The problem with LOST's final season

[@ShadowDogProduction]

I had a similar experience watching this season live. It became obvious there were too many differences between what really happened and what happened in the flash sideways for the plane not crashing on the island to explain it. So this wasn't an alternate timeline. When we got to Sayid's episode Sundown i felt like my time was being wasted and began fast forwarding through all the flash sideways until the series finale. To this day I've never watched the ones I missed and have never rewatched the ones from episodes 1-5. In my opinion, we only needed flash sideways in the season premiere, one episode in the middle, and the finale. That's enough to get the point across. Think about all that screentime you'd now have for things we never got. Jacob meeting with Widemore, Anne from Ben's backstory, Ilana backstory, etc. You did NOT need half of 16 episodes' worth of screentime devoted to the flash sideways.

[@Romans8-9]

They ran out of stories to tell which is why they filled half the season with flash sideways. Another big problem with the flash sideways is, keeping the audience out of the loop for the entire season (not explaining what the flash sideways was) and expecting them to stay interested.

[@harbs16]

@@Romans8-9 we knew what it was. Some people just didn't get it.

[@Romans8-9]

@@harbs16 Um no, the purpose of the flash sideways and how they "arrived there" was not revealed until the finale.

[@harbs16]

@@Romans8-9 I knew it was an alternate life as it was airing live. Most people did. We didn't get the full picture until it ended but it was a great way to see what they created in the afterlife. I get that people were confused but at this point it has all been cleared up. A rewatch is probably in order for you if it's not clicking.

[@Romans8-9]

@@harbs16 Well you "knowing" it was an afterlife was a nice guess. Good for you. No kidding it has all been cleared up but when it aired it was confusing and the audience duly dropped off. What we know now is completely irrelevant to my comment. Maybe improve your reading comprehension because its obviously "not clicking" for you.

[@UncleFlaynus]

Just came across your channel 5 minutes ago. I'm looking forward to binging every video of yours in regards to lost. This show is an unsung masterpiece and is the most thematically consistent show of ever seen.

[@Choekaas]

Wow, that's so wonderful to hear. Thank you very much for those kind words :)

[@LNHEALING]

I love your videos. You are actually the only one person who noticed the same things I noticed at the time when I was 18 years old… i remember that I was excited when the episodes had one of the directors of photography… because I knew it would be better coloured! don’t remember the name 😅 Anyway… great work man! Love your channel. Have you ever think of making video about “how Lost could have ended if there were only three seasons?”. The first 6 episodes of season 3 are full of little things that could tell us how it could end if they didn’t renewed for six seasons!! Keep going:) greetings from italy!

[@Choekaas]

Wow, thanks for the compliment! Happy to hear that. You know, that's actually a good idea for a video. I'll think about it. When I'm done with season 6 I'll probably end up doing Lost videos sporadically, every now and then. Maybe that will fit then?

[@AhmedGhazwan]

I'm so glad you talked about the visual look of season 6. It definitely played a huge part in making me feel season 6 is less than, as the atmosphere and vibe of LOST was one of the main reasons why I love the series.

[@dr.candlepun]

I agree with so, so much of this!! That said, I've always loved the Temple theme, and I'm really hoping you haven't ruined it for me going forward. 😂

[@TheDarkSideOfIndustry]

Personally I loved season 6, people might call it slow or chaotic but I really loved all the lore of the island and the stuff with the smoke monster. It's my personal favourite season and nothing will change my mind

[@Choekaas]

I'm happy to hear that. I am not here to change anyone's minds and it is fruitful to be open to different opinions on the show :)

[@MJJMayor]

Fantastically presented. I've always felt there was something off about the look of Season 6, but I could never quite place so thank you for articulating what I was feeling! Claire not getting a flashback is also one of the worst sins of the season. I'm not as down on the early flashsideways as you are here, but I do get the argument that time could have been better spent elsewhere. Honestly if they really wanted to mirror Season 1, they should have given us 25 episodes! Then we could have had flashsideways and time to develop the neglected Season 6 characters. I also have to say that I really was and still am a sucker for all the character guest appearances in the flashsideways. I remember reading the pre-episode press releases religiously to see who the guest actors were for each upcoming episode. Your idea to have MiB take over the Temple is genius. It's honestly shocking they writers missed that. I think the Temple would have been helped as a setting/plot device if Charlotte had survived to Season 6. You're telling me they had an anthropologist character and they never had her encounter any of the ancient Island locations?? That'd be like Arzt without his Medusa spiders!

[@EternityinOurHearts316]

We really needed Ilana and Dogen episodes...

[@logicianbones]

6:39 (Haven't watched to the end yet.) For me opposite, the flashbacks and most of the off-island stuff after some of them left and had to go back were mostly boring, but the flash-sideways were consistently great. Honestly I think what they did with it, the mystery build-up and the way they handled the reveal was way more interesting than alternative suggestions I've heard. The ones you said sound good in my head as an idea but sound almost impossible to pull off in a meaningful way. Afterlife is way more meaningful, and after all that buildup and genuinely makes sense they want a cosmic mulligan it made sense to think for a while that these same people could have alternate lives, but then it turns out it's still really them in the same timeline. I get the argument for the necessity of the earlier off-island content though but most of it honestly could be trimmed and the on-island events could even be improved in most cases if it had been.

[@Choekaas]

That's totally fine, and I am to see that we have different opinions on the matter. One of LOST's strength is the arena of discussion it creates.

[@DenisNyashen]

Wow, amazing story telling again. Never thought about such things you told. About Claire pre-story how she actioned alone with a MIB and about how whole heaven-flashfordards take showtime for entire season. They realiy missed such a magnificent plots to make some characters more entitiy. Anyway we have Richard's episde, Jacob's and Noname Evil kid episode which are most beautiful story telling episodes throughout whole show. Can't wait for the next video with such nice thoughts how the show could have been.

[@michaszkot4419]

And we're back! I skipped commenting last week's episode due to... reasons. * My feelings about season 6 are so contradictory that I cannot fully have a judgement about this. It's has one of the best moments in the show and the worst. Storywise, it's a great completion of the entire narrative of Lost, in terms of pacing and character development - well... it should either be more tight or have 24 episodes (why not both?). I remember vividly waiting for next week's episode, being a little bit dissapointed after the first eight (I'm looking at you, Temple!), but when episode nine came it was everything I wanted and needed back then. * Yes, Claire-centric episode in S6 is one of the things that's missing in the entire picture - some kind of horror-esque story completely from her biased POV, again somehow mirroring "Maternity Leave" from S2. * Thank you for spoiling the Temple theme for me... I hate it now. Or maybe just the first rendition of it, the more mysterious one is still cool. * Agree, the main issue in the Island storyline is complete lack of mystery - the thing that the show was built on. * Locke being Colonel Kurtz-type character - I think that putting aside supernatural elements of the show, that's where he would end up, being sucked in by Island's mystery and as a leader of Others - building a cult around him to compensate his insecurities. Locke was always the villain, Jack - not exactly a hero, but his conterbalance.

[@wayneallensallee5114]

I really enjoy all of your videos. That said, I am curious. I'm a writer so I fully supported the writers' strike in 2008. But LOST then lost four episodes of S4. What would your thoughts be on the missing four episodes? I don't think the show runners cared. But if there were four more episodes, I think we might have seen a bit more about the Temple. I stopped thinking about it long ago, but I will ask people about the missing four episodes. 8 episodes when many streaming shows now have 10. Have you ever thought about it? I think the show runners didn't want to bother.

[@Choekaas]

Thanks for the compliments. I have a different video on the channel called "How the writers strike affected Lost", which gives a few ideas on what went missing. For instance a Charlotte centric episode or potentially a Ben flashback episode with him and Annie. It wasn't like there was four episodes that were written and left behind, but more like stories that got trunctuated and re-organized so that they could go directly to the season 4 finale.

[@neofluxmachina]

Wow this is exactly how I felt at the time...I've come to accept the sideways concept but the show peaked with season 5 for me

[@laurimaijala4984]

Great. How am I supposed to rewatch season 6 after that umppalumppa bit. :D

[@colinthedogfromspaced9365]

I love Lost, it's one of my favourites of all time. I watched it every week when it aired, I bought the dvds, the book and eventually the Blu rays. I'd not watched the whole thing for a couple of years and came across your videos so I decided on a rewatch. Two things struck me 1) How great season 4 is because of the writers strike it was so streamlined and 2) I really don't enjoy the flashsideways in season 6 until Desmond starts waking people up....they are the weakest parts of the entire show in my view. I loved the finale and the whole concept but the temple and plodding "what if" storylines were abit of a slog to get through. Still cried my heart out at Sun and Jin though and I've got my fingers crossed for that Expose spinoff ! Razzle Dazzle !

[@DenisNyashen]

And yeah, they are filmed it too bright in season 6, it's not same LOST in that, I agree. Dark, shadows frames in first seasons were really scary and mystery somehow

[@vincentbamboo2260]

My problem with season 6 is there's no season 7...yet 😊

[@Taj_Rahine]

I agree, it’s such a catch -22 really. For many super of us Losties, more lore would have been awesome. But truthfully many others would have complained and called additional episodes useless etc. By season 6 people were already dropping off from the show and complaining about the complexity of the storyline.

[@MajorityFFA]

It wasn’t just the video quality (blacks washed out) but also the audio became poorer in quality. Everyone was muffled compared to earlier seasons

[@LadyEmilyRose]

Problem was they spent all there budget on the temple episodes once that was done for they were sol

[@caetanobarsoteli]

I like Mark Pellegrino as Jacob, but Hiroyuki Sanada would be an even better fit as the island’s guardian-his presence feels more intense and magnetic. Since it wouldn’t make sense for Titus Welliver to have a Japanese twin, I’d cast him elsewhere, maybe as Radzinsky in season five, as Eric Lange’s portrayal always felt annoyingly one-note to me. This would leave the MiB role open for a Japanese actor-Ken Watanabe would be an amazing choice, and he’s actually the same age as Sanada. I’d definitely keep Allison Janney as The Mother-she’s perfect in the role, and the twins not resembling her wouldn't be an issue, given their lack of other family references. Your idea of making Danielle Rousseau the new leader of the Others is fantastic, and I'd promote Cindy as her co-leader as well. For Widmore’s crew, swapping Zoe for Walt would be a great move. Walt’s growth could be attributed to the island’s influence, with his powers enhanced and possibly trained by Widmore, positioning him to help defend the island alongside Desmond. Overall, these casting and character adjustments would not only elevate the show’s acting and storytelling but also address Lost’s tendency to sideline multiethnic and female characters in favor of white, male-driven plots. Imagine how vibrant season six would have been with Sanada and Watanabe as Jacob and MiB, Rousseau and Cindy leading the Temple, and Walt as Widmore’s ally!

[@Choekaas]

A lot of great ideas here. Love your thinking! Fun fact, there is a video coming up (it's going to be a while, late December) about what would happen if Walt replaces Zoe.

[@caetanobarsoteli]

@@Choekaas Amazing! I can't wait for it! =)

[@juanitajones6900]

I'm sorry, but I don't agree with you. Mind you, I had a few issues with Season Six. But I had issues with every Season of the show. And my least favorite period is late Season Two and especially the first half of Season Three.

[@Choekaas]

That's okay. We all can have different opinions.

[@PsychoMuffinSDM]

LOST was always about creating a mystery, with no care about how to resolve those mysteries in a satisfying way. If an idea comes up, great. If not, just keep going and hope audiences forgot about that particular plot thread HEY LOOK OVER A NEW MYSTERY!

[@FringeMusic107]

Which mysteries were they expecting the audience to forget about, exactly?

[@PsychoMuffinSDM]

​@@FringeMusic107 It's been over a decade, so I don't remember them all right now, but back when the series ended, I remember still having tons of questions. IIRC Things about Walt, the donkey wheel, something about drowning Sayid, a bunch of things about dharma, wasn't there something about bens house that controlled the smoke monster, and oh yeah, no real resolution to the mechanics of the smoke monster, what the numbers mean, and why the clock flashed weird hieroglyphs. But that's just some stuff off the top of my head from something a long time ago. I'm sure I'm forgetting stuff now, and I may be mistaken with this stuff. But in general, it's just opening mystery boxes with no thought out ideas of how to resolve them later. JJ pretty much said as much himself in one of his talks.

[@romeogomez8627]

I always loved the flashside ways!!!! Because they make you think the time line split