I've wasted 6 years of my life

jimbling

Okay, this is now a big pet peeve of mine. I'm hearing it right left and centre....... I'm reading it in every single thread online..... WTF people.... seriously, get a grip.

Anyone who thinks that their last 6 years were wasted on Lost needs to take a serious look at themselves. Lost is a TV show. It is there for entertainment purposes only.

And anyway..... at the end of the series there will have been 121 episodes, which equates to approx 80 hours....which equates to approx 3.36 days.

So, you have wasted 3.36 days on watching Lost. And that's only if you never enjoyed any episode and only watched it because you wanted to see what happened? If you enjoyed it then it's a completely moot point.

Take another example. Say Heroes. Season one was excellent and thoroughly enjoyable. I continued to watch it until about half way through season 3. I would consider season 2 and 3 to have been a waste of my time. But the fact that it became rubbish didn't mean that my time spent watching season 1 was wasted.... I enjoyed it at the time.

People will probably come back to me and say that the ending has made the rest of the series crap as a result. But this is just balls, it's not possible, you cant travel back in time and decide you weren't enjoying the show all along.


I have wasted far more time watching absolute crap on TV. Stuff I dont even enjoy watching. To say that you've wasted a large chunk of your life because you didnt like the end of a series is just ridiculous.:rolleyes:

Sea Sharp

Well saying you've wasted 6 years of your life is a bit dramatic.

But at the same had I been told at the end season 2 that the Island is special because of some half-assed magic light and that most of the questions and mysteries in the show are there to keep us watching as opposed to being part of a consistent over-all plot, I and a lot of others wouldn't have bothered to continue to watching it.

cooker3

While I generally agree with your opinions about the show I think you care far too much about people who disagree with you.
I personally couldn't care less if everyone on the planet bar me hated the finale. It's their loss, don't worry about them.

RolandIRL

no point justifing it to people. they won't listen and they'll just find new excuses to say how bad Lost is. they've already made up their mind.
all that matters is that you, yes you, enjoy it.

jimbling

GaNjaHaN wrote: »

Well saying you've wasted 6 years of your life is a bit dramatic.

But at the same had I been told at the end season 2 that the Island is special because of some half-assed magic light and that most of the questions and mysteries in the show are there to keep us watching as opposed to being part of a consistent over-all plot, I and a lot of others wouldn't have bothered to continue to watching it.

Well if we were told that then everyone would have stopped watching. Even if we were told whatever it is you hoped for, you'd still have stopped watching. Why? Because the enjoyment is in the journey... in the watching... in the theorising.... not in the answers. The answers, no matter what they were were never going to be as enjoyable as the journey.

Miguel_Sanchez

I wasted about 2 years of my life with an ex-girlfriend once so even if Lost cops out with a cop out of Dallasesque proportions at the end I couldn't honestly say I wasted years on it.

It's all a matter of perspective, isn't it?

jimbling

cooker3 wrote: »

While I generally agree with your opinions about the show I think you care far too much about people who disagree with you.
I personally couldn't care less if everyone on the planet bar me hated the finale. It's their loss, don't worry about them.

lmao, so true. And I do try. You might have noticed I didnt even get involved in the discussion over the last episode until well late in the game. I tried not to comment at all, but in the end I faltered.

Its in my nature..... I debate things...lol, I do get on peoples nerves in the real world too. If I see one side getting unfairly attacked I will defend it and debate on it's behalf, even when I agree with the attackers on the whole

Mr.Nice Guy

I have enjoyed the show's journey, and don't feel I have wasted 6 years of my life watching it, but if the show falls off a cliff via its final episodes then it will be forever tarnished.

I hope it can finish strongly and salvage what, to me at least, has been the weakest season of the lot.

Benny Lava

I have enjoyed watching Lost more than any other T.V. programme.

Sure, the latest episode was a disappointment and lots of mysteries will go unsolved.

Still enjoyed it!

seadnamac

Ah come on. You don't honestly think they mean it in a literal sense? As in every single day of the last six years? More likely the hour a week that they have spend watching it and any other time reading/browsing/theorising.

'I've wasted an hour a week for 20 weeks, give or take, and some other associated time browsing the internet for related information, a year, for the last six years.', doesn't quite have the same ring to it.

jimbling

seadnamac wrote: »

Ah come on. You don't honestly think they mean it in a literal sense? As in every single day of the last six years?

lol, of course not.

RolandIRL

seadnamac wrote: »

Ah come on. You don't honestly think they mean it in a literal sense? As in every single day of the last six years? More likely the hour a week that they have spend watching it and any other time reading/browsing/theorising.

'I've wasted an hour a week for 20 weeks, give or take, and some other associated time browsing the internet for related information, a year, for the last six years.', doesn't quite have the same ring to it.

i'd say i've wasted more time on boards discussing Lost (although i say wasted, i mean i could have better spent the time studying )

Spiritoftheseventies

Must admit Lost has been a major part of my life. Wont invest as much time obsessing about a tv programme again. Cant wait for the Finale.

jimbling

Spiritoftheseventies wrote: »

Must admit Lost has been a major part of my life. Wont invest as much time obsessing about a tv programme again. Cant wait for the Finale.

But did you not enjoy the obsession?

sprinkles

Jeff_Lebowski wrote: »

I wasted about 2 years of my life with an ex-girlfriend once so even if Lost cops out with a cop out of Dallasesque proportions at the end I couldn't honestly say I wasted years on it.

It's all a matter of perspective, isn't it?

lol

I hate Lost cause it's cool to hate lost. I loved it though when everyone else loved it :rolleyes:

Seriously, why watch a show you don't like? I gave up on heroes after season 1 because I felt the last episode of season 1 was a cop out and season 2 got bad reviews. If you've stuck with Lost for 6 seasons so far you must have enjoyed it... either that or you're stupid!

Anyway for those detractors... you're pain is almost over!!

Spiritoftheseventies

Thats the charm of the tv series but really next week is going to be a very long one waiting for the finale.

RolandIRL

Spiritoftheseventies wrote: »

Thats the charm of the tv series but really next week is going to be a very long one waiting for the finale.

even this week has gone by so slowly....it's only tuesday ffs.
at least it's on on a sunday so won't have wait long into the week

Spiritoftheseventies

whiteman19 wrote: »

even this week has gone by so slowly....it's only tuesday ffs.
at least it's on on a sunday so won't have wait long into the week

So its thursday and then sunday week. Any time what time it starts at?

RolandIRL

i'm talking about US times. it's airing tonight in the US and then the finale is on sunday.
i don't watch it on RTE, i download it.

Irish Guitarist

If the final episode turns out to be as bad as I suspect it will be then I'm going to construct a wheel powered by water and electromagnetism. This wheel will transport me back to 2004 and I will tell my past self not to bother watching Lost. Problem solved, I won't have wasted any time.

syklops

And anyway..... at the end of the serious there will have been 121 episodes, which equates to approx 80 hours....which equates to approx 3.36 days.

So, you have wasted 3.36 days on watching Lost. And that's only if you never enjoyed any episode and only watched it because you wanted to see what happened? If you enjoyed it then it's a completely moot point.

I'm not disagreeing with you. I learnt what happens when I disagree with you the hard way in another thread, but, to most people who have gotten as far as season 5 its not just one hour a week. Its one hour of watching and then going online to read what other people thought, to discuss events that occurred and theorising over what will happen next. Easily another 3 hours a week spent doing that. Theres the re-watching of episodes in the hope of clarifying something. To alot of people its thinking about it, wondering what could be the answer to any of the various mysteries which takes up more time.

And while doing all those things is enjoyable(otherwise why do it?), if the end feels like a cop out, and to many it already does feel like a cop out, then it is natural to feel disappointed and a little bit betrayed. The next obvious emotion humans go through generally is anger afterwhich is bitterness which is where the "I've wasted 6 years of my life" comes from.

It is a bit sad if you have spent hours wondering about a particular mystery, only for that mystery to be forgotten about on the show and never referenced again. You might say to yourself, maybe in the lst season it will be explained. Now in Season6 it has not been explained so unless it is explained in the finale, you will be a little disappointed. I was always a bit disappointed they never had a charachter to mirror the average viewer. Someone who occasionally throws their hands up and goes "Aaaaargh! What the hell is up with this island?!?". All the losties continue on their paths and dont ask all the questions anyone of us would ask if we were in that situation. For me, this is the bit that makes it unrealistic. Not the ghosts, monsters, visions, time travel etc. Its the way the losties handle the ever changing environment seems uncharachteristic of humans. Maybe therein lies the key I dont know.

As an aside I watched episodes 9-12 on saturday and thoroughly enjoyed them, so I hope they keep the momentum for the finale.

jimbling

syklops wrote: »

I'm not disagreeing with you. I learnt what happens when I disagree with you the hard way in another thread

lol, wtf.... it's an internet discussion board, or did I manage to find your house, lambaste you personally and beat you with a big rubber hose?

syklops wrote: »

, but, to most people who have gotten as far as season 5 its not just one hour a week. Its one hour of watching and then going online to read what other people thought, to discuss events that occurred and theorising over what will happen next. Easily another 3 hours a week spent doing that. Theres the re-watching of episodes in the hope of clarifying something. To alot of people its thinking about it, wondering what could be the answer to any of the various mysteries which takes up more time.

And while doing all those things is enjoyable(otherwise why do it?), if the end feels like a cop out, and to many it already does feel like a cop out, then it is natural to feel disappointed and a little bit betrayed. The next obvious emotion humans go through generally is anger afterwhich is bitterness which is where the "I've wasted 6 years of my life" comes from.

I know and understand exactly where it comes from..... I said it was a pet peeve of mine. It's a phrase that gets on my nerves.... hence the post.

syklops wrote: »

It is a bit sad if you have spent hours wondering about a particular mystery, only for that mystery to be forgotten about on the show and never referenced again. You might say to yourself, maybe in the lst season it will be explained. Now in Season6 it has not been explained so unless it is explained in the finale, you will be a little disappointed.

Being disappointed is a very different thing

syklops wrote: »

I was always a bit disappointed they never had a charachter to mirror the average viewer. Someone who occasionally throws their hands up and goes "Aaaaargh! What the hell is up with this island?!?".

Hurley did that on numerous occasions. Not on everything, because if he did then the show would have had trouble maintaining the mystery.

syklops wrote: »

All the losties continue on their paths and dont ask all the questions anyone of us would ask if we were in that situation. For me, this is the bit that makes it unrealistic. Not the ghosts, monsters, visions, time travel etc. Its the way the losties handle the ever changing environment seems uncharachteristic of humans. Maybe therein lies the key I dont know.

I completely agree. That has always been one of the most annoying things about the show...but come on.... it's been like that from day one!!!

Spiritoftheseventies

Has is been six years? My, the time has flown.
I think it's a given with Losties that you have to buy into what the Lost team are doing even if i'm not fully convinced they know what they are doing all of the time.
The storyline is ever evolving and its seems as if they dont dont think things through.
The time travel thing totally knocked things out of kilter IMO but have come this far at this stage so might as well stick with them still the end.

20goto10

Does anyone know what the ratings are for lost? Is it actually that popular? I started watching it from the start and stopped after 4 or 5 episodes because it annoyed the hell out of me. I loved the idea of being lost on a mysterious Island, it was great escapism which is what TV is all about but it wasn't enough to keep me interested. Came back to it in series 3 I think to see what the fuss was. Actually enjoyed it for a few series, it looked like there might actaully be a story behind it. Dharma, the others...it was good stuff for a while until it became apparent that they were making sh!t up as they went along. I even enjoyed all the time travel, even though at that stage I knew there was no plot. Now I just want to see it out. I wouldn't say I've wasted my time. If I had something better to do I'd do it.

Spiritoftheseventies

20goto10 wrote: »

Does anyone know what the ratings are for lost? Is it actually that popular?

These are the latest figures in. They are pretty good i think.

http://www.rte.ie/aertel/348-02.html

jimbling

Spiritoftheseventies wrote: »

These are the latest figures in. They are pretty good i think.

http://www.rte.ie/aertel/348-02.html

Especially when you consider majority of hardcore fans have watched it prior to the RTE airing.

Raiser

GaNjaHaN wrote: »

had I been told at the end season 2 that the Island is special because of some half-assed magic light and that most of the questions and mysteries in the show are there to keep us watching as opposed to being part of a consistent over-all plot

In fairness it was fairly obvious from quite early in S2 that Lost was being written in segments of 50 mins random, aimless, direction-less Plot extensions to sell the remaining ~10 mins Advertising time in the schedule and while keeping the Public watching at all costs.

SuperInfinity

seadnamac wrote: »

Ah come on. You don't honestly think they mean it in a literal sense? As in every single day of the last six years? More likely the hour a week that they have spend watching it and any other time reading/browsing/theorising.

Speak for yourself. I have indeed spent the past six years in a literal sense doing nothing else every single day except watching Lost and theorizing about it online, going out of the house only to collect welfare and food and listening to Lost on my mp3 player while doing so.

It's only now that it's over that I am doing other things and I'm thinking about what a waste the last six years of my life have been.

jordainius

Good post OP. It is laughable when people come out with that type of statement!

Anyway, its closer to 3 days and 18 hours (121 episodes lasting 45 minutes each!) of their life "wasted", not 6 years!

jimbling

Raiser wrote: »

In fairness it was fairly obvious from quite early in S2 that Lost was being written in segments of 50 mins random, aimless, direction-less Plot extensions to sell the remaining ~10 mins Advertising time in the schedule and while keeping the Public watching at all costs.

Okay, they make a lot of stuff up as they go yes.... but it's not random, aimless, direction-less plot extensions

A huge number of things are tied in together as they go....not their fault if you cant see that or dont realise it's happening.


Also, Lost was not about the ratings as much as most shows. In fact, it's one of the few shows that were ever given the freedom they had. It was one of the only shows that was given another 3 years when ratings were steadily dropping and at their lowest towards the end of season 3. Really it's the opposite to what you're saying.

Raiser

jimbling wrote: »

Okay, they make a lot of stuff up as they go yes.... but it's not random, aimless, direction-less plot extensions

A huge number of things are tied in together as they go....not their fault if you cant see that or dont realise it's happening.


Also, Lost was not about the ratings as much as most shows. In fact, it's one of the few shows that were ever given the freedom they had. It was one of the only shows that was given another 3 years when ratings were steadily dropping and at their lowest towards the end of season 3. Really it's the opposite to what you're saying.

My credibility threshold was stretched far, far beyond any willingness to engage in suspension of disbelief relatively early.

- They did of course attempt to link stuff in a desperate and tenuous way - just not very cohesively, plausibly or ultimately - successfully; But all of that is purely a matter of personal opinion.....

Its just a TV Show at the end of the day, better than looking out of a rainy window and it passed some time for lots of Folk; I suppose you could say why bother complaining now when the opportunity to find fault and pick holes first presented itself long, long ago!