The Official "Lost" the series discussion

[Deberg_1990]

I figured I would start a thread for this and see what happens....there seemed to be quite a few viewers on the board for this show the past few weeks.....I like the direction the show is taking so far......episode 3 tonight at 7 central on ABC....

[Red Brooklyn]

Thanks for posting that Deberg. It's right on par with what they've been saying for the last few years. Great read.

[CosmicPal]

For those of you who are (were) Lost fans and like to read, this is a list of the books shown/referenced at times during the show's tenure. These books were included because of the clues they provided as well as the way they interacted with the show’s themes:

Season 1

* Alice in Wonderland – Lewis Carroll *
* Heart of Darkness – Joseph Conrad
* Lord of the Flies – William Golding
* Watership Down – Richard Adams *
* A Wrinkle in Time – Madeleine L’Engle *

Season 2

* Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret. – Judy Blume *
* Bad Twin – Gary Troup *
* The Brothers Karamazov – Fyodor Dostoevsky *
* The Epic of Gilgamesh – Herbert Mason (tr.)
* Island – Aldous Huxley
* Lancelot – Percy Walker *
* “An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge” – Ambrose Bierce *
* Our Mutual Friend – Charles Dickens *
* The Third Policeman – Flann O’Brien *
* The Turn of the Screw – Henry James *
* The Wizard of Oz – L Frank Baum *

Season 3

* A Brief History of Time – Stephen Hawking *
* Carrie – Stephen King *
* Catch-22 – Joseph Heller *
* Evil Under the Sun – Agatha Christie *
* The Fountainhead – Ayn Rand *
* Laughter in the Dark – Vladimir Nabokov *
* Of Mice and Men – John Steinbeck *
* On Writing – Stephen King
* Stranger in a Strange Land – Robert Heinlein
* A Tale of Two Cities – Charles Dickens
* Through the Looking Glass – Lewis Carroll
* To Kill a Mockingbird – Harper Lee

Season 4

* VALIS – Philip K Dick *
* The Invention of Morel – Adolfo Bioy Casares *
* On the Road – Jack Kerouac
* Slaughterhouse-Five – Kurt Vonnegut
* The Chronicles of Narnia – CS Lewis
* Survivors of the Chancellor – Jules Verne *

Season 5

* The Little Prince – Antoine de Saint-Exupéry
* Ulysses – James Joyce *
* A Separate Reality – Carlos Castaneda *
* Everything that Rises Must Converge – Flannery O’Connor *

Season 6

* Fear and Trembling – Søren Kierkegaard *
* Haroun and the Sea of Stories – Salman Rushdie *
* Deep River – Shusaku Endo *
* The Chosen – Chaim Potok *
* Notes from Underground – Fyodor Dostoevsky *

[Buck]

Heres a racer I made in the game ModNation Racers

[Reaper16]

Originally Posted by CosmicPal

For those of you who are (were) Lost fans and like to read, this is a list of the books shown/referenced at times during the show's tenure. These books were included because of the clues they provided as well as the way they interacted with the show’s themes:

Season 1

* Alice in Wonderland – Lewis Carroll *
* Heart of Darkness – Joseph Conrad
* Lord of the Flies – William Golding
* Watership Down – Richard Adams *
* A Wrinkle in Time – Madeleine L’Engle *

Season 2

* Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret. – Judy Blume *
* Bad Twin – Gary Troup *
* The Brothers Karamazov – Fyodor Dostoevsky *
* The Epic of Gilgamesh – Herbert Mason (tr.)
* Island – Aldous Huxley
* Lancelot – Percy Walker *
* “An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge” – Ambrose Bierce *
* Our Mutual Friend – Charles Dickens *
* The Third Policeman – Flann O’Brien *
* The Turn of the Screw – Henry James *
* The Wizard of Oz – L Frank Baum *

Season 3

* A Brief History of Time – Stephen Hawking *
* Carrie – Stephen King *
* Catch-22 – Joseph Heller *
* Evil Under the Sun – Agatha Christie *
* The Fountainhead – Ayn Rand *
* Laughter in the Dark – Vladimir Nabokov *
* Of Mice and Men – John Steinbeck *
* On Writing – Stephen King
* Stranger in a Strange Land – Robert Heinlein
* A Tale of Two Cities – Charles Dickens
* Through the Looking Glass – Lewis Carroll
* To Kill a Mockingbird – Harper Lee

Season 4

* VALIS – Philip K Dick *
* The Invention of Morel – Adolfo Bioy Casares *
* On the Road – Jack Kerouac
* Slaughterhouse-Five – Kurt Vonnegut
* The Chronicles of Narnia – CS Lewis
* Survivors of the Chancellor – Jules Verne *

Season 5

* The Little Prince – Antoine de Saint-Exupéry
* Ulysses – James Joyce *
* A Separate Reality – Carlos Castaneda *
* Everything that Rises Must Converge – Flannery O’Connor *

Season 6

* Fear and Trembling – Søren Kierkegaard *
* Haroun and the Sea of Stories – Salman Rushdie *
* Deep River – Shusaku Endo *
* The Chosen – Chaim Potok *
* Notes from Underground – Fyodor Dostoevsky *

I doubt that all of those will reinforce themes. I'm seven episodes into season 1 and some of those make obvious sense, some don't yet. Some, like Heart of Darkness, were referenced in dialogue but don't match up with themes. (Yeah, scary jungle and all; I get why they made the reference. But HoD isn't about the scary jungle. It's about British colonialism and the mindset of the colonizer).

[Silock]

Ha! I'm on episode 8 now, myself. Interesting how much season 1 and 6 are alike.

[CosmicPal]

Originally Posted by Reaper16

I doubt that all of those will reinforce themes. I'm seven episodes into season 1 and some of those make obvious sense, some don't yet. Some, like Heart of Darkness, were referenced in dialogue but don't match up with themes. (Yeah, scary jungle and all; I get why they made the reference. But HoD isn't about the scary jungle. It's about British colonialism and the mindset of the colonizer).

All of those books were referenced by the show. They were put in there by the writers. It is not a list I came up with, but a list of books referenced in one way or another during the 6 seasons.

[Reaper16]

I've seen all of season 1 now. That was a solid, entertaining season of TV. It was absolutely propelled by the mysteries of the island. All of the numerous character background flashbacks provided necessary information into character motivation but sometimes bog down the pace at which I wanted on-the-island plot.

I am in the minority on this, probably, but I don't like the score. At all. I mean, independent of the show some of the compositions sound very nice, especially the Locke theme. But in the show the score is waaaaay too on-the-nose for me. The score chokes every scene and forcibly manipulates the audience to feel certain emotions. I hope this heavy-handed score gets toned down in the other seasons.

Too many characters and I know that it is only going to get worse. I was happy to see that Boone died for multiple reasons: 1.) It took a character away from a cluttered ensemble. 2.) I was agitated by the numerous fake-out deaths so it was good to see a death stick for once. 3.) It gave Shannon something to do.

Most of the characters are pretty milquetoast. Jack & Kate are solid but the standout performances come from the characters of Sawyer, Sayid, Micheal, Sun and Locke. Josh Holloway's Sawyer oozes charisma and he is one of the few actors that understands nuance. Also giving a nuanced performance is Harold Perrineau's Micheal. I don't think that the character could ever be a fan-favorite but Micheal is one of the few characters in season 1 that feels like a real person. Also with real-person-ness is Sun, one of the few characters I felt emotional investment in despite her and Jin's background being kind of silly. Naveen Andrews' Sayid is a legit badass performance; everything he does is believable and rounded. Terry O'Quinn is marvelous as John Locke. The character, though, I'm iffy on. Locke knows so much about a lot of things and has a lot of faith and it feels unearned. I imagine that we will get more flashbacks that will alleviate this but all through the first season he came across as wise and knowledgeable in a way that feels artificial and convenient.

Smoke Monster lol

As far as artistic themes go, this season wasn't too much concerned with any. It was mostly Island mystery + look at all the characters coming together to the same place like the movie Crash. The major theme in all of the flashbacks, which is where this show's themes are going to lie - off the island, is exploring the different ways in which we are responsible to/for our loved ones and the personal cost of acting on those responsibilities. I was pleased to see that the finale's whole flash sideways/learn-to-let-go thing was predicted in the Jack's wedding episode by Christian telling Jack that he's never been good at letting go. I anticipate the idea of letting go to appear throughout the series then. Also, I have a feeling (especially based on the finale) that the dichotomy of Man of Science vs Man of Faith brought up by Locke to Jack is going to be very important and probably predicts Lost's central theme.

[Buck]

I can't believe you already watched the finale. Based on your season 1 review, I think you won't really like the next few seasons.

[Buck]

I'll just say that at around the end of season 3, this turns from a supernatural show into a sci-fi show.

[Reaper16]

Originally Posted by Buck

I can't believe you already watched the finale. Based on your season 1 review, I think you won't really like the next few seasons.

Why's that?

[Silock]

I agree with this assessment. I'm re-watching the whole thing. Picking up on a few things that they signpost for later, but there's some stuff that's already a bit wonky from where it ended up.

[Baby Lee]

Originally Posted by Buck

I can't believe you already watched the finale. Based on your season 1 review, I think you won't really like the next few seasons.

I'd be interested to see the reaction of someone who knows how it ends. Who doesn't waste time with all the dead end easter eggs and grand theorizing that was a big part of the experience for the contemporary viewer. Might even be interesting to see their reaction to then contemporary observations recorded for posterity on blogs, all the 'did you catches' and 'this freeze frame esploded my minds.'

Also someone to give us real time input on 'roads not travelled' in the show that they wished the show had chosen to explore.

[Red Brooklyn]

Originally Posted by Reaper16

Also giving a nuanced performance is Harold Perrineau's Micheal. I don't think that the character could ever be a fan-favorite but Micheal is one of the few characters in season 1 that feels like a real person.

So nice to see someone appreciate Harold's work on the show. I remember so many people being less than thrilled with his peformace as Michael. I completely agree. He's wonderful. Also, completely agree with what you said about Sun, Locke and Sayid.

I will say I still think Foxy and Evie are the two must underrated actors on ths show. I think they're both brilliant. Especially in S1. And I also slightly disagree with you about Holloway. He's good in S1 (to me) not great. But he gets better. By S5 he surpasses many of his co-stars (IMO).

[Reaper16]

Originally Posted by Red Brooklyn

I will say I still think Foxy and Evie are the two must underrated actors on ths show. I think they're both brilliant. Especially in S1. And I also slightly disagree with you about Holloway. He's good in S1 (to me) not great. But he gets better. By S5 he surpasses many of his co-stars (IMO).

I conted that Holloway was way better in season 1 than Fox or Lilly. With acting, way better is often a matter of subtlety and subtlety is exactly what Holloway brings to the table. I can see where people might think Sawyer was portrayed as "brood brood brood one-liner brood nickname brood brood" but that would be the thinking of someone who doesn't evaluate acting very well. His acting brought much more depth to the character than did Sawyer's lines. He was written as a caricature but came across as a real human being.

[Red Brooklyn]

Holloway does a really nice job in S1. Absolutely. But I think Foxy and Lilly are outstanding. Exacly what you're describing about Holloway is what I see in those two consistantly through out the entire series. And If you like Holloway now... boy-howdy... just you wait. Because he's about to take it to a whole other level.