LOST - what is its legacy?

[Zodzilla]

I love this show. Flaws and all. Just phenomenal sci fi and the episodes by themselves were always like mini films. Amazing acting and production values.

Does the end betray some if not all of the mystery element of the show? Certainly. Does is leave us unfulfilled emotionally? I would say no.

I also just want to complain that it's frustrating to me that I can't buy the entire series on iTunes without purchasing two separate packs that are $70 bucks each, and that the complete series Blu-ray is long out of print and prices are super expensive.

 

[Swearing.circle]

As someone who only tried to watch it recently. I think it's a show that has some great moments but went on way longer than it needed to. I lost interest in the second to last season and have really struggled to go back and finish it. The intrigue is completely gone for me.

 

[nekkid]

Having watched it all again recently, yeah….it really should have just been an island full of dinosaurs or monsters.

 

[Kaswa101]

Forever my fave show.

 

[cognizant]

Lost alongside BSG cemented serialised television as the main form of storytelling, and I would say that is a pretty big legacy.

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Shows started to look more like movies post-Lost too, not just in terms of budget, but cinematography, soundtrack and other cinematic conventions. The show definitely ushered in the 'golden age' as the quality went up and veered away from episodic to serialised narratives. Also worth noting that it dipped its toes into several genres, even though people remember it as sci-fi/mystery, most of the flashbacks were drama, thriller, romance, etc.

Granted, you could possibly say that Sopranos had a bigger impact earlier, but I don't think that show created a wave of imitators like Lost did, as well as showrunners inspired by Lost's success to create their own ambitious longform shows, mystery-driven or not.

 

[Sweet James Jones]

I still haven't recovered from Juliet's death scene. My heart broke for Sawyer and I cried legit tears.

That soundtrack tho. Tearjerkingly good.

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Spot on.

 

[The Bear]

Lost is one of the earliest examples of an iconic TV Series that spread online through people making theories, fanwikis and lots of online engagement in general.

Many series tried (and lot failed) to replicate the impressive success of this approach. The series is cited and discussed in media studies in universities to this day.

Despite a lackluster ending, you can't ignore how big of a deal it was.

 

[Damien1928]

Greatest Tv of all time.

 

[Scousefury]

One of the first if not the first show to end so badly it made you want to forget you ever wasted your time watching it in the first place.

 

[Razgriz-Specter]

The final episode was the best finale of any tv show and I'll fight whoever thinks differently.

No they were not dead the whole time.

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God damn.

 

[Turkoop]

I rewatched it for the third time last year. I still adore it, and I still do think it is a masterpiece.

 

[TheDutchSlayer]

How Lost really ended.

1496 votes and 145258 views on Imgur: The magic of the Internet

imgur.com

 

[Lengusta]

It gave it the same feels games of thrones did, everything was great until until the last few episodes

 

[Prison_mike]

Watching it now and made it to season 2 which is the furthest I've ever gone. Really enjoying it!

 

[wouldyoukindly]

It's my favorite tv show.

IMO the finale isn't the problem. The rest of season 6 is.

Spoiler

The temple and Charles Widmore plot were unneccessary and revealed no mystery I was ever interested in.

 

[Letters]

I miss being this completely hooked and absorbed by a tv show, it was something else back in the day.

 

[Ensirius]

I miss being this completely hooked and absorbed by a tv show, it was something else back in the day.

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Nothing has even come close for me.
It was incredible.

 

[Kill3r7]

The first 4 seasons were so much fun.

Someone else said it but it is true about the production. Lost got your attention from the jump because some of those scenes felt like they were from a movie and not a network tv show.

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[Aske]

Imagine how amazing it would have been if it delivered on its promises and actually explained itself. Instead, it's like a series of mystery novels which all overlap, but when one is solved, it begets three more. I love the process of solving the mystery as much as anyone, but without the solve, it's just a series of empty connections floating in a vacuum. For some bizarre reason, Lost decided not to bother solving its mysteries, and the world felt understandably pissed.

 

[Mcfrank]

A great show that along with 24 and a few others changed the course of television history. I know we don't get to the current era of television without it, but Lost would have been so much stronger in the current 10 - 13 eps per season model than it was being crammed into 20+ episodes per season of its era.

 

[AHA-Lambda]

It's legacy will always be people online trying to gaslight you thinking it was good, then the consensus with people offline is that it was shit.

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Sounds about right to me.

 

[Dyno]

Honestly I don't think I've been burned by a show harder. I really loved the mystery, then the answer retroactively shat on everything imo. I genuinely regret wasting my time on it given how it ended.

 

[NuclearCake]

The show mutated into something horrible after season 4 and it had possibly the single worst final season and ending up until that point in history. It was so bad that it ruins even the good parts of the show. Basically exactly like what came out of Game of Thrones.

 

[CitizenVectron]

I actually just re-watched this (and introduced my wife to it) after not seeing it since it aired. Overall...not bad, but not great. The highlights are 100% in the first few seasons, especially everything with Desmond. He carried the show (though Jack was better than usual in the final season). A real shame how they did so many characters dirty (Sayid, John, the Kwons, etc).

Best moment of the show is BY FAR the moment in Contact when Desmond speaks to Penny. Desmond Hume is an international treasure.

 

[CHC]

For me the show is the embodiment of the idea that it's a lot easier to establish a compelling mystery than it is to resolve one.

 

[LilZippa]

The piolet is so great. They didn't really have a plan unfortunately and I will never trust JJ on any production.

 

[macjester]

Just like GoT, pop culture phenomenon that got way too big for its own good and completely failed to live up to its potential. Definitely influenced TV that came after it, and I'm not sure how it would be watching it for the first time so many years later without the theories, hype, and year long season breaks, but for me it's a show I can't rewatch because even though the early seasons are very good there is ultimately no payoff to a lot of the lore and mysteries that made the show so addictive.

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This right here...but to me, its just another show that got out ahead of itself (wasn't JJ Abrahams involved in this -- hasn't this happened with him before). I loved the journey of Lost...but the ending was such a complete let down, but it certainly wasn't unique to Lost. As shows age (more seasons) they get more complex, character back stories get more detailed/developed and sometimes they try to weave even more intricate plots along the way...to me this is bad story telling that usually ends poorly (I'm looking @ you X-Files). Adding as you go is rarely the way for shows that continue past a couple of seasons. I don't know if it was planned, but Fringe seemed to keep everything consistent, while revealing twists along the way and it ended (in my mind) "coherently." For me the sweet spot is 3-5 seasons. Anything past that and it runs the risk of self implosion.

My wife and me are watching Blacklist (we're only about halfway through somewhere around season 4) and I have this sinking suspicion its going to happen there...the show has already had a few WTF moments, but I don't feel like its completely painted itself into a corner yet (please if this is the case don't spoil me, let me be disappointed in real time when that happens).

 

[Kaswa101]

I'll never understand the complaints about lack of answers. I can't really think of anything that wasn't solved directly in the lore or that can't be easily explained within the logic of the show.

It also works even more effectively on repeat rewatches imo. So much attention to detail.

 

[Deleted member 70788]

It's incredibly flawed, but beautiful IMO. It's also important to remember it in the context of what other network shows were doing at the time. It was pretty groundbreaking. I still love the soundtrack, characters, and emotional dynamics. People who view it as a "mystery first" show were disappointed and continue to see the flaws in it. People who saw it was "character forward" I think loved it.