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I just don't get a lot of the sniping around this show. Lost has always been a mystery-based melodrama surviving on how it relates character. This being the case, they can't and shouldn't provide answers to all the major mysteries in the first half of the entire series proper. Considering the huge number of things that have happened in two and a half years (am I the only one who gets completely thrown every time a character mentions how long in Lost-Time they've actually been on the island?), I think this show is swimming along just fine. We've had plenty of answers to middling questions, and a couple of clarifying answers to more important ones. And there's enough threads being raised in recent episodes to link ideas and theories together in a more fulfilling way.
For example - for me, clearly there are more than one kind of 'other'. There are Dharma 'others', and native 'others' - eg, Ben Linus has mentioned several times that he was born on the island (which would be significantly pre-Dharma according to everything we know so far), whereas Juliet was recruited - and we've been given plenty of hints that at some point these two forces were at war, presumably from when Dharma set up camp on the island, since their timeline seems to start early eighties. In addition, some 'others' are ropey civilians, some are lethal jungle-ninjas, which suggests that some are new to the place just like our hero-protagonists, and some are much more comfortable there. This is all stuff that's become apparent this season - previously, the 'others' were just a mysterious force up to no good. This season has been about clarifying them and who they are, and so far we've been shown a wealth of information, while being told very little, which is the mark of good storytelling. Lost doesn't do exposition, as a rule. You're pretty much required to read into what you see, and form your own conclusions.
My conclusions so far this season? Seems to me that Dharma and the natives have sealed some kind of deal. The natives are continuing to kidnap those they think are necessary, especially kids - why? I think that those born on the island have increasingly been rendered less fertile by the electro-magnetic anomaly, hence the natives constantly trying to up their numbers, stealing kids (Walt et al) and people of child-bearing age (Cindy) or who they think would make a great contribution to their tribe (Eko was an attempted victim, remember?), because they can't expand on their own. Hence why Ben has adopted Alex. I think Dharma, following an initially hostile period, has joined forces with the natives, promising them assistance in solving their fertility problem - hence why Juliet, a fertility specialist, was recruited - in exchange for cooperation. I think the last decade and a half of this detente has seen cross-pollination between Dharma and the natives. Where did the 'natives' come from? There's a fuck-off great sailing ship called the Black Rock sitting in the middle of the island that so far has only been mentioned as a source of explosive. Descendants of the shipwrecked survivors? That's my theory. And Ben's not THE GREAT OTHER that keeps getting mentioned. Maybe he's the mysterious Alvar Hanso? Maybe that's what enabled the Dharma/native detente - the arrival of a charismatic demagoguesque leader who united them both. If Alan Dale ends up being that guy, I will cream my Neighbours-fanboy jeans. And I don't even wear jeans.
And I thought the Paulo/Nikki episode was one of the best filler eps I've ever seen on an arc-based show. Answers a fair few questions legitimately (so what do some of the extras do on the island while the main ensemble cast go have their histrionics? How do they feel about it?) as well as many of the netfan gripes, while still being fun and creepy as hell at the payoff. That really worked for me.
So far I've never watched what I consider to be a bad episode of Lost, just a few average ones and more than a few frustrating ones. As for the latter, I'm open to being frustrated as long as I think that I'll be happy with the payoff to the show. Based on what I've seen in the last sixty or so episodes, I still have oodles of faith in the creative team.
And I'm also happy with the show losing viewers. Way I see it, it was a phenomenon to start with, and all we're apparently losing is those people who, after the honeymoon perod, realised they were watching a genre melodrama and jumped ship. Good. It still has more than enough viewers to sustain it to the claimed goal of five seasons. So far this is still my favourite show on TV.
Sorry for the long post! I can't sleep. |
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