Connectibility

Requiem4adream

Couldnt think of a good thread title, sorry!

Do you guys think the connectibility of characters will be answered properly in the end-game over the closing seasons? The stream of coincidences and overlaps in the characters flashbacks/pasts..... if it were just that, a stream of random coincidences , i would be fairly disappointed. Do you think things like this will be adequately answered?

They've hinted that certain things such as the Numbers may never be answered properly, which is slightly irritating to say the least. I know it's impossible to please everyone with endings to shows (Sopranos is a good example) but if they leave out some core answers, especially themes that got people hooked on the show in the 1st place, it will ring a little hollow (even if the overall ending is very good).

ArmaniJeanss

R4AD,

I think the problem is that if they answer every single question / tie up every loose end, then it will be impossible to keep the narrative of the story moving throughout the final series. Thinking about it on the bus last week I reckoned there about a dozen core questions and upwards of 100 smaller unanswered questions (Basically pick a main character and there are usually at least 10 outstanding questions about them).

So either they spend the last 8 episodes of the program explaining everything which wouldn't make great TV, or they settle for just answering most of the the core questions, some of the smaller questions and leave the rest to speculation (with possibly a book detailing some of the more minute points). I think they'll pick the latter.

Sad Professor

They've dismissed most of the minor character connections as just being part of the mythology of the show. So for example there may be something to Jack and Claire being related and ending up on the same plane; but stuff like Hurley buying Locke's box company and Sawyer running into Jack's father are just coincidence and not meant to be taken too seriously.

Requiem4adream

I agree AJ, if they wrap everything up too neatly leaving little to the imagination it might fall flat. I'd still be very disappointed if there was nothing more to the Numbers though, if you re-watch Season 1 it was a major theme. I'll be happy if the major themes are answered properly, although it has to be done within a stroytelling framework and not at the expense of the story.

The healing properties of the island, Walt's apparent powers, why women cant conceive on the island, the monster (and in particular it's abilities, thinking here of Eko's death primarily) etc etc im sure we could all list lots of questions, i just hope they have a formula for pleasing most of us!!!

Sinfonia

Requiem4adream wrote: »

I'd still be very disappointed if there was nothing more to the Numbers though, if you re-watch Season 1 it was a major theme.

The questions surrounding the numbers won't be answered on the show.
However, they were addressed (along with a lot of other season 2 questions) in the Lost Experience.
I've told a lot of my friends about this, and as they don't obsessively follow the show on the internet etc. they were very disappointed about this, and reckon that these things should be addressed on the show.
I personally like it, as I think it shows that it takes a little more dedication to the show to find out what's really going on.

The above is assuming you haven't heard of the Lost Experience and you're wondering about how they relate to the Dharma Initiative etc.
If you're wondering if they'll reveal whether or not the numbers are actually cursed or not, then, no, I wouldn't say they will.
It seems like a pretty central idea of the show to test the viewer's beliefs (something which I really like). In this case,
Viewer: "Are the numbers cursed?"
LOST: "Well what do you think?"
It's similar to the whole Science vs. Faith and Fate vs. Free Will themes

Ahh, what a show!

loon

look at season 2... the whole emphasis seemed to be inputting the numbers...
and then they imploded the swan, completely negating the whole inputting the numbers.

if there was a failsafe key which had no side effects and meant you didn't have to input the numbers every 108 minutes, you'd have turned it a long time ago.

kevmy

loon wrote: »

look at season 2... the whole emphasis seemed to be inputting the numbers...
and then they imploded the swan, completely negating the whole inputting the numbers.

if there was a failsafe key which had no side effects and meant you didn't have to input the numbers every 108 minutes, you'd have turned it a long time ago.

Yeah but the failsafe key did have an effect in that it made the island viewable to the outside world which Dharma/The Others didn't want.

Sinfonia

loon wrote: »

look at season 2... the whole emphasis seemed to be inputting the numbers...
and then they imploded the swan, completely negating the whole inputting the numbers.

if there was a failsafe key which had no side effects and meant you didn't have to input the numbers every 108 minutes, you'd have turned it a long time ago.

But they didn't know what would happen if they turned the key, hence they didn't. And there were side effects on Desmond.

loon

the island is still invisible.

...and turning the key apparently sent des back in time and gave him flashes... yet had no effect on locke and eko... but that could be because they were dead to begin with.

Sad Professor

I think it can be assumed that Eko and Locke got out of the hatch before it imploded. Desmond however was in the middle of it.

I mean as I understand it the electromagnetism on the island is naturally occurring. Dharma didn't create anything, they just came to the island to study it. So they drilled into the ground opening a shaft to this electromagnetic anomaly and siphoned energy from it for their experiments. But if all that energy was left to come out freely there would catastrophe so the Swan station was built over it to act as a dam. The fail-safe was designed for an emergency, using it would destroy the Swan and seal the leak.

From the POV of a Dharma button-pusher such as Kelvin he was really sorta screwed. He could let the numbers count down resulting (as he believed) in the end of the world or he could turn the fail-safe and blow himself up. Why Des survived is still something of a mystery.

loon

locke and eko escaped, whilst being trapped under rubble, getting thorugh a blocked door... all in the space of about 5 seconds?

Jay Ru

ArmaniJeanss wrote: »

R4AD,

I think the problem is that if they answer every single question / tie up every loose end, then it will be impossible to keep the narrative of the story moving throughout the final series. Thinking about it on the bus last week I reckoned there about a dozen core questions and upwards of 100 smaller unanswered questions (Basically pick a main character and there are usually at least 10 outstanding questions about them).

So either they spend the last 8 episodes of the program explaining everything which wouldn't make great TV, or they settle for just answering most of the the core questions, some of the smaller questions and leave the rest to speculation (with possibly a book detailing some of the more minute points). I think they'll pick the latter.

i disagree, i'm a big fan of another show, The Wire, which is in final series and is managing to tie up all its loose ends, no matter the size, and still manages to keep the story going moving along nicely. now i do realise theres a hell of a lot more mystery to Lost than there is with the Wire, but the difference here i think is that when The Wire started the creaters knew they intended to do 5 series and no more, so they had there story lines all drawn out before they even began.

cooker3

For anyone interested in numbers
Watch this, it's from lost experience and basically says what they represent
http://ie.youtube.com/watch?v=E-eHEYswgK8

Sad Professor

Jay Ru wrote:

i disagree, i'm a big fan of another show, The Wire, which is in final series and is managing to tie up all its loose ends, no matter the size, and still manages to keep the story going moving along nicely. now i do realise theres a hell of a lot more mystery to Lost than there is with the Wire, but the difference here i think is that when The Wire started the creaters knew they intended to do 5 series and no more, so they had there story lines all drawn out before they even began.

I'm pretty sure David Simon (creator of The Wire) said they were in the 2nd season before they decided on 5 seasons and even then they were open to ideas for a 6th but couldn't find any. And the final decision still rested with HBO.

I do believe all the important mysteries will be tied up in Lost. Writer and actors strikes aside they know exactly how many episodes they have left. That really is unprecedented in television. They can plan all they want but most tv writers don't know for certain that they are in their final season until they're doing it. The Lost deal is really quite unique.

loon

the problem with lost is that the writers are trying to be too clever... and people turn the show into something it isn't.

for example, the bracelets... despite being almost identical, they have nothing to do with each other.

and despite being part of the valenzetti equation, the numbers mean nothing to the show... they are just random numbers... the writers put no actual thought into them eg. toomey's bean jar as they are purely coincidental.

Jay Ru

Sad Professor wrote: »

They can plan all they want but most tv writers don't know for certain that they are in their final season until they're doing it. The Lost deal is really quite unique.

just like they done with the Wire?????????

Sad Professor

Jay Ru wrote: »

just like they done with the Wire?????????

It's not the same thing. HBO renewed The Wire every season. There was nothing stopping them from cancelling the show after the 3rd/4th season and telling the writers to f**k off like they did with Deadwood.

With Lost however the end date was officially announced last year, 3 seasons in advance. These episodes will get made no matter what. This allows them them to do things like flashforwards which wouldn't be possible otherwise.

Jay Ru

Sad Professor wrote: »

It's not the same thing. HBO renewed The Wire every season. There was nothing stopping them from cancelling the show after the 3rd/4th season and telling the writers to f**k off like they did with Deadwood.

With Lost however the end date was officially announced last year, 3 seasons in advance. These episodes will get made no matter what. This allows them them to do things like flashforwards which wouldn't be possible otherwise.

so if for some reason the people lose all interest abc wud still make the show!

Sad Professor

Jay Ru wrote: »

so if for some reason the people lose all interest abc wud still make the show!

Yup. There's a contract in place for 48 episodes. Although they could probably cut the budget to bits.