[US/IRL] 3X10 - "Tricia Tanaka Is Dead" [** SPOILERS WITHIN **]

prospect wrote:

My fav line was when Sawyer called Hurley 'Snuffy' which I presume is a reference to 'Snuffleupagus' the hairy mammoth in Sesame Street. Classic.

I thought that too. Lovable large hairy character - nice comparison

A lot of laugh out loud stuff this episode - Hurley's mother was hilarious ("It's been 17 years..") and the banter between the 4 lads and the mini 'road trip' at the end, complete with dog, was class.

I enjoyed this as just a bit of comic relief with not much story development, but I do hope things are going to get a bit more action packed next week.

has anyone ever read a book and gotten to a part where you thought the pace had been lost, and you were trudging through page after page of endless information - wondering where the plot had dissapeared to - only to reach the third act and discover all of that information was part of the initiation to the return? I don't know about anyone else but I felt like most of the time when I was reading Lord of the Rings, or Dune, or His Dark Materials, but like every good story (and every good life) sometimes instant gratification just isn't the right way to go.

series 1 encapsulated itself by ending with the discovery of the broken ladder - answering the big question of series 1, what's in the hatch?

series 2 ended with the explosion of everyone's favourite hatch - answering the big question of series 2, is the button real?

now both of those could be considered the call to adventure - if you think about this in terms of mythological archtype - the "normal" heroes are thrust into a world beyond their reality, and a sort of forced awareness overcomes them (john with the button and the question of faith, and the others testing sawyer and kate - a test that is cut short when the man whose wife is killed by sun forces her to admit her love for him by pointing a gun at his head, and jack maybe finding his place among the others?)

mythologic convention means the story must now have moved into the "road of trials" - where the hero, or I guess heroes in this case, have to sift through their own consciousness as well as deal with outside pressures in an attempt to create a better understanding of their place in the world.

in most stories this is the part where it gets boring. the information you're taking in isn't as interesting because it specifically relates to the central characters and their understanding of self and their preperating to recieve the ultimate boon ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Hero_With_A_Thousand_Faces ) - which I'm sure anyone who actually read to this point automatically associated with the dearly departed all american boone - and his role in motivating the enigmatic locke.

I remember seeing in a documentary on the bonus disc of the first series that the originals creators of the show devised the entire plot of the show over a weekend or so - at which point they had already mapped out the journey the show would take for at least 5 seasons?

I think maybe the problem is it's a tv series. episodes are supposed to be self-enclosed stories. but with lost that's often not the case. one episode can be completely meaningless until it's given context by another. because unlike most tv series, the story for lost was written before it went into production. so whoever is in charge of writing the actual episodes now has been given a vision (complete with ending?), which has to be realised. so we've gotten to that part in the story where everything slows down and all of the characters have to start absorbing empowering imformation (kinda like the matrix reloaded). and for some reason either whoever wrote the episodes for series 1 and 2 has lost his knack - or they've gotten someone new?

what I'm trying to say is, even though you all stopped reading back at the wiki link, we're reaching the peak of the story arc - which means the plot is gonna start heading downhill (figuratively) pretty soon and (considering the immense amount of mythology they've poured into this fantasy mountain) at a pretty extreme velocity. the falling action is coming. and you just know a show like lost is gonna have one hell of a spectacular crescendo, followed by what will hopefully be a satisfying diminuendo - during which all our petty questions will be answered. though to be honest I hope they find some way to retain the mystery that keeps me hooked.

Cooee wrote:

....given up................too many slo-mo time filling, music pieces. A sure fire filler trick used on all tv shows that are stuggling to fill their time slot. This was a 10 min story dragged kicking and screaming to 42 minutes. You can hear the producers telling the writers to pile in the gags. I am sure most of the dialogue was written by people the puke out stuff like Will and Grace and Joey!
This was absolute drivel....pointless....nothing. And this on the back a series of apalling episodes. It is now clear that this show had 2 series in it max! I no longer care if I miss an episode. What did I miss....Hurley jump started a van (ignoring the fact that it was upside down and all of the petrol would be long gone, as would the engine oil etc., GOD!) and Kate looked up the French woman!

Oh, you'll be back watching next week. you might say you won't but you will.
This constant backlash is annoying. An episode might have its week points but Hurley's episode was a much need brek from the angst of the show latlely.
I sat with a smile on my face last night as it felt so close to the tone of season one, especially with the ending which they always did on season one, leaving you wanting more.

Lost is still by far one of the best shows on TV and before you compare, its like apples and oranges. Lost is by far one of the most unique and engaging shows on TV. It may have its ups and downs but the good far outways the bad.

Stop jumping on this bandwagan.

Character Development isnt filler.

If we had no episodes like this, we wouldnt like the characters.

Deal with the fact that not even the producers know whats going to happen with lost, and in the end you'll probably be dissapointed with what they come up with, so just learn to love weekly cliff hangers, great acting and interesting characters while you can.

SumGuy wrote:

Wasn't the big question "Is the button real?"

I don't know about you, but I still don't know what the Others are up to!!

you're right actually. and I think the giant hole in the ground pretty much proved desmond right on that one. I know we don't know exactly what the other's mission is - but what I meant was we found out what was going on with michael, henry/ben getting himself caught, and the list of the main section survivors.