Lost: Enter 77

New rule on the island: Locke is not allowed around computers.

Seriously - was that Locke last night? He was more like the third Stooge than someone generally assumed to be the "other leader" of the group. Who leaves a person bound in one room to go play chess in another room? How could Locke, of all people, think that blindly playing with a DHARMA computer is a good idea?

Did Kate manage to get all those DHARMA books which probably explained the operation of the island? I'm guessing not. No, Locke's accidental explosion now gets in line with Jack dismissing the captured Losties and Sawyer sending Karl away. Doesn't entirely make sense ... but conveniently keeps the Lost ones (and us) from learning anything new. That book about food drops? Might have been helpful.

And in that vein - the producers claimed this was an episode where we would learn important connections between DHARMA and the Others. I guess in a way we did - we know now that it was antagonistic. The Others aren't ex-DHARMA people, DHARMA arrived on the island and apparently tried to "purge" the hostiles. DHARMA lost.

Course, that doesn't entirely make sense either. Juliet is definately DHARMA, right? And Klugh was part of Ben's group, and Juliet is part of Ben's group ... so how is Mikhail also not part of DHARMA?

So in typical Lost fashion ... the producers promise clarity and only end up clouding the picture some more. We really don't know squat.

Even the show's writers seem to realize the show is in trouble. In this episode we get Sawyer asking Nikki who the hell she is (we're still wondering ourselves) ... Sawyer asking Hurley if the hatch exploded or imploded (the producers can't seem to keep it straight) and Sayid telling Locke that using a stick as a compass is silly (because really, truly, even on this island ... it is).

Speaking of - wasn't it established in season one that north wasn't a trustworthy concept? That some kind of magnetic field was throwing it off? So either the hatch (ex|im)plosion removed that problem and they forgot to mention it ... or they simply forgot?

I'd go back and look - but someone at work pointed out yesterday that the first season isn't so much fun when you realize that the story will just string you along for two more episodes.

He's right, of course. It's not that last night's episode was terrible by television standards - it's just that it made the show feel like it had bottomed out. The producers aren't willing to tinker with the format of the show or resolve revelations on any timetable which might appeal to those bored with the show.

I'm clocking it - the show is not going to get any better. Either enjoy it as it is or watch Medium.

Fun Fact! The series began development in January 2004, when Lloyd Braun, head of ABC at the time, ordered an initial script based on his concept of a cross between the movie Cast Away and the popular reality show Survivor. Unhappy with the result and a subsequent re-write, Braun contacted J.J. Abrams, creator of the TV series Alias, to write a new pilot script. Although initially hesitant, Abrams warmed up to it, and eventually collaborated with Damon Lindelof to create the series' style and characters. (Wikipedia)

tagged: television, lost