'What Kate Did', What We'll DoThis post will be updated after the show, but tonight's LOST is likely to be a crucial moment for fans of the series. The second season so far has ranged from uneven ("Collision" last week) to outright disappointing (Shannon's death in "Abandoned"), with relatively few bright spots along the way and no definining moments -- no "Locke and the wheelchair" moments -- to set the tone for what is to come. Tonight's episode -- this is a minor spoiler only if you are fanatical about spoilers -- promises to reveal "What Kate Did." The question of Kate's crime has been central to the show since day one.
LOST writers take note -- we can probably forgive you for disappointing us on Shannon's death, and the jury is still out on "The Other 48 Days." But if you disappoint us on Kate, well, you're going to really start losing people. Don't let us down.
UPDATE...
Well, it didn't suck. LOST needed to hit one out of the park tonight. They managed a double, maybe even a triple. Kate's story was compelling, but not especially shocking. Considering her skills and the level of interest the government had in her, this story of domestic murder seemed too small to justify the build-up.
Kate's story was emotionally competent, but again all too cliched -- much like Ana Lucia's story last week. On the bright side, we did get some more Island clues, and fairly large ones at that, although the missing Dharma film splice was also anticlimactic. The twist at the end, the hints about the dead...
Bottom line...
It was fine. But I am tired of thinking about LOST in words like "cliched," "anticlimactic" and even "fine" and "competent." I seem to remember a time when "innovative," "shocking" and "brilliant" were the first words out of my mouth at the end of an episode Or simply "Wow." I remember "wow." I don't think I've said "wow" since "Man of Science, Man of Faith," and even that was somewhat qualified.
I want my "wow" back.
Posted by J.M. Berger || Permalink
Post a Comment
7 Comments:
It's so nice to here a voice that's not simply fanatical in it's devotion to lost.
I love your thoughts on Lost, but I'm not so sure you can really say "we" or "us." Unless there's two of you.
Judging by the response on the message boards, you are alone in your critique of the last few episodes. ??
The only people who go to message boards are the rabid fans, the blindly devoted. That's probably not where you'll find dissent.
Some of the hardcore fans are getting pissed, but for different reasons. Some agree with the points made above, as recounted in several conversations I've had.
Others are pissed because they suspect the clues and mysteries don't mean as much to the creators as they do to us.
The latter issue isn't as much of a concern to the bigger part of the viewing audience, but a dropoff in storytelling quality will eventually begin to be reflected in the ratings. Note that last year reviewers regularly wrote about Lost as the best, most original show in years. Have you seen any of that lately?
JM, you may continue to use "we" and "us" since your opinions typically fall under the "I couldn't have said it better myself" category.
Who DOESN'T think Lost has sucked this season? There were so many unknowns last season and the discovery of the hatch provided a focal point for all of our imaginings of what the island really is... the writers have done little to re-develop that sense of mystery about the island and it's inhabitants this season. So far the information about the hatch, Dharma or the others has all been pretty ordinary with no real sense of the unknown. "What Kate Did" did save the show for me, I'll watch a few more before reclaiming an hour of my week.
-EA
I am part of a group of about 6 that watch Lost together every time it comes out. I am the only one who frequents the message boards. They've enjoyed every single episode so far. Likewise, i know several people who blazed through the DVDs, then bought the itunes season 2 episodes and have nothing but praise.
I love your thoughts JM. I think they're great. But they're not representative. If anything, you're thinking too much about the show, at least in the sense that the average viewer does not dissect and rate the quality of every episode like you do. They either like it or don't, and move on. Viewership has held pretty steady over the season, so I'm inclined to think that they've liked it. I imagine that the greatest test is this long stretch we're in now.
Point taken that I haven't seen anything about Lost being an original show, but my guess is that we can chalk that up to Lost being a sophmore and not the new shiny. It certainly has its share of Globe noms.
I may well be in the minority, but the great bulk of my complaints have to do with basic storytelling and not the message board minutiae. I am not trying to say that the majority of fans agree with me -- rather that a significant minority of core fans are really starting to have serious concerns and that a continued lackluster series of stories will eventually be reflected in the ratings.
If you care to argue that any one episode this season so far is even vaugely on the level of "Walkabout" or "Numbers" or "Confidence Man," feel free, but I am not feeling it.
|
