Yeah, I got nothin'.

[in_the_blue]

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.

Comments

[buongiornodaisy.livejournal.com]

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.

Gotta disagree here. Richard's Sudden Dead Wife subplot seemed to be pulled from the darker regions of Darltonland (hint: where the sun doesn't shine). He could have had a perfectly fine backstory without ye olde dead wife trope but no! This is season six! NO SINGLES ALLOWED.

[in-the-blue.livejournal.com]

Agree to disagree! I didn't really care one way or the other. I wasn't crazy about the Richard episode in general.

But yeah, NO SINGLES ALLOWED. Except if you're Frank.

[lostinapapercup.livejournal.com]

For a show that prided itself on characters and cleverness, I found season 6 to be a gut-wrenching disappointment. I felt like the characterization problem that started in S5 was only overcome in any respect in the last season because resolutions were handed out, tailor-made for the characters to cry from joy and make us happy for them. And sure, I think a whole lot of those characters were deserving of some joy after all they went through, but having that desire met doesn't necessarily make for a good show. Especially not when "it's all about the characters!" translates to "we're wrapping this up in a way that leaves all the characters happy but doesn't draw anything from or have any bearing on the intricacies of the show you've watched up until this point."

I didn't need all the questions answered. Or the members of the triangle-turned-quadrangle of doom I found more palatable together to actually end up together. Or the ending I would've written to the show.

What I did need was for it to actually be about the characters and not just tear-jerking reunions where anyone important seemed too-neatly paired off. What I needed was for the finale to be as clever and thought-provoking or even twisty as the first five seasons led me to believe it had to be.

I will say I don't really think it boiled down to who Kate chose in the end. While I do think it seemed very much like they tacked more importance to the Sawyer/Juliet relationship during the last season than they'd intended for it to have originally (I resent how questionable not mentioning an engagement ring and not pulling out all the stops when Juliet started doubting their relationship in The Incident made Sawyer's characterization) and I did take issue with the soulmates-required vibe the finale gave off and I do think saving Kate's first real "I love you" for the finale was a bad idea (I guess meant to string romance fans along?), I can't say I felt like I was waiting for her to make a choice, that a decision was being made, that anything hinged on her "I love you" to anyone.

And even though I thought Kate spent too much of the last two seasons at odds or purposefully separated from Jack to make me think she was pining over him the whole time, I didn't find it hard to believe she'd tell him she loved or even that she did love him. Until the soulmate-filled finale, what the show had shown time and time again -- even throughout season six -- was that Kate had a great affection for both Jack and Sawyer and that it was returned. It's obvious that the writers wanted Kate and Jack to be the ones together in the show's end, though, and having them get off the island together, separated from Sawyer, and get a romantic history under their belt was how they did it. Personally, I would've liked that more if they'd let Kate do what seemed like the natural option for her and not go home in an effort to avoid going on trial once she made it off the island. I never blamed her for wanting to get off the island -- why the hell would she want to stay? -- but I never understood why she initially went back with the rest of the O6 once she was off. But this is a tangent.

I felt bad that I couldn't be happier with Jin and Sun remembered everything, considering how I always wanted them to reconcile and grow together and be happy. I hated that I barely cared about Sayid, whom I've adored, in the finale and hardly blinked when he died.

Heh, this is so long, but I've spent so much time trying to work out why I found this so disappointing while so many are willing to accept it. I could write pages about it. As an episode judged on its own merit (the acting, the conflicts, the action, the gorgeous moments like Jack lying down in the jungle with Vincent nearby), the finale was good. It was certainly the best of the season. But as a finale for Lost, I think it's terrible. I greatly enjoyed the first four seasons of the show. Even my disappointment with season five didn't mean I thought it was without promise. But I feel like the finale in specific and much of season six put all the potential the show had in cement shoes and then dropped it right into the ocean.

[lostinapapercup.livejournal.com]

As an aside, though: Richard/Isabella? That was all right. It wasn't anything especially original, but they hadn't given us much about him before that and it didn't conflict with anything so I can't object. Richard's episode was pretty, but didn't work for me on general terms. Maybe mostly due to when it came in the series.

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. :/

[slaversbane.livejournal.com]

just dropped in to say, "I hope yer classes go swimmingly!"

so...

yeah. see aboveness and stuffs.

[in-the-blue.livejournal.com]

I honestly stopped caring if it was Jack's personal version or not. The whole ending was, as you say, ridiculous if you take the entire series into account. There were so many flaws along the way that seemed like both pandering to fanservice and simple laziness on the part of the writers (like most of season 5) and part of me hates that they went the route of gratuitously killing off so many people, although it was bound to happen, and the things they chose to answer versus what they chose not to answer appear to be huge glaring things, and I'm just so soured on the show because of the last couple seasons. It's a shame, because I loved it until then.

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.

[in-the-blue.livejournal.com]

So far, so good! Thank you kindly.