Lost [FINALE SPOILERS PAGE 25 ONWARDS]

[Abagadro]

They always had a full arc of where they were going, they just didn't know how much filler they would have to put into it (which makes it difficult). Once they had a defined number of episodes they could really focus down and get where they wanted to go.

[Paelos]

We want to do a story about people crashing on an island that has time travel technology.

Now stretch it out for 6 years.

[EWSpider]

"We aren't going to Guam are we?"

It was kinda corny, but I lol'd.

[Tebonas]

At least Hurley bought all the seats he could so that some people would be spared. Not every one of them is an asshole.  

[HaemishM]

This show just keeps bring the win. We're back to the first season's form of awesome - you know the feeling you get when you know this week's episode is over and goddamnit you have to wait a whole week to see what's next. I love that they threw all the characters onto the plane without explaining why everyone is going - that just leaves me with more questions and a desire to see more of the show.

[tazelbain]

Ya, but the plane didn't crash anyway.  They "skipped" just like the people left on the island. 

[EWSpider]

It was like an earlier episode in that it raised far more questions than it answered.

[Abagadro]

They even went back to the old school close-up of the eye opening to start the ep. which was a nice touch.  Lindeman and Cruse wrote it and next week's so this is pure Lost goodness.

[UnSub]

Not so much.  You're just a reference point.  Like, if I was going to cut Schild's post into stupid chunks, it'd be Sirbrucing.  Or if I was going to make what appears to be a really sweet comment that's actually a total removal of your manhood that you wouldn't understand for weeks, it'd be Signeing.  Or making it all about Republican awesomeness, as a Triforcing.

 

So would calling everyone cunts in one-line be termed an Ironwoody?

I don't think I want Ironwood to give me an Ironwoody. I'd be left... confused.

[HaemishM]

Fucking awesome episode. They are really keeping up the pace. I think the switch to focusing on smaller amounts of the cast each episode has helped a lot, not to mention the time flips that have given them the ability to fill in pieces of already elapsed time. I knew that Ben would end up killing Locke, and making Widmore the sympathetic benefactor for an episode really helps show both sides of the war. I don't think either side gives one shit about Locke except for the fact that he can get them back to the island.

[tazelbain]

Season 5 continues to be great, but not quite as good as season 4.  I think we are in for quite a number of flash backs as we still don't know why Kate,Hurley, and Sayid were on the plane. Or why Ben couldn't take Locke's body to the airport.  Lots of interesting twists.  I like were this is going.  But still disgruntled that they have gone with Mysticism than SciFi.

[HaemishM]

But still disgruntled that they have going more with Mysticism than SciFi.

Pika?

[Jobu]

Or why Ben couldn't take Locke's body to the airport.

Because he was busy trying to kill Penny (since he saw Desmond at the church), just like he promised Widmore he would.

[Ozzu]

Because he was busy trying to kill Penny (since he saw Desmond at the church), just like he promised Widmore he would.

That's exactly what I'm thinking as well. I guess we'll find out soon if he was successful.

[Teleku]

Because he was busy trying to kill Penny (since he saw Desmond at the church), just like he promised Widmore he would.

That's exactly what I'm thinking as well. I guess we'll find out soon if he was successful.

I'm going to firebomb the writers houses if he was successful, or kills Desmond in the attempt (one of my favorite characters).  I can only hope he attempted and Desmond kicked the ever loving shit out of him.

And yes, every episode has been great so far.  Why did Ben kill Locke though?  I mean, he stopped him from killing himself, then kills him.  Was it just so that he could keep him alive long enough to tell him Eloise Hawkings name?  Which seems kind of odd because Ben seemed like he already knew the name.

But in any event, dear god do they just keep going back and forth on making Ben seem good/evil.  Every time I'm convinced he's a complete fucker, they slowly lead me to believe he really has best intentions at heart and is working to help, before making him a complete fucker again.  I've never seen any show/book do a character like that this well.  I keep falling for it.

Though now I pretty much believe they are all fuckers, and the only 'other' type character that seems like he might not be a complete evil asshole is the Richard Alpert guy, who has his own agenda.  God I wish they would start to reveal more about him.

[tazelbain]

Eloise's name was his leverage to get Locke to take Ben back to the island?

Ben is a megalomaniac.  Any good he does is to ingratiate himself with others.  Obviously he thinks that the Island is extremely important.  So being the Island's chief "protector" is what needs to make himself important.

[Quinton]

But in any event, dear god do they just keep going back and forth on making Ben seem good/evil.  Every time I'm convinced he's a complete fucker, they slowly lead me to believe he really has best intentions at heart and is working to help, before making him a complete fucker again.  I've never seen any show/book do a character like that this well.  I keep falling for it.

Ben Linus is entirely my favorite character on the show.

[Jobu]

Because he was busy trying to kill Penny (since he saw Desmond at the church), just like he promised Widmore he would.

That's exactly what I'm thinking as well. I guess we'll find out soon if he was successful.

I'm going to firebomb the writers houses if he was successful, or kills Desmond in the attempt (one of my favorite characters).  I can only hope he attempted and Desmond kicked the ever loving shit out of him.

His success in murdering Penny would give Desmond a pretty strong motivation to come back to the Island for revenge. After she dies in his arms, of course. Wow... I just capitalized "island" without realizing it.

Here's a longshot that hit me today, after watching the latest episode a second time. Jacob is really John Locke after all his travels and trials, and the war that everyone is referring to is the original conflict between the Others and Dharma. Everyone needs John there so as to become Jacob.

[Evil Elvis]

But in any event, dear god do they just keep going back and forth on making Ben seem good/evil.

I've always assumed Ben was the bad guy.  He's a bald faced liar, he's tried to kill Locke twice now, he ain't down with Jacob (I think he's trapped Jacob in that cabin), he doesn't care about the lives of anyone else, etc.  

But you're right, they do a decent job of obfuscating his true motive.  He seems to have known that John would be resurrected, so why kill him to begin with?  Was it Mrs. Hawking who told him he'd come back to life, and he just had to role with it to get back on the island?  Now that he's becoming a more overt bastard, I'm wondering if they're not setting him up for some redemption arc down the line.  I think I'd prefer him being a cold-hearted, manipulative prick out for his own, over someone willing to sacrifice anyone for a hidden, righteous purpose.

Anyone notice that Hurley was painting the Sphinx?  Maybe we'll get more info on the hieroglyphs soon.

[Samwise]

I am fairly certain that Ben will (or did) kill Penny.  And that Desmond will kill Ben in the last episode of the show or thereabouts.

[Quinton]

But you're right, they do a decent job of obfuscating his true motive.  He seems to have known that John would be resurrected, so why kill him to begin with?  Was it Mrs. Hawking who told him he'd come back to life, and he just had to role with it to get back on the island?  Now that he's becoming a more overt bastard, I'm wondering if they're not setting him up for some redemption arc down the line.  I think I'd prefer him being a cold-hearted, manipulative prick out for his own, over someone willing to sacrifice anyone for a hidden, righteous purpose.

Yeah, I'd actually prefer he just remain the villian.  He's an interesting villian to watch though.  We've seen the occasional glimpses of some of what makes him tick, but not the whole picture.  We've seen that he's not always as in control as he likes to believe he is and seen him snap a couple times (both times he tried to kill John in what I read as a jealous rage, his reaction to Keamy shooting Alex, who I believe he did care about a lot, in his special, psychotic way... etc).

I love that he just never stops manipulating everyone around him, and that he really does seem very sincere at times even when you know he's a total bastard.  Just a fascinating character to watch.  I love the way the actor portrays him.

[Tebonas]

I don't think there will be a redemption arc for Ben. He has always  been written as a Sociopath, likeable if he wants to, but devoid of any real empathy for other people (not entirely sure he isn't just pissed about Alex because she was "His", not because he loved her so dearly. Replace Alex with The Island and you get basically the same reaction).

And I love him that way. That magnificent bastard makes the series fun and the actor does hell of a job with him.

[Abagadro]

My favorite thing about Ben is that the character was supposed to be in 2 episodes and Emmerson was so damn good at the delivery of one line "Got any milk?" that the character has evolved into the central pivot-point of the entire series.

[Ozzu]

Perhaps Ben had a plan behind killing Locke. Maybe Locke's death couldn't be a suicide (a bit far-fetched, but stick with me). He knows that Locke needs to die to get back on the island, so he does it himself. However, he doesn't do it before finding out exactly what needs to be done next from Locke himself. He then hauls Locke's corpse around knowing that he'll be brought back to the island and resurrected and will serve as a proxy for Christian Shepherd to get them back on the island.

Ben always has a plan.

[Rishathra]

He seemed genuinely disturbed though when Locke mentioned Eloise Hawking.  He didn't have the demeanor of someone who was simply waiting to ferret out required info before offing the guy.  The look on his face wasn't "Oh, so it's her?  Got it.  Don't need your ass anymore."  It was more like "Oh Shit!!  Her?!?  I'm fucked unless I choke this bitch right here!"

Short version: He was more  than  .

[Samwise]

Nothing I love more than an avatar bandwagon.   

[Cheddar]

If Desmond or Penny dies I will fly into a rage.  I actually cried when they were reunited - one of the most touching moments I have EVER seen on an entertainment medium. 

Fucking masterpiece of a series.

[Arthur_Parker]

I missed series 3 and the first half of 4, kinda gave up on this.  Back into it now, I know Ben pretended to be that crashed Balloon guy, was it ever explained where he came from and how he got on the island?  Also what's the war about between him and Whitmore, is it just for control of the island?

[tazelbain]

From wikipedia.

EDIT: Reminds me how so many of the characters have daddy issues.

[Arthur_Parker]

Thanks, sounds interesting.

edit, Heh, I actually caught the end of that episode before, I remember the Jacob in the shack part and the gas attack.  It was worth watching the whole thing just to see the evil Harry Potter.  Think I'll try to catch up with the other episodes I've missed.

[Quinton]

Thanks, sounds interesting.

edit, Heh, I actually caught the end of that episode before, I remember the Jacob in the shack part and the gas attack.  It was worth watching the whole thing just to see the evil Harry Potter.  Think I'll try to catch up with the other episodes I've missed.

The first half of season three was kinda slow moving and clunky, but they made up for it in the second half and season four and five have been just fantastic fun.  Having a known end date has done wonders for them tightening up the pacing and getting things moving at a good clip.

[Merusk]

If only it worked the same for BSG.

[Quinton]

My favorite thing about Ben is that the character was supposed to be in 2 episodes and Emmerson was so damn good at the delivery of one line "Got any milk?" that the character has evolved into the central pivot-point of the entire series.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xBuuT6x4IL4

[Arthur_Parker]

That link lead me to this.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jfgcZgcYLdY

[Evil Elvis]

That reminds me of one of my favorite scenes: Ben scaring the rabbit to death