Lost
February 5, 2009I like Lost. Sure, it’s slow, full of stereotypes and Hollywood mannerisms, and really crappy music, but still - it’s fun, entertaining, looks good, and Sawyer kicks butt. And Clare is hot.
Still, with the new season, they’re really starting to lose me. For me, there’s one sure way to hell in script writing: introduce time travel. It has never worked, it has never made sense, it has never been shown in a believable way. Lost is no exception. So, some people travel through time, but others don’t? Equipment sometimes travels with them, sometimes it doesn’t? How come they never “land” inside a plant or a tree that has grown there? Take a look at BSG’s FTL/jump drives - they can’t jump too close to objects because they might jump inside them. Time travel causes so many “bugs” in a storyline, that it is simply impossible to implement it right.
To make matters worse, the time shifts always happen at exactly the right moment, further beating credibility and immersion to the curb. You can bet your sweet ass that any time the guys are in trouble, or any time someone is about to say something important, they’ll be flashed away through time right before they get killed or hear the important bit. It’s fucking ridiculous.
It’s simply crappy storytelling, and it has seriously hurt my enjoyment of the show. Time travel is always a last resort, and it clearly shows. I hope they cut this bogus nonsense soon, but I’m afraid it’s a core part of the story, so it’s likely only going to go downhill from here.
Too bad.
Film | 
Sorry, but this is not true at all. Lost has some of the best music around. It fits the show perfectly.
Locke is leaving the island in 1-2 episodes, in which time that group will stop jumping in time, and will stay put in the Dharma era for the rest of the season.
Comment by Eugenia — February 5, 2009 @ 7:22 pm
Everyone suspected it was going to go this way for a long time. I think this season is great; we’re finally getting some answers to our mysteries. There are some bugs (e.g. the island stays put when they jump, but it disappeared to the O6… wha?), but ultimately, it’s entertaining and still based as much in science fact as possible.
I love the show.
Comment by Adam S — February 5, 2009 @ 7:30 pm
The island itself moved in space, not in time. Some of its latest inhabitants moved in time, and we will find soon why some of them did and others didn’t.
The island has a perimeter. It was already mentioned in the show. So Daniel and Jin were in the perimeter, and so they time-traveled, but the people in the helicopter where too high up, higher than the perimeter, and so they didn’t. They lost the island because it moved in space — from their point of view. The people in the perimeter, traveled in time instead.
We will also find out why not also take Walt along the Oceanic 6 back to the island, and what happened to Rose & Bernard.
Juliet already explained that whatever they have with them, travels with them. It’s possible that when they left Daniel’s boat alone for too long it would disappear too as it wouldn’t have the effect of a human close for longer.
Because the island is sentient. It wouldn’t let that happen. And, it’s a TV show. BSG does other things wrong anyway. I’ve blogged about them 2 years ago.
Comment by Eugenia — February 5, 2009 @ 7:46 pm
It would be nice if you people marked your comments as spoilers, for those of us who haven’t seen everything up to this point…
Comment by Martin — February 6, 2009 @ 9:15 am