So, here’s the thing that pisses me off. We know that Locke and Ben are probably right with their warnings… But for some reason the writers feel it necessary that their motives remain hidden and secret… So of course Our Heroes do what they think makes the most sense. If Locke and Ben are so frickin’ concerned, why not spill the beans, since maybe that would get Our Heroes to pay attention? Why would Our Heroes be expected to listen to these two cranks who have done everything in their power to prevent their escape?
Argh. Sloppy lazy writing at its worst. Which is too bad, because the show also got interesting again in the second half of this past season.
Dancing With the Stars had a wonderful season finale and dance-off Finals. And the champions were exactly the partners that deserved to win. TV can be entertaining and satisfying, if you know what to watch.
And how about them Pistons!
Yes, that scene was lame. I’m hoping that there’s a good reason for Ben (and now Locke) to be so opaque. I figure the island’s mystery must be so mind-shattering that mere words can’t describe it.
But, seriously now, who was in the coffin? And who was the “he” Kate referred to? (I say Ben and Sawyer, respectively.)
Those of us who keep watching but don’t know why, have learned to live with this crap — it’s been happening since day two. The problem is not Ben and Locke, the problem is with the protagonists. Every time Jack is on the screen engaging with a non-protagonist, he fails to ask the one question that everyone wants him to ask, i.e. “why?”. _Every _ time. The people I’m supposed to identify with, those are the people that are responsible for obtaining this obviously significant information.
I guess this qualifies as sloppy writing, but I’m pretty sure the writers are aware of it. They just assume their viewers are idiots with brains turned off, and you know they are right.
I figured you would like the season cliffhanger, because it was a big ol’ hard left turn. For me, anything different is good.
Okay. So now I am going to tell you a legitimate secret about television writing. This is no joke. It is an accepted precept in series television that there must be holes in plot and logic. TV Producers and Story Editors purposely build their scripts with a certain amount of intentional flaws. They operate on the theory that general audiences stay more involved with writing that they can feel superior to.
Interestingly, involvement is more important than liking. Liking is fickle. These posts regarding dissatisfaction, but concern with LOST, are perfect examples of the grip of involvement, and the sense of viewer superiority that contributes to it.
When you tune into TV, you are playing their game and, as you know Trav, the rules always favor the house.
Hey, that explains why most of the shows i like don’t last very long.
It also explains why the chick in the slasher movie always runs upstairs.
Damn those crafty writers always one step ahead of me.
BJ, hope the WGA hasn’t already kidnapped you for spilling that secret. Usually I can get out of bad shows, but these writers are especially insidious.
It isn’t the writers who are the perpetrators, it’s the suits. Many a good writer, ahem, has had his knuckles rapped for trying to turn in a tight script to the wrong producer. Ah, the stories these writers could tell, if they could only speak, for publication that is.
Although Joe Eszterhas does a pretty thorough job in
Hollywood Animal: A Memoir.