Until Game of Thrones dethroned it several years later, Lost reigned as the king of "lots of great setup, but crappy payoff". Both shows seemed to lose control of their plots in the later seasons, only to culminate in weak attempts to wrap things up with unsatisfying endings.
That's why both shows were massive cultural phenomenons during their run, but are rarely ever mentioned any more after their disappointing final seasons.
I remember watching a few seasons & liking it, forget why I stopped watching. Have heard about the ending, but never the full detail on it, so only have it partially spoiled.
Mixed feelings. Lost had some really great highs but really bad lows. Great pay-offs and WTF moments/if not partial seasons. All that said, my wife and I plowed through it over the course of a month or two, and overall I was entertained...mostly.
Posts: 3553 | Location: Alexandria, VA | Registered: March 07, 2011
I recommend you watch it just to see what all the fuss was about. Like most, I enjoyed it but felt the ending was lacking. It does give the viewer options for filling in the blanks on their own, but that isn't too popular in this century.
Only you can make that call. It's probably the biggest shaggy dog story in the history of television. 6 season build-up to an ending that was best described as emotionally, but not intellectually, satisfying. You'll have many unanswered questions at the end. Yet, at least for me, it was a heart-felt conclusion.
I've never been so engaged with a simple t.v. show, and I'd do it again without hesitation. Actually, that's literally true as I binge-watched the entire series not long ago, and will probably do so again.
Wife and I watched a couple seasons and then looked at each other, said, “What is this shit?!” Never watched another episode. Most overhyped garbage freakin series I ever wasted part of my life on.
Posts: 13887 | Location: Shenandoah Valley, VA | Registered: October 16, 2008
A TREMENDOUS STUPENDOUS WASTING OF YOUR LIFE AND TIME!
You would be much much better off watching Bud Spencer and Terence Hill in 'Who Finds a Friend Finds a Treasure' or 'Double Trouble'or 'Odds and Evens'.
Watch 'Amadeus". Its fiction but the music is beautiful.
PS, I also suggest 'Hell in the Pacific ' with Lee Marvin and Toshiro Mifune.
"It is only with the heart that one can see rightly; what is essential is invisible to the eye". The Little Prince, Antoine de Saint-Exupery, pilot and author, lost on mission, July 1944, Med Theatre.
Posts: 6036 | Location: Central Texas | Registered: September 14, 2003
Originally posted by RogueJSK: Until Game of Thrones dethroned it several years later, Lost reigned as the king of "lots of great setup, but crappy payoff". Both shows seemed to lose control of their plots in the later seasons, only to culminate in weak attempts to wrap things up with unsatisfying endings.
That's why both shows were massive cultural phenomenons during their run, but are rarely ever mentioned any more after their disappointing final seasons.
Best description I can imagine. If you like that sort of plot tease, it's got hours and hours of it. But there isn't a fantastic end that ties it all up. It seems like the writers never expected the next season, again and again. By the end, they were painted into a corner pretty firmly.
I notice that most of these shows try to attract female (not always) viewers by creating a “social” or emotional interaction aspect amongst the action scenes.
For instance, we were watching some movie/show where the people were being attacked by zombies. Right in the middle of the brutal attack one of the characters starts an argument with her significant other because she feels he is showing another character improper attention.
Right in the middle of the attack whilst they are dodging and killing zombies. So the main character is having to defend himself and the other character while they yell out their feelings and why they are upset with each other. I have seen this done effectively (...with an appropriately light touch) before in many movies, but not prolonged over several minutes and not quite so cringy. It appears that in our present state of film wokeness anything like this seems best applied with a trowel.
It positively reeked of Phoebe Waller-Bridgeness.
Posts: 1512 | Location: PA | Registered: March 15, 2009