for her, cause it is obvious she didn't really love Jack to begin with. and this episode proves it.

First off, thanks to the writers and everyone for a great opening scene with the plane going down from the Others perspective. After that, it was all downhill. I am truly hoping for a little bit more expeditious dissemination of information in the future. The basis for the premier was predictable at best as one can look at the second "training" video and see uniformed people performing jumping jacks as if training for something in a camp of some kind. The voice-over on this is stating that at the "observation station" you must hone your skills of observation in order to select a proper mate to perpetuate the intiative. Obviously anything that I have to say from here is purely speculation, but maybe that is why Jack, Kate, and Sawyer were selected as suitable "mates" and thus Hurley was let go. However, I digress; maybe it was the weight of my own expectations that brought this on, but I just found it all to be a little too predictable.

I THINK IT IS TIME TO DO AWAY WITH JACK. His backstory is getting old and isn't going anywhere. He has just stopped being interesting.

This lack of separation between the real world and the island is sort of getting to me. It was interesting when they were totally cut off from civilization on this weird island inhabited by monsters, polar bears, and these animal-like "Others." But the more the show progresses, the more this seems to be not the case at all. I've always felt that isolation and lack of familiarty is part of the appeal. But now it almost seems like one of the characters could send an email if the Others let them.
I could not figure out what was bugging me about this episode, but this was it. The whole thought of total isolation, gone. Having to learn to live in a different world, etc.. It seems that rescue can only be a phone call away.

I agree the opening scene was good. But the others torturing Jack, Kate and Sawyer I found ridiculous. I too found it predictable. I find myself asking about Danielle and the ship, the hatches and all of the other stuff in season 1 that they haven't answered yet. I agree with Lionhearted, the whole thought of total isolation is GONE.

The show is a hair's breath from jumping the shark. I hope that the purpose of going on hiatus after week six is to assess where the storyline is going and then to make the necessary corrections. While the opening was interesting in that it came from the Others persepctive and alerted us to an alternate reality -- I particularly liked staring the music on CD rather than vinyl -- it created more problems than it solved. If it was that easy for Goodwin and Ethan to get to wreckage it should not be a problem for Danielle or Desmond or Kelvin to have stumbled on their little suburb. Was the implication that they are a race of superhumans? It has taken the Losties days to travis the jungle to get from tail to fuselage but it only takes them an hour? And their reaction to the rumble made no sense. Why not just run outside instead of stand under a doorway? Didn't they know what caused the rumble? And do they enjoy torturing people? The hand cuffs, the cages, the isloation booth are all so unnecessary. Having Kate put on a dress for her "romantic" breakfast with Ben. What was the point? And what would cause them to shift from the mundane existence of suburban life -- do you really think they would have a book of the month club -- to homicidal sadists?? Of course the earlier comment about the lose of the sense of isolation is the key reason the show is about to jump. Either it is easy to leae or it is easy to build your own utopia. Either way the adventure is gone.

The season premiere was a snoozer. This show used to blow my mind and make it hard to fall asleep afterwards on Wednesday nights. Last night, after the opening sequence, I almost fell asleep during the show.

How many times do they have to rehash Jack's control issues? How many times do we have to watch Kate wearing a stupid bath towel?
Endless kidnappings and interrogations. Wake me up when something happens.

After the extreme letdown of last season's finale, I told myself that I wouldn't watch Lost anymore. Obviously, I lied. Curse my inability to not care how something ends.

I was hoping that the series would redeem itself with this season's premiere, but no such luck. The show is turning into more and more of a soap opera, i.e. nothing really happens in each episode. It just seems like they're drawing everything out to keep the show on the air longer. Utter confusion and disjointedness doesn't make something suspenseful. It just makes it irritating.

I thought it was a very disappointing premiere and i was hoping for more after a wretched season 2. Just underlines my previous thoughts and i shall not be watching next weeks episode.

Flashbacks are now being used to give reasons for someone's actions on the island. Why did Jack try and force the door ? Because he's stubborn and forced things with his father and Sarah. Wow. Would you go through a door like that ? I thought Jack had already tasted the salt water and the whole interior of the building he was in screamed at being underwater.
Just like Rose's flashback being an excuse for her to stop Bernards attempt at finding a way home, Jack's flashback was an excuse for him to act like an idiot when he's angry.

And the whole thing with Jack and Sawyer being locked up and Kate having a shower and a meal...how clichéd is that ?! Did the writer watch Raiders Of The Lost Ark too mnay times or get brought up on watching cheesy prison b movies?


Everything seems geared to slowing the show down so it last for more seasons but as MissNomer says, it's not making it suspenseful - just incredibly irritating.

:mad: Nothing really happened for a whole hour! We got one little scene in the beginning and then after that nothing! I was not happy and I was almost screaming at the tv. I can't stand the smug attitude of the Others. I don't care what is going on on that Island, it does not give them the right to treat people like that. And the fact that they showed the brainwasher breaking down in the beginning left me so cold after she walked out without giving Jack food when he sat up against the wall. After that moment, I could have cared less about her. Then I got frustrated with Jack! Why not let the thing fill with water and swim out!??? You want to get away, you get away! You definitely don't give in to them! So you are hungry? So she tells you about the drugs and how they will affect you? So what? They gave them to you! If they want you to eat, DON"T give you drugs that will make you sick!!! I wish Jack had not given in, especially that quickly! I would have made them force me to eat first. I would not have made it easy for them to break me. Cause at least I would hold on to that. They really would have had to force me. That or just have given in right away. If Jack was that angry and stubborn, he really did cave pretty quickly!
I think you missed part of the point of that scene. Jack wouldn't be able to swim out because a) its an aquarium so there's an assload of water and b) it would be infested with sharks eventually and I'm sure not even our amazing Jack could swim past those.

I think you missed part of the point of that scene. Jack wouldn't be able to swim out because a) its an aquarium so there's an assload of water and b) it would be infested with sharks eventually and I'm sure not even our amazing Jack could swim past those.

Oh, were they under a lake? I didn't know there was a lake! I thought this was under the ocean and was where that cable went. But either way, outside would have lead to the surface, and possibly freedom. And most of all, if he is that stubborn, why not? He opened the door, he should have gone through. The pressure would have equalized at some point and he would have been able to get out. I mean if they can have all the crazy stuff that has happened on that show...the many single perfect blows to the head to knock people out - that don't leave any bruises or permenant brain damage....then he could have waited till the pressure equalized and swam out!

Huh? when things are boring and moving slowly they would seem to take longer not shorter. Things that are exciting and fast paced goes by quicker which would make the ads seem more frequent.

I could be wrong.:redface:

LOL...I guess what I mean is, as I tried to get into the episode and as I waited for something good to happen the commercials seemed to interrupt, after which we would see the same thing Jack stuck, Sawyer in a cage...Kate eating...etc...etc...I guess the commercials make all the weakness of the episode more obvious. Since nothing new happened between commercials there was nothing new to think about and to ponder...

:ohwell:

I think we did get a quarter of an episode... to many comercials and not much really going on... I hope next week is better!!here I was thinking it was about a third of an episode! I guess I was more generous!

Please please please TBTB pick up the glacial pace. This sloooooow pacing in the island scenes does not make the scenes more dramatic because we see Jack's expression for that many seconds. The flashback pacing is fine and things happen with a sense of urgency, which only makes it worse when we return to the present and sloooowly he turns sloooowly and then sloooowly someone else has an expression and sloooowly replies.

Seriously, I was so put off I was counting how many seconds it took per response in the Jack interrogation scenes. I'm sure the first season wasn't like this or I'd never have gotten hooked. The "stretching it out" is just palpable and I've no doubt that both this content and the entire rescue episode from next week could have been covered in one broadcast hour if we didn't spend so much time ogling Kate in a pretty dress and building "suspense" whether her shower scene would be sexy (answer: no).

As for the behavioral modification experimentation, I get it; it's not necessary to spend so much time spelling it out, as that type of psychological gaming is old hat and we're all familiar with it.

I don't care if I'm showered with answers at this point because I've given up on the "mysteries" angle and looking for clues after last season let me down with inconsistencies. Now I want to be entertained by these fine actors and I at least want some snappy patter and a lot of action that makes me go WHOA DUDE! DID THAT JUST HAPPEN?

My DVR progress bar says it all. I watched while recording, maybe 10 minutes behind real time, which meant I could FF through commercials and SEE on the display that 50% of the episode had passed and almost nothing had happened since the opening scene which I loved. It's almost as if TPTB have decided whenever Jack/Kate/Sawyer are on screen the fans are happy just to have them on screen. Yes they are all eye candy and compelling visually and I enjoy their characters, but no need for the camera to dwell on them in all these static shots.

Truly, after the opening scene this was paced with dialogue delivery timed like a daytime soap. I don't watch daytime soaps.

I was NOT happy that the hatch explosion aftermath wasn't shown and that the entire rest of the cast didn't appear. My brain is quite capable of handling multiple storylines --Others, rescuers, camp, Hatch, bring it all on!

This episode didn't really feel like lost at all. There is a certain feel to an episode of lost, there is mystery, comedy, and suspense. This episode held few of those and I was close to being bored with it.

That being said I still liked it and I'm not quitting watching anytime soon

I thought the begining was interesting to see 'the others' reaction to the plane crash and 'henry' or Ben... whatever his name was.... sending Ethan and Goodwin out. But other than that... it was incredibly predictable. It was practically the same thing they did last season

Yep, well said.

The first five minutes were OK, although the fact that the brutally evil Others have been leading what appears to be a rather ordinary and mundane existence openly on the island was a pretty big let down.

Not only does it make Danielle and Kelvin appear to be a couple of the worst explorers ever (they spent years exploring and mapping the island and somehow never stumbled on the irredeemably evil Others track-home community), but it also crystallizes and validates one of the chief complains of the first two seasons of Lost: that the Lostaways never explored the island.

Now we know why: Because they could have easily stumbled upon the unquestionably evil Others community. So TPTB were withholding information and making characters have an impossibly unrealistic lack of curiosity not out of necessity of the plot line, but because they were trying to artificially pro-long the life of the series.

Weak.

Also, I liked that we saw how the cold-blooded murderess Goodwin and Ethan were dispatched to infiltrate and brutally attack the Lostways and tailies, but we have yet another mystery solved via flashback (ala Claire's kidnapping, Michael's island jaunt, etc.) told via flashback instead of as it's happening (way to ramp down the tension guys). Kate's apparent trauma in between the breakfast and her reunion with Sawyer figures to be another one of those "we know it just happened but we'll tell you about it much, much later" plot lines Lost is now famous for.

Other than that, like you said, the episode was entirely predictable and B.O.R.I.N.G. All we need is for one of those hovering orbs to float around and we have the Prisoner. Blech.

I wish Jack would stop crying like a 10 year old girl every time somebody brings up his ex-wife.

I wonder if he's crying because of the alimony settlement ?

The scene between Kate/an Fenry was such a cliche of the evil baddy taking the captured heroine to supper before torturing/maiming her boyfriend. Might have been more interesting if it had been played out with one of the male leads. Kate is tough. Seeing her captured and held like the typical romance novel heroine just bored me.

It showed TPTB have seen Raiders of the Lost Ark. Kate as Marion. Henry as Belloq. Terrible.
100%

I have been waiting since the end of Season 1 for Sawyer to give 'Zeke' his come-uppance. I've been waiting for Sayid to finally get his hands on one of the others and really let them have it (although he did torture Ben, it was fruitless, didn't yield anything, and was probably part of Ben's plan anyway).

Our 'heroes' are incompetent fools who can't defend themselves. The consistantly lose every confrontation with the Others. I realize that this is because they are at a distinct disadvantage, but if they continue to lose, fail, and get humiliated, it becomes harder and harder for me to really get behind them. They're just not 'fighters'. I'm waiting for them to finally kick some ***, and I just don't think they ever will. They just keep getting 'owned'. It's no fun pulling for a chronic loser.

We have nothing to 'cheer' about! No moments of triumph! No nothing.

You said it, Vert. And is there any hope that future confrontations will end differently? Once the protagonists have been beaten down and outsmarted over and over again, you not only stop looking forward to the eventual pay-off, you stop looking forward to the confrontations themselves. This is yet another example of TPTB sucking the drama and tension out of the show in order to pro-long the show itself.

Next week's preview had gunfire back and forth between the Losties and the Others. Do you care?

I will say though, I think next week's episode has Big Gay Zeek getting killed off. (And I think Sun is the one who does it.) Just my hunch.

the 5 mins i could not breathe it was great i was like hyperventalating. lol my mom got scared and then after that i was like...jacks in a tank saywer and kate are in cages big whoop.

I love the replies in this thread. Interesting how the Eh thread is jam-packed with intelligent commentary!

Speaking of the parallels with last season's opener ... yes, thanks for making me realize it went beyond the music and a solitary person ...

Second season made the same move:
We're expecting a revelation in the hatch that could be of the supernatural, or aliens, what have you. We get a man doing mundane stuff like making a smoothie, showering, exercising. Demystifying and ordinary almost ... but we wonder at finding the ordinary in this weird isolated spot. Desmond then seems like a psycho but turns out to be a tortured soul himself ... Desmond turns into my favorite Lostaway.

This season, the Others' go from inscrutable to ordinary muffin-baking book club attending folks. Except they're also vicious, or at least some of them are. Unlike Desmond, they aren't sympathetic. Julia/Juliet begins that way, but once she walks away from Jack after promising to feed him she loses that quality.

This season we're supposed to learn more about the Others. Too bad I don't CARE about the Others. I don't care about Utopian communities gone wrong or socio-psychological experimentation done in the 70's. Danielle and Desmond were provocative additions to the island. These guys just suck. The tailies were the other big reveal last season. They sucked too -- except for Eko.

Jack/Kate/Sawyer don't want to be back in camp half as much as I do. I miss Sayid, Desmond, Hurley, Locke, Eko, Sun, Jin, Danielle, Claire, and even Creepy Charlie (though I wish Creepy Charlie would let the old Charlie come back and stop acting like some controlling alter-ego out of the Shining.)

It was way too hyped up in my opinion.

I saw all the commericals ranting about how the first five minutes were going to be 'breathtaking'. I really didn't see how it was. The only thing I really found surprising in the first five minutes was the village the Other's were situated in. Other than that though, the first five minutes was a downer. Didn't they do this last year too?

I thought it would have been nice to see some looks at the LOSTie's beach as well, see how they were coping. (To see if Desmond, Eko, and Locke are alright after the incident)

But still, great episode overall. Can't wait till next week.

I am really disappointed in this episode.

Last season wasn't all that great, but it didn't really kill (at least for me) the underlying plot of Lost, and that is the idea that they are "lost".

The "amazing first 5 minutes" were enough to get me wondering why I want to watch this show anymore. It turns out that there's electricity on this island, there's modern conveniences (well, plumbing and cd players, as well as apparantly multiple copies of multiple books - at least enough to have a book club), and it would seem the Others have at least semi-regular contact with the outside world.

So all that the survivors need to do is somehow figure out how the Others are contacting the outside world, and do it themselves (or die trying). But they're too stupid to acccomplish this feat, based on what we have been shown.

They're just no longer "lost". So Lost is, well, sort of uninteresting.

French chick hasn't reallly explored the island much at all in her decade + of being there. Desmond hasn't, either. And the Others, who seem almost all-knowing, didn't realize how Desmond got there (apparantly don't know how the Lostaways got a boat in next week's episode).

I admit I was very cautious, sort of expecting last night to be bad, based on things that happened last season, such as the complete pointlessness of Anna-Lucia and Libby as characters that had any development at all, just to be killed stupidly, and stupidly quick. Other than Ecko, the Tailies were hopelessly uninteresting. Locke seemed to get sort of ruined last season (too dramatic of a change of character from the strong, spiritual one to a weak-minded loser). Jack...well there's just too much Jack backstory that's all the same. After last season, I was pretty much left with Sayid, Ecko, Sawyer and Claire as characters I sort of cared about anymore. Last night didn't help me much on the Sawyer front, and the other three weren't shown.

Add that nothing really happened after the intro last night (that I saw, I admit I drifted in and out of paying attention as I was pretty bored), and I don't know what can be done to keep me interested in this show.

But to boil it down, what last night eliminated for me was the idea that I liked the most about the show - that they were crashed on a strange, almost otherworldly and mysterious island. Polar bear? Black smoke? Strange visions (Kate's horse). Walt appearing to Boone's sister? Too many inconsistancies, too many dropped plotlines for me.

Lost just isn't really "lost" anymore.

Remember the Others from the first season? Remember when they actually inspired terror and conjurged up images of the survivors fighting these savages just to stay alive? The more we see of the Others, the less frightening they are. Something better happen in the two weeks that Henry Gale was talking about to make it seem like they are actually somewhat of a threat.

The connections between the outside world and the Island have to stop. This is probably the biggest danger for the show going under.

Was anyone else annoyed by that shot where they were dragging Sawyer back to his cage? Leaving Sawyer's head static in the center of the shot while the background was moving about didn't really fit with the usual style.

For the season opener, this episode was not too exciting. If I wasn't hooked on Lost already, I don't know if this would have made me want to watch again if this was my 1st episode. There was too much Jack, and I missed seeing the other characters. Everything was so dragged out. When Jack was trying to open the door, instead of directly saying they were underwater, Ben and Juliet just kept telling him not to open the door or we'll all die. Was this just the writer's attempt to get some suspense in the episode? Not working.
Of course, I'll keep watching though in the hopes that things improve, and that we''ll get to see what happened to the other characters.

I agree so much pibbsneaker! I miss the days when 'the others' were only a whisper and a looming potenital threat. I also think the more I see them, the less I like them. They were better (and to me more interesting) as savages or "animals" as they were called by Charlie and Ana.

I'm gald I'm not the only one who misses the castaways being "Lost". You put that very well, Brickyard. It's not the same now that they have technology and access to food, books and music. Those are supossed to be luguries that they have to learn to live without. I didn't like it from when we started to see a good view of the hatch and I like it even less now that people are living in everyday houses.

Well, I'll remain optimistic and hope it gets better... But, just as a side-note, Please remember to put anything from next week in spoiler font. I find Lost more enjoyabe when I go in blind and would really appreciate it. Thanks! :smile:

After the extreme letdown of last season's finale, I told myself that I wouldn't watch Lost anymore. Obviously, I lied. Curse my inability to not care how something ends.

I was hoping that the series would redeem itself with this season's premiere, but no such luck. The show is turning into more and more of a soap opera, i.e. nothing really happens in each episode. It just seems like they're drawing everything out to keep the show on the air longer. Utter confusion and disjointedness doesn't make something suspenseful. It just makes it irritating.

I completely agree. And I am getting a little tired of all the flashbacks. Seriously what was the point to give us all the background on Jack? That was at least half of the episode. The only thing I found interesting was the first minute and a half when it showed where the others lived because we actually got a good look at how big the island kind of is. But all-in-all I completely agree with you!

This season, the Others' go from inscrutable to ordinary muffin-baking book club attending folks. Except they're also vicious, or at least some of them are. Unlike Desmond, they aren't sympathetic. Julia/Juliet begins that way, but once she walks away from Jack after promising to feed him she loses that quality.


Just a quick thing here - she wasn't walking away from Jack after promising to feed him. She was doing exactly what she said she was going to do. Jack sat with his back against the wall, and she went out into the hallway to go to the door to his room. I made the same mistake thinking she just tricked him, because I thought she was talking about some door in the glass wall, but what she was saying was "You sit over there, and I'll leave this room, go out in the hall, and come into your room through the side door", and she did just that. It's just that the way they editted the scenes it looks like she just leaves. But she immediately comes back in through his door. So she really was bringing him his food right away.

But I've seen a lot of people here make that same mistake. Poor editting.

I also think that the reason they started season 3 the way they did (showing the "others" camp and how they lived) they are setting us up to start giving us backgrounds on the others and their stories. Maybe not where they came from or how they got there but just some background info (maybe after they get to the island). just a thought. I am probably completely wrong...lol.

This episode was, yeah, above average at best while watching (thaks for the show between all the frickin commercials ABC), but many of you are complaining about the same wrong things that people have been complaining about since, well, if not the beginning of the show, very shortly thereafter. Namely, the lack of answers. Seriously, it just bugs the you-know-what out of me to hear people whine about this topic. There are relevant complaints to be made about the episode, I felt that the slow pacing did not match well with the choppiness caused by so many commercials, and that Jack's flashback just didn't have much to it. It was good that it showed him in an unhinged, antagonistic light, but it just didn't have much substacne plot-wise. Sarah and Jack, however, as always, just bring out the best acting in each other. Amazing. Thinking back on hte pacing, I would not have chosen the slow episode for the season premiere, I think its self-defeating in a way, b/c even though the episode was good, one goes into the premiere with a certain expectation, and no matter what the show turns out to be, if it does meet that one expectation, the viewing experience (at least the initial one) is kind of ruined. On the other hand, have some of you not yet learned to just never EXPECT answers, and just wait for them to come when they will?
100%

But I've seen a lot of people here make that same mistake. Poor editting.

Poor viewer cmprehension. also, her name is Juliet. And his name is BEN, not Benry. *shudder* Some of you people...

I just ask that they de-emphasize the flashbacks this season. They've run their course. Stick to the island action.

Does anyone know if this is a realistic possibility?

First off, If someone asked me to describe this Season Premiere in one Word it
Would be BORING.
Ok the First Bit with the Others Suberbia was Ok.
But after that it was all downhill.
For a Season Opener this was just Bad. And will cost them viewers.
And to much Jack.
Most of the time the Flashbacks tell us a story, or give us insight to the Character.
But telling Us Jack's Wife left him for another Man. And Jack had Daddy issues with his Drunk Father. Is just Old and already Done.
The Few spots with Sawyer and Kate where the Highlights. (And they were not that Great)
I know everyone will Say they Gave us Some Anwsers.
Where the Other live. Wow ! That just brings up more Problems.
Why has no one stumbled upon there little Corner of the Island. I mean come-on Danielle has been scouting the Island for 16 years and she never came across the houses??
And The first 2 years the Others were portrayed as mystical whispers.
Kidnappers, Evil murderers.
Now there in Book clubs and baking Muffins.
And since the were getting food drops we already know they have contact with the outside world.
The show has just lost it's mystery, Marooned on an Island with Polar Bears and Smoke Monsters Appeal.
And this episode Might have been better if they had shown us The other Losties or More action or Something of Real Interest...

This episode was, yeah, above average at best while watching (thaks for the show between all the frickin commercials ABC), but many of you are complaining about the same wrong things that people have been complaining about since, well, if not the beginning of the show, very shortly thereafter. Namely, the lack of answers. Seriously, it just bugs the you-know-what out of me to hear people whine about this topic. (...) On the other hand, have some of you not yet learned to just never EXPECT answers, and just wait for them to come when they will?
100%

It's not just about getting answers. I stopped caring about those halfway through season two.

It's just that when the answers are being postponed indefinitely, some of the characters become inplausible. And yeah, that's irritating.

The Others are smart, they have the upper hand on what happens on the island, they have the technology... and they keep going after whatever it is they want from the Losties in the most roundabout ways possible.

Yeah, this leaves the door open to some interesting character interaction, but when all they do for the entire season is act cryptic, the novelty wears out after a while. Any interest in their motives becomes hollow.

The big revelation in the finale will probably be something most people here have speculated about since they saw the hatch. And the why might just be brought up in season five. In between, the show will most likely rely on character development to keep things interesting. And, historically speaking, character development on Lost means going around in the same old circles. The only new thing in season three is that they'll probably cater to shippers more than in the first two seasons.

Yep, well said.

The first five minutes were OK, although the fact that the brutally evil Others have been leading what appears to be a rather ordinary and mundane existence openly on the island was a pretty big let down.

Not only does it make Danielle and Kelvin appear to be a couple of the worst explorers ever (they spent years exploring and mapping the island and somehow never stumbled on the irredeemably evil Others track-home community), but it also crystallizes and validates one of the chief complains of the first two seasons of Lost: that the Lostaways never explored the island.

Now we know why: Because they could have easily stumbled upon the unquestionably evil Others community. So TPTB were withholding information and making characters have an impossibly unrealistic lack of curiosity not out of necessity of the plot line, but because they were trying to artificially pro-long the life of the series.

Weak.

Also, I liked that we saw how the cold-blooded murderess Goodwin and Ethan were dispatched to infiltrate and brutally attack the Lostways and tailies, but we have yet another mystery solved via flashback (ala Claire's kidnapping, Michael's island jaunt, etc.) told via flashback instead of as it's happening (way to ramp down the tension guys). Kate's apparent trauma in between the breakfast and her reunion with Sawyer figures to be another one of those "we know it just happened but we'll tell you about it much, much later" plot lines Lost is now famous for.

Other than that, like you said, the episode was entirely predictable and B.O.R.I.N.G. All we need is for one of those hovering orbs to float around and we have the Prisoner. Blech.



What can I say that all of you didn't already say. What was the purpose of Danielle and Kelvin exploring the island when the Others are in a little utopian community, and are in comunicato with the outside world. I really believe that this show is threading into SHARK waters. It seems to me that the first episode of this season, negates most of what we were led to believe about the first 2 seasons. It seems to me that they are looking for a plausible explanation to everything, but in the meantime TPTB are shooting themselves in the four toed feet. I found myself distracted by other things, while the show was playing. BORING is the word.

This episode was, yeah, above average at best while watching (thaks for the show between all the frickin commercials ABC), but many of you are complaining about the same wrong things that people have been complaining about since, well, if not the beginning of the show, very shortly thereafter. Namely, the lack of answers. Seriously, it just bugs the you-know-what out of me to hear people whine about this topic. There are relevant complaints to be made about the episode, I felt that the slow pacing did not match well with the choppiness caused by so many commercials, and that Jack's flashback just didn't have much to it. It was good that it showed him in an unhinged, antagonistic light, but it just didn't have much substacne plot-wise. Sarah and Jack, however, as always, just bring out the best acting in each other. Amazing. Thinking back on hte pacing, I would not have chosen the slow episode for the season premiere, I think its self-defeating in a way, b/c even though the episode was good, one goes into the premiere with a certain expectation, and no matter what the show turns out to be, if it does meet that one expectation, the viewing experience (at least the initial one) is kind of ruined. On the other hand, have some of you not yet learned to just never EXPECT answers, and just wait for them to come when they will?
100%
Poor viewer cmprehension. also, her name is Juliet. And his name is BEN, not Benry. *shudder* Some of you people...
Please, a little respect for your fellow 'Lagers...and if you had more experience on The Fuselage than your 26 posts might suggest, you'd know that "Benry" is a nickname derived from "Henry" and "Ben".

*shudder*

This episode was, yeah, above average at best while watching (thaks for the show between all the frickin commercials ABC), but many of you are complaining about the same wrong things that people have been complaining about since, well, if not the beginning of the show, very shortly thereafter. Namely, the lack of answers. Seriously, it just bugs the you-know-what out of me to hear people whine about this topic. There are relevant complaints to be made about the episode, I felt that the slow pacing did not match well with the choppiness caused by so many commercials, and that Jack's flashback just didn't have much to it. It was good that it showed him in an unhinged, antagonistic light, but it just didn't have much substacne plot-wise. Sarah and Jack, however, as always, just bring out the best acting in each other. Amazing. Thinking back on hte pacing, I would not have chosen the slow episode for the season premiere, I think its self-defeating in a way, b/c even though the episode was good, one goes into the premiere with a certain expectation, and no matter what the show turns out to be, if it does meet that one expectation, the viewing experience (at least the initial one) is kind of ruined. On the other hand, have some of you not yet learned to just never EXPECT answers, and just wait for them to come when they will?
100%


Poor viewer cmprehension. also, her name is Juliet. And his name is BEN, not Benry. *shudder* Some of you people...

A couple of things. One...you are posting in a thread dedicated for those who thought the episode ranked below average and is a safe haven for them to vent about it without defending themselves. We have another thread dedicated for those who loved the show.

Two...some of your remarks are rude toward other posters. "Some of you people"? Others have the same right you do to opinions so I ask you respect that. Please read the site rules regarding posting on this site.

Thank you...

Great opening, went downhill a bit.

Jack came across REALLY nutso.

I think they could have given us a little more meat in the story, seemed like a really quick episode too.

We deserved a 2 hour opening.

As with any mystery, whether good or bad, the mystery must come to an end. It's just the way it goes. We shouldn't be upset that they "mystery" of it all is coming to an end, afterall, last season we were screaming for more answers...you are getting answers, so what's all the fuss about? OH...that's right, they aren't going where you thought they were going. Well, if they did go where you thought they were going, you'd be complaining that the show was predictable. Sit back...enjoy the ride and you may find that you actually enjoy the story they are trying to tell about these characters that were brought together in a very odd situation.

As with any mystery, whether good or bad, the mystery must come to an end. It's just the way it goes. We shouldn't be upset that they "mystery" of it all is coming to an end, afterall, last season we were screaming for more answers...you are getting answers, so what's all the fuss about? OH...that's right, they aren't going where you thought they were going. Well, if they did go where you thought they were going, you'd be complaining that the show was predictable. Sit back...enjoy the ride and you may find that you actually enjoy the story they are trying to tell about these characters that were brought together in a very odd situation.

I gather you didn't read my last post just a few back...

You are in the wrong section. This section is for people who did not like the episode not for people who liked it. In this thread...people can vent without debate from the other side.

In this section...They have the right to express a thought without having to justify it to someone who disagrees.

Are we all clear on this now? The next reported post from this section will be sent to a UMOD to decide if points are warranted.

Well, the ratings are in. Roughly 5 million less viewers watched the season three premiere versus season two. Hope that is a wake up call to TPTB, because they hemorrhaged viewers all season long after that, and if that is repeated this year, there will be less then 15 million viewers watching the season 3 finale. As we all seem to agree, the premiere did nothing to re-new our faith in the show. Does the ratings slide kind of validate our criticisms?

Unlike previous years, I had no interest in reading anything about this season, I went into the premiere totally blind, and was completely under whelmed. There is no use in listing the reasons why because they are all mentioned here. If you read some of the other more enthusiastic topics, those are the viewers TPTB are trying to hold on to and make happy, not the ones critical of their direction and intentions of the show. Why? Because we ask the impossible...to make some sense of what we have been seeing and hearing on LOST for the past two seasons, intelligently.

Well, the ratings are in. Roughly 5 million less viewers watched the season three premiere versus season two. Hope that is a wake up call to TPTB, because they hemorrhaged viewers all season long after that, and if that is repeated this year, there will be less then 15 million viewers watching the season 3 finale. As we all seem to agree, the premiere did nothing to re-new our faith in the show. Does the ratings slide kind of validate our criticisms?
Is five million a lot, though, in the big scheme of things? I have no idea...

And while I'm definitely one of now disillusioned Lost viewers who thinks the emperor may have no clothes, I'm not sure that it's entirely accurate to say that Lost hemorrhaged viewers all last season. Thoughts?

Well, the ratings are in. Roughly 5 million less viewers watched the season three premiere versus season two. Hope that is a wake up call to TPTB, because they hemorrhaged viewers all season long after that, and if that is repeated this year, there will be less then 15 million viewers watching the season 3 finale. As we all seem to agree, the premiere did nothing to re-new our faith in the show. Does the ratings slide kind of validate our criticisms? I certainly think so. But I have to concede that at least part of the dwindling of viewers has to be due to the fact that when the show started, it was an extremely broad canvas the writers had to work with - they had TONS of potential, the story could go in a million different directions, and was very open-ended. Now that two full seasons have passed, lots of doors have closed in terms of possibilities, plots have been dropped, characters died... many of the viewers were probably thinking the show would go one way, but it went another. Answers came, and some viewers didn't like those answers. So they're not watching any more. When the answers can be limitless, so can your audience. But when you answers are out in the open, some people just won't like them.

My point here being - this was probably going to happen no matter what direction they took the show. If they had chosen to write the show in a way that would have pleased me the most, the show would be losing a lot of the viewers who want more shots of half-dressed Sawyer and more 'ships', and more flashback info.

So I think the show was bound to lose viewers once the answers started coming (which is probably why they're so hesitant to let the answers flow... the more we know, the more there is to dislike).

But in my opinion, they could have made this show something really special by following the island mysteries and myths rather than investing SO much time (extremely unbalanced time) on the character development. That's what I don't like. Every episode the audience is guaranteed that at least 40% of the show will focus on one character in their flashbacks, and at least some of the island time on them, too. So for those who love the character development, each and every episode satisfies them. But for those who love the mysteries and the island's quirks, we can go 5 or 6 episodes without any progress or even mention of them. We're guaranteed nothing, and seldom get anything. If they had better balance, I think they would be losing fewer viewers.

Unlike previous years, I had no interest in reading anything about this season, I went into the premiere totally blind, and was completely under whelmed.

Agreed. After the season finale, I left this board and didn't think about Lost until I started seeing advertisements for the premiere a few weeks ago. I only returned to this board last week some time.

If you read some of the other more enthusiastic topics, those are the viewers TPTB are trying to hold on to and make happy, not the ones critical of their direction and intentions of the show. Why? Because we ask the impossible...to make some sense of what we have been seeing and hearing on LOST for the past two seasons, intelligently. We also ask for more than just 'ships' and half-naked actors. I'd be happy if no one ever 'hooked up', but whatever.

For myself it seems to me that when half the shows are flashbacks, they are filler episodes. something to fill the lack of progression of the stories. Just my opinion.

I think everyone has done a great job converying the collective disappointment with this episode. I'm not sure what I can add but wanted to put another voice in the call for a better season.

To ABC: The timing of the commercials was really annoying. After each and every scene? C'mon. Break the episodes up into more substantial chunks.

I'm not sure I'll even bother to watch the next episode, really. I didn't find much in this one to compell me to stay tuned this season. If the premiere is as exciting and interesting as the season gets, this does not bode well for the series. I'm curious about what happened to the hatch crew but, after this episode, I can wait until the DVD or look for an episode recap.

cheers.

Not only does it make Danielle and Kelvin appear to be a couple of the worst explorers ever (they spent years exploring and mapping the island and somehow never stumbled on the irredeemably evil Others track-home community), but it also crystallizes and validates one of the chief complains of the first two seasons of Lost: that the Lostaways never explored the island.

Now we know why: Because they could have easily stumbled upon the unquestionably evil Others community. So TPTB were withholding information and making characters have an impossibly unrealistic lack of curiosity not out of necessity of the plot line, but because they were trying to artificially pro-long the life of the series.

Weak.



That's why Season 2 was so bad. Characters were curious one moment so as to lead us to a doorway or question and then behaved as though it had never happened, leaving us hanging there with nowhere to go. Locke's spiritual, knowledgable and then flips when Ben taunts him over Jack. Locke wants people to share, to be included and then he tells no one about the map etc.
Jack is intelligent, caring...then acts as dumb as Dumber when something obvious sits infront of him.

The whole thing is geared to proloning Lost for several seasons when it should be entering it's final season now. A 3 season classic to leave viewers debating it's merits for years to come.

Now we'll have an episode of Hurley trudging back to the mess at the beach ( Charlie still sat there telling jokes whilst Locke and Eko hobble past, bleeding to death ) and in a few episodes time 18 things will happen at once - the timing, the tempo of the show has gone out of the window.

For myself it seems to me that when half the shows are flashbacks, they are filler episodes. something to fill the lack of progression of the stories. Just my opinion.

That's mostly all they are - Help explain the reasons why a character is behaving like he is in real time on the island, even if it is painstakingly obvious / completely the opposite to his previous actions whilst throwing in a number, another connection to keep the addicts happy.

I keep saying it but a huge moment in Season 1 was Sawyer telling Jack about his father.
Where are all the other conversations ? We're into season 3 and yet we've had very few conversations approaching that one, no hint of any of the connections being discovered.

And in this episode, we suddenly see discover that Jack has had Dharma on his mind, he's been thinking about it - so why in 2 seasons did he do nothing to discover what was on the island ?

Once again more great posts here are helping me figure out why my resposnse was blah, sorry if I haven't got your names attached to each post but I'd like to reinforce some of them.

Tal,
Like you I didn't watch the premiere for answers as I already gave up on that in Season 2. I watched hoping for a classically entertaining episode. I figure with all summer to prepare a premiere it will be worth watching. Like some others, I ignored any hype or PR about it and watched with no inflated expectations. Just gave it a 100% chance to grab me, started to feel it until the first scene ended, then fizzle.

Someone mentioned sitting back and enjoying the ride. I know that post was warned and I'm not debating the poster, rather agreeing that I would be happy to do that. Here I am, unconcerned with answers, yet I didn't enjoy the ride on this story. Why not?

As said above, it didn't have a satisfying story arc. It was a tale of defeat. They "borrowed" from Raiders of the Lost Ark" but forgot to borrow the joy, cleverness, and ingenuity of those protagonists, who always found a way to get out of a scrape. It felt "stuck." There was no ride. Their plight and the rescue attempt should have been combined into one episode. Each episode needs a satisfying story arc.

As has been pointed out, beyond being slow, it was dark and full of cruelty. The dark interior was one reason I didn't notice the configuration Vertical nicely pointed out. I didn't care to pay attention to the details of the layout. In the past I've been so engaged I would go back and slo-mo all the details, but not this time. The hero is in a dark subterranean box, and there aren't even any snakes! Boring. No snakes.

I have had enough of the torture theme. Back in Season One, Sayid tortured Sawyer and it was shocking. There was a point to that, though, a real moral crossroads was presented. Now the tone is borderline sadistic, almost S&M with the cages, handcuffs, chains, domination, and Fenry's still bruised face. While there's an audience for S&M ... it's not for everybody. With Kate's 2 weeks before her, looks like we can expect more. Ugh. Unless we understand the motivations of the Others more, and quickly, this will just come off as gratuitous cruelty.

Flashbacks -- I'm one who enjoys flashbacks but they need to tell a story, and that story needs an arc as well. It should parallel what's developing in the island plot. The Jack story did the second thing: both plots were depressing, repetetive, and showed him being stuck and irrational. In this instance the parallel wasn't a good thing.

Good flashbacks have some sort of revelation. Here we already had most of the story, except for the involvement of Jack's dad, but the answer wasn't anything interesting. If Christian had been involved with Sara, that would have been soap opera but at least something driving the plot.

Instead, yet another marriage ends because a professional consumed with work doesn't have what it takes in emotional presence to fulfill his partner. Ho hum. Every single doctor/lawyer/cop show on TV has at least one relationship with this issue. She didn't leave because the other guy was so great; she left because you weren't there for her. Why would the writers expect this cliche theme to grab the audience, especially when we already learned this in an earlier backstory?

The only titillation left for me after the last Jack/Sarah flashback, was the possibility this other guy could be someone who ties into the shadowy forces that brought Jack to the island. Now we are told there was nothing worth knowing about him ... that does not merit an entiere episode, certainly not the premiere.

I did enjoy Matthew Fox's acting! His charisma and intensity with the other actors was all that made me watch. The writers are relying too much on the charismatic qualities of this great cast, forgetting to give them substance to chew on.

When it comes down to it, if the episode, as a stand alone hour of television, had provided solid entertainment, I wouldn't be here picking it apart. There's a trade-off when the creative team continually chooses to pose more questions and then moves on and never comes back to them. That is they are starting to lose viewers who were watching to find out what it's all about, or the viewers who remain are starting to accept the answers will be few and far between.

Now a fair share of that obsessive audience isn't obsessing any more, TPTB have more of a job to do to keep the viewers coming back every week. They had better provide some kick *** writing: well-crafted original satisfying plotting, a snappy pace, memorable dialogue, engaging visuals.

You only get an audience that will tune in automatically as long as you deliver, and then maybe a grace period while the disillusioned still hope for a turnaround. This premiere was a huge opportunity for redemption and they wasted it.

Well, the ratings are in. Roughly 5 million less viewers watched the season three premiere versus season two. Hope that is a wake up call to TPTB, because they hemorrhaged viewers all season long after that, and if that is repeated this year, there will be less then 15 million viewers watching the season 3 finale. As we all seem to agree, the premiere did nothing to re-new our faith in the show. Does the ratings slide kind of validate our criticisms?

Actually if ratings fall as they did a year ago (from from an astounding 23.5 million for the season premiere to less than 15 for the second to last episode before bumping up just under 18 million for the season finale), then Lost will finish the season with fewer than 10 million viewers (i.e., Lost will shed a about 33% of its audience over the course of the season before enjoying a mild bump for the finale).

As it is Lost's ratings picked up at virtually the same level of last season's finale (which is also about 5 million fewer than last season's finale as you point out), so it will be interesting to see what the ratings look like this year and whether Lost really does fall to those levels.

To answer your question though, I don't necessarily know if the decline in ratings reflect our criticisms (although it is certainly my personal opinion that they do), but they do reflect a lack of interest (i.e., viewers, for one reason or another, are tuning out).

Are viewers less interested because of a lack of answers, or too much convoluted mythology, or too many filler episodes, or because of the glacial pace, or because TPTB have ruined certain characters? Or are they just being pulled away because other shows are more interesting? Without a real scientific poll it's pretty hard to say definitively.

Actually if ratings fall as they did a year ago (from from an astounding 23.5 million for the season premiere to less than 15 for the second to last episode before bumping up just under 18 million for the season finale), then Lost will finish the season with fewer than 10 million viewers (i.e., Lost will shed a about 33% of its audience over the course of the season before enjoying a mild bump for the finale).

As it is Lost's ratings picked up at virtually the same level of last season's finale (which is also about 5 million fewer than last season's finale as you point out), so it will be interesting to see what the ratings look like this year and whether Lost really does fall to those levels.

To answer your question though, I don't necessarily know if the decline in ratings reflect our criticisms (although it is certainly my personal opinion that they do), but they do reflect a lack of interest (i.e., viewers, for one reason or another, are tuning out).

Are viewers less interested because of a lack of answers, or too much convoluted mythology, or too many filler episodes, or because of the glacial pace, or because TPTB have ruined certain characters? Or are they just being pulled away because other shows are more interesting? Without a real scientific poll it's pretty hard to say definitively.



You bring up good points. I think that most viewers don't like convoluted mythology or too many filler episodes. The flashbacks when done right does progress the story. In Lost's case I think because of the frequent usage of it, it doesn't progress the story. In fact, in my opinion it alienates the viewer. Some viewers don't like to watch things that make them think a lot. I think people watch tv as a form of mindless entertainment after coming home from a hard days work.

Not only does it make Danielle and Kelvin appear to be a couple of the worst explorers ever (they spent years exploring and mapping the island and somehow never stumbled on the irredeemably evil Others track-home community), but it also crystallizes and validates one of the chief complains of the first two seasons of Lost: that the Lostaways never explored the island.

How do you expect Kelvin to explore the entire island when he only has 108 minutes before the button needs to be pushed? Judging from the opening scene, there is a HUGE distance between the Othersville and the Swan station; at least a day's walk.

As for Danielle, there is a thread somewhere on the ‘Lage that shows her maps. In it she has mapped out the crater (supposedly, the location of Othersville). Who are we to judge what she actually knows and doesn't? That woman certainly knows a lot when it comes to the island, but she chooses to stay quiet instead. Also, considering the fact that we only ever get to see Danielle once or twice each season, means that we know little about her. Unit we see her flashback, she is just as mysterious as the Others, if not more.
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Sorry, it seems like we can't edit our posts. I meant to say "Until we see her..."

On word: BORING.

I had hoped TPTB would give us a great premiere and was completely underwhelmed. The premiere had 5 MILLION fewer viewers than last season's premiere?! WAKE UP Damon, Carlton and JJ. Fans aren't watching for reasons that could be found all along in these "Eh, could have been better" threads. Quit kidding yourselves and quit kidding us- it looks like the emperor has NO CLOTHES.

Meanwhile, JJ has gone off to start up a couple more shows to ruin (ahem, Alias). Who trusts this guy at this point to follow though on anything he starts? Can he make a show that doesn't spiral into complete crap?

Lost looks more and more likely to join the ranks of what I like to call the "Axis of Disappointment". Namely, Twin Peaks, The X-Files and Alias.


So come on TBTB, let's lose more viewers! Let's kill Lost this season and not prolong the agony!

Give us more pointless repetetive flashbacks!

Make the characters more stupid and less curious.

Introduce more characters so everyone has even less screen time! I don't want to see Hurley until season 6 and Sayid until season 9! Drag this mother out!

SLOW DOWN the pace! Do not develop any plot.This glacier is moving too fast.

Introduce more plotlines and then drop them (Anyone remember Adam and Eve from season 1? How about the black and white stones? The ocean cable? I could go on and on and on.)

Forget the love triangle. I want to see a love hexagon! And please, get some more plot ideas from soap operas. I want to see Kate pregnant to her Mother's brother's college room mate who just happens to be Hanso's uncle's great grandson.

Come on Damon and Carlton, you can do it! I have complete faith in you. JJ isn't paying attention and besides everyone has already made a boat load of cash on Lost. It doesn't matter what happens now. The money is in the bank. The fancy cars are in the garage. The viewers do not matter! Just remember Alias!

Are viewers less interested because of a lack of answers, or too much convoluted mythology, or too many filler episodes, or because of the glacial pace, or because TPTB have ruined certain characters? Or are they just being pulled away because other shows are more interesting? Without a real scientific poll it's pretty hard to say definitively.
I think its a combination of all those things. That's the problem. Its going wrong in so many different ways. I think the biggest problem is that the characters have become so flat that many of us don't care about them anymore. Like, when Jack was emoting, I found myself just thinking he's a pretty good actor and doing the best he can with a stupid role. But I didn't find myself able to believe in the character enough to care what happens to him. Same with the cheesy Sawyer and Kate stuff. And on top of that, its pretty clear that the Others found the stuff Dharma had left behind and/or were part of a follow-up psychology experiment that's messing with people's heads. So I'm not really curious enough to spend time figuring out what is going on. In fact, the only reason I'm here is because I found the dialogue on this board so interesting last year. Nice to see some came back, like Malachy, Vertical, MJ and Colin!

Hey come on, no offense to you. Just trying to spark some discussion. There were quite a few things I did not like: namely, the episode seemed contrived to the point that it was setting up the next episode (and all you writers out there back off, because I know you'll say that's what we're supposed to do). But the episode has been like all the previous episodes in that they reveal too little. Hey, peace my friend, I mean no harm to you, don't come down so hard, eh? Namaste.

How do you expect Kelvin to explore the entire island when he only has 108 minutes before the button needs to be pushed? Judging from the opening scene, there is a HUGE distance between the Othersville and the Swan station; at least a day's walk.

As for Danielle, there is a thread somewhere on the ‘Lage that shows her maps. In it she has mapped out the crater (supposedly, the location of Othersville). Who are we to judge what she actually knows and doesn't? That woman certainly knows a lot when it comes to the island, but she chooses to stay quiet instead. Also, considering the fact that we only ever get to see Danielle once or twice each season, means that we know little about her. Unit we see her flashback, she is just as mysterious as the Others, if not more.
100%
Sorry, it seems like we can't edit our posts. I meant to say "Until we see her..."

You know I actually wish I didn't have to correct you? This show just has me so tired.

Anyway:

1. Kelvin spent (at least) three years when he bunked with Desmond where he was not bound by the 108 minutes -- in fact his frequent extended trips became a source of tension between Desmond and Kelvin. (And he was shown adding to Radzinsky's map on the hatch door.)

2. Danielle said in her 16 years on the island (which she explored and mapped extensively) that she had never seen another person -- Others (she came up with the name) included. She said this way back in episode 9 of season 1, so you could be forgiven for having forgotten (since it seems so long ago TPTB seem to have forgotten as well).

Colin, your post was hilarious.
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Hey come on, no offense to you. Just trying to spark some discussion. There were quite a few things I did not like: namely, the episode seemed contrived to the point that it was setting up the next episode (and all you writers out there back off, because I know you'll say that's what we're supposed to do). But the episode has been like all the previous episodes in that they reveal too little. Hey, peace my friend, I mean no harm to you, don't come down so hard, eh? Namaste.


Not sure if this response is directed toward me, but I'll reply as if it is. I definitely didn't take any personal offense at your "have patience" remark (and I didn't think that I replied in a way that implies that feeling, but then again it's so hard to convey tone correctly on the internet), I just don't think that it actually qualifies as 'discussion.' The problem is that, yes, this episode *was* like those before it, and one can only take the slow pace and dropped threads for so long. To me, a television show shouldn't require limitless patience of their viewers - would it be so ridiculous to have a kick*** show that went fast and hard for 2-3 years and called it a day with a well-earned pat on the back? My main critique is that they're not making the show any better or more suspenseful the way they're going, so it seems clear that they're doing it to eke out extra years of revenue rather than producing a quality program.

We've all been good sports and enthusiastic fans for a couple years - is it really too much to ask that we finally get on with it? Apparently so.

PS - wsprag - ignore this if you weren't actually talking to me

Colin, your post was hilarious.
100%



Not sure if this response is directed toward me, but I'll reply as if it is. I definitely didn't take any personal offense at your "have patience" remark (and I didn't think that I replied in a way that implies that feeling, but then again it's so hard to convey tone correctly on the internet), I just don't think that it actually qualifies as 'discussion.' The problem is that, yes, this episode *was* like those before it, and one can only take the slow pace and dropped threads for so long. To me, a television show shouldn't require limitless patience of their viewers - would it be so ridiculous to have a kick*** show that went fast and hard for 2-3 years and called it a day with a well-earned pat on the back? My main critique is that they're not making the show any better or more suspenseful the way they're going, so it seems clear that they're doing it to eke out extra years of revenue rather than producing a quality program.

We've all been good sports and enthusiastic fans for a couple years - is it really too much to ask that we finally get on with it? Apparently so.

PS - wsprag - ignore this if you weren't actually talking to me


No, I was talking to you, MissNomer. Thanks for your kind reply. My wife has expressed the same views as you, that the show is going too slow and it seems that the writers are stretching it out a bit. I am staring to wonder myself after this episode. I, too, want a show that kicks butt, but I know that the writers have slotted this show for 4 or 5 seasons, so all the answers can't be given away at once. I thought the first five minutes of the premiere were more enlightening than the rest of the episode. No, you were not unkind in your remarks (thank you), I just wanted to make sure that, being new to the boards, you were not offended at my remarks. Let me be the first to welcome you to the fuselage and may we have many more great discussions about this great TV show. Look forward to discussing the show more with you.

All the best to you.

I think the premiere should have been two hours long and touched a little on all the stories including those on the beach and at the hatch. After waiting all summer for a new episode, it was disappointing to only see Jack/Kate/Sawyer.

I think the premiere should have been two hours long and touched a little on all the stories including those on the beach and at the hatch. After waiting all summer for a new episode, it was disappointing to only see Jack/Kate/Sawyer.


Cool! The first post has the same peves as me! But LF4E, TPTB stated in early August that the first eppy was going to be the story of the Others and JKS...

I thought the Premiere was going to be two hours. (TPTB got us hooked on two hours premieres ;)) That's what surprised me most.

Of course, I was hoping that we would see more, but considering it was a one hour eppy, they did a good job cramming it up.

But overall, we got to see Otherville, the crash from a new perspective, the famous Hydra Station and part of the Polar bear captivity area. We met new characters, got more clues and got to see Kate in a real nice dress. I could only ask for another hour.

8/10 Namaste, Eric.

Cool! The first post has the same peves as me! But LF4E, TPTB stated in early August that the first eppy was going to be the story of the Others and JKS...

I thought the Premiere was going to be two hours. (TPTB got us hooked on two hours premieres ;)) That's what surprised me most.

Of course, I was hoping that we would see more, but considering it was a one hour eppy, they did a good job cramming it up.

But overall, we got to see Otherville, the crash from a new perspective, the famous Hydra Station and part of the Polar bear captivity area. We met new characters, got more clues and got to see Kate in a real nice dress. I could only ask for another hour.

8/10 Namaste, Eric.

I think the season 2 premiere was only one hour.

The season 1 premiere was two hours.

The finale for both season 1 & 2 were two hours.

Was the Henry=Ben conclusion meant to be some semi-big reveal? It was obvious to me in the teaser that Henry was Ben, and I tend toward a state of idiocy.

The Juliet/Adam dialogue mostly slipped past me (I have it on tape, but haven't bothered to review it) - the whole bookclub/conformity scenario could've tantalizingly led to a Henry=Ben=Oprah reveal.

Hope I haven't just killed one of the writers' season-ending bakery goods.

Time for a nap.

Hello again, fellow Eh-ers.

Well, as a testament to the quality of last season, I didn't get around to watching the season 3 premiere until just last night (and even then it was an 'I'm bored, is there something I could watch or something? Oh yeah!'). My GF and I considered not watching the show until the season was over so we could watch them all at once, hoping it would offset the glacial pace. We may still decide to from now on. We'll see.

Yes, slow-paced, but is anyone really surprised? That's how it works on this show. I also found that the characters' lack of curiousity is no longer a problem for me, because I SHARE IT. I honestly don't care about Jack, Kate, or Sawyer. My favorite scene? "Hey! You got yourself a fish biscuit!" Now that's some comedy. The show has resorted to mocking itself, and I couldn't appreciate it more. When Sawyer escapes? Well, go back and watch Planet Of The Apes, when Charlton Heston escapes from his cage. Listen to the music, watch the cinematography. It was the SAME SCENE. And I couldn't stop laughing. The show has become a farce, but as long as TPTB recognize and celebrate that fact, it will at least be an entertaining ride as the show crashes and burns.

I think the season 2 premiere was only one hour.

The season 1 premiere was two hours.

The finale for both season 1 & 2 were two hours.

Thanks for the heads up! I never get enough Lost anyways...;) :biggrin:

Everything I'm thinking has already been said, so I won't repeat it. But if the next five episodes are anything like "A Tale of Two Cities" (boring, slow, and generally pointless), then maybe a three (?) month break in the middle of the season is the last thing the show needs.

So, this is my first post since last June and sadly, it's back in this thread. I am one of the folks who was really put off by last season -- some because of mythology and inconsistency, but mainly because I don't really like the characters anymore and consequently, don't really care so much whether they live or die. I used to be a die-hard Jack fan and now I'd be fine if they killed him off. After all, they want their "shock value" deaths on this show and his death would fit the bill.

Most of the criticisms I agree with, so I won't repeat them.

So here's my message to TPTB. Last year, I sucked up everything I could find about the S2 premiere and summer spoilers, I read the spoilers on the Waikiki premiere showing, I watched and rewatched the episodes, often in slo-mo to take in every detail. This year, I didn't even bother reading anything much about the premiere; in fact, I wasn't even sure when it was going to happen. I certainly didn't play any of that ABC website stuff, although I did watch that You Tube video that summed it all up. I TIVOed the S3 premiere and watched it a couple of days later and even took a break in the middle of it. It was fine, but clearly, this show is no longer a priority for me. You should be asking why a former die hard fan is now only fitting this show in when it's convenient.

And TPTB should know that part of my attitude has to do with comments I used to read from the show's producers and staff on various websites and in papers. I didn't always feel that they gave the show's fans due respect, since it is the fans that are making big bucks for them. I guess that goes with the territory of any show that becomes a huge success and it's inevitable. But there were things that were said on podcasts and in the various "official" sections that were a huge turn off to me, especially in respect to our sincere feedback.

So, although I thought the show could have been better, it's also pretty much what I expected from this season. I also think it's interesting that I stuck by BTVS through all the seasons and channel changes, even when the writing staff changed and the vibe of the show changed, etc, but I don't seem so willing to stick with Lost in the same way.

And it's not just the mythology stuff. I watched The 4400 diligently all summer long, even though I could see the inconsistencies, etc, but I thoroughly enjoyed it in spite of the mythology flaws. I'm not feeling the same way about Lost, though. :frown:

BTW, my "signature" below probably needs to be changed, since I'm not really in love with any of the characters anymore....

At the beginning of the episode, when Juliet pulled out the Talking Heads jewel case, I thought the writers were showing their sense of humor. "Stop Making Sense". But then Downtown came on and I realized it was "Same As It Ever Was".

Typical formulaic Lost. It opens with a seemingly normal existence, someone going through a typical daily routine. Only to be disrupted by the Lostaways and the realization that it's Craphole island. Didn't last season start out the same way? :frown: 'Same as it ever was'

And to add to the interest of the episode, it's another Jackback. Oh Joy. Where we learn that Jack's an A-hole. Stalks his ex, accuses his father of betrayal, picks a fight at an AA meeting and plays the poor victim. Ah, Jack, P>K>B. Didn't we see last season where you cheated on Sarah? So now you go all psycho when someone does the same thing as you? Hypocrit. I didn't think it was possible for Jack to be a less appealing character, but the writers keep hammering the point home. 'Same as it ever was'

I thought Sawyer was the expert con man. Being able to read people and situations and turning them to his advantage. Yet again he gets played in the most obvious of ways. This time falling for Carl and the fake escape attempt. The great conman gets conned again. 'Same as it ever was'
It sure is hard to like a character who's so damned incompetent at his own specialty.

Oh look, it's Kate in a towel coming out of the shower. 'Same as it ever was'

And TPTB have continued on with the inconsistencies and impossibilities. The flashy CGI of flight 815 breaking up, while some nice eye candy were a direct contradiction of what we saw previously. Instead of the plane breaking up above the clouds at 20-30,000 feet, it's cruising a few hundred feet above Craphole island. There was never an indication that the plane was flying so low, that there were instrument malfunctions or an indication from the pilot. Yet there's 815 flying low and slow over Craphole. I guess this retcon makes the survival of so many people a little more plausible, at least to TPTB. Another incongruity that struck me instantly was Benry's instructiuon to Goodwin to run an hour through the jungle to tailee beach. And given the long shot of Otherville and the smoke from the crashes I realize what a daunting task that was, I've run 15 marathons and run in Hawaii. Yet when Goodwin gomes out of the jungle in 'the other 48 days' he's not tired or sweaty or looking the worse for wear. I guess the Others really do have superhuman powers. But this turns out to be another inconsistency, in ATOTC it's an hour run for Goodwin, but in TO48D he emerges 10 minutes after the crash. I guess we wondered too much about how an Other could be so close to the crash beach, so another retcon was needed. Probably the biggest absurdity from the episode for me was Jack and Juliet pushing the door shut against the incoming flood of water. I know Jack is suppose to be the unquestioned hero of this show, but a hundred jacks couldn't have closed that door. And I literally laughed out loud watching that scene. So a new season of Lost and we still have those annoying inconsistencies and impossibilities. 'Same as it ever was'

Same as it ever was
Same as it ever was
Same as it ever was
Same as it. ever. was

Lost is like my uncle who used to be really nerdy and fun, but now is just a drunk.

If there was a plan for the story, and there probably was at at some point, it's gone the way of Laura Palmer Dead, wrapped in plastic.

I was not overly impressed with this episode, especially since it was the season premiere. And I agree, it should have been a two hour show, could have made up for all the commercial breaks.

I cannot believe these "others" think the survivors of a plane crash (or any other unlucky soul who finds themselves on the island) are there for their personal experiments. You would think when they see a plane crash their first human behaviour is to go and provide aid. This is just too bizarre to describe. I can only hope the losties find a way to take over and get the upper hand on the Others.

My question is, can I as a fan survive a whole year of the Others tormenting the Losties? Are Kate's two weeks going to equal a year of TV shows?

If there was a plan for the story, and there probably was at at some point, it's gone the way of Laura Palmer Dead, wrapped in plastic.

I am definitely seeing this analogy, but more on the part of TPTB possibly caving into viewer and network pressure. Twin Peaks went down the drain after the killer was revealed... which was something Lynch didn't EVER want to reveal, but it was written in due to viewer and network pressure. It makes me wonder about all the reveals that kind of ruin the mystery on Lost, as well.

My biggest issue with this episode is more on a fanbase level, considering that I'm not really that into the stories of Jack and Kate. Sawyer is interesting, but not when it comes to the "triangle." I really couldn't give a rat's behind who she picks, and this seems to be a big plot point so far this season. :rolleyes: Also, Jack's flashback didn't tell us ANYTHING. I was excited for about 2 seconds because I thought they were finally going to reveal that his dad was the person Sara was cheating with.... but that all went straight down the drain! So much for an informative and interesting flashback.

Hopefully when they get back to the characters I care more about, I'll be more moved by the episodes. The Others stuff seems like it's off to a decent start, and I'm really excited to learn more about them.

Are Kate's two weeks going to equal a year of TV shows?

For the sake of my sanity, I really hope not.

I was not overly impressed with this episode, especially since it was the season premiere. And I agree, it should have been a two hour show, could have made up for all the commercial breaks.

I cannot believe these "others" think the survivors of a plane crash (or any other unlucky soul who finds themselves on the island) are there for their personal experiments. You would think when they see a plane crash their first human behaviour is to go and provide aid. This is just too bizarre to describe. I can only hope the losties find a way to take over and get the upper hand on the Others.

My question is, can I as a fan survive a whole year of the Others tormenting the Losties? Are Kate's two weeks going to equal a year of TV shows?

i agree that the others acted soo uncaring when they saw the plane crash.
i can't believe that the others are good. they treat the lostee like animals to experiment on. if they are soo good and still wanted to experiment on them they could do it in a more kind way.
hopefully after the 1st 6 episode arc Kate and Sawyer will be back at the lostees camp away from the others. i have a feeling that they really want Jack.:)

It wasn't one of my favorites, although I did enjoy a lot of what I saw, and found myself intrigued by the possibility that Jack Kate and Sawyer will slowly be brainwashed and choose to stay with the Others, at least until they snap out of it.

When season 2 began I remember thinking, what the hell are they doing now? (Even though desmond' s arrival blew me out of the water.)
Ultimately, I actually preferred season2 to season1 even though I was initially put off by so much of the action moving to the Swan station. And since I live in mortal fear of going "Ugh" when all of this is resolved, I really enjoy more mysteries being piled onto older ones. As long as the stories seem fresh and the characters are interesting, I'll be hooked.

Bill

Didn't we see last season where you cheated on Sarah?

Did I miss this? Can someone refresh my memory as to Jack's cheating on Sarah? Thanks!!

With the brunette who's husband died in the hospital, i think. She was nice.

I've been following the alternate reality game under The Lost Experience forum, and that story has been going all summer. And it has been darn good. (It could actually be it's own seperate TV show) The thing is, I was really hoping they'd