Why LOST Has Become Unwatchable (It’s All About the Writing)
[We now take a break from our regularly scheduled programming for the following rant.] I’ve been a devoted fan of LOST since its debut. I have watched the first season…
[We now take a break from our regularly scheduled programming for the following rant.]
I've been a devoted fan of LOST since its debut. I have watched
the first season four times; I have watched the second season three
times; I have watched the third and fourth seasons twice.
I can
watch it so repeatedly only because the writing is so damn good. I love
how the audience is given credit for having a brain, that we have
to guess at what people are thinking or feeling, and that even if
people's motivations aren't apparent at the start, we sense a good
reason for their actions, and there's a payoff when the full story
(usually a back story) is revealed.
It is simply compelling to watch the characters interact and develop and grow. They act like real people. And we don't have all the answers.
Unfortunately,
now that we're knee-deep in season five, it feels like LOST is starting
to completely lose all the wonderful things that made it so good to
begin with.
- We now get touchy-feely emotional status updates
or displays from the likes of Sawyer or Kate, as if we were watching
daytime drama. I don't want people to vomit up their emotions every
other scene! I want repression, misdirection, misunderstanding! - We now
see characters do crazy things (that put themselves at enormous risk) that they have no reason or motivation
to do (except out of the goody-goodness of their hearts). - Everything
is now explained to us. (Hey, sorry folks if you haven't been able to
follow the time-travel plot twists, let us break it down for you real
slow during this excruciating conversation, revealing how dumb we think you really
are.) - Numerous plot holes opening left and right. E.g., aren't people
suspicious that Juliet has suddenly become a skilled surgeon when she
was originally working the motor pool? Hello?
I just spent about 10 minutes Googling to find sympathizers, by searching:
- Lost Season 5 poor writing
- Lost Season 5 bad writing
- Lost Season 5 terrible writing
- Lost Season 5 writing
I found nothing. Am I being too tough on this show? Am I the only one? Aren't there any writers/editors watching? Does anyone agree it's quickly becoming unwatchable? (I think I may have some sympathizers over at AgentQuery due to a Tweet exchange on wanting to detonate the island.)
Jane Friedman is a full-time entrepreneur (since 2014) and has 20 years of experience in the publishing industry. She is the co-founder of The Hot Sheet, the essential publishing industry newsletter for authors, and is the former publisher of Writer’s Digest. In addition to being a columnist with Publishers Weekly and a professor with The Great Courses, Jane maintains an award-winning blog for writers at JaneFriedman.com. Jane’s newest book is The Business of Being a Writer (University of Chicago Press, 2018).
