Lost Season 5 Thread - There'd be Spoilers if Anyone Knew What The Hell Was Happening

[Pyser]

seriously, people. the season started a day ago and no thread on it at all? i know its losing viewers, but if youre still in, youre in for the duration

no one else is still psyched about the show? i know i am

and bring on the haters. theyll show up soon, i know.

[samifan24]

I thought both episodes last night were pretty weak.

[Pyser]

there was certainly no "holy shit!" moment. and they are treading on some SERIOUSLY slippery ground (i cant stand time travel shit).

but the re-introduction of ms hawking is very interesting, as was the possible flash forward/flashback thing opening the show with farraday. did he travel on his own, or did the island take him there and we flashed forward?

is there a worse character now than kate? im ready for her to die, please. adding the talking kid only makes it that much more intolerable.

still, intriguing enough to talk about.

[samifan24]

Originally Posted by Pyser

is there a worse character now than kate? im ready for her to die, please.

Juliet Burke.

[DeToxRox]

The flaming arrows were fucking awesome.

I loved last night.

[MrDNA]

I think they're playing fast and loose with two different concepts of time travel. You've got your Back to the Future type where you can go back and walk around and actually do stuff and the Slaughterhouse 5 "unstuck in time" where your consciousness just jumps around (like Desmond has been doing for a while). They just seem to be grabbing from whichever is convenient. As a nerd, this bugs me. If, like Daniel said, they couldn't do anything "new" when the island jumped, then why the heck were they all together, why did the soldiers find them, why did Ethan shoot John, etc. etc.?

[chadritt]

My theory is that Daniel is wrong and doesnt understand time travel as well as he thinks he does.

[rjolley]

I enjoyed the episodes.

Daniel understands things differently than he explained it. If he didn't, why would he try to get Desmond to help them?

Kate and Juliet are ok, but if Jack yells out that they have to go back one more time...

And a nice appearance by Anna Lucia and mention of Libby. (there can be spoilers in this thread, right?)

[sabotai]

I liked the episodes, but no bombs were dropped. But they are doing a good job in setting up the rest of the season.

[Pyser]

id say spoilers only for something that already aired are fine. i mean, if 5 seasons in you dont know to stay away until you watch, youre an idiot. but if it hasnt aired yet, keep your mouth shut

[Poli]

I just finished them. I enjoyed them. I am a Lost junkie, though.

[Tasan]

I enjoyed them. I really think that Daniel only thinks he knows what is going on. Although, he has lied before, convincingly, so it could all be a ploy to accomplish something further we don't know about yet.

[JonInMiddleGA]

Originally Posted by MrDNA

If, like Daniel said, ...

Since I don't watch Lost I read this & wondered wth this guy had to do with anything.

[Raiders Army]

Not watching this season but it's due to the fact we don't get NBC and ABC more than anything else.

[MrDNA]

I forget the dude's name, but that extra who got hit with the first flaming arrow... MAN he was annoying! I cheered when he got hit.

[samifan24]

Originally Posted by Raiders Army

Not watching this season but it's due to the fact we don't get NBC and ABC more than anything else.

You know you watch episodes on ABC's website, right?

[Captain2711]

Originally Posted by MrDNA

I forget the dude's name, but that extra who got hit with the first flaming arrow... MAN he was annoying! I cheered when he got hit.

Frogurt!!!!

[Swaggs]

I thought those episodes were more of the plot-moving variety, rather than "wow" episodes. It is a little disappointing that the season premier wasn't a little more monumental, but it was good enough for me.

At this point, I'm pretty well resigned to sticking with Lost through its end date. I've said it before, but the acting in Lost, for the most part, is really outstanding and most of the actors (outside of Kate, Jack, and Claire) are capable of entertaining me with very average writing (I think the writing is usually better than average, but you get the point).

Also, put me in the camp that thinks that Farraday is not telling the whole truth. The fact that he was in the opening scene, when Dr. Candle was filming his instructional video, lead me to believe that he had played with time travel in the past and knows that he can manipulate the future with it.

[flere-imsaho]

Awesome thread title, by the way.

[Honolulu_Blue]

I finally watched the two episodes last night. I liked it. I really like the concept of the characters on the island moving around randomly in time. It sets up for all sorts of cool possibilities.

I really had no complaints. A very solid two hours.

Who was the priest/druid woman in the church that Ben was talking to at the end? Have we seen her before? I am fuzzy on a lot of the old details.

Edit: Oh, I guess that's "Ms. Hawking." I don't remember her from that episode.

[OldGiants]

I loved the flaming arrow attack, although who fired off the arrows is a complete mystery to me.

Ms. Hawking sitting in a lab under a church with computers and Foucault's Pendulum on the floor was a great moment for me. Is she using that to pin point the Island's location? That pendulum proves the Earth rotates. How did Ben get to her so quickly? She's the one who sold Desmond a ring for Penny, isn't she?

Ben: "It's okay, I understand people have difficulty trusting me."

Cheech making a ham and cheese sandwich and then slathering cavier over it, like mustard.

Why was Aaron watching an old Superman cartoon from the 1950's in his first scene? A hidden message? Kids today won't watch the old cartoons at all, is my experience with Elementary school age kids.

[Edward64]

I got tired of being teased after season 2.

Can you fans give everyone else a concise description of what is going on?

Ex. So I guess time travel is part of the story? What was the ghost monster from season 1?

[MrDNA]

Originally Posted by Edward64

I got tired of being teased after season 2.

Can you fans give everyone else a concise description of what is going on?

Ex. So I guess time travel is part of the story? What was the ghost monster from season 1?

See the thread title, man; no one has any idea what's going on. I don't recall having seen the smoke monster or a polar bear for a long, long time - right now it's about the island being "moved" (through time, I think) and the characters jumping around in time. If I hadn't already invested so much time in this show I would be goooooooooone.

[rjolley]

Last smoke monster sighting I recall was Ben calling it to attack the mercenaries after his "daughter" was shot.

[chesapeake]

Originally Posted by Captain2711

Frogurt!!!!

"My name is Neil!!!"

If you didn't see the occasional Lost clips on their website, I don't believe that you would have any idea who Frogurt is. He does a funny bit with Hurley set just before Hurley goes on his date with Libby.

+1 on the Ana Lucia appearance.

When Farraday told Desmond to go find his mother, I turned to my wife and said "Ms. Hawking." Since we are at the point in the series where it is a little late to be introducing new characters of significance, my money is still on this.

Farraday certainly knows more than he has said. I think he has the same sort of flashes that Desmond had (has?) because he exposed himself to his own experiment, but he has a better grasp of them and has written down everything he could remember into his notebook. So it might be more accurate to say that he may know more, but, like Desmond, he doesn't always fully understand how what he has seen fits into the linear context of time.

If time travel isn't your thing, you're in the wrong show. It has been pretty clear for some time that time is integral to the plot.

[spleen1015]

No good WTF? moments. I was disappointed by the 2nd hour. Keep Hurley's parents off the show.

This week's episode is getting a good amount of hype. We'll see what happens.

[Samdari]

Originally Posted by chesapeake

If time travel isn't your thing, you're in the wrong show. It has been pretty clear for some time that time is integral to the plot.

I HATE that time travel is one of the secrets of the island, especially considering that they promised some "scientifically plausible" explanations, and clearly time travel is not.

But, I have invested four years of Wednesdays into this, and am invested in the characters, so I stick around, but have largely stopped enjoying it.

[StLee]

In Season 1, there were the "Adam and Eve" skeletons that I have always believed to be two of the Oceanic people, meaning time travel of some sort was always possible. Based on Season 1, I assumed Jack and Kate.

Of course, based on the DHARMA films along with Ben's trek from tropics to arctic, there are some definitive time travel moments.

As far as science is concerned, it was never a factor from teh very beginning: ghosts, smoke monster, esp (or whatever Walt had), mind (or time) jumping by Desmond, and, hell, even the instant mastery of a gun and survival skills some of the nitwits had. This show was never meant to be scientific at all.

[Samdari]

Originally Posted by StLee

This show was never meant to be scientific at all.

The producers of this show done (mostly) weekly podcasts since the beginning.

Some of the popular fan theories in season 1 centered on the mystical/metaphysical/spiritual (i.e. they are in purgatory). The producers swore up and down that there was a scientific explanation to it all. So, if it was never meant to be scientific, the people creating the story told some big lies.

Now that time travel is seemingly the central mystery, I feel decieved, as I feel that is fantasy.

[chesapeake]

There is a very solid basis in current theories in physics for time travel, FWIW. My sense is that the time travel used in the show is based on one of these theories.

[jonesz]

Originally Posted by Swaggs

The fact that he was in the opening scene, when Dr. Candle was filming his instructional video, lead me to believe that he had played with time travel in the past and knows that he can manipulate the future with it.

My thought about the opening scene is I bet the dude from the freighter group, that can talk to dead people, is Dr. Candle's baby that was shown in it.

[Honolulu_Blue]

Originally Posted by jonesz

My thought about the opening scene is I bet the dude from the freighter group, that can talk to dead people, is Dr. Candle's baby that was shown in it.

Miles? Yeah, I had that thought as well.

[Ronnie Dobbs2]

An interesting, though dense, retort to the whole "time travel must be considered fantasy" argument.

Powell's Books - PowellsBooks.BLOG - Lost: Telling Time

[Noop]

Originally Posted by jonesz

My thought about the opening scene is I bet the dude from the freighter group, that can talk to dead people, is Dr. Candle's baby that was shown in it.

Actually I thought the baby was Sun's father.

[Ronnie Dobbs2]

Not sure how the timing would work on that, since Sun's father has got to be 60 or 70 and Candle appears to have an infant in the 70s.

Then again...

[Honolulu_Blue]

Originally Posted by Samdari

The producers of this show done (mostly) weekly podcasts since the beginning.

Some of the popular fan theories in season 1 centered on the mystical/metaphysical/spiritual (i.e. they are in purgatory). The producers swore up and down that there was a scientific explanation to it all. So, if it was never meant to be scientific, the people creating the story told some big lies.

Now that time travel is seemingly the central mystery, I feel decieved, as I feel that is fantasy.

Well, like Faraday said:

“You have no idea how difficult it would be for me to explain this phenomenon to a quantum physicist. “That would be difficult. So for me to try and explain this….”

They only have 33 more hours. They aint got time to do all this 'splaining to the likes of us.

[Noop]

Originally Posted by Ronnie Dobbs2

Not sure how the timing would work on that, since Sun's father has got to be 60 or 70 and Candle appears to have an infant in the 70s.

Then again...

Time travel. I think Charles Widmore use to be on the island as well but some how was tricked into turning the wheel. I am starting to think that Ben is really the good guy in all of this because he seems so dedicated to the island.

[DataKing]

Originally Posted by Ronnie Dobbs2

An interesting, though dense, retort to the whole "time travel must be considered fantasy" argument.

Powell's Books - PowellsBooks.BLOG - Lost: Telling Time

Fantastic link. Thanks.

[Samdari]

Originally Posted by chesapeake

There is a very solid basis in current theories in physics for time travel, FWIW. My sense is that the time travel used in the show is based on one of these theories.

I assume you are referring to time dilation, a phenomenon predicted by relativity?

This has long been extrapolated by non-physicists to mean time travel is possible, but there is absolutely nothing in that theory suggesting that one could move back to a time that has already occurred.

There is no scientific basis for time travel the way it is presented here. I guess "solid basis" is in the eye of the beholder, but I will forever feel the promise of a "scientific explanation" was broken.

[sabotai]

Originally Posted by Samdari

I assume you are referring to time dilation, a phenomenon predicted by relativity?

No, he's not talking about time dilation. There are some really advanced (as in, like Faraday said in the episode, it's very difficult for quantum physicists to understand) theories about time travel. I read about them (a very general overview) awhile ago, and it was just over my head. But when Faraday said "you can't change what has already happened", it reminded me of them.

[chesapeake]

FWIW, Hawking has hypothesized that once spacetime is warped in the right way, you could move both backwards and forwards within that warping. But you couldn't go back in the timeline to before the warping occurred.

The island Losties are bouncing around, apparently within a finite period of time. It is possible that the writers are trying to adhere to Hawking's theories.

I think you also need to cut them some slack. I don't think that it is fair to insist that some Hollywood writers have to solve the problem of time travel in order to meet the promise of a "scientific explanation." I think a good faith effort to stick to Hawking or another theory of time while adding a healthy dose of conjecture and cool stuff hardly makes the show a travesty.

That said, I could understand it better if you were complaining about the ambulatory dead people and white horses. I have no idea how they will scientifically explain those without resorting to a downed UFO or lost civilization scenario.

[gstelmack]

Originally Posted by Ronnie Dobbs2

An interesting, though dense, retort to the whole "time travel must be considered fantasy" argument.

Powell's Books - PowellsBooks.BLOG - Lost: Telling Time

Good god, how do you people FOLLOW this show? I'm impressed.

[Samdari]

Originally Posted by sabotai

No, he's not talking about time dilation. There are some really advanced (as in, like Faraday said in the episode, it's very difficult for quantum physicists to understand) theories about time travel. I read about them (a very general overview) awhile ago, and it was just over my head. But when Faraday said "you can't change what has already happened", it reminded me of them.

These "advanced" theories are very unlikely to be have been proposed by serious physicists.

And I am not expecting them to solve the problem of time travel in order to meet the promise of a "scientific explanation." To me, the very promise of a scientifically plausible explanation means time travel is not involved, period.

I am very disappointed, but as I said earlier, still follow, because I have to know how pretty much any story I start ends.

[kingfc22]

Can somebody please refresh my memory as to who "Ms. Hawking" is. I don't recall her in any previous episodes, but I do believe that she is Daniel's mother.

Thank goodness that dude got shot by the arrows. I was loving that scene.

[Honolulu_Blue]

Originally Posted by kingfc22

Can somebody please refresh my memory as to who "Ms. Hawking" is. I don't recall her in any previous episodes, but I do believe that she is Daniel's mother.

Thank goodness that dude got shot by the arrows. I was loving that scene.

Here you go:

Ms. Hawking - LOST

[Easy Mac]

My ear hurts because I just got mind-fucked

[MrDNA]

Really nice episode tonight. I enjoyed the the threads being connected (Locke meeting young Widmore, Locke telling Richard to visit him as a child). Also, I like how Farraday is becoming a more complex character than his "gee shucks" attitude at first made it seem.

[Swaggs]

The problem that I am having with the first 3-hours of this season is that the contents of each episode are fine as a segment of the greater story, but the individual episodes have not been very entertaining.

Up until this season, it seemed like there was a quality, one-hour show (with a beginning, middle, and end/climax) along with some meat that moved along the overall plot (sometimes a little bit, sometimes a ton). This season's episodes make me feel like I'm watching the first 15-20 minutes of a 2-hour movie.

[SFL Cat]

See, the X-Files spoiled shows like this for me, because like that show...they all start out with an intriguing premise, and the first few seasons are very captivating. However, after that it's like the producers and writers reach a point where they begin to look at each other and ask..."WTF are we trying to do here?" and that begins to show on the screen as they start reaching into the magic hat and pulling anything and everything out of it. I believe some refer to this point as "jumping the Shark."

[Pyser]

solid episode. will think on it the rest of the night