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Monday, May 24, 2010

Everyone Died Except the Ones Who Deserved It: The Writers


Last night was the much-anticipated series finale of ABC's mega-popular fantasy drama, "Lost". And listen, we're just not going to get into it. Full disclosure: when the show started way back in 2004, we watched the first two episodes, and never watched it again. We saw right away that the writers were going to take us on crazy plotlines on whims of the moment that were going to make absolutely no sense and which, not only would we not understand, but which the writers wouldn't either. And after reading all the reviews from the show and its ending last night, evidently we were right. Hey, if you liked the show, more power to you, we're not trying to burst your balloon, but we're guessing the finale of "Lost" was something akin to the finale of "The Sopranos" in which it was obvious there were two things going on.
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On shows like "Lost" and "The Sopranos", first, the writers don't know how to end the story. They've painted themselves into so many corners with so many nonsensical plotlines, there is no way they can get out and make any rational sense. So they just end it, leaving it vague and open-ended, and if you speak up and say that it didn't make any sense, they try to pretend that the ending is open to artistic interpretation and that maybe you "just don't get it". Horse hockey. It's a story; it should have a beginning, a middle and an end. You're not writing Nobel Prize-winning literature here, it's just a t.v. show; learn how to tell a story or go do something else. But the more important thing going on with these types of finales is that, in Hollywood, there is always the option of a movie version of the t.v. show, or a prequel series, or spin-offs, so the writers can't end the show and the characters in an absolute way. They have to leave the show and characters open-ended in some way so as to provide for these other options.
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The blogs are full of comments today from "Lost"'s many viewers, some loved the show ending, some hated it. The funniest comment we read was from a guy who wrote, "So, did the professor finally fix the hole in the boat? Ooops, wrong show!" That's funny.
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Well, whatever you thought of the show, it's over. And now, there'll be no more sexy, scantily clad men running around on a beach who are overwhelmed by confusing thoughts swirling around in their heads... oh wait a minute, we still have Matthew McConaughey. Thank god.

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