g.j. (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
in_the_blue) wrote2010-08-07 10:41 am
in_the_blue) wrote2010-08-07 10:41 am
Yeah, I got nothin'.
So I was lying there in bed unable to sleep, thinking about how much I resented the ending to Lost.
And that means it's Unpopular Fandom Opinion Time! Today, it's coming at you uncensored and unedited.
First, what the SHIT was it with the whole soul-mate crap? I don't care if the ending was what really happened or just Jack's dying fantasy. The latter makes it marginally more palatable; the former makes it completely unbearable. The only way to be happy is to reclaim the gift of what is undoubtedly your One True Island Love and take it into the forever-after? What about all the years between leaving the island and dying? Were none of those people able to establish meaningful relationships in the interim? Did nothing that anyone did for the entire fucking rest of their lives even merit a glimmer of consideration? Let's take Sayid as a case-in-point. It's pointed to canonically so many times that the love of his life was Nadia. He knew Shannon for a month, maybe, and that means she was his OTL? And we're supposed to swallow that, hook, line, and sinker? I know Naveen Andrews wanted a love interest on the show (hey, even Patrick Stewart wanted more girly action for teh sexy elf Jean-Luc Picard, I get it), but honestly. The whole Sayid-Shannon thing was so fucking contrived it makes me want to scratch my eyeballs out even now. That he ran to her like an angel of light in that alley so they could do a big group grope was one of the most unforgivable things about the show to me. Don't even get me started on the rest of the relationships. The only one I thought had any honesty to it on the show was Sawyer and Kate, and that's because we saw the progression. It made sense because we saw them grow into it. I don't care that they didn't end up together, but I do care about the crafting that went into that one. All the rest of the relationships were half-assed and there just for the sake of having a little romance. Oh, except for Richard and Isabella. That one worked for poor little me.
I never wanted Lost to be about Who Kate Chooses, but that's pretty much what it boiled down to at the end. All the mythology and mystery was booted pretty unceremoniously in one badly-costumed overacted episode (and I actually usually like Allison Janney) as if the writers were patting us on the heads like indulgent adults at a candy shop, telling us "here, have a little taste. We know it's not as good as the top-shelf stuff, but it's candy, it'll do. Now don't complain and go be good little tykes, mmkay?" By the end of the series, anything that caused me to be so damn agitated in the best possible way over the course of the first four seasons had been so watered-down and sanitized for presentation that I just didn't care any more. So there was a pot of gold at the end of the island's rainbow! Yay! Leprechauns!
All the cleverness disappeared during the last two seasons. Sure, there were still cute and neat little tricks and twists, like Shannon's inhaler finally showing up by the lighthouse, but by then the cute tricks and twists had worn out their welcome for me. I always said I hoped they wouldn't wrap the thing up in a tidy bundle for us, because it's so much more interesting to be kept wondering. When the possibilities were endless, they were endless. Of course the show was going to come to an end somewhere along the line; I don't begrudge the writers for wanting to give these poor beleaguered people some sort of happy ending. But to see everybody bathed in gold like they're all part of the heavenly host and walk into a church for their ultimate salvation? At least Ben wasn't suckered into it.
I own the first four seasons of the show, and I've watched those over and over. It was beautifully written, beautifully characterized, suspenseful as hell, and annoyingly smart. I have no plans on purchasing the last two seasons. I don't think I ever want to watch them again.
In other news, I'll be off teaching a massage class both afternoons this weekend. Got my notes and handouts all ready and hopefully my brain will be screwed on in time for class. All my RP characters are bleeding, so that means it's time to take it out on some unsuspecting Darkspawn. Don't break anything while I'm gone.
And that means it's Unpopular Fandom Opinion Time! Today, it's coming at you uncensored and unedited.
First, what the SHIT was it with the whole soul-mate crap? I don't care if the ending was what really happened or just Jack's dying fantasy. The latter makes it marginally more palatable; the former makes it completely unbearable. The only way to be happy is to reclaim the gift of what is undoubtedly your One True Island Love and take it into the forever-after? What about all the years between leaving the island and dying? Were none of those people able to establish meaningful relationships in the interim? Did nothing that anyone did for the entire fucking rest of their lives even merit a glimmer of consideration? Let's take Sayid as a case-in-point. It's pointed to canonically so many times that the love of his life was Nadia. He knew Shannon for a month, maybe, and that means she was his OTL? And we're supposed to swallow that, hook, line, and sinker? I know Naveen Andrews wanted a love interest on the show (hey, even Patrick Stewart wanted more girly action for teh sexy elf Jean-Luc Picard, I get it), but honestly. The whole Sayid-Shannon thing was so fucking contrived it makes me want to scratch my eyeballs out even now. That he ran to her like an angel of light in that alley so they could do a big group grope was one of the most unforgivable things about the show to me. Don't even get me started on the rest of the relationships. The only one I thought had any honesty to it on the show was Sawyer and Kate, and that's because we saw the progression. It made sense because we saw them grow into it. I don't care that they didn't end up together, but I do care about the crafting that went into that one. All the rest of the relationships were half-assed and there just for the sake of having a little romance. Oh, except for Richard and Isabella. That one worked for poor little me.
I never wanted Lost to be about Who Kate Chooses, but that's pretty much what it boiled down to at the end. All the mythology and mystery was booted pretty unceremoniously in one badly-costumed overacted episode (and I actually usually like Allison Janney) as if the writers were patting us on the heads like indulgent adults at a candy shop, telling us "here, have a little taste. We know it's not as good as the top-shelf stuff, but it's candy, it'll do. Now don't complain and go be good little tykes, mmkay?" By the end of the series, anything that caused me to be so damn agitated in the best possible way over the course of the first four seasons had been so watered-down and sanitized for presentation that I just didn't care any more. So there was a pot of gold at the end of the island's rainbow! Yay! Leprechauns!
All the cleverness disappeared during the last two seasons. Sure, there were still cute and neat little tricks and twists, like Shannon's inhaler finally showing up by the lighthouse, but by then the cute tricks and twists had worn out their welcome for me. I always said I hoped they wouldn't wrap the thing up in a tidy bundle for us, because it's so much more interesting to be kept wondering. When the possibilities were endless, they were endless. Of course the show was going to come to an end somewhere along the line; I don't begrudge the writers for wanting to give these poor beleaguered people some sort of happy ending. But to see everybody bathed in gold like they're all part of the heavenly host and walk into a church for their ultimate salvation? At least Ben wasn't suckered into it.
I own the first four seasons of the show, and I've watched those over and over. It was beautifully written, beautifully characterized, suspenseful as hell, and annoyingly smart. I have no plans on purchasing the last two seasons. I don't think I ever want to watch them again.
In other news, I'll be off teaching a massage class both afternoons this weekend. Got my notes and handouts all ready and hopefully my brain will be screwed on in time for class. All my RP characters are bleeding, so that means it's time to take it out on some unsuspecting Darkspawn. Don't break anything while I'm gone.
no subject
And I think the afterlife holds up better as Jack's personal version -- fewer holes that way -- but I still think they made it clear it wasn't supposed to be just his. I hate the implication that those who survived had nothing and nobody affect their lives in significant ways, that none of them had any other meaningful relationships or anything else to work through. The island was a big deal, I know, but... I mean, Jack got an imaginary son, for crying out loud. :/
no subject
I agree with almost everything you've said, and I believe you have a much better grasp on Kate's full characterization than I do. I hate that the writers made me so bitter about all of it before its time. Most of all, I hate that I stopped caring so far before the end of the series. Watching the last season and a half was, for me, only an exercise in completing something I'd started and that's the biggest shame of all for me personally about the show.